The Beginning of a great 2 weeks.

I was able to fly home to MN on Saturday morning. My grandma Malley passed away on Thursday from Corticobasal Ganglia Degeneration, a very rare disease that robbed her from many things including a longer life. However, she is dancing with Jesus as I type and for that we are grateful. She suffered from this disease for more than 10 years and was unable to speak, walk, or use her hands. She was mentally sound and able to think clearly which made the disease even more frustrating for her than anything else.

She was an amazing women of the Lord, praying daily for all of her 5 children, 12 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. For me personally I have been touched by her devotion to God and her faithfulness to him through any trial in her life. My grandpa has also been a beautiful example of a devoted loving husband, seeing her everyday and spending hours at her nursing home talking to her and just keeping her company. Grandpa, you are a beautiful example of Christ's love for his church through your marriage devotion to Grandma.

So being home is a wonderful gift! I get to see my family and a few friends while I'm here. Last night was David's birthday and we celebrated with a bar-b-cue without him! Moselle's plus our friend Dawnette , Tiffany and Nate! We love them! Kim also came home from working at camp this summer in WI. She is loving her many interesting experiences and is learning so many things. She was blessed to have been able to borrow a friend's car so she could make it back here to celebrate Grandma.

Sisterly love.

Of course, we love our Dad!

In stead of birthday cake we had some sorbet!
Kim, Me, Tiff, Dawnette

Because we love them!
Tiff & Nate

Two 14ers Down, 52 To Go

Last week, a fellow JAG and I nabbed two 14ers in the Front Range, Grays and Torreys Peaks. It was a ton of fun, especially glissading 2,000 feet in 60 seconds. We left here at 4:30, hit the trailhead by 7:30, and were back to the car by 2:00. Both peaks are close to each other, so its pretty easy to do both in a day. The weather held out for us, and we summited both! And, I got to use my Jeep for what it was made for: off-roading! It if weren't for the Jeep, we would have had 7 more miles to hike. Here are some pics:

From the Interstate.
Torreys Peak.
Capt Gehman in front of Torreys.
You can see our trail from where we slid on our butts down the mountain! Very exciting.
At the top of Torreys.
Grays in the background.
At the top of Grays.

Blessing are falling down on us!

We have so many things to update you all on! Let's see if I can remember it all :-)

Last weekend was so busy and so fun! On Friday afternoon my good friend Polly and her husband Jeremy came for a short visit. Polly and I met in Nepal summer of 2000 and we've kept up since. She and Jeremy are about 5-6 months pregnant and isn't she so cute!? We mostly just talked and ate while they were here. David and I only have met Jeremy briefly at our wedding and again at theirs! We finally feel like we know and love him.
Monday was a busy, exciting day! I started my new job, praise the Lord!!! Wrigley had his first puppy training class and we had some more visitors! My cousin Michael and his wife Michelle are moving/just moved to Las Vegas. Michelle and my uncle were driving the truck from MN to NV and stopped here for the night. It was too brief but so great to see them for a few hours. Here's a picture of David and Michelle both on their way out the door Tuesday morning.
We are also trying to make sure we walk Wrigley everyday so we all get some exercise. It's been a sad week knowing he is in his kennel (we call the kennel his room) while we are at work :-( David got up a few minutes early everyday this week and walked him and in the evenings we tried to walk him as well. One of the nights I walked Wrigley and David worked on the lawn with the sprinkler on... and Wrigs and I came home to mud! Wrigley loved it and David loved it only because he got to give Wrigley a bath. Here's a funny picture of our baby after the bath. P.S. Wrigley is now 11 lbs.!

Hike #2, Red Rock Canyon or something like that!

Here's a hilarious picture of David. When we got there it was much more sunny than we thought and he didn't have a hat and his scalp will burn with his shaved head. So, we made him a turban from my shirt! So funny.
One thing we didn't know or realize could happen was little Wrigley can get sun burnt. His snout is a little burnt and we need to get him some doggy sun screen so he can hike with us in the future. This hike was supposed to be beautiful and it was but... the trails are not well marked and we took a few wrong turns. We saw the beauty but didn't get the chance to really hike around it because we already had been hiking for about 2 hours and Wrigley couldn't take much more with the heat.
Here's the view from the top of the canyon. If we had taken the correct trail we would have been in the canyon by a lake and more trees. I think we'll be back here and could even walk it during the week. There are a lot of trails in this area and it's so nice to see water!
And last but certainly not least... I got a job!!!!! I feel more than blessed through this experience. You see, God totally orchestrated this for us and I love it when He does that! We got connected through David's mom to another young couple from Rockford while we were visiting churches. We have only met this couple the one time we visited their church. I told the wife I was looking for a job and ended up sending her my resume. She forwarded it to a friend of hers who works for my new employer! They only hire people through employee referrals and she sent my resume to my boss who in turn asked me for an interview! Sorry if that was confusing but I'm trying to make the point that God made this happen. The funny thing is, I still haven't gotten to meet this girl who forwarded my resume.

I interviewed on Tuesday the 10th at WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing, a division of Random House Publishers. WaterBrook Multnomah is the christian division basically publishing books by John Piper, Ravi Zacharias, Francine Rivers, Melody Carlson, James Dobson ect.

I loved the lady who interviewed me, Lori, who is now my boss! The interview was so encouraging and I ended up leaving with about 5 new books! I got the job as an Sales Assistant and started last Monday! I'm loving it so far and am eager to learn what my role really is. I have been giving SO many books to read I am overwhelmed. I am not that fast of a reader but still love to read. So, now reading novels and other really great books is part of my job and I love it!!!!

A few highlights from my first week:
1. On my first day I got to meet the author Chuck Black, who wrote the Kingdom series. He briefly spoke to our office about how God was using his books in so many ways and was giving all the glory to God... I mean I work here at a place that gives God the glory!!! So awesome.
2. I got to wear nice clothes to work and not get grease on them!
3. I met another author name Donita K. Paul. We met her at the Focus on the Family chapel which I was able to attend. Ms. Paul signed books at the FOTF bookstore after chapel.
4. I have about 50 more books on my to read list and I love it!

Happy 3 Years!

We celebrated our love and three years of marriage last Wednesday, June 11th! David took me down town Colorado Springs to The Melting Pot in memory of our engagement day in down town Chicago.

David,
You know I love you more than words can say. I know God has blessed me so much with you as my partner. Thank you for all your love and support in my life. I have more fun with you than anyone else in the world... how awesome is that?! Thanks for choosing me :-)

Introducing Wrigley

Here's a short video of the new addition to the Blomgren household.

This week was fun!

Here are two pictures of my boys!

Taking a little snoze together after a long hard day!

We drove to Denver to see my good friend and old college roomie, Laura who is getting married next week! She just get her MSW and graduated this weekend. Go Lo!

We discovered a sweet little town by the mountains yesterday called Manitou Springs. Here we are on our way there.

Hike #1: Section 16 Palmer Trail

Here are some pictures from our first hike in CO as residents!

And, we still love our new puppy!