Our Family & Our Life

Dear Diary, It's finally Saturday! I love the weekends because Colin is home and there is someone to talk too during the day and we go out together even if it is sometimes just to the grocery store or Target. Not to mention we usually get to sleep a bit longer, ah nice.... Today was no exception. We are up at about 8:30 (Isla has her milk and fell asleep again at 6:30) and I craved french toast with coffee for breakfast so I made some for the three of us. After a walk for Isla and Colin and a shower for me we headed out the door together. First stop was Atlanta Bread for a latte and a pastry after which we headed to Target. If only I had shares in Target. We're there all the time and this week we even did our groceries so spent even more $$$ than normal! For the Canadians not familiar with Target, it's like Zellers, only better. Even the logo is red and white, very similar! Then it was back home lunch and a nap for Isla before heading out to Expo Park to wat

Dear Diary, We finally decided to take a family day trip out to the Denver Zoo! She loved it! She loved the animals and especially the people. Yes, we have been blessed with a nosey little girl. Unfortunately, the camera battery was 99% dead when we arrived and the backup was 100% dead so we have three photos to share. I'm disappointed but I'm sure we'll go again. Here is the best of what we have to share: Those are flamingos in the background - silly face, I know... With Colin in the aviary - I think the birds were called Lorikeets or something to that affect. They looked like miniature toucans. So cute and there were so many - this photo does them no justice! And you can't go to the zoo without eating lunch! It's a nice zoo, not too big and easily walked through in a few hours. We saw a wildlife show that had birds of prey flying over our heads and as we neared the end of our day we noticed that they let the peacocks roam aimlessly around. T

Dear Diary, This past weekend was horrendous in terms of weather because it snowed for two days and when it wasn't snowing, it was sleet, then snow, then rain, then snow, etc. Today it was back up to 70 degrees and Wednesday it's up to 80 degrees. Go figure. Look at the snow today. It's gone!!!!! There is so much snow melting a constant "river" noise can be heard all day. For the first time since moving here, I've seen green grass. YAY! Progress Report: Isla is confidently walking behind her walker. FINALLY, she's making progress. Normally she would've just sat down if we put her behind it but yesterday the lady was marching all over the place..... It was a happy day yesterday!

Dear Diary, If you've watched CNN in the last 12 hours you know what I'm talking about. We're snowed under!!! In some places in the mountains they've recieved over 34 inches (almost 4 feet) of snow in the last 24 hours. The I-70 from Golden to Vail is closed and they don't know when it's going to be re-opened but honestly, I can't imagine going on that highway in this weather unless it was a medical emergency. Imagine a roller coaster without the loops, that's what that stretch of highway is like. This is Colin and Isla about an hour ago to go and collect the mail. He took our "4x4" and could hardly make it through the heavy wet snow. Anyways, if you ever wanted to do some Rocky Mountain skiing or snowshoeing, it's a good time to book your ticket. Chances are good it will be gone by Tuesday when the temperature will reach 70 degrees so you better be quick. Unrelated to the snow, check out Isla's hair. It's cr

Dear Diary, Look at the view from our balcony this morning. Isn't it pretty? Sadly, most of it was gone by lunch. Oh well, maybe next time it will stay a bit longer.

Dear Diary, We've had an exciting few days. OK, maybe not extraordinarily exciting but more exciting than usual. First off, a bit of bad news. On Saturday we learned that our tenants in our house in Larne are leaving in 60 days. That is a big concern because as of January we will be responsible for rent here in Colorado and our mortgage on the house. That is alot of financial responsibility and we are quite anxious to either rent it out again or preferrably sell it. Which leads me to the second bit of news. On Tuesday morning we received an email from our agent in Larne that one of the tenants wants to buy the house but the offer was VERY low. We know the housing market is less than stellar at the moment but honestly, the offer was almost insulting. We counter offered back but at this moment we have yet to hear back. I'm assuming it's not good news but I am trying to remain optimistic and patient. Please pray for me, patience does not come easily! The plan at the

Dear Diary, The ski resorts in Vail, Aspen, Copper Mountain and others opened today for the new ski season but we didn't go skiing, instead we spent the day driving through the mountains looking at the snow from the comfort and heat of the van. The first snow storm of the season came earlier this week so there was still some nice white stuff further into the mountains. Denver, unfortunately, is snow free albeit the temperature is noticeably falling. The drive along I-70 is lovely and relaxing. It travels right through the valleys and the ruins of old silver and gold mines dot the mountain sides in the little towns of Idaho Springs and Georgetown. Georgetown was our first stop, again. We made a previous visit on July 4th when it was about 100 degrees warmer! Today the lake was frozen over although I don't think the ice was very thick so no ice skating or games of shinny. After a break we travelled through the Eisenhower Tunnel where it was like another world from

