What I love about my 17 yr. old!!

Your smile and laugh. You light up a room with your smile. When you laugh, I can't help but want to share in your joy.

Do I have something in my teeth?

I love your strong morals. You know exactly what you believe and you stick to it. Nobody's going to talk you into anything you don't want to do. You impress me every day.

I love your empathy towards others. You love all life, and believe it should be honored. I love how you can be on the computer for hours looking for pets to adopt. You take after me in that sense. You're Dad doesn't know where that came from. :)

You are a great friend. You give out awesome advice, and are a great listener. Your friends are lucky to have you.

You love your family--even though we annoy you sometimes. Your favorite thing to do is stay home and stay in your jammies, watching movies. You love rainy days and having nothing on the schedule. I, also, love that you and I love the same movies. Moulin Rouge....Sense and Sensibility....The Holiday....Ace Ventura. We could watch them over and over and over.....

I love laughing at the same jokes, making fun of each other when we say the wrong things.

I love how independent you are. You are so much more confident than I was at your age. You have a good head on your shoulders, and I know that you are going to do what makes you happy. You're going to go out and make a difference in this world...you're so passionate about so many things.

You're turning into such a beautiful young woman...inside and out...and I'm so extremely proud to call you my daughter. I can't wait for our future trips to France and Italy...and maybe a trip to New York to see a Broadway musical. ;) Live it up, girl!

I love you so much. Happy 17th Birthday, my sweet.

Fourth of July

We were invited to Idaho Springs (a small mountain town just west of us) for the 4th by the family that owns the pizza restaurant in town. They park their RV downtown (by their restaurant) and hang out there all day and into the night for the fireworks. We walked around this old western town, checking it out like all the other tourists did that day. What a CUTE town--I know how they hate when people say that! :) I mean, really, it was such a neat town. Anyone coming to visit us will definitely be given a tour of that town.

We grilled and ate fantastic food all day, and settled in for some great fireworks.

They have a little waterfall right in the middle of town. The fireworks were let off on top of this mountain.

I had to take some pictures of the fireworks!

This picture is of a string of fireworks they let off across the waterfall. The picture doesn't do it justice...it was very cool. After the fireworks, the firemen were out there putting out all the little fires that were caused. It was a little freaky, and a show in itself.

It was a great day and night.

Set building

On Thursday the kids and I got up early--o.k. early meaning 9:00 a.m.--and headed to the local theater, where they are performing 'The Wizard of Oz' this weekend. I e-mailed the theater last week and asked them if they needed help with building the set. I told them that we were new to the area and wanted to connect with the community, and my kids are all about the theater. They jumped at the chance, and could definitely use our help.


I'll admit...stepping out of my comfort zone is very hard for me. I get these great ideas, then find a million and one reasons why I shouldn't do it. That happened to me on Thursday morning as well. Stupid things popped into my head...like, "I'm totally going to embarrass us; these people will think I'm a weirdo; what if they don't have anything for us to do and we just stand there looking goofy, etc....etc." Well, I shut that voice up and thought of the kids. All those thoughts run through their heads as well, and I had to show them that you never know...it could be the best thing we ever do.


Well...I was right, it was the best thing we ever did. Not the work, mind you, but getting the connections. If any of you know, I'm a devout knitter. It's just in my blood....LOVE IT, and one of the first things I saw when we stepped into the lobby were a group of women KNITTING!! I knew it was a sign from God, I was so pumped. Then, the manager of the theater came and introduced himself and gave us a tour. It's a great little theater. This manager (Gary) is also in the production, and we later found out that he teaches piano and voice (exactly what my girls want to do). Anyway, he told the girls that their next performance is "Anything Goes" (which Allison has already done) and they need a few more girls for the chorus. So, we are going to sign them up for that! I was so excited for them. Needless to say....Thank God I didn't listen to those negative words in my head.


Our jobs that day included painting the stage floor:
Don't you love Ashley's jumper?




And the boys made 'Wet Paint' signs, and helped me tack up the stage skirting. After we were done, the woman in the picture with Ashley, and her son, took us out for lunch. She had a ton of info for me about theater opportunities. It was a great day!

Settling in...

O.k. so we've settled in. Our cable was hooked up late last week, and the kids have resumed their positions. I was missing the fact that we could order a movie whenever we wanted, and couldn't wait to get cable hooked up. Now, I'm regretting it. The kids don't want to do a thing anymore. They are completely content (most of the time) watching a show or two, and not going outside. I think it's time I put a time limit on again.

