Love this time of year!

I get so excited at this time of year! It is truly my favorite season! I love the cooler weather, I love wearing hoodies and sweaters, I love the warm colors, I love to see all the kids playing in leaves, I LOVE HALLOWEEN, Corn Mazes, Pumpkin Patches, Haunted Houses, I love seeing the kids in their costumes, I love to carve pumpkins and I love the smells! And I love that it brings on the Holiday season for the rest of the year!

This last weekend we spent some time with some of Gary's family and drove up to Estes Park. We like to go up every year about this time to enjoy the colors and the Elk that are always down in town at this time of year. It was beautiful weather and the colors were so pretty! We had a nice relaxing day and brought up a picnic lunch and let the kids play at the park. We got lucky and all the Elk were right there where we were eating and playing! And I'm pretty sure the boys loved every minute of it!

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Papa and Nani's Visit

My dad and Lynn were just out for a visit. We had a great time as usual and stayed busy! They arrived on Tuesday evening. We surprised them and brought Brayden to the airport to greet them. It was fun and I don't think they were expecting us at all. Wednesday Gary had to work so my sister joined us and we did some shopping at Colorado Mills. Brayden got to ride the carousel a few times thanks to Nani and Papa. After shopping all day we just headed home and hung out for a bit. Nani wasn't feeling too well so we ordered some yummy Italian food and ate in. The following morning poor Nani still wasn't feeling well and had to go to Urgent Care. She had a real bad sinus infection so she was able to get an antibiotic. After her appointment we headed down to Colorado Springs for a few days. We stayed at a beautiful resort called, Cheyenne Mountain Resort. That first day we visited Seven Falls. You can climb steps to the very top if you want or sit at the bottom and enjoy the view. Just the first set of steps is 224 STEEP steps. My husband decided to go up. Me, being the dummy that I am, followed. WE MADE IT though! Just up the first set. I didn't go all the way because I didn't want to make everyone wait for us down below... ha ha ha ha! YA RIGHT, I thought I was going to die and my legs felt like jello, I wasn't sure how I was going to get down. Maybe next summer that can be goal, to make it to the top!

After Seven Falls we had reservations at the Flying W Ranch. So fun! They have a tinplate dinner with real cowboy singin! It was fun and the food was pretty good. You got your choice of steak or chicken, baked potato, applesauce, baked beans, spice cake, and a biscuit. And the best lemonade ever! We had a good time!

The next day we drove down to The Royal Gorge. It had been years since I had been there! I thought I was going to have to carry everyone across. LOL. My sister was having anxiety but crossed it even though she practically ran. Gary made it but had motion sickness a bit. My dad (sorry dad) was funny. He felt nauseous and was holding on to the rail. Just funny cause he was laughing at himself saying this has never happened before. I believe my dad and Lynn finally made it across but by the time they did and had gone back we couldn't find them. So we took Brayden to the petting zoo and he got to ride his first horse. Holding daddy's hand the whole way of course. But he still did so good and seemed to like it. We rode the carousel a few times too! It was a fun day and we all got a little sun!

After that we headed back to the hotel and decided it was pool time! We were all pretty wore out and just wanted to relax. And that we did! I now know that my son loves the HOT tub. I couldn't get him out of it. I was being as careful as I could and when I thought he had been in it long enough, he cried when I said it was time to get out.

That evening we had dinner at the little bar and grill at the resort. We played Wii and relaxed. Lynn wasn't feeling so well and my dad was pretty tired so they went up to the room. Brayden went up with them shortly after. Gary, Angie, and I hung out by the fire for a bit. It was a nice night.

The following morning we headed to Manitou Springs for breakfast. It was different but still pretty good. The place we picked was completely vegetarian. We didn't know that until we were pretty much seated. But it ended up being better than we thought.

Saturday evening was our last night with my folks. We had a little BBQ and just hung out at home. We had so much fun and such a nice visit with my folks. It's always sad to see them go back home. Thank you Nani and Papa for all the fun!!! We miss you and love you!!!

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We've Moved!

I have officially made the decision to never ever move during the summer again! SO HOT! I have never sweat that much before in my life! GROSS!!! But we are getting settled in to our new place and it feels like home!

So weird how things work out sometimes and I always know how God has his hand in everything we do. At the beginning of summer Gary and I talked about buying our own home and how we needed to financially get things straightened out to be able to do so. We want a home for our children and a yard they can play in. But right now we are just not able to do it. So we set some goals and made some plans. In the meantime we got a phone call from Gary's Aunt and Uncle asking to talk to us about something. We had no idea it would be one of our answers to our prayers. They invited us to live them for awhile. They had some things coming up that this would help them out with and also be helping us save some money for getting a new home! It was a win win situation. We have our own living area and it very comfortable here! I love my husbands aunt and uncle. They are such good, kind people. And I'm glad that we can help each other out right now. Brayden loves it here too. He has lots of room to play and a yard! He also has a new buddy! Gary's cousin is 6 years old and they never want to leave each other alone. It's cute. I think they help keep each other entertained.

Brayden is growing so fast! He is finally starting to talk a lot more now and actually making out sounds that I can understand a little bit better. He says dow(down), ah duh(all done) , hane u (thank you), owe(owe), guh (again) AND he says Joshua (gary's cousin). Although that one sounds like YAH-SHA. It's very cute and very funny! He loves his cartoons and of course my least favorite is his absolute, can't tear him away favorite. Caillou. Such an annoying show... BUT, I know if I need to get something done I can turn that one on and do it! And it makes him happy, so I'm all for that! He sniffs and crinkles his nose when I ask him what a pig says. He also says oof oof (woof woof) for dogs. Also if someone is sleeping and we tell him to be quiet he puts his finger to his lips and says "sshhh". He fakes sleeping to when he doesn't want to talk on the phone. Little stinker.

I got to do another photo shoot the other day for my friend Kara and her 2 boys! They are so cute. Here are a few of those! I am loving all the practice right now and enjoying learning how to use my camera!

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My first photo shoot

Here is my first shot at photography. I have always loved taking pictures and using my camera everywhere I go. But now I have a new camera and really want to see what I can do with it!

Here is my photo shoot with Olivia (6 mths old)

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Just Fishin'...

This last weekend we got to enjoy another relaxing weekend with some family at their house in Leadville! It was so beautiful and perfect weather too! It was nice to get out of the 90 degree heat. We did lots of fishing, played games, laughed and just enjoyed the outdoors! I love to get out of the city and enjoy the slow down. Thank you Henke's for having us come up with you! As always, it was great fun!

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We really needed this last weekend of fun. This month is going to be a bit crazy! All the rest of our weekends this month are booked! We are moving at the end of this month... so that already takes up most of our time. To be honest it was really an answer to prayer. Gary and I really want to buy a home but we have some other things we need to get taken care of first before we can do that. So we were trying to figure out what we were going to do. So funny how God works in my life. I have not been to church in awhile BUT not one day goes by that I don't pray. And I know that he listens and always answers even when I am at my lowest spiritually. So in praying and trying to figure out what Gary and I were going to do, Gary's Aunt and Uncle called us. They offered for us to live with them. This was huge for us! Not only will we be able to save money but we can also pay off some debt that we have! I am so excited! Just one step closer for us to be able to buy a house! I am looking forward to this move. Both Gary and I know it's the right decision for our family!

... Total change in subject... but I had to post these pictures, I just thought they were too cute! I was babysitting for a good friend of mine the othere day and he is a cubs fan too. So Brayden, of course, had to wear his cubs attire too!