Estes Park

On saturday we drove up to Estes Park and spent most of the day there. It was a wonderful family day! We just saw the mountains and then walked around the town. It was something fun to do and we got to see some more of the area that we moved to. It's about an hour from our house. 

We can never get Carson to smile normal

This, my friends, is a perfect family picture!!!!!!

10 Random friday list

1. Customer service is awesome in fort Collins
2. Never noticed how "un friendly" people were out east until we moved to the West! The bank has a greeter that asks how your day is and if she can help you with anything. That's before you get to any tellers who proceed to do the same. The grocery store workers all are smiling and making sure you're doing ok, and having a good day!!!!! it's so noticeable and amazing!!!!! (ps. not that I dislike the east coast - but it truly is noticeable here)
3. Fort Collins has more restaurants per capita (sp?) than any other city in the US. (haven't truly verified that fact myself, but it definitely seems true) So my sister asked if everyone is "fat" here. And no they are not b/c of random fact #4.
4. Everyone is super fit here b/c everyone rides their bikes, hikes, or runs or rock climbs or something Like Every day.
5. My boys sleeping in the same room is getting to be more of a challenge than the first night! I hope they get used to it soon.
6. Living on the 3rd floor isn't as bad as I thought it would be, at least for now (granted Richard doesn't work right now so he carries EVERYTHING including the boys for me)
7. There are so many grass hoppers here!!!! I was running along a trail and they were just hopping left and right off the path as I ran by, and i kept kicking them in mid jump! It was sorta freaking me out
8. Evenings here are great for family walks
9. Richard has a job interview on Monday. Please pray
10. We miss our family and friends back East terribly!!!! (but thankful we missed both the earthquake and the hurricane)

Virtual Tour/ welcome to CO

 Here is the last picture of us entering Colorado. And might I add - If I thought Kansas was bad - Eastern Colorado was worse!!!!! But I would attribute some of the unfavorableness due to the fact that I was sick of driving and really wanting to be home!

 Fort Collins!!!!!

Our new Home Town

Today we had our first Dinner in our new home as a family together that I cooked! It was a good feeling. we had Cajun Chicken Pasta with chocolate Zucchini muffins. 

Thanks Richard for humoring me and taking this picture :)

Here is a Video of our new apartment - Mostly for my Mother. Hopefully it doesn't make you too Dizzy and you can see it good enough. There really is a lot more space than we thought at first Glance. And places always look/smell better once your own stuff gets moved in and put in place, and deep cleaning is done. There is more closet space than i've ever had in any house I've lived in, so that is super nice. And i think I will love having everything on the same level. The boys really are loving it.

I think I need to add a disclaimer - The kitchen is to the left not the right. :) I can tell my directions most of the time. :)

Something that makes my "mother" heart so happy - Today we were coming home from an outing "learning the town" and Carson yells "we're home!!!" I'm so thankful the transition for the boys has gone so smoothly!

We're here!

So i just want to let everyone know that we are here in Fort Collins. We are excited about our future. Fort Collins is in the Top 10 cities to live in is America!!!! And we are so glad to be living here. We are settling into our apartment and finding a place for everything. We will try to get internet set up as soon as we can, and I will be back to my blogging again! Thanks for praying! We are so thankful that God went before our trip and that we made it here so safely.
Richard and I are at peace with being here. We are confident that God has led us here, and we are confident he will provide for us. We are excited to get plugged in and involved in the church and meet the community around us! We have been blessed already by the 4 people that we knew before we moved here. they have helped us so much.

Thanks for staying updated.
have a great week!

update continued - Kansas is boring

We left Wataga IL, at about 9 AM on wednesday morning. But not without a little hiccup. As Richard was loading up our stuff he noticed our tire in the car was flat. We had run over a screw at some point. We were able to get it fixed fast and were very thankful that it happened before we left and at my grandparent's house where they knew where to get it fixed. Only set us a back a short time. (we had planned to leave by 8) we were on our way to Kansas City Missouri

Missouri!

We stayed the night here at our friends house from College. They are dear dear friends of ours. It was wonderful to stay with them and we enjoyed our short conversation with them. We were blessed by their hospitality

We woke up today and left Kansas City about 9ish headed for Colby Kansas! This was about a 6 hr drive that took us 7 hrs. (our stops just seem to take longer due to having to fill two vehicles and one of them diesel plus the truck can't go more than 70 mph)

this is my picture for Kansas! boy is this a boring state and so straight!

 We were aiming towards Colby Kansas and a hotel. We pulled into the hotel around 4pm ish. We made pretty good time. We are so glad to stay in this hotel. It's so nice. We got settled in, went and had pizza as a family. Carson has so much energy it's not even funny! As soon as we let him loose he runs and runs and runs and yells and screams and just goes crazy about everything! The hotel has a pool and we spent some time together there as a family! It's been perfect. Both boys have been sooooo happy tonight and it makes my heart glad to see them both smiling and laughing about everything. It's been a good family night.

