Our 1st Camping Trip!

We did it! We went camping and it was awesome! I am so proud of Ryan and myself for not backing down. We were a little deterred by the fact we didn't have a reservation anywhere and really we weren't too sure what camping with a 5 month old was going to be like, but we did it and it was way fun! Julia and Lauren were champs and had a great time too! We camped at Pike National Forest, which is just a beautiful place! We found it quite frankly by the grace of God. We originally had planned to stay at the Garden Of The Gods Campsite, which turned out to be a cement garden of the perpetual trailer camper. They had a piece of dirt down the street from a soccer field and across the road from what appeared to be "cabins" no bigger than a couple outhouses. Yeah we turned right around and headed for the mountains. SO glad we did!
Ryan and I put up our tent while Julia investigated the natural world around her. Little Miss Lauren watched on in her bouncy chair. It was a beautiful clear night. I made Hawaiian Haystack for dinner and we gobbled them up since we weren't eating until 10pm. Time really flew while we were there, getting everything set up.

The fire was GREAT! Julia was a bit scared of it. She kept asking if it was going to burn her. As soon as I would assure her she was safe she'd feel the heat from the fire and scream "it's burning me!" What a goof! The fire's saving grace was roasting marshmallows and making Smores! YUMMY! Julia totally dug that!
Ryan was in charge of teaching Julia to roast the marshmallow, until he stuck them in the fire, pulled them out, blew out flame and said, "that good?" He's such a man sometimes! I showed him how to turn them around and get them nice and golden, the less carcinogens the better! We laughed at how different guys and girls are about camping. He sure was loving having an airmattress and good dinner, so I think he's appreciating the female way of camping.
As we climbed into our sleeping bags we became suddenly aware that it was FREEZING! It only got colder too. When Lauren slept, she did so in the crook of my arm. I was determined she stay warm. She had a hard night though, I think she's really started teething hard core. Julia slept pretty good too on her own little air mattress, except when she'd suddenly wake with an indescribable throat hacking sound and say she needed a drink. Ryan and I may have slept 3 hours that night. At one point I looked at my watch and it read 3:45am, I looked again hoping about 30 minutes passed and it read 3:50am! Ahhh I thought that night would never end. It did though and morning was so refreshing. Ryan cooked us some yummy eggs, I made doughnuts, and we started packing up. It was a quick night, but since we had no reservation they needed the sight ready for the reserved people. That was fine though, because we had done it. We had a fun adventure and great experience for our first time. We put up our sweet tent, made a great fire, roasted marshmallows, looked at the beautiful stars, and just loved being together as a family. What else can you ask for? We're excited to go again and will have an even better idea of what to expect. What we really would like to do is go camping with friends!!! Any takers??

A few of my favorite things

An incredible whole RAINBOW, that made us drop what we we're doing and come out front to admire it. We were stunned by its grandness and vivid colors. It stretched all across our neighborhood. I thought to myself, "I live somewhere over the rainbow". How cool!!
A "new-to-me" rocking chair to rock my babies in. I got this at a garage sale for only $25! I have always wanted a rocking chair and this one is perfect! Just looking at it makes me happy. I think a rocking chair epitomizes motherhood to me, and I am so happy to be a mom.
Baking Cranberry Pumpkin Bread! I am so proud of this because I had to research baking bread in high altitudes. I tweaked the recipe a little and it turned out PERFECT! The whole house smelled sweet while it was baking. Now we're going to take it camping this weekend!

Julia's 1st Haircut

Julia has been really excited about getting a haircut, so yesterday I finally took her with me. She was so excited, it was very cute. The man cutting her hair was super nice. We saved a few pieces. All I could think about was how long it took for her to get hair! She is growing up really fast now, kinda makes me sad. I look at Lauren and can't imagine her that big. Then again I can't hardly believe Julia was once my tiny little baby. It is so crazy!
After she was done she said, "My haircut is so beautiful." She is such a princess girl, I LOVE IT!

We are making FRIENDS

Yesterday Julia played with the little girl across the street. I took them to the park and then they played in the basement for a while, well until they both couldn't handle the fact there was only one baby doll stroller and they both could't have it. Yeah, 3 year olds are so hard to deal with. Julia' s new friend is way cute though and I think with enough practice, they will be good buds. Here they are playing soccer. Today a girl I met at our community center called and asked if I was still coming over for a play date. Ryan had the car so she picked me up and had lunch for us and the kids. Another girl came too. It was really nice, they are totally my kind of people. NORMAL first of all, good moms second of all, and thirdly just easy to be around and talk to. It was really refreshing. I was so taken aback when I first met them because they included me like I was an old friend. Its happened very naturally and that is so nice!
Ryan has hooked up with this guy, who he thinks is just the coolest in the whole world, from church. They are going to do some ad stuff together and I haven't seen Ryan this excited about working in a long time. Everything really seems to be falling into place. It feels so good and reassuring to know we really are where we are meant to be.

