The 1st Visitors!

Our first house guests, my sister and nieces, came to visit over Halloween weekend ... I was overly due for seeing some people I knew, but anxious about my first ever house guests! I found things to clean that I don't think I've ever cleaned before ...

Much to our surprise Denver, where they were flying into, had a major snowstorm. In OCTOBER who would have thought this would happen? Kristi and I searched the web about the storm and roads and finally she made a decision to just go ahead with it and come. I had a 2 hour drive to the airport and I was going to get there no matter what! Thankfully, I took Frank's car for the 4wd ... which I had to use on a major highway in Denver! My van would never have made it ( I would have walked to get there if I had to). After 4 hours (3 driving and 1 sitting in traffic due to an accident) I made it to the airport and received the hugs I so desperately needed!

Being they are from Florida, I think they were a bit cold when we got outside...but my nieces loved seeing the snow! We only got about 2 inches in my town, so they were a bit dissappointed, but they did find some to build a leafy snowman:
(Sasha and Kristopher, cousins)

As the weekend went on, the weather warmed up, not near what they are used to, but enough to enjoy being outside ...

Halloween was a mess of costumes and candy ... and a load of fun for the kids. The girls all dressed as Cowgirls and looked just gorgeous!



My boys, well, they are boys ~ I think I can call them gorgeous as well!?


I have to admit, Colorado is just gorgeous! I was so excited to show my sister all the mountains! We even went to visit Royal Gorge and flew on a Skycoaster 1300ft up over it...yes, Jakob, my sister and I flew over the Gorge!


What a thrill!! I calmly FORCED myself to do it! After having a near freak out on the bridge that goes over the Gorge, I can't believe I did it ... but glad I did!

The visit was awesome ... Koda, the dog, barked at my sister for 3 days and my niece for 4 days, but other than that, I had a blast and can't wait for them to come again!!

Join me...

at www.ourcouponhome.com ............... check out all the freebies, internet deals, internet printable coupons, store deals w/and w/out coupons etc.

All kinds of talks going on...couponing, what's for dinner, your household cleaning list, your kids, or just plain ole' chit chat about nothing at all, we got it!!!

They are currently running a new members contest! Come check it out ... see what it's about!

www.ourcouponhome.com Please use me, Kerri as the referral!!

HI HO HI HO ...

it's off to a new coupon site I go!!

www.ourcouponhome.com just opened their internet doors today!! I'm so excited about this that I wanted to share with everyone!!

We've been behind the scenes getting it all ready to debut. Kurt, Steph and Steph are the 'owners' of the site and are just wonderful! They are very outgoing and CARING!!

There are deals posted, regular chat forums, or just news to read. Learn how to coupon, get a heads up on deals at your local stores, or just come to see me!!

I'm there as IRREK (that is Kerri backwards in case you didn't notice) ... hope to see you there!!

www.ourcouponhome.com

Happy 4th birthday to my baby!

Official Birthday 9/20/05

1st Birthday 9/20/06

2nd Birthday 9/20/07

3rd Birthday 9/20/08

4th Birthday 9/20/09

My little Princess is growing so fast...soon she'll not want me around...but I know, later, she'll be my best friend.

9/11 ~~ 8 years ...

Amazing how fast time passes! 8 years ... just amazing.

I'm just going to link you to what I blogged about last year ... click here

Do you have a story? Memories? Link me....or share here.

Introducing ...

Kodiak (AKA Koda) ...
5 mths old
40 lbs



So, yeah, we got a dog. Honestly we just went to LOOK at the puppies. Never intended on bringing one home even though we called the landlord just to ask, just in case.

I'm such a sucker for animals!! Koda is so far a wonderful dog! He is outside during the days and in the garage sleeping at night. He loves the kids, especially Jake, and hasn't growled or snapped at them...in fact, I can't even say he has jumped on them. He seems content on laying outside chewing a chew bone or running up and down the yard w/Juliana or Kris, or going for walks with Jake. I hope he keeps it up! What a beautiful BIG dog!

A total new beginning for the boys ...

So, here we are, just about 4 weeks into our new lives and we are adjusting quite well. The kids are keeping me really busy, physically and mentally, that I have no time to worry or think of things that bring me down. I just wish I could say the same for my mom & dad and my mother-in-law and father-in-law.

(hanging in our new home)

The boys started school 2 weeks ago. In our little town, there is only 1 elementary school, 3 teachers per grade, so even though the school is larger than where they went before (Falling Spring), we didn't have a choice. We did attend the Open House and all 4 of us were a bit lost, not only in the school, but in the 'faces' as well. Really sad that I didn't see my friends I grew up w/their kids, or the neighbors of my in-laws that my kids grew up with. So, we sat alone, but together, that works just fine for now.

The first day of school was only 3 hours. The entire morning I paced and worried about them. I worried about them making friends or hating their teachers or not being able to find their bus (They don't number the buses here! You go by the driver!). Well, good news, they found their bus, they LOVE their teachers, and have made numerous friends. Kids are resilient aren't they!? Of course I have some first day of school pictures!







A total new beginning ... my boys did GREAT!

GREEN!

When we came out to visit in April, it was so brown! I remember living in Wyoming and missing the East Coast and all the green ... I didn't want that again, it was so ugly, so depressing!

Driving into our new (little!) town I was pleasantly surprised that it was GREEN!

Ahhh man, Jake, you stink!

The drive went better than I thought. At the last minute my brother-in-law, Joe, decided to come see the area (possible job opportunity for him, which, by the way, he is moving here! Yeah!) and drove out Frank's car for us. The car would have gone freight, but this saved the company some money AND added extra room for us, thankfully!

The drive was really uneventful...the first day was tough, I was so worried about the cats (Petey meowed for hours and wouldn't relax even though he was sedated), upset about leaving, and well, just worried in general. We made it through that day and the cats did awesome in the hotel room, so I was able to finally relax.

(Just had to share this picture ... never would I own WHITE sheets and comforter w/a black cat. LOL)


Every day was about the same, we drove for hours, stopped and peed, drove for hours, stopped at a hotel ... ate. The 10 year old kept his daddy awake, by stinking up the van and Ana slept 1 x the entire 4 days! Kris was with his Uncle in the other car and from what I understand, slept a lot!

(Only time Ana slept ... only time Kris was in our van w/us)


The 3rd day, we decided to stop at my sister-in-laws, Maria, to see her and the family. We only had to drive 3 hours that day, which was a nice break. Maria was a great hostess! I love her Mexican cooking!!! The cousins got along great and the cats liked hiding in strange places ...













The last day of driving was filled with excitement! We were finally going to see our new home! The drive started out like all the rest of the days ... including Jake passing gas. It got so bad that I finally had to step in ... "Ahhh man, Jake, you stink! Knock it off right now or you're grounded!" Jake swore up and down it wasn't him! We kept blaming him ...... then it hit me. CATS.

Ever try cleaning out a dog crate with a wad of poop in the blanket while 2 cats try to climb out along side a highway?