Mueller State Park

Hunter went to his friend Brantley's house for some mountain biking and a sleepover...so Jason, Ashley, and I headed out to explore the mountains a little. Our freshly adhered to the window state park pass was just begging to be used, so we headed to Mueller State Park. It's about a 45 minute drive from our house and a beautiful place to explore.

We saw a ton of chipmunks...so cute.
We checked out a few hiking trails, we did see a cow elk, but she was running too fast for a picture. This is Pike's Peak in the background..We were hiking at almost 10,000 ft. elevation and felt it going up the hills!

The old Cheeseman Ranch, now part of the state park..beautiful meadows and mountains. It was a very peaceful hike.

Can't wait to come back and see the Aspen forests as they change color in the fall!

The cutest and most chatty squirrels live in Colorado...Hawaii has no squirrels, so it was a welcomed sight

Scenic outlook...Ashley was a leary of getting to close to the cliff edge.

Beautiful view of the Rockies!

After this long day in the park, lots of hiking and wildlife seen, Jason concluded that he loved Colorado...I think we're going to really enjoy living here!

house update

Woohoo! We have stucco color! Trim and punch still needed to be added, but it's moving right along.

Interior paint and trim finished this week...We got crown molding for free too! Good thing those carpenters didn't read the work order more carefully.

Hunter is standing in our future pool room

From the living room, looking up to the landing

Our new house

We are VERY excited about building our new house and can't wait until it is ready to move in. We drive by several times a week and poke around inside at least a few times. These are the most current pictures. The drywall is almost finished mudding and taping, so they will start the finish work soon. I will update pictures every week or so...we have a great guestroom in the finished basement, so come on out to visit soon!

The view from Ashley's window..that is the golf course off our fence...this is the teebox almost directly behind us...the scaffolding for the stucco is still up along the house..boy are we going to have a lot of landscaping to do!

This is my bathtub window view

The house before stucco

And after stucco...Jason is inspecting...Ashley and I thought he blended in wearing his uniform...he definitely knows his stuff about construction and I'm glad he's home during this process
The stucco has to cure for a few days before they can put the colored coat on...can't wait!!

Jason and Hunter..they just love wearing those hard hats! The fireplace is coming along...maybe next time we see it, we'll be looking at stone!

Ashley in her bedroom...little miss priss

Hunter in his bedroom...mr. cool

Hello Colorado

The first day of school...Ashley is a sophomore, Hunter in 8th grade. School for Ashley starts at 7:10 am...we have to leave at 6:30am while living in the apt...it's making for interesting mornings! I can't believe how close they are getting to being grown ups!!
The view of Pikes Peak from our apartment window..You can see the light tan on the top portion of the mountain~ that's the snow line

We are getting acquainted with the new critters in our new town..this little guy was found on a trail and was about 4 inches long...pretty cool

Our first little hike in Colorado...the top of Helen Hunt Falls..Wow! We are standing in the Rocky Mountains

Helen Hunt Falls

They are enjoying Colorado

driving through Cheyenne Canyon

wildlife is everywhere and not afraid of us...this buck mule deer was right outside the truck window and didn't mind me taking his picture while he snacked on the leaves

This is what happens when you move to a new town and your parents leave you alone while they shop for house stuff...they found the dress up box at our friend's house..quite the little drama lovers!

Goodbye Hawaii

We headed to the North Shore...our favorite place..for a few last pictures
The Rainbow Bridge in Haleiwa...we are in the middle

after a full day of last minute pictures, packing and saying hard goodbyes, we headed to the airport...Aloha Hawaii...we will always have fond memories!

The kids were enjoying eachother...the long trip to Colorado is almost over

Colorado Springs from the air..here we come new duty station

Kayaking out to the Mokulua Islands

We rented kayaks with friends and headed out the the Molulua Islands (behind us in the distance) The water was a little rough, but it was a great trip!
Boys will be boys...I'm sure every crab on Oahu did the happy dance when our plane finally took off....Hunter has an affinity for crab catching

We all made it in one piece...Ashley's kayaking capsized after they followed some spotted eagle rays into a rough area

The Queen's Bath...no the water isn't warm, but sure is beautiful

have rock, will climb

Jason jumped from this rock into the Queen's Bath...the splash was crazy!!

lunch under a rock on a remote island, what could be better??

Most of the island is a bird sanctuary, so we could only explore on the coast

Being thrashed by a wave...they loved this!!

July 4th 2010

Hunter and Ryan are on the paddle board...they had no clue the sailboat was right on their heals

An amazing 4th of July!! We spotted this small shipwreck while snorkeling off the sand bar

Can you think of a better way to relax??

Hunter never sits still...he's off for some snorkeling while the other kids hang out on the boat

and look! He's been spearfishing too! Too bad he can't eat this trumpet fish...He has got to get better at remembering what's edible...
Heading back just before sunset....fireworks, s'mores and burgers here we come!

After spending the night in the beach cabins, we were out for our last paintball game at Bellows..the Tuten crew rocked!!

The only time you'll see Hunter covered in pink...lol...

The Awesome Threesome