march 31.  2012

The young women’s presidency is awesome in this ward!  For New Beginnings, the theme was “Color Me Beautiful!”  The food was rainbow colored, and during the program, the youth and parents did the “color test.”  That was such a great idea, finding out how we think differently and understanding why we all don’t do things the same.  Then the girls spoke on each value taught in young women’s:

Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity
Virtue

It was a lovely night!  We so enjoyed having Jarom there with us!  We are so blessed having our dad home with us now!

April 7.  2012

Jarom and I decided to try this again…only…we decided if we were to get a dog, it would not be a puppy(Our first family puppy we got for Christmas 2010, and re-homed it four months later.  Way too much work, especially when Jarom was traveling Mon-Fri., and I am homeschooling and have chronic health issues, not easy to deal with a new pup).

Plus, since moving to Colorado, everywhere we go, the girls are like, “everyone has a dog here!”  I would say, “Yep, but not us thank goodness!”  Now we feel like we fit in in Colorado, being an “outdoorsy family with a dog.”

So after hours of searching for the “perfect” family dog, we found her!  Our three year old labradoodle, Shelby.  She was used for breeding, but was so sad when her pups were taken away, she lost all her hair.  They tried breeding her one more time, and the same thing happened, so they wanted to just find her a good home.  We were so fortunate to find her, it’s hard to find an adult labradoodle.

She is just a sweetheart!  Labradoodle’s don’t shed, love to please, and are very intelligent!  She has definitely shown us that.  I also love the look of a lab, with the curly hair of a poodle.  They are also as hypoallergenic as you can get-and Jarom hasn’t shown any sign of allergies with her.    She is potty trained, and has only barked twice in a week-she didn’t care for the huge snow falling from the sky the other day!

She was kept in her crate all day by the previous owner since she worked away from the home,  but now, she’s out a ton-we hug on her and rub her sides and face, and if we stop, she puts her face down to our hand.  She has learned sit, up, and down in just two days.  When we first got her, we would put our hand out to pet her, and she would jump.  She’s adjusting now to all the noises of our house, and a family of six.  She loves the attention, and we are so glad to have her!  She is going to love hiking and biking and fishing with us I’m sure.  She already loves running with Jarom, and stays right by his side.  We hope she loves her new life, we love her sweetness already!

Her color is really cool.  She has the white poodle hair mixed in with the brown lab hair, so she’s silvery, with patches of brown.  I love her brown eyes, with the brown patches around them and around her nose and mouth.  So cute!!! 

P.S.  Since I’m a neat freak, and I don’t want our floors and things all dirty from a dog going outside and inside, we started from the very beginning wiping her paws with a wipey before bringing her in the house.  She now will lift her paw when we ask.  It’s awesome!  And the house stays clean, which is what I love!

She has brown eyes…obviously not a green and yellow eye!

Still checking out the rooms and getting used to them…

You know this was bound to happen with four kids, and one of them being a teenager!…

She is getting much more comfortable in just a week, as you can see…her feet propped up on the side of the crate and wall!…

I love all the mixes of brown on her…

What a sweet doggy!…

march.  2012

Living in Colorado, has been like having a wild animal refuge in our yard!  It’s absolutely amazing.  Within the first two weeks, we have had quite a few herds of elk walking through our yard, deer, we’ve seen a couple of foxes, and wildly enough, even had three wild turkey roaming around for a few minutes!  Unbelievable!!!  We keep being warned that there are lots of bears up here, so we are on the lookout! 

There is a huge field we pass on the way to our home, and there are herds of elk out there at least a couple times a week.  It’s really magnificent to see.  I’ll be running errands through town, and there are elk in neighborhoods and random places you would never think to see a wild animal hanging out.

Elk in Elk Meadow almost next to our home…

Too bad my pic’s of the wild turkey didn’t turn out…you’ll just have to imagine it!

march.  2012

Red Rocks Amphitheater…open every day of the year, and where concerts are performed.  This place is gorgeous!   It is also a huge outdoor exercise go-to place.  Because of my health, I’m not able to exercise like I would like, but this makes you want to just start doin’ somethin’!!!

A week after getting to Colorado, we decided it was time to start checking things out.  We went for a short drive to Red Rocks, and walked all around, admiring the beauty! 

