Spring Snow

We woke up this morning to over 6 inches of snow. Sam really really wanted to build a snowman. So I spent the time to get them dressed really warm and after half an hour or so we finally made it outside. The snow was so deep even on the sidewalk that two steps in the kids were complaining that it was too hard to walk. I forced them out to the field across the way and showed them how to make snow angels. They just sat there and grinned at me encouraging me to make more but not wanting to participate themselves. So I set to the task of trying to make a snowman. Unfortunately, the snow didn't stick together at all. It was very dry and powdery so that idea was a bust. By this time the kids were complaining the whole time about it being too deep and Sam emphatically told me he was ready to go back inside. I think it took longer to get dressed and ready to go outside than the actual time we spent outside. Oh well, I did get a chance to snap some pictures.

Prairie Dogs and Magpies

Two of the creatures that are in abundance here in the Denver area. Magpies are the local scavenger type bird beside the typical crows and ravens. Not a jay anywhere in sight. People around here take them for granted because they are everywhere but magpies really are a beautiful bird. Their black and white markings are very striking, especially when they take off for flight. I have to admit though, I kind of miss the blue jays but I am happy that we have another pretty bird to take its place. I'm sure when we eventually get to visit the mountains and more forested areas, I'll get to see the jays again.

When I think of prairie dogs I think of small chinchilla size creatures out in the Great Plains living in their colonies in the middle of nowhere. That is definately not the case. Every plot of empty land around here has a prairie dog colony in it. They are everywhere. In fact, if people decide to build on that piece of land they have to pay these specialists to come and remove the colony humanely before building. According to Dwayne's buddies at work, they plug up every hole they can find except one and then use a vaccuum type thing to suck up the prairie dogs out of the ground. I thought this was extremely funny. Dwayne then pondered how many "experiments" it took before they figured out just the right suction for the vacuum as to not cause damage to the poor prairie dogs. They are also much bigger than I expected. They are about the size of a chihuahua. Just lower to the ground and round. We live right next to a walking trail and creek which, of course, is surrounded by a couple of large open fields. Perfect prairie dog territory. The walk I routinely take with the kids always passes by this fairly large colony. We pop to the top of a hill and you can see a good 50 of the creatures scampering to the nearest holes as they are surprised by us. It is a fun thing to see and always gets the kids giggling. I'm sure there are more out there than I expect. They blend into the environment extremely well and are suited to the brown winter here in Colorado.

Exercise

I had read while researching about Denver, that it is one of the healthiest cities in the US. It is very outdoor oriented with walking trails everywhere and so family friendly. Like most things I read, I take it with a grain of salt, figuring that they will write a lot of things to make the area look good. Well, it is proving to be true. We are lucky to live in an apartment complex that butts right up to a major trail. I ventured out on a sunny day and took a walk with the kids to see where it might lead us. I found a portion of the trail that took us on a large loop and back around to our apartments. I'm estimating that round trip it is about 2 miles. Just perfect for someone needing to walk but not so overwhelming that I would quit within the first day or two. By the end of the walk, I was begging and literally dragging the kids back to the house. 2 miles is just a little far for their little bodies. My kids had outgrown the strollers I had for them so when we moved I got rid of them. I had been eyeballing a wagon for a while now that I thought would work great for pulling the kids but still allow them easy access to get in and out as they wanted. This past weekend I made it a priority to get one before the money was spent elsewhere. Monday, I went and bought some new walking shoes and yesterday I ventured out with all these tools. It worked out great! I feel so motivated to walk more often. We have more days of sunshine than not, the whole culture here is centered around outdoor life and getting out, and I now have the tools to walk as I want to. I didn't realize how much overcast skies kept me in the habit of staying inside. We have also not lived in an area that was convenient or condusive to walking. I was always afraid that someone would run me or the kids over.

I've also decided that next week I'm going to start this family on a diet and eat healthier. I'm feeling motivated and so far have been following through so I'm going to run with the motivation. Please pray that I stay committed and continue on the right path. I found a website (SparkPeople) that has weekly menus all ready to go. What is great is that if there is a food that you don't like or a meal you know you won't eat, you can easily click on it to substitue something else before printing it out. It is a healthy diet plan in that it is heavy on fruits and vegetables and good for you, lean meat options. It isn't a crash diet where you barely eat anything. It helps you stay at a healthy goal which for me is 1700-1800 calories a day. So you aren't starving yourself. Most of the foods are things that I think the kids will eat so I am going to have them join me for the most part so they get used to eating more fruits and vegetables and get them in the habit of healthy eating early in life. Being the age they are, I am definately not going to put them on a "diet", just try to change their eating habits to something more healthy. They love things like yogurt, wheat bread, and cheese anyway so I don't think it will be hard.

I'm not sure what it is, but I feel this time will be different for me. I don't think this new motivation is going to be a fad. I think God is really changing my heart to help me get off my butt and get moving. I think location has a lot to do with it too. Sunshine is really a great thing and a wonderful motivator. I love that we get all the sunshine but not the heat. (At least not yet, we'll have to see how the summer turns out.) I don't spend half as much time on the computer as I used to and my housekeeping has improved tremendously. I'll keep you all posted on my health and *crosses fingers* weight loss. Keep us in your prayers!

