Fall Updates

The entire Bell family is finally in Denver! The kids and I flew out on October 6th, a few days after Nate and my brother John drove our car out (they made the trip in 18 hours and Nate drove the entire way of course)! We are staying with Nate's Aunt and Uncle here in Centennial, which is a suburb south of Denver. They were kind enough to let us stay here for awhile as we work on getting our home in Portland sold or rented and explore where we want to live here. We can't get enough of the beautiful weather and mountain views!! We decided to leave our home in Portland with everything in it and keep it on the market through the fall rather than move our stuff into storage without anywhere to put it all. Unfortunately its been pretty dead in terms of showings and we're seeing the same homes in our neighborhood still sitting that have been listed for as long, or longer than our home. We plan on renting it out in December or January if we don't get any offers. Prayers for the logistics of this all are much appreciated!! The good news is that we'll be coming back to Oregon for a month or two to get things taken care of there, so at the very least it is making our transition easier knowing that we'll be back there soon!

Before leaving Portland we had an early birthday/costume party for Parker (aka Spider Man) with some of his friends, and he turned four here in Denver on October 15th. We had a family celebration and Parker got some very cool gifts including a Lego Collector book, Spider Man sheets, Batman and Superman pajamas with capes that Gigi made, a Star Wars lego set from Nana and Bubba, a really cool nerf gun and Lego bionicle from Aunt Rae Rae and Uncle Mikey, a sled from Mike and Tig, and a play-mobile pirate play set from the Joyces!! We had Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast, got to go to this cool historic farm/museum with Aunt Bets, went to Chuck-E-Cheese for dinner, got to Skype with both sets of grandparents, had blizzards for dessert, put together his new lego set and had a movie night! It was 85 degrees, which was certainly not something we were used to in mid-October in Oregon! Perfect day for the birthday boy.

We've been able to do quite a bit of Colorado exploring, including a trip to Evergreen, the Red Rocks, a pumpkin patch excursion, a tour of the Broncos stadium, (thanks to Uncle Mikey), and a Broncos game (unfortunately it was a loss to the Raiders).

Halloween was fun. Parker was Batman for a Broncos kids trick-or-treating event and some fall festivals and Spider Man for actual trick-or-treating, while Peyton was the cutest baby superhero ever!! The kids went trick-or-treating with Cousin Peter and his friend Mark. Peyton knew what to do and say within two houses and would shove her way to the front door in front of the big boys to get her treats!! It was adorable to watch and hear her say "trick-or-treat". It was in the 60s on Halloween so thankfully we didn't even have to bundle the kids up to go out.

Hopefully there won't be just a gap between this and our next post. We miss everyone in Oregon but are truly loving Colorado so far!

The Kids

Brief Update & Random Photos

Brief Update:

I've been working as an insurance broker for Signature Select in Denver, CO since July 12th. I love my job. I love Denver. I love living with Rae & Mikey. I hate being away from Jess and the kids in Portland.

Jess has taken upon herself the role of Wonder Woman in my absence; working, caring for the kids, and trying to sell our home. She's amazing, and we'd be screwed without her. I love that woman.

The kids are growing up way too fast, and growing crazier by the minute. Parker is a 55 pound man-child who is currently obsessed with his muscles; regularly found shirtless and flexing around the house while going about his daily business. Peyton (now walking) is a teenager in an adorable toddler's body; emotionally unstable and incredibly demanding, she emits a shrill shriek whenever she feels wronged or ignored. Bottom line - our children are an absolute blessing and the cutest kids in the history of the world. That's not an opinion, it's a fact.

Finally, as you may know, we recently accepted an offer on our home. More recently, however, the deal fell apart after a month of negotiating hell. Prayers are welcome as we put it back on the market and hope for the best. Fortunately, we'll finally be together as a family in a just matter of weeks. Jess and the kids are coming to meet me in Denver, and we'll officially embark on our new adventure together as a family. That day can't come soon enough!


Random Photos:

Happy Birthday Precious Baby Girl!!

Then. . .

And now. . .

Peyton will be ONE tomorrow (August 11th). I specifically remember how I felt this same night one year ago, knowing that the next morning we would be heading to hospital for the scheduled c-section. I let Parker sleep in our bed and remember wondering how I would love another child as much as I loved him. . .

I had so badly wanted to have a more natural delivery, but Peyton was past my due date and much like she is now, proved to be very stubborn and to do things on her terms!! We ended up scheduling the c-section at my 40 week check-up on the last possible day that my doctor could do the surgery before goingon vacation. I vividly remember talking to my doctor about how active Peyton was while she was in my womb, and and Nate and I predicted that this little girl would be the same outside of the womb-something that has been proven over the past 12 months!

Peyton has been an active baby-she is generally not content doing one thing for long unless she is entertained by others or with food, always anxious to do everything herself, extremely busy. . . . We spent her first 4 months literally bouncing her on the exercise ball for hours a day to get her to sleep as she never wanted to miss out on anything and refused to sleep on her own. I've been told that she was like me as a baby-so very different and unique from Parker who is much more like Nate. Needless to say, Peyton is one determined and ambitious little girl - traits that will bode well later life!!

It has been so sweet to see how the kids adore each other. I hope their relationship is always like this-where Parker looks after her and she looks up to him (minus the Parker being over-zealous in his affection towards her).

It truly has been amazing to learn and understand how it IS possible to love more than one child at the same time. While our children are so different, this is exactly why we appreciate and value them both so much for their own unique offerings. . .

Happy 1st Birthday, baby girl!!