Hello, Colorado!

Or should I say, "hello, again, Colorado!" I was born and raised on the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies and Colt worked and lived in Rifle, Colorado for a time, so I guess we aren't exactly first time Coloradoans. We have not lived in Craig, however, and Craig is definitely not Fort Collins or Rifle--although it has similarities to both. For me, our home in Craig echoes with many memories of growing up in Fort Collins (or what Fort Collins used to be) and LaPorte~the sweet, lilting song of the meadowlark as the sun rises over rolling green hills. The smell of fresh cut hay. Wide open spaces. Deer in the back pasture. Wind that whistles and makes tall grass move like the green ocean waves. Elbow room, with a few houses and fences sprinkled along the way.

I love so many things about our new adventure. I love the acreage and once-again being able to see wildlife everywhere--this house is literally situated where the deer (back pasture) and antelope (front pasture) play. I love the sound of the Elkhead River as it slices through the backyard and the throaty calls of the sandhill cranes in the morning. I love the green, green and more green. I love change, and I love to re-design, so moving every five years means I get to re-decorate my house that often. The actual moving part with boxes sucks, but once the pictures start going up on walls it feels like a sort of rebirth that is, well, refreshing. 'Course, I'm still waiting for the refreshing period to arrive as there seems to be no end to the boxes and my big picture hanger-upper is fighting fires in Florida! We are still surrounded by boxes, but I'm wading through it. I am growing to love the house, although there are a number of new things that we will have to get used to. Water from a well that smells like sulphur and tastes nearly as bad. [Thank heavens for reverse osmosis!] Waking up to no water because the pump decided to take an extra long coffee break. Mosquitoes the size of birds that are EVERYWHERE, just waiting to descend upon you in a bloodthirsty swarm! Busting our little push mower after a few swipes at the tall grass (that move like green ocean waves with the wind...) and realizing that we really do need a little mower/tractor.

The community has been very welcoming so far, and reminds me so much of Price. The people are very accepting of the girls and a number of times I have had people go out of their way to help me (entertaining the kids while it took me 30 minutes to get a new driver's license) or make a positive comment about them and their good behavior (hah! They obviously had not seen Noah five minutes before as he was poking his fingers into burger packages because it made a cool sound...). I am used to the extra attention, as our colorful family tends to engender it, but it has been overwhelmingly positive and the comments have mostly included all my children, not just the girls. I think we are going to be just fine here.

The kids miss their friends, but are being positive about things. They've met some kids at church and we've just started soccer and swim lessons so that should help things as well. They aren't the only ones who miss their friends...I miss my neighbors and dear friends and wish I could have packed them up in some of my boxes. They helped so much during our move and continue to help as we leave a vacant house in need of attention. I don't know how we can ever thank you all enough...just know your help has been so very much appreciated!

Colt enjoys his job so far and is looking forward to the challenge of being the fire management officer for all of northwestern Colorado. The Craig paper did a nice little article on Colt and two other new guys--you can take a peek at it at http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2011/jun/15/blm-craig-adds-new-officials/ The print version added a little more of Colt's comments (beyond Hawaii...). (0: As we're still pretty green and much of the southern half of the U.S. is burning up, he left on Friday with his Interagency Type II Team to fight fires in northern Florida and figures he'll be gone the full 14 days. Please keep him and all the firefighters pounding the ground out there in your prayers.

I've included some pictures of our new digs and the move so you can live our adventure vicariously through my blog. Yippee.
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Love and peace to all!
K