Our Family Happenings

Sometimes I forget to post on here and upload pictures because I upload them to my fb page. So many things have been going since school started. The children started school in August and have been doing really well. They are off today and Monday because public school is taking the days off. We are seeing how we like going with the local school schedule. Except we will end in early May instead of early June.

We made a wonderful family trip to Colorado in September. When I say family trip, this time I am happy to say that Sami went with us!!!! We were so happy words can't even tell how much! We left on Wednesday. That just happened to be Jenni's 8th birthday, September 16! So we were in the car the whole day! She got to open some gifts before we set off on our journey, movies and a new game for her DS. She was ok with spending the day in the car because we were driving to her favorite place to be and going to spend a few days with one of her favorite people in the world, Caroline! The girls didn't know we had special plans for them for their birthdays. Caroline turned 7 a few days after we left. They got to celebrate together! Plus, I got to see one of my favorite people! Michelle! But we all have become very good friends over the years with every member of this family! They are like family to us!

On Friday we took the girls to have manicures and pedicures (real ones where they sit in a massage chair and soak your feet in the water, etc.). I think they had more fun playing with the controls on the chairs than anything! It was so fun. Us "big girls" (Sami included) had pedicures while they got their feet and hands done. Then we took the girls to Chili's for a birthday lunch! Fun! We stopped and got the girls a big cake to share for their birthday party that night. Then she slept over that night. We were staying at the hotel right next door to their restaurant, Hilldaddy's Wildfire. (It is the most amazing place to eat! WE LOVE IT!!!) We love that we just walk over there at all hours of the day or night. The hotel isn't the greatest but we don't spend a lot of time in the room.

We went to Red Rocks with them on Saturday and then left for Westcliffe from there. We got to do a little shopping in Westcliffe and bought Sami a black hoodie that has Westcliffe, Colorado on it. I have one that is like it but it is blue. Then we ate at our favorite pizza place, Pizza Madness! It was delicious! Of course, our trip would not be complete without a trip to the bowling alley. We bowled two games and then went back to the room for the night. The next day we took Sami to the land for a short one hour hike. We took her to the top and took some pics up there.  Then we headed home, way long drive! Got home about 3:30 a.m. Monday morning. But it was so good to see friends and get away for just a little while.

Nick turned 17 on the 29th. We got him a wonderful left handed electric acoustic guitar. He loves it! He took it with him on the trip. He plays in the band at church. He has actually started writing some songs and I think they are pretty good. I would like to see him get published. Not sure how to do that, but maybe some doors will open there, too!

Since we have been back so many things have gone through my mind and heart. The urgency has returned to knock on doors to see what will open for us. We love it there and it is where we are happiest. Sami loved the weather and the beauty. We enjoyed having her with us so much. We have been putting out resumes and checking the job sites for jobs for John. I have checked on some things for me. I found out I can sub in Westcliffe, possibly in Colorado period. He said because of the college credits I could qualify for a 3 year license. That would be good part time income to help pay for clothes for the kids or something like that.

I found out that certain fruit trees will grow in that area and I am so excited to plant them on our land. Green apples are one of the trees that will grow, as well as Jonathan apples! Way fun! We love apples. I am thinking of all the things I can make ourselves and possibly have some left over to sell. Also found that I can grow berries and such. That sounds so wonderful. I would also like to try my hand at some other gardening. I don't know if I would be very good at it but I want to try. I think I could grow tomatoes and possibly some simple veggies. I am going to work on my baking. Baking bread and other things to help stretch our food dollar and our health.

