Let's eat...

In the last couple of weeks we've started Aricin on food. It's been pretty entertaining to watch his expression after the first bite - it's got to be weird having no idea what someone's going to put into your mouth. Jeremiah loves to come in and lick the remnants of Aricin's dinner from his bib- kind of gross i know. And yes he did lick our poor child's face when i wasn't looking. Aricin still enjoys chewing on his socks, toes, and of course his rubber ducky during bath time. He also loves his Jumperoo which usually puts him to sleep. We call him our narcolyptic jumper. We managed to make it to 2 out of the last 3 Rockies games- they were great - Aricin wanted to wear his Dodger gear and we didn't stop him- he still has high hopes for his Dodgers this year. Last week he turned 6 months old and he's already crawling- only reverse though - he hasn't figured out how to switch gears and actually go forward - we're working on this.

Aaron is still working on the house and it's looking better and better - this week he's working on all of the lighting and electrical - he's quite the handy man. I'm still trying to unpack and make the house feel as homey as i can. The weather is getting cooler - the mountains around us are now covered in snow and briskness is actually quite nice. It's kind of fun to have seasons - I say this now of course before the first major snow. We're enjoying the Rec centers of Highlands Ranch and try to take the baby for a swim at least once a week. Tomorrow we are excited to hit a Colorado Avalanche Hockey Game - it will be my first. And next week we're going to have some visitors - Aaron's good friend Jon Parker is flying out to meet with Admin at Valor and we're hoping he'll get hired on. Also, my mom flies out in about 10 days - we can't wait. Well I best be going - i've got a screamer calling for me.

Life in Colorado

Welp it's official... we're Coloradans- yesterday we picked up our new License plate and had our drivers Licenses switched. The house finally closed on September 13 and we moved in on September 21st. We've been in the house for about two weeks now and are far from feeling totally moved in. Aaron's been working hard. He ripped out the subfloor in the living room giving us a temporary clear view of the basement below. We've taken down a wall and oh soo many other things. And now all of the rooms have new paint and about half of the house has new floors. The kitchen has been gutted and the bathrooms are next on the list. Needless to say it's good to be home but it still sort of feels like we're camping in alot of ways. Aaron's been busy at school creating the curriculum for a class called "the good life" in the bible department exploring philosophy, ethics, and christian worldview. This has been fun for him and exhausting all things considered. Aaron has also started coaching a club Waterpolo team based in Denver- this has been a fun release for him on Monday nights. As for Nay, baby has kept her busy as she tries to unpack boxes here and there and also keep Aricin entertained. Living in Highlands Ranch there are four local rec centers all residents can go to- each rec center has a gym, indoor pool, and other features- one has indoor and outdoor tennis courts, another has a batting cage, it's pretty sweet. Nay brought Aricin to the indoor kids pool this week and he loved it- we might have a little polo player on our hands. Nay has also met a few awesome gals that she has started to become good friends with. And we did manage to make it to a couple of Rockies games- both were fun- not quite a dodger game but we'll call it a close second.

We are definitely feeling more adjusted- but not completely acclimated. We have our moments when we miss sand in toes and California. Aricin is getting bigger and bigger- he's now eatting baby food and loves our dog Jeremiah who sleeps next to Aricin's crib every night. So far we've been blessed with a great Indian Summer- We've nervous or should i say straight scared for the winter and the snows that we will soon see. We miss like crazy all of our friends and family and hope that people start to visit us soon.

Aricin's First Summer

We had a very busy summer full of fun times with friends and family. It was a huge blessing to be able to live with and spend time with my family before our big move to Colorado. Aricin has become quite the traveler having gone on his first plane flight to Denver and having logged several long car trips- he's a trooper. We took a couple trips to San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, went up to the Sequoias with friends, drove through Yosemite, and spent almost a week in Mammoth - all before traveling the 18-plus hours to Colorado! Our little guy is growing so fast. He is now starting to chuckle which is great and growing teeth which is not so fun.

Our drive out to Colorado wasn't as bad as we anticipated with a dog and a baby. They both actually slept most of the trip. We stopped in Mesa, CO for a cousin's wedding before heading into Highlands Ranch. I still can't believe we're here! We are currently in escrow on a home which should close in the next week. It was built in 1997 but is a bit of a fixer upper- the home is bank owned and had gone into foreclosure- the previous owners had lots of pets and left them when they vacated the house. It will be our project and we will be sure to get some before and after pics up on here soon. Until the house is livable we're living with Aaron's cousin, Dawn and her husband and two kids- they also just moved out to Highlands Ranch this month from Ventura. Dawn has become a dear friend of mine and we have already shared many heart to heart talks. Aaron has started preparing for work at Valor- the high school is pretty unreal- it's too bad any of our kids won't be able to afford to go there. Aaron can't even afford to eat lunch in the gourmet cafeteria that serves Grilled Mahi Mahi regularly. We attended a staff/faculty family night at the school and met several young couples we're excited to hang out with soon. Aaron attended a staff retreat in Colorado Springs for a few days and was able to get to know a lot of cool guys he's looking forward to working with at the school. Aaron has also signed on to start helping with a Club Waterpolo team that's based out of Denver- he's super excited about this.

While we definitely have our moments of "we're not in California anymore" I think it's fair to say that we both feel like this is where God wants us to be right now. Nearly every afternoon a small thunderstorm will roll in and bring warm rain to cool things off which is kind of cool. Before we got here we had read that Highland's Ranch was developed by the same people that developed Mission Viejo, CA. Being here now i see the many similarities- it really feels kind of like south Orange County, minus the ocean of course. I can say that now since we haven't had any snow- i might change my mind later. We are definitely in the land of Teva's, REI stores, and 4-wheel drive cars. Oh yeah and the home of Crocs shoes. It seems like everyone out here loves to ski, climb, bike, kayak, and camp. Aaron is hoping that living out here will break me of my fear of the outdoors. I tried to go for a run the other day and despite the air being amazingly fresh I forgot that we are over a mile high and came back panting soon after I left. This is something I ,really wants to conquer-being able to run at altitude. Well, the baby's cry tells me that it's time to end this- we will update you all again soon, thanks for reading!

A Dr. Seuss Father's Day

We can't believe our baby is already 10 weeks old. We have been enjoying life in Visalia with Family and old friends. We are happy to say that we are getting more sleep at night which is making parenthood much more fun. Our little guy does still have his fussy moments and fights it when it's time to go to bed. He is getting more and more expressive and is showing his strong willed personality- looks like he's going to be stubborn like his mom and dad- we're in for some trouble.

It's been a busy past month, with Aaron finishing school, a quick trip to Colorado, and getting settled in Visalia. Aaron is interning at Neighborhood Church and helping to coach El Diamonte's summer water polo team. There have been graduation, birthday, and father's day parties. The summer heat has arrived, and Aricin has enjoyed his first dips in the pool, and late-night walks in the summer heat - he loves being outside!