Sunset Boulevard - Colorado Style

We have some great trails around our neighborhood - well around the entire state, actually. They section off land for public use and call it "Designated Open Space", filling it with trails for walking, hiking and biking. It's great! So here are some pictures from our sunset walk for FHE the other night. I went a little overboard with pictures of the sky, so be patient. It was just so breathtaking.

A Day at the Pool

We spend a lot of time at our community pool. It's been really warm and the kids have turned into little fish. It has a great waterslide and waterfall and spouts and a kiddie pool and playground. The boys love it and frankly - so do I. (Free entertainment - and afterwards they're pooped!) So I took the camera a couple of weeks ago and decided to snap a few of them playing. The pictures could've been better, but it's tough trying to keep the camera dry while chasing around Davis. He still thinks he can step right into the pool from the side - like walking on water. All he wants to do is dig through the pool toy bins - as you can see.

Davis & the Balloon

The big boys now have a standing Friday movie night with some neighbor boys, and this week it was Mason's turn. So while they were watching Robots and downing popcorn we gave Davis some 2 - on -1 attention. He was perfectly happy playing with a balloon. I just love his jabber-wocky talking and his Frankenstien walking. He loves to say "bye" and "hi" and "dad", but otherwise it's nonsense. AAaahh . . . the joys of babyhood.

And as you can see, we're still short on furniture.

Sweet Home Colorado!

Okay, if you didn't know it already - we moved to Colorado. Darren bought into a practice in Boulder and we are living in Superior, just a few minutes south of his office. And guess what? We love it!!! I think if I were to create the perfect place to live (for us/me) this would be it. Yeah, yeah - talk to me in 6 months when it's FUH-REEEZING outside. Maybe I'll change my tune, but I doubt it. I love the snow, too.

Pictures to come of the house, the neighborhood, the beautiful scenery, the kiddos, etc.

This past summer has really been a whirlwind of adventure - packed with thrills. In a 2 1/2 month period we had my 30th birthday, Darren's graduation, Darren's 35th birthday, Davis's FIRST birthday, our 10 year - yes 10 year - wedding anniversary, a move across the country (broken into two stretches), plus mother's day, father's day, july 4th, and a 8 day family reunion again across country. It was wonderful, but lots to celebrate!

Needless to say, after all the action I am thrilled to be settled. We're getting all adjusted and I'm realizing that life was more stressful in LA - it wasn't just in my head. The space, the fresh smelling air, the kiddies all over the neighborhood - well it's just Familyland here and it's so great. We love our house, our new neighbors, upgraded cars, the new school is awesome and most importantly Darren loves his practice. (I'll post some pics of that too!)

So, if any of you want to visit - feel free.

Tick Tock

It's almost here! Graduation. Commencement. The end and the beginning. I feel so full of emotions - like a rainbow of fruit flavors. Excitement, sadness, stress, longing, anticipation, and yet . . . YEEHAW!!!!!!

I said Goodnight L.A.

In this case it's Goodbye L.A. And when we come back to visit biannually, we will not just go to Orange County - I promise.

I still can't believe that the 4 years have already come and gone.

MoFash

The coolest Stake Activity EVER!

Our Stake goes all out in the name of activities and once again they've outdone themselves. It's MoFash, a modest fashion show - bringing high fashion together with practical ideas for modest styling. It's sure to be fun, and hopefully will spur a trend toward more classy dressing. Check out their list of "Sites we Like" for some truly good shopping.

The Final Countdown

Well, we're down to less than a month left here in Los Angeles. I wish I had more time so I could post all the great pictures I'm taking of our final moments.

I've had an "LA List" of our favorite thing to do in the area that I wanted to revisit for the last time and a couple things we hadn't gotten to yet. Our favorites- The Getty, Zimmer Museum, Santa Monica pier, favorite parks - Kenneth Hahn, Aidan's Place, etc., the Grove, Travel Town, Zoo, Legoland, Hollywood & Highland, "Whimsic Alley", aka - the Harry Potter store, Gene Autry Museum, Shrine Circus at the Shrine, LACMA, Tide Pools in Malibu. I still haven't managed to get to the Griffith Observatory yet, but that's slated for next week. I'm going to an Ellen show taping tomorrow afternoon and I hope to get down to the Pantages to see Wicked once more (front row for $25 in the nightly lottery - can't beat that!) We're also doing one last bonfire at Dockweiler beach this weekend. It's also my bday this weekend, #30, but I got my present a couple weeks ago - tickets to Phantom of the Opera. We're also doing weekly Disneyland trips to savour our passes, so we're heading down to Anaheim in a couple hours.

The boys are playing tball and 5-pitch and doing really well. Dalton can snag a ball and throw it from 3rd base to first with spot-on aim. He totally didn't get that from me. Darren is coaching Dane's team and it's just a riot to see him chugging around the bases with the giant batting helmet on. He also like to draw pizzas in the dirt.

This is a rambling post that I'll surely edit later. I just want all to know that we're alive and kicking and trying to prepare ourselves for some huge and exciting changes.

Just in Time, eh?

Looks like we're headin' out of Dodge just in time. Check out this article packed with stats about the high probability of quakes in the near future of good old Southern California.

california_quakes

And the ladies at Target looked at me like I was loco when Dalton told them we were making an emergency earthquake kit. Who's loco now? HUH? Yeah, that's right.

But seriously, they're reporting this as though it's groundbreaking, jawdropping information. As if every single person who lives in Southern California, or the entire state for that matter, isn't painfully aware of the impending doom awaiting. They've been predicting "the big one" for eons. We send little earthquake kits to preschool with family pictures and beef jerky and a toy. We have little teasers quakes to keep us on our toes and remind us not to get too comfy. We just choose to pretend that it's not a serious threat so that we can get through the day. My mom warned me to sleep with clothes and shoes near the bed so just in case it's in the middle of the night we won't be caught unaware. I don't. Denial is a beautiful thing.

WORD!

Anyone else LOVE Elder Ballard's talk yesterday? A friend put it best - "If I could've clapped afterwards, I would've." It was so validating and practical.

Great New Blog

A friend referred me to this great new blog:

www.enlightenedhomemaker.blogspot.com

It's all about feeding your family the right way, practically. It's really informative and helpful. I'm off to clean out the pantry!