Settling In just fine!!

Well it's been 4 months since we made the big move to Colorado, and we are all settling in just fine!!
The summer was absolutely gorgeous...even though apparently is was record heat for Denver, it was nothing for us being from the Valley of the sun :)

Our road trip here was fabulous and the girls were awesome!!! We stayed one night on the road and New Mexico!!

We moved to a town north of Denver called Broomfield, it's been a wonderful place we've called home for the past few months. It's not far from the airport or downtown, close to the mountains for skiing and what we love the most is how open it is. It's not a real busy place and you kind of feel like your in the county but you still have a lot of amenities real close by.

We already know all of our neighbors and have daily conversations with them, we never knew any of our neighbors in Phoenix, which was sad.

We had our first little snow fall or dusting as one here would say....but to us it was real snow and it covered our backyard. It was the first time the girls have seen and touched snow and they loved every minute of it.
Ashlee couldn't stop talking about wanting to make a snow angel, because thats what Caleui did. Reagan on the other hand couldn't get that snow in her mouth fast enough, crazy kid!!



The great thing is next week it will be in the 60's and you can bet we will be outside playing!!

Ashlee is in Pre K and absolute loves it!! She attends Cornerstone Christian Academy which is a short 5 minute drive from our house.

Her teacher is always telling us what a wonderful girl she is and how well she listens and participates in class. We are so proud of her!!!

She loves to dress up and twirl around the house...she takes a ballet class once a week at a local dance academy and just loves every minute of it

She turned 4 in July and decided she wanted to get her ears peirced, so we took her to do just that.
She hated every minute of it.....screamed, cried, you name it she did it!! Wow did I feel like mom of the year at that very moment!

Now Reagan.....what can I say!!! She's still stubborn, determined, and crazy as ever!!! She's her own little person with her own little personality...she likes her own space as long as I'm in it :0 I can't get 5 feet from her without her freaking out!! But on the other hand she is the most loving cuddly little girl ever, she will sit on my lap all day if she could.

She talks up a storm and repeats everything you say. She can even hold a little conversation with you!! She is obsessed with strollers and car seats, She will spend all day getting in and out of them trying to buckle herself in. Weird I know, but when I need to get stuff done it really helps.

I take Ray to a mommy and me gymnastics class, and she loves it so much, she is so well behaved in that class, which is shocking because she's not into anything with structure....likes to do things on her terms

We have experienced our first change of seasons, which is beautiful but has a lot of work to go along with that. My hubby spends a lot of time raking and bagging leaves just for the next tree to fall

Well that's about it in a nutshell, we're all doing well and loving Colorado very much!!!

Goodbye Arizona

The time has come where our family must say goodbye to Arizona. For the past 7 years we have called this wonderful place home.
  We bought our first home here, had both of our babies here and have met some of the most amazing friends that we will truly miss.
 About 2 years ago my hubby says to me, if Denver ever becomes a base we will move there!! All I could say was, yeah right!!! I'm not going anywhere and that will never happen.
 About a  year and a half ago, Southwest Airlines announced Denver as our newest base, and yes I started to get a little worried.
 I promised I would go check it out and keep an open mind.
 We visited  about a year ago and my mind was not so open and begged to give Phoenix another year. The hubby agreed and the wife was happy :)
Well that year has come and gone and I joined the "let's move to Denver wagon"
It truly is the best decision for our family and especially for my husband who works 140 + trips a months so that I can stay at home with the girls.
 Phoenix is one of the most senior bases so we just can't get a break here as far as work goes. Denver will be much nicer to us in that way.
 After a few visits we finally found a place to call home. We will be renting for a while just to make sure we like it.
 This will be a HUGE change for me, I'm not much of a cold weather person but I'm trusting the people who tell me you can ski in the am and golf in the pm...I think a friend quoted these exact words "ski to tee" not that I care to golf but that it seems to be a bearable winter :)
We have lots of family there, which will be nice and of course my parents sold their house and will be joining  us as well.
This is the perfect time to make a move like this because my girls aren't old enough to understand, and best of all they haven't started school.
 Ashlee is so excited to move to Denber as she calls it :) and since she's completely obsessed with wearing long sleeved shirts, this will be right up her ally.
I will truly miss all of you that have been such a big part of our lives..you know who you are :) I hope this is not goodbye but just an "until we meet again"
Our home will always be open for anyone who needs to beat the Phoenix heat or anyone who wants to hit the ski slopes.
Again thank you for all of the wonderful friendships I have made in the last 7 years, I can't even tell you how hard this move is emotionally.
So wish us luck on our new journey to Denver and once again our door will always be open to anyone who wants to visit

Yummy and kid friendly recipe

As much as I try to get my kids to eat their veggies....they just don't!! So I'm constinatly trying to hide them in their food somehow....
Just thought I'd share this recipe that I found and yes my kiddo's ate zucchini and didn't even know it!!

Zuchinni and Beef Pizza Casserole

4 cups unpeeled shredded zucchini
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ cup Parmesan cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and
chopped
---------------------------------------------------------------                                                              Place zucchini in strainer; sprinkle with salt and
let drain for 10 minutes. Squeeze out moisture.
Combine zucchini with eggs, Parmesan and
half of mozzarella. Press into a greased baking
dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Brown ground beef with onions and garlic; drain
and season with salt and pepper. Add tomato
sauce and Italian seasoning; then spoon over
zucchini mixture. Top with remaining
mozzarella and sprinkle with bell pepper.
Return to oven and bake for another 20
minutes.
-----------------------------------------------------------

wowza's she's one and beyond

Oh my how time does fly...my little princess is 14 months now!!!

She walks, talks, laughs, plays games, says no, mine, bye bye, dog, all done, back pack, sister, and yes sleeps thru the night.....Only took her a year but she is doing it!!!
She is such a smart little girl and we give the credit all to her big sister Ashlee who she learns everything from...good and not so good :)

Reagan started walking just after 10 months and has been non stop since then.

Several months ago she experienced Hawaii for the first time and as much as I would love to say it was an awesome trip...well it wasn't :(

 

Just imagine a newly walking 10 month old on an extravigant vacation like that and need I say no more!!
Just a lot of work on our part especially starting with the 6.5 hour flight there!! Thank god for breastfeeding...I think she did it the entire way there which made for a much more peaceful flight!!

Our little Ash was an angel on that trip and had a blast!!! Not a fan of the ocean but loved her days by the pool!!

Ash is in pre school 2 times a week and doing well!! I always get nothing but good things back from the teacher.

 She did 8 weeks of Soccer and wasn't too interested but is absolutely in love with her new dance class. She takes ballet once a week and loves every minute of it!! It's so her if you know what I mean...this is a girl who has to dress up in different dresses all day long.
 She also takes swimming lessons once a week and isn't too thrilled with it, but I told her until she can swim on her own with no floatation devises she has to be in lessons. So I guess it's up to her how bad she wants to be done with swimming lessons

I've been working a tad bit more...not much but enough to call it a nice break from reality :) Jake and I are even lucky enough to get to fly together sometimes.

I also became a "minivan" driver...I took the plunge and we bought a 2011 fully loaded volkswagon routon. I'm in love with it and feel woman enough to drive it!! It's the most convineint thing in my life at the moment.
My hubby became the proud owner of a big "man" truck....and I will leave it at that!! He's a happy guy and thats all that matters.





Life is good and only gets better...my kids are growing way too fast and it makes me happy and sad all at the same time. We are truly blessed with two amazing little girls who make our life complete.