We're here in Ft. Collins!

We left at exactly 10am Saturday like we wanted. It was a tearful farewell as all our family came to see us off and say one last big family prayer.

{Chris is a master genius at packing}

{notice the lantern and RICHARDS sign?}

{Last photo as a fam in front of our Mesa house}

Me, my mom, lil' sis Jenny, 3 kids, and 2 dogs were in the van.
Olen drove the scion.
Chris and Ammon were in the big movin' truck.
We all followed Chris to Flagstaff and it was slow going and at this rate the kids weren't going to last. So I drove at normal speed so that I could stop at our next meeting place and the kids would have all the time they need to run around. Great plan except I had the dogs which meant my mom and sister had to wrangle the three cabin crazy kids by themselves and I walked the dogs around. It took us 9 hours to get to Albuquerque and the boys arrives close to an hour after us. Chris's mom put together a treasure box for the kids to pick out toys or movies from during the long drive. BEST FREAKING I IDEA EVER! It only caused a couple fights but it didn't take much to start those when two little girls are sitting right next to each other all day.

As we were entering the city the girls went CRAZY over the lights of Albuquerque (which I finally just spelled right all by myself for the first time!) which made me feel good cause some are mocked for being excited about little things. But for those who have entered Albuquerque at night know the coolness of coming down the hill and seeing the beautiful lights.

I had a head cold so when we met at the hotel in the Big A I told Chris I couldn't handle dogs and kids. The dogs were great it was just taking all methods of persuasion to keep the kids under control. They LOVED staying the night in the hotel, running everywhere, jumping on beds it was a party house.

The boys decided they better leave super early 5am (4 am AZ time) to get a head start. Uber smart! They got to Ft. Collins by 4:30 and all the way unloaded at 6pm. Me and my mom took our time leaving the hotel (10:30am) and stopped in at Garden of the Gods in Co. Springs and made it home at 6:30pm.


So far there have been a few casualties. A mug, a glass, a pot we bought in Mexico and Asher's crib. We're still scratching our head about the crib cause it was on of top of everything in the truck. Oh well. Looks like he's going to be sleeping in his big boy bed. Eek! And there's not a move without trying to figure out where the heck some things are. Like the power cord to my printer, or my mouse.

Awesome things about this house I didn't notice before. 2 sinks in the master bath! A sweet awesome HUGE dishwasher that gets everything clean. 3 LAZYSUSANS! What is a girl to do with 3 lazysusans!? I have my washer and dryer inside, right next to each other!! (my house in Mesa washer was inside and dryer out. No Good.) I HAVE A JET TUB and it's huge and so wonderfully relaxing!

The not so awesome, the fridge is TINY. And only one of the side shelves on the door are left allowing us to shelf 4 items there. We have a piddly shower head and with curley hair that's a bad thing. My washer is leaking and I can't get my clothes to dry because the hose thing is too cramped. (easy to figure out I hope) Waking up in the morning my room is so bright I might as well be asleep on a tramp in the backyard. For my I want it to be like I wake up in a cave. So I sleep with my blanket wrapped around my head, so now when I wake up I'm like a big sweaty mummy.

Well, this is it for now. I'll be posting pictures of rooms as I finish them. Today was Chris's first day of work and we'll be busy tonight hanging curtains and other fun house things.

Coming soon, interviews from the kids and a home tour video style.

It is done.

And we're freaked out of our MINDS!!

Day Two

We spent the day in Palmyra, New York doing all the church history and it was an amazing overcast day. We did sealings in the temple then Hill Cumorah, Joseph Smith Farm, and a stroll down downtown Palmyra. It was a VERY memorable day to say the least.



Tomorrow is the wedding we are here to photograph in Fabius, NY (Highland Park?) We're excited but SOOOOOOooooooo sore!

Niagara Falls

This is me going to touch the falls. It was pretty much amazing and one of my most favorite places I have been of all times now!

We will be here tomorrow.

I'll be here tomorrow.

Sweet Disposition

So what do you do for your LAST Saturday in Mesa? For Chris and I all we really ever did was go see movies and since we were moving somewhere with no family for babysitters we decided we better go see a double feature. Chris picked a boy movie and I picked a girl one.

