A DeYoung Family Christmas

Our attempt at a family picture! Skyler & Cadence playing "Gone Fishin"

Cadence loves his new books!

Skyler got a new memoboard!

Cadence'e 2 favorite things- Elmo & Dinosaurs!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY/GRANDPA TOMMY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! WE LOVE AND MISS YOU!

Merry Christmas to Our Military!

I just wanted to remember those who will not be home this Christmas to celebrate with their loved ones because they are fighting for our freedom. This is a picture of my Dad taken in '98. Although he was home that Christmas, he was not in 1994. While all of us spent the Holidays in New York City, Dad was in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. He was actually gone most of my sophomore year of high school. Having a parent gone off to war is never easy, and Christmas time makes it that much harder. I wish I would have known this song then. I'm sure I asked Santa to bring my Dad home too! I love you Daddy!! And someone has a birthday tomorrow....

A Night With....ELMO!

This evening, Cadence and I headed to the Pike's Peak Center to see "Sesame Street Live! Elmo Makes Music". The tickets were a gift from Grandma & Grandpa Tanhoff to Cadence for Christmas! What better gift for Cadence than his 3 favorite things: music, dancing and ELMO! Although he enjoyed all the Sesame Street characters, he is simply fascinated with Elmo. He would get a little nervous when Elmo would leave the stage and repeatedly ask for him, but Elmo was never off for very long. There was always so much to see and the show was interactive. During intermission, we got up to walk around and Cadence kept asking & signing "more". I assured him there was more Elmo to come. We were only 6 rows from the front, so we had a GREAT view.
Thank you Grandma & Grandpa for a wonderful gift~ as you can see, he was over the moon!






Cadence signing for "more" Elmo at intermission!

The Sesame Street Gang!

Ernie is asking to help him find the number of the day!

Taking it all in...........

Elmo & Grover (who happens to be MY favorite)

A Weekend In Keystone!

This past weekend, Brandon & I spent the weekend at The Ski Tip Lodge in Keystone, CO. It was a quaint little B&B and was our birthday present from Brandon's Mom & Dad. Brandon's sister Stacy and her husband, Ben, were also staying at the lodge as their gift as well. We had a great time exploring the area, taking in the beautiful, snow covered scenery, eating yummy food, drinking some good drinks and trying new beers (Breckenridge Brewery) and even tried tubing for the first time! Just being able to spend time together was very nice as Grandma & Grandpa took care of ALL the grandchildren this weekend!! Of course, we got up there Friday and my camera says "change battery pack"- go figure. So I was able to capture some pics on my camera phone!

The tubing hill~ what a BLAST!

The Gondola

Brandon the snowy Mountain Man. There was sooo much snow!

Breckenridge was having a snow sculpture contest. This one was in front of Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. where we ate Friday night. Mmmmmm.....

Let There Be Peace On Earth...

A group called B.E.S.T. which includes individuals with Down syndrome, singing and signing "Let There Be Peace On Earth".

A Little Color....

Here are the pics we had done only in some different color settings. I LOVE them! I think I will use the last one as Christmas card!

Little Man

I don't know how, but I forgot to put this one up of Cadence when we did the photoshoot last week...it's one of my favorites!

All I Want For Christmas....

What I wouldn't give to have one of these little angels under my tree on Christmas morning!! But since that in unlikely this year, I would settle for a Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Ornament! If you're looking for the perfect gift for, say...me or anyone else, why not sponsor an orphan with Down syndrome and receive a beautiful ornament with your chosen child's picture on it to remind us what Christmas is all about. For $35, you can have an ornament sent with your chosen child's picture AND have the satisfaction of knowing you could help that child find a Forever Family!! If you have not done so yet, PLEASE visit REECE'S RAINBOW ANGEL TREE and glance at all the beautiful little faces this year!

We Elfed Grandma & Grandpa!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We've Been Elfed!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Pictures With Grandma & Grandpa

Well, they did it again! Our good friends Carmen & Judah with JCM Photography came out last week and took some pictures of the kids with my parents. I don't think my parents have had their picture taken together since I graduated in 1996! And 2009 will be their 40th Wedding Anniversary, so what better time than now! Thanks again to Carmen & Judah for another awesome set of photos!