Denver Zoo

This past weekend was so fun. It was one of those weekends I hope to remember forever. Saturday I just had to get out of the dirty house and escape with my husband and children. We went out to breakfast, drove around a couple of new roads and ran a few errands. I've also been having pet fever really bad. Dwayne managed to curb all my instincts for wanting to bring home everything remotely cute and fuzzy and brought home some fish instead. We kept a small tank when we moved and decided it was time to set it up again. So I have a couple of guppies and neon tetras. Not quite what I had in mind but I think it will do for now.

Dwayne and I committed to serving at church that evening so we went to church and as we were swinging back home, we decided to check the mail. I saw a letter from our previous landlord and got a little excited thinking it was our $100 deposit we are expecting back from her. Instead, it was something much much better. From an email we received from her, she indicated that some renters would be moving in starting May 1st. Not ideal but we could make it work. We still had one months rent from Dwayne's company to help us get out of our lease and she still hadn't returned our deposit yet to us so we could have the next two months covered until the new renters moved in. I sent off the rent check diligently and figured we were done. When I opened the letter, my check fell out in my lap and as I read it, I started crying. Apparently, the renters moved in March 1st and the lease is signed. So we get our rent money back which we don't have to payback to Dwayne's work either. On top of that we will get our $1000 in total deposits back as well. It is such a huge relief to have that last connection severed and we can really move forward now.

So instead of putting it in savings or doing nice responsible things with it, I decided that since the weather was nice, I wanted to go to the zoo Sunday. We got up, grabbed a fast food breakfast and off to the zoo we went. It was beautiful and sunny in Parker but as soon as we drove into Denver, the fog descended and it was cold. I packed for sunshine, not cold so the first couple of hours we were pretty cold. Luckily, they had several animal houses that we could go in to so we could warm our hands and bodies. We decided to go ahead and purchase a membership so I can go as many times as I want. It will be nice to have a place to escape to if I feel housebound but don't have any extra money. Once the fog lifted though, it was warm and just perfect. The zoo also had an old-fashioned carousel and a small train ride which the kids thought was the most fun. After spending way too much money in the gift shop we went to the mall and grabbed Dwayne a few books and bought a wagon for the kids. Since we got rid of all our strollers that they had outgrown, I haven't been able to go on long walks or we have to spend the money to rent something. Now I feel like I can go on more walks and do more things while keeping the kids semi-contained. Overall, it was a fabulous weekend. Run over to Facebook if you want to see all the pictures of our zoo trip. I've posted the best ones over there.

Preschool and Snow

Not much happening right now. I'm not even sure what to write about. I've started working with Sam on preschool stuff. I'm happy to say that so far I have been consistent in doing it with him every day. He gets pretty excited when it is time to do "school" so it helps keep me motivated to work with him on it. To my surprise he asks to do math first every day. I've purchased the Primer from Math-U-See and he seems to be picking up the concepts really well. Most of what we do is reading lots of books and he likes to color or play with his cars while I read to him. I think both of the kids are figuring out that they can play while I read but it has to be done quietly. So far, just me threatening to stop reading and doing school seems to help calm them down. I know they won't always have this passion for learning so I'm trying to take adantage of it while I can.

We haven't really been doing much else. We've driven around and explored town a little bit. We have been trying to go to church consistently and we have been marveling at the change in weather here in Colorado. When the forecasters predict snow, we actually get snow. Unlike Oregon where they say it looks like we will be getting snow, oh wait, maybe a little later, maybe tomorrow, oh we won't get snow. So I buckle down, buy the groceries I need to wait out the snow storm, plan activities to keep the kids and I from going stir-crazy, expecting the world to shut down because we got snow. But that isn't what happens. Everyone gets up like usual to go to work, bring out their long-handled scrapers and snow brushes that every car seems to carry and go to work like normal. I look out my patio door and marvel at the normalcy of everyone's actions even though there is 3 inches of snow on the ground. I actually ventured out into the snow and drove around and the snow is so completely different out here it is hard to describe. It is dry and powdery, easy to drive in, and such a part of normal Coloradian life that most people don't even think about it. It doesn't leave you completely soaked either like NW snow does. I was so completely shocked when Dwayne came home with this little fact the other day. The last time people remember getting rain out here was back in August and it was only for an hour or so. Pretty much all our precipitation is in the form of snow. I've been told that March and April will be when we see the most snow. When everyone else is expecting rain for all their flowers, we get lots of snow. But get this, it melts within a day or two. For example, yesterday we got 3 inches of snow. Today, it is 50 degrees and completely melted. So people were right. We get lots of snow but there is such fluctuation in temperature from day to day that it doesn't stick around long. So life goes on normal here despite the snow and I'm trying to get out of the habit of hunkering down and hybernating any time I see white flakes fall from the sky.

Time Flies

Time seems to be passing so quickly right now. I don't realize how long it has been since I've posted until I look at the date. Most of our time has been getting settled into our new apartment, unpacking, and shopping. I am happy to say I only have 3 boxes left to unpack and it is mostly just filled with pictures. Hopefully, this weekend Dwayne and I will buckle down and take the time to get all our pictures up. I still have a counter full of misc stuff and papers I need to go through and either get rid of it or find a home for it. Because this place is so much smaller, I'm going to have to work really hard to keep the clutter down. I can't just set it aside to deal with later because I'm going to need that space for something.

