Kids (dogs)

For most of you, you are familiar with our two kids. Others aren't as familiar.

We have had Madison since April of 2008. Madison was only 4 months old when we adopted her.

The shelter said

she was a Shar pei Beagle Mix. We had he for a year and she is very well

behaved. She gets excited to meet new people, but she is very friendly with other dogs and people and she is great to walk off-leash. After

the wedding and honeymoon,

we decided to get her a companion, someone who speaks her language.

We went to the animal shelter and found Oscar.

He was the ugly dog at the shelter that no one else wanted.

His hair was patchy and he had at one time a bad problem with fleas. He was truly on "death row". We took him home and he has been great. He had to learn our style of doing things, such as no begging or getting on furniture. He also had to learn how to be a dog. He wasn't interested in sniffing or playing with others dogs. He would rather sit with people or get on furniture. He is also an avid hunter. His choice prey is squirrel and thankfully he hasn't caught one... yet. He has learned to "climb" trees to try and get them. He scurries about 8-9 feet in the air before leaping to the ground. He is known at the dog park that we frequent as "the dog who climbs trees" and is somewhat a local celebrity.

If Oscar is infamous for climbing, Madison is infamous as

the dog who will do anything for the ball.

In order to get her some exercise, we would go to a large open field and hit her ball with a baseball bat.

It will travel 60-70 yards before she catches up to it and brings it back.

Since we adopted Oscar, he and Madison have become best friends. They love to play and wrestle together. They have a chasing path from their bed in our bedroom, through the kitchen, and under the dining room table. Oscar will hide under the table until Madison lays down, then he will pounce and the race is on. We even have our good friend and neighbor, Cassie, bring her two dogs over for what we call "wrestle-fest." It usually includes Oscar, the 17 lb lightweight, trying to take on Homer, the 80+ lb cuddler. Madison and the evenly matched but much younger Colbie will

usually try chewing on the same bone and play keep away.

It is a great time and great socializing experience, for dogs and humans. Evenings like this will be what we miss in Colorado.

Apartment

We found our new home in "The Springs." We are going to stay at one of the Weidner properties (Steven's company). It's called Eagle Ridge Apartments, and is on the northwest side of town. We have a grocery store right across the street, there is a park nearby, and we have a fantastic view of Pike's Peak. We will be sitting a comfortable 6,000 feet above sea level. Back home we were around 600 feet so we are going to get fit by just breathing! If you've been to our Muncie home then get ready to be knocked off your feet by all the SPACE. 1200 square feet....the dogs and I don't know know what we are going to do!! Steven is pretty excited too. :) Here are pictures from the model apartment! Stephanie (BSU friend) has already called dibs on the second bedroom! Enjoy the pictures!

View from the community....that's Pike's Peak

Here is the pool area...very excited about this for the summer!

Our's is the third floor. No worries about moving in, there are elevators!

Walk-in closet's (that's right THERE'S TWO!) in the mater bedroom. Check out those shelves!

Looking out from the bathroom area into the master bedroom.

Looking from balcony to master bedroom/bathroom.

There's the master bedroom balcony. :)

Guest bedroom balcony access, this balcony is also for the living room.

Guest bedroom

Washer/Dryer hook-up. I'm so excited!!

Guest bathroom

Guest bathroom...it's pretty spacy

Wood fireplace in the living room

Our kitchen with real sized appliances, and cabinet space like you wouldn't believe!

First drive up Pikes Peak

This is us 16 miles up the 19 mile drive to the summit of Pikes Peak. We weren't allowed to go the whole because of icy conditions on the road, and if you notice, there are no guard rails. You wouldn't know it from looking but it was a beautiful 68 degrees in Colorado Springs but it was a frigid 30 degrees at the top with strong winds. Most of the weekend we were there we wore t-shirts and light jackets, but we were ill-equipped up there. On average it is 30 degrees cooler at the summit than at base.

On the way down we saw this fox as it was crossing a parking lot. It was amazing to see this wild animal on the side of the road, so close to our car.

There will be many more photos to come, including Garden of the Gods and our apartment.

First Blog

Hello friends and Family!

This is a blog so that we can keep in touch with you while we are in Colorado. We hope that you check back regularly and keep up as we post photos and announcements about what we are doing as we embark on our journey together in a new state. Don't hesitate to comment on the blogs, and you might even be highlighted when you come and visit, so visit often.

We welcome your comments and hope to have some good conversations about what we are doing in Colorado and what you may be doing where you are.