We are in the process of getting the land financed with a bank in Colorado. As far as I know, that is going to go through. They haven't said no, so I am assuming it is yes. We have been working with them for about a month. That will at least give us some time to get it paid off. But the really neat thing is I believe we have found a way to build on the land! I found Homestead Homes! It is really neat because it is very little down, instead of the 30% most places want down to build a house. The way it works is you act as the contractor. You set up who does the work on the house. The more you can do yourself the less it costs you and the more equity that is built up at the time of completion. So my thoughts: see if I can get the people that care about us, our friends and family, to help us out a few days here or there with getting it done. The more people willing to help out the faster it will get done and the more affordable it will be for us to do it. So that is one of my missions, to find those willing to help with certain parts of the building process, like wiring, putting up windows, cabinets, flooring, bathroom fixtures, etc... I don't know when we will do this yet. I would think it would be easier to work on it for ourselves if we lived near there. So possibly, we will wait until the Lord moves us that direction. Please be praying about this and also, praying about how you might be able to donate a little time to help. All of the supplies are included in the cost of the home, but the labor is what we would save money on. Any amount of help would be so greatly appreciated! We would be thrilled if this took place next summer, as always, it is in God's hands, not ours.

So the saga continues...we do not know what the Lord has in store for us but we are open to whatever that may be. We are interested in getting back to a simpler way of living and away from the hustle and bustle of big city life. God knows our hearts and desires. We will keep you posted. It has been a long six years already. We don't know how many more years God will have us wait.

Until next time...blessings to you. 

September Birthdays

Jenni is 7!!!

She had a High School Musical party, of course! She was so excited! We her a shirt to wear and a fun cake. We got Disney Channel Scene It and they kids played it. Then we had cake and opened presents!

I had to get a picture with the birthday girl!! I can't believe she is already 7 years old. Where did the time go? She is getting so tall and still a beautiful little girl. We love to hang out together and she still likes to snuggle with her mom (for now!).

She is a total daddy's girl! Every chance she gets she snuggles up with her dad or gets hugs! I know that he is wondering how she can be so big so quickly, as well. Time does fly....

She got some wonderful gifts, four of them Barbie dolls! So it was a good thing we had this wonderful Barbie Doll house made for her! She loves it! It is totaly awesome! It takes up a lot of room but that is ok. It is 5'x5'. We had Steve Hughes make it for her. I got the plans off of ebay and asked him if he could do it. It turned out fantastic! She is in the second grade and is doing wonderful!! She almost always has a great attitude when it comes to doing her school work and finishes by 11 in the morning so she has the rest of the day to do other things.

Nick is 16!!!!!!

He had a Family Force Five disco type party. We had a disco ball and party lights. We had a Wii and Playstation 2 there.

We were able to use the fellowship hall at our church so John and his band set and played a short set. It was fun but loud. 

His friend brought Guitar Hero to play. Thanks bunches!!! They really had a lot of fun playing that game.

I thought I would get in the picture since I am usually taking them! (yes, that is an earring! ugh! Not my choice or his dads. We are hoping he out grows it soon!) It is hard to believe that he is 16. That is such a weird age. They are so close to what the world calls adult and yet so far from really understanding what it means to be grown up. He is in 11th grade so we have 2 years of high school left to get him through. Then, only God knows what is in store next.

So that is what we did for our two September kids birthday's. They both had a great time and we are so blessed to have them in our lives! 

Until next time...blessings to you.

Our "Honeymoon" in the Poconos

Since the ceremony went so well and beautiful I had no doubt that our trip would be just as wonderful. Little did I know that getting there would be the part that would be tricky! I booked through a cheaper company because of the prices. I got a great deal and they even had flights out of DFW instead of Love*Field and that is closer for me. I didn't know that it wasn't actually that company that did the flying. They subcontracted with another company. We chose to fly into Philadelphia instead of the airport that is an hour closer to the resort because that company doesn't fly into that airport. And that flight was only one stop in Chicago. The other airlines had many stops, 2 or 3. We decided to have my sister drop us at the airport and get someone to pick us up on Monday to save having to park and ride. Good thing we did...What a nightmare that would have been. Our flight was supposed to go something like this... Take off from DFW at 6:35 a.m. Thursday morning, layover in Chicago and then land in Philadelphia around 1 p.m.

