Bella's sweet texas friends

Elise & Bella at the Crawfish boil

Big hugs for Dayana

two little princesses... Sonia & Bella

I don't think Aidan wanted to say goodbye :(

two energetic blondies... benjamin & bella

We miss you all very much and Bella would love to have her friends visit ANYTIME!

texas kids

My technically talented husband just gave me access to all our photos on an external hardrive here on our friend's computer, so I am going to back up and post some photos from earlier this month before we left Texas. Get ready... I will be putting tons of pictures in the next few posts to catch up with everything we've been doing! I know the grandparents will appreciate it, sorry if it bores the rest of you :)

Violet Grace looking especially sweet lounging on the couch...

taken (May 10th, few days before we left Texas)

why is mom & dad's bed one of the

most fun places for kids to be?

here are all 3 letting mom take photos of

smiley grins in between packing for CO...

we love to pose with our new giant CareBear given to us by the Thompson's!

love those baby cheeks... taken May 12th at the Crawfish boil

somebody is 'fat & happy'... taken on Mother's Day 07

first colorado snapshots

Ladybug Violet

Violet get lots of love when all the kids are around

At the park near baby K's house while Cole and Luke were visiting from TX

Violet loves it when you chat on her level

Kate is enjoying her new baby doll Violet

Kate is enjoying her new baby doll Violet

some tidbits...

Okay, I cannot wait to figure out how to upload my pictures so I can post them! We have some fun photos of the wee ones to share :)
For now I will just share what's been going on since moving to Colorado...

We are finally getting settled into our new 'summer home' as we call it. The kids each have their own room- woohoo! Okay, Violet is actually just in our closet but it's big enough to be consisered a 'room'. They absolutely love the basement which is full of toys, a medium size basketball goal and even a blow-up jumping castle. Very fun! We are so blessed to have such a kid-friendly house to live in. Thanks Chambers!

There is a nice park nearby we can walk to and a big park 3 minutes away in the car... we met our first friends at the big park last Saturday. Bella met a little 3 yr. old girl, Cassie, and Nate & I got to know her parents as well. We exchanged phone numbers to get the girls together to play again.

We've had some family come visit too. Baby K came Saturday to play with us and when she first saw Landry she gave him a sweet hug which he returned :) Then my aunt & uncle's family from Ft. Collins came over on Sunday and met baby Violet for the first time. They even watched all 3 kids for us while I drove Nate to catch his shuttle to the airport that evening.

Nate had to go back to Austin to finish his last week at school... he will return this Sunday.

Monday we went to see my younger sister and the boys who were staying at baby K's house while they visited Colorado for a week. I will share some cute photos we took as soon as I am able! B & L loved played with their cousins and baby V enjoyed all the action while reclining in a high chair during dinnertime.

We have made one trip to the grocery store (mourning the loss of HEB) and two trips to the library (which is very nice, and we got a card with our temporary address! Yipee!), and one trip to the Walmart Supercenter (always tough on the bank), 4 trips to various parks, and one trip to the local post office.

Oh yea, and it snowed today right before the tots went to bed! May 23rd- go figure? B&L were so thrilled to see snow, jumping up and down on the balcony watching the flakes fall.

God's mercy is evident

It's so incredible to be here... I'm not sure when it will stop feeling like a vacation? Our trip here was amazing- God definitely had His hand on us. We left Austin on Wednesday and drove to Dallas to spend time with Nate's family before heading to Colorado late Thursday morning. As soon as I get it figured out on this computer I will post photos. Let me back up a little and share how God spared us all in a horrific car accident on Monday night. After a farewell dinner with my parents & Uncle Wally at a nearby restaurant we loaded up the kids to go home in my parents Dodge van (because Nate was in the process of installing a different stereo in our station wagon at home). So we pull out with my parents trailing behind us in their vehicles. In less than 1 minute from leaving the restaurant we were hit from behind at an angle as we were making a right turn. The driver who hit us was going really fast, changing lanes quickly and did not even have time to brake. I never saw it coming as I was riding (unbuckled!)behind Nate's driver seat in a captain chair next to Violet buckled in her car seat. Bella and Landry were both in the back bench seat buckled in their car seats. The point of impact was the side near the right rear bumper where Bella was sitting. All I remember is tumbling around in the car and watching the kids flop around in their car seats and I felt totally helpless and in complete shock at the same time. It felt like a dream or rather a nightmare. We finally landed on all four wheels by God's grace after sliding and rolling over. Even typing this it's hard to believe it really did happen. Anyhow, we checked all the kids and found Bella was the only one hurt due to her window shattering. She was crying and the side of her head was bleeding. Once she got checked out at the emergency room, we discovered it was a minor puncture wound on her scalp right above her ear. What a miracle! And I just had a few bumps and bruises but nothing serious, which doesn't make sense without being buckled?! Another miracle! We are all incredibly thankful to be alive realizing how close we came to losing so much. I don't think we will ever be the same.

"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me."
Psalm 57:1-2

here we are...

We made it! We are finally here in Castle Rock, Colorado. We arrived at 4am this morning and Nate and I managed to get a little sleep before the kids woke up for the day around 8am. There is much to tell about our trip, but I am going to get some sleep first (while the house is quiet!)and post an actual update tomorrow... just wanted to get the word out. We really appreciate everyone's prayers for our travelling. We felt God's protection and mercy on us the whole way.

more coming soon...

Landry's summer buzz

this is why I kept putting off cutting his hair...
even with paci and bear to comfort him, he still put up a good fight

what torture!

sweet baby fine hair...

whew, almost done!

post template

Easter snapshots

Lunch and birthday dessert at Nanna & Poppa's

Bella declining a "photo op" in her Easter dress

Chilly but fun egg hunt. Here's Bella finding her first egg!

the kids with their loot... Violet even got to be a part of this moment :)

sweet moment with Aunt Becky

Another camping adventure

I am finally posting pictures from our 2nd camping adventure in Kerville with our New Parents Sunday School class...
(btw: you can click on any photo to enlarge it)

Within an hour of exploring our new campsite area,
Landry found this tree to climb all by himself! You can' treally tell in the picture,
but he is about 4 feet off the ground.

Our first evening we were surprised by a huge thunderstorm with a tornado warning to boot! The kids found something fun to do inside our mini-cabin tossing the balls back & forth on the top bunk beds.

We survived the storm and the next day was dry but very windy.
So we gathered the troops for a hike.
It took us about an hour just to get every baby and tot ready to go...

Camping sure looks different with little ones in tow.

the girls all aboard for a train ride on the log!