McCool Family

Random Pics

2010-07-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pics of Miles. He turned 5 months old this weekend. He rolled over for the first time today. The doctor said he should be starting to roll over soon and he just hasn't been real motivated to do it. So we have been cheering him on and he finally did it without any assistance:-)

Miles loves his walker! There are so many things on it to play with. Dad and mom like it also because it gives us a little time to get things done like cleaning/making meals while he is entertained!

Father's Day morning.....Miles cuddling with his Dad:)

Colorado Springs Zoo!!!

2010-07-05T20:23:00.001-07:00

We went to the zoo here in our city for the first time and loved it! We went with a work thing that paid for us to go. I think it was our favorite zoo we have ever been to! We look forward to going more often! It is a little bit of a hike since it is on the side of a mountain, but even better to get a little bit of a work out:) We had a great time and had fun seeing everyone from my work!

Feeding the giraffes:)

Sleeping lion

I loved this bear!!! He just looked so cuddly:)

This cat cracked us up!!! It made this awful face and just hissed at everyone!

You were able to get so close to all the animals!

Help!!! I'm being mauled by a bear!

Looking out over the zoo and the city

This mountain lion doesn't look so cuddly:-0

I never realized that the moose had the hangy down from it's chin:)

We rode the carousel as a family!

Miles loves to hang out with his dad!

And....Dan got a little carried away here!

This is my friend from work, Jessica's little daughter holding Miles's hand...so cute:-)

Ohio Visit!

2010-06-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Towards the end of May Miles and I flew back to Ohio to visit the fam/friends! I was a little nervous about flying with him by myself, but it all worked out fine (despite the blow out he had on the plane...all the way up the back to his neck:) We swam, went to the zoo with the family, and relaxed! Enjoy the pics!

Miles's first time in the water!

Caleb and Keston LOVE the water!

Me and Caleb on my Birthday!

I turned 27 this year:)

We really enjoyed taking pics of Miles and Eli. They are exactly 2 months apart!

Cousins:-)

After so many pictures Miles stared to melt down and Eli was getting so hungry he was trying to eat Miles's head!

The boys with their great grandma "GG"

The boys with their grandma:)

Caleb loves Miles...not so sure he wanted Caleb to hold him at the time though...

Miles and Eli were on similar schedules so the pack n play came in handy so we could change them at the same time!

Keston LOVES his Papa!!!

Eli is so sweet:)

Julie building something in the sand...

Miles and Eli holding on to each other...

Heather, Morgan, me, and Julie at the Toledo Zoo!

Miles slept a lot at the zoo...good thing he was free to get in:)

Caleb and Grandpa

Keston and Maddy

Heather and her girls

Susie's Visit!

2010-06-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Dan's mom, Susie, came to visit on Mother's Day weekend in May! We only got pictures from one day while she was here because we lost our camera on the hike (we think anyway). We had beautiful weather on Mother's Day to go hiking and everyone had a great time!

Everyone on the hike (minus Emily who is taking the pic:)

Stopped to have a little picnic

Someone wasn't happy laying on the ground:-)

Polly and Susie (sisters:)

Susie got to spend lots of time with Miles that week. She watched him while I was at work!

On a walk in Woodland Park

Keens:)

2010-04-27T20:51:00.001-07:00

Two things that Dan loves...hiking shoes and the Goodwill. So Dan came home from Goodwill the other day so excited because he found some Keen shoes for Miles. If you know Dan, he wears his Keens almost everyday! He's been wanting to get some for Miles since he was born. They are just too expensive to justify buying for a kid that will grow out of them so fast. He found a pair of blue Keens that probably won't fit Miles until he is about 3 years old, but we just had to get a picture with them on his feet!!!

NEVER!!!!

2010-04-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

As a Dental Hygienist, I always said, "My kid will never suck their thumb!" After seeing it affect so many kids teeth and seeing what a hard habit it is to break, (being a former thumb sucker myself) I thought for sure it would be easy to just give him a pacifier and that would solve the problem. Well not if he doesn't want the pacifier! Haha!

Bear Suit!!!

2010-04-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

So we have this bear suit that someone gave us for Miles before he was born. Ever since Miles was born Dan has been dying to put him in the bear suit, but we've just never had the right occasion to dress him in it. So this morning while I was eating my breakfast, Dan comes in to the living room with Miles in his bear suit! He was so cute I had to post pictures of him!!!

I love this one! His look says it all! What the heck am I wearing?!?!

2010-04-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures my cousin Em and I took of Miles the other day and I messed with the effects of the pictures....they turned out pretty good! As you can see he is smiling a lot more now and talking to us a lot too!!! He's changing and developing more all the time! So fun to watch!

Blodgett Trail

2010-04-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

Our first "Big Hike"with Miles........Blodgett Peak (9,400 ft). We went on a pretty difficult hike yesterday with Miles. At times I felt like a "Bad Parent" because parts of the trail were so steep. You know my husband though....when he gets his mind set to do a hike he won't turn back. We made it though and as you can see the view at the top was beautiful!!!

2 Month Old Pictures!

2010-04-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Our baby is 2 months old!!! We love watching Miles develop and change all the time! We went to his 2 month doctors appointment and he weighed 12 lbs and was 23in long. The doctors said he is doing great and gaining weight well! Miles is smiling lots now and trying to talk to us with all of his noises:)

Little chunk!

Jack loves Miles and always wants to lay next to him when we have awake time on the floor!

Family time!

Wedding

2010-04-10T20:08:00.001-07:00

We went to Dan's cousin Katie's wedding in MI over his spring break and had a great time seeing all the family! Brian and Katie are such a great couple and we are so happy for them!!! Here are some pictures of the wedding! They turned out a little dark with our camera, but enjoy!

Brian and Katie Haber

Miles got to meet his Grandma (Grammy), Uncle John, and Aunt Sabitha that weekend!

Grammy and Miles:)

My Mother-n-law and Sister-n-law

Me and Em!!!

They definitely had fun cutting the cake!

Our family:)

Hangin with Wade and Em at the wedding!

Dan's grandparents

The guys hanging out!

Dan's grandparents were the last standing in the dance for the longest married 60+ years!

Spring Break (Visit to OH)

2010-04-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun spring break this year! We traveled back to OH for the first time with Miles and got to spend lots of time with our friends/family:) The last 3 days of the break we spent with Dan's family at his cousin Katie's wedding in MI! Here are some pictures of our time in Ohio!

Spending some time in the sun out by my parents pond!

Loving on Miles.....Keston was so sweet to Miles and so gentle to him! I think he is going to do just fine with his new baby brother Eli:)

One of my favorite things to do is read to Caleb when I come back home to visit! I just LOVE spending time with him!

We had a hang out night with our friends at Andy and Julie's house. I forgot to get the camera out until everyone but David and Heather had left...oops!

