Caleb turns 5 Years Old

It is hard to believe, but Caleb turned 5 years old this month.  The journey has not always been easy, but we would not trade it for the world.  He has been a HUGE blessing to our family and we can hard believe how much he has grown and learned over the past five years.  For the first time, we celebrated his birthday with lots of family members.  Aunt Sheri even decorated his Lighting McQueen cake (with Taylor's help of course).    

Taylor and Brandon made cupcakes!

Cake, cupcakes, strawberries and chocolate and homemade ice cream!



Happy birthday boy!



Getting ready to blow out the candles

Blowing out the candles

The presents!

Caleb got so excited about his present that he hit Charlie in the face when he raised his arms 



Kayaking at Rampart Reservoir

Lori was gracious enough to let me get away with Brandon for a day so that we could go kayaking at Rampart Reservoir with Howard and Isaac. Here are some shots from the day.

Father's Day 2011 ~ Rocky Mountain National Park

Had a great day in Rocky Mountain National Park with the family. Here are a few photos from the day.




The view from the top of Trail Ridge Road - it was snowing!

Charlie and Brandon in front of the snow along Trail Ridge.  They had record snow fall this past year and the snow along the road was super high - way over the top of the cars!





I am truly blessed! What a great Father's Day.

A long Overdue Update

A lot has happen in the past 3 months.  We celebrated Taylor’s birthday with a very special trip to the Mall of America in MN to visit the American Girl store for a birthday lunch with two of her best friends and their moms.  It was an awesome day – one Taylor and I will remember for a long time.  



9 years old

On May 2nd the movers arrived and we said a very tearful good-bye to many amazing friends a house we loved and a ton of great Iowa memories.

Our last photo of the kids in front of our house in Iowa

On May 4th our belongings arrived and we moved into our new home in Windsor. The past four weeks have been filled with unpacking , a little painting, several trips to Home Depot and Lowe's, planting a garden, have a new patio installed, softball, baseball, hockey, Vacation Bible School, visiting several churches, bike rides, lots of play time with the cousins and a trip to the mountains. We are slowing starting to settle in to a new normal here. I would be lying if I said it has been easy. We miss the familiarity of Iowa, our friends, our church and many things about our Iowa house. Taylor has struggled the most and still desperately misses her friends. Despite being involved in Softball and a couple parks and rec programs making new friends has been slow and challenging. Taylor and Brandon got to participate in and end of the school shaving cream party that was held at a church down the street from us. It was a blessing to see the kids laugh, make some new friends and get a little crazy.



Our new house!

Beyond the challenges we have found many things we already love about living here - the cool evening, amazing views, great bike trails, great shopping and restaurants, lakes in all directions and most of all living close to family!

The view from a park down the street from our house

The view from main street in Windsor