Missing Home

We've had a cold couple of weeks but the last 4 days have been nice and warm.  We've made sure to hit up the park and go on some walks and it kind of reminds of of being back home in San Clemente.  It also makes me excited for mid April when things warm up until next winter.

We started at our new MOPS 2 weeks ago and it is very different (not in a good way) from the MOPS in CA.  I guess I didn't realize how great my CA MOPS was until I came to the MOPS here.  So far 2 weeks in, they've run out of coffee, the coordinator isn't very inspiring, and the childcare is less than ideal.  I'm trying to be optimistic that it will get better but so far it isn't the greatest.

We've decided to try a church for a few months that is new out here.  It is "launching" in February and we will be helping/serving in a few ways as it gets off the ground.  We've met some great people and hope that this is the beginning of our new life here in CO for as ever long as that may be.   Here is a link to the church.  http://www.thrivechurch.com/

Our friends from CA came out for a night on their way to a cabin in South West (kind of) Colorado.  It was so great to see them but I was SO sad when they left.  It just reminded me of how much I miss everyone.

Other then all the above, we are excited to go to CA in 3 weeks to celebrate Kiersten's first birthday, spend some time with my family and see our friends.  I know the 4 days are going to go by too fast, but I'm looking forward to it.

The kids are doing great.  Nathan is so much fun right now.  A never ending chatter box about anything and everything.  His favorite things to do these days are to talk about candy, talk about Disneyland and go outside with Daddy and "do daddy's bike," which means that Kevin holds him and tells him all the parts of his bike (it is so adorable!).   We talk all day about all kinds of things and it is so fun.  Nathan can make Kiersten laugh like no other. It's the best sound.  We were at the park the other day and Nathan was so lucky and got to go in fire truck and a police car, he was so excited.

 My firefighter! 

 Nathan and his girlfriend Keaton from CA

 Nathan and Keaton playing with the phone, Keaton was so tired!

 My little helper in the kitchen!  He loves to "SNAP" my green beans and has to yell "SNAP" when he does it. 

Kiersten is a joy as always.  She is walking all over the place.  We just bought her, her very first pair of shoes and she is learning how to walk in them.  She is so much fun.   She is always playing and laughing (unless she is in her car seat!).  She is dancing all the time and loves TV.  She just started picking up the remote and pointing it at the TV.  She also just started bringing Minnie with her all over the house.  He other favorite toy lately is Nathan's booster seat, not sure why but she pushes it off the chair and the drags it all over the house.

 Exploring

 I expect years of fun with this kitchen

 My pretty girl 

 Kevin was gone for 3 days and you should have seen how happy she was to see him when he got home.  It melted my heart.  She just wanted to be with him for the next 30 minutes and wouldn't leave him alone.  She has entered that stage of truly being excited when he comes home from work every day.  I'm a bit jealous that I never get to experience this greeting but then again at least I get to be with her all day long. 

 New shoes

 Practicing with the remote

 Booster seat fun

The last few weeks

The last few weeks have been fun but now that my visitors are gone I am hoping that we will start to feel adjusted and more normal.  Up until this point it still kind of feels like we are going back to San Clemente soon.  It has been very cold the last few weeks.  It's been in the 20's just about every day and that is wearing on us a bit.  Everyone who lives here says that it's not normal to be this cold for this long and we hope that it's just unusual.  We've had snow on the ground since Chirstmas and I'm ready for most of it to go away.  The good news is a least for the next few days it should be in the 40's and hopefully most of this snow will melt.

I'm missing the beach view but these Rocky Mountain views are not too bad either.  We love our new home, it has a lot of space which was so nice over the holidays.  My mom, Kim, Becca and Brooke came out for about 36 hours and it was great time.  It was so fun to see them and I love that they can now picture where we live and what our home is like.  We went to the mall here which I knew my mom would like.  It's very "Colorado" and looks like a log cabin inside.  We played in the snow in our backyard and that was super fun.  The kids loved throwing snowballs and running around.  I loved having Brooke here to play with Nathan.  They are at such a great age together and Brooke has such a fun spirit about her.  By the end of the trip Nathan was running around calling her "BROOKER", so cute!  We went to this new park that we like but it was covered in snow and poor Brooke was so tired she slept in the car the whole time we were there.  That night we got take out Chinese which was not very good and some of our neighbors came over.  Nathan (and Kiersten) were able to open their presents from my Dad and Mom, Kim and Becca so that was fun to have them opened while they were here.  We were lucky enough to see Kim on her birthday before they left the next day which was a great treat.

Nathan was so excited to have Grandma here when he woke up.

 Nathan showing Brooke the snow

 Working on their Christmas wreath project

 Breakfast with Kiersten

 Doughnut time from Starbucks

 Sweet girls

 Brooke getting Kim with a snowball

 Snow fun with Aunt Kim

 This is what we use our sand toys for now

 Yes they were here for 36 hours and this is how I caught them, looks like they were having fun

 Park fun with Aunt Becca

 Present time, playing with Kierstens blocks

 Kiersten pushing her new Minnie her in new stroller.  Love this

 Breakfast time

 Snow balls with Kevin

 Saying goodbye to Grandma

After they left we had 2 days before Kevin's family got here.  We had such a great time with them.  Grandpa Sauer and Grandma Kathy came over for Christmas Eve and Christmas day and Kevin's sister Kristi, her husband Rusty and my 2 nephews Caleb and Micah came over for 5 days.   It was so nice to have them stay with us during this time.  I made Christmas eve dinner and Christmas dinner.  I'm so mad I didn't take pictures of the meals, but thank you to my sister-in-law Kristi who took a picture of me and my first turkey!  I was very pleased with how it turned out and now I know I can do it.  I really don't know how my mom makes these huge meals for our family it is A LOT of work and I was tired.  It was fun though.  While they were here, we had Christmas morning together, we were able to go to our new gym a few days and play in the pool with the kids (it was too cold outside), and we tried the Children's Museum out here in Denver, which was awesome!  It is a must stop for all visitors with small kids when they come out to Denver.  We played in the snow one day and otherwise just enjoyed family time that we don't get often enough.  

Christmas Eve Dinner

 Setting up the Kitchen from "Santa", I expect many fun times with this kitchen

 Christmas morning

 Christmas morning family picture

 Love this picture.  I can't wait to play pretend with her

 First set of pots and pans

 He had fun Christmas morning but it was more the act of opening then what was inside.

 He loves anything soft and anything train, combine those together and you have a happy boy

 haha, she makes me laugh

 Hanging with Grandpa

 My turkey!!!!

 Nathan and his cousins Caleb and Micah, Christmas dinner

 Loves being upside down

 I made sugar cookies and every night (almost) we'd let the kids decorate them and eat one for their dessert.

 Love these two and their matching outfits

 Children's Museum 

 My little doctor

 Checking Grandpa's heart

 My girl loves the sand, not so much the snow. =(

 Getting used to this new life out here in CO

 Snow day

 Breakfast with Grandpa

 Playing with Grandpa, loved this moment

Kiersten is really trying to walk now.  She takes 3-4 steps all the time and two nights ago took 12.  She is so fun.  Nathan is really getting comfortable here, which helps me a lot.  I start MOPS next week, have another soccer game tonight and our biggest prayer is that we can find a church soon and get plugged in with some friends.

Until next time.............