Goodbye 2012... Hello 2013!

2012 was a good year, well for the most part... as for most years, 2012 had its good times and its bad, but mostly good times.

Here are some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the year... Hopefully I will be able to find pictures to add to this post!

In January we said "goodbye for now" to my Grandma Austin. She fought a good fight with the cancer that had stricken her body and was able to leave this world with grace and dignity. I know it may seem odd, but my family and I were relieved when she passed for Grandma was no longer suffering and in pain. When she passed, she was surrounded by her family that loved her dearly. She was able to see each of her great grandkids before she passed.

Me with Grandma Austin in August 2011 when we were home for our Tulsa Wedding Reception.

February brought my 32nd birthday and an unexpected snow day! We received 28" of snow overnight!!! How exciting is that! The snow was sooo beautiful! I wish we had been in the mountains to really enjoy the snow, but alas, we made the best of it in the city.

Buddy on our back deck unsure of what to do! The snow was higher than the poor lil' guy is tall! We had to shovel a path off of the deck and into the yard for the lil' guy in order for him to attempt to go out to do his business!

My birthday weekend was very eventful... on Valentine's Day just before I left to pick up our romantic dinner for two from Pizza Hut, our DVR decided to go on the fritz... cue an hour on the phone with the Customer Support people from DirecTv... So we had to wait for a new box to arrive... the next day, on my birthday, our remote went out and the other remote wouldn't work upstairs either... so another hour or so logged with Customer Support... the next day I found myself in a car accident as I was getting onto I-76 from Federal. A car, two cars ahead of me, decided to yield (about a block past the yield sign) and the car in front of me and I both slammed on our brakes. I barely tapped the car in front of me, big sigh of relief... then as I started to pull foward to get onto the shoulder of the on-ramp I glance in my rearview mirror to see an older minivan accelerating towards my stopped car... I am lucky and I have an amazing husband who spoiled me rotten that day!

I know it doesn't look like much... but... they had to replace my trunk cover, my bumper, the rear quarter panel on both sides, the cover thingy under my car and repaint the rear portion of my car... apparently my trunk was twisted and it almost needed to be replaced too!

March seemed to be anti-climatic after February. I'm going to have to look in my calendar to see what we did! Nothing is standing out to me as being good, bad or otherwise! We spent time with the Colorado Cousins and each other! One of the biggest UPS of 2012 was when my good friend Ed came home from Afghanistan after being gone for almost a year! He was stuck in Kentucky for rehab from an injury, but alas, he was HOME!!!

April Showers bring May flowers... or so they say... one of my close friends was married in April and the following weekend Ian's cousin was married. We were unable to attend either wedding as they were both  destination weddings (one in LA, the other in Vegas) but we still sent our love to the newlyweds!

May found Ian finishing off his first semester of school!!! Yes! He went back to school part time!!! He LOVED his classes that he took and enjoyed learning new things! I found myself packing my classroom and moving all my stuff home. Change was in the air and I was looking forward to the change in work locations!

I started working for a pediatric home health company in June and found myself providing services for 6 kids after Summer School ended. The kids were a blessing in my life and I found myself remembering just WHY I got into this profession, and no, it wasn't because of the paperwork and politics in the schools... Also in June brought the arrival of our previous nephew, Henry Thomas! He is adorable beyond words and a joy to the family!

July... wow! It was a busy month! We spent the end of June in Aspen with the Keelty-Smith family celebrating the (long awaited) nuptials of Sheridan and Lo... it was great to see a majority of the family and see Sheridan and Lo tie the knot! We spent a great weekend in Aspen! Wedding and reception, night on the town with cousins, Aspen Summer Music Festival and some alone time... We spent Fourth of July with the cousins having a great BBQ. Then it was our 1st anniversary. We managed to get "THE ROOM" at our favorite hotel in Breckenridge. This was "THE ROOM" that Ian had been trying to get since the summer of 2009!