Reading to the cousins in the morning:)

Love Caleb's face in this picture!!!

We had a girls night at Olive Garden one of the nights! So good to hang out with all of the girls....it's been so long since we have ALL been together! (Well I guess I shouldn't say all of us....Jeni Gardner, we missed you:)

Spending some time with Pa Pa!

Such a good grandpa:)

I also LOVE playing with Caleb in his tent! He could play in there for hours!

Again....Keston couldn't get enough of Miles!

We celebrated Morgan and Maddy's Birthday's at Heather and Zak's house....beautiful girls:)

Caleb and Keston had a ball with all the balloons!!!

Not sure when or why Keston ended up naked playing with the balloons, but I couldn't resist taking this picture...so cute!

More Visitors:)

2010-03-16T20:31:00.001-07:00

My sweet girlfriends all flew out to visit me, and well I guess Miles too:) It was so fun to spend time with them and for them to get to meet Miles! Unfortunately the weather was snowy while they were here so we did lots of shopping:) My sister n' law, Julie, was here for 5 days and Heather and Britnye were here for 3 days. I had so much fun and really appreciated you girls coming out to visit me! I love you!!!!!!Dan and Julie gave Miles a bath the evening after Julie flew in. Miles loves his baths!

He just loves that warm water!

"All clean in my pooh towel while my aunt Julie holds me"

"So I decided to leave aunt Julie a little present in my towel" .....little stinker!!!

"My aunt Julie teaching my mom how to cut my nails"

So sweet with his little stuffed dog:)

Holding his doggie....

We took the girls to Jack Quin's (Our favorite restaurant)

Heather and Jules

Britnye and Me

Yes...those are socks on his hands...he doesn't like to keep his mittens on his hands and he scratched his face a lot the first couple weeks if we didn't keep something on his hands!

Heather and Miles:)

Miles's fan club!

After Heather and Britnye left I took Julie to Garden of the Gods...it was so pretty with all the snow on the rocks!

Balancing Rock

Visitors:)

2010-03-16T20:08:00.001-07:00

We had many visitors after Miles was born! My parents were the first. We had Miles on a Wed afternoon and they flew in on Thurs morn. That was the nice part about being induced...we were able to plan much better. They were so helpful while they were here. They helped out with things that needed done around the house (my dad was Mr. fix it while he was here) and helped take care of Miles. Thanks guys for all you did! Love you!!! We also had some visitors the night we came home from the hospital...check out the pics!

The first day we got home from the hospital.

Dan's Uncle David & Aunt Polly and Wade & Emily (his cousin) came over the first night we came home and brought us pizza flowers and gifts:) This is a pic of the guys playing the Wii.

More Wii...

Playing lots of Wii that weekend (It was snowy outside)

Polly, my Mom and Miles

Me, Em, and Miles

She loves him!!!

Hanging out with Miles:)

The Birth of Miles:)

2010-02-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I decided to get our Blog back and running again! I was getting some complaints for neglecting to keep up with our blog site and I decided that it's important esp now that we have a new addition to our family for all of our relatives/friends to see pictures and keep up with our lives:) I was going to try to sit down and completely update pictures from Miles birth until now, but I figure I won't overwhelm myself and I will just start out with his birth. I will try to get more pictures up within the next week so check back for more:)

Miles Weber McCool
Feb 3rd, 2010
9lbs 21in

I will try to tell the birth story the best that I remember it! First of all this is me a week before I went into labor.....those of you who saw me right before labor remember that my stomach was....HUGE....:) I had many people ask me if I was having twins....I would just smile, tell them no, and try not to feel like the most enormous woman in the world:) Then I would ask my husband for compliments to boost my self esteem!

This is me right before I went into the labor! Looking like a whale, but feeling great:)

I was induced at about 7:30pm on Feb 2nd. They gave me pitocin to get the process started. When I went into the hospital I was only dilated 1cm. The nurse came in and gave me more and more pitocin all night, but nothing seemed to be happening. I was just getting more uncomfortable and I couldn't sleep at all. I sucked on some suckers and watched the movie 13 going on 30 (some goodies my cousin Emily brought me that night in the hospital). I was still only dilated 1-2cm by morning and the nurse gave me some pain meds at about 4am because I was starting to get more and more uncomfortable. At 6am Dr Baer showed up and said....lets get this show on the road! He broke my water and let me tell you....we thought there was a flood! For those of you that don't know, I found out the day before I was induced from the ultrasound that I had polyhydramnios which is excessive amniotic fluid....part of why my belly got so big....well that and I had a 9lb baby! Anyway, then shortly after breaking my water they gave me an epidural. I was much more comfortable after that. I was able to finally sleep some and then about 1:00 pm the Dr came in and checked and I was 10cm dilated. Dr Baer also had to do a surgery on someone at the same time, so he decided that I should do a couple practice pushes to see if I was ready. Turned out he didn't think I was quite ready yet so he went downstairs to do the surgery and came back up in an hour and a half. At that point I was ready and I only had to push for 15 min and out he came! Miles Weber McCool!

Dan hanging out just waiting for Dr Baer to come back in and deliver the baby!

And there he is!!!! Big Boy Miles! (Me holding him right after he was born:)
I couldn't have been more amazed with what God had given us. He's perfect! The whole process just blew my mind...how God just creates our bodies to give birth to such a wonderful life! Sooo AMAZING!!!
He's such a proud father!
Dr. Baer was an AMAZING doctor! For those of you who don't know, he was born in my hometown Van Wert, OH. He said he's delivering his 5,000th baby this year! Crazy! He was so good to us and would just come in and hang out and talk to us! Couldn't have asked for a better doctor!
Love this picture with his hair sticking up!
This is his muscle shot! Dan loves that he looks like he is flexing his muscles already! Haha!
Our New Family:)Miles meeting grandpa for the first time! My parents flew in the next morning and it was soo...good to see them and have them there with me!

Miles meeting his grandma for the first time!

This was right after he was born. We had to give him formula because he had low blood sugar levels. They said that is pretty common with big babies and it takes a lot to keep it up so since I wasn't producing enough milk yet we had to give him formula.

Okay, I'll be honest....one of my favorite parts was the food at the hospital! It was so good and I loved being able to order whatever I wanted!!! I pigged out!

Loving on him:)

Wade and Emily came to visit the night he was born and were the first to meet him! I know Miles just loves them already!!!

My friend Laura visiting...

My friend Lindsay visiting....

Lindsay's husband Nate...We often call these two the blonde hair twins:)
Miles in his car seat for the first time going home from the hospital!
Miles meeting Jack for the first time....Jack loves him by the way and always wants to know what he's up to!

Turkey Day!

2009-12-01T21:55:00.001-08:00

Out to eat at The Pantry for breakfast Thanksgiving morning!

