Our new condo

This past June, we moved into the condo that we had been renting out.....at first, I totally resented it. I loved our new, big, beautiful house that we lived in when we first moved here to Fort Collins. My husband thought it would be a great idea to have "financial freedom", so we sold our house and now, we have a very low cost of living, so we are able to put alot away for our future. I told Mike that if we are going to move into the condo, then we were going to have to basically gut the place and make it our own. We have put down 5 inch hickory floors in the kitchen/eating area, new carpet, painted, new light fixtures, and we still have a TON of work left to do. I haven't even touched our bedroom or the theater room. As soon as I get Bristyns room clean, I will post pictures of her room. We haven't done anything to the bathrooms either.....I am really liking the condo now, it is becoming our piece of heaven on earth......

Decorating

Kitchen.....boring

Our room

Brentons room

Living room

Living room, ignore the cables from the tv!!!

Patio

Our eating area

Britnee is leaving :(

For a sweet surprise, Mike flew Britnee to visit us for the last two weeks....I absolutely loved it. It is very hard having your child be so far away for college. It is amazing to see how much she has grown up since she left for college, I miss her so much. It was great having her here. She is leaving today to go back to Eastern Washington University, I am very sad about that. We haven't had all of our children together at the same time in over two years. (or else I would post a picture of the entire family!!!) Britnee loves being at college and being a part of her sororiety, she is such a social person with alot of friends. I just wish that she was closer to me so we can hang out more. She won't be back at Christmas this year either, she decided that it was more important to be with my mom in Boston, we couldn't agree more. She always makes good decisions and cares for other people and how they feel. I guess that I can say that we raised a great girl.....WE WILL MISS YOU BRITNEE.....

Our Brad

My heart aches for our Bradley....Brad is in boot camp right now and he absolutely loves it. It has been an answer to our prayers. We have been struggling for years to help Brad choose the right path in his life, and finally, I think that he realizes what he needs to do to make his life what it needs to be. He is an awesome kid. He is an amazing runner, which he has been doing alot in camp. Running is his life, we love to watch him run, it is beautiful, and it doesn't seem to be a struggle for him to run. We get to visit him tomorrow and I can hardly wait, we haven't seen him for a month. I can not wait to give him a huge hug and kiss.....I miss him...

HAPPY 40TH SURPRISE PARTY

Have I mentioned that I have the best husband in the world???? He always does the sweetest, most romantic things for me and I love him for that. He tries to make all of my birthdays, anniversaries and any holiday special. He truly thinks of creative and fun things to do. For my 40th birthday, he surprised me with a party. I seriously had no idea that he was planning this for me, of course, he did have some help from my sister, Liz. We call her Martha Stewart because she is so creative. I didn't realize how many friends that I have made here in Fort Collins in the 2 years that we have been here. I have wonderful people in my ward, neighborhood and at my work. I was very happy with my party, it was beautiful and the food was so good. Mike just always is so kind and thoughtful, he truly is the best!!!!!

First Day of 6th Grade

I absolutely hate the first day of school. I love my kids being home with me during the summer, I love being with them, they really make me laugh. The older I get, the more I just want to be with them. Brenton is our "Baby Boy". Some of my friends think that it is horrible that I still call him that, but, I can't help myself. I just want him to be my baby forever. Here in Fort Collins, the 6th graders still go to grade school, so this year, he is the big kid and he loves it.

Cross Country

This year, our Bristyn decided that she wanted to run cross country for the high school team, and she LOVES it. She has had 2 races now and she is doing awesome, her time went down 1 minute from her first race to her second race. Our family loves cross country races!!! I think it is such a "high" to watch these races, it almost makes me want to run, but not really!!!!!!

Britnee and Bristyn at the Cherry Creek Invitational. Looks like sisterly love!!!!

Camping at Bellaire Lake

For Labor Day weekend this year, we went camping to Bellaire Lake with some of our friends in our ward, the Valdez family and the Silk family. The weather was beautiful, and the area was breathe taking. I am not the best camper in the world, but this time was a lot of fun. I love smores, I love watching Mike teach Brenton how to fish and I love eating the fish. I usually complain about how cold I am at night, but I was a trooper and it wasn't that bad.

Britnee

Truthfully, I have to say that Britnee is my fav. child not Bristyn even though she likes to think so. I am so proud of Britnee and what she is doing at school. she is so beautiful, unlike Bristyn. I cant believe i was blessed with having her in my life.