Easter 2009

We had a nice Easter this year - despite the weather being very crazy - we had snow. We had baskets and eggs on Saturday and a nice dinner on Sunday. I was still trying to get all moved in and consequently I didn't take very many pictures. I did manage to take pictures of the kids in their new Easter clothes.

The final leg

{I did a lot of posts at once, please scroll all the way down to read them in order.}

Our plan was to leave for Colorado Springs on April 1. Utah/Wyoming/Colorado had been going through a series of storms. It was supposed to snow on April 1st, but we decided to watch and wait to see what the weather would do. We didn't want to delay leaving, and then get stuck behind a storm. It did snow that morning, but cleared up and we left around 10:00am. The freeways were all open and the weather didn't really seem all that bad. There was a little bit of snow here and there between Utah and Wyoming, but nothing that slowed us down. We ate lunch in Little America, and Dinner in Cheyenne. Sarah took over driving and the roads from Cheyenne to Denver were great. I had wanted to pull over and take a picture of a Welcome to Colorado sign (we did that when we entered New Mexico) but we never saw one. Here is a picture of Josh at a rest stop just over the border by a Colorado Map.

That's when I jinxed us - I said I was officially glad that we had decided to leave that day.
Soon after, we started to have issues. I don't want to embarrass anyone, but we some issues with bodily functions. Then the roads got very, very bad. They were snow packed, slushy, and very slick. One funny moment was when we opened the windows to get some fresh air, and a snow plow zoomed past us showering the interior of the car with wet, slushy, dirty snow. I am very grateful for a lot of things. I'm glad that Sarah was with me, and that she was driving when I needed to help the kids (doing something only a mother could do). I really feel that I was inspired to bring round, plastic tubs (old food containers) to pack some of the food in. They even had lids! That was a lifesaver. The last 40 miles took over 2 hours. We didn't pull in until after 10pm. Driving time - about 12 hours (25 for the whole trip!) I'm also very grateful that we made it there safely and that the car didn't give us any trouble (well, except for a dead battery at the very beginning, but then the battery was fine the rest of the trip).

I am very glad that we are a family again. I'm excited about living here. I'm thankful that Aaron found a nice house for us to rent. I'm looking forward to this next chapter in our lives.

Our trip - part two.

The next leg of our journey was up to Fruit Heights, Utah to visit with my parents and sisters. The trip went pretty well. We just had a little bit of snow over Soldiers Summit, but it wasn't really that bad. We made the trip in 7 hours (hours of driving so far... 13) and had a very nice week with Grandparents. My parents had recently put in an endless pool, so that kept the kids entertained quite a bit.







We also had fun visiting my sister Sarah, going out to eat, and just relaxing. Rachel was very lucky and got to go to a David Archuleta concert with her grandpa. Sarah was very generous and offered to make the drive from Utah to Colorado Springs with me. Our plan was to leave on April 1. More to come...

Our trip - part one.

Here is our journey as we traveled from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Colorado Springs. Aaron was already there, so I made the trip with the 4 kiddos alone.

March 19th & 20th the packers and movers came to pack up and load all of our stuff. We slept in a packed up house on Thursday night and I had to deal with a vomiting 3 year old. I actually had to open up some boxes to find another blanket and some towels (which she also threw up on). I had some really great friends that fed us dinners and helped me clean (and washed all the yucky bedding!) On the 21st we started the first leg of our very round about way to get to Colorado and went to Farmington, New Mexico. The kids had 2 weeks of Spring break and we wanted to take advantage of the time to visit some family.

We spent a few days there and had fun with grandparents and cousins. We had one really fun day of flying kites.

Emma particularly enjoyed it and was very sad when her kite ended up in a tree later on.



David had a really hard time - his kite kept breaking. After a couple of trips to the dollar store, we finally found one that worked.

Rachel had fun flying her kite as well, but for some reason, I don't have any pictures. I think I was pretty distracted trying to help untangle and fix kites.

We had a great time with all the Bloomfields in Farmington. Stay tuned for part II

Snow day - in April

We've been told a lot of things about the weather in Colorado Springs. The most true statement is that it changes all the time. In between Easter and this snow storm - we had warm sunny days in the 60s and 70s. The kids had school canceled and they were pretty excited. Here are Rachel and David celebrating - I think the light from the yard made my flash not go off, so they are really dark, but you get the idea.

David is staring at the snow.

Here's a photo of our backyard.

and the view from the front porch...

It really did snow quite a bit - but it kept melting as it was accumulating, and then a couple of days later it was all gone. If it's going to snow a lot, at least it doesn't stick around very long.

We're Here

This will be a very short and pictureless post but since I haven't blogged in a long time I figured I would give a quick update. The kids and I finally arrived in Colorado Springs on April 1. The drive was very long and not without some unexpected difficulties. My sister Sarah drove down with me - this turned out to be a lifesaver! There was some snow along the way (and with kids, there is always some excitement). I'm just glad that we are here and getting settled in. The house will take forever to unpack and I will take some pictures when a few more things are put away. So far I like the house and the neighborhood. We even have some family (Aaron's cousin's family, the Kelschs) to help us get settled. The kids started school today and I hope that everything goes well for them. Their teachers seemed very nice. We weren't even the only new students there today.

I'm hoping Spring will arrive very soon - we're not used to the cold weather! The mountains are beautiful and it seems like any kind of shopping I could want is around the corner. I am excited for our new adventure in Colorado Springs!