Have to include some pictures from our up-and-coming photographer- JULES! She loves taking pictures and even likes to set the timer! She takes pictures of EVERYTHING! She'll even pose her toys and take their pictures! Here are some of her family shots.

No-Sunscreen Swimming

We went from having an ordinary day of running to Walmart and doing things around the house, to having the coolest evening ever! We went to our new Community Rec. Center's pool. It is like a mini wet n' wild, but the neatest thing is, it is indoors! Julia had such a fun time!!! I am so glad we signed her up for swim lessons, because she is a little dare devil! She goes down the water slide HEAD FIRST!!! We were cracking up at her! I really realized how big she is when I put her under water like I did last summer, but all of a sudden I wasn't holding my 2 year old baby- I now have this 3 year old little girl! It was so weird!

Lauren was so cute in her little bikini, rolls squeezing out from all ends! She liked the water so much. She never cried, and by the end of it she was hitting the water and making splashes. SO CUTE!!!! I loved holding her in the water, it really reminded me of Julia as a baby too.
But the one who had the most fun was...Mr. Excited...Ryan! Every time he saw me he would tell me, "I am SOOOO Happy!" He ended our pool trip with a huge cannon ball off the diving board, Julia was thoroughly impressed.

We came home and polished off two pizzas and bread sticks, which we regret this morning. UGH!
We don't know if it is Castle Rock or what, but everything here seems 100 times more fun and exciting. Every weekend it is reaffirmed that our quality of life has gone up so much here! YAY!

Using my senses

I am having a real spring for the first time in my adult life, and it is as wonderful as I have always imagined! On our walk today I tried to really take in the sights, sounds, & smells around me and it was so neat! I thought more than once, "I wish I had Candace's camera." The surrounding here are so tranquil, they remind me of a European vacation poster in a travel agent's office. The air is so fresh and clean. There are all kinds of wild flowers growing. Crickets were chirping, which Julia wondered about, "its not ni-night time" she explained. We saw our friend the gopher. I took deep cleansing breaths, the air smelled like Zion, I was reminded of girls' camp.
At home we hung out in the backyard, it was so nice to have the breeze on us. All my windows are open and it just feels so good. Everyday I feel blessed to be here and so grateful for this move. I took a walk around the neighborhood the other night by myself, my heart swelled as I smelled the fresh cut grass, heard kids playing in their backyards, watched a couple of joggers go by. These are all pretty mundane things, but they are so novel to me. I love the simplicity and the realness.

I bought the latest People magazine with Brook Sheilds on the cover. I like her, and I think its cool that I have two girls about the same age as her's. It's made me look at Lauren and Julia today in a new light- they are MINE. I love them so much! Lauren is such a doll. I love the big wide eyed smile she gives me every morning when I come get her. She gets so happy, it is adorable!!! I love her smell in the morning, like baby amplified. She's such a lovey. Julia is a wonderful big sister too. She found a Nuk in my purse today and before she gave it to Lauren she ran and washed it off. I had no idea what she was doing, but once I realized I was so proud of her. Lauren never takes a Nuk so it just showed me again how much Julia picks up on just from watching me. She is into "reading" books on her own now and will occasionally read them to Lauren. So sweet. We're going to make some cookies this afternoon- hope they turn out! Nothing better than using that fifth sense- taste! Mmmmm!

Just Feel Like Bloggin

I took Ryan to work today so I have gone to Walmart, the bank, checked out preschools, signed Julia up for swim lessons, went to the grocery store, talked to Holly, and cleaned chicken all before 1pm! The girls are napping and I have been looking up global warming on the internet to be more educated on the topic. I have always had a passion for environmentalism, but it totally dwindled during those self absorbed teenage years. I became very pessimistic I think. The innocence of childhood left me and I suddenly realized I alone couldn't save the planet, so I gave up. Well I want to make a difference now. Where do I start? Definitely going to RECYCLE more, REUSE my grocery bags at the grocery store, WALK more and drive less- (won't be hard with one car!), but I can walk to the grocery store more often even though it is a bit of a walk. I would LOVE to get a hybrid vehicle if we can afford it. They may be more of a statement than a whole lot of good, but you have to start somewhere!
We have gotten a few interests in our house, which is making me totally happy. They're not spectacular offers, but we're at the point that just selling it period will be enough of a blessing. Ryan has had some interest in freelance writing here, its very exciting prospects, so that's is way cool. I would love to see him get to be creative again, he's one of the most creative people I know, he needs to use those talents! Im glad I get to be the receptor of his creativity now, he cracks me up. I don't laugh as hard with anyone else.