On May 8th, Jarom and I will be going to a concert here…I have been trying to figure out a romantic date for us to do, and it doesn’t have to entail spending money…but when I saw Styx was playing, which is one of Jarom’s favorite bands, I figured it was a must!  So we will pack some bread, cheese, and hot cocoa, and hope for a wonderful evening!

Oh, and I must mention, that Brandi Carlisle will be singing with Ingrid Michaelson in July here.  Trying to decide if Alex is old enough for Brandi.  Ingrid is one of our favorite singers!

by postscripts on etsy…i love it!  now that we live in Colorado…we may have to try using a chainsaw and see if we can do this on our own.  I love love love it!!!

paula of postscripts has offered a deal…use code APRIL2012 for 10% off your order! Bulk orders receive 15% off!

february. 2012

We were extremely blessed in January to get an offer from a company that Jarom had been doing contract work for, to work for them full time. We were given the choice of three locations…Orange County, CA…Denver, CO…or Arizona. It was an easy choice for us, as two of the options weren’t even options for us. On to COLORADO!

We packed up our house in Georgia, not missing the house or city, but missing our dear friends and ward we had grown to love. We said our good-bye’s on Tuesday, February 28th, for our 24 hour journey to Evergreen, CO. If you know me at all, I don’t do non-stop drive-through’s. We decided to do 8 hour days, and make it there by Thursday evening. We also thought of a couple things we wanted to see along the way, but not too many, we didn’t want to extend the trip by much. It worked out perfectly!

The first day we headed through Tennessee, and stopped at the Parthenon, built after the one on the Acropolis in Greece.  Built for a fair, they intended to tear it down afterwards.  Same story for the Eiffel Tower.  Thank goodness it was decided to keep them.  We stayed at the most beautiful Marriott we’ve ever been to, when we arrived in St. Louis, MO.  It was an old train station converted to a hotel, and the intricate work inside was absolutely beautiful!

Wednesday morning, we got a late start, but had to stop at the Arch, the bridgeway to the West.  Wow, what a beautiful landmark!  As we were leaving St. Louis, Madison asked, “Have we left misery yet?”  Oh our sweet Madison, she is hilarious!  We drove four hours, made it to Independence, MO, just in time to go to the LDS Visitors Center, and to Liberty Jail.  What a wonderful experience to see and share with the girls.  Stayed the night in Kansas City.

Thursday, pretty much Kansas…all day until we reached Colorado.  The most boring state to drive through I’m sure!  We finally made it to Colorado, and Nadia said, “But where’s the snow!”   We had talked it up that we would get to ski when we got to Colorado, and that had stuck in her mind!  We started skiing as a family when Nadia was 18 months old, and she loves it!

We made it to the house, dealt with the movers for two days, in freezing cold 60-80 mile winds, a house at 40 degrees for two days, a hot water heater not working, then the heat on one floor stopped working…not to mention I thought I smelled gas and we all had to get out of the house…but it was all just kinks from a new house sitting for awhile.  Thank goodness!

We wake up in a clearing in the middle of the mountains every day, surrounded by beautiful mountain peaks covered with pine trees.  It’s dreamy and beautiful!  We are very blessed and grateful to enjoy this beautiful area!

The road trip begins…happy the house is packed, uncertain at how three days driving will go.

Cool huge boat we saw on the freeway…

Nashville, Tennessee-the Parthenon 

Tacky idea of what Athena is supposed to look like…nothing like the real thing!

Made it to St. Louis, MO the first night…old train station made into a hotel…absolutely gorgeous!

The beautiful Arch…Gateway to the West…

Independence, MO…LDS Visitor’s Center…Pioneer exhibit…

Liberty Jail…where Joseph Smith and four others were kept for four months in these horrible conditions…the pic of the girls looking through the window is the only opening in which light and fresh air could enter.  They were kept down there all the time…

Gold Plates…replica of course…but still neat to see.

Leaving Kansas City, our last day…we just have to drive through Kansas at this point, and we’ll be to Colorado!  Nadia and sock monkey are super glad about that!

Me, still sane!  Looking forward to our new home!

The view of the Rocky Mountains-where we are headed!  We live West of Denver, in the foothills…where it’s green and beautiful!

Where the Buffalo roam…

This is our back yard and the view from our back windows!  It’s so beautiful here, I can’t believe it!  What a change from where we have been so long out East for the past 12 years!   Can’t wait for hiking, biking, fishing, and supporting Jarom in all his marathon events he wants to run!

Created by: College At Home