I thought I could let it go.... but obviously I can't.

Last weekend, Tom and I wen car shopping.  Not completely spontaneous, we were planning on getting a new car.  As part of the plan, Tom was going to trade in his BMW.  The dream car that he wanted for so long, and loved driving.  The car had huge maintenance costs, and was about to hit 100,000 miles.  It was time.

So while we were at the GMC dealer, buying my lovely new Acadia, Tom traded in his BMW.  We were completely 100% honest with them when trading it in, including the fact that it was in an accident.  We disclosed almost* everything about that car, or at least what we could remember.  We got a fair price for it, based on its condition, and what we felt it was worth at trade in.

Fast forward to a few days later.  Tom is out looking at the used cars on line at the dealership, and finds his car.  He found it.

http://www.gobuickgmcparkmeadows.com/VehicleDetails/used-2004-BMW-325xi-Sedan-Lone_Tree-CO/1665051733

What is important to note:  the car fax report reports that it hasn't been in an accident.  I was furious.  I didn't understand, so I contacted carfax.  They stated that I could not add the information to the carfax report, only certified people are allowed to do that including dealerships.  So the dealer is able to add the information to the report, but is unwilling because they won't sell the car. 

This is just one of those things, that has totally ticked me off to no end.  Just goes to show you the stigmatism that car dealers are labeled with, can be true.  I am not saying all car dealers are like this, but they sure can be.

Ugh.  Buyer beware.

Hummingbird Nest

About 4 weeks ago, Tom and I noticed that a hummingbird was building a nest on the wind chime on our front patio.  This was the coolest process to watch, but we didn't agree with the location.  Why would you pick on top of the wind chime?

A couple of weeks later, the mama hummingbird was at the nest full time.  She was only leaving to get food and coming right back.  We assummed she had eggs in her nest, but didn't really have a chance to see them.

The other night, we had a massive wind storm.  The wind chime was blowing all over the place, and I was afraid that the whole thing was going to fall.  So I asked Tom to pull the whole wind chime down during the wind storm, and then we would hang it back up later.  Once we got it down, mama left the nest, and we were able to see (2) little white eggs about the size of jelly bellys.  Mama bird was freaking out, so we hung up the nest again right away, wind and all.

Based on our research, the eggs should hatch within a couple of days.  We are excited to see the little hummers, and if I get a chance to get a picture of them, I will.

For now, here are a couple of pictures of the nest with mama bird....

Easter!

Yes, I fully realize that Easter was like 3 weeks ago.  Regardless - here are some awesomely cute pictures of the girls on Easter.  Ellie was an AWESOME big sister during the Easter Egg Hunt around the house.  She helped Mackenzie find the easy eggs, and let her get the one's that she coudl reach.  I was really impressed by her actions that day.

However, can someone please tell me why I can't get both girls to smile AND look at the same camera? For the love of Pete....

PS - I hate blogger.  All the pictures are oriented correctly in the folder on my computer, but for whatever reason, some are rotated 90 degrees.  Sorry about that.

M finding her egg



OOOOOO!!!!



Ellie cleaning out the window

Look Mackenzie - get that one!



The wind blown look!





Their Golden Eggs (or green)



Mackenzie's first peep

Easter Girls!

More Birds

Some friends of ours got baby chicks from the Easter bunny this year.  As cute of an idea as this seems, I really don't want chickens living in my house, and I am not a big fan of the chicken process.  So instead of getting our own chicks, we have just gone over to visit their chicks.  Plus, with Mackenzie's allergies to livestock as well as eggs, having chickens probably isn't the smartest idea for our family.

Here are a few pictures of the girls with the chicks.  They are cute!


Mackenzie and the chicks



The 3 chicks

Ellie holding one of the chicks

Mackenzie and the chicks

Eagles

Around the beginning of the year, Parker opened up a new street to take us out to the Highway, and it has been awesome.  No stoplights, less traffic, it is a dream come true.  Shortly after it opened, we started to notice these big birds sitting in a Cottonwood tree off the side of the road.  After seeing them several times, we realized that they were bald eagles, and they have a nest in one of the Cottonwoods.

After we realized what they were, we have been trying to get a picture.  After several attempts of having the camera but the birds weren't there, not having the camera and the birds were there, or having the camera the birds being there but not having time to stop we finally got a picture of one of them!  Yea! 

The picture is a bit blurry, but this is the best of the bunch, because of the telephoto lens we had on the camera, and because of the wind.

Who is this big girl - and what did you do with my BABY!!!

Mackenzie's Firt Ponies

In the past month, Mackenzie has started chatting up a storm!  She now has quite the vocabulary of

Mommy                  Momma                    Daddy                Dadda                Ellie                 Doggie
Apple                     Nana                        Nonnie                Papa                   Up                  Down
More                      Milk                         Please                 All                      Done               Tree
Shoes                     Baby                        Bottle                  Ball                    Book               Bubble
Stinky                     Hi                            Hello                   Yellow               Mine                Off
ni-ni (going to bed)                                 bye-bye

and of course our favorite...

NO!

Unfortunately, we are starting to hear NO a lot more these days!  I am sure that there are probably other words that she says that I am forgetting now.

She turns 18 months old tomorrow (but she doesn't look a day older than 15 months).  She chases after her sister, loves to "pet" the dog, pull the dogs tail, and basically show us exactly how fearless she is by balancing on top of one of her cars to reach the counter.

She knows she can get a good laugh out of us by making her angry face (which I have yet to get a picture of) and my saying "No" in the sweetest voice possible.

Ellie Skiing - Part Deux

Tom took Ellie skiing again this year.  They headed up to Winter Park on a weekday (about the only time you can have a good trip up I-70 during the winter) for a fun filled day of skiing. 
This year went much better than last, as Ellie was able to support herself a lot more, and was even skiing on "her own" after a while.  Tom was always within arms distance to grab her as she started to get out of control.
Ellie said that she had a great time skiing, and wants to go again.  Which is always a good sign. 
The night before they went up we were gathering her things, and realized that he size 3T snowpants might be a bit too small, since most of her clothing is a size 5 these days.  Fortunately they fit (just a bit short) and we didn't have to rush out and find some snowpants for her.

Ellie having a hot chocolate break



Skiing!




Taking a break