Peter's New Chair

My mom put Peter in Paul's high chair the other day. Peter is now trying to sit up more and more. He loves being able to look around and see what is happening. Here are some cute pictures of Peter in the high chair.

The Garden of the gods

On Saturday we took the day off from working (and boy did we need it!). My mom, Joshua, and my mom spent the last several days unloading the trailers at the new shop. That is a task in itself, especially with only three people! While they were unloading the trailers, my dad and Joshua also started to fix the shop up. They were very exhausted and excited about having a day off. We started off by taking it easy in the morning. My mom and dad went yard saleing (yes, they do have those here!). Then we decided to go to a national park called Garden of the gods. It is so beautiful there and we enjoyed ourselves last time we went there. We walked around there looking at all the beautiful rocks. Paul tried to climb some rocks, but he was not too interested in them. Peter enjoyed looking around, he was so excited that he fell asleep! We were all very hungry and decided to go to a restaurant. Needless to say we were all to hungry and ended up driving a long time before finding some place to eat. We did stop by a trading post in the park and looked around there. We were all very tired when we arrived home. We went to sleep soon after.

Paul's Big Adventure

Paul loves going up and down the stairs at the house. He would spend all day going up and down if we let him. Of course he does not have the practice needed for going up and down, but that does not stop him. Daddy, mommy, or grandpa take him up and down the stairs whenever they have the time. Of course its to wear him down (little boys can have so much energy!) :) Here are some pictures of Paul having fun on the stairs and top landing.

Peter's New Hat

The other day my mom and dad were playing with Peter. Peter is such a drooler that I have to make sure that he has a bib on while he is awake and playing. There was a bib on the sofa, it was left there to dry out because he ends up drooling so much that it soaks his bib. I change it about 2 to 3 times a day. My dad put the bib on top of his head and he looked so cute that I had to take his picture. My mom says that it is the way they do things here in Colorado. I could not help but laugh at how cute my son is.

A Beautiful Sunset

These pictures were taken yesterday evening just as the sun was setting. The clouds made this sunset one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed seeing and taking pictures of it.

My Rose Bush!!!!

I wanted to share with all of you only of the blessing that the Lord has given me since moving here. The first year of our marriage Joshua took me to a nursery to buy a rose bush for my birthday. The rose bush was called Fragrant Plum and grew purple flowers. At that time we lived in an apartment, and I decided that we would put it in a pot so that if we moved I would be able to take my rose bush with me. So when I found out that we were moving, I found out that I could take my roses with me. I was concerned about how my rose bush would do in the trailer. My first thought was that I would be able to have access to the trailer when we were in Colorado. When we arrived in Colorado, it was a week before I could take anything out of the trailer. I was very worried about my rose bush. I did not know if it was dead or alive. Yesterday Joshua surprised me when he came home that night from the shop, he had my rose bush in the car. They had the trailers delivered at the shop and were unloading them there. I was so pleased by the surprise. God was faithful with something so small as a rose bush. Not only was it alive, but it was also starting to bud!

The End of A Beautiful Day

The day was just beautiful today and as the sun was setting we all headed outside to enjoy it. Joshua and my dad came home from working at the shop, they joined us outside as they ate their dinner. After we all went for a walk. Here are some pictures of us enjoying the day outside.

Does Anyone Know A Good Plumber?

I would like to know if anyone know a good plumber out here in Colorado. We seem to be having a drainage problem with our rain gutters.

We had a beautiful day today and enjoyed being outside as the sun went down. Paul entertained us all with picking up the rock and putting them down the rain gutter. The rocks and rain gutter are located on the side of Ed's house. My mom says that all the neighbors are going to wonder why their rain gutters are not working the next time it rains. Little will they know that there is a little boy that loves to play with them by putting rocks down them (don't worry daddy has come to the rescue by removing the rocks when Paul is not looking). Paul learned a new word "wow." He loves saying this word whenever he thinks he has done something important. You will hear him saying this word alot during the movies. This is his first word besides ma, da, and la, la (for his grandparents). He was so cute that we had to take some movies. We all just about died laughing, especially the last movie. I hope you all enjoy these as much as we did.

The Violin Shop Website

Hi. I added a link to my husbands website for the violin shop. I thought that you might all enjoy seeing it. Just click on the link and the website will come up. http://www.jbblevinsviolins.com/ Or you can click on the link found on the side of this blog (underneath the blog archives). He has spent alot of time on it and we are very pleased with how it turned out. We hope you enjoy it.

A Rainbow

After the rain storm that we had yesterday, there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky. It not only rained once, but three times during that afternoon. My mom and I were planning on going for a walk, but every time we tried to go outside it would rain. Joshua was taking Paul outside in the back because he needed to run around from being in the house. Joshua called me outside to look at the rainbow that filled the sky. The cool thing about this rainbow was that you could see it start at one end and end at the other end. I think it was because we were higher up and not too many houses. I don't remember seeing too many rainbow like that in California. Here are some pictures of Joshua and Paul enjoying the rainbow.

