BEST weekend/birthday... EVER!!!

Ok so here is an "ode" to an incredible weekend I had for my birthday when Kristin came out! It was perfect really; we had fun girl going out time with some of my friends, we had a fun family dinner at my new favorite restaurant http://happysumosushi.com/, because of a free perk at work we had a fun girls night (no kids, no boys:) where we got to spend the night in a suite, jacuzzi while it snowed and stay up until ungodly hours talking & laughing! Had plenty of Starbucks runs in our pj's:) and even had a fun bday brunch hosted by some neighbor friends. Truly just enjoyed EVERY moment of her being here! Here are some pictures from the weekend... Enjoy! Love you Tin:) xoxo

Went out with Amy, Paige, Leanne, Kristin & I to a new place I had never tried; LOVED it!

http://www.theempirerestaurant.com/

Eating at the happy sumo and I am SAD to say this is the only pic I have of Emma Grace and her Auntie:( so I had to post it!

decided to be completely stupid...

yet very fun and take a few pics while shopping before heading to the hotel!

Nice bling!!:)LOL

heading in to the hotel

our room, very nice!

Thanks Renaissance! Gotta love free perks

Kristen H. threw me a bday brunch at her house; so nice!

the camera was propped up on the counter; not the best but not bad:)

Kristen, Cary, Kristin, Me, Emma Grace & Lindsay Well there you have it one of the BEST weekends ever!

The pictures don't even do it justice; I wish I could have captured all of the funny/serious/silly/relaxed/etc... moments.

But I don't have to because I can always think of all the great memories!

Thanks Tin... Love you & Miss you!!

Also thanks everyone for a great birthday this year....

I am 35! Holy Cow!:)

playtime!

Just some random pictures of playtime lately...

getting ready to serve her "babies" lunch

I just loved how she had everything lined up:)!

So proud of wearing mommies shoes:)

Her & her friend Sallee were playing dress up...

I LOVE this picture of Sallee; hilarious!!

Pumpkin Patches & Halloween

I hope everyone had a wonderful beginning of Fall and a great Halloween. It's been a crazy month but we are enjoying every moment that we get with our precious daughter and enjoyed some time at a couple of pumpkin patches. I think we found a fun new tradition of hosting a Halloween Chili & Trick or Treat party for some of our friends with little ones and we had a great time! It's fun to watch Emma Grace start understanding a bit of what's happening around her. Here are some pictures; Enjoy!

Thank You!

So this post is for those of you that are keeping track and have been praying for us to find a "home" church. It has been a brutal process; to say the least and a LONG one at that... well THANK YOU SO MUCH for the prayers & support we have found one!I know this post seems a bit "dramatic" but honestly I have just felt a bit lost, I don't think I realized how lost or for how long until now...

We found an incredible community/family of people in our neighborhood when we moved; we do life together, we do holidays together, we do the good/the bad together it has been INCREDIBLE & a MIRACLE to have found such amazing friendships but there was always something missing....

When we welcomed Emma Grace into our life & world I joined a MOPS group at Calvary Bible Church in Boulder. I basically joined blind by just calling up churches to see if 1. they had a lot of mom's from Erie (where I live) and 2. if it didn't cost to much (this stay at home mom is definitely on a budget:), so with that said the Lord worked his magic and I joined MOPS last fall. I didn't know it at the time but the Lord was leading us there in more ways than one. We now attend Calvary Bible Church at the Erie campus (closer to our house:), I'm on leadership at MOPS and I just joined a weekly "women to women" bible study. So after 5 years of searching we have found a church HOME!! and are SO excited!

**So as a PS to this post I just wanted to rave a bit about a couple of things we did this past week. The last Sunday of the summer they host a "church in the park" and we took over Erie park and had a blast (I posted a few pictures:). Also I mentioned that I joined a bible study; well that kicked off today with a brunch. I felt encouraged & excited about meeting new woman but also reconnecting with the Lord; it was an amazing event. I felt welcomed & loved!

If you could hear my voice, my heart or just see my face you would know that this is a HUGE answer to prayer and that I could not feel more excited, more at home or more complete!

Yay!

Thanks for listening & thanks for praying!

We took over the whole park with a worship service and lots of food & fellowship!