After our anniversary get-away, we had a week of working on Ian's first official "Black Dog Property Services" project before my parents came to visit us! We went to Silverthorne and subsequently to Steamboat with my parents. Mom sucked up her fear of heights and rode the gondola with us in Breckenridge too!!!

And finally, Jason came to visit at the end of the month! This brought a trip to Colorado Springs and a drive up Pike's Peak (and yes, you can drive a 2.0 ltr 4 cylinder Honda Civic coupe to the top of Pike's Peak)!!

Just before going back to work, we went home to see the newest addition to the Stiller-Titchener family... I took Jason to the airport Monday night so that we could leave early Tuesday morning for Tulsa ourselves!!!

School started for me immediately upon returning to Colorado and business took off for Ian. Life took a turn for the busy and not much time for anything else! We said our final goodbyes to the Jeep Grand Cherokee and welcomed the new Ford F-150 into our family. We did manage to find time to run off to Breckenridge for the Annual Ducky Derby (which we were late for because of the uber slow salesman at the dealership)... Unexpectantly, we got word that Uncle R.J. passed away from a heart attack around mid-month. He had been battling lung cancer and was showing signs of beating the cancer when he had the heart attack. Uncle R.J. was an amazing man, husband, father and grandpa and he is definitely going to be missed by all that loved and knew him.

The fall brought about new friendships and fun times. I introduced Ian to my old friends from Texas who had just moved to Colorado. We went out to Conifer to hang out with Jonathan one fall day while Amanda was out of town... I lost my digital camera, which Jonathan was convinced the deer had stolen... my shot improved dramatically since the last time I shot my bow!

The rest of the fall season seems like a blur of testing students, writing reports, meetings, Sewing club at my old middle school, private speech sessions for my 3 students and doing more paperwork! We found out that grocery shopping on Halloween is a good time to be out, very little traffic at the grocery store AND avoiding the kids going up and down the street trick-or-treating!!! Halloween also brought sad news to me and the rest of the BTW c/o 98. We found out that one of our classmates (and good friend) had passed away very unexpectantly leaving behind his wife (one of my close friends since elementary school) and a loving family.

 We celebrated Thanksgiving with Jonathan and Amanda at their house in Conifer. It was fun and I hope we do this again next year!

 Jonathan and Amanda- my friends from Ft. Worth! Crazy to think we met my first year teaching and now we are teaching together again in Jeffco!

The end of November brought sadness to my life as I found out that a very special woman in my life had gone on to an eternal party in heaven. She will always be remembered as being an angel to so many people whose lives she influenced and improved. May she rest in eternal peace and celebration with my grandma and others that we have loved and lost in the years past.

To end the year, Ian and I loaded up the new truck and headed back to Tulsa for a week with the family. We had a good time with the extended Keelty family on Christmas Eve, then the Stiller's on Christmas morning before joining my family for the afternoon. Our gifts from the heart were a big hit with the families and everyone had a great time! McKenzie turned 12 while we were home and we were able to go to both of her parties AND have her and Syrina spend the night with us at the hotel!

New Years Eve found the two of us at home hanging out together having a low-key kinda night. Christmas pictures will be posted in another post since this one is getting to be long...

Goodbye Jeep... Hello F150

On September 1, Ian and I thought we would go to the dealership to check out this truck that he found online... no intentions to buy the truck, just check it out... two hours later (more or less, more being the precise word here)we drove off the lot knowing that in a matter of a few days we would be driving off in our new truck...

 The truck has everything that we wanted and will be soooo much better for traveling... which we were reminded of numerous times as we attempted to drive to Breckenridge in time for the Duck Derby and Kodi was scratching our shoulders, breathing in my ear, dripping her drool on my arm, rolling the window down when it wasn't locked and being obnoxious in every meaning of the word! I am so excited about this new adventure with the truck!!! Pictures to be added soon!!!!

