COLORADO

We are now settled into our little home in Greeley Colorado. Jason has been here since the end of June, but I had to stay in SoCal for a couple months to finish nursing school, so I got out here the end of August. My little sister, Michelle, was such a tropper to fly out to Cali and drive with me all the way to Colorado. We pit-stopped in Utah for two weddings, and some great sister time together. She is an angel! It wasn't the easiest two months for Jason and I to be apart, but now that we are here together, I can't even remember how bad it was. We are really loving it out here and are excited for the next three years.

Here are some pics of our little house that was built in 1929, which is way bigger than our 1 bedroom apartment, so it is not fully furnished yet, but we're slowly filling each room. It has so much personality and looks even better in person, so everyone must come visit!

It is so fun being back in Colorado and being able to share all of its beauty with Jason. One of my favorite places to go is Estes Park and Rocky Mountain Nation Park, beacuse it is noce and close. Jason's already been up here several times, but it was the first place we went when I got here. It was drizzling a little bit too, which was so fun...I LOVE the rain, especially the smell of rain....yummmm! We walked around Bear Lake, and up to Nymph Lake as well. (Couldn't disappoint Dad by not getting a picture on "the log" so Jas made me get out there by myself.)

To finish moving into our house, Jason got a week off in September. The first half of the week we Went camping with my mom and pops at Maroon Bells, by Aspen. We first hiked up to Hanging Lake, which was my first time, and it was so gorgeous. My parents were real troupers especially since my dad thought it was a fairly easy hike, which he quickly realized it was not. His memory just isn't as sharp as it used to be ;) To relax and heal from the hike we then headed to Glenwood Springs hot springs, which felt great.

We camped one night with my parents and spent the day walking around Maroon Lake. This has always been one of my absolute favorite places, so it was the first place I wanted to take Jason camping. It did not disappoint. We had a perfectly blue sky, warm weather and great company. My parents left later that afternoon, and Jason and I camped one more night, then hiked to Crater Lake the next day. We got some rain over night and the next day, so the Maroon Bells were not as easy to see, but you know me...I love rain, so we still had a good time. The drive home through Aspen and Independance Pass was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever seen.

I love this state, and I can't wait to see all of its beauty once again.

Little cuties

These are Sara and Jeremy's 4 gorgeous children. We all had so much fun with them this summer. I really don't get to see them enough which makes my heart hurt, because I just love them SO much! Each one has such a unique personality, and they are so close to each other. I hope I can be half the mother my sister is, she is an incredible lady.

Family Reunion

This year we had a family reunion in California. I seriously have the best, funnest, loudest, craziest, happiest, funniest family ever. We crammed in so many fun things in just a weeks time. So I have included TONS of pictures to show everyone just how much fun we had.

On the first day we all met up at the Science Center near USC and watched the Hubble IMAX 3D, 'cause Pops works for Ball Aerospace, the company who built the telescope, so he had lots of insider information to share. Then we headed to a delicious dinner at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. This place has the best atmosphere and is a must when in SoCal.

Our next day was spent at Universal Studios. We all had on our matching family reunion shirts...aww how cute!

Day 3: DISNEYLAND!!! All day long! And it was Taylor's 5th birthday. So so SOO much fun. There is something that is just so fun about going to the magic kingdom with my entire family and 4 fun kiddies. We had a blast, and laughed our heads off. The next day we had to say goodbye to Jeremy, and then made a quick trip to the beach, which was kinda a cold and windy day, but everyone made the most of it. The highlight for me was watching my parents play in the waves!! They looked like they were 8 years old again playing in the ocean for the first time...hilarious!

So then after a fun filled time in SoCal, we headed north to Yosemite. We stayed in an amazing house and crammed in all we could up here too. We hiked the mist trail by Vernal Falls, saw Lower Yosemite falls, Bridal Veil Falls, went to Mariposa Grove, stopped at the most gorgeous overlooks of Yosemite Valley, and spent some time at Bass Lake. I love that my family enjoys the outdoors so much. We have done lots of hiking and camping together in some beautiful places, so it was fun to share the beauty of Yosemite with them.

This was seriously one of the best weeks of my life! I love my family so much...they really are my best friends. Even though we are all spread out across the country (Hawaii, Utah, Texas, Colorado, and Massachusetts) We still have such strong relationships. I can't wait till we are all together again!

HELLO

I know we have been a little MIA, but we are back, and I'm going to do some catching up on the past few months. With some extra "encouragement" from some friends and family (esp. Vanessa and Kaylinn), so I'll post these fast ;)

To get started, we had a huge event happen in May....Jason graduated Medical School!!! HOORAY!!! We had such a fun day with family and friends, and I couldn't be a more proud wife. He has worked so hard, and finally got to enjoy some celebration for four long years. Jason had 2 months off to play before he started Residency at Northern Colorado Medical Center in Greeley Colorado.

During Jason's break we took a trip up the California coast. We camped in Carpinteria, near Santa Barbara, the first night. What a beautiful area that was! We walked along the beautiful beach and really enjoyed the drive along central coast.

The second night we camped right on the beach. Near Pismo Beach there is a beach called Oceano. They let you drive on the beach and camp anywhere! It's right next to the Oceano Dunes, so lots of people take up ATVs and Dune buggies, but we just loved camping right next to the ocean. We had a campfire on the beach and a delicious dinner. It really was so great, I encourage everyone to check out this place! We did have some terrible winds to deal with, but those eventually died down and we had a lot of fun.

......stay tuned for more updates......