I am so eager to start this blog as I already have so much to share. This blog will be used to keep our friends and family updated on our lives here in Colorado... it's primitive right now, but I will continue to work on it as I get time. In the meantime, enjoy this entry about our arrival in Colorado last week.
We arrived at our new home last Thursday, April 16th. We took two days to drive here in our two trucks and one U-Haul trailer. All together, we had 3 adults (my mom came with us), 3 kids, 1 dog, 2 cats, 1 lizard, and 1 fish! My cousin, Marianne, was so gracious to let us take over her home in Clovis, NM on Wednesday night... I don't know of a single hotel that would've accepted our crew!
The drive was basically uneventful, but we knew it was supposed to start snowing in Evergreen on Thursday evening, so we tried to make good time in order to beat it. We did... and it's a REAL good thing we did! We pulled up to the new house just as the snow was beginning to fall. It was beautiful! We snapped a couple of pictures on the front porch before we went in.
As we entered the home, however, things got hairy. The house alarm started beeping at us and we knew that if we didn't type in the correct code real soon, it would start blaring. Which it did. We frantically made phone calls to find out what the code was, completely under the assumption that some nut had actually armed the house! It took a good half-hour or more to get it under control, during which time the boys hung out in the snow to escape the ear piercing siren. We're glad it wasn't monitored, or every cop in Evergreen might have showed up! As it turns out, when the phone lines were disconnected, somehow that triggered the alarm system to arm itself - so no one was at fault. We had to totally disconnect the system to make it stop.
By that time, the snow was falling pretty good and we knew that a trip to the grocery store was imperative. I trekked out in my NON 4-wheel drive Toyota Sequoia and swept my arms down the grocery aisle shelves grabbing everything I could in 10 minutes or less so I could get back home! The grocery clerks were all chuckling to themselves when they found out we just pulled in... as locals, they knew what we were in for!
I made it home safely, and there we sat for the next couple of days, completely buried under over 3 feet of snow! We did spend some time playing in this new fluffy white stuff that kept falling from the sky. Aside from a couple short ski vacations (which mostly produced fake snow), my boys had not ever seen REAL snow - and certainly not in these amounts! Unfortunately, no one besides Maddox had appropriate boots for these weather conditions, so we taped grocery bags around our sneakers and tromped around like that. I swear... we must've looked like a bunch of hillbillies out there.
Maddox and Abbey had a great time in the snow - neither of which have really ever experienced it before.
Abbey jumped right into the tall banks of snow and ended up with her legs covered in snowballs that stuck to her fur. She had a heck of a time trying to bite them all off! I ended up taking a hair dryer to her.
The boys got to make a snowman, and Maddox was shocked to see the fellow wearing his hat & gloves!
We took a walk down our 2 mile long driveway... okay, it's not that long... 230 yard driveway to see the street - something that was manageable at this point because our wonderful neighbor, Ed, came and plowed the driveway for us. Not surprisingly, there wasn't another soul in sight!
The power finally went off, which meant we had no running water since we're on a well. Then the true pioneer instincts kicked in. Mom and I started melting snow in order to flush the toilets and wash the dishes. This would have been easier if we would've had something more than the one small frying pan that I just happened to bring with us!
Michael kept our wood-burning fireplace stoked which kept us nice and toasty warm. We hauled our air mattresses into the living room where we all camped out together by the fire. You can see the small aquarium just to the right of the fireplace... that's Rex (our bearded dragon). We kept him warm by keeping him near the fire!
All in all, we survived pretty well and kept a sense of humor through it all. We were warm, we were fed, and we were dry... things could've been A LOT worse!! They had shut down some highways for hours on end... just think if we would've had to camp out down there?!!
Check out this cool picture... I went out on the back patio and when I looked in the window at my mom, I saw my reflection. You can see how deep the snow got by looking at my legs.
And look at Mason's legs:
The snow finally stopped falling for a bit on Saturday night and since the driveway was no longer visible...
...we had to hire a guy to plow it. I think it was the biggest job he's had all winter! He promptly blew his exhaust just as he started. Oops. He called in a backup and we soon had 2 trucks working on it. We knew we had to get it cleared soon or we'd all go stir crazy... plus, we still had a moving truck that needed to get through!
Somewhere buried under all this mess is my truck!
The glorious sun came out on Sunday and was met with the appropriate squeals of delight from every living soul in this house. Honestly... I think I even heard the fish. It was a gorgeous day and things started looking up from that point on.
The movers came on Monday and had to shuttle our things up from the big truck down the way since it was too steep and narrow for it to climb. They left us that evening with just a few small pathways through the rooms in our home. How we ever accumulated so much stuff, I'll never know.
So here we are... tucked away on this gorgeous mountain, enjoying the cooler temperatures and the exquisite views, digging our way through all of our belongings. Aside from missing everyone back in Texas, things are going very well. I do hope that we will see a steady stream of visitors in the coming months and years - we welcome you with open arms... and an inhaler in case the altitude doesn't agree with you! Ah, we're only at 7,900 feet... piece of cake.
Here's a parting shot that I wanted to share... it will forever be emblazoned in my mind as a memory of our first days in Colorado!
Love to all,
Michele
[Morgan] I was so excited when I saw them! I ran towards the 4wheelers when I saw them, and when I got on, I was shaking with excitement! First, Dad unloaded them, then I saw him ride around. It looked very fun! I thought I wouldn't be able to drive them until some other time, but I got to drive them that day with Mom behind me. It was very, very fun!
[Mason] I can't wait until I'm old enough to ride them by myself. But right now, Mom & Dad only let me go in first gear while Mom is sitting behind me. 
[Mason] They're a lot different from driving tractors or little mini-bikes. Now we've just got to find somewhere to ride them. We can't ride them a lot in our yard because there's so many trees and it's all sloped. I can't wait to get good at driving them! 
Don't let his serious face fool you. He's just trying to look natural up there.
As for me? Well, I'm outnumbered here. I'm about the only one here (aside from the lizard) who could take them or leave them. From a practical standpoint, however, it will be good to have something to plow the driveway with and haul away downed trees and lumber. But as for the recreational part of it? I guess I just don't have enough testosterone to get all giddy about them.
And Dad, please don't worry... I don't think I'll let them out of first gear until they're 24.