Dear Diary, I've missed posting on the blog but we've been busy... First of all, Isla turned 8 months on October 17, she had a baby wellness check up and she got another 3 teeth, all in one day (more about that later on in this post). Here she is on her 8th month birthday. Mom and I decided it would be nice to take her to the pumpkin farm and apple orchard down the road. She loves going for walks and "sings" while we walk... My little pumpkin in the pumpkin patch: With her mom: With her doting Oma: She loves animals whether it be cats or dogs, yes, even Tasha!! Before we left for Denver I took her to the dr. for a wellness check up. She is a peanut at 27 inches long and weighed 17.5 lbs ~ that is 1 stone 3.5 lbs. for those Brtis! She is right on track developmentally and is sitting quite comfortably but not crawling in the true form of crawling if you know what I mean. I wish I had a photo to post but the new thing is to go on all fours and "stand" on

Dear Diary, I am on my way back from England, however I have to go direct to Denver to help the guys out there until things settle down at Metro Taxis. They have been working 12 hour shifts recently. The system went live last Monday at 3.30am mountain time and since then Metro have done nearly 10,000 jobs on our system. Initally there were a few issues with people not really knowing what they were doing, but the more they use it the smoother it becomes. I hope to be able to fly up to Heather and Isla as soon as I can and then take a few days with them and drive back down to Denver in the Pontiac Montana van with some of our belongings and the 2 cats. That will be interesting getting over the border. Anyway the important thing is that I have my visa and I am on my way back to them. I do dearly miss them and when I call Heather I hear Isla in the background making all sorts of noises now. I guess she'll be saying 'mommy' soon.. Here is the picture that I had taken for the vis

Dear Diary, Well as I mentioned in my post yesterday, I was hoping to have some good news to report today. I do, sort of. Colin was in Dublin this morning for an interview at the American Embassy to get a 6 month business visa. He got it BUT since he was in the States for 3 months already they wouldn't issue it with a specific expiry date. That will be determined the next time we cross the border. It's not really what we wanted. We wanted the full 6 months and get back to a normal family life, some permanence in one location TOGETHER, just the three of us. We think they'll issue the visa for no more than three months as this visa is good for 6 months and we've used up 3 months but we won't know until then. It will take another 5 business days for Colin to get his passport with the visa back to him, then he'll fly back to Canada for Isla and myself and then we're thinking about driving to Denver. It's a 24 hour trip, without breaks, so it would tak

Dear Diary, To date Colin, Isla and I have been in the northern, western and now southern areas of Colorado. We were told the eastern part isn't that interesting so we'll take our time going in that direction. On Saturday we travelled over 100 miles to Canon City, Colorado and we picked the perfect day as it was the hottest day of the year in Denver so it was nice to escape a bit of the heat. Canon City is located in the heart of cowboy town - horses, cacti and desert. It's lovely to visit but I don't think I could live there, just a bit to out of town and desolate. Our reason for going was to go on the Royal Gorge train ride through the mountains to view an area we would never be able to view otherwise from the car. The trains are all old but it added to the charm. The coach we rode in was an old 1950's CN car that probably travelled across Canada hundreds of times! It was good fun and we saw stunning landscapes as we travelled through the gorge. Along the way we r

Dear Diary, It's been a while since the last post but we've just been busy with everyday life. We've enjoyed Canada Day on July 1st, experienced our first July 4th and tomorrow is the N. Irish holiday, July 12th.... Wow, that's alot of national holidays! In the future and once we have our own house we'll have all three flags blowing outside. Despite being carted around the world, Isla has been doing well. She rolls over constantly and even knows how to roll back on her back but there is the odd time that she can't do it and panics after a few moments on her tummy. She spends alot of time on her play mat and loves "Mr Monkey" who hangs over her head. Poor Mr Monkey gets abused and shoved into her mouth but he doesn't seem to really mind. Since she has had her portrait taken by Canadian Baby Photographers she has turned into a little Elle McPherson!!! Check this out, she has her supermodel pose all worked out... What a little ham, eh? The weather