New Home

This is the house we are looking at purchasing. We are going on Saturday to start the process. We are real happy about it. I know it isn't a great picture, but I took it in the dark and couldn't really see what I was taking a picture of. Maybe after I know the house is ours I will post a better picture. This house is located in Castle Rock, which is about 20 minutes south from where we are now. It is in a real nice area. I would ask all that are reading this that you would pray for us. We want to make sure we are in God's will. It all feels right. The place we are buying the house from is willing to pay out the rest of our lease. That is a big deal for us. If all of this works out we will be in this house by the end of January. How cool is that? I will try to post to keep you all up to date. Just pray for us, knowing buying a house can be very stressful. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. We had a white Christmas. It snowed all day. It was beautiful. Our Christmas was really nice. Missed family and friends though.
Have a wonderful day!

More pictures

Just thought I would post some more pictures of our snow here. There is a picture of our house with the snow falling. One of our backyard to show how much had fallen. Then there is Jacob shoveling snow. He does a pretty good job. Also, he is pretty willing to help. Hopefully that will continue. Megan helps sometimes too. This was all taken on Tuesday. Because of the snow the kids had a delay start at school. So, they started an hour later, but got out at the same time. After school, they went sledding behind our street. I only got a picture of Jacob because Megan wouldn't go again. Maybe next time I will get her. We are suppose to be getting more snow tomorrow (Friday). The kids have been out everyday playing in the snow and making ramps to go down. I am so happy to see them really enjoying it all. We are all hoping that we will have fresh snow on Christmas morning.

Speaking of Christmas I believe that I am all ready for it. I finally finished my shopping today. I just need to wrap one more gift and I am officially down. Even though I am ready in that way. I am sure missing my family. This is going to be a little tough for me but I know that I am right where God has me and wants me to be. I have had some tough days that makes it really hard for me to have joy. Then I have to remember that I have a choice to have a pity party or to look to my Rock for joy. I am choosing to look to Him and continue to pull strength from him. I am thankful for that.
I pray that each of you have a wonderfully blessed Christmas. Don't forget the real reason for it all. Jesus did it all for us! That is what I am most thankful for.

Merry Christmas! Love you all!!

After a day of skiing/snowboarding

Here is a lovely picture of Ben after a day on the slopes. We were all very tired. I had to post this nice picture of Ben with his crazy hair. This was a long day for us, but we had a wonderful time. Jacob was so tired and said he wouldn't be able to fall asleep in the car. Well, I have proof that he was tired enough. He played hard this day. Megan worked hard too. Her & I went down the slope together. It took her and I 2 hours to get down. Yeah, that is right it took us 2 hours. It was a long run. Well, not really 2 hours long, but Megan is new at it. God sure did give me quit a bit of patience that day. I am so thankful for that. Megan had a good attitude most of the time. There was one point when she told me to just go down the mountain without her. Yeah, like that was really going to happen. We laughed together and got frustrated together. At the end we sure did give each other a high five. I was and am so proud of her for not giving up. She was so awesome up there. God really blessed our time together. Jacob & Ben were able to spend some time together too. I think that was really good for them. I really believe that Jacob's love language is time. I love to see Jacob & Ben spend time together. It was great for Meg & I to spend our time together too. Those bonding times are just so awesome. Okay well now I am just babbling now.

Things are still great here. We are getting some snow here today. Tomorrow we get to go get our Christmas tree. I am looking forward to getting all our Christmas decorations up. I am almost done with my shopping too. Whew hew! Just a couple of more things and I am all done. I guess that is all I have for now. I will try to post more later. Not much else happening here.
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season! Miss you all!

What's new?

Well, not much new here. Waiting for some more snow to come our way. The weather actually has been very nice. We are in the 60's and 70's one day and then it sometimes gets in the 40's & 50's. The sun sure shine a lot here. I do enjoy that.

I have share with you all that I get to see my mom & dad on Thanksgiving. Oh, and my sister, my niece, grandma, aunts and cousins. I can not wait to see them. It has been almost 5 months since I saw my mom & dad. That is a long time considering that I would see them at least once a week and my mom usually twice. Then, right before we left I lived with them. We are meeting them in Arizona. I have to say I am not looking forward to the drive. It will take us about 12 hours to get there. It take my parents about 10 hours. I am just so happy that we have the chance to spend the first holiday with family. I sure miss my family and can't wait to give them a big hug.

