Team Kirby survived another Summer/Fall of whirl wind travels (ID, CO, CA, UT) family vacations, weddings, camping/backpacking/climbing trips, music festivals and Birthdays. In what felt like a blink of an eye the summer has come to it's end. Winter is on it's way and is always a welcomed season in the Kirby house, with cooler temperatures reminding us that our hibernation is approaching. Winter is our time to slow down, stay home and enjoy our own backyard from time to time. Don't get me wrong, we do love our "always on the go" fun, but lets face it, I'm tired! and you will be too after this post. I've attempted to photo document our summer and fall adventures...enjoy!

June

Beautiful California wedding for our

great friends David and Shelley

Early July

Jess turns 34,

Gmom Visits, Family Backpacking Deseret Peak

Mid July

Steamboat 4th of July Celebration

End of July

Sawtooth Yurt, Biking

and Music Festival

August

Stauter, Sherman, Kirby Campout

at Trappers Lake, CO

Early September

Montrose for Gmom's Birthday,

then off to through hike in the Uncompahgre Wilderness

Late September

City of Rocks Climbing Trip

Hiking in the Uinta's

Early October

Trip to Moab with Grandpa and Grandma Linda

Mid October

Miss Greta turned 3 years old!

I can hardly believe how much she has changed.

End of October

Annual Pumpkin Patch trip with Nana & Pops

and Halloween fun on Park City Main Street, dressed as Team Sushi.

Almost Done

There's just one more thing we'd like to share with all of you.......

...That's right!

We're adding a team member in May 2011!

Spring Collage Photo Update

Team Kirby has been busy over the last few months. Below is a photo collage of the past months, you can click on the collage to get a closer look. ENJOY!

We have all managed recovered from our aliments, to one degree or another, and have managed to hop back on the wagon that puts a smile on our faces, LIFE. We started off our spring with smiling faces but with an aching hearts. Grandma Viv, 95 years old this September, decided she'd had enough. The stroke she suffered just weeks before really took her strength; She closed her eye on the day of St. Patrick and walked up to heaven with the Patron Saint of Ireland himself. I am still struggling with her loss. I will miss her dearly,especially her laughter! We spent St. Patrick's day celebrating Grandma's life, with our annual Kirby-Henrikson gathering. This year with the addition of their new little man, Roarke. Topping off the day with Greta's St Patrick's Day parade with her school; She thoroughly enjoyed waving from the float.

March brought with it a trip to ZION with G-Mom, Papa-D and Oliver. It was a much needed distraction and allowed us to try out our "camping legs" for the season. The warm spring air, although windy, was welcomed and gave us a little taste of winters end. Greta and G-Mom spent the afternoons drawing our red rock surroundings and we all spent time hiking, relaxing and enjoying good food.

Grandma's funeral was in her home town of OKC. It was good to be back in Oklahoma. Stepping off the airplane was comforting...I am not sure if it's the humidity, the wind or the cowboy twang....but that city will always remind me of family! It makes me sad to think that I might never go back . The funeral was a mini family reunion, seeing faces that have been absent from my view for 7, 10 and even 20+ years. Grandma looked so peaceful as we said our goodbyes. It was a hard few days!

Returning to Utah and packing again...this time we headed waaaaaayyyyy down south to an area just southwest of St. George called The Beaver Dam Mountains. We met up with the SLC gang for an Easter weekend of biking, climbing, birthday and egg finding. The kids had a blast and all of them, less our little Eli, had a hand at their first roped climb. It was tooooo cute to see them give it there all! The egg hunt was a big success despite the inherit danger of sending 4 kids under 3 yrs running towards candy filled eggs, delicately placed on the spins cactus and limbs of joshua trees....and despite of fact that the easter bunny forget to tire up Hudson the dog who happens to be a big fan of hardboiled eggs and chocolate.

The rest of April was welcomed homebound for the family, other then a quick conference in Moab for Jess. Stefan cozied up with his birthday cake to fend off the cool spring weather, we got in a few more days of skiing before spring melt, we planted the garden and went to our first Utah symphony.

May put us on the road again, speding Mother's day with the DuRoss Clan on Mexican Mountain Road in the San Rafael Swell. Weather was prime and the desert flowers were peaking. Finn and Greta are really become good friends. It's so fun to watch them together. We took a few walks, boys did some climbing, girls enjoyed some relaxation and Greta, even though struggling with the stomach flu all weekend, managed to go "Naked Baby" on us and jumped into the San Rafael River....all 40ish degrees of it, brrrrrrr!

The rest of May was spent wishing the "cold-snow-more snow-come on it's almost June" away....We took in a Bee's Game, numerous play-parks and even managed a Big Cottonwood dinner picnic.

G is really growing up fast and is turing into one fascinating little girl. She still loves playing with her $0.50 garage sale doll house, reading, painting and being outside. She likes to tell me that she's "situated" and comes for a "big hugs and a kiss" every hour or so. She's a caring, extremely intelligent, personality superstar. She has however decided that she does not need to sleep anymore, which has her parents questioning our strength for #2?????? i.e. we're not sure we have it in us for another go around....that is until we look in those steal blue eyes and see that shinning smile. So, June is just around the corner and we're gearing up for a busy summer lineup, Team Kirby Summer 2010....here we come.

