Winter...again

So, we definitely thought that we were done with the snow but we were in for a surprise. Monday night, after Tracie's family left, we had a pretty neat thunder/lightning storm. That brought rain through the night and into the morning. Once morning hit, it turned to snow. When we left for work, the snow was big and wet flakes but we didn't think it would last. While at work, it was just pouring rain with a little bit of snow in the Denver metro area. Late in the afternoon, Tracie found out that the freeway we take home had been shut down due to icy conditions. She picked Troy up at the light rail station and drove side streets home. All along the way, all we saw was rain and didn't know what the big deal was. Then we turned around a corner and lo and behold, there was snow. This is what we came home to!

After all was said and done, Castle Rock got 13 inches of snow. Can you believe it! The good news is that the weather people are saying that we will be having a fabulous weekend with tempuratures up in the 70s close to the 80s. We can't wait.

Fun-filled week

So, this past weekend, Tracie's whole family came to visit. It was a blast and we loved having company. "We" might be an overstatement though. The first day that everyone was here, Tracie found Lexie hiding out in our bathroom in the sink. What a silly cat. She started to warm up to everyone by the end of the trip. Poor Will wanted to pet her and she was just a feisty cat. Maybe next time.
While everyone was here, we went disc golfing, ate great food (courtesy of my mom), shopping, and just plain relaxed. Having to go back to work on Tuesday was hard but it made the week go by quickly.

Troy's surprise entry

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy Friday. We are looking forward to the arrival of Tracie's family, and a weekend full of food, fun, and disc golf. Tracie and I got called to teach the 5 year olds in Primary, and I am so glad that I have Tracie by my side. I am not at all intimidated to teach a large group of people, but I get a little nervous teaching kids that young. We also get to speak in Sacrament meeting next Sunday, and while Tracie is not excited to speak, at least the topic is a little better than the Apostasy, which is what she spoke on last time!!

Landscaping & Window Coverings

We had a great weekend. Troy's dad came out on Saturday to help us plan our backyard landscaping. We did not realize that it would take the whole day to plan but we think that the results will be great. If you look very carefully you can see the green paint that kind of outlines what our backyard will look like after all is said and done. You probably need to use a lot of your imagination too!

Yesterday, we finished hanging up the rest of our blinds around the house so we're no longer a fishbowl. Lexie even helped by reading the directions and playing foreman.

Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we had a wonderful weekend surprising our families. Wednesday night we decided that we would drive over to Utah for the weekend since we did not have work on Friday. It was probably one of the most spontaneous things we have done. We left Thursday after work and drove through the Rocky Mountains. I-70 is by far a lot more visually appealing as opposed to Wyomin'. We stayed in Green River, UT Thursday night and drove the rest of the way Friday morning. Troy's brother, Jer knew that we were on the way but no one else did. We surprised the rest of the family at the Lehi pool. We had a blast.
Later that night, we were able to meet up with Tracie's parents and Will and Kristin and Jason for dinner. We had a fabulous time and Tracie even won a game of Set. Saturday, we had brunch at Troy's parents' house and then it was basketball for the boys. Tracie was able to meet up with her old roommate, Jenna and hit the dress shops. Later that night, we met back up with Tracie's family and had a banquet dinner. It was very good and Troy's favorite was the sweet buns. Tracie's cousin's little girl, Caitlin, was a bit camera shy but we were able to coax her into taking a picture with us. Sunday, we slept in, hung out with Troy's parents and little bros then headed back to Denver. We drove through Wyomin' and can you say, BORING!!!!!! except for the lone highlight of driving through the famous landmark, Point of Rocks. If you don't know what it is, you may just have to drive through and find out for yourself. Have fun!!!!!!

Spring has Sprung!!!!!!

So Spring has finally sprung and we have been enjoying every minute of it. These past couple of weeks, the tempurature has been in the 60s or 70s except for yesterday. Yesterday was a little taste of April showers but nevertheless, we have been loving the weather. Hopefully snow is not in the forecast until next season! (Hey, I can have wishful thinking, right?!)

We have finally decided on a paint color. As you can tell, we were deciding on 3 colors but we think the final decision looks great. You'll just have to come and see! Lexie has been a true champ these past couple of days with the painter here. She even likes climbing the ladders!

Troy and Lexie enjoying the first spring weekend.

Busted Brackets

No pictures, since we have been inside a lot watching basketball this weekend. We have also been outside a lot enjoying the 70 degree weather. We are excited to get our yard and do yard work on days like these. We've also been working around the house to get prepared for all of our April visitors. We cleaned up a little bit, hung the rest of our blinds, and then picked a paint color for the living room (pictures to come). The paint is the last big project before the landscaping later this spring. We also realize that now that we live in the house, we have no pictures to post. At least we have the views.

March Madness

In honor of the impending NCAA tournament, I decided that I should finally post some pictures from the BYU-Utah game. It was so nice of Jer and Kenz to plan Samara's baby blessing around the game!! It was fun to see the whole family and to hang with the brothers the whole weekend.

With the time change we feel that the seasons have changed. We hit 70 yesterday and today, and it was nice to walk to the mailbox yesterday and chat with the neighbors. I think with the warmer weather we will have more opportunities to meet them.

On Sunday we had Stake Conference with a guest remarker. Elder Eyring. He made some great remarks, which is good, since that is what it said he would do on the program. He basically commented on the talks that were given earlier in the meeting and how they would change what he did in the next few hours. Good stuff. The other good speaker was a young woman (~age 16) who talked about golfing and lining yourself up for the shot and then as you swing, aiming 2 inches ahead. That was not the best description, but it was good nonetheless. Hope every enjoys the last week of winter!!!