Let me tell what has been happening here. Jacob has been sick almost a week now. He started last Saturday with a fever & headache. He had a low fever for a couple of days. Well, then on Tuesday it peaked at 103.2. I was able to get it down that day. Then, on Wednesday it was up to 102.2. By then I had had enough, so I decided to take him in. Of course, I had to do Urgent Care. So, I take him to urgent care and they have to give him a breathing treatment. He was coughing pretty bad. I guess because of his asthma (which is all still new to us) he needs take his inhaler when he is coughing from a cold or flu. That is good to know. Well, then they take a chest X-ray to see if he has pneumonia. I am thinking great, what a horrible mother I am. Well, it turns out it was pneumonia, but instead he has bronchitis. Oh yeah. I must tell you now he is doing much better. He missed 3 days of school, but is back at it today. He needed to go back. :~) I am not looking forward and either is he to all he will have to make up. But, I am so happy he is feeling better. I really don't like to see my kids so sick. It was nice at the doctors because he would lean on me and let me hold him. That does not usually ever happen. I am lucky if I get a hug usually. So, the good side of all of it was that I realized even though he doesn't say or show that he loves me often, I sure do feel needed and loved when he is sick.

So, yesterday Ben & Megan has eye doctor appointments. I went with them because Ben said that I needed to go for Megan since I usually am there and know more of what is going on with her. Megan is getting new glasses again. And Ben has to now start wearing glasses when he is on the computer or reading. It was fun finding glasses for him & Megan. He tried on some that were interesting. We had some good laughs.

Well, I think that is all the exciting news from the Kemper house. We are just enjoying each other and taking it all day by day.To all my family & friends I pray your Thanksgiving is full of love and thankfulness. May your day be blessed with family, fun and laughter. I miss you all! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our first ski/snowboarding trip

I thought I would share some of our photo's of our first trip to the slopes. Then I had to include a pretty view that we had. I was so proud of both of my kids. They both took lessons the first day and Megan took lessons for two days. Jacob caught on very quickly. I think with him skate boarding helped a lot. Ben got a great pictures of him in the air after his jump. He was doing all kinds of tricks. He is ready to go again. Megan did so good in her lessons. We were a bit nervous for her, because she isn't as outgoing in this area. But let me tell you she did great. She really enjoyed herself. They both were wiped out at the end though. We are looking forward to many more trips out
this year. I am so thankful for this time we have
together as a family. I love to find more things
that keep our family close. The kids really love it
too.

This was only our second time as a family. Ben
was still trying to figure out snowboarding. He
did well too. Well, I used to snow ski when I was younger. So, this was I think my first time out on my own in about 7 years or so. Let me tell you it kicked my hinney. I had a great time, but sure realized I need to workout a bit harder. My legs were so tired at the end of my
first run down the mountain. I only went down
twice and I was done. And I only fell once. Whew hew for me! It was a nice first time out.
I believe that is all I have for you all today. Enjoy the pictures! We are doing really good here in Colorado. Still loving it!
Missing my family and friends!

Halloween

Just thought I would post some pictures of our Halloween. Don't you think my kiddos are so cute. My ninja and my geisha girl. Then look at Dalin what a cute monkey! I love the picture of Megan fixing Dalin's costume. She is so fun to watch playing with Dalin. We all had a great night. The kids got tons of candy. I just wanted to share our current pictures. I will be posting next week after our trip to the mountains this weekend. We will be skiing and snowboarding all weekend. So, I will check back in next week. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Take care!

The bunny who lives under our house

This is our bunny that lives under our house. Isn't he cute. Well, I am actually not sure if it is a boy or girl bunny. But does it really matter. Not so much to me. I just love bunnies. He totally posed for the picture.

Well, that is all I have to share with you all at this moment. I will chat to you all later.

Have a great week!

Snowing

Today we were awaken by my daughter, Megan, screaming, "It's snowing!". She was a bit excited. They have been playing outside all morning. Megan was the first one out there. I have put some pictures so you can see the snow fall. Also, some pictures from just two days ago. One picture is taken of our deck with snow. It has been nonstop since about 8ish. It is just so pretty. The kids build a snowman, the first one on our block. It seems so peaceful outside. Watching the snow fall is just so relaxing and calming for me. Well, don't have much else to say so please enjoy the pictures.
Love, Kim

God is so good!

Today was a great day! Mind you I was excepting a not so great day. We had our 6 month check up with Jacob's cardiologist. We saw a new doctor today as well. If you have been reading my blog you know that I was a bit anxious about the appointment and yet still at peace. Now, let me go back just a bit. Jacob has had 2 heart surgeries and we were told on his last one that we would have to have surgery again by about age 13. Well, Jacob is turning 13 in December. We were ready to hear that is was time for surgery. I was at a point that I was tired of waiting to see if it is time and was just ready to get it over with. Yet, at the same time I wasn't really ready. So, this is how the appointment went. They ran all the test, from EKG to Echo cardiogram and of course 3 different doctors listening to him. (Having students come and listen has been very popular theme with Jacob). After the tests were all done and the doctor came in to chat with us. Can I just tell you he blew us away. Jacob is doing great. He doesn't want to have surgery until he is about 15 or 16. Wow, didn't except that.