I'm very grateful to say that we have already found a church that we are comfortable with and are attending regularly. We visited one just down the road from us the first weekend we were here. As I was glancing through the bulliten I noticed that they were having a newcomers dinner that very night. After talking to Dwayne we decided to go ahead and attend because what better way to find out about the church? After meeting some of the pastors and listening to the reasons why they do some of the things they do we decided we were comfortable enough to just sign our names as members. I really feel like it was God's hand at work because I really wanted to make connections quickly since I'm so far away from my friends and family. It is a HUGE church. Every weekend regularly has 3000-4000 attendees between 4 services. Dwayne has a huge heart and loves working with children so he is planning on volunteering for the children's ministry. I just don't feel the calling to do that. I never have. Luckily, they have a fairly large bookstore and coffee shop and I will be attending some training this weekend to start volunteering my time there. It will be so great to continue utilizing the skills and knowledge I picked up while working at the Christian bookstore in Washington.

We've already toured the town pretty good and checked out the local library. We received our tax refund last Friday so this past weekend Dwayne took Friday off and we finished getting things done with the cars like registration and new license plates. We also took the time to upgrade and transfer our cell phone service. So it's official now we have Colorado driver's licenses, registrations, phone numbers and Colorado license plates. Does that mean we are Coloradans (sp?) now? Friday evening we went shopping for a new TV. We finally have a tv that doesn't have lots of lines running down it. The picture quality is so much better. Saturday we went and got the brakes done on the van and went to look at mattresses. Dwayne has been complaining about our mattress for quite a while. We went to only "look" but I knew we would be financing and buying a new bed. That was my Valentine's gift to him. With his new raise, I was able to justify doing that for him. The mattress was delivered on Monday and we are so enjoying having a good night's sleep with actual back support. In just the few night's we've slept on it his snoring has reduced tremendously as well.

Sunday morning, Dwayne gave me the morning alone. I took the time to go do some serious shopping. I decided to get some new bedding to go with our new bed. Our quilt was looking pretty raggedy and literally just falling apart. Because I was alone I was able to take over an hour just going through all the different bedding options and really take my time. It was wonderful! I also was supposed to go shoe shopping. I didn't find any I really liked but was very excited to find a really nice pair of waterproof winter boots for only $12. They are nice enough that I can get away with wearing them with my every day clothes too if the weather requires it.

I also went ahead and purchased Sam's preschool program this past weekend. I'm pretty excited to start working with him a little and I'm sure Evie will be tagging right along. In fact, the FedEx guy just delivered it so I'm going to dive into all our new books as soon as I'm done with this post. As you can see, we are keeping ourselves busy and trying really hard to lay down roots quickly. So far, we are really loving it here. I didn't think I would feel so comfortable so quickly. People have been so nice and welcoming. It is weird having so much sunshine. I see the sun and think it is going to be warm but one step outside and its a little chilly. I also miss the trees. I feel very exposed here but I'm sure I'll get used to that. I miss my family, of course, but it isn't as bad as I imagined it would be. The hardest part is having Sam and Evie ask to go to Grandma's house and having to explain that we can't because it is too far away. I don't think they really understand. Overall, we are good though and I'm glad the move is done. I hope Dwayne's job stays stable for a while now. I really don't want to do this again anytime soon. Besides, I'm liking it here. :)

Arriving in Denver

Wednesday we woke up and got on the road around 8. This stretch of Wyoming is even worse than the day before. The towns were few and far between with lots of desolate defunct gas stations or convenience stores. Things started to get interesting as we crossed over a small mountain range approaching Cheyenne. All of a sudden we were in grasslands and we could tell we were approaching the beginning of the great plains. I've never been on the plains before so I found it fascinating. Now that we live closer I look forward to discovering this new ecosystem. At Cheyenne we turned south towards Denver. We were making excellent time and would be in Denver by 2:00. We wouldn't be able to claim our apartment until Thursday but we thought that since we were arriving in town so early and our moving truck is waiting for us, we went to the apartments and got all of our lease signing over with. That way we could claim the keys first thing in the morning and get the movers there ASAP. However, as we were approaching downtown, traffic got really really congested. It was a little strange considering it wasn't time for any work traffic.


As it turns out the North side of the freeway ended up being shutdown completely. As we drove by we got a good view of the investigation team setting up cones, snapping pictures, etc. When Dwayne saw just a shoe sitting in the middle of the freeway with a cone next to it we knew something serious had happened. We found out later that a pedestrian decided to cross the freeway and of course, didn't make it. He was struck and killed by a semi. I was thinking to myself, "What a welcome to Denver." We finally made it to the apartment a little late but still able to sign the lease. Grabbed a local hotel, went to Red Robin for dinner and went to sleep. The next morning we were at the door when they opened the office, grabbed our keys, and claimed our apartment. We also called the movers to let them know we were in. Sam was so excited to finally get his toys back.

We, of course, didn't have the beds set up yet and I figured Evie would just skip her nap for the day but we discovered her little body had other plans.

