Twined together

Did you know?
"Twin" comes from the German word "twine" meaning "two together."

from 'Day 1' Carissa Joy and Caleb Jackson were intertwined. The best of friends, they show their love towards one another in tangible ways every day.

(9 months)
They crack each other up. Caleb is especially smitten with Carissa and thinks that she is very funny.


(11 months)
They console one another. When one twin is crying the other twin will pat the upset twin on the back or the head showing genuine concern - its like saying "I'm here, its okay". Or, one will bring the other a blanket or favorite toy. It is really sweet.

(17 months)
Lately they have been showing love through hugs. One never knows though if the sweetness will turn sour in an instant of tackling or hair pulling. Nonetheless, it is precious for a moment.

Carissa Joy (17 months)

Caleb Jackson (17 months)
symbol for "twin happiness"

Nana & Grandad visit COS!

Nana and Grandad came to see us in Colorado Springs. We had a great visit!

On Sunday we met up with the Kintner's in Castle Rock for dinner. My only request of the evening was a picture of the kids with both sets of grandparents.

Pictured here is: Papa, Grandma, Carissa, Nana, Caleb, and Grandad

We had beautiful weather. One day we took Caleb and Carissa to a park that has a playground and a pond with ducks. They loved feeding the ducks!

After swinging, and sliding the twins took a long spin on the merry-go-round.

Carissa Joy all Locked Up

After church last week Carissa locked herself in the car - alone. While loading the twins into the Honda Carissa grabbed my keys. She loves to play with keys so I didn't think twice about letting her have them. With Caleb tugging on my leg I threw in my purse and the diaper bag in the back seat, shut the door and walked Caleb around to the other side of the car. En route I heard the doors lock. Immediately my heart leapt - Oh No!!! Carissa locked herself into the car!!!

I began to panic. No cell phone (it was locked in the car), no husband (he was teaching Sunday School at our home church), no extra keys. If I was at our home church it would have been a no brain er -use Jeff's keys. But, for the first time since living in Colorado Springs we were at another church because my Mom and Lance had been the keynote speakers for their services. Anyway, my only immediate solution was to convince Carissa to press the exact button that would un-lock the car. My 'mom' instincts kicked in and I tried to make Carissa think that we were playing games of 'peek-a-boo' and 'press the button on the key' through the window. I knew that if she freaked out she would throw the keys and then all hope of her actually un-locking the doors would be lost. To my dismay her left index finger kept touching the un-lock button but she was using her right thumb to press the all of the other buttons including...the Panic button! This created quite the scene. Not only was the panic horn reverberating loudly through the parking lot, but I was dancing around, making funny faces, and yelling at her through the window while also trying to entertain Caleb and make sure that he didn't run out in the street and get hit by a car. Carissa did begin to freak out a tad but luckily she shut off the panic button and calmed down. At this point I decided that leaving her alone to 'play' with the keys may result in her pressing the right button. Thankfully, after about 20 minutes she pressed the un-lock button and we were able to depart the church parking lot without the help of the police, the paparrazi, or anyone for that matter. This is me trying to capture the moment through the tinted windows.

Instead of showing Carissa locked in the car, its just my reflection.

Who needs toys when you have a BOX?

Today the little people played with a box that daddy brought home from the church.

They giggled,

and giggled,

and giggled.

peek-a-boo!

08 Chikarooba Cabin Spring Break

Jeff and I both took vacation time during Spring Break. Our friends Darrin and Julie invited us to spend a long weekend with them at their cabin in Fairplay, CO. We took walks, went snowshoeing, played games and entertained the 4 kiddos. We had a great time!




The cabin is named 'Chikarooba' - a fusion of the owners last names.

Snowshoeing on the cabin property