December Delights

I have no proof, but I am willing to bet, that whoever makes the schedule for Justin's job has a slightly mean sense of humor. Not only this year, but last year as well, we were sent to some seriously cold areas of the country for winter. Last year, we were in Iowa and this year we are in Colorado. I can just imagine them sitting in their warm office laughing at us as we literally shiver in our boots. Haha! On a serious note, we are here in Longmont, Colorado, just north of Denver. We arrived the for the month of December and we will continue to be here at this point, through January. There have been some seriously cold days here. It is not only us who are having to adjust to the weather. The puppies are quite cold as well. We have one pup, Roper, who loves the snow and runs and leaps into the snow piles as much as possible. Then our other pup, Garth, wants absolutely nothing to do with being outside. He does not like the cold, he does not like the snow, and he does not like to be in the cold snow. They are adjusting though, and so are we.

It is extremely beautiful here! And though the town is quaint, it has everything we need to enjoy ourselves. We found a pizza place on Main Street called Rosalee's Pizzeria. Eating here is a must. Not only is the food delicious and reasonably priced, but the environment is so cool. The place is very tiny and people will wait for over an hour every night just to eat there. We also found a little painting place called Crackpots. It is a place where you can pick out the pottery pieces you would like and sit and paint. Justin and I went for a date night one Saturday night and had so much fun. We painted way too many things, but we couldn't help ourselves!

As many of you know, we announced that we are having a baby! We are extremely excited to bring a new little Belcher into the family. When Justin started this program, we literally thought that all the people who had kids in this program were insane. As the months pass and this lifestyle becomes a way a life you realize, that though it does seem insane, that insanity is our new normal. So, we are joining those other insane people and embracing our crazy normal! We can't wait to meet our little one the first week of July!

Before we know it is was already Christmas! My parents flew up for the weekend. We got to show them around the town, as well as do a little exploring. On Friday, we drove over to Estes Park, CO. That town is so cute. It deserves to be on a postcard. We walked around the little snow covered town and enjoyed the  sights and the stores. We also stumbled upon the Historic Stanley Hotel. (That is where Dumb and Dumber and The Shining were both filmed.) The hotel is filled with so much history and apparently ghosts! After touring around, we grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and headed back to Longmont.

Christmas came and went way too quickly, as did the time with my family. The hardest part of Justin having this job is never knowing when is going to be the next time that you get to see your family or your friends again. Dropping my parents off at the airport is like dropping off a little piece of my heart.