A little blurry...but a pic of everyone crowded around the table (Dan's in the bathroom:)

After our Thanksgiving meal that night.....my favorite part:)

Emily and me:)

Wade, Rob, and Poppy by the bonfire...

Trouble....

The whole gang on Thanksgiving!

Poppy, me, Dan, Susie, and Grammy

Wade, Emily, me, and Dan

Poppy hiking with Jack:)

Baby Shower:)

2009-12-01T21:39:00.000-08:00

While Dan's family was here visiting over Thanksgiving they threw a baby shower for me! It was so fun to spend time with family/friends and just have girl time:) Emily worked so hard to plan it and had it at her house. It turned out great! Thanks ladies!!!

Emily and me:)

Beautiful ladies....

Dan loved that gift:)

Opening presents...

The big lion I got from Dan's brother and his wife!

Dan's side of the family....so much fun to spend time with them!

Everyone wanted a picture with the lion!!!

6 Months Pregnant!

2009-11-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

Finally in my 3rd trimester:) Only 3 more months to go and we are very excited! I definitely don't feel ready yet for the baby to be here, but we are working on the room and discussing names currently. So far I've been very blessed because it's been a healthy pregnancy w/no complications! Praise God!

Our first house!

2009-11-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

We closed on our first house Sept 14th! We feel so blessed with what God has provided for us with in just the 1st two years of our marriage. It's been a very exciting adventure for us...but also very tiring. We have been doing lots of painting/improvements inside so I will wait to post before and after pictures of the inside. Here are some pictures of the outside though!

Back yard

Our deck

John and Sabitha's Wedding!

2009-11-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

Dan's brother John & Sabitha got married on October 3rd! We flew to Texas for the wedding and Dan was in it. They had a beautiful wedding and we really enjoyed getting to see all the family:)
Congratulations!!!

The beautiful bride!

At the reception...

Can't remember what Polly and I were laughing at but it must have been really funny!

Dan's mom and her sisters dancing together:)

Longest married still on the dance floor....Both sets of Dan's grandparents.

Visit to Ohio!

2009-11-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

I was able to go back to Ohio to visit friends and family at the end of September. I had such a great time getting to see everyone! My friends/family threw a baby shower for me and it helped tremendously with preparing us with some of the things we will be needing for the baby:)

Julie, Nicki, and me

Going for a bike ride w/dad and mom:)

Hanging out in Wal Mart with my nephew!

Heather, me, Julie, and Laura

Girls night at the mexican restaurant!

Pregnant ladies:) Having a hard time seeing Julie's baby bump in this pic. We'll have to get a better one when I come back to visit at Christmas time!

Keston helping Pa pa put together Andy's grill for his b-day!

Happy Birthday!!!

Opening presents

My Baby Shower!

Hillary, me, Heather, and Julie

Melinda & Judy

Kelley, Ruth, Rose, & Emily

Jackie & Abbi (and their girls:)

Barb, Mary, Ashley, Heather, Hillary, and little Molly

Opening gifts:)

Playing a baby game....

Playing the bottle game...

Thanks Jules for working so hard on my shower!

20 Week Prego Pic

2009-11-04T19:48:00.000-08:00

Our 20 week ultrasound went well! We withstood temptation to find out what we're having...going to be a surprise!

New Job!!!

2009-08-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well, Dan got a new job working at Fort Carson Middle School. He will still be teaching history, but no more high schoolers. We feel so blessed that he was able to get a job in a public school with retirement and a pay raise. It will definitely be helpful now that we have a baby on the way! Here are a couple pics of his new school! It's huge for a middle school and it's pretty new! Praise God!

Visitors!!!

2009-08-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

Our friends David and Heather from Ohio came out to visit and vacation in Colorado! I think they had a great time, but seemed to be a little exhausted by the end from all the camping. They took a couple of days to relax at our place at the end of their vacation before they headed back. We went camping while they were here and had such a great time! They also hiked Mt Huron with Dan (a 14er). They made it to about 13,500 ft before getting elevation sickness. We felt so bad, but they did great!!! Here are some pics of our fun times while they were here!

Warming up by the fire:)

Making spaghetti over the stove and garlic bread....yum:)

Having a GREAT time in the wilderness!

Enjoying our time together which seems to be few and far between now....

Little blurry.....

This is the start of the trail at about 6am on the way up Mt Huron

No, I did not hike the 14er....I'm only allowed up to 11,000 ft being pregnant so I hiked as far as I could with them and then turned around....still very early in the morning!
Dan went on by himself after they got sick.
Here he is at the summit of Mt Huron!

This is Mt Princeton Hot Springs. We came here that night to relax in the warm water.

Not only were there hot springs in the river, but also hot springs pools. David and Dan enjoying the hot water on their sore muscles after the hike!

More Visitors!!!

2009-08-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

Dan's mom Susie came to visit us for 9 days and we had a great time! We got to take her on a couple good hikes, we went to a Rockies game, out to eat a few times, and went to Woodland Park to stay with Dan's Uncle David and Aunt Polly over night! Enjoy the pics!

Dan and Susie at the top of the Crags.

On our way up to the Crags with Polly and David!

All of us at the top! (Can you tell I am starting to show through my t-shirt:)

At the Rockies game!

This was our 1st hike the morning after Susie got there.....you can tell we are stopping to take breaks so Susie can get acclimated and for the tired pregnant girl:)

Susie and me

Dan and Susie

We're Pregnant!!!

2009-08-06T08:14:00.001-07:00

I assume that most of you know by now that WE'RE PREGNANT! We just haven't officially posted it on the blog yet so I thought I would do that! We are getting close to the end of our 4th month and I'm definitely starting to show! I haven't taken any belly shots yet, but I will try to do that soon and post them on the blog. I really only went through 3 weeks of feeling nauseous and then it stopped. I am feeling great now that I am in my 2nd trimester. I'm still having a hard time finding foods that sound good to me. I'm pretty picky .....Dan just loves it:) We have decided that we are not going to find out what we are having. We thought it would be fun to have a surprise on our first one! We are so very thankful that God has chosen to bless us with a little one. Please be praying for us that God prepares us during this time for one of the most challenging/rewarding things we've ever gotten to do!

Colorado Family Vacation!!!

2009-07-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

I've been a little behind in updating our blog lately! We have had a really busy summer with lots of visitors and new things going on with us! This vacation was almost a month ago now, but we had such a great time with everyone! It was sad to see them go, but we were just so thankful that they could come and that we got to spend such quality time with everyone! This post took me a long time because I had such a hard time picking out pictures....that's why I have so many! I don't even think I used half of the pictures from the vacation:) Enjoy!

Dad, Mom, Julie, and I went on a 25 mile bike ride through the mountains. It was one of the most amazing things I think we have ever done! The views were just so gorgeous and most of the trip was just coasting downhill which made it even better:)

The professional riders!