Summer Fun

This summer was a busy one! Summer school for both me and Ian... our nephew was born in Tulsa... had a weekend get-away to celebrate with Ian's cousin as she pledged her love to her husband...  started providing pediatric home speech therapy... Ian started his new business... we went to Breckenridge for a few days to celebrate our first anniversary... my parents came to visit... my Tulsa best friend came for a visit... we went to Tulsa for a quick trip to meet the nephew... then started school...

Here are a few pictures from the summer. Started with Ian's birthday dinner the end of June and ending with our Tulsa trip.

Left to Right - Christina, me, Ian and Ryan - we love spending times with Christina and Ryan! Ian's birthday dinner at Katie Mullin's downtown Denver.

 Rehearsal Dinner- Patrick, Allan, Caroline with Ethan, Stephanie, Chris and Nicole.

Post rehearsal dinner- I had to get a photo of the two of us!

Wedding day at the Maroon Bells!

Keelty Cousins - Lauran, Meredith, Chris (Nicole in front), Zach (Stephanie in front), Berkeley, Patrick, Sheridan and Lo (in front with Oliver center), Ian (me in front), Allan with Ethan and Caroline beside, Ryan and Christina (sitting), Molly, Liam and Aiden.

 Aspen Summer Music Festival.

Our wedding rings... never took a photo like this on our wedding day...

 Our anniversary get-away- the lake on Loveland Pass.

Happy 1st anniversary to us!!! From the balcony of "THE ROOM" at the Lodge!

 My rebel... Once a rebel, always a rebel! I love my crazy husband!

Pike's Peak summit...

The precious little footsies of Henry!


And this ends the Summer FUN!

Our First Anniversary

So this week we celebrated our first anniversary in our favorite place to be together, Breckenridge, Co. We stayed at the same hotel we always stay at when we visit Breck and even managed to get
THE ROOM that Ian has been wanting to get for 3 years now!

On our anniversary we got all dressed up (well sorta) and went to dinner at a magnificent restaurant in Frisco, Colorado. I have been CRAVING the bruschetta from Tuscato's for just about two years now! After dinner we went back to Breck and walked around and looked in the galleries.

Wednesday we took some more "professional" photos up on Boreas Pass. Here are some of my favorite shots!

These are from the deck at the hotel on our anniversary.

Busy Busy Busy

It has been a WHIRL WIND of a summer already! This year flew by so quickly, probably because I was working so much... I was working at school, most days starting at 7:30 and ending between 5:30 and 6:00... I had 3 days of clubs after school and 2 days of homebound speech services.  Then I had babysitting events with Seeking Sitters most weekends... around 40 hours a month of babysitting!

Ian took a class at the local community college this spring and was hooked so he is taking another this summer! He is also setting up his own handyman business (if you are in the Denver area and need work done on your house/yard give us a shout!) which has been keeping him busy with research!

Now that school is out, I am staying busy still... providing speech services in ESY (Extended School Year) for the ENTIRE district... which means that I have had 1 day of summer vacation (not counting the weekends) since school let out. Although it is easy cash, I am truly feeling that my services are useless as I am at a different school each day of the week, ultimately spending 4 hours per class over the course of the 4 week program... July is looking to be fun... Oh did I mention that I have started working for a home health agency and have 3 clients at the moment! Branching out in my profession finally!

July's excitement will start next weekend when we leave Evergreen HS from my ESY group and head to Aspen for the weekend. Ian's cousin, Sheridan is getting married and this is one event that we wouldn't miss for the world! We will come back from Aspen in time for Ian to go to class on Monday, then the rest of the week is free and clear for the moment... I'm not sure what we are going to do for the Fourth of July yet... but the next week we will be celebrating our FIRST anniversary!!! WAHOO!!! He is going to skip a day of class so we can go do something special for our day since we didn't get to go on a honeymoon last year... then the next week it is back to ESY for me, just not with Jeffco. I have agreed to be a contract provider for another school district near my house... this ESY is looking to be a little better organized and I will be paid better than I was through my own school district! Another perk (if you can call working in the summer a perk) is that the ESY program is Monday - Thursday... The last week of ESY my parents will be here for a visit and we are planning some day trips that we can go on after I get home as well as a weekend trip. They will leave on the 29th and on August 2 my OK BFF will fly in for the weekend! We already have the weekend plans figured out for Jason's visit!! I will take Jason to the airport on that following Monday. If things work out the way we'd like, Ian will be home loading up the tools that he needs as well as our stuff so that we can hit the road to come back to Oklahoma the next day!  We have a brand new nephew that we need to love, cuddle and spoil back in Tulsa!!!