So, here are some details of what the doctor told us. These are things we have never heard before. This doctor is so calm, confident, nonchalant, and very easy to talk to. He informed us that Jacob's next surgery will probably be through a catheter. Ben & I mouths dropped open. Mind you his last 2 surgery were open heart, meaning cutting open his chest and chest bone. Okay, so Ben & I were like "What did you just say?" So, he explains that in the next year or so we will have a procedure that will do this. In England they are already doing this procedure. What is so great is not only will he not be opened up(which there are high risks in that), but that this limits his time in the hospital. He said he would probably only stay overnight. That is just amazing me. He also was so informative on everything having to do with Jacob's heart. I am still sitting here in just awe of it all. I just keep thinking "God is so good!" He continues to blow me away. I ask myself why are so surprised, God is capable of it all. It is just so wonderful to see Him at work right here and now with something that is so big to us. I was chatting to my mom earlier and talking about Jacob. She made the comment, "Isn't is so amazing that God keeps placing you all exactly where you need to be for Jacob." She says this because God placed us exactly in the right place for Jacob's surgeries. Let me share that story quickly. When I was 5 months pregnant with Jacob we(Ben & I) had a huge choice to make. Ben was in the military at that time and we had to move to a different base. Now mind you at 5 months the baby is developing all the major organs (yeah, his heart developing at this time). Okay, well we had about 15 minutes to choice whether be sent to Albuquerque, NM or not. So, we decided okay lets go for it. Well, that was the best place for Jacob to be for his surgery. Wow huh? God does know exactly what we need all the time. It is so nice to be reminded of this often. We doubt with so many things. We need to stop doubting and just look to Christ for EVERYTHING! I know I need Christ in every step I take.

Yes, GOD IS SOOOOOOO GOOD! Don't ever forget it!

Hello

I sit here not really knowing what to blog about, but yet feel like I should. I have not been up to too much. Last week, I took care of Dalin for a couple of days while Nate & Heidi had their twins. All went well with that. They are all home and doing good. Dalin was really good for me. Although I have to tell you I am sure not used to a little one and all that is required. I had the diaper bag, car seat and stroller. We had fun together, but I realized I am way out of that stage. I love to be able to watch her and then give her back. I have so much freedom with my kids getting older. You start to get use to it. I feel blessed to be able to be there to help with Dalin and their dog, Andy. I am hoping to be able to help with twins too. Yeah, I would like that.

So, this last Friday and Saturday was Women of Faith and I have to say I wish I could have gone with my mom and friends. This is the first year I have missed since we started going(my mom & I). I will be going next year here in Denver though. I pray all of you that went had a wonderful time. I would be surprised to hear you not have a great time. I am so grateful to Gena for going with my mom. I hear they had a great time. It was hard on Friday when I realized I wasn't going to be there. Crazy how things will just hit you so hard. Even though it was hard I know God had a plan in it all. That is so comforting to know that He has a bigger plan that we don't always understand. I do hope you all were blessed at Women of Faith.

We have not been up to a whole lot here. Today we drove up to Red Rock and walked around. We are going to have to go back there for some hiking and some biking. We had a nice family day. We actually went to church on Saturday night, so we had all of today with just the four of us. I love our time together, especially when we are away from home. It is something about being out in God's beauty that just it so relaxing. We hiked a little bit and the kids were having fun racing Ben up the hill. I was tailing behind. Hiking was not in our plans it just happen and we were not wearing the right shoes for it. Oh well though we were on an adventure. I love our Kemper adventures. Not always sure what we are doing and just going with the flow. I think next weekend we are going to do some more hiking or maybe some biking at Red Rock. We will just wait to see what happens.

I would like to ask you all for your prayers. Jacob is due to go to the Cardiologist on Oct. 17th for a check up. We know we are getting closer each time for it to be surgery time. My prayer is that we will have peace no matter what happens. Jacob is getting bigger, so surgery can be at anytime. Also, pray for our time with the new doctor. It is always hard going to a new doctor. Having to tell everything again. This doctor does come recommended by Jacob's previous doctor. Nate & Heidi took Dalin to see this doctor as well. Anyway, I just get a little nervous each time we go in now. A part of me wishes it was time, just so we can move on past this. But then I think I am not ready. I know it will happen when God says it is time. I do trust Him with it all. Who knows maybe God will do a miracle and Jacob will never have to have surgery again. That would be truly amazing and awesome. So, please just pray for us as we wait for the appointment and for the appointment. Thank you.