Lauren is crying!

A Mother's Day Shiner

Mother's Day is so fun when you have the best family in the whole world! We actually had a Mother's Day weekend celebration! Saturday we had a blast walking around the coolest Downtown ever, Castle Rock's! I told Julia this is like living on Main Street Disneyland! They have a store for each of us! A rad toy store (jules), an awesome baby girls' clothes store (lauren & me), a fun bike store Ryan insists he is going to get a mountain bike from, and a cute little knick-knack store called Scadoodles that not only has cute things for my house but homemade COOKIES too! SCORE! After our Downtown stroll we went to Outback for dinner and rented movies. It was the PERFECT day!

Sunday Ryan helped around the house and at church I got my first Mother's Day gift- a black eye! Julia bonked her head against my cheekbone and I evidently absorbed all the force because she didn't bat an eye. Kind of cool, makes me look tough! Not really. The rest of our day was very nice. We BBQ and had a banana cake with chocolate ice cream! YUM! I got my real Mother's Day gift, a book called You're The Best Mom Ever. Its a book of stories about other people's moms and what made them so special. I hope to learn from them and be the BEST MOM EVER! Later I watched the West Wing and Survivor season finales. I love politics, hope I get to be involved in them someday! However, I NEVER want to be on a deserted island!
What a day, I'm so thankful to be a mom, my girls are amazing balls of joy, and Ryan gives me so much love, encouragement and support that this really is the GREATEST job in the world! Im so blessed!

Livin THE life!

We went to Fort Collins last night for one of my best high school friend's graduation from CSU. Naomi's a veterinarian now, wow! It was so great to see her and so crazy to be at her house! She's been in CO for 10 years and it was so weird that I was HERE to be with her! FUN FUN FUN! Another one of my best friend's Lisa was there too and it was just so great to see them and catch up. I LOVE the way they go crazy over my girls. It is one of the greatest blessings in my life to have such wonderful friends! I think it is these special relationships that have taught me I can move away from friends, but that doesn't make the friendship end. Life is so amazing that way, how we grow and move and yet we always have those special people in our lives. I LOVE IT! It is really hitting me now just how many friends I have and wait a minute, they're ALL somewhere else! If one of you happen to be reading this know I LOVE YOU!! I MISS YOU!!!
I digress!!!!
So last night was really great! The drive was like from Vegas to St. George, only way easier. Fort Collins is only 40 miles from Cheyenne WY! We have to check that out someday too! I LOVE that there is sooooooo much for us to go and see and do here!! I feel like we have to do it all right away, but then I remember we LIVE here and we have a lot of time to do things. I still haven't been to DENVER! Ryan and I were so happy driving home, it was refreshing to get out and do things with people. Vegas never lended itself to a night out with people; ironic with it having the reputation of a party city, it was always lame.

Now this morning Ryan got the lawn mower started and mowed our front and backyard for the first time! YAAY!!! He was so excited! He had to change a spark plug and Julia was very involved in the whole process, so when he got it going they were both literally jumping up and down with joy! She's been his little helper and its adorable.

Little Miss Lauren was just pooped from all the excitement! Darling babe!
So yes this is THE life we've always wanted, parties with friends and yards to mow Saturday morning! Its so wonderful!!! Happy Day!

Great Day After All

I don't know if its the snow, the fact that my hair still looks good from last night, or that Julia & I read the kid scriptures during breakfast, but this is such a good day. Plus the forecast for the rest of the week is 70's! Ryan said I should bring him to work on Friday and me & the girls can check out Downtown Denver.

I took Julia & Lauren to the mail box across from our house to mail some letters, she rode her tricycle around a little. Im sure we're giving the neighbors something to watch since none of us were dressed (except our pajamas). It was a lot nicer than I had expected, crisp but not cold. So after lunch I think we'll do that walk! YAY!

Some funny things Julia says right now that I want to remember...

pocsiful or pocasil- popsicle
han-ga-mur- hamburger
hopisil- hospital
"What did you said" when she wants you to repeat something.

I've been calling preschools for her. I found two that we can probably afford. They are both in our neighborhood, one is at a Lutheran church, one is at a lady's home. They both sound great, so we'll see. Crazy my baby is going to PRESCHOOL!!!!! She'll do so great, its going to be FUN!