So we finally made it. We were lucky the weather held for us and God was with us on this trip. The kids handled it extremely well and we were able to put in full days of driving without too much fuss. All of our stuff arrived like it was supposed to and on time. Nothing really came out broken or damaged so we had no horror stories about the moving company. The kids just seemed happy that we weren't traveling anymore and had all their things again. The hardest part for us has been trying to juggle our things into a smaller space. Even after all the purging we have already done we have taken another van full to the local Goodwill. Dwayne seems to have settled into his job just fine and he comes home so much happier than before. I didn't realize how stressed he really was until I have seen him unstressed. Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support during this transition. I hope to send out Easter cards this year to everybody with all our new information. We are always on Facebook too so I'm sure you'll catch us there from time to time.

Tuesday's Drive

Tuesday was probably the most boring day of our trip. I tried to find interesting things to see outside but unfortunately, there isn't a lot of change in that part of the country. Most of it looks pretty much the same. Especially in the middle of winter. We left Boise before the sun came up so we got to see the sunrise. It was very pretty peaking over the horizon and very sudden too since there weren't any mountains to block it. One moment it is dark and the next it is not. There was no gradual sunrise like in the NW.

Driving through Eastern Idaho was probably the most dangerous part of the trip. We were very blessed to have good weather pretty much the whole time and we were lucky not to have gotten caught in any storms or snow. The roads were a bit icy and the big trucks were kicking up so much slush and dirt it was hard to see through the windshield. After slipping a couple times I realized I needed to slow down. You don't really realize how fast you are going in on a straight boring stretch of road.

After stopping at another McDonald's Playplace in Northern Utah for an hour's lunch break we turned east once again rather than continuing south to Mormon territory. The Rockies were starting to make themselves known even though we were still only in the foothills. Also, further south they become much more rugged and dangerous to cross. Still looking ahead at the mountains it was hard to believe a major freeway was finding its way through this small pass. It was a tight squeeze and had several sharp curves but we popped throught the other side and very quickly found ourselves in Wyoming.

Now Wyoming is a state I can't imagine myself living in. Especially the southern part. If you aren't a rancher or a trucker there is absolutely nothing there for you to do. My mom reminded me that the whole state is probably not that way but the part we drove through was boring beyond boring. It was flat. Very flat. I was looking forward to seeing an old school friend who lived near Rock Springs but she called to say that her kids had strep. As we were approaching the town though we did see start to see a few interesting natural formations. If you ever wondered "What exactly is a butte?" Well, the following is a picture of one.

We stopped in Rock Springs around 4 pm again and found ourselves another hotel. Even though we weren't meeting my friend anymore, after checking the map we realized there was a whole lot of nothing coming up and Rock Springs is the only town with any significant size for several more hours. The kids were starting to fight again pretty bad anyway so I knew it was time to stop. We went to a local Chinese buffet (not that great) for dinner and then came back and threw the kids in the pool again to get out their wiggles. We then went to bed early again.

Monday's Drive

This is a picture of our room at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. It really doesn't do the place justice. It is a gorgeous hotel and the rooms were definately old and classic. Not a place I would recommend for little ones though. But perfect for a romantic getaway.

All I can say is thank goodness for electronic toys and that we were able to set up our laptop as a DVD player. Otherwise this would have been an even longer trip than it was.

We woke up pretty early Saturday morning because I was anxious to get on the road. It had snowed overnight in Hood River but it was just a dusting and not too bad. Most of this day was pretty uneventful. We had all our toys ready to go and since it was the first day the kids were pretty good. We still had a few moments of them fighting over a toy or hitting each other but this is normal everyday stuff whether we were in a car or not. My goal was to make it to Boise the first day and I'm happy to say we made it. This was even with an hour stop at a McDonalds PlayPlace for lunch so the kids could burn off some of their pent up energy. We also made sure the hotel we stayed at had a pool so we could take them swimming in the evening to help with that too.

Now lest you think this is a picture of nothing, let me assure you it is something. In a portion of Eastern Oregon before we hit the last mountain range before hitting Idaho we hit a patch of fog that was incredibly thick. I've never driven in fog that thick before and Dwayne and I were debating on if we were actually driving through low lying clouds since we were in high enough elevation for that. Needless to say, I'm glad it was daytime and it only lasted about 10 minutes but it was a bit scary to go through and not see anything around you.

If you look right in the middle of this picture you can see the clouds/fog we had driven through.

This is a small video of Evie rockin out to some music we were playing. She was boppin and dancing but, of course every time she noticed Daddy taking a picture she would stop. She was also chomping on a mouthful of jerky which is why her mouth is so full.

We made it to Boise at about 4pm in the afternoon after a full day of driving. I decided I wanted to get to the far side of Boise to avoid any kind of work traffic congestion in the morning. It was about perfect timing since the kids' fighting was escalating from being in the van all day. We found a decent Best Western, went to dinner, threw the kids in the hotel pool for 45 min or so, took our baths/showers, and all of us went to bed. Unfortunately, the kids wouldn't go to sleep unless we did too since the lights and TV were on. Even though I wasn't ready I went to bed early so they could go to sleep. I must say it was probably a good thing for me to get a good night's sleep but I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at about 5 am just waiting for some signs of life in my family so we could get up and get on the road.