Paul Eats an Ice Cream Bar

Grandpa Steed was eating an ice cream bar and Paul wanted to try some. Paul eats his meals with grandpa and they share their food together. Paul will often eat his own food and then go to grandpa for some more. Paul has never eaten ice cream before, but he has experienced some sugar things as licorice and cookies. He liked the ice cream, but I think that it was a little too cold for him because he would make a face at times. Here is a movie of Paul eating ice cream with grandpa. You can hear Peter crying in the background because we would not give him any ice cream.

Day Three- of our move

I had forgotten to say that my sister is in Australia while all this way happening. She was visiting her fiancee, William. He is is Australia right now so that he can become a resident and then move out to the United States. We miss her very much and can't wait for her to come back home. She is a great help with the kids and we could have used her for the ride up to Colorado. Marlene will be coming back to Colorado on July 19. Now back to the trip. We were all very excited about having only 6 more hours of driving time. We all decided to wake up early in the morning and head out. Peter's last feeding was a 7:30 am (Colorado time) and we packed up and went our way. We did not eat breakfast until a little later and my mom and I slept in the car. We arrived in Colorado on July 15, 2008 at 9:00 am. We stopped at Burger King for breakfast and Paul had fun playing on the play ground. He was so excited that he could hardly sit down to eat. After a quick breakfast, we continued on our way. We stopping in Grand Junction, Colorado and the weather was in the 70's. We drove most of the way with the windows down. We also stopped in Rifle, Colorado and looked at their visitor center. My mom started to peel off the lettering of our Explorer because it said Riverside, California and the new name of the shop is going to be Blevins Violins and Sons (there is a picture of it on the slide show). Once more we were on the road and did not stop until lunch time. When we stopped at a gas station to buy food, then went to a park to eat lunch. The park was right next to the Colorado River. Paul loved looking at the river and probably would have went in the River. He also like to walk around the park. We looked in the gift shop before leaving. We drove until we were an half hour away, then we stopped by a grocery store to buy food before we reached Ed's house. Joshua and Paul played outside while Grandpa and Grandma Steed went in the buy the food. Peter and I joined Paul and Joshua as soon as I was done feeding him. We were soon on our way and when we arrived at Ed's house, we all were ready to leave the car. We visited with Ed and then unloaded the car. It was very nice to be able to be out of the car. We all slept very well. This is the end of our trip to Colorado.
These are pictures of Utah, Colorado, Rifle, Grand Junction, Joshua and the boys, the boys in the car, the Colorado River, our picnic, and of course us!

Day Two- of our move

I know that I was distracted from the story of our move, but I wanted to add those pictures and movies in so you could see what Colorado is about. I will start on the next part of our trip. Paul had been fussy that night because he was teething, so my parent took Paul in their room so that Joshua and I could sleep more. We left the hotel at 11:00 am. We were all tired still, but wanted to reach Colorado as soon as possible. We drove through Arizona without stopping. It was hot in Arizona as it was in Nevada and California. We drove until 12:30 pm where we stopped in St. George, Utah for lunch. Then we headed on the road because we wanted to arrive in Colorado as soon as possible. While we were driving it started to rain, which helped cool things down alot. It was raining huge drops, but it only lasted a short time. We passed through Zion National Park. That is one of our favorite spots and I wish we had time to stop and see it, but that was not to be during this trip. There was alot of farm land around and horse pastures. They were all so beautiful for they were surrounded by green. Our next stop was Beaver, Utah. It is such a quite little town and I loved stopping there. My dad thought that there was a campground there that we could stop at and rest, but we could not find it. So instead we stopped at a McDonald's that had a playground and let Paul play while we all rested. That was Paul's first time in a playground and boy did he having fun. It was so cute seeing him discover things for the first time. We ended up staying there longer than we had intented to, and it was quite late when we headed back on the road. We stopped in Richmond to fill up our gas tanks and that was the last stop before we found a hotel to spend the night. We were hoping to make it to Grand Junction, Colorado before stopping. Then we would have only 6 more hours to drive. We were all tired and ended up stopping in Green River, Utah. This is the end of the second day.
These pictures are of Arizona, Utah, Beaver, Richmond (don't worry I have them marked so you know which state and city is which), and of course us! The move is of Paul playing in the tunnel at the play ground in Beaver, Utah.