Lauren is sitting up by herself so good. Still have to be close b/c she'll tip easy, but it is just amazing to me how big she's getting. She LOVES eating! She even opens her mouth and just stares at me when Im eating, I feel so pressured to share my food, its hard to remember I can't. I did put my ice cream cone up to her lips, then thought WHAT AM I DOING??? Its so different than the first child, so much more relaxed. :)

Colorado Adventure OR ALASKAN Adventure???

NO this is not an old picture! It was taken this morning!!!
SNOW on May 10? Are you kidding me??? This really is an adventure! It sure mixes things up for us. It was refreshing to get out and play in it, for about 5 minutes, then Julia had enough. Do you like how I broke the screen door off in attempts to get out the door? RYAN.....

SO anyway, I love mornings! The energy I have from the night's sleep is still at a peak, Im ready to go and can get so much done. I do dishes and laundry and play with Julia. I really like the mornings she calls me in her room and we lay in her bed together talking. Usually I'm talking with my eyes closed in hopes we'll get to fall back asleep, but it never happens, oh well it's so much fun to just hang out.

Last night was Enrichment, the RS President picked me and the girls up because Ryan had a late meeting. Can I just say I HATE not having my car! Ryan offered to take a bus to work somedays, but it is more expensive than gas (if you can believe that) so we'll just stick it out. My RS President in AWESOME! Such a nice lady, kind of reminds me of Monta. Julia had a great time playing with other kids in the nursery. I met a couple of nice girls, everyone has two kids, which makes me AGAIN so thankful for Lauren. She was my little "security blanket" last night, sitting on my lap giving me something to focus on when I wasn't sure what to say next to the strangers around me. The lesson was good, about taking care of yourself, I was all inspired to exercise, get a walking routine down at least, but we woke to snow, so I guess I'll put it off until another day.

Maybe the next blog will tell about my great walking adventure.

Our weekend

Yesterday Lauren turned 5 months old! I love these milestones because I think back to the day she was born and all the anticipation and excitement comes back. Oh the joy this baby is to me! The moment she came into this world is probably the greatest day of my life. It was just incredible that we had her, I'm so grateful to have that experience in my life. ANYWAY, we went to the mall to get her picture taken. I had matching outfits for the girls (I LOVE matching outfits!) so I had Julia's picture taken with her too. They turned out sooooo good! I love getting pictures taken and JC Penny is so cheap I can totally indulge myself.
They had to wear warm clothes to the mall and change into the summer outfits. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever need summer clothes here. I had to have Lauren's picture taken in this outfit now because she will grow out of it before it warms up enough here.


We looked around the mall afterwards and it is beautiful! It was decorated like a huge log cabin. I tried to take a picture to show (Check out our little shopper! She strutted around there with such confidence, it's hilarious!). We really enjoyed being there. It is a pretty high-end mall, a mix between the Fashion Show and Forum in Vegas, so you know we weren't a shoppin! Actually the Disney store had a great clearance sale and Julia got a Princess shirt and little toy.

Now today we're chillin. Ryan was trying to teach Julia to ride her Princess bike with training wheels, he ended up just pushing her and she enjoyed the ride. Although once in a while she would peddle backwards (which applies the brake) and he would almost flip over her, quite funny! Both girls are napping right now but later we're either going to go check out downtown some more or maybe the outlet mall. All I know is I'm getting an ice cream cone somewhere!

Chilly Today Hot Tamale

Well we are getting use to the CRAZY weather. One day we will picnic in our backyard in the warm sunshine and the next we bundle up for a walk to the grocery store. Either way we try and do things outside, taking advantage of the beauty around us. We saw a gopher or ground hog or some little varmint poking himself out of his hole on the way to the store. We were thoroughly engrossed by such a live natural spectacle.
Julia loves picking up pine cones which she calls, "turkeys" b/c during Thanksgiving we decorated one as a turkey.

I made homemade brownies last night which turned out too good. I was nervous about the altitude (we're a 1,000 ft higher than Denver) ruining them, but all went well. We are loving primetime coming on at 7pm, and Letterman coming on at 10:30, we feel like night owls that we're actually up to see Letterman!

Our days are long, Ryan's job is harder than he expected. He says he went from being a big fish in a little pond to a small fish a huge ocean. I can tell he's stressed and it breaks my heart that there is so little I can do for him. This grown up stuff is hard! I've been pretty irritable with Julia which always makes me feel guilty. She can get so fresh sometimes though, and her selective hearing drives me nuts! There is lots more yelling than I would like, but we're both pretty intense. I pray everyday for more patience.

Day by day we take it. And around here you never know what tomorrow is going to be like!