America the Beautiful Park

We recently went to a new park here in Colorado Springs (there are so many of them) and have a very fun day there. There was a super sweet playground and a cool fountain. We had so much fun! The Park was named after the song written by Katharine Lee Bates, who was inspired by Colorado Springs and the nearby mountains to write this beautiful anthem.

Amen Katharine. Amen.

Super Cool Dude

There are so many lilies here - I LOVE the colors of this one.

The very cool fountain. It rotated slowly...very cool. We did find out the hard way that you could not go up to it, just around it.

Jumping Libby

Jumping Maddy

This is how we found out you could not go up there.
Libby got in trouble for this picture.

My super "handsome man"

Sweet Baby Jack

Just hanging out

Maddy doing her favorite thing at the park.

Spencer doing his favorite thing at the park.

We recently discovered the Spencer can fly!
One of his many super powers (screaming being another of them)

We can't get the kid on the ground! He just loves to fly!
Our Handsome Man - off to save the world!

I made the kids pose for this, and as you can see - they weren't too into it.

Baby Jack
When I looked at this after I took it, he reminded me sooo much of my big brother Jay.

And as a bonus...new family pic's!
Finally all six of us!
Spencer had to hold the guitar or else he would cry.

Sweet Baby Jack's 6 month old pic's

Spencer's two year old pic's - he was crying in all of them.
(Serious stranger anxiety)

SOFT AS A COW

My Little Girl is growing up way too fast.
On Friday she lost her very first tooth
It was the first she got as a baby
and it was the first to go.
This just as my youngest is starting to cut his first tooth.
Ahh, the circle of life.
Anyhow, so July 3rd was the first tooth,
and I looked in her mouth yesterday
to see how it was healing
and I noticed that the permanent teeth below the tooth she lost
AND the one below the one next the tooth she lost
were both pushing through her gums.
The other tooth was really wiggly too
so I decided it needed to come out.
Liberty did not agree.
To say she threw a ROYAL fit is quite an understatement.
After struggling with her for about 15 min's
and trying to get her to let me yank it out of her
mouth with a string
I finally convinced her to let me try to pull it out with
with my fingers and a paper towel.
Here's how the conversation went:
Me: "Liberty, if I am really careful,
can I try to pull it out with my fingers?"
Liberty:"Will you do it soft?"
Me:"Yes"
(start to pull.she pulls away.)
Liberty:"Soft as a cloud?"
Me:"Yes, soft as a cloud."
(start to pull-she pulls away.)
Liberty:"Soft as a Kitten?"
Me:"Yes soft as a kitten."
(start to pull. she pulls away)
Liberty:"Wait Mom, Wait! Soft as a cow!?"
....ummmm....
me:trying not to let her see me laugh
"Yes Libby, soft as a cow."
Liberty:"Okay then."
So I start to pull again, only this time I've got a really good grip
and when she throws her head back really hard to get away
her tooth pops out.
As she is looking in the mirror and calming down
I say to her
"You know Liberty - you pulled that tooth.
I just held it and YOU yanked it out."
She looks at me and very matter-of-a-factly says
"I know Mom. That's what you call teamwork."

LAND THAT I LOVE

I know it may sound a little prideful

but I live in the greatest country in the world.
I have always felt this way.
My husband keeps asking me
"But Honey, wouldn't it be exciting to live in (fill in name of other country here)?"
And my answer is always
"Maybe for a little while, as long as we come back soon."
This country is BEAUTIFUL
I am a little sheltered, so I don't know for sure if there is another country with almost every type of landscape; from Desert to Mountains to Rolling Plains,
but I do know that there is nowhere I would rather live.
Regardless of how I feel about the current Government Administration
the things that make this country great are still in place:
The People
The Freedom
The Liberty
The Brave Men and Women who gave
and are now willing to give EVERYTHING in its defense
(of which I have the great privilage of being married to one)
I thank Heavenly Father every day for letting me be born here,
to raise my children here
and for protecting us all in this great land;
Land that I LOVE!
We have been taking our family picture on the fourth of July ever since Liberty was one.
Here we are in front of our home.



Our four little Americans!



"I'm the first American my parents had, so they named me Liberty!"



"Born to be free!"



"What!?! WHO did you say is President!?!
Even I'm more qualified than him!"



"All American Boy!"

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.