Our Lake

A sacred place.    A place that holds hours of faded foot steps.    

Milestones were reached here.

Balancing on two wheels.

Learning to depend on each other.

This place became my friend.   

A place where Bridger got to run.  Covered by the secret of the dark morning.

And, in the afternoons when I was most lonely, we would walk until we all felt better.  This place breathed life into us.

We ran.  We played.  We rode our bikes.

We watched the king fichers and muskrats.

We counted the baby geese and watched the ducklings.

We trampled cat tails and always brought one home.

We grew here.  A 6 month old baby has turned into a little boy.  Riding his red Strider bike like the wind.    My shy little 2 year old will be in first grade next year.   Forever making his little brother scream. 

I grew here.   

A mama of four who is ready to leave this place and find a new one.   

Thankful for every morning and afternoon spent with my boys in this place.  A place that made us who we are today.

A little girl who won't miss our lake.  Her brothers will tell her about it someday.  And, we will look at all the pictures that I have taken over the past several years.

So, before we go.  We stop by the park one more time.  

One more time on the slide and I know that the next time we come back, we may not want to slide.   It makes me cherish this day even more.

Grace's Baptism

 Welcoming our little girl into the body of Christ.  Baptism day was a very special day in the Dahl household.   Made more special by family and friends that attended.

Cousins, Tyler and Austin, arrived from Laramie and we had a brunch before going to the church for the baptism.

 A very special friend of the family, Bob Haberman.  My dad and Bob have been friends since college and we were so glad he joined us on this day.

Here is my little angel before her baptism.

A beautiful ceremony!

Grace's God Parent's, Aunt Shanna and Uncle Jim

I just love these last two pictures.    Partly because I love our friend, Tonya.  I also love that she will hold my baby girl even when she is tired and screaming.   Thank you, Tonya!

Our New Home

A new house.

A place that Byran and I will make into our home.

A house that is big enough for all of us. 

A home where the door is always open for our family and friends.  

An entry to our new adventure in Phoenix.

A bare space ready to be filled.

A house that wasn't what I had expected but, is so perfect for us.   

You see, I had looked at over 40 homes during my search and no other house felt right to me.   I stood in this one for 5 minutes, looked at Bryan and told him "this is the one".  No doubts.   This is it.    It had only been on the market for 12 hours as we signed the paperwork and made an offer.

 

The day before, I knew we were running out of time.  I knew we had to make a decision.   I had been to Phoenix twice and didn't see anything that I knew was right.  But, we knew that if we didn't find something soon, we would have to put our things in storage and live in a motel.   So, I narrowed my search down to three homes (didn't include this house).  And, the next day we made a solid decision and made an offer on a smaller house in this same subdivision, not knowing this house would come on the market the next day.

As I sat in the motel room that morning waiting to hear a response back from my Realtor, I heard the last words he had said the night before.  "Kris, don't stop looking".  So, I reluctantly started looking at the new listings.  The first thing I saw was this home.  In the exact location that we wanted and it was big enough for us.  My heart started pounding and in that moment I knew this was the house.

I called Bryan and told him that I wanted to go to Vistancia (the neighborhood) and look at it.  And, as we were driving around, we heard back from our Realtor.  They turned down our offer on the other house. But, I didn't even think twice.  I asked our Realtor if he could show us this new house.    He said he could be there in  30 minutes.  

I tried to wait patiently however, I had to see the backyard.  So Bryan pulled up in the cul de sac behind the property and I climbed some trees to get a better look.   I laugh now thinking of myself climbing that tree.  And, I know I did it because deep in my heart, I knew this was our new home.

And, an hour later....we put in our offer.

Tonight when I look at these pictures I know that God saved this one just for us.  And, right at the last minute, he opened the door....and we went through.  And, I am beyond thankful for this home and all the blessings that we have been given.   It just amazes me every time I think about it.

Some visitors

What better way to spend a beautiful afternoon then with your Grammy and Gramps.   Grammy and Gramps came to Thornton to spend the some time with us and we had a great time.   One afternoon we loaded up our bikes and headed to our lake.  Just swinging and having fun together.

Eli doesn't let Gramps get very far from his side.    To say that these two have a special relationship is an understatment.    Eli loves his Gramps more than anyone in this whole world!

And, look who came along in her stroller.  Little Miss Grace.  So happy in the beautiful weather.

After our long walk, it was time to head back to the house for a special treat!   S'mores.  I'm not sure who likes them more....the boys.....or Grammy and Gramps.

We love summertime and it's finally here!!