A little sad

I miss Teddy. He is one of my best friends and I wish he were here right now. This fire has been consuming and he would totally understand how I feel about seeing so much of our beautiful mountains destroyed. Rampart Range has all ways been so much fun for Teddy,Gary and I we love taking the big jeep up the trail.
I am a little perturbed by bloggers and strange people from around the country criticizing Colorado for not doing controlled burns. The reason is the wind. You don't burn large areas when we have gusts of wind daily at sixty miles per hour. Living here this is well know, fact is we have to bury all our power lines for the same reason. Burning things just does not work here! Oh well this fire is the same as all fires it has a beginning and it will have an end.
We continue to pray for the firefighters and those who have lost their homes. Praise God for his guiding hand in keeping the city safe tonight.

Not fog folks!

This is a picture I took from my office window. I am right next to the Sky Sox Stadium. The smoke is just suffocating.

32,000 Have Been Evacuated

The Flying W Ranch and several homes have been burned to the ground.
Today we had suffocating smoke and ash at our home.
This is picture is so heartbreaking. Garden Of The Gods is one of our favorite places to go Sundays after church. I am at a loss for words.

This Is Smoke Not Storm Clouds

My heart is racing, for the first time during this historical fire I have just broken down. The flying w ranch is very close to not existing. My heart is just breaking for my beautiful mountains, and friends that are in danger. Please keep praying.

We can see flames from our deck.

These are pictures from our house.

Blessings During a Fire

I have never doubted God and I know he is at work. Right now over 3600 acres are on fire in a heavily populated area of El Paso County. During this fire over 11500 people have been evacuated from their homes. And not one structure has been burned. Can we say this is an act of God, I think we can. Our city once again has proven that the Lord shines brighter than the Colorado Sun. Charities including the, Red Cross, Care and Share, Good Will, Salvation Army, The Humane Society, Penrose Equestrian Center, Hundreds of churches, Wal-Mart, Starbucks and small local business have been overwhelmed by charitable donations. I think its safe to say that the Lord is shining and working. Its a miracle that homes, business and human life has been spared. Our beautiful front range mountains and favorite parks and trails may never be the same, but with faith in our God we shall be able to once again to enjoy our out door Colorado.
Praying and lifting in prayer our friends that have been evacuated and are still not able to return home. I am asking all my family and friends to join me in prayer for the Guthrie Family, The Tomlinson Family and The Smartland Family. I also want to pray for our firefighters and all emergency personal. We need to remember our local media who have been on air for over 52 hours with no breaks. Our community is well updated and safe this evening. Special thanks to my favorite branch of the military the USAF for sending half the fleet of our C-130's that spray 3000 gallons of water in a single flight. Praise God for the Air Force!

We are hopeful that this fire will be contained soon and the Lords hand remain on our friends homes and businesses.
Here are some pictures I have taken from our deck tonight. This was the first night that we have been able to be outside with out smoke and ash flying overhead. The picture of Kissing Camels at Garden of the Gods I took from KOAA tv.
Blessings tonight during the storm.
Psalm 71:14
But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more

This is an update on the fire here in the Springs. By KOAA 5 news.

We have been glued to the news today. Can't go outside because the smoke is suffocating, not to mention the heat at 101 degrees. Praying!
Nine aircraft are now fighting the fire just west of Colorado Springs. This information comes from a briefing at four o'clock Sunday afternoon. This includes three heavy tankers, four single engine tankers and two helicopters.

There are also 450 firefighters on the ground and that number is growing.

A total of about 11,000 people are under evacuation orders from Manitou Springs, the City of Colorado Springs and El Paso County.

Garden of the Gods Park, Cheyenne Canyon Park and Palmer Park are all closed. The Pikes Peak Highway is also closed.

No Sleep

I have been awake tossing and turning in prayer all night. I am sadden to say the fire here has grown to over 2500 acres, with no sign of slowing. We are expected to reach a temp of 100 with zero chance of rain. During the night the evacuations continued to all of Manitou Springs. My heart is heavy this morning, knowing the west side of Colorado Springs will never be the same. My God we will rejoice in weakness, we know You have a plan. Please continue praying for the families in this area. This is a heavily populated area, with thousands of homes and businesses.

Prayer

We have had so many fires in Colorado, and this is just the start of fire season. Today a massive fire has broken out in the canyons off hwy 24 toward Ute Pass. This fire is not contained and is currently burning about 2000 acres. Gary and I have three families we are praying for that have all been evacuated. All of the families are together and safe, however I am sure the thought of returning to no home could possibly be one of the most scary thoughts. I am asking all of my family and friends to please pray for these families and pray for an amazing work of God. We are desperate for cooler weather and rain. Pray that the Lord would lift the worries off the hearts of these families, and pray for safety for all the rescue workers.
Lifting in prayer tonight the Guthrie Family, The Smartland Family and The Tomlinson Family.