Reasons Why We Love Our Home!!!!!!!!

Our Kitchen

Our Garage

Double Sinks

Big, Walk-in Closets

Basement

The View

We're almost settled in. We still have a few boxes here and there but that's what a basement for. The weather has been cooperating somewhat. We got some snow last week but we're supposed to be in the 50s this week. As you can tell, a good portion of our neighbor's backyard has melted. We still have snow in our backyard but it's very minimal compared to the beginning of the year. Maybe spring is right around the corner!!!

As promised. Pictures

Kitchen
Master Bedroom

Utility Room


Guest Bedroom




As you can tell, the house is in varying stages of unpacking, but for the most part we are pretty settled. Maybe by next weekend we will have all the blinds up and most of the stuff in its place (or hidden in the basement!) We are eventually going to paint the downstairs a nuetral brown color like latte or something a little lighter. Can't wait to see some of you out here!

All moved in........

... but not all unpacked, so that means a post without pictures until we get the computer set up (early this week). The move went smoothly, and the weather cooperated. So far the unpacking effort has been focused on the kitchen. Tracie has done the brunt of it, and it looks really nice. We are in agreement that the house is really nice, especially the shower and the dishwasher. We promise more pictures soon...

Happy Moving Week

So, I, Tracie admit that I have been a HUGE slacker in updating our blog. Not sure how so much time passed by but I'm making myself do it before we move!!!!!!

A couple weekends ago, Troy and I went to California. Will, Kristin, and Jason were down there so the whole family was able to be together. We had a blast and couldn't have asked for better weather. We left a bitter cold Denver (16 below) to the wonderfully sunny, at least 70 degree, California. Saturday, we got to meet up with my friend, Megan for lunch and then we, the whole family, headed down to Exposition Park and spent the rest of the day at the science museum. It was a lot of fun. Sunday, my mom's entire family came by. It was fabulous. Troy and I counted and there were 35 people there. There would've been 45 if some of my cousins' kids weren't sick. Monday, Will had an itch to go disc golfing at a park so we did that right before our flight. The weather was fantabulous. It may have even reached the high 70s. Afterwards, Troy and I flew back to cold Denver. At least we can say that last week was the first time in 9 weeks that it didn't snow. Hooray.

Last weekend, we packed pretty much the majority of our kitchen and bathroom and brought it down to the house. This weekend is our planned big move where we'll officially be out of the apartment!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Packing is slow moving and it certainly doesn't help that I absolutely hate doing it. The only motivation that I have is that we'll be out of apartment living for a looooooong time, if not forever!!!!!!!!!! Another bit of good news, I got a new job. I got laid off almost a month ago from Oakwood due to the really sucky housing market. It hurt a bit but in the long run, it was for the best. I am now working for a commercial real estate investment company in the Denver Tech Center. Definitely a better commute for me. I thought I was done with the real estate market but I guess not. Apparently, though, the commercial real estate market is doing pretty well. The company is pretty awesome. If you want to know of all the perks, you can give me a call sometime. :) Anywho, I think I've written enough and have caught up on the last 2 weeks. Next time we update the blog, we'll be in a house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Nuggets Game

One advantage of having a roommate that works with spinal cord injuries is finding out about events like these. There was a wheel chair basketball tournament at Colorado Christian University with teams from all over the country. We watched the Denver - Dallas game, and it was really entertaining. These guys are really good. There was one Nugget that was hitting a bunch of threes and had some sweet finger rolls as well. The Nuggets came up a bit short in the end, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

We also had our demo walk for the house. It looks great and we are really excited to close on it Wednesday. We are getting our fridge on Thursday and hopefully our garage door opener as well. We won't move all of our stuff down until President's Day weekend (weather permitting of course!).
We got another inch of snow yesterday, that's six straight weekends for those counting, so needless to say we are excited for the 60s and 70s of California this weekend. See some of you soon!!!!

Denver Nuggets

So, this past weekend we had the chance to go a Denver Nuggets game thanks to Tracie's work. It was the first we had been to since moving here and the seats were great. The Nuggets played against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The game was good especially since the Nuggets won.

We're coming close to closing on our house. Sorry we don't have any pictures to post. You'll just have to wait and see it in person!!! We can't believe that the day is finally almost here. Hopefully the weather will stay nice so we can actually move. This last Friday was the first Friday in 5 weeks that it hadn't snowed. And tempuratures this week may even reach the high 40s. We're making progress!!!

Only 17 more days!!!!!!

Until our house is done!!!!! Technically it is done but we have to wait 17 more days until it is officially ours!!!! We are very excited and it will be hard to not just move in right away. Our plan is to take stuff done little by little and have sometime in the middle of February our official moving day. 6 months have gone by quickly and it has been amazing to see how quick it was to build our house.Yesterday, we went and saw We Are Marshall. It was a pretty good movie and had us in tears from the beginning. We didn't realize that the movie would be so emotional from the beginning. The weather has been ridiculously cold. The past few days, we're lucky if we made into the double digits. It isn't too bad when the sun is out but when it's not, oh man, it's cold. Good thing this wasn't our first winter here.
Robyn, Tracie's old roommate, has been here officially for a week and a half. We think she's liking it here even though she's living with an old married couple!!!