I was more bored on the drive today b/c Kansas is a pretty boring state to drive through, so I tried to take a few pictures of our trip.

Carson a little annoyed at the sun on him

Landon in the mirror we have, that has helped me a lot!

A weird fire on the side of the road, kept me entertained for a while 

me- really bored

I have a cooler of easy food for us for our lunches. this has been great.
We stop at a rest area, let Carson run wild
and we save A-TON-OF-MONEY while we're at it

running

Tomorrow we have about 4-5 hours of our entire trip left! I can't believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're almost there!!!! It's amazing how much peace we feel about doing what we are doing. We don't seem to be too worried yet about how God will provide b/c we are confident that God will provide for us! WE are so excited to get to our new home. now that the major part of our move is over, and we are almost at our new place I am FILLED WITH EXCITEMENT!!! I cannot wait to start our life in Fort Collins and to get plugged in and involved at our new church!
Can't wait to update you all from our new Hometown!

Again - thank you all for your prayers. We are truly grateful for our wonderful family and friends. I know I've said this before but we are truly blessed by so many of you! Again the texts and messages I've been receiving from you all is so wonderful and encouraging! Thank you all!!!!

(ps. in the previous post richard pointed out to me - Look at how the weather gets better the farther west we go in the pictures of the state lines. He said "that's a sign we're headed in the right direction". :) We are so ready to be in COLORADO!!!!)

We made it through the hardest leg of the trip. We are so thankful to be done with it. We left PA about 4:30 AM and drove for 15 hrs!!!!! (normallly the trip takes about 12 hrs) We made pretty good time and the stops weren't too bad or too often - the truck is just slower. :( 

We are so so thankful that it went so well.  We were super tired and it was a long day - but the blessings were amazing. Our/your prayers for no traffic and good weather were answered. We were smooth sailing the whole way and we had no problems. The boys did great! very minimal crying or problems. They were pretty compliant and complained very little. We were so thankful. I received texts throughout the day from many friends and that was so encouraging to me!!!!! It was a wonderful surprise. 

West virginia - (only drizzle and didn't last long). The Sun was rising

OHIO

Indiana

Illinios!

Today we spent it with my grandparents. Richard and I slept a very full night. (about 9 hrs). And we even took a nap during the boy's naps. My grandparents are taking wonderful care of us. We feel revitalized and we're ready for another day. 

Tomorrow we hope to leave about 8 AM and drive about a 6 hr drive. (although it will take probably a while longer since we're in the truck) We will be in Kansas City tomorrow night. Still on our way. Thankful for how well things are going.

Thank you so much for your prayers for us. We definitely can sense them. We feel loved.

I'll keep you all posted on our next stop . . .

Touched, changed, BLESSED

Well, folks we are off!!!!
As I drive away from my home for almost 4 years my eyes are teary, but my heart is so full. Super excited for what lays ahead and the new adventure. New places to shop, new people to meet, new friends to make, new church to get involved in, new EVERYTHING!
But as much as I try to be excited - I am sad - sad to say goodbye. Sad to think that we left the house where I brought both my boys home from the hospital to, sad that the nice worker at the grocery store won't be able to say hi to my boys anymore, sad that Carson won't be able to run out the front door and play with his friends. Mostly sad to say Goodbye to my good good friends that I've made here. There is something unique about the bond that mother's make with other mother's. (I know that I will meet new mother's and have great new friends) but I am sad to say good bye. Church was hard (as expected) to say goodbye. I hadn't cried at all about this whole process (I hardly ever cry about things), but today was hard. and I cried. (I guess that's ok)

As I drove the 3 hours to my sister's house in the car alone (at least with no adults to talk to) my mind was going to all the wonderful ways we have been affected. We have been Touched, Changed, and mostly Blessed by so many amazing people in our time in Scranton.  It's wonderful to look back at how God led us there and provided for us when we stepped out in Faith almost 4 years ago, and that gives me strength and courage to know that He will always be faithful to me, even in this step of Faith!
God is good, and I have complete confidence that he will provide for all our needs, financial, emotional, and physical.
We are tired tonight - so we are going to bed. Please pray - for good sleep tonight (we're waking up at 4am to leave), good weather (it was not that great today), smooth driving, make good time, and safety. I'll try to update on tuesday with how it went.

this was what our living room looked like
right before we got it all loaded up

One of my traveling buddies
notice my Last iced Coffee for a very long time :(

This will be my view for a very long time

Thank you friends from Scranton. You have showered us with blessings as we left, and we are forever touched and grateful! All our friends are forever etched in our memories!