As you can see, we have been very busy, me more so than Ian... at times I haven't known if I was coming or going but it has all been super fun and a learning experience!

I've been SEW busy!

I've been sewing... a lot lately... since last summer I have been a busy bee! I hadn't touched a sewing machine in years, specifically, before my grandma Alan passed away! My friend Karen had the patience to sit down with me and help me to sew the purses for the wedding party last June and since then, I've been on my own! Here are some pictures of my sewing products!

A blanket that my Grandma Austin and I made together when I was home in November. It is a little girlie- pinks, paisleys, owls... my future daughter will have something that her great grandma helped to make!

 A boy blanket that I made for a co-worker... super cute!

This is the boy blanket that my grandma and I made together. Greens, browns and monkeys galore! I love monkeys as most people know!!! I just need to finish the binding of this little creation and it is finished!

Burp rags that I made with scraps from receiving blankets that I made for friends that had twins this spring! The back is a green minky material!

This is the "back" of my dad's quilt that I started in October 2011. I am now thinking that I am going to make two quilts for him... use the flames as the back of this one and he can keep it at the station...

A monkey quilt for a co-worker. I found out that her theme for her new son is sports and monkeys along with reds/blues/browns... so I used a red back with baseballs to accent the brown front!

Another girlie blanket for a co-worker... there were 5 pregnant people in our building... this one is one of my favorite color combinations!

Yet another girl blanket...

The gender neutral blanket for my sister in law... I am hoping that Henry LOVES his flannel blankie made with love by his Aunt Tracey! I used weenie dogs on the back since Kelly and Jack have two weenie dogs at home!

The purse that I made for McKenzie. The outside is flannel and the inside regular cotton.

A little fleece monkey. My 5-6th grade girls made monkeys out of flannel this spring semester. I have made 2 fleece monkeys for our cousin's boys... This one is smaller than the first.

A gender neutral baby blanket for the last pregnant co-worker... She LOVED frogs so it fit!

The purse that I made for Syrina. I used two fat quarters to make this one.

Over all... since last June, I have made... (DRUM ROLL PLEASE)
150 corn sacks/tubes- wedding favors and fire station gifts
1 flannel/fleece quilt throw blanket for my Intern
10 flannel baby quilts (most of them pictured above)
4 little purses (2 pictured above)
1 larger Hobo purse
9 reversible bags for wedding party
2 full size quilt fronts for my dad
12 napkins- to match the placemats
8 quilted placemats - a wedding gift for friends
1 table runner - needs the back and quilted...
4 receiving blankets
4 burp rags/silkies
1 baby blanket with flannel on the front and chenille on the back
12 monkeys - with/for my 5/6th grade students
6 tote bags - for my 5/6th grade students

My Amazing Nieces

Is there ANYTHING that my 4 wonderful nieces CAN'T do?!? I know I am a wee bit biased when it comes to my girls, but I think that I have every right to be proud of these girls! Where to start...

Misti Leighanne- She has beaten the odds when it comes to getting where she is today. She just completed her second year of college with flying colors. She makes great grades... works while in school... plays several instruments (and plays them very well too!) and performs in the University's bands and groups. She recently got married to her high school sweet heart and is still making the grade at school... She is beautiful in every way, inside and out. There is nothing that she could do (well legally at least) that would disappoint me.