Skyler's Party & Halloween Fun

Skyler likes it that her birthday is near Halloween~ it makes for
a two-in-one party!

Even Cadence got in on the action of bobbing for apples~

he and the little boys just liked getting wet!

Trick-or-Treating was a family affair!

(I think the camera was on the wrong setting- oops!)

Skyler grabbed the stem- no fair!!!

The sweetest little devil in town!

Update to 10/30 Post

Something More Important

Please take a moment to stop and look at Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree! There are so many little ones waiting. Please consider these angels this Christmas. It makes a wonderful gift and you can help save a life. You can give these precious little sweethearts a chance at life and a forever family.

A VIP Seat & the Golden Tickets!

Yesterday, my friend Carmen and I headed over to the Sarah Palin rally here in the Springs. Totally spur of the moment, I didn't even know she was coming until yesterday morning. I wasn't sure if we'd get in since you have to RSVP online. So I RSVP'd all of us (including the boys) and it went through. I rearranged my schedule and even picked up Skyler from school early. We headed over to the Jet Center and got there fairly early. While trying to find a good place to hang out so we could see, the volunteer team saw us and asked us if we would like to sit in the restricted "invite only" area in the bleachers right behind the stage and podium. Well, heck, yes, we would! After seeing Cadence and Jaemen (our Golden Tickets), they thought it would be nice for us to be back there and also thought it would be nice for us to be able to sit! THANK GOD! Cadence is almost 40 pounds and my arms were already aching. Needless to say, we got an AWESOME seat in the house. It was a very spectacular event to be at. The highlight of the evening was when Sarah turned around and saw Cadence & Jaemen. She gave us a wink and a wave and we gave her one back. At the end, as they were making their way out and shaking hands and signing autographs, Todd Palin told me to give Cadence a hug and we told him "We love Trig!". He also told Carmen he loved Jaemen's curly hair! LOL.

My friend Lisa was in the audience and actually captured these pictures- thanks Lisa!
Oh, and the boys did very well for having to sit there for almost 4 hours!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! **WARNING** SCARY IMAGE....

Happy Halloween! BEWARE! The image you are

about to see is VERY SCARY!!!

Are you ready?????
















HAHAHAHAHA!!! Ok, not very scary, but you have to admit- that's funny!
(Ok, get over it now, it's just a joke....)

On another note, I made it all the way to 31 days for Down Syndrome Awareness Month! 31 days of blogging and I never skipped a day! So tomorrow, I will be VERY busy taking Cadence to Soccer Buddies, Skyler & I have dance rehearsals since there is a competition next weekend and Skyler will be having her 10th birthday party on Saturday night. Monday will bring lots of pictures, so check back then! Have a fun and safe HALLOWEEN! XOXO

That was the longest ballot....

....in history! Whew! An hour later and I'm finish and ready to mail in my ballot. It's so long that it will require extra postage to mail it. I was surprised it even required a stamp at all! I vote for prepaid postage ballots...

IF YOU LIVE IN COLORADO...

PLEASE VOTE "YES" ON AMENDMENT 51!!

This admendment will increase funding for the developmentally disabled for services! Currently, there is a 2+ years wait for the Medicaid Waiver here in Colorado for children who are developmentally disabled under the age of 18. They cannot get services or have to pay rediculous amounts out of pocket to afford health care, physical therapy, speech therapy,etc. Several years ago, we got Cadence on the list and he was lucky enough to get off the list and on Medicaid only after 4 months. We are very grateful that his healthcare and services are covered since they would not be or we would have to pay a large amount out of pocket if he were on a private or group insurance plan. To learn more about Amendment 51, please click HERE.

***UPDATE*** I am sad to report that the citizens of Colorado do not think my son and others like him are literally worth 2 cents (the amendment would have taken 2 cents from every $10 to help provide services for the developmentally disabled in Colorado). Thank you so much, Coloradans, for opening my eyes to the greed and heartlessness of the community I live in. It must feel good that you can hide anonymously behind a ballot. God forbid YOUR child ever need special services here in Colorado. That's ok, I guess I'll be putting on my boxing gloves and seeing you in the ring!