Weekend before we leave

We left Washington Friday night after Dwayne got home from work. After the decision was made to head down to my mom's before we had to leave on Monday I was anxious and ready to go. I did my best to have the house clean and things ready to be packed but the kids were a little demanding of my time and attention because they were so bored. I kept popping in various movies into the laptop but they were anxious because the house was empty and they didn't have their things. Despite the distractions I managed to get the place cleaned up. Our things weren't exactly packed well though. Somehow, Dwayne and I squeezed everything into every little nook and cranny in the van. If we had gotten in an accident it would have been really bad with stuff everywhere. Luckily, God was with us and the trip down to Oregon was uneventful.

Saturday was pretty decent weather for an Oregon winter so we decided to visit the Portland Children's museum. In all the years we had lived there we never visited. We all thought the kids were at the perfect age to enjoy it finally and so we loaded up and went. Because of the boys' enjoyment of trains we decided to take the Max up to the zoo and avoid all the parking hassels. They thought that was great fun and fascinated the whole time. Especially going through the "big tunnel." Of course, walking by the train at the Forestry center required a stop so the kids and Aiden especially could get on it.

Inside the Children's museum was a stage where children could put on performances and pretend they are in a play. Sam found a couple of drums, parked himself front and center and played and sang away for a good 10 minutes. He would have kept on too if I hadn't forced him to move on to something else.

We then checked out a large train set that had the boys fascinated. Luckily, nearby was a pretend bus that kept Evie busy while she drove Daddy to school. The kids spent the most time though in a large dig pit. It consisted of chopped up sponge plastic pieces. Kind of like the bottoms of shoes. They dug and dug and dug while all the parents just sat around relaxing, just relieved the kids were busy and we didn't have to eyeball them so hard or chase after them. Every parent in the area had the "phew" look on their faces.

Sunday we went to visit Dwayne's grandma and saw Dianne again one last time. We then completely emptied the van and repacked everything the way it should have been done in the first place. We were still extremely full but at least not bursting at the seams as much as before. By the time this was all done I was getting anxious to get on the road. Especially knowing that Mom and Melody get up so early for work. I didn't want to prolong the goodbyes and make them late and deal with cranky kids who got woken up to early. So we decided to leave about 5pm Sunday night. My idea was to get a hotel in Troutdale so we could avoid the Portland Monday morning work traffic. We made such good time though that we went all the way to Hood River and stayed at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. I had heard a lot of good things about it and I'm very happy to say I was able to stay a night there. To be continued........

We are here

I know it has been 10 days since I've posted anything. As most of you know we have arrived in Denver safely. I have been busy trying to get our accounts switched over and unpacking. By the time evening comes, I'm not usually in the mood to type up something in the blog. I have pictures from our drive over and from the last few days. I'll try to post them for you soon. This is just a quick note to let you know we have arrived in Denver and are safe.

Packed and Ready

Well, our stuff got loaded onto the truck today and is on its way to Colorado. I must say I was a little surprised by how long it took. Apparently, the two previous households were underestimated and took up a lot more room in the truck. Because of that, they had to really jigsaw our stuff into the truck to make sure it all fit. The guys did a really good job and I was delighted by how respectfully they treated our things. It also sounds like our stuff will be arriving the 28th when we do so I don't have to go any days at all without our things. The Lord really answered my prayers with that one. It is hard enough without our stuff in territory we are comfortable with. I couldn't imagine trying to do it in a state and city I know nothing about. That will also give me the whole weekend with my husband to get some major unpacking done before he has to go to work. Please pray that the good weather continues to hold and our drive to Colorado will be uneventful.

Tomorrow we will be getting rid of our washer/dryer, making a dump run, and cleaning the house. Dwayne will have to pop into work to get his items shipped so they will ready for him when he gets there. Melody and Mom were going to come up this weekend and we were talking about spending a day in Seattle but it turns out Mom has caught the flu and feels pretty miserable. I could tell she was really disappointed but was trying to hold it together. I'm not really feeling like spending 3 days in an empty house trying to keep two toddlers entertained so I think we are going to go down to Oregon for the weekend. We'll just quaranteen my mother and let her see the kids a little and hear their laughter. It will also be nice to start our trip from Oregon. We are hoping to make it to at least Boise the first day and starting in Portland will cut off a couple hours from our trip. Having the house completely empty should make it pretty easy and quick to clean up. I'm getting excited now and ready to get on the road.

Packing Day

I think this whole moving thing is finally hitting me today. I've been frustrated, anxious, and cry at the stupidest things. The kids are feeding off my energy and fighting, screaming, arguing, and misbehaving like crazy. I can honestly say I have not been a model parent today. I will be happy when we are on the road and on our way. Tomorrow is finally packing day. We have a crew of people coming into the house to put everything they can in boxes and Thursday they will be back to actually load the stuff into the truck. Thursday night or Friday morning, Mom and Melody will be up for one last visit over the weekend and to help me clean the house and tie up loose ends. Monday we will be on the road towards Denver. I've been wanting this day to get here but now that it is I feel like I'm not ready. It will be interesting to keep the kids entertained with limited toys and a laptop. I think the kids and I will be fighting over the laptop. LOL. We did set aside some children's DVD's to play for them on the laptop as I am not ashamed to say my kids are addicted to the TV. I also have some activities, books, and toys set aside. Having Mom and Melody here for the majority of the empty house time will certainly help tremendously. I think we are planning a trip to the zoo to help pass the time. I know it is in God's hands and things will be fine but please pray that everything falls into place like it should and he helps ease the anxiety I'm feeling about this whole thing.

