Garden of the Gods

We’ve been house hunting for several days - Scott gets about a week off work to do it - and today was our last day before he has to go back to work. This morning we finally came to an agreement with the seller on a house we had put an offer on. This is the third house we have written on - the others didn’t work out for different reasons - but we signed off this morning and are now moving ahead with inspections and other things. Hopefully it all works out.
In the afternoon we actually found ourselves with a little bit of free time, so we decided to head up to Garden of the Gods, a park with beautiful rock formations in Colorado Springs. Scott and I had both been there before, but it was fun to go back.

Here's Matthew posing by the bison (or cow as he called it) at the visitors center.

It was about 3:30 when we got there, but it seemed like the sun was already going down. In Utah the sun seems to come up late because of the mountains. In Colorado, the sun seems to set early because of the mountains. So it was starting to look dusky, and it was also very cold. We got our first snow (not Colorado’s first snow of the season, but ours, since we’ve only been here a week) a few days ago and Matthew is very excited about it. He is very eager to make and throw snowballs, but we always seem to be without his gloves when he wants to do it.

Matthew was very excited to be there. Anna was just feeling a little cold.

Scott carried her most of the time.

So impressive!

I finally got some appropriate footwear for Colorado yesterday. I came from Okinawa with a pair of flip flops and a pair of Keen mary janes that you wear without socks. When the snow came a few days ago and I only had shoes with which you wear no socks, I knew I couldn’t put it off any more. I had to buy different shoes. I got these boots and another pair...and my feet are thanking me.

We saw some deer, and Matthew wanted to know where the animals lived, and if they lived in between the rocks. He wanted to make sure before he ventured in there.

On the way back to the car, Anna wanted to walk just like Matthew.

As we were heading back Matthew told me he was so cold he was almost going to die. I know how you feel, buddy. We bought a few more warm clothes for him (and Anna) today. :) Of course, after that he did stop to walk in the snow on the side of the road and take a few scenic detours to find snowballs. I guess he wasn’t going to die immediately. I think he's going to like it here.

A Little Christmas

We are living in the TLF (temporary living facility) on base until we get a house. The temporary lodging here at Peterson is actually pretty nice. We have two bedrooms a living area and a kitchen. The place looks pretty new and there is a washer and dryer IN our room. It is so great!! I've never stayed in a TLF this nice before. So that is good, since we will probably be here until Christmas. I was feeling a little sad about being in here during Christmastime (although we are going to Oregon for actual Christmas!) so today we got a few things to help make our living area feel a little more festive. We got a tiny tree (I hope it's not making Scott go dead inside to buy another fake tree) and a few stockings. We also have some little advent calendars ready for the kids and some stuff to make a gingerbread house and Christmas sugar cookies. So that will be fun and make things here a little more festive. We listened to some Christmas music off my computer to complete the mood. Matthew was singing Feliz Navidad over and over as he went to bed tonight. It made me smile.

The tree after we decorated it. This one has the kind of branches that you can move around a bit and it looks like I might need to readjust a few of them. :) I didn't tell the kids to point to the tree, they just like to do that.

Matthew pointed out that our tree needs a star. We will have to find a tiny star ornament to go on top.

More pointing. I read the kids a Christmas themed library book for bedtime and Anna got all excited when they got to the part about hanging the stockings. "WE hung the stockings today!" It made me happy. We got an extra stocking for little baby boy Guptill who won't be here until March or April, but we're excited for him to join our family!

Road Trip Day 3

The last day of our road trip we drove from Provo, Utah to Colorado Springs. The drive went pretty well. There was snow on the side of the road along the way but none on the road, so that was good. Here we are driving through Spanish Fork canyon. As soon as we got into the canyon (15 minutes after we left), Matthew announced that he had to go to the bathroom. There is not much up there, so it was a little tricky finding a place for him to go. Luckily that was our only inconvenient bathroom stop. Here are some more pictures from the trip. Sorry, there are a lot of them.

Along highway 6 in Utah. I liked these rock formations 'cause they reminded me of Radiator Springs in Cars.

And here are a few more Radiator Springs pictures.

Our first glimpse of the Rockies as we drove toward Colorado.
They aren't that exciting from far away, are they?

Entering Colorado! The kids were excited, but that wore off when they realized we still had A LOT of driving to do.

Along the Colorado River

Big red mountains.

We started to see more and more snow as we got higher in the Rockies.

Some ski resorts near Vail. People were up there skiing and snowboarding.
We saw a lot them driving back down into Denver in the afternoon.

Red rocks and snow. Pretty.

Passing over Vail Summit - 10,603 ft

I wanted to take a picture as we crossed the continental divide, but the sign crept up on me. You cross it while going through this tunnel. Very exciting. Now we're on the east side of the Rockies!

More scenery

Driving out of the mountains into Denver. Sadly, you can hardly see Denver in this picture 'cause it was so hazy.

Turning off to Colorado Springs. It seemed to take no time at all to get to Colorado Springs from the south end of Denver.

The drive between Denver and Colorado Springs.

And our first glimpse of the greater Colorado Springs area. I was glad we were able to get there before the sun went down. By the time we got to our room on base, it was dark, but at least we got to see a little of our new town in the daylight (WE'RE THERE!!). And now, the members of our little excursion:

Anna, who finally fell asleep at the end.

Matthew who was still thought parts of the Dora video were funny after watching it for hours. Yea for the portable DVD player!

Me (and Anna in the background). I was the designated nose wiper, food distributor and entertainment coordinator. And I did it all without getting car sick. Success!

And Scott, who did all the driving on this trip. I think he liked breaking in his new car. We were happy to make it to Colorado Springs safely. Now we can take a break from traveling...at least until Christmas. :)

Welcome Christmastime

The shopping center near Cody and Alycia's house was having a lighting ceremony the night we were there, so we walked over. Well, some of us did. Anna had fallen asleep in the car, and since we've been having A LOT of trouble getting the kids to sleep while we've been traveling, I didn't want to wake her. So, Scott and Matthew walked over to check out the festivities with Cody, Alycia and Olivia. Matthew was super excited!

Here he is, pointing the way and holding his special flashlight that Alycia let him play with. He was looking for Santa with his flashlight in all the bushes.

He has to sit on the vehicles! I think this was in a special toy shop nearby.

Alycia and Cody stood in line with Olivia while Matthew ran around a little (thank you guys!!) and finally they got to see Santa. That's little Olivia on the left. :) Matthew told Santa he wanted a machine that makes shapes and is as big as a house. He's been telling us he wants that for a while now. Santa was just as confused as we were.

He did get his candy cane afterward, so that was exciting. He wasted no time eating that candy cane.

As they were leaving they saw an ice sculpture being finished. Matthew wanted to run up and touch it. Very exciting. Matthew was glad he got to see Santa and put in his Christmas requests early. Good luck with that shape machine, Santa!