I guess that is it for now. I had more to say then I thought I did. I pray you all are doing great. Miss you & love you bunches. Jesus loves you too!

Kim

Things are good

I thought it was about time for me to let you all know how things are going. It is looking up. We haven't been doing a whole lot, but it is still good. I have made a friend and she is also my work out partner. I am so glad to have her. Her name is Angel. Truly God has blessed me with my new friend. I really enjoy our time together. She makes me laugh and she encourages me too. We have been working out for about 2 weeks, this is our 3rd week. I am feeling pretty good. It really helps me to know that she will be at the gym, definitely keeps me accountable. We have started hanging out quit a bit. We had her, her husband and kids over last Friday night for dinner. It was really fun. Ben had a chance to meet her husband. I made enchiladas, and can I just say they were amazing. I used to be able to buy this pureed chili stuff to make great enchilada sauce when we lived in Albuquerque and hadn't found it again until we moved here. Let me just tell you I was so excited when I found it. I could go on and on about it. They were soooo good. Even the kids loved it, and the enchiladas were spicy. Okay, well, moving right along. Ben is still enjoying his new job and really liking the company he is working for. It is nice to see him happy and not stressed out. The kids are still doing good. Megan is having a bit of a rough time right now. The friends she made are not so nice lately. It is really sad. Megan is not sure what is going on, but she still keeps her chin up. She is becoming friends with a girl from school. I am hoping that works out good. I have been praying that they both find good friends. Jacob seems to be doing good. I haven't heard any complaining yet. That is good. They both are doing good in school, which is very nice. Jacob was slacking a little bit, but is back in shape. Here what is cool is that they have what is called "Parent Portal" I can go and check his attendance, his grades on papers and for missing assignments. It is so wonderful. I am checking almost everyday. He had 2 C's at one point and brought them up to B's. Megan's school is getting the Parent Portal too, but just not yet. She is doing pretty good though.



Well, it is becoming easier for me to be a stay at home mom lately. Maybe I am just really starting to adjust. It has been nice, because I actually have someone I can call to do stuff with. I believe that is making a huge difference. My friend, Angel is a stay at home mom too. Oh, and what is funny is she grew up in California, actually in Ceres and Modesto area. How cool is that! I have been working on some projects at home. I am tackling sanding and re staining my coffee table and 2 end tables. I am almost done with the coffee table. I have only been working on it for about 3 or 4 weeks. LOL It is a slow process what can I say. Hehe! It has been fun. I need to get a move on it before winter starts. I am hoping to finish the coffee table this week. Hopefully they will all come out good. Well, I guess that is all I have for today. I hope I didn't lose any of you in this blog of babble.



I still missing my family and friends. Know I think of you all often. Miss you bunches!

Love you all!

My friend

I come today with a sadness. I have a friend that has been fighting cancer for about 10 years. She is a wonderful person, so full of life. She blew me away how positive and optimistic she was. She always looked at the good of things. Every time I would see her and even just a picture she was always smiling. I am not exaggerating, she truly was always smiling, always happy. So full of joy for life. We could go months without talking, and we could call each other and it was like we talked all the time. We always had stuff to talk about. She was so fun to be around. What an inspiration she was. I just found out today, but looking her up on my space that she lost her fight on July 1, 2007. I can't even believe it. I am so mad at myself for not being better about calling, for not being a better friend. I have thought of her so often and thought oh I should call her and then though I will do it later. That was a big mistake. I can't believe I didn't even get to say bye. I sit here and I just can't fully grasp it that I lost my friend. She was only 35. That is just not right. I am glad she isn't in any more pain or suffering anymore, but I am so sad she is gone. I want to call and hear her happy and joyful voice again. Let me just tell anyone who is reading this, if you have the urge to call someone you care about, don't wait call them, don't put it off. You just never know what will happen. I am taking this hurtful experience and learning something from it. I want to tell all my family and friends that I love you all very much and each of you has a special place in my heart. Each one of you have provided me with such a wonderful life. I am so thankful God has brought every single one of you into my life. I take from Tina's life and her example to live life to it's fullest. Don't let things keep you down. You have a choice to be full of joy or to wallow in pity. I know that I will be making a cautious effort to be full of joy and truly embrace and love life. We don't know how many days God has given us, so live the life you have been given with joy. Even though I sit here sad I am joyful that she no longer has to suffer. I know that one day I will see her again. I look forward to that day to see her smiling face again. Just sitting here thinking of her smile makes me smile. She had such a big heart. I close this hoping that you will really consider what I have said. I hope it all makes sense. Love & miss you, Kim

Some pictures from 9/1/07 - family day out

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. We drove up in the mountains for the day. It only takes us about an hour or less to get up there. The kids fished (no they didn't catch anything), we took our Jeep four wheeling, we did a bit of hiking, and really enjoyed the scene. Sometime I would look out the window and it looked like a picture, so beautiful. I wanted to put more pictures but it wouldn't let me add anymore. It was so pretty up there, so calming. I love being in the mountains admiring God's work. He is so amazing.

