New House, New Snow

So we are finally moved in up in Durango and what a last two weeks it has been! We frantically packed the moving truck on Monday, November 30th and closed on our Bloomfield house. Tuesday afternoon we made the 45 minute drive to Durango, Colorado and unpacked into our "new" mobile home. On Wednesday, we made the drive to Bloomfield and back twice then finally got to settle down for a few days.

After closing on our new place that Friday, I guess the Lord really wanted us to stay put for a while because on Monday, December 7th it snowed for 24 hours straight and we got about 2 feet of snow. No going anywhere in the Saturn for several days! Then the next Sunday we got another 8 inches. Wow! Welcome to the mountains. Rod and I have been busy shoveling snow while still trying to unpack the house and remember that it's Christmas time. Caleb is trying to figure out why Mommy & Daddy are spending so much time outside.

Amelia loves the snow while Caleb is not so sure about it. He most just stands there and fusses while Amelia is rolling around like a penguin. You can see from this last picture why we wanted to move here. This is the view from our house!

Season of Change

Fall is in full swing here in New Mexico and we are getting ready for a lot of changes ourselves. So here's the latest news. We are in escrow to sell our house in Bloomfield and also in escrow to purchase a mobile home in Durango. Everything seems to be going smoothly and our move might actually take place the first week of December. That will be only two months after putting it on the market. In this economy, that has to be a God thing!

As that is all happening, we are counting down the days Rod has left with Mesa. The company has decided to shut down the flight school, officially in 6 months but it will more likely be around the end of this year. Praise God that he gave us the foresight to move now and reduce our expenses. That being said, Rod does have several job possibilities for flying in this area that look to be very promising. We know that God has to be in control otherwise we'd be freaking out right about now.

Other than that, we're good. Caleb runs everywhere and doesn't know what to do if his big sister is not available to play with. Amelia is learning to write her name and loves taking care of her stuffed animals and talking on her cell phone. I had some great pictures from our annual trip to the pumpkin patch but sadly they disappeared with the diaper bag so I'll have to indulge you with a few summer pictures.

A Bit of Inconvenience

So this week the kids and I are in Arizona visiting my Rod's parents (otherwise known as Nana & Papa). When we got to the airport in Durango, I went inside for a minute to see if there were carts available or an employee that could help me since I had luggage and two carseats to bring in. After being inside for less than 10 minute I went back outside to retrieve said items only to find that the truck's passenger window had been smashed and my diaper bag and computer bag stolen. Most of the items that were taken can be replaced but sadly the kid's blankies were also in the diaper bag.

It has been a good lesson on trusting God with the outcome. It has also given me a chance to talk to Amelia about how there are just mean people in the world and conversely how God wants us to act. There are some things that we just don't understand but at least I can still be at peace about it.

House for Sale

So we have decided it is time to make the jump to Durango. Last week we put our house up for sale and are doing the work to sell it ourselves. You can check out our house info here. It will definitely be a challenge to sell a house in this economy but the market in our area is much better than the rest of the country. We have already had several calls about the house and have shown it twice. Most importantly we know that it will all happen in God's timing. If you know anyone in this area looking for a nice family home, please let them know about this one.

This process has been consuming most of our time and energy for the last several weeks. We had a big garage sale a few weekends back and were very successful in getting a lot of junk out of the house. Then we've been working on "staging" and depersonalizing the house as the Idiot's Guide to Selling Your Own Home suggests. It has been a lot of work but the house is finally the way we want it so now we just have to keep it maintained, which is easier said than done with two little ones running around. I'll post some recent pictures of the kids in the next week or so.

Camping with Our New Trailer

We have finally graduated from tent camping into the world of trailer camping. Yeah!! We recently inherited a 1969 14-foot Shasta camper trailer from Rod's grandparents via his parents. It had been sitting at the house in Williams, AZ since Rod's grandpa passed away in 2002 and I can only guess that it had been a while before that since it had been used. Regardless, Rod's parents put a lot of work and elbow grease into it and now it is lookin' good and ready for a new generation of Becks. As you can see by the interior, it is still hanging on to its 70's colors but we are working to change that. We picked it up a couple weekends ago and while Rod and his dad finished some final projects, his mom and I made new curtains.

So last weekend we decided to take it out for a spin and headed up to Haviland Lake north of Durango, CO. Amelia was so excited to be going camping and even more excited to be able to use the porta-potty we have in the trailer. She loved going for walks, which consist of her sitting on her tricycle while one of us pulls her with a rope attached to the front. Amelia also couldn't wait to go down by the lake but just like at the beach we could hardly get her to go in past her ankles. Caleb is our climber and wasted no time scaling the rocks by the lake (these rocks are not as steep as this picture makes it look). He loved watching the chipmunks out the camper window and was happier strapped into his stroller outside the camper than being cooped up inside it. Rod and I enjoyed being in the mountains and some cooler temperatures for the weekend as well as seeing the kids enjoying this new experience.

San Diego Vacation

We decided to try and take an actual vacation this year but since we can't afford anything where we have to pay for hotels and meals, we went to San Diego and stayed with my dad. Just kidding, we were really looking forward to seeing all our family, going to the beach, the fair and celebrating Caleb's 1st birthday. I had been missing the Del Mar Fair (aka. the San Diego County Fair) for several years now and we wanted to make it a point to go this summer. The kids did great at the fair and Amelia loved going on the kiddie rides and riding the sky tram over the fairgrounds.

We also spent several days at the beach in which Amelia had basically no interest in going in the water but loved the sand. Her cousins, Matthew & Elizabeth, were there too and they were like fish but it still didn't seem to sway Amelia into splashing around much. Caleb loved the sand as well just as he loves the sandbox at home. He would get tuckered out in the early afternoon and fall asleep in someone's arms.

On July 1st, we celebrated Caleb's 1st birthday. Rod's family happened to be vacationing in San Diego at the time and my aunt made the trip down as well so we had a great family birthday party. Caleb was thoroughly uninterested in his presents so his sister gladly opened them for him. He did however love the cake I made him. He ate several big bites then promptly started throwing it on the floor. He's 1 alright! (Yes, he did have a wardrobe change in the middle of the party - diaper issues - need I say more.)

We are planning on going camping a few times before the summer is over so I'll let you know how that turns out with two little ones. Hope your summer is going well!

We're still here!

Wow! How long has it been since you've heard from the Beck's? I think about 5 months. Sorry! And since I didn't get Christmas cards out in December you might have thought that we fell off the face of the earth. Nothing of the sort, just regular busy lives with the two little ones.

I don't have a lot of interesting stuff to fill you in on over the last five months. More importantly, I'm sure you just want some updated pictures. I have been busy working on my Recipes for Moms website. It's a fun hobby and maybe I'll make a little money from it as time goes by. If you happen to have your own blog or website, I'd love it if you grabbed my Recipes for Moms button off the site and added it to your site (Thanks!). As for Rod, he recently went to a week of training to learn to co-pilot a Lear Jet. He is very excited to have this opportunity and will be flying a local business owner around once a week or so in addition to his job at Mesa.

OK, now to the kids. Caleb is already 9 months old and crawling everywhere. He loves to be with his big sister and smiles constantly. Amelia is sharp as a tack, which is excited to see and sometimes a bit tiring. She is looking forward to spring weather and our return to time outside.

Here is a photo montage from the winter, Christmas and now: