Sonya is Employed!

That's right! Well almost, anyway. Colonial Columns Nursing Center, owned by Sava Senior Care, offered me the position of Director of Admissions & Marketing today! I just called to accept the job a few minutes ago. I probably will start on Monday. This is also the facility that Matt works at as a Physical Therapist. We get to go to work together! :)

We are excited and feel blessed at how God has provided for us.
A special thanks to my wonderful references! I heard you did a good job :)

Estes Park

Matt and I left Saturday morning for a day trip to Estes Park. Our plan was to check out the views and go hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. We left with our car loaded with snacks, water, extra clothes and sleeping bag just in case we were too tired to drive the 3 hours home and would want to sleep in the car! We've never tried it before, but we figured the seats fold down...it has to be safer than sleeping in a tent!

It was a beautiful drive all of the way there with great views of the snow capped mountains and the city of Denver.




As we were nearing our destination, we had to stop because we saw this "BUFFALO JERKY 99 cents" sign. Matt wouldn't miss that! The jerky didn't disappoint!



Once we arrived in Estes Park (the name of the town) we stopped at the visitor's center for information because we really had no idea what we were doing. We thought we would just figure it out as we went! Anyway, we got some good information and were pointed in the right direction of some great hiking trails.

But...before getting back in the car at the visitor center we notice all of these elk just traipsing around a golf course. So we figured we would check it out! Apparently, I found it kind of funny.





It was kind of crazy how close we could get to them! They didn't even seem bothered by us. They certainly weren't penned in. This one here just kept staring at me as I crept up on her. She gave us great pictures because she looked right at the camera!

Look how close Matt is to this this guy! He could go after him two flat seconds with his antlers! But instead he just sits there, seemingly
unaffected.

Here we are together with the male elk and the amazing mountains that we love in the background!

Our first hike in Rocky Mountain National Park led to Bear Lake. It was beautiful with sunshine glistening on the water...our pictures never capture the incredible beauty of God's creation. Yet, we continue to try anyway!

This couple sitting by the lake was so cute! I hope we are like that at their age...just enjoying life together, still active but taking the time to enjoy God's nature together!







Here we are by Bear Lake!







The love of my life checking out the view on our way to another lake.

Here it is! Dream Lake! Also, very beautiful.

Matt playing in the water at Dream Lake. He wanted to know how cold it was. He thinks we should come back next summer and go swimming! I'm not sure if that is allowed or not.















Matt and I at Dream Lake before heading to the next lake on our hike!











Emerald Lake! The third and final lake on our hike. It was also pretty but the sun was beginning to go down and the sun was not shining on the water as much. It was definitely getting more chilly so I grabbed another layer and got closer to my husband!









It was a very fun hike and we were looking forward to our downhill descent. It is SO much faster going down than up. It's not just that it's so much easier going downhill, but we weren't stopping as often going down. I was getting cold and it was beginning to get dark!

Once we arrived at the beginning of the hike, we jumped in our car to head out of Rocky Mountain National Park. On the way out, we see more elk! So we drive over to check them out. Even these elk, out in the wild, seem unaffected by the cameras and tourists! A coyote even walked up among them and while all of the onlookers were enthralled,
neither the coyote or the elks bothered with each other. It was crazy.

When we went back into Estes Park that night, looking for a place to eat, we saw a herd of elk prancing through town! I am not kidding. There were probably about 7-10 of them walking right by people on the streets. We followed them...it was too dark to get a good picture, but we watched them go into another field like they knew exactly where they were heading. Maybe this is all normal out here. We are just amazed by it because it is not normal to us!I know this is not a good shot because the mountains are completely blacked out, but the sky was gorgeous as we were leaving the park at sunset. So I tried to capture what I new my photography skills could not handle. ha ha. But trust me, it was beautiful!

We were not all that tired after we had finished our dinner at a local pizzeria (I had Mt. Dew so I was REALLY good to go!) so we decided to head on home...especially as it was getting quite cold outside. So the camping out in our car will have to wait for another excursion. Maybe we can just wait until next summer and really camp out!

Happy Birthday, Colin!

Our nephew, Colin, is 3 years old today! This kid is the cutest little boy ever!! I suppose we might be biased...but we don't think so :)

Colin (with the help of his mommy) sends us many cards throughout the year. We LOVE getting them. They just brighten our day like nothing else! Well that and when Age sends us Snapfish photo albums of our adorable nephew thoroughly enjoying every event and activity in his life! Matt and I snuggle up on the couch or our bed and watch the Snapfish slideshow of our energetic little nephew who brings laughter to our lips and warmth to our hearts.

Oh yeah...back to the point. I get sidetracked often, can you tell? The cards. Well, Matt got a card for graduation this year and his birthday. This kid LOVES his Uncle Matt. Aunt Sonya takes a back seat when he is around! ha ha. It is so cute. So we thought that we would send him a homemade card too. We got out our markers, cardstock, pictures and glue. And went to work. Here is how it turned out!