Well, I am doing much better since my last blog. I have actually meet a couple of people. I meet a lady when I was helping at Jacob's school and she invited me to her Tupperware party that night. So, I went. It was so much fun. We had a game we played that was "How well do you know your hostess?" Well, let me remind you I only had met this woman like 4-5 hours earlier. The game was multiple choice, that was helpful. I decided I would just put what answer best suited me. Well, let me tell you, I WON! How cool is that. This woman is a lot of fun and her husband is too. I think Ben & him would get along great. She called me this morning to see how I was doing. She thought Megan went back to school today, so she wanted to see how I was holding up. Megan goes back tomorrow. I thought it was great that she called me. We are going to start tomorrow going to the gym together. I am way excited about that. I really need that accountability. It helps me to know that someone is waiting for me at the gym. I don't want to be the one not to show up. No way! I am exciting about my new friendship. God is really taking care of us. Ben & I met another couple on Saturday at his company party. They were really nice. We probably talked with them over an hour. Hopefully we can get together with them and the other couple. The lady from the school her family goes to the church we are considering stay at. We will see what happens with that. I am really excited to see what God has in store for us. I miss you my family and friend! Lots of love, Kim

A Tough Time

Hey everyone! I thought it might be about time for me to write again. I haven't been writing because honestly I have been struggling a little bit with me. This transition in being a stay a home mom has been tough. I love the fact that I can stay home, but it is hard not working outside the home. I miss all of the interaction with my coworkers(friends). I still don't know very many people, so I don't do much. I have notice that depression has hit me, so days not too bad and other pretty hard. Even though I know I am where God wants me to be it hard. I have tried from time to time to snap out of it, not so easy. My desire is to be a better mom & wife, but I have let depression interfere. I write this now to you and ask that you would pray for me. I need to take every day one at a time and just embrace it. Embrace the privilege of being where we are and what God is doing or going to do.

Well, I had started this blog a couple of days ago and didn't have the chance to finish. Since I began writing on my struggles it has helped to see what I need to do. I don't have it down yet, wouldn't it be nice if I did. I think looking at myself and knowing what I am doing to avoiding things has helped me. I realized I have avoided calling some of my family and my friends, because if I don't call I don't have to think so much about how much I miss them. How dumb is that. So, I am sorry to all who I have not called, but please understand it isn't because I don't miss and love you, it is purely selfishness on my part. I know recognizing it is part of the solution. The last couple of days have gone a bit better. Ben & I had a long talk the other night about it all and that helped. He is so wonderful. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband/friend.

In all that, I have not been taking care of my body. Trust me it isn't a pretty sight. I don't put myself together each day, just throw my hair in a ponytail and go (don't even bother with make up). Since recognizing this I have made an attempt to put myself together more. Megan & I have been working out the last couple of weeks on and off since she is off track until Tuesday. This has been fun for both of us. I had started tracking my calorie intake. Well, not the last couple of days. I need to do that. My plan is continue with all of the good things for my body. I also want to set an example for my kids how important it is to take care of yourself. So, why do I tell you all of this? Because I know I need help. Would you please pray for me in my struggles? I want to glorify God with every part of my life and right now my focus is on my body or should I say the Holy Spirit's dwelling place. That is almost hard to say especially since I have failed to take care of it. To think the Holy Spirit dwelling in me and me not caring enough to take care of it. That is not good. My goal is to be faithful in my workouts and in watching my calorie intake daily and simple to put myself together daily. Please help me by praying and encouraging me with this. I figure if I have accountability from you I am more apt to do better. Thank you all for listening to me. This is very therapeutic.

Know that I do pray for my family and friends even though you don't hear much from me. I miss and love you all!

Our weekend

Well, I have to say our weekend didn't go how I thought it might. That seems to happen quite a bit to us. We have learn to just adjust and laugh about it. Friday was pretty uneventful. We just hung around the house. Oh wait, there was one eventful thing. I can't believe I am going to share this. Okay well anyway, Megan wanted to go to the park, so Ben suggested we take a family bike ride to the park and hang out. So, we head out on our bikes and we are almost to the trail and I was in the lead, then Ben took the lead. Okay so in that process of that, I didn't make a wide enough turn and ended up trying to go up the curb. Yeah, that didn't work out so well. I went up over my bike. I am sure it was a sight. I did injure myself a bit. I hurt my elbow, my shoulder, and some bruises and scraps on my leg. I was embarrassed and hurting. At first I told the kids that they were to tell no one about this. Now, I can look back and laugh. I am such a nut.

