Jeffrey had an accident at church and was brought to us by the nursery teacher to change his diaper. He had already leaked through to his pants making it necessary to return him to class with no pants. On the way home from church he fell asleep so I took this photo of him as soon as we laid him down on his bed.

I have been taking Tricia to dance class on Thursday and Saturdays. While she is in class I have been stepping out with Jeffrey to explore the Dever and Aurora areas. Last time we went Jeffrey and I drove to the Red Rock area to a place called Creation Rock.

This was Jeffrey's first hike in the mountains. He did pretty well to walk along beside me, but in our alloted time we did not make it very far. The best pictures of the day turned out to be of the old abandoned car next to the studio where Tricia dances.

On Sunday we wanted to get out for a drive so we took the short ride over to the Garden of the Gods. It was too cold for Tricia to want to get out of the car and walk around, so she stayed with Jeffrey while I took a twenty minute walk down the trail and back.

Preparations for deployment are still going on at work, as they will be every day until we leave. I have qualified with my assigned weapon (38 of 40 with the M4), and completed some documentation and other administrative procedures.

The boy with no pants...

So I'm odd. You all know that by now, but today we'll discuss the oddity of clothing. I am very particular about Sunday clothes. I feel like they are for Sunday and that's what makes them special...the clothes we get ready on that "special day" Saturday. So naturally Jeffrey has really nice Sunday clothes. I can't bring myself to just let him wear a t-shirt and pants. I want him to be dressed for church.

Well, we got Jeffrey ready for church on Sunday after a rough night of him not sleeping well, he was up and down all night. In the middle of the night he just sat up and yelled "Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuice" It was not a normal night for him. We took him to nursery (he's not as eager to go without Sister Ellison there) and I stayed with him for a few minutes to get him settled. When he quit crying and was distracted I snuck out. Twenty minutes into Sunday School and the nursery leader brought him to me and said his diaper had leaked and he was pretty much soaked. So I took him and changed him and rinsed out his pants but since I didn't have a way to dry them and home is 20 minutes away from church I just hiked up his socks, pulled down his sweater and took him back. I opened the door and said, "He doesn't have any pants, can he still come back?"

It took a little coaxing to get him to want to stay but eventually I was able to sneak out again and go back to Sunday school. About 10 minutes later the nursery leader came in and asked me if Jeffrey knew sign language because he was trying to tell them something and they didn't understand. He was pretty upset when I went in, face bright red, tears streaming and signing for his "Ginky" (which say what you want to say, this is a really rough transition time for him and it's about to get a whole lot worse and I'll get rid of it when I feel like he can handle it). I took him back to Relief Society but he was just restless, wouldn't sit still, didn't want to eat his snack and worst of all he had no pants.

I think he was just exhausted and couldn't deal with anything else, so I gathered up our stuff and we packed up in the car. We hadn't left the parking lot when he had fallen asleep. Poor kid.

Stavros Flatley

Ok, so my friend Katie sent me this and it was just exactly what I needed today, you have to go to youtube, can't imbed it here, but it was well worth the click. Hehehehe!

Stavros Flatley

The Unexpected

So I'll share with you all our family news. We just moved to Colorado (as you all should know) and Cory reported to his unit last week, when we found out that he will be deploying soon. We aren't extremely surprised, we were lucky for the last three years in Germany that he was home (crappy schedule but home) and knew that at some point during our stay here a deployment was inevitable. It's just happening so quickly that I don't think I've even had a chance to realize what's happening. I'm trying to make plans and figure out how to do things alone in a new neighborhood and I'm really thinking I'm in shock.

One thing I will say for family, the second I told my sister without even hesitating she said, "I'll come to stay with you." Her husband is in the ROTC program at Westminster and he was in the background agreeing with her. She said they've talked about things and she knows that she'll need the help if it happens to them and so she wanted me to know she would do the same with me. So thanks Paige, you're my sister in arms!

We are really fine, we feel that we've been blessed as a family and I know that while this will be hard, probably the hardest year we've had so far, we are determined to make the most of it. So I'm just asking everyone right now to keep things positive, I can't have any negativity around me or Jeffrey right now.

Here's to being able to go home more often right?

Fun with Jeffrey in Denver

Tricia is very excited to be back to dance in Denver at the Bennet school where she had been going during our first stay in Colorado. On Thursday after we dropped her off, Jeffrey and I drove around for a few minutes and with the help of the TomTom found a fun walking/biking trail to follow.

I put Jeffrey in the pack and looped my camera around my neck and off we went. The warm weather made a jacket unnessary, and the oncoming sunset made the light interesting to observe.

The Old Cog Railroad

At enlistment time it is the option of the soldier enlisting to decide where they would like the event to take place. I have heard of it happening in a helicopter in flight, on top of an abrams tank in the field, but this is the first time that I have climbed a mountain side for the event. It is tradition in 1-12 IN to travel early in the morning to the top of the old cog railroad for these events as well as promotions.

I do not know how a train ever made it up this mountain side, but after an hour of nearly 80% grades we made it to the top and had a commanding view of the city of Colorado Springs and Manitu Springs. Our 0445 start time ensure that we rose into the sky along with the sun.