Feeling a bit shy to play with the other kids... mommy didn't mind the extra cuddle time:)! I don't know why I look so serious??:)

Emma Grace over her shyness and playing with the other kiddos:)... Chris sat right in the middle to play with her!

Food Challenge!

So if any of you enjoy watching the Food Networks "Challenge" my friend from work is going to be on it. Watch on Sunday 8/22 at 6pm (well at least mountain time it's 6pm:). We are SO excited for her she has been trying out and working on getting on the show for a LONG time and she finally did it!! We're bummed we can't go the "premiere" party that night it's Chris' bday but we'll be tivoing and of course cheering her on.... I hope she won! She's been super good about not saying a WORD!!:) Anyway watch for fun and see what happens!

Her name is Rachael and she owns Intricate Icings. She does a ton of work at the venue I work at and also happens to live in my neighborhood. She did that adorable cake from my shower! Anyway she's great and I just want lots of people to watch her. So cool!

Loving on Makai...

So our great friends Shannon & Travis West adopted a gorgeous baby boy from Ethiopia. He is finally HOME! and we have been enjoying some playdates with Emma Grace's new BFF...

Makai Jaden West!

Love you West Family!

God is Good!

a gift, a camera and a picture walk!!

First off before you look at pictures this really is a Thank You to an amazing friend who gave us an amazing gift! Friends are this amazing thing that see a need in your life even before you do. For two only children we live and die by our friendships and so whenever we are blessed by someone who knows us without even asking it is AMAZING and an absolute God sent!! So here is the story of and amazing gift and a picture walk...

After handing our camera and saying, "hey will you take a picture of us:)" several times over the course of lots of events; last month they decided to buy us a NEW CAMERA!! Now first I laugh at this because they said, "this is truly selfish because if I have to take one more picture on your old camera I'm not doing it." You have to understand that our "old camera" was the center of many jokes with our friends; it's old, it's BIG and apparently could use some updating:):). People LOVED to make fun of our camera! So one day we drive into Best Buy and I'm thinking what the heck. We proceed to go into the camera section and I'm told that we're getting a new camera! What???!!! So after they pick up my jaw off the floor and talk me into this amazing, selfless gift:) we proceed to look for a perfect camera for us. They pick one out that is PERFECT and they are chatting with the sales guy when Sabrina chimes in to say.... Umm my old (ginormous, 1990 camera) had some sort of video on it, will this one video too??? Oh my gosh our friend was so embarrassed and said it's like asking if your cell phone has a camera on it, they all do!! I said Ok I'll just shut up and let you go with the technical stuff, I'll just pick out the color:)..... Well when they brought up the memory card thingy (my old camera didn't have one of them I thought:) so I proceeded to ask if I have to buy a new one when that one is full:):)LOLOLOL!! Oh my gosh I think my friend gave me a death ray with their eyes and then they along with the sales guy were laughing hysterically and our friend said, Sorry about her they haven't purchased a new electronic since 1999, you should see her camera! Apparently we should have brought my old camera (which I thought wasn't so bad by the way:) so that the sales guy would fully understand the dire situation we were in here:):). So is that a no on replacing the card thingy I thought:)LOLOLOL.... Oh my gosh so even after all that we still walked away with an amazing camera is even more of a miracle. Thank You so much to our dear friend who blessed us in an amazing way, for a wonderful gift that not only surprised but blessed us SO MUCH you'll never know!!

So now the picture walk. Well we've been having fun with our new camera and one morning during our daily walk I realized that when I'm just out & about in a familiar area I always pass certain things that make me smile or peaceful or fun or beautiful and so one morning I said, that's it we're not walking/running this morning we're going to walk our 3 mile walk leisurly and have a "picture walk" with our new camera. It was a GORGEOUS morning and it was so much fun!! So if you have ever been curious about that crazy Colorado community that the Garcia's up and moved to:) here you go.... we walk the 3 mile trail around the golf course in our community every morning and here are a few things that always catch my eye....

from plants, to views, to houses, to trees!! (and I took it in order from when we leave our street all the way around until we get back. I encourage you to do that wherever you might walk or enjoy walking it's really fun to just take a minute and relflect and enjoy!)

So without further adieu.........

Enjoy!!