Syrina Nicole- My second little angel who has definitely beat the odds. She started life as a teeny tiny baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for the first 12 weeks of her life... she has endured multiple surgeries to repair her palate, fix her teeth and now orthodontic surgery to continue the dental process. She is really growing into a beautiful young lady who has many talents of her own. She, like her daddy, loves to draw and sketch. She conquered clogging and this year took on jazz dancing. She is learning to cook and is proud of her creations. She is passing her EOI tests like they were kiddy games... This child never ceases to amaze me!

Ana Rae- Although not my blood niece, she is still one of my girls. She is talented beyond measure. She can dance (tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop), sing (oh my goodness can she sing!), act, play soccer, swim like a fish and excel in school. She is beautiful and has a big heart. She has stolen the heart of everyone in her family and in her life.

McKenzie Ann- My princess. She's been my princess from the beginning and my princess she will be forever. Much to my dad's chagrin, she has been a spitting image of me from the get-go. She has spunk and sass and doesn't take no none-sense from anyone. She can dance like an angel (hip hop and now clogging), calm an animal like no other... make up silly stories and jokes. She is adorable and sweet.

My girls, will always be my little girls... although they are now 21, 17 and 11, they are still my little girls. They are all beautiful, caring, sweet, loving, faithful, loyal, responsible, respectful, smart, focused, determined, special, unique, talented, energetic, crazy, athletic, spunky, sassy, loveable, patient and they all have the most amazing hearts of anyone I know!

Girls, if you ever read this, know this: Aunt Tracey (Meme) loves you with all her heart and there is NOTHING that will ever change the way I feel about you!

McKenzie's Dance Recital 2012

My talented niece, McKenzie Ann is the cute blonde just to the right of center. This is her first year that she has taken clogging, she has taken hip-hop the last few years of dance. I am super proud of her and all her accomplishments! She has come out of her shell and embraced performing in front of others... she has "taken a shine" to animals (especially horses and dogs) and has started showing my mom's silkies... she makes good grades... she loves to read. She is smart, silly, funny, caring, sweet, sassy, energetic, loving, friendly, outgoing, goofy, a little bit of a dork and she's MINE!!!

I love you Princess and Aunt Tracey is more proud of you than you will ever know!

As promised... a few months back...

As the old story goes... 'Twas the night before Christmas, our first in our home (as a married couple)... not a creature was stirring... (well maybe a Buddy...) not even a mouse... Here are pictures from Christmas Eve... both of our pups were apparently worn out!


Buddy looking up at me... and then away... it's rough being a Buddy!

 As usual, I am taking pictures of Ian setting up our self-taken portraits. It is always mildly entertaining to me the strange positions he ends up in to set up the various tripods!

I LOVE my Harry Potter/TU scarf, hat and mittens!!! The scarf is sooo cozy!!

Ian LOVES his Darth Vader alarm clock from Kelly and Jack! I was a little disappointed when I tried the alarm and it was the regular old "beep" nothing John Williams-y... But alas... it is a LEGO alarm clock! 

2011 In review

I can't believe how quickly 2011 flew by!!! It seems like just yesterday we were in Tulsa preparing to drive back to Denver from Christmas with our families and now we have two days left in the year!

2010 ended with the death of a very special woman in my life. Grandma Ida, my adopted great-grandmother, passed away on 12/30/2010 as we were leaving to come home to Colorado. Grandma Ida was 99! Unfortunately I was unable to return to Tulsa the beginning of January for her memorial service, which was a beautiful service dedicated to her beautiful life and the wonderful memories and legacy that she left behind. The rest of January was spent working in a place that I was becoming more resentful and unhappy, being sicker than I had in a long time and making final plans for our wedding. We had tastings for two different caterers, several floral consultations, and final decisions made on our wedding invites. We got to see Zach and Whitney for the day when we went to Golden to tour the Coors Factory and explore in downtown Golden. Then the next weekend they spent the night with us!

