Surprise Visit to Ohio!!!

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!

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

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!!!

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!

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!