Ahhhhh...

life is good!

We are officially home owners! The kids and I made it safely to Oregon last night. Yesterday was a crazy stressful day of running around, signing lots of papers, and stressing about getting on the plane. Everything went great! Signing went great and Caleb sat so nicely for the hour and a half meeting. We took a quick trip back to the house to walk in it as "ours." Ran back to pick Caitlin up from school and then packed everything in the car and headed to the airport. We got on the flight flawlessly. I absolutely HATE flying standby with the kids. Of course, I envisioned us in four separate seats throughout the plane. This flight couldn't have been more perfect. We had an entire row in the back to ourselves. I think those were the only empty seats on the plane. God is good! Mom was SO great to fly out and get us. What a long day for her too!

Ryan visualizing his "man cave."

So, we're here for a week and a half. The kids are in heaven, with Nana and Papa. Caleb ran around all morning with Chloe, screaming all the while. It was hard to leave after finally getting a house. I have so much I want to get busy on, but I suppose it's not going anywhere. It's good to be back with loved ones!

Yippee!

We FINALLY got our closing date. We'll be home owner's Wednesday by noon! Then, by sundown, the kids and I will be on a flight to Oregon. My dear mother is flying out here, just to fly back with us, so we can fly for free. Don't know what I'd do without you, mom. You're the best! It will be so good to see everyone. Thankfully every one's health is getting a little better. Then Ryan will come out a week later to help pack all of our junk up. So, unfortunately it will be a little while before I actually get to enjoy the house, but I do kind of like the idea of Ryan getting it all painted, before I get back. ;)

I love turning onto this road on the way home. It's fun to see a little snow on the mountains.

I'm absolutely in love with all the prairie dogs around here. I laugh at myself, every time I stop to look at them. I'm sure the locals must think I'm crazy. But I think they're fun to watch. They're all getting really fat for the winter. They're so cute!

The Pumpkin Patch

Well, I finally gave up trying to find a pumpkin patch close by. I guess I've been spoiled, living out in the country. There were plenty close by. We ended up driving an hour away, but it was worth it. I didn't get too many good pictures though. The sun was definitely impeding on my process.

looking at the animals
Searching for that perfect pumpkin

I'm being too lazy right now to edit out the spot on his face. Sorry!
The Corn Maze

Picking out gourds
And a pretty sunset to end the day.

Of course none of my pictures show it, but there was just a gorgeous view from the pumpkin patch. I just love the mountains!

What a night!

Well, yesterday we had a nice afternoon at the pumpkin patch(I will post pictures later.) Then, when we got back in the car, I had 3 depressing messages on my phone. As I've said before, my step-mom has been battling breast cancer for quite a while now. She has tumors all up and down her spine. She had been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks, because she just hasn't been eating. The first night back home, she fell over and broke her thigh bone, right where it connects into the hip. She had surgery to put a pin in her hip and rod down her leg. During the surgery they found that it broke because she had a tumor on her leg that had eaten through part of the bone to weaken it. Obviously that's not good.

Then the other calls were about my grandpa. He was rushed to the hospital because he was having a hard time breathing. Now he is in ICU with pneumonia.

I can't even explain how much my heart is aching to be closer to home and comforting the ones I love. I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest, when I heard this news. I feel so bad for my dad. The death of his mom earlier this year, struggling to take care of his terminal wife, trying to raise his 2 teenage sons, and now a sick dad too. I worry how much more he can take. It kills me to not be there to support him. I was finally getting over my homesickness, getting settled, and loving it here. Now I'm ready to pack up and get on a plane! I'm glad that we have a visit planned for the end of the month, or I might not be able to stand it.

I read this quote on a friends blog this morning and had to share it. It just made me feel better. Thanks Tanya!

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

My Artist

Okay, I'm sorry, but I have to brag. I'm just so impressed with how much Caitlin's drawing skills have developed. She never ceases to amaze me. With all the gloomy weather this weekend, she spent quite a few hours drawing. These were some of her accomplishments. The last one just blows me away. I couldn't draw like that, if my life depended on it and she's only 8!

BRRRRRR!

