Where Do I Begin?

It is hard to know where to start to sum up the last month. It has been one of the craziest times of our lives. First we shared a wonderful, bittersweet Christmas with Kevin, Angela, the kids and my parents. We had no tree or decorations at our house due to the packing. But we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at kev and Angs and it was wonderful. It was sad knowing we were leaving but we made the most of it. We saved most of the packing for after Christmas. I couldn't bring myself to start taking down picture and curtains. But with the help of our family we were able to pack up the house by the 30th of December (yes we didn't really get started until the 26th!) Our friends and family loaded our truck on the 30th and Drake and my Dad( and our dog Hayla) started driving on the 31st. I had a long tearful goodbye to Asheville and our closest friends in the world: Kevin and Angela and Tatum and Kaelin. I honestly thought my heart would break. On the 1st of January my Mom and Olivia and I flew to Denver. That night my Dad and Drake(and Hayla) and arrived with the truck. The next few days were a flurry of unpacking and getting our rental house cleaned and set up.

My parents stayed until the 12th. They were such a blessing to us and I have no earthly idea how we would have made it without them.Drake had to be back to work on the 5th and I think I would have been lost without them here for those daytime hours. Not only did they help with the unpacking and with Olivia, but they forced me to get the house completely set up and to get out around Denver and start learning my new city. If left to my own devices, I may still be sitting in a sea of boxes.

Since then we have been settling in fairly well. We even managed a trip to the Denver Zoo last weekend with my parents. I have to say this is a pretty great city and the weather is a lot better than I expected. I still miss Asheville and our friends, family, church and house so much it hurts. However, I have a sense of peace, deep in my heart that we are where we are supposed to be. It doesn't all make sense to me but I do have peace. I have to reach beyond my sadness to the deep part of my heart that knows this is the right thing for us, for right now.

Since things were so hectic I never posted any Christmas pictures. So I figure Better late than never. I also included some of Olivia during our trip to the Denver Zoo. I tried to get some of Olivia and the animals but that didn't happen. Olivia did love the zoo and I think her favorite area was the fish and the ostrich.

Olivia opening her first Christmas present on Christmas morning.





Kev and Ang decorating cookies on Christmas Eve, which I think is now a tradition in our family because we seem to have done that the past few years.


Our futile attempt to get a delightful picture of the kids in their Christmas Eve pj's, the one gift they get to open on Christmas Eve.


Olivia is checking out the fish



Captivated by a Polar Bear

Olivia spent most of the day on Daddy's shoulders- She LOVED it