I had stayed up and finished packing while he took a cat nap. My friend stayed over until midnight talking and then I packed. He got up about 3 a.m. and we texted my sister so they could come get us to take us to the airport. We got to the airport at 4:20 a.m. since we have always heard we need to get there a couple of hours early. When we walked in we saw that there were signs everywhere saying that ATA had filed bankruptcy at 3 a.m. that morning. If you booked through that other company to call that number. So we did and they got us got us back on track. We got breakfast with Sherri and Raymond at IHOP before heading to the next airport. We now had to drive to Love*Field after all. The flight was to leave at 8:55 a.m. with two layovers. We changed planes in Kansas and then went on to Chicago and then to Philadelphia. We finally landed in Philadelphia at 5 p.m. Then drove for two hours to the resort. We managed to get there before they stopped serving dinner, which was a blessing!

We ate a delicious dinner. Dessert was Snicker cheese cake! YUMMY! We were able to go eat dinner and then check in. That is one of the great things about a resort, you feel so pampered and taken care of. We stayed at the Caesars Pocono Resorts: Pocono Palace in PA. It was wonderful! When you drive in there is a sign that says "You are entering the land of Love!" We never did get a picture of that. The weather was colder there than we thought it would be. It stayed in the mid to high 40's most of the time. We booked the Garden of Eden Apple room. It was wonderful! Did I say that already? I took the virtual tours of all the rooms before I booked it and that was the room that really looked the best for us.

The bathroom was nice, double sinks, separate toilet, and a nice sized shower. It even had a small refrigerator. We put bottles of water in there.

You could get bags of ice from the lobby or you could call for them to bring you some if you forgot!

Yes, this is a large, heart shaped Jacuzzi tub built for two! It was nice! Finally a tub that is long enough for my 6'2" husband to sit in and not feel cramped. The tub was in the room with the couch and small table and chairs that we ate breakfast served in our room.

We had our own in-room pool! And sauna (but we didn't use it) just inside that mirrored door that I am standing in front of. The water was warm, not hot and not cold. The kids thought that was awesome that we had our own pool. There is a mural painted on one wall like a beach and mirrors on the other side. There were glass walls and door on the side with the ladder going into the pool. That door leads into the bedroom. The bedroom had a huge TV and fireplace. We used the fireplace two of the four nights we were there. It is only for looks so it doesn't give off the heat, just the mood! We didn't watch TV except when we were trying to figure out the weather. Whenever we were in the room I would put one of our CD's into the Bose system that played all over the room. We brought 5 or 6 different ones and it really helped us to relax and enjoy our time away from everything. 

On Friday after breakfast we filled out our "breakfast in bed" order to be sent to our room the next morning. We did that every morning except the first because we were too tired to think about it. We would then come down to the dining room around 10:30 and eat the breakfast buffet as our lunch. They said we could do that, so we did. It was a wonderful buffet with fresh fruit, muffins (I only had eyes for the chocolate ones, yum!), pancakes, french toast, pastries, eggs, all the breakfast meats, etc... You could get any kind of juice, too. On Saturdays you could get champagne with your breakfast, lol! Just two little cups but still. We said no, that was just too funny! 

Friday after breakfast we headed into town to check out the outlet mall. We were hoping to find something to bring home to the kids and our friends. It was raining that day so we bought an umbrella so we could walk around the outlet without getting too wet. The weather there was cold so John did not bring a coat. He only had that grey sweater to wear over things. I didn't care for that much. It is an old sweater and he needed some new things! So we began our search for a coat. At one of the last shops we came to we found the brown coat he is wearing. It was regularly $80 but was marked down to $20! And did you know there isn't sales tax on clothing in PA? I didn't until then. Wow! Great deal! We got back to the resort and he got coffee and I got some hot cocoa in the cafe.

Since we are both taking online classes we took my computer (left his at home, next time, we take both!). I tried really hard, not hard enough, to finish everything before I left but that wasn't the case. There was only Internet access in the cafe but I think it was better that way. We couldn't focus on the computer for very much of our trip. We did spend a little time there but not overly much. We took turns and kept it at a minimum. I think we were very considerate of each other. The reason I say we take both next time is so we can both get our work done at the same time and then be done! But we each were able to occupy ourselves while the other worked, never complaining or gripping that we were taking too long.