Then on Saturday we took out time getting ready to head to the balloon fest. Heidi and Dalin came over to go with us. At the Balloon fest there was suppose to be a Civil War reenactment until 12:00. Well, we showed up at 10:30ish and we didn't not find any reenactment of any kind. They had some different booths there, really not much to see. We did get to see a real astronaut. That was kind of cool. So, we were there for about 15 minutes. Whew hew! After that Heidi, Megan, Dalin and I went shopping. We always have a good time together. That night we went back to the balloon fest to see all the balloons lite up. There were a bunch of different kinds of hot air balloon. There was a United rental truck, the Energize bunny, regular ones and then the flying pig. It was pretty but didn't last very long. Maybe next year we can get up early enough (6:00a.m.) to see the balloons lift off. As for this year it was okay for us.

So, Sunday we were suppose to try a new church. Yeah, still trying to find where we God is calling us to be. Well, we didn't make it to first service. Which is what service we needed to go to so we could help clean a house of the family from Ben's work. The husband/dad needs the house to be very clean before he can come home from the hospital, so he doesn't get sick again. The wife/mom also has MS which makes it hard for her to do stuff. So, we skipped church and headed over to clean. Not really what I was expecting at the house. It was great to go help as a family. Jacob and Ben worked outside in the yard. They did a great job out there. I was proud of how Jacob did and his attitude. Megan & I worked inside. Megan worked with another girl on cleaning pictures and walls. She did really good too. I worked in the kitchen with another lady. It was a bit difficult cleaning up someone else dirt, especially if you don't even know them. There was a lot of work to be done, by the time we left there was still a lot of work to do. We were there for about 5 hours. I am glad we had the opportunity to help this family. I am really happy that my family was so willing. It was great serving another family. The husband/dad is suppose to come home from the hospital on Friday. I pray that it all works out and they are able to bring him home.

That is about all that happen this last weekend. We definitely were busy all weekend, but it was all good.

Happenings

Well, this week has been a rough one. I am adjusting better without my dog. I do miss him very much. I am working through it.

So, yesterday (Thursday) Ben & I went to Jacob's back to school night. It is still just hard to believe that my son is in Jr. High. We had the chance to quickly meet his teachers. We had about 8 minutes in the class and then 3 minutes to get to the next class. We enjoyed meeting his social studies teacher. He is funny. I think that is one of Jacob's favorite classes. All of his teacher seemed to be nice. Jacob made it a point to tell me that I had to meet his friends mom. He told me which classes to look for her in. He talked to her earlier in the day and she told him to have me find her and that it should be easy because she was probably the one Asian in the class. Jacob thought that was funny. By the way, she was not the only one, which I knew she wouldn't be. I got the nerve up in the last class. She was really nice and I believe she is a stay at home mom too. I told her we should have coffee sometime. That is me trying to step out a little. Now I just have to work up the nerve to call her and invite her to coffee. That is the tough part. I am glad to see Jacob making friends so quickly and being excited about it. He really wants his friend to come over which is why it was so important that I meet his friends mom. Well, hopefully we will have is friend over soon.

Our weekend plans are looking good. There is a balloon festival that is about 10 minutes from our house that I think we will be going to. I remember when we lived in Albuquerque they had a balloon festival every October. But believe it or not we never made it to it. How sad is that. So, we decided that we are going to this one. I think we will go to some of the activities that are happening during the day and then go to the balloon launching at night. I think that will be really neat to see. I will be having my camera ready. Heidi and Dalin are going to be coming along with us. We always have fun together. Then on Sunday we are going to try a new church. After church we have a great opportunity to go help a family from Ben's work. Ben got an email at work asking for help. The story is that this guy that works at the same company as Ben got sick and rushed to the hospital. He has leukemia. He has been in hospital for 2 months. In order for him to be able to come home from hospital his house has to be sterilized, outside and inside. His wife as MS, so is not able to do it by herself. I am actually very excited to help with this. We are going to take the kids with us. What a great opportunity to share Christ's love. Is this not what God has called us to do? I look forward to see what God will do with all of it. I love the chance we get to work with others in this. I am really excited that my kids are helping too. I believe that it will be a lot of fun. To think of cleaning as fun, yeah when you are doing it for Christ. It is the least we can do after all He has done for us.