Out for the Count

There is really only comedy that can be had when your husband shows up one afternoon after skiing with a dislocated shoulder, just 1 week after you have major knee reconstructive surgery (Patella realignment and lateral release of the ligaments). The heavy narcotics that I was on at the time probably fostered my uncontrollable laughter that day. I am pretty sure that Greta did not think it was as funny. We spent weeks preparing her for mommies owie. Telling her that mommy would be coming home from the hospital with a BIG bandaid....but nothing could have prepared her for this spontaneous parental malfunction. I can only imagine what her little mind must had been thinking when she looked at us, both all rapped up in BIG bandaids, on pain killers and unable to preform as the trusty parents we had been for her until now. Her poor little eyes would just bug-out of her head in disbelief. To our pleasant surprise, she quickly took up the roll of "Care Taker", asking us each morning how our injuries we're feeling and bringing us ice. Her kindness and ability to comfort was, and still, stunning. Who would have guessed that at 2 1/2 year old has a capacity to show such empathy.

Our compounded injuries have turned Kirby land upside-down. Our usual routine of "On the Go - Never a Free Moment", has morphed into a sedentary existence, one so unfamiliar to us that we almost had to seek reference. Finally confronting the idea of what people do when they can't ski on a saturday afternoon and as cabin fever threatened our sanity, we headed out into the retail world. Our failed attempt at shopping for a new TV sent us scrambling out of the crowded Best Buy parking lot before we even steps on foot out of the car. Knowing we were not going to try that again, we settled on family lunches out and small trips to the park or Wheeler Farm for our family fun and our hopes are high for a trip to the swimming pool, now that I can get my leg wet again.

Being house bound has not stopped us from family visits. Nana was soooooo kind to come stay with us for the first week of post-op. Her priceless care and entertainment for G is something i'll be hard pressed to repay! Grandpa and Grandma Linda came 1 month post-op, originally to assist with the recover of knee #2, which has been delayed until May.Their visit was unlike any other, no XC skiing trips, no hikes, although we did manage a cool February picnic just to keep them on their toes.

Finishing off the month of February with a fun filled trip to Montrose to visit with Gmom and PapaD, with Tepees, snowy drives and a walk along the Uncompahgre river.

(Click here for more pictures).

We are healing fast and are stronger everyday. Spring is in the air and we look to warmer temps so we can stop thinking about the ski season we're missing out on and start thinking about the summer fun ahead! Greta already has her summer skin on (see photos link above), deciding that clothes are the optional part of everyday attire. She's still amazing us daily. She can count to 10, sing her ABC's and enjoys a good tea party! She says the funniest things...like when Stefan told her that a new sushi restaurant was opening in our shopping center and she said "Holy Moly!". This girl really loves sushi! or when she asked me what color her hair is and I said "Brown" then I asked her what color my hair is and she said "white", ha! I guess it's time to do some root dying. She's a sharp little one, never misses a thing. She can read stories ALLLLLL day long...discovering a new fondness with Thomas the Train, her favorite, of course, being Emily. We are potty training, she's doing GREAT! Stefan and I are already coming up with ideas for how we can spend our extra $40 a month...I vote for a beach vacation!

Team Kirby is back, She's 2 & It's 2010

My effort to BLOG seemed to escape me throughout the summer, fall and almost this winter too, but now as the snow falls and the early evening is keep me indoors, I have found the motivation to continue with what I have started. Honestly, who let me get YOU hooked on our Team Kirby Blogging, then gave ME the right to enjoy the majority of 2009 without posting for months on end? I sincerely apologizing for my lack of social networking etiquette and because it has 7 months since my last post (I know, I am a disgrace to the blogging community) I have decided to make this post the "Super Mega Team Kirby 09 Extravaganza" and simply say summer, fall and most of winter happened! Posted below are the contents of Team Kirby's last 7 months, meticulously organized into clickable photo biographical links for your viewing pleasure.

So sit back and enjoy, block off a few hours from your day and prepare yourself for Team Kirby summer-fall-start of winter photo submersion.

But first, I feel compeled to give you a quick Greta update... Since June she has somehow managed to go from19 Months to "So Big"...Everyone has heard the saying before, the age old words of wisdom that warn you of how fast your kids will grow-up. There is truth in that wisdom and over the last 7 month we experienced it first hand. We've managed to watched our baby transform into a full-blown toddler. There are no more morning naps, just the afternoon 1-3. No more pureed foods, just "big" food. No more bottle feedings, just big girl cups. No more help from mommy, just "I do it." Nope, all those baby traits have been replaced with the wonder and amazement of a thriving little girl who soaks up the new world around her like a thirsty sponge. And as you can see in the 2 pictures below she is "So Big"

3 days old

25 months old

Now, let the "Super Mega Team Kirby 09 Extravaganza" begin.....

We had a fantastic summer filled with ID-CO-UT camping, Wasatch hiking, Denver time, Sawtooth Music, Steamboat Springs 4th of July celebration, and a beautiful Marble Wedding

(Click here for more pictures of Summer).

Fall was kicked off with a biking trip at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with Grandpa, a solo Daddy - G trip to Gmom's, G's 2nd Birthday with a Nana visit and Halloween

(Click here for more pictures of Fall)

Winter has been a slow start in the Wasatch but we've managed to fill our days with lots of XC ski trips, Thanksgiving trip to Denver, Christmas at home with Gmom and New Years!

(Click here for more pictures of Winter...so far)

We'll there you have it...Team Kirby is back in the saddle again!