A fun family vacation in Colorado....

Hello Out There!!!

We have been gone to Colorado for about a week and we have been having a lot of fun!! We spent a day at Sprague Lake and all of us hiked the 1 mile trail (even Bubba). The kid's favorite parts of the trail were the baby ducks at the edge of the lake and the chipmunk. Blake called the chipmunk a "me-munk" and he's been talking about it ever since. Claire enjoyed climbing all the rocks, so the trail took twice as long, but it was FUN!!











We also spent some time on Trail Ridge Road. It's the road that takes you up to the high mountains where there's snow still-- even all summer long!! The elevation there is 12,000 ft. above sea level and the road has up to 35 ft. drifts in the winter and the winds are up to 150 mph!! The road opens for a few months a year, so we were here are just the right time (the road opened at the end of May). Claire was so tired and she fell asleep for our picnic. When she woke up we played in the snow...she didn't look too happy about it. Ha!!









Blake's favorite part of the vacation has been the wildlife and the scenery. He has noticed all the animals, quickly even before us most of the time!! We have seen "melk" (elk), deer, duckies,"ishies" (fishies), puppies, lots of cows (any animal he doesn't know the name of), trees, and "no" (snow). Claire is quick to correct him if he's wrong--big surprise!! We've been staying at a cabin at the YMCA of the Rockies, so we have had lots of opportunities for having hands-on bones, hooves, horns, etc. which the kids have loved, along with the playground. Also a hit!! :)








I will post a few more pictures but I haven't had time yet. We have had a great time, but we are definitely looking forward to being home on Thursday!

Trip to Suson Park!!

Today we went with some friends to Suson Park. It was so so much fun!!

Blake will be 2 soon....

Blake is going to be 2 in a couple weeks and we just had his pictures taken....enjoy!!

Yes, we are still alive :)

The Warner Family is alive and well!! We got our pictures taken last weekend...even though Blake was not really cooperative, they still turned out pretty great!







I (Courtney) graduate on May 23rd and am looking forward to securing a teaching position for the Fall :)

Our Mission Trip To Mexico.....

Brent and I were blessed with the opportunity to go with a group from our church on a mission trip to Jaurez, Mexico to build a house with Casas por Christo. Our kiddos stayed with my mom and dad for 8 days...a long time, and we had a blast ministering together in Mexico for 8 days. Here are some pictures from our trip...enjoy!

The next chapter.....

Master's Degree Update: I (Courtney) just began student teaching yesterday here in town and I will be doing that for 14 weeks, right up until the beginning of May. I'm so excited that I am going to be learning the practicality of teaching not just the knowledge and that I will be finishing my degree and will be entering the next chapter---life without college :) I was talking with Brent the other day and realized that I haven't been out of school at all (except summer break) since I was 5 years old, starting kindergarten. That means that I have been in school for 20 consecutive years!!!! Oh my goodness :) I love school, thank goodness, and will probably begin working on my administrative endorsement soon after completing my master's in May. Brent jokes often about when I am going to start my doctorate. We'll see about that! I would appreciate your prayers as I begin this chapter in my life and want so badly to do well and find a position teaching in the Fall. I know God has all these details figured out for me :)

We are alive...sorry for my blogging absence :)

Well, to say the least, I have been busy with life and not busy with blogging it. Bummer! I'm sorry for the delay in posting. To save you lots of reading, I'm just going to post from Christmas and then start from there...ha!!

We had an awesome Christmas! Claire was very into Santa this year, even wanting to leave out cookies and milk for him. She slept well and was so excited to see her gifts under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Claire also more fully understood Jesus being born on Christmas. She wanted to hear every story we had about the real meaning of Christmas at our house. Every night before bed she wanted to be read a story about Jesus' birth and then after being read all of them several times was able to "read" the stories to us. Claire made us reawaken the excitement of Jesus' birthday within us! Our family made a birthday cake for Jesus again this year, and Blake enjoyed eating it :) We went to our annual Christmas Eve service at church and this year Claire held the candle at the end, and sang Silent Night with us. It's awesome to see how much she is really grasping, she reminds me often that she loves Jesus with her whole heart for her whole life. How sweet.....

Here are some pictures from our Christmas festivities, enjoy!!