{This is what I would look like if I had plastic surgery. I was trying to smile and hold the straw in my mouth.}

I picked {500} Days of Summer and it was amazing. The more I think about it the more I just need to watch it over again. The music was so amazing I ended up buying the album and listening to it all day today instead of my usual Pandora mix stations. Here's the song that I have on repeat the most. I'm such a huge alternative fan, and not just any alternative satisfies me, the kind that has me needing to just lay in bed and stare at the ceiling and listen. I love it! This isn't the official music video for the song but the one the band made is LAaaME.

Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap

So what songs get you in the reflective mood?

Engagement Story

September 12, 2002

{From Chris}

I have never been a competitive person, but give me a challenge and I will go to some pretty ridiculous lengths to win. That is why it is a quarter hour into Sunday and I am still up. This is also my excuse if any or all of the following post makes no sense.

So nagging aside I would like to talk a little about Katie, my lady. And the Day, and a question. Who knows when something like this starts. I know that some people keep track of the first kiss and first to say I love you. Me, I am more of a big picture feeling kind of kid.

I was never scared or nervous. I never really understood the movie thing of people getting cold feet or totally freaking out about the thought of getting married. Never got that. What I did get was the way she made me feel. I had several chats with my Dad, who is an expert about loving his wife. He told me that I would know that I loved a girl when I know that no matter what would follow her to the Siberia. I would have bought my ticket that night.

I can't remember when I bought the ring, I don’t remember the day, or what we talked about to inspire me to go to the shop and look at the ring. I don’t remember what I wore or what color the sky was, but I am sure it was blue. What I do remember is being happy. And as the sales dude was talking about the gem quality it was all I could do to keep myself from screaming and spinning around the room while bubbles floated from the ceiling.

I do remember having a plan. Pretty lame, now that I look back on it. It involved roses and a park and a fountain. The only bad thing was that the park, roses, and fountain was not today. I have never been a good waiter. So I went to plan B, which included some shells, a truck, and sweaty palms.

So I picked Katie up for a date, can’t remember what she was wearing but she looked awesome. My family had just gotten back from Mexico and I had brought some seashells over for Kate’s mom, that I had strategically forgotten in the truck. So I picked her up and while in the truck I remembered that I had forgotten the bowl of shells that I wanted to give.

I had a secret shell for Katie I told her that it opened and that when we found it there was an octopus in it. Not a smart thing cause unknown to me Katie had an earthly fear of cephalopods and got very nervous about opening it. So instead she just shook it and made me tell her that she would like what was inside.

I think at one point she started to put the pieces together, and when she did and finally opened the shell time slowed down. My heart slowed. She saw the ring and she made a face that she hasn’t made since.

Here we take a quick break for a memory of when I was a young boy and was on the edge of cliff about to jump. I had an uncomfortable harness girded to my loin all tied to a rope, the cliff really was only about ten feet, but it might as well been 3 trillion feet cause I was terrified. But there is a point when you just have to take a deep breathe, try not to pee your green scout pants and jump. I would like to draw attention to the first three to five seconds when you realize that there is no ground under your feet and you feel like this is end. And then you take that breath and your pants are still dry and enjoy the ride down.

You may ask yourself where this cool antidote of Chris’ childhood comes in and what does it have to do with the big question. Well I tell you it has everything to do with it. Cause the moment that she put on the ring I felt the ground fall from under me. But it was ok, cause she said yes, and I had someone to fall with. Someone to get back to my feet with. Someone to cry with, laugh with, stay up with, learn with, forget with, watch bad movies with, someone to love, and live and be with till the end. And hopefully a little longer than that.

Someone once said that love is like being temporally insane and the cure is marriage. Amen to that! Marriage has not always been what I thought it would be, but Katie has never disappointed. She is still the spontaneous girl who helps me remember what is like to be alive. She keeps me guessing but I can depend on her steadiness. I love all 7 of her laughs and her 13 different smiles, 6 is the best. So there ya go, I win.

You may be asking your self why I have divulged so much of my deepest darkest places and exposed myself ; I guess sometimes there just isn’t enough rooftops to shout from.
{10 minutes after proposing}


{60 minutes after proposing}


{Happy Birthday, Grandpa Eddie!}