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.

Baby Jack's Blessing

Baby Jack was blessed at church today. It was beautiful and wonderful and the spirit was strong as Brett blessed our last child. We were so grateful to have David and Brandi there for this their 3rd blessing out of our 4 kids, including Liberty the same weekend they were married. Thank you guys - it means more than I can tell you. Also, Dad who has been to each one - Dad, you are amazing (just ask Spencer). Jack looked angelic. He is such a sweet baby. I feel overwhelmed by the happiness these wonderful people I get to call my family bring into my life! I am living my dreams as a mother and am grateful to have my best friend by my side. He really is everything I always dreamed of. I am truly blessed!
Welcome to the family, Baby Jack!Sweet Baby Jack all ready to go to church for the first time. My Mom made the outfit and Grandma Sutton Made the blanket.
All the siblings loving on Jack - right after this picture, Spencer kissed Jack too, but laid on him to do it, so we had to intervene.

The men in the blessing circle (David, Dad, Brett, Bishop Saufley, Mike Formhals, and John Marley) Thanks Guys!
Proud parents and handsome baby Jack!


Our Family
Jack with Aunt Brandi, Uncle David, and cousins Lincoln and Henry.
Jack and Grandma and Grandpa

JACK LAVELL!! He's finally here!

Just a quick post to let you all know that our forth little angel made his entrance today at 12:15 pm central time. He weighed 7lbs 3.8oz and was 20 inches long. He has a full head of reddish blonde hair, and both Mom and baby are doing FANTASTIC! We are so excited! More to come soon! Welcome home, Jack!

Christmas Baking!

It's that time of year again! Time to make Christmas goodies, and this year the kids all helped Mommy bake. We had a lot of fun. I was even able to make some really tasty goodies that were "Maddy friendly"(without gluten or casein) and was pretty happy with how they turned out! They are delicious!
Maddy all ready to go!
Our cute little bakers!
Libby all ready to bake. Liberty's method of baking is to stick her finger in the bowl after each ingredient is added to make sure it tastes right. She would be our quality control specialist. Thanks, Libby!
Spencer, like always, is just happy to be doing whatever Mommy is doing.
The kids and I really had a fun and pretty messy time! I hate this picture of me, but the kids are so dang cute. I think Maddy must know that this is some of the cookie dough that is off limits for her judging by the look in her face.

Baby Jack

Here's Baby Jack in all of his cuddly cuteness! I guess the official due date is January 25th, but we are going to see how early the Doc will let him come because Brett leaves on February 7th. We'll see - at any rate, about 2 months until baby #4! We can't wait to meet you, Jack!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Libby the Pretty Pink Mermaid

Madison the beautiful butterfly

Spencer the Triceritops

Happy Halloween from the Hernandez Family!