Loving our time together on the trip!

Out to eat at Zacca Za's....

One of the days we just walked around Vail when they had a farmer's market/art show. Julie and Caleb trying on hats in one of the shops!

Caleb liked this guy standing by the tents in Vail. He definitely looked like a statue!

Here's Caleb playing in the fountains on the street.

This pic is so funny! Caleb decided to just run through the fountain and his face was in shock afterwords from how cold the water was:)

We decided to get a pic with the hott skier:)

Can we build it Caleb? Yes We Can!!!
(Dan and Caleb liked to make forts out of the couch cushions)

Pa pa teaching Caleb how to play pool!

Hanging out in the game room....can you tell who is winning here? ...not me!

Concentrating on his next shot

Hanging out by the lake

What did daddy find for Caleb...a crawdad....I think I'll pass on petting him!

Jules and me

Hanging out by the playground....uncle Dan and Keston

Caleb loved playing in the sand:)

Cool dude!

Enjoying the hot tub!

Keston LOVED the pool!

Easing the muscles after all that hiking in the hot tub:)

Hiking up to Hanging Lake! The guys did awesome hiking w/Caleb and Keston on their backs.....I give them credit!

Me and Dad:)

I think this was taken on the way down.....we look pretty happy there!

Is she going to make it???

Everyone made it!

Hanging lake in the background....so beautiful!

Keston was out when we got back!

Grandma and Keston

After Andy and Julie left, Dad and mom stayed with us in CO Springs for a few days.

We took them to Garden of the Gods

A couple of monkeys climbing up the rock!

California Vacation!!!

2009-07-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

We decided to go to California this year on vacation because I had never been there and I've always wanted to go! We visited Dan's cousin Aaron and his wife Michelle while we were there and had a great time with them!

Here we are at La Jolla beach!

Michelle and me:)

We loved the seal beach in La Jolla! It was so fun to watch the seals!

The sun setting

Enjoying my ice cream on the beach:)

We got free tickets to the San Diego Zoo and had a great time!

Evening stroll on the beach...

Dan sleeping in the sun!

We rented bikes and rode them along the boardwalk for a couple hours! What a beautiful view on our bike ride of the ocean:)

Aaron and Michelle treated us to some desserts:)

Dan and Aaron

My favorite ice cream place we ate at! Berries and Beans is the name of it and you could choose your flavor and the amount of ice cream and the picture below shows all different kinds of toppings you can add!Here we are out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. Aaron decided to jump it and sing along!

Our last day we went to LA to experience Hollywood Blvd! Wow...definitely a crazy busy place with some crazy strange characters!

Lots of New Updates!!!

2009-06-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

SURPRISE PARTY!!!
Emily planned a surprise birthday party for Liz and me with the help of our husbands! We were definitely surprised! We were supposed to be having a girls night/guys night and Emily somehow tricked us into going back to Liz's house where everyone was there to surprise us! It was so much fun! I love my cousin!

There was so much good food! Yum!!

In front of our B-day sign:)

Dan and Wade grilling food for us all!

The guys hanging around the table

Our ladies bible study!
Liz, Me, Jen, Nicole, Emily

Liz, Me, Michelle (our pastor's wife), Rebekah

What a great surprise Emily!

More 14ers...

2009-06-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Dan is still hiking lots of 14ers. I haven't gone with him recently, but he just finished hiking Mt Beirstadt and Mt Evans!

At one of the summits (not sure which one)

Yes this is a white mountain goat! Dan got pretty close to him. He's so fury....I would love to pet one:)

My mountain man!!!

Random Putt Putt Pics!

2009-06-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

Boulder Boulder Race!

2009-06-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from our Boulder Boulder Race! We drove to Boulder the day before. We walked around down town and then stayed at a hotel close by. The race is huge and over 50,000 people run in it! It was definitely the funnest race I've ever run in. There were so many bands and people cheering you on the whole time. Lots of fun entertainment!

We finished!

Me!

Wade and Emily!

My supportive husband who cheered us on:)

The finish line was in the CU stadium

Eating our free fruit bars after the race! David and Polly also came and cheered us on!

Mt Sherman!!!

2009-05-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we hiked another 14er and had a great time! Dan is planning on hiking a lot of 14ers this summer to achieve his goal of hiking them all. Our favorite part of the hike was sliding down the mountain on the snow the whole way down! Enjoy our pics!

At the summit! We made it!

The view at the top was beautiful!

Signing the summit registry!

Getting closer!

Our Future home!

Dan sliding down the mountain!

Geronimo!!!!

Shane and Shane Concert!

2009-05-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we had a girls night and we went to A Shane and Shane Concert while some of our husbands had a poker night! We had a great time and the Shane's did an amazing job! Emily and I bought their newest CD and it's great for those of you that are Shane and Shane fans!

We got a picture after the concert with Shane & Shane...kinda felt like these crazy stalker girls excited to just be in a picture with Shane and Shane but oh well it was fun!

Shane Bernard

Excited for the show to start!

After the concert Emily and I went to Old Chicago with Liz and her twin sister to get a bite to eat!

Our Busy Lives......

2009-04-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I have updated our blog. We have been really busy the last couple months. I had gone back to Ohio to visit and to take a class for my job at the beginning of March. Dan has been really busy teaching, coaching, and heading up a camp for the freshman since he is their class sponsor. Oh and did I mention we went to his school prom......yes, as chaperone's. Haven't been to the prom since high school and Dan told me that I would not be allowed to dance because he had to see these kids the next day in class. Haha....I decided not to embaress him. Also we had friends, "The Peake's" come to visit us at the end of March. Then I flew to Arizona in April to spend some time with my grandma, aunt, and mom for a few days. Now we are wrapping up the month of April and next week is Dan's last week of baseball. They are doing really well their record as of today is 9 and 1. I will try to take some pictures at his Monday night game next week and post them. Below I posted some pictures of what we have been doing so enjoy!!!

Girls Weekend in Arizona!

2009-04-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in April we decided to have a girls weekend in Arizona! My mom and I both flew to Phoenix and met up with my grandma and aunt Diane. We had such a fun weekend just spending time together and laughing nonstop! We were there for about 4 days. It was definitely a weekend to remember!

This is us in the back of Wrigley mansion. They have made a restaurant inside of the guy's mansion who invented Wrigley gum. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Here we are eating in the mansion.

Grandma, Mom, and me behind the mansion
Mom posing for me:)
Aunt Diane
In front of Wrigley mansion.

Grandma's pool down by the clubhouse...this is where we spent a lot of time just relaxing in the sun...aww.....

