4th of July Weekend Pt. 2!

For the 4th of July, we headed out to Palmer Lake with the Jeremy and Carrie Isaac Clan and a few of their friends. Palmer Lake does an amazing fireworks show every year and it's nestled back in a beautiful location near the mountains. The weather probably couldn't have been worse, but we had a wonderful time anyway! My philosophy towards unkind weather is: life happens, so don't get upset at the rain...dance in it! :-)

Grill Masters! It was very windy because of the storm moving in, so it took a few tries to get the grill to light.

There were coal trains that came through about every hour. Poor Braxton was so scared of the horn!

The looming storm clouds

Me and my baby! I've never worn long sleeves on the 4th of July before.

They were sharing cookies! This should be on a Valentines Day card. :-)

Our 4th of July Feast!

Then it started sprinkling

Then it started pouring!

Justin braving the cold rain to guard our spots in the parking lot!

Then it started dumping...and hailing! (and before anyone freaks out about Braxton being in the front seat, the car was off and the emergency brakes were on!)

We waited out the storm 2 hours, and finally got to watch the fireworks in the rain. It was beautiful to watch the lightening and the fireworks at the same time! I will never forget that fireworks show!

Fourth of July Weekend Part 1

We decided it was completely unacceptable that we have been living here for almost two weeks and have not been hiking yet. So we decided to take the holiday weekend to do some exploring of our beautiful state. We drove to a campground and then hiked up to a Wildfire Lookout Tower at the top of Devil's Head (what a name for a mountain!). It was a 3-mile round trip hike up the mountain and then 143 steps to the top of the Wildfire Lookout Tower. We got our exercise for the week! :-) It was so gorgeous.

Our drive up to the mountain through Peak's Forest was almost as fun as the hike itself!

Winding, curves in the road! What a change! :-)

Braxton slept soundly...for 5 minutes of the 2 hour drive there. :-)

So happy to be in his backpack carrier OUTSIDE. This kid loves being outside and I've noticed our day is filled with many more tantrums if he doesn't do something outside during the day. Guess we moved to the right state for an outdoors boy!

Yes, I do realize we are very luminous here. :-) That's what happens when you combine flash with bright sunshine. :-) Anyway...I love going on adventures with this guy! He is so much fun to be with...and he's a great packhorse (Just kidding!!!! kinda... :-))!

One of our many beautiful scenic overviews. This hike was filled with beautiful views! I told Justin someday I want to climb it by myself with my Bible and just sit at each of the lookouts and read, pray and praise. I can only imagine how refreshing that would be.

We made it to the top of the mountain! We were exhausted, but so excited to get to the tower! Next stretch was the 143 steps to the watch tower. I am so scared of heights so the steps were a challenge for me. I kept repeating over and over "God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a strong mind."

WE made it!! (I was so proud of myself!!) It was SO worth the climb. The views were indescribable!

Looking one direction towards Pikes Peak

Justin and Braxton

That's the side where you walk after the steps to get to the tower! Once again, SO worth fighting through my fear of heights!

Here is the Wildfire Lookout Tower. The same lookout guide has been there for over 20 years. He and his wife are in their late 80s and it sounds like they move out there ever summer. Here's the crazy part, once a week they have to go to get groceries and supplies. Then THEY haul it up the mountain themselves. Remember this is a mile and a half of fairly steep, moderate hiking and they don't use any thing to help. Just their strength and stamina. I told Justin I had no excuses for being tired after carrying in groceries to the apartment!

Family Picture in front of our beautiful state!

Braxton fell asleep on the way back down. I think the rhythmic bouncing put him to sleep. :-)

My two good looking boys eating lunch. I love them so much!

Nothing cuter than a little boy stuffing his face!

Braxton found two sticks while eating lunch. When we were packing up, I told him to put the sticks down because it was time to go home. Justin quickly informed me that every boy needs to bring home a stick after an adventure. Alrighty then. Guess I still need to figure out this whole "boy" thing. :-) He's still playing with them.

We took a Rampart Range Road back to Colorado Springs. It was so beautiful. We drove to a very high elevation and nobody got sick. Yay! To show you how high our elevation is, that's Pike's Peak in the picture.

Up close to Pike's Peak on the way home.

What a perfect way to start out our holiday weekend!

Only 2 more days until Braxton and I get to come home!!!!! Can't wait!!!

Home is Where the Heart is

You see that phrase everywhere. It's on a million different placques and home decor items.

