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Hi From Far Away!

It feels like it's been forever since I posted. I guess it has been a while. Oh well...as I sit here typing this I can't help but think about where I'm at. I guess it's because it feels like it should feel like it's home. And I hate to say this but it doesn't really feel that way anymore.

In case you didn't guess I'm sitting in the kitchen at the Vanderpool's house. Oh how I miss the craziness that is this place! It's easy to forget how many people go in and out of this home on a regular basis. I miss it. I miss being so close to family and friends. I miss the craziness.

While we've been here we've been able to see a TON of family and quite a few friends too. Peter even went to lunch with one of his buddies from VanGuard. He told Peter that not long after Peter left one of their supervisors asked if he knew why Peter left. She was upset about something and happened to mention that they had big plans for Peter. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?! If we had known that we just might have stuck it out and stayed here!! Dang them!!

Ok, I'm done venting. :) I'll update a little bit. Peter is loving his job in Boulder. He likes the people he works with and loves the challenges that management brings. He's still working out some of the kinks though, but that's ok! He's loving his calling with the 11 year old boys. It's pretty easy compared to what he was doing in AZ, which is nice for me because we get more time with him.

I'm loving Colorado. And despite my venting and being pessimistic up there I'm really enjoying meeting new people and making new friends. I've recently taken up baking and am going crazy making everything I can think of! I've found a few blogs that I absolutely love and can't wait to try most of the recipes they have!

Daniel is loving 2nd grade. He's turning into more and more of a boy every day. I notice little things. Like how he rolls his eyes at me and talks back. And the new phrases he's picking up from his friends. He's doing really well in school and loves to do his homework every night. He is also such a big helper and will do just about anything I ask him to. I love it!!

Ryan is just as Ryan as ever!! He loves school and tells us everyday whether or not he's going to school that day. He has made friends with some of the kids in our neighborhood and it's normal for him to come home with something that "my friend made me". It's sweet. Recently he's been singing a lot. A bunch of random songs that I'm sure he learned at school because I don't know them! He's a sweet boy!

Jackson is just as crazy and loving as ever. He has started talking a lot and says things like "I want go" and "I want Memo(Elmo)". He love cuddling with us on the couch and watching Sesame Street or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Those are the only 2 shows he'll sit down and watch all the way through! He can also be such a stinker! When he doesn't want to hold your hand while walking he just goes limp. It's quite funny and annoying at the same time!

All in all we're doing well. We seem to always be busy and on the go but that's ok. It takes our minds off of missing our families and friends so much. :)

Disneyland

In addition to getting to play in the snow for the first time this month we also took the kids to Disneyland!! The boys were so excited to get to go and they were asking about it for weeks before we actually left. We made a 'quick' stop over in AZ to go to a friends' sealing though! It was the sweetest sealing I've ever been to. I know that Dale and Denise will be very happy together!

We left for California on Saturday morning with my Gramma. My mom and John were meeting us there. After a long day of driving we made it to the hotel! We spent the rest of Saturday relaxing and preparing for Disneyland!

We got up on Sunday morning and headed to the park! One of our first stops was the teacups. The boys rode with me and Jackson went with my mom. It was cute to see Jack so excited! The boys and I spun our teacup as fast as we could go! They loved it! Our next stop was to see Mickey Mouse. Daniel and Ryan were excited to see him. Jack didn't realize what was going on until we were in the room with Mickey! He kept trying to jump out of my arms to go to Mickey. When it was actually our turn he ran right up to say hi. The boys got nervous and wouldn't go stand by him though! Dang kids! I wish we had a picture of all of us with Mickey but it just didn't happen. Oh well! :) Jack loved seeing Mickey, he even gave him a kiss on the nose. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen!

The rest of the day was filled with rides and food and more rides! The boys LOVED Splash Mountain! The picture is priceless! Daniel's face is the best part! Splash Mountain was the one ride that they really wanted to go on more than once. I think it was their favorite!

Monday rolled around and we were at the park really early. We finished up riding all the rides that we didn't get to go on on Sunday. The Finding Nemo submarine ride was really cool. Jack loved looking out the little window at everything. All 3 of the kids liked riding on the Autotopia. It was cute to see Daniel trying to drive! I had to help him push the gas though because he couldn't reach. The other ride they both really liked was Star Tours. I didn't realize that they had changed it. It kind of made me sad...but it was still really neat!

Daniel really liked Indiana Jones too. He went twice, once with me and once with Peter. Ryan was very sad that he couldn't go, he was just a tad too short! Next time he'll get to go though!

We also went to California Adventure! They had more rides that the boys could ride than I thought they would. We really enjoyed it! We didn't get to do everything that we wanted to but we got to do most of it. The real reason we went was to see the World of Color water show that night. It was really cool. All of the kids liked it. Jackson was SO tried but he stayed awake and watched it too. :)

All in all we had a lot of fun! There were some tears shed and some fits thrown but that was to be expected! Jack was amazing both days. He even took a 2 hour nap while we were at Disneyland! We're already planning on going back in a few years when the boys are tall enough to ride all of the rides and Jack should be able to ride quite a few more! :)

An Update with Snow!

It's been quite some time since I've been able to post. I'm not really sure what I've been doing instead of posting but I'm here now! September was a pretty normal month; filled with school and work and grocery shopping and all of the normal stuff! October on the other hand was pretty exciting!

We had our first encounter with snow! All of the kids were so excited to play in it! Especially Peter who went outside in a short sleeve shirt at 11 at night to play in it! The boys each made a snow angel, that you can't really see in the pictures. They also had a snow ball fight and built a snowman! We don't have any gloves yet so by the end of an hour the boys' hands were freezing! (Mine too!) I suppose we'll have to invest in some gloves huh?

Unshaken Resolve

Ten years ago today our lives changed forever. I remember that day well.

I was already at school, on the field with the Drumline.

We were practicing our sets and music for marching band.

We finished our practice and were getting ready to join the rest of the band

when we heard the news:

America was under attack.

At first I wasn't sure what to think.

No one really knew a lot about what was happening.

But as time passed; reality sank in.

This wasn't an accident and it wasn't some small thing.

Someone somewhere was dying right then.

And we were all completely safe in our classroom;

what seemed like millions of miles away.

The 2 things I remember most about that day

are watching history unfold and my good friend, Jamie.

We watched the news in math, history, English and everything in between.

In my first period band class while we were watching

Jamie came in the room crying to use the phone.

She told me her Dad was Flying to New York that morning.

For a meeting at the WTC.

She didn't know if he had made it there or not.

She couldn't get a hold of him.

I remember sitting just outside of the band room with her

crying until she finally got a hold of her Mom.

Her Dad was safe.

He had missed his flight.

I know that years from now our childrens' childrens' children

will read about that day in history books.

They won't be able to understand the terror that every American felt.

But we will. We know how it felt to see our Beloved Country attacked.

I know that we will never forget all of the lives lost.

We united as a Country on that day.

We looked terrorists in the face and said

"We're still here. We're not going down without a fight!"

We will live on with "Unshaken Resolve"

that we will heal, and we will remain

United as One.

God Bless America.