Ed Gorden and Blackberry's house

Ed Gorden is a friend of the family who offered his home to us while we look for a home of our own. He has a dog, a miniature poodle, named Blackberry. Blackberry is a very sweet and friendly dog. Paul is not quite sure what to think of him. Ed has a big house which has 4 bedrooms, but with four extra adults and two kids, it really fills up the house. We are very thankful for Ed offering his home to us to use. We think we have found a house and are looking at our options. The house is three stories (including the basement), four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and is located in Colorado Springs about 3 miles from the shop. Please pray for us as we discover what God's will is. The top picture is of Ed and Blackberry. The next one down is Ed's house. The one after that is one of the views from the back of the house. The next one is another view from the back of the house. The last one is the view from the front of the house.

Thunder Storms

Here in Colorado we have had thunder storms almost every afternoon. The clouds become dark and you can see the lighting. The weather has been in the 80's and when it rains the temperature drops. In California when it rains, we are lucky to have even a few inches of rain. It never really down pours. Here it does not last long, but when it rain it pours. It has rained lightly at times. We are really enjoying being in Colorado. Here are some movies of it pouring here in Colorado.

Paul and Peter

It is so cute to see both of them together. Peter is reaching the age where he can recognize faces. Whenever Paul is near by, Peter sees him and starts to smile and kick his feet. Paul loves his little brother and loves to give him kisses. Paul is a very good helper when it comes to taking care of Peter. They are going to be very close as they grow up together. This move is of Paul loving Peter while Peter is in his swing and Peter excited about seeing his big brother.

Day One- of our move

We were able to leave at 8:00 pm for Colorado. Our goal was to leave around the boys bedtime so that we could drive as long as we could. The Fox Family came over and helped us load up the rest of our things as well as clean the house. Then my mom, dad, and Joshua took naps so that they could stay awake and drive. Another reason why we drove at night was because we were going to be driving through Nevada and we wanted to get there when it was cooler. We drove through San Bernardino, Irvine, and Barstow before reaching Nevada. It was very emotional for all of us because we have lived in Riverside our whole lives and this was something totally new. As we left Riverside, I kept thinking about all the places that I was seeing for the last time (at least for right now). I was very excited about this new adventure that the Lord was taking us on. It was still very hot as we were driving, so we had the air conditioning on. We stopped to grab a bite to eat before reaching Nevada. The boys were good and slept the whole time we were driving. They would wake up when we stopped, but fell back to sleep when we started up again. When we reached Nevada it was hot (in the 90's). I was so glad that we were not going to stop in Nevada. My mom and I slept most of the time while my dad and Joshua were driving. We stopped driving for the night around 3:30 am. We all decided that we were tired and needed to sleep. We stopped in Mesquite, Nevada at a casino hotel called the Oasis. We all fell into bed exhausted and slept soundly. Pumpkin did well on traveling as well (he slept most of the way). This is the end of the first day of traveling.
These are pictures of the boys and cat ready for travel, My friend Mindy and I in front of the house, Paul in the hotel room, and views from our motel room!

Loading Up The Trailers

We wanted to thank everyone for all the help that was given in helping us move. We could not have done it without you. We were so overwhelmed, and it was a real blessing to have you all there. As most of you know, we had so much stuff from the violin shop, my parents house, and our apartment that we not only loaded one trailer full, but two!! Boy were we shocked! On Thursday, July 10, the trailer was dropped off at my parents house. We did not know when it was going to arrive, so we planned on starting to load the next day. The Frymire Family wanted to have lunch with us and we had a great time fellowshipping together. On Friday, July 11, we started at 8:00 am to load the truck. Many of our friends and family came at different times to help us with the packing as well as watching the kids (they were a handful). Paul loved going up the ramp into the trailer. He thought it was cool. Then he would take a ride down on one of the dollies. We did not have everything packed up, and were up early the next day to finish packing. Many of the same people came again to help us pack. We did not think that we would be able to pull out of the driveway on Sunday as planned, but we had some friends come over to help us with last minute packing and cleaning the house. Only by the mercies of God and our friends were we able to leave on Sunday at 8:00 pm. We want to thank all those who came to help us and to show us their love and support. Thank you Allan, Breck Roundtree, Harold and Joan Vargas, Rick and Susie Saunders, Mindy Paterson, David and Margot Frymire, MaryAnn Meyers, The Fox Family. We miss and love you all. This is the end of three busy days packing for our big move.

These pictures are of the friends and family that came to help, Paul having fun, friends and family that came to say goodbye, as well as pictures of us!

WE MADE IT!!!!!

We left for Colorado on Sunday, July 13 at 8:00 pm. We were trying to leave a little before the boys bedtime so we could drive without stopping. The total amount of miles that we drove was over 1,000. It took us 3 days to arrive in Colorado Springs. We arrived in Colorado on Tuesday, July 15 at 7:00 pm. We drove for what seems like many hours and saw alot of difference landscapes. I took many pictures, of which I will post later. We drove through Nevada, Arizona, and Utah before reaching Colorado. Thank you all for your prayers for our family during our travels. Please continue to pray for us as we look for a house, build a business, and reestablish.