February was an exciting month... we received our cocktail napkins for the wedding, our wedding invites arrived and were sent out (5 months early for our wedding) and we received two photo books. My birthday came and went with me being laid up on the couch sick (again)... Ian, not having a job at the time, bought me the cutest (and most awesomest) stuffed frog for a combined Valentine's and birthday gift. (I still sleep with that frog every night!) Grandma Austin went in for her annual check up for her cancer... and we got the news that it was back... decisions to be made once more information was gathered.

March brought the "international" invites going out (on the 1st) and the selection of our caterer... we had a hard time deciding between the two caterers! We decided to do our own flowers rather than pay a lot of money for someone else to do what we could do on our own. In effort to save some money, we stayed home during my Spring Break and did work around the house. We built me a desk/craft area and refurbed an antique table base. We also bought enough seed to cover the earth (or so it seemed) to reseed our front and back yard (in an attempt to get some grass to grow...) and soil conditioner and fertilizer and even some flower seeds and bulbs. We were hoping that the gardens would be in full bloom when our families arrived in July...

April 1st was 100 days from our wedding! What an exciting day! Ian told me that he didn't care about the count down until we hit 100! We continued our project of improving the yards and garden... still hoping for some amazing blooms in July! I had my summative evaluation with my principal. All remarks were proficient, meets expectations, exceeds expectations in almost all areas, the only areas that were needs improvement or improving were in the areas of SBS (Standards Based System). I was a little relieved after this evaluation meeting. Grandma found out that she needed to have a hysterectomy to remove the cancerous cells from her body near the end of the month. Now the wait was on to find out when the surgery was going to be scheduled... Nothing like hurrying up to wait for the insurance company!

May brought us even closer to the wedding. Our plans were coming together seamlessly. Invites were out, decorations mainly purchased, photographer set, engagement pictures taken, caterer finalized and steps were in place for the Tulsa reception in August. Then I got the letter... well actually the meeting with my administration team... I was being non-renewed because I "didn't fit" with the building... I was devastated but at the same time, I was already looking for another job because I was not happy with where I was professionally. Drama was starting to settle down amongst the natives regarding the wedding plans. I taught my Severe Needs Special Education class how to sign the National Anthem and we signed it in front of the entire districts participants at our STARZ Track ad Field day for our special needs kids!!! I was sooo proud of my kids (and my staff!)!!!

June finally arrived! I drove home for a whirlwind 10 day trip. Two bridal showers, my nieces dance recital, two veil fittings, a hair appointment, dress fittings with mom and my reception dress,  and time with my little brother and Ana, oh and an interview. It was quite the trip that is for sure. During my trip I got to talk to my favorite GI Joe, Ed Johnson, just before he loaded up on the plane to go to Afghanistan for his 9 month tour. After returning to Colorado the whirlwind continued... dress pressed, nails done, spray tan completed, bridal portraits, jewelry party, makeup party, shopping with friends to finish up decorations and last minute details. I even met up with my friend Karin to sew purses for the bridal party AND 100 corn sacks/tubes for wedding favors. We celebrated Ian's birthday in his requested low-key style. You'd like information on my interview huh? Let's just say that within 30 minutes of finishing the interview, I received a call offering me a job! I accepted within 15 minutes! Grandma Austin had her hysterectomy with enough time to heal before my parents came out to Colorado for the wedding. However, just before coming out we got the news that there was some suspicious fluid in/around her stomach and intestines...