On Friday night, after we finished up our school work in the cafe we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. As you can see, our bed was a huge king sized round bed. It is called their "blush" bed. Super soft and it had 5 or 6 king sized pillows, too!

On Friday night, after we finished up our school work in the cafe we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. As you can see, our bed was a huge king sized round bed. It is called their "blush" bed. Super soft and it had 5 or 6 king sized pillows, too!

After dinner we went to play some pool. While I was working on school that afternoon he went exploring and found the upstairs game room that had putt putt, video games and pool tables. Only the video games cost money. So we played pool before the band and comedian show started.

He beat me six straight games! We really had fun and intended to do it again but never made it back up there. It was nice because it didn't cost anything and it was a quiet room with softer lighting.

Saturday afternoon we decided to check out the pool. It was a lot more fun than he thought it would be and let me know that a pool in the room was a great idea! All in all, he liked my choice of rooms. So he passed up the room tours that went on that day. He said we had the room we liked and didn't need to see any of the other ones.

After a very relaxing and lazy Saturday afternoon it was time to get ready for our special Saturday night dinner, Strip Night, In honor of the New York Strip Steak! He and I both got a 20 oz. Porterhouse steak! It was wonderful and he pretty much ate the whole thing! We were both stuffed that point but had dessert anyway! I think that is why we didn't go play pool that night, just too full! But we did go see another band and comedian at 9. This band was pretty good and the comedian was funnier than the night before.

The photographer took pictures at dinner and then put us in a heart frame to pick up the next morning at the gift shop, for a fee, of course.

She also took couples to different pictures spots and took 4 or 5 shots. This fireplace was in the lobby and had a gas log. It was so warm and inviting.

This piano is in the cafe and we watched couple after couple come in and get their picture made so by the time we did it we knew how to pose already.

This is our favorite. It was taken with a black backdrop and I love it! You can see my ring! Not very well, but it is still nice. And totally romantic.

Sunday was our last full day there. We did a lot of school that day and just walking around a bit, even though it was cold outside. This was right outside the back door of the lobby. You could get fishing poles from them and fish off the peer below. It was very pretty there even though it was cold and the trees had nothing on them. The water would be rushing at times and still at others. Very pretty.

While we were there we had watched a man that was 73 years old do charcoal sketches of the guests. Finally, after watching Mr. Kim sit in the cafe as we worked Sunday afternoon, I realized if we didn't do it then we would not have another chance to. So I asked John what he thought and he said if I wanted to do it then I should. So I asked Mr. Kim how long it takes and then told him we wanted to do it. So he started with me while John finished up his school work. It took about 45 minutes for him to draw me. He talked to me the whole time and kept making me laugh. He asked lots of questions while he drew me. John came in the room (which was the lobby where the fireplace is) when he had about 15 minutes left on my picture. Then I sat there and watched Mr. Kim draw him. It was amazing to watch him. He didn't stay in one spot the whole time, he would move around and do a little here and then a little there. Then he would come back and do more in the first spot.

This is the finished product. We are going to frame it and hang it in our bedroom. Some people gave us cash so that money went towards this picture. That night we had a great roast chicken and I had cheese cake for dessert and he had caramel apple pie! Yummy! We chose not to go to the evening entertainment that night but to go back to the room instead. We ordered a large breakfast to our room the next morning since we would have to leave for the airport shortly after that, before the breakfast room opened. I ordered some extra chocolate muffins to take with us so we had that for "lunch" on the plane.

It took two hours to get to the airport and then we were on the plane by 11:55 a.m. and stopped in St. Louis but didn't get off the plane. Then we arrived in Dallas at 3:30 p.m. We were twenty minutes early but Steve was there early to get us so we got our luggage and headed back to the house. We had to pick up our car so we could drive to his house and get our younger two kids. It was great seeing them!

So that is our trip. We had a great time and would recommend this resort to any married couple, young or old! The meals and entertainment were included and if it wasn't so cold a horse back ride would have also been included. We got the tickets to go but it was just too cold! Thanks for letting me share it with you!

Until next time...blessings to you.