Great Wolf Lodge

Just down the road from us, literally about 15 min away, is a large beautiful hotel with giant water slides coming out of it. Since it has been built, it constantly flashes to us from the freeway all the deals and specials and fun it is supposed to have there. We have looked into the price of an overnight stay, wince at that price, and tell ourselves, "Well, maybe some day." That someday finally happened this weekend. Dianne wanted to have one last mini vacation with us and booked a room at the hotel. Right before we left, Dwayne came home with a unexpected bonus check so we were able to help her offset the cost.

We walked into a huge lobby. It was very nice and gorgeous. Huge soaring ceilings, a walkway from another floor crossing in front of us, a giant tree, a huge fireplace with animatronic animals, and two restaurants off to the left. All of this with the first views. Only people who stay overnight at the park get to play in the waterpark and check-in isn't until 4:00. However, you are allowed to come in at 1:00 and let them know you are there and play in the park until your room is available. So Dianne and I loaded the kids into the van with all the stuff we needed for an overnight stay anywhere with toddlers and headed to the hotel with the intention of doing just that. Unfortunately, Dwayne had to work but would join us later. When we got there we lucked out and our room was already available. This was a huge relief for me. I would much rather change into my bathing suit in the privacy of my own room than in a public restroom. After changing we entered the park and looked around. There was a huge fort with bridges and ropes and all kinds of things that sprayed, shot, and dumped water. We also passed a large wave pool. Off in the distance we saw a pool set up for playing some basketball. And soaring high above us were staircases leading to the water slides. Off to the right, we finally found the little kid section and played there for a couple hours. Sam was excited at the idea of going swimming but really really hated get sprayed or wet unexpectedly. He likes to have fun on his own terms. (It sounds an awfully lot like his mom.) Evie was a little daredevil and was climbing on all the things available, sliding down slides, and shooting everything she could. It soon became very apparent that we needed to put a life vest on her because she was so busy it was hard to keep up with her and keep my eye 100% on her. There was also a lot of little kids running around. Without my glasses, I'm pretty blind and it was interesting trying to keep track of which brown haired little girl was mine.

We pulled the kids out in time for a snack and checked out the HUGE arcade on the 2nd floor. I also browsed a little in the beautiful gift shop and ended up getting the kids some more stuffed animals. Like they really needed another one of those. Oh well. Dwayne was able to get off a little early so we grabbed him and went to WalMart for a couple items and then out to dinner. The kids and I had rough night sleeping in the room. There were kids running around in the hall till well after midnight and the room was just too hot for my comfort. Evie woke up several times in the night and Dwayne finally just put her in bed with me and crawled onto the pull-out couch with Sam.

This morning, we went out to a nice breakfast and came back, checked out of the hotel and then went back into the water park for several hours. Even though check-out is 11:00 you are allowed to stay and play in the waterpark the day of departure until it closes at 9:00 at night. You just can't have your things in the room. Evie and I had a hard time being together today. I think it was lack of sleep on both our parts. Once she was with Daddy though things got better. We set the kids up with Grandma and a couple of snacks and Dwayne and I ran to do a couple of the really big slides while we had the chance. Those slides made the whole trip worth it. They were quite fun and they were really what I needed after a frustrating and tiring night. We decided to call it quits around lunch time and headed home. I was so greatful that in this case, home was only 15 minutes away.

The lodge and waterpark is a lot of fun but definately a place I would recommend for kids just a little older than ours. Check out their website at http://www.greatwolf.com/grandmound/waterpark .We had fun but I think we would have had just a tad more fun if I didn't have to keep such a close eye on the little ones and could take advantage of the big rides a little myself.

Sam's Birthday

We went down to Oregon again this past weekend to throw a joined birthday party for Sam and Aiden and to also say goodbye to all the friends and family we probably won't get to see again for a while. We had quite the turnout so I'm grateful Melody's friend Jennifer allowed us to dominate her house. My mom's house would have been way too small. We kept it pretty simple since we didn't have a lot of money. Everybody was kind enough to bring some finger foods which was perfect and we just did some cupcakes for the cake. I managed to find a pin the tail on the donkey game at Dollar Tree. It was really nice because it used stickers for the tail instead of pins. So even the littlest ones could play.

The Mahar boys dominated the game and won a couple coloring books for prizes.

After the game we did some cake while we waited for the last couple of guests to arrive. Sam totally understood the whole birthday thing this year and was so joyous when we were singing to him. It was so beautiful to see.

After cake we opened presents. With Evie's help of course.

Finally the last couple of guests arrived and we could do the pinata. I managed to find a small one at WalMart for only $10. But nobody could break it. It was really stirdy. Dwayne finally had to step on it to break it open. I had a bag full of toys and candy that wouldn't fit into my tiny little pinata. You got to love the dollar store! Here is Kristopher with his family looking on giving it a good swing.

