Marching through March!

I need to do a catch up post for you all before I post about our 12 months of Christmas in March. So much happening! 

I don't think I've updated you on our house.  It's under contract and we are supposed to close on it on May 2nd.  We are also under contract for a house to move in to up in Durango West 2 (west of town) Also set to close May 2nd.  At this point we are working on inspections, appraisals, inspection objections and financing.  Let's just say there's a reason Mark and I haven't moved in 12 1/2 years!  And we haven't really even packed yet!  Lots to do. 

This past week we had a septic guy come and pump our septic tank, a HVAC guy came and clean our furnace (both on the same day at pretty much the same time--see pictures below). 

We also had an appliance repair man come to fix the stove and a plumber come and inspect our hot water heater.  We will be tearing down a shed and packing up the house in the next 4 weeks.  All while Mark finishes what has been his toughest class so far.  And Easter AND Mark's 40th birthday! Whew! One day at a time. 

We had to take our van in this week as well to have the door fixed so while it was at the shop the kids and I headed to Durango Joes for drinks then to the library to kill some time. 

My sister, Kelly, her husband, Carson, and their 11 month old, Gavin, stopped by on the way down to Phoenix and the way back.  It was Gavin's first time at our house and the kids went nuts (as they usually do with cousins). I think Gavin loved the attention. 

Here he is tackling Jack. 

All to get the iPad and the kitty. 

Speaking of the kitty, we found a nasty tick on his neck! Ew ew!!  We got it out and he's fine but boy was that our Friday morning entertainment! 

Friday after lunch at Serious Texas we took our guests up to see our new house. It was great to have other eyes walk through with us.  We can't wait to live there! 

Kate fed Gavin...

2 people wrestled him to get boots on his feet...

We took the little stud for a walk...

And introduced him to a trampoline.

He was so fun and giggling!  And close to walking but isn't yet.  Instead he crawled on my carpet and collected dog hair for me :)

We are celebrating God's grace in our lives whether things are tough or good. He's given us new revelation of all He's done and we are so thankful!  I will do another post soon so I can share about our March dates with the kids.  We are loving time spent with them! 

What year is it?

Oy. The last time I posted was last year.  How am I doing ;)

We were in Golden/Boulder over break then came home and things took off!  I'm blessed to be able to go to Denver and kind of turn off my brain. The trouble with that is restarting it when we get back.  Especially when you come home with a cold you can't shake.  

I caught something at the end of our trip. I was totally on the mend but today feels like 1 step back. I'm hoping I can kick this thing this week!  We've got lots going on! 

Mark called a 21 day fast for our church when we got back.  It starts this Saturday.  Mark and I are juice fasting.  This is a first for me (to do it this long). You'll remember Mark's a pro ;)  I started early because of my cousins wedding I will be attending at the end of the fast. I wanted to be able to get back to eating before attending the wedding.  I am on day 4.  I think part of my feeling bad has to do with my body detoxing.  Sadly I didn't put the best stuff in it over the last couple months.... I'm hoping to feel better soon.  In actually excited for the health benefits of juicing!  My body needs a reboot! 

The kids and I started up school this week.  We all loved and needed the break.  We didn't go full on.  We're kind of easing our way back into it.  I seriously love homeschooling! 

Here's a few pictures from our time away.  We had so much fun with aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, grandmas and grandpas. 

This was Christmas morning at our house. 

This was taken at our friend's house.  We've spent the last several Christmas' with them.  They're family!  We played games, ate food, went sledding.  Had a good time. 

Our friend Kim gave Kale a Last Supper Lego set.  He was thrilled to have real disciples! 

This was the beginning of the mountain of presents up in Golden.  We arrived there Thursday night and had Christmas with my family.  7 nieces and nephews create tons of presents! 

Jack got a big Darth Vadar.  Yes.  Yes he did. 

Kate's big present was a bed for her American Girl dolls and matching outfits for them.  She even got extra money to go shopping with her aunties for more clothes.  She doesn't look disappointed does she? 

Lilah saw Kate getting her picture taken and wanted part of the action. 

Kale got a Lego Clone Gunner Ship.  He had another perfect, thrilled reaction to yet another Lego set. 

This little cutie pie was who we got to shop for this year.  She's my brother's daughter Emma. She liked our gifts :)

This is my niece Ashlyn.  And this is her Chandler smile. (Hopefully you've seen Friends and know what I'm talking about)

Some more adorable pictures. 

Aunt Katie and Gavin. 

Gavin with his hat on that I made for him. 

All the babies fascinated with Kate's toy. 

This one is just too hilarious!

Ashlyn, Gavin, Lilah and Emma. Oh and the dog Cutler. 

One night we attempted to see Zoo Lights.  We underestimated the crowd! Our second attempt was successful though. Here's a few pictures from there. 

This is my nephew Gavin.  At first I didn't recognize him. He's usually always smiling! 

The crew looking at elephants. 

Jack, Lilah, Kale and Kate. 

The crew looking at giraffes. 

The whole crew. 

I was supposed to have LASIK surgery that day to correct my right eye (that got over corrected in July) but I had some crazy, freak allergic reaction to who knows what and my eyes swelled.  I decided to skip the surgery...

