AJ's preschool Halloween party!

AJ wanted to be Edward Cullen. I had to add the blood for special effects. Otherwise he would have just been a really cute boy with pale skin.

Snow much fun!

We woke up to a couple of inches of snow this morning. This is Jaxon and Dakota's first experience with snow. Dakota was born in Rexburg but I don't know if she ever played in the snow before we left Idaho. We enjoyed some time playing and making snow angels. The snow was too powdery for a snowman or we would have done that, too! Jaxon has a lovely runny nose, also!

Robinson Family Reunion!

Beth, Steve, TC, AJ, Jaxon, and Dakota

Dawn, Justin, Jason, Libby, Ellie, Darcey, Steve, Beth and Jaxon
Piper, Pat, AJ, Garry, Dakota, and TC

Just wanted to share our family photo from the beach trip. Thank you Dawn for sending it!

The man I love and cannot live without!

This picture was taken on September 25, 2009, while on Hilton Head Island. Steve and I went out to dinner with his parents, brother, sisters and spouses. We had all decided to go to a Seafood Restaurant, hoping they would have a variety of steaks on their menu for Steve. After viewing the menu, Dawn felt sympathetic toward Steve, who is allergic to shellfish and cannot stand the taste of any other type of fish. My sister-n-law nicely explained to the waiter that we had a family emergency and we all got up and left. Steve chose Outback Steakhouse for his birthday dinner. We all enjoyed a wonderful dinner together as we talked and sang Happy Birthday to Steve about 5 times throughout the meal. It was so funny, but I didn't start it because I would never want him to do that to me.

I have spent 14 birthdays with Steve. I remember the first birthday I spent with him. He had turned 25. My roommate and I went to ALbertsons and bought him a birthday cake and a Big Hunk candy bar. I love remembering how I felt when Steve and I were just friends, which turned into best friends, and then after several months of knowing I was way too young to get married, gave in to the realization that I absolutely loved Steve and if I didn't act on that, I would lose him. At least, that is what I thought. Steve is a pretty patient guy and probably gave me more time than I had deserved at that time in my life. Since that first birthday I spent with Steve, I have enjoyed the best years of my life. Steve and I have so much fun together and hate being apart. We enjoy each day together and look forward to our retirement years, when we can golf everyday together.

Vacation at Hilton Head Island!

Mom and Dakota relaxing after a long day!

TC putting the umbrella up!

Jaxon found someone's flip flop.

View of the beach from our house!

Our beach house!

We just had a week full of fun at Hilton Head Island! The flight was pretty painful, to and from and we had a rough go the first day! I think we were so tired from the trip, it made us all a little cranky. The rest of the week was awesome. We stayed at the lovely "yellowdogbythesea.com" beach house. It was so nice to have the ocean front property and just be able to watch the tide roll in at all times of the day. We spent our time on the beach obviously, but had a swimming pool at the house, also. It was so nice to go swimming when you didn't feel like getting sandy! We walked everywhere because there were so many shops close to where we were. I also spent Wednesday with Darcey, Libby, Dawn, and Pat at the spa. It was so nice to have some relaxing time away from the kids. Steve and his dad and brother spent Thursday at the golf course, while I took the kids to the shops with my sister-n-law. Friday night we all got a night out without the kids. Ms. Betty came and babysat all 6 kids so we could go out to dinner. We loved it so much, we all want to go back and do it again and again.
I actually thought that I would be finished with my book by the time I got home but taking 4 kids to the beach doesn't allow for much reading time. Someone got me stinkin' hooked on the Twilight Saga! I read the first 3 books the week before I left for the beach and I hope to be finished with the 4th by tonight. I will then be able to focus on being a mom again. How horrible is that? All of you who kept ranting and raving about the Twilight books - THANKS!

Beautiful!

Garry, A.J., Pat, Dakota, Jaxon, Steve, and T.C.
I wish it had been a clear day over Mt. Princeton!

Can you see the chapel in the background?

So beautiful! The Collegiate Peaks! Mt. Princeton is the one in the middle!

Just thought I would update everyone on our craziness! Yes, we moved fast! I suppose with the economy the way that it is and not having a real income for 18 months (actually 4 1/2 years) really made us want to get here to start as soon as we could.

Steve is actually going to be in the commercial excavating end of construction rather than residential plumbing. I know he continues to ask himself why he went back to school if it was going to be this hard to get a teaching job. We just keep in mind that it is still worth it to have his degree. I think he knows that deep down inside. We just know that the money is not in teaching.

Anyway, what have I been doing with my time......

Keeping the Excedrin Migraine medicine away from Jaxon and Dakota and I enjoyed a little bit of hiking during our short stay in Buena Vista. I loved all the gorgeous views. I hope to hike Mt. Princeton before the summer is officially over. Over 14,000 feet, I may need to be hooked up to an oxygen tank half way there but I think that I have had plenty of time to get used to the altitude. We shall see!

Some of these gorgeous homes were plumbed by the one and only G&S West Plumbing (aka Steve and Garry) They are so huge! The pictures don't do them justice! Maybe they seem so big because they are so close together but they still look really fun! When I asked Steve how big they were, he told me about 5,000 feet without the basement. I thought they were bigger than that.

We have gotten settled into our new home, which we love. The kids have a huge back yard and even though we don't have all the space we ever dreamed of, there is plenty of room for our family. I think this is the biggest kitchen, I have ever had. That makes me excited. I still don't have everything unpacked but can you really blame me. Four kids and so much to do! I hope to be done by the end of the year!

Surprise!

Well, I have been super, super busy these last few days packing, being excited and crying. We will be moving to Colorado this weekend. We have only known for about a week so don't think you are the only one with your head spinning. It has been so crazy and I had to force myself to sit down and blog. Steve will be working with a company in Colorado Springs. Maybe, by the time I die, I will have lived in every part of Colorado. All joking aside, we are very excited for Steve to finally have a job. Even with his plumbing business here, it still wasn't quite enough. We feel really blessed that this has come along in a time where jobs are so few. We are both very sad to be leaving so much of our family behind. We are so grateful for the experiences we have had with them these last 18 months. We have had some good times. We also look forward to the good times we will have in Colorado and hope that TC, and AJ will make the transition well. We feel that this is an answer to our prayers and we know that no matter where we go, Steve and I will have each other. So, to all of my friends and family, here in the Chattanooga area, I will miss you and I will look forward to our next vacation to Tennessee. To all of my friends and family in Colorado, we are excited to see all of you and look forward to some good times. To all of my friends and family in other parts of the country, I guess it doesn't change much for you but we still wanted you to be aware of the changes in our lives. Thanks to everyone.