After the enlistment took place we took a more leasurely walk down back down on a trail that zig zaged for about four miles.

A Little Bit More About the House

We have been enjoying the kitchen very much together. It is a pleasure to work in such an open space even though we are working with the very most basics for kitchen tools.

All of our empty space gives Jeffrey plenty of places to play hide and seek. He might be a little disapointed one day when he opens one of these doors up to find it full of items taking up all of the fun room.

My commute to work in the morning gives me a good opportunity to listen to my audio recording of "Don Quijote" and the scriptures.

My Sister-in-law Is a Pirate

The lastest happenings

So things have been busy. But they're slowing down a little bit (just in time for life to pick up again when Paige and her family come for a visit). But we've had a great two weeks since we've been in Colorado.

I love our new house. It's just the perfect size for our little family everyone has their own space and I think all our stuff will fit perfectly. Hopefully our stuff will come in this week, but we'll just wait and see.

Our new ward is great! I was nervous leaving Germany because we didn't have a great ward the last time we were in Colorado and we had so many friends in our ward in Germany, but we prayed a lot that we'd find the right place to move and that we would be able to find a great ward to move into. I think our prayer was answered with our new ward. They've been so welcoming and friendly that it's making the transition much easier.

I went to a feis on Saturday (YAY), not to compete but to watch and see how things have changed and to catch up with my former dance teacher and school. Things aren't so different, but the dresses really are. I can't wait to go to dance this week and start back into class, it's been way too long!

Sister Beck came for a few meetings this weekend. On Friday night she spoke to the sisters of a few stakes in the area and I was very, very glad I was able to go. She spoke for a few minutes on the purpose of Relief Society and then opened it up for questions. I was amazed to watch as she jotted down the question asked and then would either turn to the scriptures or the recent conference transcript and answer the question. She was able to relate each question to almost the whole group (from laurels on up) and the spirit was so strong in the room that I just sat and cried about everything and I haven't cried like that in YEARS! She mentioned how our homes are MTCs for our young boys and that we need to be training them from day one to live up to their calling. It was such a great meeting.

I've made so much jewelry in the last few weeks that I need to take a break, I've asked Cory to take new pictures of everything and I'll be redoing the jewelry site in the next week or so, so keep your eyes open!

In Processing FT Carson

I have been in processing into Fort Carson this week, which means that I have been sitting through a lot of briefings and filling out paperwork left and right. The amount of services availiable at Fort Carson are of a much greater variety than those available in tiny Grafenwohr.

I am still not sure what unit I will be going to. That will not be solved until Monday.

The house is more comfortable now that our first delivery of household goods has arrived, though we are living off of shelves now instead of out of bags. We are all three excited for the day when the big white truck will arrive with the rest of our boxed up items.

As you can see, it is not easy being Jeffrey. After returning from the store he met the two dogs across the street and wanted to stay outside in the cold snow to play with them, but it was far too cold to let him do so as he only has minimal clothing to keep him warm. We did not expect this snowy blowy weather at all.

One day can be warm, sunny and ready to have us put our flop flops on, and then next it can snow, blow and send us all in the house.

I suppose that it is our high elevation that dramatizes the weather. Since our home is even higher that FT Carson, whatever is happening down there is generally even worse up here. Our house faces in such a direction that it recieves sun on the driveway nearly all the day and helps keep our porch ice free and our sloped driveway easy to pull in and out with any vehicle.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

We have finished reading "Dracula" together and have moved onto "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." We have both read the story before, but it has been several years for each of us and we are ready to get back to it together. Reading aloud has been a nice pass time for the both of us. This is a tradition that we will be keeping for a long time.

Sun Set

This is sun set as seen from our back porch. We have a fairly unobstructed view for about 180 degrees.

Our plans for traveling to Colorado used I-15 to connect to I-80 all the way to Colorado Springs, but the weather in Rawlins, WY put a halt on our travel. With the use of cell phones Tricia and Phil put their heads together and found that if we back tracked a few miles we could connect to highway 789 taking us south to I-70 which also leads to Colorado Springs. I am glad that we did so because we were right back on our way on a safe dry road with very little traffic and the country side was stunning. So beautiful in fact that when we take our next trip to Utah we might purposely take this route again. I regret not taking a few minutes to stop at capture at least one of the dramatic mountain sides covered in trees and snow with my camera, especially where the sun was breaking through the cloud cover and creating dramatic skylight effects on the steep mountain sides.


View Larger Map

A Walk Around the Neighborhood

The movers came this afternoon and brought our needed pots, pans, clothing, beds, etc. that we had sent from Germany as the first load. In one box I found the back pack that we had purchased to haul Jeffrey around Italy and Ireland in. He recognized it when I took it out of the box and began to drag it around. After his nap when Tricia went out to get a few items I put Jeffrey on my back and we went for a walk in the neighborhoods around us.

Easter Sunday

We woke up Easter sunday after our first nights sleep in the new house. The fire place kept us warm at night, but it was not easy to sleep on a sheet and blanket. Even thought the carpet is plush, it does not make up for a mattress. Jeffrey was the only one to get a full nights rest.