This past weekend we stayed home, cleaned out the garage (well....Chuck and Tanner did). We feel a little bit more organized now. It was extremely hard to stuff our other 4-stall garage into one stall, but Chuck made it work. We can't fit our van in there, but I'm happy for the extra storage space. :)

On Saturday night Chuck and I went to check out the nightlife here in Evergreen. We had a lot of fun, listened to a couple of really good bands, and met some really nice people. All night all I could think of was, "Man, our friends would love this place!"

On Sunday we all went out for lunch, then bought some bird feeders. I know---BIG DEAL---but, the more things I get to make it home, the better. Here is my bird feeder out my kitchen window:

I have yet to have one bird eat out of it yet. It may be a little too close to my kitchen window. :)

And here is my hummingbird feeder out front:

We saw our first hummingbird last night. :)

Yesterday, the kids and I tried to eat at a really cool resteraunt for lunch, then tried to see a local museum, but BOTH are closed on Mondays. Who knew?? We may try that again today.

Tomorrow we have another concert by the lake! I'm really excited for this one, 'cause we met the lead singer of the band that will be performing. She is such a neat person. We didn't know she was a local celebrity till the end of the night. :) We had so much fun. She has a Dixie Chick/bluegrass/celtic sound which is really interesting. The kids and I are planning on getting there really early to set up chairs, then renting paddle boats and hanging by the lake for the afternoon. I'm sure pictures will follow.

Denver Zoo, 'Outlaw' game, Gay pride festival????

That sums up our Saturday, pretty much....except the Gay pride Festival.


To start out, on Saturday we took off to the Zoo. It was a perfect day...low 80's and sunny....and the zoo was pretty busy. The great thing about this zoo is, it may be really busy, but it doesn't FEEL busy. We never had to wait in line, or in the back row to see an animal. I love this zoo. The animals are up so close to the people. My favorite?? The gorillas, of course. Mitch's favorite? The penguins....which ended up being the ONLY animal that wasn't available to view. That was a bummer. :(








After a few hours at the zoo (my kids are wimps when it comes to hot weather) we headed downtown to check out Denver. We noticed a huge festival going on, and we looked and looked for a parking space, which we couldn't find. We were wondering what the festival was, and Chuck wanted to go really bad. The kids were tired out from the zoo and put up a fuss about walking around in the heat again. So, as we were driving, we noticed a group of people walking to the festival.....dressed head to toe in purple--crazy hair and all--and one of them turned around and their cheeks were hanging out. The cheeks you don't want to see. Then, it dawned on me that it was the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual festival. I was laughing so hard. I could just imagine us walking downtown and not knowing what was going on. It would have been a real eye-opener for the kids! :)
That evening we went to the 'Outlaws' game at Invesco Field. Invesco is where the Bronco's play. The 'Outlaws' are Colorado's professional lacrosse team. Tanner is really interested in lacrosse right now, and was entranced at the game. It is a lot like hockey (without the ice), and it was a very exciting game. Tanner loved it---and Mitch loved the food!
That was a very fun day!
On Sunday we stayed home and Chuck worked on the deck. We are now able to walk on it without fear of it collapsing. :) The girls and I painted their rooms. I can't wait to show these colors. My girls like color!
Today is a beautiful day! I'm thinking SWIMMING!!!
Hope everyone is having a good week so far!

Shopping, concert by the lake, seeing friends from home, swimming in a resevoir

I guess when I write it all down, we are keeping ourselves busy. We've had beautiful weather all week. A few clouds that looked like rain, but we never seem to see or feel a drop. No wonder it's so dry here. The nights are very cool. The last two nights our furnace kicked in...unbelievable with how warm it is during the day. Ceiling fans work wonders here, and Chuck bought some for each of the kids' rooms last night.

On Wed. we pretty much sat at home. Nobody was in the mood to do a thing. It was o.k., Alli and I sat and read our books, I looked over recipes, and the kids played computer and guitar hero. It was kind of nice. By evening, though, we were stir-crazy. Every other Wednesday they have free concerts at the lake house here, so we headed that way to see what it was all about. Man, was I amazed and impressed! There were hundreds of people there! Families galore! The bands that played were awesome, and tons of kids were up there dancing. It looked like a big wedding reception--all these little girls dancing together in sun dresses. The parents were spread all over the lawn in chairs and blankets having picnics. There was wine and cheese and full course meals. Needless to say we were NOT prepared. I guess this is such a big deal that you have to get there a couple hours ahead of time to get a seat on the lawn. In the back there were numerous games of soccer and lacrosse, plus football and baseball games that the boys were playing. It was so fun! Here is a picture of the lake house as we walked home that evening:

The nicest part? NO MOSQUITOES!!!!! Not one bug was in sight--I could have stayed there all night. We were forewarned that the next concert will be a doozy. I guess a very popular band in the area is playing, so we were urged to get there EARLY. I can't wait.