This is mom upset that I'm trying to take her pic in her swim suit....haha

Relaxing in the water w/my noodle:)

In front of Grandma's mobile home.....It's definitely an Easter Celebration there! I don't know if you can see in the pic, but she goes all out decorating for Easter in front of her house!

This was at the Elephant Bar and Grill Restaurant

This is Diane and Rick's new house in the mountains that they built north of Pheonix. It is just beautiful! We went up and spent one night there. It isn't finished yet but they are working on it!

The kitchen so far....

Playing Yahtzee late at night!

Peake's Visit to Colorado!!!

2009-04-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to have our friends from Ohio come and visit us! We've been missing them a lot and it was just so good to spend quality time with them. They came the week of Dan's spring break and so we planned all kinds of fun stuff to do every day! We took so many pictures so I had to be select about which ones to put on here or I would be on the computer all day! Enjoy!!!

Rocky Mountain National Park

The guys went ahead of us when we were hiking so Britnye and I decided to stop and rest and take a few pictures!

Mostly we were just trying to pretend like we are cool.....

Here we are in Boulder. It was a sunny afternoon and we walked around through the different shops downtown.

Our friends Dave and Liz invited us all over for a cookout and we had a great time!!!

Dr. Schmidt checking Dawson's heart beat:)

Dan and Wade manning the grill.

Dan and Dan catching up!

We hiked the Crags one day and it was also a beautiful day!

Skiing at Copper Mtn. I love this pic of the two of them!

Britnye and I struggling to take this picture as we are about to fall down:)

And you can tell he absolutely loves snow boarding!!!

Britnye and I had a great time skiing together!!! We miss you guys!

Visit to Ohio

2009-03-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

The beginning of March I flew back to Ohio to take a class at Owens and to visit friends/family! It was so good to be back and to spend quality time with everyone! Here are a few pics of my visit!

Hillary took me to Julie's house on Thurs after my class and we had a fun girls day! Here are the boys playing with Caleb's water table!

So good to see Caleb again...love getting to play with my nephew!

Here is Julie forming a band with Caleb and Addison!

Keston is getting so big!

Cheese!

I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with Laura when we visited, but I was still really happy to at least get to see her again. She is looking adorable w/her little prego belly:)

Caleb and Owen loved playing in the tree!

Keston in his jump-a-roo!

Hanging out at Andy and Julies!

Taking some fun pictures with the family before I flew back!

2nd Ski Trip This Year!

2009-02-22T20:34:00.001-08:00

So this is the only picture I have of our ski trip today. Not quite what we had in mind AT ALL. We went to Copper Mtn to ski/snowboard this morning with Dan's cousin Emily, her husband Wade, and his uncle David. We had a first great run down the mountain and on our 2nd time down Dan fell and bent his thumb almost completely back....ouch! We spent the rest of our day at the hospital clinic there. Long story short he sprained a ligament and has a deep tissue contusion (bruising). He has to wear this nice neon green cast for a month. They didn't let him pick the color of his cast but I thought that it was kind of funny.......it doesn't draw any attention at all:) I asked if he would let me sign it and I got a frown...I think that means no, haha.

Valentine's Day!

2009-02-16T20:48:00.000-08:00

V-day this year ended up being a surprise get away and we had such a great time! When I got home from work Dan had surprised me with a night away at a Bed and Breakfast in Manitou Springs! He had arranged for his cousin to let Jack out while we were gone and we left to go check into our room! Then we walked down to a restaurant called The Loop that many people had recommended to us. It was really good! We went back to the B&B and sat in the hot tub and talked for the longest time.....so nice to be able to do that. Sometimes our weeks are just so busy! Then we stayed up late watching the Cosby show on TV (one of our new favorites:) The next morning they made us breakfast and then we walked around Manitou and went to all the different shops! I love surprises...they are so great! I have such a wonderful hubby!

They set up a little V-day display in our room:)

The B&B was victorian style

Haha....I had to get a pic of him in that robe before we went down to the hot tub! That's his best attempt to pose in his robe:)

Our 1st Ski Trip!

2009-02-02T07:58:00.000-08:00

We each got four-time passes to Copper Mountain this winter to ski/snowboard. We went last Thursday for the first time and loved it!!! Dan snowboarded for the first time and I skied for the 3 time. It had been at least 6 or 7 years since I had gone and things seemed to come back to me as the day went on. It was a pretty cold day, but absolutely gorgeous! We can't wait to go back again. We went with Dan's uncle Dave and we are excited to next time have his cousin Emily and her husband, who also got passes, to go with us!

This was in the lodge, we had packed our lunch and left them in the lockers.

Beautiful Scenery picture!

David helped teach Dan how to snowboard...lets just say it was fun to watch!

By the end of the day they were both pros!

Exhausted by the end of the day!

It felt so nice to be warm inside:)

I had to post this pic....the night before Dan was trying on his gear and practicing inside.....he looks like a professional already....haha

Our New Truck!

2009-01-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun buying our first car together! We had been wanting a truck (something with 4 wheel drive) to be able to get us up mountains and steep areas with snow. We have gotten our little car stuck a couple of times and what a frustrating thing! So we really liked the Toyota Tundras and finally found a great deal on one! It was used of course, but new to us! Check it out!

Dan driving up in his new truck! You can tell he is a little excited....

1st Colorado Winter!!!

2009-01-21T08:31:00.001-08:00

Our first winter in Colorado Springs has been wonderful! Everyone told us that the winters would be more mild here than back in Ohio, but we had no idea that meant 50's and 60's in January. We have been able to do lots of hikes and even wear shorts....crazy! The sun also shines so much brighter here that we get sun burnt so much easier than back home, so we've had to be careful about that. All in all though we have really enjoyed getting out and just enjoying all of God's creation. We are just amazed by His beauty all around:)

We did a long hike at Red Rock Canyon on Saturday....what a gorgeous day!

Jack likes to follow Dan when he hikes up the red rocks...makes me nervous!

This picture is from Monday morning we hiked up Mt Herman in Monument, CO....It was beautiful!

There's snow once you get higher up in the mountains right now and Jack loves to dive in head first....it's hilarious!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

New Years Eve we got together with our Ohio friends and had such a great time! Looking at these pictures makes me a little emotional because we have such a history with all of these friends! It really was just so good to see them all again! We stayed up later a couple of those nights than I can remember staying up in a long, long time! It was very bitter sweet to leave!

Julie, Heather, Britnye, me, and Jeni......Laura & Hillary we missed you!

The guys had such a great time playing cards and "Settlers" (sp?)

You can tell we had a great time playing the wii!

The girls also played "Take Two"

This is us at about 3am......zzzzz.....

I think all the girls were asleep on the couch....except maybe Heather. I think she might have still been playing the Wii.......She's not competitive at all....haha sorry Heather I had to!

This is New Years Day.....still playing the Wii!