Our wedding month FINALLY came around! The weekend before our wedding we decided to jet set off to Aspen... on July 1 we dropped the dogs off at the kennel to be boarded for the weekend and we were off! We had never driven up Loveland Pass before so we decided to give it a shot, we had all the time in the world! Loveland Pass was beautiful! After that side trip we stayed on the passes and took Independence Pass into Aspen. Since we had never stopped at the Independence Ghost Town before (prior to my father visiting summer 2010) we thought we'd stop and hike and explore the area! After the ghost town, we headed on into Aspen and decided to check out Hunter creek before meeting up with Ian's cousins for the evening in Basalt. Saturday morning we got up and headed home, but we decided to take the scenic route home again. This time we stopped at the Day Grotto area on the pass where we explored the Ice Cave for the 3rd year in a row. Then we headed home the same way that we arrived. Who does that!?!?! The weekend before your wedding go out of town!!! We came home to tag the favors, place stickers on the water bottles and stuff hotel guest sacks and start cleaning like crazy people in preparation for my family to arrive on Wednesday! The fourth of July was another low-key affair, Kodi is scared to death of loud noises so we had to stay home with her to make sure she didn't freak out. My parents came in early to help out with final plans for the wedding. It seemed like everything had been coming together so smoothly and then the week of just fell apart! We went from having 60 RSVP'd guests to 40... the flower lady called to say that the flowers I had ordered didn't arrive... had to go to two different stores to get the flowers... it was storming, like Oklahoma thunderstorms... we hadn't finalized the slideshow and the music playlists or selected our vows, and it didn't seem like it would ever happen! The final straw that nearly brought me down was the phone call from Ian's mom saying that her sister wasn't going to be able to make the wedding... no biggie right? WRONG! Her sister is the one who had the veil!!! AUGH!!!! About the time that I was getting weak in the knees and tears were flowing over my freshly spray tanned face, Ian found out that the veil had been overnighted to us!

The wedding was beautiful, despite Ian being sick... I wouldn't change any of the details if I could do it over again. (See posts on the wedding). Finally, our families went home, Ian started to feel better and we prepared to go to Tulsa for the next reception.

The beginning of August was very hectic as well. I was starting orientation and moving my stuff into my new classroom and we were packing to go to Tulsa. That four day trip left my head spinning and my body wishing for a day off before returning to training! The reception was fun and we had a lot of people come by to wish us well and to catch up with us. It was so great to get to spend time with Kelly and Jack as well as Zach and Whitney. My new job started and I was loving the team that I worked with at my elementary school. For the first time in my career my caseload was less than 50! The team that I worked with was organized and open to helping me and supporting me. We finally got the news from the doctor that grandma had a rare form of cancer brought on from the over-radiation 7 years ago when she initially was diagnosed with Colon cancer... this new form of cancer was determined to be untreatable. She didn't make it to our reception because she wasn't feeling too well, but we did manage to spend some time with her before the party.

September brought Ian a job with Handyman Matters. He was working like crazy, which was good for him and us.  Work was still good and I was still loving it!!! The fall foliage was beautiful and we were enjoying being married. I even got to see my friend Jen from Fort Worth!!! Grandma was still doing well and living in her apartment, although we were wondering how long that would last...

Then in October work slowed down for Ian. Boo!!! We took a day to go to Estes Park with our friends, Ilene and Franco and their crazy kids, Shi and Sergio. The scarecrows in Estes were fun! I think that we will be trying that again next year! Grandma Austin's health was starting to decline- she was starting to have difficulty eating and her blood count was low. She was tired a lot and was starting to have pain.

November brought my parents making preparations for Grandma to move in with them. Since grandma's health was declining more rapidly than they expected, my parents flew me home the week before Thanksgiving so that I could spend time with her. I had a great visit at home. I got to spend time with my grandma sewing and some quality one on one time that I never really had the chance to have as a child growing up. I will always have the blankets that my grandma and I made together. I flew back to Colorado on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so that we could spend our first married Thanksgivingtogether.

December... my first Christmas to NOT be with my family... this was a tough pill to swallow for me. But there was no possible way that we were going to be able to afford the trip to Tulsa. We bought our first Christmas tree and decorated it with the various decorations that we have collected since we started dating... we even hung our stockings under the mantle! Having the decorations up made it a little easier being away from our families. And it was a little nice having a quiet day together, not being back and forth between his family and mine and time together... Grandma was living with my parents by this time. Her health was declining a little faster than expected, my mom was starting to have to come to grips with the fact that this would be the last holiday spent with her mother. :(

New Years Eve 2011 came with us ringing in the new year with Ian's cousins and friends. It is great being able to spend time with family and develop these wonderful relationships!!!