Happy Fathers Day!

Hope all the dads in my life had a wonderful day. Lilly and Owen made Gary a walking stick for our hikes. It was really sweet. And we had bagels and coffee, we relaxed and put our feet in the pool and Gary BBQ at the end of the day. He is great dad and I am proud of him.

My dad is one of my favorite people ever. Teddy and I are so grateful for the life he gave us. We both know the sacrifices he made to keep us in Colorado, and all the extra jobs he took to give us a nice home and vacations. I don't think Teddy and I ever realized how hard mom and dad worked to provide for us until we had our own families. Funny how the tables have turned and it's now Teddy and I who are the proud kids of our parents! But please don't tell them we said that!

Any who it was a super relaxing weekend and we are so thankful and blessed!

Perkins Time!!

We adore our Perkins family and had such a great time catching up tonight! We could have talked for hours but the kids start going down hill around 11:00ish:)
I have missed my late night chats with Sarah and am so thankful for her heart and ears!! She let's me vent!!
The kids are growing up so fast! This was one of those great summer nights that could have gone on and on. I even got a new picture of Lance coming out of the Ladies room! Can't wait for our camping trip!!

I love them but......

So I got up at 5:30 this morning to pick up and have devotion before going to work. Somewhere between 5:30 and 7:45 both the kids made it out of their beds and snuck in with Gary. I swear they move in stealth mode! As I was on my way to slave away at work I took this picture of my peaceful little family. I just love them so much more when they are all asleep! :)

Banished to the Backyard

I wish I could have caught Owen going over! It's been a long summer! :)

My Pouting Princess!

Because she wanted to ride her scooter alone up the street.

Congressman Mike Rogers' opening statement on Health Care reform in Wash...

Ugggg

Today was my day off for the week and I was sick.......I mean the worst kind of sick......Stomach Flu. The kind of sick where you are stuck in the bathroom and telling the Lord that "I will rejoice in my weakness!" Ugh the yuck feeling was just awful I am actually blaming healthy food and I think my body is in withdrawal mode. I am pretty sure if I just ate a sleeve of Oreo's I would be fine!
I felt a little better and took the kids to the fountain at the movie theater and it was really nice. I love Lilly and Owen and this stage of life we are at. They are really good kids most of the time. Any way after our play time at the fountain I had to go get groceries. I knew this would be my only chance, so I and the kids went to Wal-Mart. You know those pictures of Wal-Mart people???? I sure hope I don't show up on one of those e-mails. I looked horrible. ;)

The only ones here

We spend a ton of time at the fountain! It's free entertainment. And we're shocked how low this plane was flying!! Love summer!

Summer Weekends Are The Best!

We had a great weekend. Saturday evening we took the kiddos to see Madagascar it was cute the best one yet! After the movie the kids played in the fountain. Sunday we played hookie from church to sleep in and take the big jeep out. We went up toward Cascade and played in Green Mountain Falls for several hours. It was so nice and relaxing. I had happy feet, I love sticking my feet in the water. Surprisingly it was not as cold as I expected. After playing in the water and the park we went to some of my favorite stores in Manitou and Old Colorado City. I love Mushroom Monday, and I used my old favorite Envy as inspiration to keep on loosing weight. I miss my urban shabby look next summer yes next summer I will have a shopping spree at Envy! Love everyone blessings to all, Jen.

Randomness From Our Weekend

Operation get skinny

I love my walks to work. It is really refreshing. It's only 2.16 miles round trip so i am walking 10.8 miles a week. For some of my friends who run 60 miles a week this is nothing. For me it's good and I needed to start somewhere. I am also enjoying my bike Lulu, I find that I get a great workout riding, and it's something my whole family really enjoys. I am struggling with eating healthy. This is super hard for me. I have a very sensitive stomach and diet change has not been easy. But I am working on it. I constantly have to remind myself this is not a quick fix diet but a total lifestyle change.

Proverbs 25:27 says, "It is not good to eat much honey." God never says we should not eat foods we enjoy, especially sweets. He simply says we should not eat too much of a good thing.

Lilly Summer Project

Lilly has her very own garden. I wish we lived on a farm she would love that. I really wish we could get away with our own chickens, fresh eggs!! Any who she is growing Strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkins, peppers and Swiss chard. We also have our very own herb garden but the fat rabbit that lives in our yard keeps eating our cilantro! Here is a picture of Lilly's very first strawberry!

Oh Hail Night Number Two