Taking pictures before we have to leave each other again:(

New Year's Day still....we went out to eat at Olive Garden...yum yum!

Exhausted in the airport, waiting to fly home.

Dan's Birthday!!!

2009-01-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

Dan turned 27 this year! We were in Ohio on his birthday and he wanted to hang out with some of his guy friends and watch football....so that's what we did! We got together at Sam and Ashley's house and the guys were able to watch some football and play cards! We had a great time!

Enjoying some guys time!

It turned out pretty good for me too because I got to hang out with some of my girls!

"Christmas 2008"

2009-01-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

What a great holiday! We flew back to Ohio to spend time with family and friends for the holidays. We really feel like God has blessed us so much with our health, family, and friends. We couldn't be more thankful! We took lots of pictures of our trip so enjoy!

We took this family photo after Caleb and Keston went to bed....so it's not complete, but the best we got!

I love this picture!!! I think Caleb is just so cute when he dances!

Dan had left for Colorado before Keston was born, so this was his first time seeing him! He's such a smiley baby!

He sticks out his tongue like that all the time...he's so cute!

Christmas morning...Caleb is opening his animal farm and I think it was his favorite gift of them all!

I was surprised to get the Willow Tree Nativity scene I had asked for Christmas!

Dad and Mom with their photobook we made them for Christmas

Caleb loves monkey's ....and he likes to act like them too!

Keston in his 1st Christmas shirt! He liked watching everyone open presents:)

Julie got a bike!

Me trying to maul Dan with my new ski gloves!

Julie and I spent hours making these chocolate Christmas treats (Julie calls them chocolate turds...I don't think that is a very appetizing name:) Anyway, they turned out absolutely delicious!

Caleb with his new game!

Christmas with the Casey's!

Pic with our DAD:)

Somebody got a trash can for Christmas and Caleb just loved putting it on his head!

We all got together at George and Laura's house that sat night! We had a great time getting to see them again...we played guitar hero!

I don't know what Dan is doing in this picture.....

We went bowling one night with dad and mom and the Brubaker family!

She's a professional.....can't ya tell?!?!

Always has a big cheese on his face!

C'mon muscles....pick up that ball!

We babysat Caleb one night and he just cracked us up the whole time! He was being a little helper getting the bucket and helping clean up by the fireplace!

Shh......don't tell mom we had lots of chocolate ice cream right before bed!

Worn out by the end of the night!

Mom decorates the the tree so pretty!

Girls Night Out!

2008-12-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

Tues night we decided to have a girls night out with our women's bible study. Some of the girls were not able to come, but we went to the Melting Pot. That was my first time ever going there and I loved it! For those of you who have never been there, it is a fondue restaurant. We got a couple different cheese fondues and a chocolate one. They bring out all these different foods to dip in the fondues....the chololate one was my favorite:)

(Left to right) Laura, Emily, Me, Liz, and Megan

We didn't think to take a picture while we had all that delicious food on the table, but this is our empty chocolate fondue......so good.

Liz and me! The lights down town in the Springs are so pretty right now!

Christmas Party!

2008-12-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday night we had our Christmas Party with our bible study. We did a gag gift exchange and we had a great time! This is a pic of the whole crew! Dan and I were just talking about how God has just blessed us immensely since we have moved here with wonderful people in our lives and has provided for us financially in so many ways! So many people here have been so generous and have blessed us with things that we probably wouldn't have been able to afford. God is so good!

Kurt and Aubrey opened Dan's gag gift. They were thrilled to get a cigar box with a really ugly tie and a picture of Dan with his shirt off that he Autographed for them along with a couple of other silly items! WOW.......

Christy got my gag gift.....a stupid DVD and a shirt that says University of Toledo Marching Band on it!

Shawn got a hat that came from Africa.....he said that it should have stayed in Africa..haha

As you can see Laura is holding an ugly glass decoration that she got in the gift exchange!

My Relaxing Tuesday!

2008-12-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

This is a small post that I thought I would share. Tues was the first day I've had off in a while and I was so excited to hang out with some of my girlfriends that I have made here (my midwest friends)! We all made a dish and had brunch! It was so good to just relax and chat in the morning when I should normally be working. I thought hmm......maybe this stay at home mom thing will be pretty fun! I'm sure all you stay at home moms out there can say that it's not just hanging out with friends all day:)

Liz, Me, and Laura

Thanksgiving

2008-12-08T08:01:00.001-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we were in Woodland Park for the weekend. We couldn't afford to fly home for X-mas and Thanksgiving so we had to pick. We missed getting to see everyone on Dan's side this year for Thanksgiving, as we usually get to do, but we had a great time with the Uher's! They have been so wonderful to us since we've moved here and I don't know what we would do without them! It is just such a blessing to have family around after moving to a new city.

We went out to eat Thanksgiving morning for breakfast.....it's kind of become a tradition:)

David and Polly preparing the turkey!

Sitting down for our Thanksgiving meal

We had our first big snow that weekend since we've moved here.

After a funfilled day we fell asleep by the fire.....even Jack wore himself out!

As you can tell this picture isn't from Thanksgiving. We celebrated Polly's birthday at the beginning of the week.

We went out to eat and then came back to our house for cake and ice cream:)

New Haircut!!!

2008-11-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

If you look at our pictures from the previous blogs you'll notice that my hair was getting really long. I thought since we won't get to see our friends and family from back home for a while I would post pics of my new hair cut! I went to Emily's salon on friday and she gave me a new hairstyle! I think she did a great job....you be the judge:)

This picture doesn't really fit in this blog post, but we were so excited to have our cousin Josh in town. He was in the Springs for work and we got to go out to eat with him Friday night. It was so good and refreshing to see him again!

Denver Weekend:)

2008-11-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to Denver with Wade & Emily and David & Polly to see Dan's aunt Ann's art work. She makes large sculptures out of cardboard and they look really cool! She had been wanting to get her art work into this famous art gallery in Denver for quite some time. She had an open house fri night so we went to that and then stayed at a hotel that night so we could hand out in Denver the next day. We had a great time! We also got to see Dan's grandpa (Poppy) on friday night at the gallery. It was so good to see him and aunt Ann again!

Dan with his aunt Ann....this is one of her smaller sculptures that is covered in bronze.

You can see how big the sculptures are with Emily and I standing next to them.....no we are not playing hide-in-seek in the art gallery even though it appears that way:)

This picture was taken from the upper level. The sculpture in the corner is Ann's and so are the squares on the wall. The squares are all different designs made out of carboard also!

Here's Poppy deep in thought while studying the art work.

After we went to the art gallery, Ann's friend she was staying with invited us over for food and drinks. Her condo was so cool, it was an old elementary school made into condos. She lives on the 3rd floor which used to be the gym. The brick wall in the background was the original walls in the gym!

Here are the guys lounging around in the morning watching TV.

