wedding bells

Surprise! My father-in-law Dan is engaged! Yes, it happened the first weekend in February, Dan purposed to Bonnie on top of a cliff in Garden of the gods.

We first met Bonnie in January when she flew out here from her home state of Oregon (yes, she lives out of state, and yes they were only dating for a few months). I really like her, I think she is sweet, funny, genuine and she even watched Maya for us so Brett and I could go out on a date.

It is slightly strange that it has happened so fast but I do understand why in many ways. They are both older and are more certain of what they want, neither of them want to waste time dating someone they don't believe they could marry and the long distance relationship is hard and expensive. I am really happy for Dan, he is just glowing and I am just happy he won't be alone for the rest of his life.

Fran will not be forgotten or replaced...... no one is like her. I hope that this new transition in our family life goes well, we welcome Bonnie with open arms. I am looking forward to having a grandmother near for Maya.

The wedding date is set for April 18th in Portland, Oregon. We will be going there for the weekend.

and they meet

This weekend my good friend from Omaha, Sarah and her adorable daughter Londyn came to visit us. Londyn is just 2 weeks older than Maya and this was their first meeting!

Ok, they were too cute! When picked up from the airport Maya and Londyn were reaching across the car seats trying to hold hands. They both have blond hair, blue eyes, and are about the same size. They were already best friends before they met.


We loved spending time with them, enjoying chick-fil-a (twice), a girls night out to the movie, brownies, a walk, giggles, and just time catching up.

I really wish Sarah and I lived closer. I love sharing this part of life with her.


miss you girls already!

Laura's Visit

I just had one of my old roommates from Omaha visit me this past weekend. Laura actually lives in D.C. now and wanted to get away from the craziness that was going on this weekend. It has been a few years since we had seen each other, but you would have never known. She is so easy to talk to and get along with, it was like no time had past!

On Saturday we went up to Keystone. Laura's one request was to go to a Mountain Village, so off to Keystone we went. Once we finally found the village-esk area in Keystone it was so beautiful and just what I had pictured. It was a gorgeous day outside with not a cloud in the sky and a royal blue sky as a background to the snow crested mountains. I think we were the only people not in ski clothes, but we didn't care. Maya loved it, she was smiling, bouncing and happy the whole time! Plus she got to meet a stuffed moose.




Maya Meets the Moose!

Drive Home From Keystone

We came home to warm taco soup and a night of Guitar Hero World Tour. We actually played World Tour every night after Maya went to bed. It was really fun, and Laura was talented at everything, drums, guitar, and singing!! She enjoyed it so much, she even dreamt about it and pictured it at while singing at church.


On Sunday, we all went to church and enjoyed an afternoon of football. My brother Jordan came over too (he just moved here, so excited for that) Maya was the star of the day walking around with her little "walk along" toy, while everyone cheered for her.
(sorry Laura, had to post it..... she didn't drink a lot, she just happened to have a beer in her hands when she fell asleep on a Sunday afternoon watching football)

Cooking in the Kitchen

On Monday, I had to work, but Laura was able to go with Brett, Maya and my brother to Garden of the gods. We then met up at my favorite Mexican Restuarant Amanda's Fonda. So tasty.. and I couldn't help put get the Midori Magarita. The night was finished with an episode of 24 and of course more World Tour.

Tuesday, her last day here... :O( we went to Focus on the Family and Chick -Fil-A, two essential stops in Colorado springs.

In a squishy boat at Focus

It was so much fun to have her here! I loved having a girlfriend here all weekend She is a fantastic person all around and seeing her just reminded me of that. I know that God has such a great plan for her life and you can see it unfolding right now.

walk along

My little Maya is able to use a little push toy to help her walk. It is so cute because she is so small. She is very far from walking on her own, this is just one of the first steps toward that.

pink petals

So after visiting my friend Sarah in California I became inspired to crochet again (a college fad I once had). Sarah crocheted Maya some really cute flower clips for her hair and exclaimed how easy they were. Once we got home Brett kept encouraging me to learn how to make the crocheted flowers and suddenly one day I was inspired!

I watched a you tube video for over 3 hours, and in my frustration I finally made something that semi-resembled a flower.... ugh, not what I wanted. So I kept working at in, and modifying the flower in different ways until I had crocheted something that actually looked like a flower! I couldn't stop there though, I had to go to Hobby Lobby and buy ribbon, clips, and a hot glue gun so I could actually make the flower into a clip. So here are a few I have made. I am still make some modifications. I think I will end up giving most of them away as gifts, although Brett wants me to sell them. I think I may also make some beanies and attach flowers to them. It is fun to feel like I have a hobby again.








I also made just a small clip with a bow... these need a lot more practice.