Evie, of course, couldn't be left out.

After the pinata broke, the party broke up pretty quickly. It was short and sweet but I'm so grateful I got to see everyone one last time. The kids had a wonderful time and everyone was so gracious.

Finally Some Progress

I finally feel like we are making progress on this whole move. This morning we received the money we were supposed to for misc. fees, etc. so we can turn in our application for the apartment. I also received a phone call from the moving company. After talking to the gentlemen, I feel much more confident about the move and allowing them to pack for me. I might as well take advantage of the professionals since Dwayne's company is paying for it right? I'll probably continue to do some on my own but the majority is going to be in their capable hands. It looks like we are going to travel out on the 25th with an arrival estimate of Wed. the 27th. We only have to travel a minumum of 500 miles a day so I'm going to take advantage of that and take our time considering we have two small children. The moving company will be meeting me this Thurs to give an estimate on the house and take a look at what it will all entail. I can hardly believe that we are only going to be here a couple more weeks. This whole thing is happening way too fast.

Since we are moving forward pretty confidently, I posted our place on Craigslist today to try and find renters. Our landlord will only let us out of our lease if we do the advertising and legwork in trying to find a new renter. I've already received two calls and this is the first day. I'm praying really hard that we will find a renter quickly and that will be one less thing on our plate.

Hurry Up and Wait

Well, we are at a waiting phase again. I thought with all my new found information that I was happy to receive would actually mean progress towards our moving adventure. Well, that hasn't necessarily been the case. I did have someone to contact but they went on vacation for Christmas. So I decided to wait and take Christmas week off too. It was nice to not stress about the move for a few days and visit with family. Early this week I contacted who I needed too to get some money transferred to us for fees etc so we can get our apartment application turned in. At this point we don't even have the place for sure yet. We just found a place we would like to live. He also said he would contact the moving company and we should hear from them soon so that we can start that process as well. By Wednesday, I hadn't seen any money or heard from the moving company. I contacted John again and he said it should be early this week that I see both things happening. So it has been a waiting game for pretty much two weeks. It is driving me crazy because now that it is January I can see the clock ticking. Feb. 1st will be here before we know it and we are not ready. I haven't even really started packing because the moving company is supposed to help me with that. I don't know what that entails, what to expect, etc. I'm waiting to hear from them to get that started. On the plus side, my last day of work was Dec. 30th. I finally feel like I can get stuff done around the house that has been neglected and then I get sick with some sort of viral thing. I'm feeling back to myself today but Dwayne has been hit. I really really hope the kids don't get it.

In other news, I got a food dehydrator and apple slicer/corer for Christmas. Let's just say I have been enjoying myself immensly making dried apple slices for snacking and storing. Evie loves them as much as me and eats them no problem. Sam emphatically informs me that he does NOT like old apples and could he please have a new one? I know he likes them just fine but I think it is the texture that is getting to him. I'll keep working on him. I can't wait until we are settled into our new place. One of the first things I'm gonna try is to make some jerky.

Also, just a reminder to everyone, that we are having a combined birthday party for Sam/Aiden as well as a goodbye to everyone this coming Saturday the 9th at 1:00. Melody has the address of her friend who has offered her home for this use. Call me or her if you don't have it already. It will be a potluck type thing for snack or drink items only. We aren't doing a full meal deal. Just finger and snack foods. We will provide a pinata, cake, and a couple of games for the kids. Call or facebook me if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing you there!

Christmas

Christmas Eve we drove down early in the morning to catch Dave and Charlene before they went up to her parents. The kids were very excited to see everyone and they totally got the idea of presents this year. It was more exciting for me as a mommy too to see them enjoying themselves. We then went to my Mom's house to hang out the rest of Christmas Eve. My mom has a tradition of opening all gifts to each other on Christmas Eve and then doing stockings and Santa gifts Christmas morning. They were very blessed even though everyone was tight financially. Sam was excited because he got some new tracks for his Hot Wheels. Evie got various princess type things and Melody gave her some beaded necklaces, bracelets, and earrings which she wore all day and then promptly lost or broke. LOL The joys of Christmas.

Christmas morning they played with all their new toys while we waited for Dianne and Stephanie to come over. We then opened all our Santa gifts and the stuff from them. We spent the rest of the day hearding and supervising children while they played with all their stuff. After a nice meatloaf for dinner we decided to just drive home so we could all sleep in our own beds. The kids crashed on the way home and slept through the night after all the hard playing. Overall it was a very fun weekend and one I think we will remember for quite a while.

Good News

Yesterday afternoon we finally heard from Dwayne's new boss about his salary for moving to Denver. Instead of offering him a raise they offered him a promotion. With the new promotion comes a huge pay raise. We will be making $15,000 more a year. That is huge and almost doubles what I was bringing in with my little part-time job. This news has been a huge relief and has lessened so much stress for us. So it looks official that we are going to Denver. We still don't have a set time line yet for moving but it looks like we are still heading for Feb 1st to be out there. Considering this is Christmas week, it will be next week before we can start lining things up with the moving companies, etc. I've also let my work know that next week will be my last week working. That will leave me available in January to get moved and packed and do all the things I still need to do.