Wow, this weekend was a shock to the system. The highs were in the high 30's all weekend. It was so cloudy and gloomy. That weather REALLY reminds me how thankful I am that it is usually sunny around here. But it has been cold. As I look at the amount of long clothes that I brought with us, it's clear that I fully expected to be in a house and have all of our stuff by now. The kids don't seem to have many warm things. I really can't remember if I packed all the warm stuff that fit and I just need to buy them winter clothes, or if I just packed a few things, thinking we wouldn't need them. So sad that 4 months ago, is so very hard to remember clearly! Oh well. We're suppose to get our closing date this week. It will be nice to have a set date so I can plan accordingly. I am SO starting to long for my stuff. I'm sure it will be like Christmas, unpacking. I'll just be happy to have my own bed. Air mattresses are NOT meant to be slept on for 4 months. We joke that it's going to swallow us during the night. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I had to go buy some king sheets for the stupid thing, because my queen set finally wouldn't fit anymore. Now the king set pops off every time we get on. Ahhhh! Only a few more weeks! It is kind of weird to think we'll be home owners by the end of the month. It will be nice to finally get settled in.

Our walk on Friday was cold and gloomy.

The sun made everything prettier, today. Caleb had fun playing "football."

All bundled up!

The butterflies were even back today. I figured they would be long gone with the cold.

I guess it was an exhausting walk!

At least the week started out great!

Unfortunately it took a turn for the worse.

I spent the night hovering over the toilet. I was so glad that Ryan was able to help get Caitlin ready for school and take her. Unfortunately, about 2 hours later, I got a call from the school nurse. She wasn't feeling well either. So, we all spent the day lounging around being lazy, fortunately no more throwing up! Then Caleb and I went down to get the mail and he decided to try and sit on a chain that was hanging to block a driveway. He sat and then flipped backwards and smacked his head on the concrete. I was pretty much in tears, just by the sound. The memory still gives me goosebumps. I barely made it back home carrying him. I don't know when he got so heavy! I watched him all day and all seemed well. Thank goodness he didn't get a concussion. I was sure we were headed to the emergency room. Poor little guy!

This morning we woke up to dreary clouds that are suppose to stick around all weekend, possible snow on Sunday. Ugh! At least my walks will be cooler! :)

Fun Days

This week we got a fun father/son, mother/daughter day. It was free day at the zoo and I had an appointment with the insurance agent. So, the boys headed to the zoo. They had fun, despite the enormous crowd.

After I picked Caitlin up from school, we enjoyed a treat from Sonic. Then we had some quiet time at the library and started the search for the perfect Halloween costume.

Caitlin had a hard time deciding what she wanted to be this year. First she wanted to be a Kiwi bird. Then it was Indiana Jones. Then we saw a Princess Leah costume and she says "I think I'll be Princes Leah. That would make Caleb SOOOOO happy." It's so nice when they act like they love each other! Of course she had to get it on in the car so she could surprise Caleb. He was so excited. He was pretty much speechless. What nutty children I have!

Beauty Everywhere

So, I know you're probably sick of hearing about the bike path, but today on my walk I found more beauty. As we walked down the paths butterflies were everywhere! They kept flitting back and forth in front of us. I'm thinking that they might be Monarchs coming through on their migration, but I haven't looked it up. Between them and the snow capped mountain. I'm actually really enjoying my walks. I was just in awe, yesterday. Everything looked so beautiful. And it's cooling off a little to the mid 70's and sunshine. Perfect! So, I'm having an excellent week.

We struck it rich!

Okay...not really, but we had fun(mostly) trying.

Papa got the kids gold panning stuff, but didn't think he'd make it out to go up with them, before there is snow on the ground. So, I got brave and took the kids up to the mountain, by myself. I really debated if I should because the forecast was for snow in the mountain, rain in Denver. Since we had sunny skies, we gave it a shot. The first half of our journey, we had great weather. We had fun panning in the creek, until our hands and feet were numb. We found one little chunk of Iron Pyrite(Fool's gold) and lots of fun rocks. That was about all they had patience for.

Caitlin ended up having more fun making a dam.

Since we didn't find anything, Caitlin wanted to go to the tour of a gold mine that had panning. They gave us a bag of "gold dirt" to pan out in a trough. Guaranteed gold, Caitlin even had the patience for that. Unfortunately by the time we made it to this gold mine, the cold and rain came in. At least we were just below the 9,000ft. snow level. I'm not ready for snow yet.

Caitlin was a little freaked out by the underground mine. Can you tell?

We got a bag of gemstones to look through too. Caitlin was in heaven!

We thought these chipmunks were too cute.






This day in the mountains really reminded me how much I LOVE the mountains. It's just so pretty up their. I would definitely enjoy living in the mountains, for the summer. :)