The second half of our trip we headed to Boulder to hang with the cool kids. 

Kieran 

Sweet Alannah

And um Kale ;) 

We did Christmas with the Palmers on New Years Day. 

Grandpa reading the Christmas story. Doug, Kale and Jack

Julie, Mike, Grandma and Mark

Kate, Alisha and Chad 

The great hat from Aunt Julie and Uncle Mike. 

We only got to spend one day with the Palmer cousins.  :( a little here and there with Allanah as we arrived and left.  They're starting to warm up to us and it's so fun! 

The last night we were there Mark and I weren't feeling well (the start of the awful cold!). We watched Return of the Jedi.  Jack hadn't seen it before and I didn't even think about how he'd react to the movie.  I figured he'd love it.  I think he did but the sweet boy cried when Yoda died and he went and snuggled Kale.  You would've thought that would've clued me in to the final scenes but no.  Still wasn't thinking.  Poor guy had to watch Darth Vadar die and it about sent him over the edge.  Lots of tears then! His favorite character was gone.  Broke his sweet little heart :( 

Especially after he got his own Darth all ready to watch the movie...

If you made it this far you're amazing.  I think I'm all caught up now. 

Full Swing

We are full swing into the Christmas season.  Our house is decorated - inside and out. 

Christmas cards have been ordered and are just about done being addressed and ready to mail out.  Parties are planned.  And last night we did our kids' Christmas program.  Always a hoot!

I'm posting links to the performances, mainly so our away family can view them.  Feel free to peak and enjoy the cuteness if you'd like.

HERE is the link for Kate and Jack. Kate is Mary and Jack is an adorable shepherd.  He's the shortest one if you have trouble spotting him :)

HERE is the other link for their next song.

Kale is in the 4th and 5th grade class and they had a special performance.  I'll post both videos I have for that one.  So here's what happened.  I was recording Kale and my storage in my phone got full :(  So I have half of his dance from my perspective.  A friend of mine filmed the entire dance from the back.  My video shows Kale a little clearer.  He's the nutcracker on the far right.  The other video shows the entire dance (which you'll want to view).  My video didn't show what I thought was the best part :(

HERE's mine.

HERE's my friend's.

Let me know if you aren't able to get any of these to work. 

A memorable trip for many reasons

This trip was quite memorable.  I mentioned last week that a dear family friend past away.  Her name was Shirley Brewer and she was like my third grandma. The kids and I headed up to Denver for the memorial service which was held on Saturday.  

The kids wore their hats that I made them :)

Mark followed us up in his truck.  He had a district meeting on Saturday and then he headed back to Durango Saturday night.  It was too much for the kids and I to go up and back that quick so we stayed till Monday.

Friday night I got hang out with my newest niece, Emma.  She and I were wearing matching shirts so we had to get a picture taken. 

Saturday morning my kids were outside playing with the neighbor kids and Jack had a jeeping accident.  He fell off the power wheels Jeep.  Nice lip huh?

Saturday afternoon was the service.  My sister, Kelly, and I each shared some of our memories and my dad shared as well.  It struck me as I was preparing for this, how special this couple was to me.  I guess I always knew but when I had the chance to reflect on the impact they had on my life I was truly blessed.

Here are my siblings with Don (her husband). Don't mind our crazy eyes. The lighting was bad and this was the only picture we got of us with Don. 

And just us "kids".  I love my brother and sisters.  And yes I am the oldest and the shortest. 

We spent the rest of Saturday with family and friends celebrating Shirley's life.

Sunday morning the kids and I went with two of my sisters to Flatirons Church.  It's really a neat place. And I've never heard a bad message when I've visited.  I think what I appreciate about the pastor there is that he doesn't shy away from Truth or making you uncomfortable.  He's real. I respect that very much. 

This is some of the artwork on their wall. Crazy huh? 

After church we stopped for lunch and Katie, unknowingly, ordered a sandwich the size of second base.  It's hard to appreciate the size of the sandwich in this picture but we tried :)

I got some snuggle time in with my nephew Gavin.  He wasn't feeling well so he was especially snugly here.

We introduced football to Kale.  He watched the Broncos beat the Chiefs (we don't have live tv so this was a treat). He actually stayed for the entire game.  And I think he liked it. In the middle of that, Mark called to tell me that Mishka got skunked.   Poor Mark washed him 4 times then went to the store to get special shampoo.  Thankfully he smells amazing now! 

We left Monday morning to drive back to Durango.  Unfortunately Kate caught a stomach bug.  She was sick twice before we left.  I had hoped she had gotten everything out of her tummy.  Nope.  Poor thing got sick about 7 more times on the way home.  Thankfully she's big enough to make it into a bag.... I thought the trip was gonna be miserable but it actually went well despite the yucky circumstances.  She was a trooper!  

She's feeling better today but we're still taking it slow and gonna work on a bit of school and cleaning up.  The house was beautiful and spotless when we got home. Now not so much.  And we are leaving again for Denver on Sunday after church for Thanksgiving.  Lots to accomplish before then!