We knew it was vitally important for Matt to have a large role in the card making so his nephew would fully enjoy it, so Matt drew him a picture. Matt is going to kill me for putting this up here...but I think it is SO cute! Plus, I promised his Grandma that I would! (Make sure you click on it to see it close-up!) See, we are going to be in PA in early December so Matt drew a picture of us flying home to see him. And we thought that he would like the plane and would totally get it because Age told me awhile ago that when they were on Market Street, Colin looked up in the sky and said, "Mommy, do you see that plane up there. I think Aunt Sonya is in it." Isn't that adorable? He knows that we live in Colorado too...and pronounces it so well. His mom has done a good job making sure that he knows his aunt and uncle well even though we are far away. Thanks, Age!

This is the back of the card. I wrote out his whole name because when people ask him what his name is, he says "Colin Ray Melhorn". Not just Colin!

I think he likes his name because if I call him a "turkey" or "Silly" or an equally endearing name, he says, "I'm not a Turkey, I'm Colin!"
Ha Ha. Love it.

We are looking forward to seeing him soon! He is getting so tall it is crazy. He is only 2 in this picture here. He is going to be 6 ft tall before we know it so we need to get home and see him before he is taller than me!

Jacob Ray

Today is the one year anniversary of our nephew, Jacob Ray Melhorn's, still birth.

All week I have found myself wishing that I was sad that I wouldn't be able to make it home for his 1st Birthday because we live so far from Pennsylvania...instead of feeling so broken inside that I will never experience that kind of sadness because there won't be any birthday celebrations.

I want so badly to be able to pour out my love on the little boy I never knew.









The words on this program from his memorial bring me happiness for Jacob and hope for when I will be able to see him someday:

When God calls little children
to dwell with Him above,
We mortals sometimes question
the wisdom of His love.
For no heartache compares with
the death of one small child
Who does so much to make our world
seem wonderful and mild.
Perhaps God tires of calling
the aged to His fold,
so He picks a rosebud
before it can grow old.
God knows how much we need them
and so he takes but a few
To make the land of Heaven
more beautiful to view.
Believing this is difficult,
still somehow we must try,
the saddest word mankind knows
will always be "Good-bye".
So when a little child departs,
we who are left behind
must realize God loves children
Angels are hard to find.

It certainly makes us hold tighter to the
ones that the Lord has left on earth
for us to love. Embace these
special people in your life today!

You are in our hearts, Jacob Ray.

Love you and praying for you David and Adrienne!

2008 Election

Hello Family & Friends,

Matt wanted to post a link to this newsletter written by Dr. James Dobson in regards to our options for president this November. Please read and make a well-educated vote for the next leader of our country. We hope you are all registered...every vote counts! Encourage your family & friends to vote as well. This is such a critical election. Neither candidate will fix all of our problems, but one is a much better choice than the other in terms of the values we hold dear as followers of Christ. Not to mention the detrimental ramifications of more government control with the Obama ticket. We don't need more government. Let's take responsibility for our own livelihood instead of relying on the government to pull us out of our messes. Exercise your right to vote on November 4th!

Love you all! Matt & Sonya

Harvest Date Night

Matt and I were planning on going to Estes Park this weekend and camping in the Mazda. But...they were calling for snow and rain all weekend in Estes Park so we stayed in the Springs. It was a much cooler weekend than we have been used to. So Matt built me our first fire!

At around 11 at night, at Wal-Mart, we decided to splurge and have a "date-night" inside. We will call it a Harvest Date Night just for the sake of a post title :) At Wal-Mart, we bought fire wood, apple cider, candy corn and peanuts, ginger snaps and the fixings for a pumpkin pie! Oh yes, and a movie at red box. We knew we would be pulling a late nighter and figured we could just sleep in the next day!

You see, a very generous, godly, wonderful couple in our lives, gave us some money before we moved out here to Colorado. We were instructed NOT to use it towards our school debt! So we are able to enjoy a date night each month for a while when we don't have to worry about where the money comes from because it is set aside for this specific purpose. We have been so blessed by this gift as we are by them so often. Sometimes that date night means a sporting event, a fair, dinner, or in this case...a "Harvest Night"!

Here is our living room...warm and cozy with the fire!

Hot Cider on the stove with cinnamon! Yum!






Enjoying the warmth of the fire and the warmth of my apple cider!











Everything is all set! Time for some Wii and a movie!

We had a fun night! Complete with sleeping on the floor by the fire.
We can't wait for the day when we can bless another couple like this special couple has blessed us.
We never did get to the pumpkin pie...we will have to save that for later this week!

More Wii Fun

Matthew John & Denise came over the other night for dessert and Wii games! I love watching people experience the joys of the Wii for first time :) Here they are boxing against each other:














Don't be fooled. Denise has actually knocked out Matthew John here. You see, she is playing with Matt's character and Matthew is using mine. Now Mario Kart, is a whole different story...Matthew has some experience over Denise with that one!






Doesn't Denise look so cute here?


















Okay...my turn. Target practice is my addiction! I love it! I hit a duck here, which is major extra points!

I really get into it sometimes!

Woo-Hoo!! A new record!

And so ends another night in the Wittleder household!