So, yesterday (Thursday) I packed the car and headed into Denver to have lunch with Chuck. We then went to find khaki pants and a navy shirt for Allison to wear to work. I had spied a beach while I was driving one day, so the kids and I went to check it out. Remember the creek I told you about that runs through our town? Well, at the bottom of the mountain they made a reservoir from all the creek water. They had a nice beach area, too. The kids there were catching crayfish, but the boys were a little leery about that this time.

Afterward, I took the kids home, and Allison and I got ready to meet with a couple of her friends that were here on vacation with one of their families. It was so nice to see them, even though it's only been a week since we last saw them in Minnesota. We giggled the whole time. I think it was the highlight of Allison's week.

Alli, Shelly, Jeremiah (Shelly's cousin), Shea

This weekend we are thinking about checking out a Strawberry Festival in Glenwood Springs (thank you for the idea Shelly!). Check back for pictures!

We have arrived....

We are officially Coloradans!! Let's just say that the last week is something that I never want to experience again in this lifetime. Not only was it physically exhausting, but so overwhemlingly draining emotionally. I can handle the physical stuff, that passes, but the emotional pain just lingers on and on and on....Even though I feel like I should go get my heart examined due to all the strain of the physical labor.
This place we call home now is beautiful. Definetely God's country (although isn't it ALL God's country??). My favorite part are the sunsets over the rockies. It's just breathtaking--sometimes causing me to slow waaaaayyyyy down on the interstate. We have also had the EXTREME pleasure of watching the evening herd of elk that occupy our backyard to bed down for the night. Chuck woke yesterday morning to see 12 or so sleeping not 10 feet from our back door. There were 5 or so babies with them. People say that we will get immune to them, that we won't even notice them after a while; but I can't imagine. They are so amazing to watch--and their calls are so unique. We all thought it was birds, then we realized it's the elk! Along with the elk we have seen fox and deer, and also a very strange bird that looks more purple than blue. It wasn't a blue-jay, either. I'll have to investigate that.
After we unloaded our u-haul trucks (yes, I said TRUCKS) by ourselves, we then had to go to Chuck's apartment and pack him up and move him also. That was on Friday. Saturday came along and I told Chuck that I just couldn't imagine unpacking one more box, so we headed downtown for a parade. It was our town's Rodeo Days--everything focused on the rodeo. It was fun, but, like the kids said, it will be a lot more fun next year when we have friends.
So, the next day, on Father's Day we packed a lunch and headed to a park where we ate and went on a 4-5 mile hike along Bear Creek. It was beautiful. No offense to my kids, but my favorite part was when I drifted behind them and was able to really take in the beauty and peacefullness of the mountains, and to watch them explore everything on the path.
When Monday rolled around I think everyone was a little sad, including myself. I think reality is sinking in, that we're not just here on vacation. Chuck headed back to work and the kids and I are left to explore this new state, and all it has to offer, on our own. Not that I haven't done that before, and I find myself getting more brave by the day. We got info. on all the sports camps today and will be deciding what sports to start this summer.
Allison got a job yesterday at Walmart. I'm so excited and proud of her. She is making some awesome change for a first job. I'm hoping this will help her meet some friends, too. All she can talk about is getting that first paycheck and buying a plane ticket back home. She had to take a drug test, too, yesterday. That was very interesting.
We went and picked up paint samples yesterday, too. Ashley, again, has a dramatic paint color in mind.....extremely dark purple. Her vision sounds beautiful, but I'm afraid that her room is too small for all that she wants to do. I'm going to try my darndest to make it something that she loves. Allison picked a blue again, which I love. The boys want a snow-boarding mural on their wall, so I'm painting their room tan. I have been looking at colors for my kitchen/eating area. I think I've found two colors I really like, and I've decided I'm going to paint my kitchen cabinets too. They are in horrible shape, but I think a coat or two of paint will really help them out--and my eyes as well. I can't decide between white or a cream color (which I would put a chocolate glaze over). Our appliances are white, so I'm not sure if cream would look right. Any suggestions anyone??
Otherwise, the house will take some getting used to. It is a fixer-upper, that is for sure. We don't quite fit, and are having some storage issues at the moment. I open up a box and have no idea where to put the stuff inside. I need to get my creative juices flowing. I wish we had an Ikea close by.
Every day that passes will make this feel more like home. I have excitement over all this beauty around me, and the great shopping close by, and all the fantastic resteraunts just calling my name. But I also long for the familiarity of home, the bbq's with friends, the boating on the lake, the hugs from my family.

I do have to say....I haven't been bitten by one mosquito!