ADVENTURES ON CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN

We live at the base of Cheyenne Mountain.

It is absolutley beautiful.
I was 8 the last time I lived near mountains,
and even then I wasn't as close as we are now
and Brett grew up living near a very large mountain,
so he loves it.
A week and a half ago we decided to drive up a little ways on the mountain
and have a picnic.
It was a total of 4 miles from our driveway to where we stopped for our picnic.
The scenery was amazing!


This is a view of our street through from the mountain through my zoom lens.
The girls going on a hike.


Brett and Jack
Ready for some hiking
Having a picnic
The kids getting ready to go for a short hike.
So we got done eating and while we were gathering all the picnic stuff up and carrying it back to the car, we let the kiddos go down the trail a little ways.
Suddenly Liberty came running back yelling
"Snake! There's a Snake! Snake!"
So Brett took off running to where Madison and Spencer where still playing on the trail.
In my head I am thinking that my imaginative 5 year old has seen a very "snake-like-stick".
I look down the trail and I see a very serious Brett shooing the kids away from where they were just playing.
Once the kids where safely away, Brett walked me back to see the "snake".
He had to point it out to me when it was right in front of me it blends in so well. It was a baby rattle snake. We were very proud of Liberty for acting the way she did when she saw it. She did just the right thing. Spencer on the other hand was a few feet away from it, crouched down looking at it. Liberty quite possibly saved her brother a lot of pain, or even his life.
That was the beginning to our
Adventures in Colorado!

GARDEN OF THE GODS

One of the most beautiful things to see
not far from our new home

is a place called Garden of the Gods
It is free, and you can go hiking, have a picnic,ride your bike
or just drive through, which is what our family did for
Family Home evening this last Monday evening.
Here are some of my favorite shots from it:
(my camera's battery died not to long after we arrived)

On the previous two photos, if you look just to the right of center
You'll see a rainbow.
Beautiful.
That was all I was able to get before the battery died.
We will be going back soon though, so you'll be seeing more of this.

COLORADO

I'd like to just take a moment to say

I LOVE COLORADO!
It is so beautiful, and the people are so incredibly nice!
I love the Midwest - it has always been my favorite place to live,
but until now, my experience was limited to Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska.
I now know that the borders stretch beyond Nebraska and include Colorado.
It's BEAUTIFUL
(did I already mention that?)
I love our neighbors,
I love our home,
I like our ward.
At the risk of sounding cheesy
I'm just so happy to be here!This is our home in Tabor, IA.
We will miss Tabor A LOT!
It was such a great community with great friends
and having Mom and Dad right down the street was wonderful.
We love you, Tabor!
(The Family in front of our old house)

I do want to say good riddance to a few things, however:
The dishwasher that caked our dishes in hardwater.
The stove that took an HOUR to boil water.
(and that's when you remembered to put salt in it and cover the pot).
The bath tub that did not clog all the way so I had to run water the whole time I bathed the kids.
The air conditioner that was about 3 times to small for this old, drafty house.
Having the girls room in the basement with cement floors and a fireplace in their room.
The front door that made a VERY LOUD humming noise when it was windy.
The Landlord who NEVER CALLED BACK!
And Finally, the bad wiring that had us replacing about
100 light bulbs in the 11 months we lived there.
You all will definatley NOT be missed.
But Tabor - you have a piece of our hearts forever!
One of our two moving trucks.
Liberty in the other truck.
Driving into Colorado.

Moving into our new, glorious house!

RAINBOWS

As we drove into Colorado Last Friday, there were scattered rain showers.
When the sun broke through there was this beautiful rainbow.

It filled my heart with peace to see it. I was driving alone in one of our TWO rental trucks, so it was quiet, and I thought about the reason for rainbows.
They are a reminder of a promise from a loving Heavenly Father.
He told Noah that He would never again flood the whole earth.
I felt like he was promising me that I would be able to handle what lies ahead for us in Colorado.
Brett WILL be deployed.
I will not have my very helpful mother around for
the first time since I have had more than two kids.
We will not know anyone.
And yet, there is this rainbow....filling my heart with not just peace,
but hope.
Thank You for rainbows.