Emily and me......and some random guys with some alternative lifestyles:)
(Riding to downtown Denver)

Aunt Ann has some sculptures in a park downtown Denver so we decided to get our pics taken in front of them!

This is her plaque.

It was so fun to just hang out in Denver for the day. We shopped, walked around, and ate at ESPN zone.

This is Brown Palace Hotel. We went in just to check it out....it was Gorgeous! They were making a pyramid with 6,000 champaign glasses. They were just about done when we walked in. I wouldn't want to be the one to accidentally knock that over!

Last 14er for the year!

2008-11-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago we tried to hike our last 14er for the year. It was still in the 80's and sunny in the Springs, but not at the top of Mt Grays:) We knew there would be snow, but didn't realize how cold and windy it would be. We got close to the top, but the closer we got the more windy it was. It was so strong at times we had to do everything we could to keep the wind from knocking us right on our butts. It was a hard decision to make, but we decided it would be best for us and the dog to turn around before we got to the top. Oh well, we will have to wait till next summer to do any more 14ers.

Here we are at the trail head of Mt Grays.

I like to remind Dan how blessed he is to have a wife that goes on these adventures with him....esp in this type of weather:)

What a gorgeous pic huh?!?!?!

Man's best friend.......
Dan's best friend.......
Jack........

Our First Snow!!!

2008-10-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well we got our first snow on Tues night this week. We woke up on Wed morning and the ground was covered. It didn't last long once the sun came out it was melted by the afternoon. It was pretty while it lasted!

This was taken outside our front door (The mountains are behind the clouds). I will try to post some pictures this week of our house for all of you that haven't seen it yet!

The road in front of our townhouse.

I got a picture while it was snowing of our patio/grill

And this is Jack after going out in his 1st Colorado snow. He loves snow and loves to dig his head in it:)

Pumpkin Show West

2008-10-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the Pumpkin Show West! Dan's Uncle & Aunt lived in Circleville, OH home of the largest pumpkin show you have ever seen! Last year we went to the pumpkin show in Circleville for the first time and we couldn't believe how huge it was. This year we had a great time at David and Polly's house eating LOTS of pumpkin flavored foods and hanging out with everyone!

Dan and Emily ready to dig in to all that yummy food!

Emily and me relaxing before the party starts:)

There are so many desserts that I never knew could be made out of pumpkin!

Polly slaving hard in the kitchen

The house was so full of people everywhere that it was hard to even walk through it! It was great!

Surprise Visit to Ohio!!!

2008-10-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I decided to make a surprise visit to Ohio for my mom's birthday. She was shocked!!! We video taped me walking in her classroom and surprising her! Dad was able to get a substitute teacher for her without knowing. We spent the whole day on Friday together shopping and just hanging out for the day! On Saturday the rest of the family came and we all celebrated her birthday! Unfortunately Dan was unable to come with me, but it was good to see some of my friends and family again!

We were able to spend the day with Laura on Thursday. We took the boys to McDonald's and they were pumped to play on the playground while we were able to have some girl time!

These little trampolines were so much fun for the boys!

We had a hard time getting Caleb to look at the camera.....he didn't want to stop playing for pictures:)

The weather was gorgeous and I borrowed mom's bike so Dad and I could take a couple bike rides while I was there. So relaxing to just take a bike ride in the country:)

Caleb loves playing in tents.........

And so does "Pa Pa"........

They played so hard that this was the result.......

I cherish the times I get to play with my nephew:)

I love this picture! Caleb didn't want to just pet the dog....he wanted to be taken on a ride!

Sisterly love.......

Caleb loved helping Grandma blow out her birthday candles:)

There's always room for desert!

It was such a treat to get to see Nicki while I was home. Just so happened we flew home around the same times! I loved getting to have a Bob Evans breakfast and spend time with my girl friends!

Emily's 21st Birthday!

2008-10-01T06:39:00.001-07:00

Sunday September 28th was Emily's birthday and we were just getting back from our big hike so we celebrated Emily's birthday on Monday! We started out by going to the license bureau and I got my new Colorado license and she got her new license also! We spent the rest of the day out by the pool/hot tub at her apartment. The weather here has been so sunny and warm everyday, I love it!

We had some fruity drinks to celebrate with:)

What else do two girls without a job do during the day!

Colorado Adventures with Three 14er's

2008-09-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went camping and hiked three 14,000 ft mountains with Dan's Uncle David and Aunt Polly. We had such a great time.....excluding the snow. It was incredibly hard to hike three 14er's in one day, but we did it! Enjoy the pics!

Here we are on the top of Mt Democrat

The leaves were changing and the ride up into the mountains was just gorgeous!

There were so many beautiful colors:)

David and Dan being real men and setting up the tents all by themselves!

We camped at a place called kite lake and the lake was surrounded by the three 14er's

I love the reflection on the water in this pic!

Polly got a water filter & she was so excited to rough it camping, & purify her own water from the lake!

Dan and Polly at the start of our big hike on Sunday!

You can see why it is called kite lake by it's shape.....

Jack was such a big help, he is so strong and would help pull you up the mountain when you hold his leash

Mt Democrat was the first mountain we hiked

At the top of Mt Cameron

At the top of Mt Bross

Uh.....I don't think that's Polly's leg you're touching!

Our New Home!!!

2008-09-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided to take a break from all the unpacking, and business that we have been experiencing since we've been here to go hiking with Dan's Uncle David and Aunt Polly. We had an awesome time! The weather was beautiful, sunny and blue skies. We hiked the Crags and I think it's my favorite so far! Also I will post another blog of pics of our new house here. There are just a few more things that need set up/decorated so I can give you all an idea of what our house looks like here! An update on the job search for me.....still looking, but walking in faith that I will have a job soon!

At the top with his aunt and uncle....and of course Jack.

Okay.....this rock is crazy huge. Dan got to the top....I have no idea how, but he's pumped if you can't tell!

To get an idea of really how big this thing was I took a vertical pic of it so you could see how steep it is to climb.

I have no idea what possessed me to do this, but I thought....wow wouldn't it be neat to get a picture with Dan and me together at the top of this rock. Dan's uncle David said I'll help you climb up, just step up on my knee. He showed me where to put my feet next and as I got about half way up I looked to my left and then to my right and I freaked! Talk about a fear of heights! I freaked out and wanted down right away. So this is a picture of me freaking out and David trying to help calm me as I attempt to get down!

Polly and I.....she's so great! I'm excited about getting to spend more time with them now that we live out here.

Finally.....The trip to Colorado!

2008-09-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

My friend Britnye and I drove out to Colorado and we made it in 2 days spending the night in Iowa. She was so sweet to do that for me since there is no way I would have made it by myself. If you have never driven there before ....let's just say it is a very long trip with a lot of corn fields! We made it though and she helped me get settled in my new home and we got to do some fun hikes together!

