Visiting Lake Erie

We arrived in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, and since the closing on our new home wasn't until Monday afternoon we had some time to fill. We took a ride down to the lake on Sunday afternoon. The kids have never seen a body of water that big before and they were impressed, even if it was super chilly. I can't wait to explore the beaches on Presque Isle more once the weather is warmer.
They even commented, "That's A LOT bigger than Milavac Lake..." ( a local lake near our old home in Colorado)

Road Trip to our New Home

Crossing Nebraska. Pretty bleak. I wish I could have slept through it like these two...

Everyone slept well in the hotels, especially Levi, who never seemed to want to get up and going.

Micah celebrated his 18 month day on the road. He started it out in Omaha, Nebraska and I am happy to report that he loved the lobby Christmas tree, and the waffles.

Iowa was a lot prettier than Nebraska, with it's farmland and interesting structures. At one point we saw the coolest assortment of farm equipment; tractors, combines, threshers, and cherry pickers stacked 50 feet up in a Christmas tree shaped tower. I just wasn't quick enough with my camera.

That night we crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois, and just happened to be there at sunset.

The next day we crossed Ohio, and up into Pennsylvania. We must have a thing for crossing rivers at sunset, because here's a photo of the Maumee River just outside of Toledo.

Luckily we arrived in Pennsylvania without encountering any snow! The only mishap we had was when Matt was checking the oil and dropped the oil cap down inside the engine and couldn't reach it. The guys tried everything- including using sticks and chewing gum to try to retrieve the cap, without any luck. We were finally able to purchase some duct tape at the gas station and make a temporary cap until we could get to a dealer in the next town and buy a new one.

Leaving Colorado

It was more than a little bit bittersweet leaving Colorado and the home we had built for us there. On the final day of us moving out we had snow. A lot of snow. It was rather miserable loading up the truck and clearing and re-clearing the driveway. 

We have loved Colorado and really hated to leave it...

Thornton Christmas Tree Lighting

Caleb's show choir, The Roaring Sensations, performed at the Christmas Tree Lighting Festival in Thornton this year. Afterwards the kids really loved looking at all the lights.

Levi's Deer

Levi loves Christmas and he had a pretty hard time this year since we weren't able to decorate due to all the packing. He latched onto the one decoration that was too big to put in a box and hung on for "deer" life. He loved playing with his stick horse reindeer!

 

Seth's shoes...

I was rushing to get the kids out the door, and kept telling Seth to get his shoes on. I suppose this is as good as it gets some days. :)

Halloween 2015

I think Kellie (as Hermione from Harry Potter) turned all her little brothers into animals for Halloween this year.

Kellie, as Hermione

Levi, as a parrot in a tree

Micah the Panda

Seth, my sly little fox

Kellie is 9!

Trip to Erie, PA