I probably won't write again for a few days as we are traveling back to Oregon this weekend to spend time with family for Christmas. The kids are so excited to open all their presents. I'm so grateful we were able to do things for them this year and get gifts for each other. God has definately had his hand on our lives. Though it was a little tough there for a while. I think it makes the other side that much sweeter. Please pray that our transition will go smoothly.

Colorado It Is

Dwayne and I flew out to Denver Wednesday morning. My cousin Talia was very kind in babysitting my kids for two days while we went out on our scouting expedition. Sheri was able to drop us off at the airport and our plane was on time. Though we did get a little confused about which gate we needed to be at. Because it wasn't labled well we almost missed it but it worked out in the end. Getting through security is much easier than it used to be too. I haven't flown since shortly after 9/11 when everything was so ridiculous on what was allowed or not allowed. We read up on the regulations before we flew and had everything ready. I was even allowed to take my embroidery scissors through without even a blink of an eye.

We arrived in Denver to clear sunny skies and brown coloring wherever you look. Winter in Denver is not pretty. There wasn't even any snow to give it a winter wonderland kind of feeling. We got our rental car and with me clutching the map and attempting to be the navigator we proceeded into our new prospective home city. Luckily, we found the hotel without too much trouble. ProBuild put us in a Hilton in the tech area so it was a nice place. The hotel gives out free cookies in the evening and a free newspaper in the morning. We felt a little out of place but it sure was nice to be doted upon a little. And Dwayne and I hadn't had alone time in quite a while. After a quick bite in the hotel restaurant, Dwayne went off to his meeting while I dinked around the hotel. He came back so much more relaxed and calm. It was nice to see him not quite so stressed about the whole thing. I was a little frustrated though because they still haven't given him a firm deadline or salary. After a little talking though we decided that no matter what the money offer is, we will be moving. The choice before us is a for sure job with company paid moving expenses, or no job and only 3 weeks pay as compensation. With the job market the way it is right now, it just doesn't make sense to give up a sure thing. Dwayne's boss took us out to dinner at an expensive restaurant that evening. Company paid of course.

The next morning we woke up and got ready to run around town with the realtor. She had a few places lined up but there wasn't much available in our price range in the areas we wanted to look. The culture is a bit different in Denver than we are used to here in the NW. Because Denver is such a city of professionals and Denver is a city where many corporations have their corporate offices, the city is more "upper crust." Money is a bit more available and people have more of it. There are very few middle class houses available for rent. You can either afford a really expensive and nice house or you own a condo or live in an apartment community. There isn't many places for the people in between. The suburb that does have them, we found out, is considered the "ghetto" and not the place we would want to live. And until we lived there a bit and discovered the bad places on our own, I wanted to make sure we would be fairly safe. So we found a really nice apartment in the town I had my heart set on living in called Parker. Apparently, 80% of ProBuild workers live in Parker and it was highly recommended. When I visited the town website, I got excited as well. The town seems to be very nice with lots of community events. It is considered a suburb of Denver but far enough away to still have a small town feel to it. Douglas county also has the best schools in the state. I figured if worse came to worse and I had to send the kids to public school, I wanted it to be in a good area. Dwayne will only have about a 15-20 min drive to work.

Our realtor was from Seattle so she was very helpful in answering our questions and what we could expect as northwesterners coming to live there. The elevation will take some getting used too. People get a little bit of elevation sickness. I felt it a little while I was there but it wasn't too bad. Browsing throughout the day rather than large meals and lots and lots of water takes care of the worst of it. Also, Denver is very very dry compared to the NW. She said that was the hardest part to get used to. So I'll need to make it a habit to use moisturizer more often to combat that dryness. But the plus side is that I get over 300 days of sunshine to enjoy. Looking around was a bit weird for us. Everything is so open and spacious. I'm used to trees or hills or mountains or shrubbery blocking my view of things. You get the Rocky Mountains on one side and nothing on the other. People seemed very open and accepting the idea of my homeschooling the kids out there. Even the state-created welcome to Denver book had a section on homeschooling as a viable education choice and resources to help you get started. After some research, I found out that Colorado's schooling laws state very clearly that the parents are responsible and have the right to choose whatever education they feel best meets the needs of the child. Because of that, all of the schools in the Denver area have an "open" policy. You can pick whichever school you want for your children to go to, pending room of course. They have a wide variety of private, charter, public, online, and homeschooling options available. It is refreshing to talk about my choices without feeling defensive about my decision or feeling like I have a stigma attached to me as one of "those" parents. The state is largely Rupublican with Denver of course being more Democratic. But being a "big business" type of city it doesn't seem to be too far left. At least from what I have perceived so far.

Friday was spent traveling. We went to the airport far too early not sure how security was going to go. Our flight was uneventful and we even arrived in Portland early. We quickly grabbed the kids and headed home. Today I spent working all day while Dwayne caught up on laundry. So that is where we are at the moment. More decisions really can't be made until Monday and even then many people won't be available as it is Christmas week. I have a sinking sensation that we will be on pause for a couple weeks and then it will be a hurry up and rush kind of January. Please keep us in your prayers that we can find renters for our house quickly to help us get out of our lease and that our moving will be mostly uneventful.