This is not a good pic of us at all, but it shows you how windy it was when we crossed the Colorado state border. This was before we got to the mountains and it is just amazing how windy it is across all the flat plains on the way out there!

Britnye standing in front of one of the many corn fields along our drive.

Okay this is great.....There is a Van Wert, Iowa for those of you that didn't know that! I was so excited when I saw the sign that I pulled the car over to take a pic in front of the sign! It felt like a little piece of home on my way.

Here is Britnye doing her stretches outside of the car. Being in the car that long definitely causes some serious cramps!

And here we are...the sign isn't real beautiful but we were so excited to see that sign! What a relief!

Here we are the first day in Colorado we did a hike with Dan to the pancake rocks! It was a lot of fun and very beautiful!

There were a lot of these pancake stacked looking rocks at the top looking over mountains.

Sitting on pancake rocks and taking in the view!

This was the last morning Britnye was here. We hiked up Mt. Cutler just the two of us and Jack.

I just love this pic! I think it is so gorgeous!

Britnye sitting at the top with Jack. Jack really loves Britnye because she likes to walk him on a leash and gives him lots of attention. He just sat in her bedroom after she left....I know he misses her:) It was so good to do that last hike and we were able to pray together at the top and have some good conversations. God is so good and has blessed me with another great friend!

Girls Night Out!!!

2008-09-16T08:02:00.001-07:00

I want to just brag about my girlfriends for a bit. They are amazing and I just well up with joy when I think about how great God is for giving me them and I'm so greatful. Julie & Laura....I know you're not in these pics but, I got to spend individual time with you girls which was incredible too. I just know that if God took us all the way out to Colorado, that He must be wanting to really use us here. God is just showing me what it means to make huge sacrifices to grow deeper with Him. I just want to thank you girls for all you did for me before I left. You are so good to me!!!

The girls took me out to eat a a mexican restaurant and it was sooo.... good!

I'm not sure what these next photos are.....we just decided to do a little fun photo shoot!

Spending that quality time with family!

2008-09-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

I was so fortunate to be able to spend some quality time with family before I left. A lot of these pictures before I left don't include Dan since he left a month before me. I got to keep the camera with me for blogging purposes:) Anyway, these are some pics with Julie, me, and the boys....Andy was at work, but I was able to spend some time with him too! I'll try to post this blog without shedding some tears!

Here we are eating our favorite candy and playing together:)

Julie and I took the boys to the park to play.....well for Caleb to play. Keston got to watch/sleep.

He's so good at giving hugs and kisses!

After the park we got ice cream on the way home....as you can see by Caleb's messy face he was liking it!

I got a pic while he was laying in his pack-n-play. Hard to remember Caleb ever being that small!

Our New Baby Nephew!!!

2008-09-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

Keston Isaac was born on Aug 12th and weighed 6lb 9 oz and was 20 in long. We are so excited to have another nephew. We have just loved being close to Caleb and we are so happy that we get another nephew in the family! Dan unfortunately had to leave for Colorado before Keston was born, He can't wait to see him when we come back to visit!

Yes, I've been crying before I took this picture. He is just so amazing and I couldn't get over it!

Look how precious he is!

This is Caleb when Mom and Dad brought him in to see Keston for the first time....I don't think he quite new what to think!........That's all changed now and he absolutely loves him. He is such a great BIG brother:)

Their new family of four!

Heather drove to the Van Wert hospital with me the night Keston was born. He was born just as we got there.....perfect timing! Laura also came and it was so fun for us all to be there for Julie and Andy!

Colorado Trip

2008-08-17T15:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I flew to Colorado to see Dan and to go to his cousin Emily's wedding. Dan has been in Colorado since the last week in July. It was so good to see him again and we were able to sign a lease to our new town house. Below are some pics of our new home and I will post more after we get the house completely set up and unpacked. We were able to spend some quality time with all of Dan's extended family since everyone was in town for Wade and Emily's wedding. It was so fun to see everyone and we always have so much fun when we are all together!

Wade and Emily got married outside at a golf course. It was so beautiful with the mountains in the background.

Emily and her Dad.....she looked beautiful!

Dan's Uncle David and Aunt Polly and they looked great that day!

Dan and his cousins/aunt from Michgan

Me with all the girl cousins from Michigan!

Dan and the girls

Giving Aunt Ann from California a kiss!

Amanda and me

Us with Dan's brother and mom

Dan's grandpa and grandma

Here we are with Dan's brother John and his girlfriend Sabitha

Dan's grandpa paid for us to stay at a bed and breakfast on fri night before the wedding. It was so nice inside and Jack got to stay too!

No you are not seeing double.....this is another black lab that lived where the bed and breakfast was. He loved it!

Jack loved the horses....I can't believe they let him get that close!
Here we are with John and Sabitha...the bed and breakfast had a great view of the mountains!And here's our new house!!! It's so great and we have a view of the mountains from our living room window! They moved all our stuff in last week.

Our townhouse is the one in the middle

This is our living room. We didnt' get very many pictures, but I will post more when I get there!

This is Dan's high school

We were able to go in and see his classroom and it's a nice building!

Girls Night!!!

2008-08-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

We decided to have a girls night friday night with the 6 of us before I move and before Julie has her baby. We had such a great time! I can't remember the last time I have laughed that much! Not only are these girls absolutely hillarious, but they are so special to me and everytime we get to do something like this I just cherrish the time with them. I just can't get over what wonderful friends they are!

What every girl loves to do with her friends......eat ice cream!

Here we are on Laura's couch. We ate Wild Willy's pizza, got ice cream, and then spent the night at Laura's!

Family Time

2008-08-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went with Andy and Julie to Van Wert to visit Dad and Mom. Grandma came too and we decided to get a couple pics outside after church. I thought they turned out really good so I wanted to post them!

Mom, Grandma, and Me

I love my Dad!

One Year Anniversary!!!

2008-08-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

On our one year anniversary we were in the middle of our move so we couldnn't do anything real big. We just went out to eat at Olive Garden and we also finished getting the rest of the few small items moved into the garage for the movers to come get the next morning. A lot of people talk about how hard the first year of marriage can be, but I really wouldn't change any of it! God allowed us to experience a miracle as he healed Dan's back. After almost a year of back pain we decided to get up every morning and pray and spend time with the Lord together and God healed his back within just a few weeks. We also went through many times of laughter and many growing times too. We love each other more after the first year than we did when we got married! Now, as we embark on our new adventure to Colorado we are excited to see what else he has in store for us!

Taking a bite of our cake topper from our wedding. It was very dry and nasty so we threw it away after the first bite!

Dan in front of our first house.

Here I am the next morning in front of our garage. These are all of our belongings boxed up and ready for the movers to come get!