We knew God was going to use us and this is just the beginning. I look forward to what else God has for us to do for Him. We know we are here because that is where He has called us to be. That is an awesome place to be, in God's will. I pray we will always be in His will. I will keep you up on how things work out with our weekend.

A Sad Day

As I sit here to share with you today, I come with sadness in my heart. Today is one of the toughest day for me since we have moved here to Colorado. We have been having some trouble with our dog, Rusty. He is a great dog, although he doesn't like other dogs. Then with moving here we have a lot lightening & thunder storms (almost every night). We all are not use to that but Rusty especially didn't' deal well with it. So, he started to try to get out of the backyard. One time he went through the fence. Then he was able to climb over the gate. So, our next step was to put a shock collar on so he wouldn't go over. Well, today we find out that none of that matter if he wants out, he is gone. And today there was no storm happening. As hard as it was, we had to make a choice for our dog and our family. Rusty has been a part of our family for about 3 1/2 years. He has been in our Christmas pictures. We took him camping and water skiing with us. He slept on his own bed next to my side of the bed. Yeah, I had spoiled this dog. This also caused a bit of arguing between my husband & I. We have talked a lot about finding him a new home. Well, today we took him to a place to be adopted. I love this dog very much and it was like losing a family member. I cried like a big baby. I know that it was best for our family. Although it may be the best thing for us, it was very hard. It is going to take some getting use to not having him around all of the time. It is a sad day. The kids are dealing pretty well with it. They both cried a bit. I know with time we will be okay. I will always love Rusty and I am praying that he finds a great home. A place where he can run and someone to love him. So, this was my day in a nut shell.

I just got done putting my kids to bed and I sit here just crying. I think it is going to be harder than I thought. I miss my dog. I miss him laying next to us where ever we were. I miss him following me around the house. He was funny because he had to be with us in the house. We should have called him Shadow because he was our shadow. I almost feel that I can really just let myself cry now that my kids are with me. They saw me cry, but not like I am as I type this. I felt I needed to hold it back a bit for them. They are dealing with it better than I am. My kids had popcorn for a snack and I saw some on the floor and thought oh, Rusty will eat it. He loved eating our food droppings. I realize there is no Rusty to eat those now. I am just feeling so sad.

It is just makes me realize that there is always a battle going on. As hard as things may be from time to time we have a choice to make. Do we dwell on what bad things or sad things are happening or do we deal with it and move forward. This maybe something that takes a little time to move forward on, but I know that is what I am suppose to do. I can focus on the negative of it all, but I need to look at what God has for us now. I need to learn from it all. God has a lesson for us in every situation. The question is are we will willing to look at what we can learn. What can we be thankful for? God is bigger than it all. I am so grateful for that.

I hope this all makes sense, I feel as though I have just babbled here today. To be honest it has helped me to feel a bit better. Thanks for all of you who listened.

Me again

Hello!

It is me again. I thought I would share some more of what is happening here. Things are still going well. On Tuesday night we had Nate & Heidi over. Our plan was to go water skiing for about an hour and then have dinner. Oh, and have Nate help Ben move our washer, dryer and fridge into our rental and move the other ones out. It is so nice to have my things. Anyway, back to my story. So, we took the boat out to a lake that is about 10 minutes from our house. We got there and got the boat in the water and wouldn't you know it, it started to rain. Yeah, so Nate, Jake and I were in the boat in the water & rain. Needless to say we took the boat back out of the water and went home. No one was able to ski. But before we took the boat out we had the privilege of having a duck follow us for a while. It was funny, we would speed up and so would the duck. Then we would stop and the duck would come up real close to the boat. Nate was taking care of the commentary, which of course, made it even more funny. We ended with a nice night at our house. It is so nice having them close. Dalin is doing great and is such a joy to be around. I have included a picture of the sun set that night. It was so beautiful.

Okay, so today I had a bright idea to go for a bike ride with Jake to Safeway. So, we took off at about noon. The ride there was mostly up hill. Mind you anywhere you go here is not flat, it is all up & down hill. Well, as we are riding I am realizing that it is a bit further than I have actually thought. It was about 3 miles one way. We had a good time though. On the way back we got rained on. I don't mean a light sprinkle. It was pouring. I was laughing so much. We saw some lighting and heard some thunder. It was great. Jacob & I really enjoyed ourselves. He told me that we need to make this a weekly thing. I think that is so great. I love being able to do these things, building to a place that I can stay home and have time to do things with my kids & my husband.

Still missing everyone!