"Home is where the Heart Is." It seems so simple. So easy to understand. But this week it has really become true to me. I absolutely LOVED out home in Wichita. I loved everything about that house. It was sweet, homey, inviting, and decorated in my style. We had just enough room on the main floor and more than enough storage area in our basement. I had a stunning nursery that I had designed. We had a sprawling backyard and a beautiful garden up front. I had a mailbox just a few feet from my front door. We had a garage. I loved that house.

Then we moved to Colorado. I traded in my beautiful home for a tiny apartment. I have blank white walls. I have barely enough room to store all my stuff (but somehow, we managed to make it all fit...thank you Lord!). My baby's room doubles as a storage room. I have to walk a ways to get mail. I have no garden...only a blank patio. My cabinets, tubs and countertops all show the wear and tear of owners who didn't appreciate or take care of their home. BUT you know what...I love this apartment.

I don't love it for the same reasons that I loved my house, but I love it because it is filled with the people I love. My baby still wakes up happy (most times!) in his bed, even if he's not in a beautifully decorated nursery. I still get to snuggle up to my best friend every night before we go to bed, even if it's in our tiny living room with no vaulted ceilings. I still get to go on walks with my baby, even if it's just to get the mail. Instead of playing in our backyard, we walk to the park or the pool (btw, "pool" is Braxton's new word).

I love this place because my heart is here...this is my home.

Our guest bathroom

Looking down the hallway to the Guest Bathroom

Braxton's side of his room

The storage side of his room (I'm not including the other side of the storage part because I'm too embarrassed to let you all think I'm THAT unorganized!)

Braxton's very very packed closet

Taken from our front door. Living, dining and kitchen. The door that is shut leads to the master bedroom

Looking from the dining room to our patio

Love the fireplace. For the first time ever we can hang our stockings by the fireplace this year!

My kitchen. The white door leads to laundry

Another view of the kitchen

Our Master bedroom. Still need to put up pictures over the bed

All of our extra stuff went into our bedroom. I tried to disguise it as best I could with old curtains and pieces of fabric so it wasn't so obvious that it was a "storage" room.

Coat closet (yes, it's in our room...how weird is that?), sink and bathroom/shower

One Wise Monkey

Well, I may not have 3 wise monkeys yet, but at least I have one. :-) For those that don't know what the 3 wise monkeys are, I posted a picture. :-)

Here's my little monkey impersonator

See no evil

Hear no evil

Speak no evil

Love my wise little monkey! :-)

We're Here!

What a week this has been! Last Sunday, I woke up to scorching rays of sun beating down on the flat Kansas prairie. Tomorrow, I will wake up to the cool breeze of a mountain, dew on the ground and hopefully a warm sun. What a difference. This has probably been one of the most trying weeks of my life. We had many events, other than the move take place that were very trying.

On Tuesday evening, Justin wrecked his motorcycle after his brakes gave out on him. He has very severe road rash, but it is healing and it's looking better. He doesn't seem to be in as much pain as long as you don't touch him. The bike survived, and though it does need minor repairs, it's not anywhere near as bad as it could've been. The helmet didn't fair so well, but it did it's job and that's what's most important. :-)

CO Springs is definitely an adjustment. Braxton is finally sleeping through the night again (hopefully this will stay!), but for a while he was a mess. Fussy, clingy, and yelling all the time. However, I think he is finally settling in and realizing that this is our new home. It's been hard for us to adjust to the new time zone. We're still waking up at 6:30am ready to go....which I guess isn't a bad thing. It's just different. I can't seem to get my stomach on this time clock. I'm always starving hungry at 11:00am and 5:00pm.

The cooler temperatures have been amazing! On the hottest day this week, it got up to 90 but there was no humidity so it didn't feel that bad. It just felt warm.

Just before leaving for CO Springs

On the road. This is a sign for "Kanorado" I guess that's our new state identies.

Welcome to Colorado!

Our second evening in CO Springs, we went to Reagan's 5th birthday party.
Think he's ready for some cake?? :-)

Braxton got some cake from Charisma. Guess who his new favorite is?

This is the new way my child has taken up walking.

My new Target. I'd say the view kills the Wichita Target!

This afternoon we went for a walk. Guess I didn't color coordinate my kid. Yellow shirt, Red shoes and an orange hat. Way to go me!

Our beautiful view as we walked through Garden of the Gods. It was gorgeous!