We used the meeting house locator on LDS.org to find the ward we are supposed to attend. We met some very friendly people at church and are glad to see that this is a full ward with friendly members. While talking to a family in the hallway after the meetings we found ourselves invited to the Hunn home for Easter dinner with several other families.

On our way home from church Jeffrey crashed and we took the time to warm up our Easter ham which I later carved with my pocket knife. We ate it with corn and fruit punch on paper plates. When Jeffrey woke up we took him on a Easter egg hunt around the house to find the plastic candy filled eggs we had laid out around the house while he slept. It took him about three brightly colored eggs to be pointed out by an excited pair of parents for him to figure out fully what was happening, and then he was ready to go on the chase himself.

At the Hunn home we had an incredable meal that sent me back to the serving table for seconds. We met three other families from our new ward who were anxious to hear about our time and adventures in Germany which made us feel important and welcome.

785 Diamond Rim Drive

We had planned on spring time for Colorado when we were making our plans in Germany. The snow in Utah was unexpected to us, but this snow storm on Sunday caught us by surprise.

Our new place has a lot of nice items in it. The fridge, oven, microwave, sink and dishwasher are stainless steel; the counter tops are granite, and there are windows all over to let in sun light.

There are lots of details about the place that really put a shine on things. Each room has a plug on each wall, and at least one wall has a cable outlet, telephone and DSL line for internet. There is even wiring ready for a surround sound stereo system in the living room.

The oven heats up quickly and the stove is gas burning. This is going to be a fun place to live.

Indiana Jones Adventure

The Indiana Jones Adventure turned out to be one of my favorite rides.

I am glad that I brought my camera to wait in line with me. I found it to be one of the most well decorated and detailed waiting areas in the park.

Taking photos while in line made the time seem like it was going fast. There were a few times that I missed a shot because I did not want to hold up the line while composing the frame.

The photo below is now on my laptop desktop.

I was waiting in line with Peggy and Phil and got them to quickly pose for me in front of the temple. Tricia later told me that this was a rare opportunity to get Phil to agree to be in the camera frame.

I returned later at night with Tricia and Page to take a late night ride. We three had a blast that night when we came back without any of our kids. It might be one of the most memorable things about Disney Land for me.

Tricia and I have decided to decorate Jeffrey's new room with an adventure theme. We are thinking of printing a few of these photos to decorate the wall. We also found a tent to sit on top of his bed (just what every boy wants, to sleep in a tent every night) that gave us the idea for the theme.

A Day with the MacNeil's

We went with the MacNeil's to the Childrens Museum in Salt Lake for a few hours of fun and exploring. Dad and I both had our cameras, so of course there was a lot of picture taking.




Our day included a stop at the Build A Bear where Jeffrey picked out a monkey and had it suffed and sew before his eyes. We chose a Jazz outfit to make it memorable that he recieved the monkey while visiting Utah.



Jeffrey was the star of the day and loved the attention from his two grandparents.




This is Dad helping Jeffrey make a picture story with stamps.

Of all the diversions at the Childrens Museum Jeffrey kept going back to this police car for a ride.

This is Jeffrey and Mom taking a ride in a delivery truck.

More Disney Land Adventure

Cory: I have not worked on our Disney Land photos in a long time, but here are a few more. I still have quite a few left, so these entries will be coming for a while in the future.



We rode this train around the park twice to get some rest. I fell asleep for most of the journey, and felt very refreshed when I awoke from my doze.


Tricia: We actually rode it in the hopes that the twinnies would take naps. I think we were only 50% successful. But it was a nice break from crowds.






Cory: No amusement park is complete without a ferris wheel. If I remember correctly, this was our very first ride and all of the kids enjoyed it.

Tricia: Except that this is a carosel and not quite a ferris wheel. This was the first ride we rode. We wanted to ease the kids into the experience of Disneyland, they all had a really good time.

Tricia: HE actually looks like he has hair...that's a first. Of all the rides we rode, Jeffrey's favorite was Small World and the "Sea-hoes" on the carosel. He's such a funny kid, he was scared of almost everything else, I guess it's my payback. Years ago I went to Disneyland with my mom (on a dance trip) and wouldn't ride anything, we would get to the front of the line and I would pull the "I have to go to the bathroom right now!" thing and make her get out of the line.

Cory: I sat next to Jeffrey on a horse and took photos while we were all moving.

Tricia: How fun! I love this picture, we all look pretty good! I'm glad we were all able to go together!

Cory: This is my favorite photo of all three of the ladies on our adventure. It reminds me of the fun we had together and the adventure that we shared and can call upon later in our memories and conversation.

Cory: Tricia and I also had some fun times together when we would momentarily break away from the group and talk or rest under a shady tree.

Tricia: But here I look like I'm in agony...I can tell from the curl of my lip. Maybe I didn't want to stand in another line. Who knows...but yes Cory, You'll always be my favorite travel buddy!

Cory: This pool at sea world houses several types of sea life, including the mantaray, that people are invited to touch.

Tricia: I wouldn't touch them, I have too many germ phobias. I watched them for a long time though.