Our trip to the "Garden of the Gods"

Well, here are some pictures from our trip to the "Garden of the Gods". We had a great time. The picture with Jacob & Megan is taken at the "balanced rock". The deer picture was exciting. We were driving and it ran out in front of our car and then paused on the other side for us to take a picture. The funny thing is that when we were done taking the picture it ran off. It was almost like it had posed for the picture. We spend about 2 hours there yesterday. We hiked, climbed rocks and simply took in the view. The kids loved climbing the rocks.

It was just amazing to go to a place like this and just be in awe of all that God has created. I love to be outdoors taking in God's incredible creation. It is also wonderful to have the time to go as a family and just have fun. I have to say, since we have moved here we have done so much more as a family. I am really enjoying it. It just confirms to me that God has placed us exactly where He wanted us to be as a family. I get excited to think of all the things we have to look forward to. What is God going to do? What does He have in store for us? It is an amazing thing to know you are in God's will. He is so amazing!!

I look forward to family & friends coming to visit so I can bring you to all the wonderful places here. So, who is coming to see us? :~)

Just another day

Hello!

Not much has happen since my last blog. Today, was a good day. Ben & the kids went fishing at a lake that is about 10 minutes from our house. Yeah, you can actually see it if you walk to the end of our street. It is so nice. Anyway, I think they left the house about 6:00. They had a great time. Didn't catch any fish, but caught other things. I guess Megan caught a rope with an anchor at the end. I hear it was pretty funny, they just kept pulling in rope and finally got to the anchor. Then they found a full, unopened can of Red Bull floating, so they rescued it. The kids were very excited about it all and couldn't wait to share with me. I am so glad they had that time with dad. As for me, I was able to wake up and have a quiet house for about an hour. I really had some quiet time. I love that.

We were suppose to go to the Garden of the Gods, but that didn't happen. I believe the plan is to go tomorrow after church. I am really looking forward to going. I have been wanting to go since we got here. I have heard it is a really neat place to check out. I will have to share what it was like tomorrow with you all.

As I sit here typing this, I have more time for just me. That is nice from time to time. Everyone is already in bed from having such a long day. So, I sit here watching the Giants play against the Padres. Yes, I am a baseball fan. Go Giants! I was able to see Barry Bonds hit 755. I know some of you reading this are going, "eah whatever", "who cares". I think it is pretty cool though. That is a lot of home runs. Ok, enough about that.

Well, I guess I should go ahead and close this blog for tonight. Just wanted to say "Hi" to everyone and let you all know I miss you! Bye for now.

My first blog

Hi there!

Just thought I would update everyone on how my family & I are doing in Colorado. We have been here for about a month now. So far, we really like it. The house we are renting for now is in a great location. Not bad for doing it all over the internet. Well, not all Heidi did a drive by and took some outside pictures for us. We are really please with the kids we have on our block. Jacob & Megan have made friends rather quickly. It has been great.

Megan started school the week after we got here. She is still on year round. She really likes her teacher. It was a little rough for her at first. Having to start over with friends. She has some great friends in California. But things are looking up for her. We have had many talks about making friends and such, it has been great. She has about two and a half weeks left before she tracks off. She has already joined choir, which starts for her this Friday. That is about all going on with her.

Jacob will start school on August 13th, into Jr. High. Wow, that is still hard to believe. He will go tomorrow to check in and find out all of his classes. I think he is really going to like Jr. High. He already knows some kids from the school, so that is good. He has been doing good since we have been here. His attitude has improved. He has been helpful and everything. He is really growing up.

Ben is really liking his job. He is not stressed anymore. I am so glad God has brought him to this place. He really has had no complaints so far. He is in his third week there. The kids & I came and took him to lunch last week. The office is really nice. They have this huge kitchen with all kinds of food & drinks for everyone. Ben loves that. :~) He really seems happy. That makes all the difference in the world. I feel like I have my husband back. Yeah!

As for me, I am adjusting ok. It has been a little hard at times. I haven't really met anyone yet. I have signed up to help at both the kids schools, so that should help. I know in time I will make some new friends. I really do miss my family & all of my friends. I have some real awesome friendship in California. I know that I will always have. I do miss my daily talks with Janice & Michelle at work. We had some really fun times. I miss being able to go have coffee or lunch with my friends (Tawyna, Janice & Shawnie). I want ALL my friends to know that you are all very important to me and have touched my life more than you know. Each one of you have given me something that I will always cherish.

We started attending a new church, which can seems strange. The church is nice, and the kids really like it. That is a big bonus. I do miss sitting next to my parents in church. That is different. We were at New Life for 7 years. That is a long time. I miss seeing all the familiar faces. But God is good and we know He has plans for us here. We are excited to see what He has next for us.

Well, I should close this for now. I hope all is well with everyone. Know that I think of you all daily. Love & miss you all!