store exposure

hey everyone! just wanted to put the word out that chris' store is featured in the abq journal today and will be featured in the daily lobo tomorrow!! they did a really cool - and huge - article in today's paper in the westside business section. we're not sure where the article will be in the daily lobo tomorrow but it's not that big of a paper so i'm sure it would be easy to find. anyway, just wanted to let you know in case you were interested in picking one up and reading about my fabulous husband and his business adventures!!

please check out this link.

a friend of mine posted this link on her blog and i read it and decided it was important to link it on my blog as well. i believe that we as christians have an obligation in this election to vote for the candidate that we think will be the most God-honoring. i do not mean to sway anyone because that decision is up to each and every individual and i would encourage you to pray and ask God who He wants you to vote for. but i do feel the need to share this link with you. please check this out.

thanks for endless monkey dances...

i sent out an email a while back asking for help because sweet braidyn wanted to get her sister a dancing monkey. the way to get said monkey was to sell enough wrapping paper and chocolates through a school fundraiser. well, with your help, she sold 52 items and won her sister a monkey. so, thank you for endless monkey dances...

excuses, excuses...

i'm so sorry it's been so long since i've posted. the store is doing well, there are always bumps in the road, but God is still blessing the bumpy road! chris and i went on a much needed vacation and when we got back, our camera battery went dead and we can't find the charger so there will be no pictures for now (except for the not-so-great pictures from my phone!) anyway, we are all doing well and i will post more soon, it's just been SO CRAZY BUSY around here, but i will post soon :) love you all!

THE STORE IS OPENING AT 2PM TODAY - I SAID TODAY PEOPLE!!!!

if you are reading this before 9pm on saturday, then come on down to cottonwood mall and do a little shopping at an amazing sports apparel store called Pro Image cuz it's FINALLY OPEN and we need some shoppers!!!!

if you're reading this after that, then come on down another day cuz WE'LL BE OPEN!!!

i just want to thank all of you again who have prayed for us during this process because as you can see, your prayers have been answered and the store is FINALLY OPENING!!!

love you all and hope to see you with a Pro Image bag in your hands soon!!!

highly anticipated by out-of-towners... the balloons are here!!!!

just a little view from our backyard. balloons fly right over our house, it's pretty crazy, this one actually got pretty close.


this is the wwjd balloon. it says wwjd on one side (what would jesus do) and wdjd on the other (what did jesus do). i love that there are balloons flying in the sky proclaiming the message of our Lord and Savior!
this one landed on the street adjacent to ours.
this one also flew over our house
you can see the fire in this one...they saw my camera and wanted to show off - thanks guys for giving me such a great pic!
b gets an amazing view on the way to school these days. they were pointing out their favorite balloons before they got in the car, they got to see all of the balloons that landed in the neighborhood, and got to see them flying - all on the way to school!
this one also landed on a neighboring street.
another view from the front yard.
and a couple from the backyard.


i hope you all enjoyed the view from our house. more to come!!

hat frenzy

so mali and i went to other mother's (our 2nd favorite store...target always earns the top spot but hobby lobby is starting to creep up there...although taking kids to that store is not an option for me - sorry, that was a really long side note) anyway, we were there and i found some cute hats for the girls and mali insisted on trying each of them on...over and over and over and over....it was keeping her occupied but me as well because she would scream every time she couldn't get a hat on just right. so then i'd help her and get the cutest smile...it was like another identity when she had the hat on.

wild child

we're not really sure what's gotten into her lately but b had the amazing idea to climb into a huge pile of pillows at costco when mommy and daddy weren't looking. we called her name and heard this faint giggle coming from underneath the pillows. i couldn't believe it. our sweet, well mannered, obedient child had turned into a "normal" child and now we are trying to understand what happened. i guess you can't be that lucky for too long, eventually all kids turn rebellious and test the waters! anyway, here are some pics of b in the pillow pit.


and now, being disciplined...

jersey day at school

it's kinda convenient to have a husband that owns a sports apparel store when your child has jersey day at school. thanks for bringing home the jersey babe, b will be the coolest kid in school...not like she isn't already :)

galloping grace pumpkin patch!

mr. max showing b the horse's teeth...eewww, gross!

look mom...no hands!


giving mr. max a high five!
b in the hay maze

picking out the pumpkins
eating the pumpkin we picked out

mali: i want this one mommy.

me: well, if you can carry it outta here, it's yours!



our friends have a pumpkin patch here in town so we went on saturday and had such a fun time! braidyn and mali got to ride a horse and braidyn braved a hay maze! we all picked out pumpkins to bring home and decorate. mali tried to eat hers then tried to pick one up 50 times her size! braidyn decided to get a wagon to carry all of hers...she didn't realize that she was only getting two - one to decorate at home and one to take to school. we had so much fun and would encourage anyone here in town to go check it out! 100% of the proceeds go to the galloping grace youth ranch which is such an amazing place!

another store update...it's getting closer!!

it's been cleared out. the obvious, enormous pole right smack in the middle of the store (which you can see to the right) is something they weren't expecting. but it's the main air supply that keeps rocky mountain chocolates so cold and delicious, so there's nothing they can do about it...except sue...but that's not something i'd like to discuss on this blog...
the temp store...getting decorated
shelving is up...yes, they will have more than four hats to sell...eventually :)
i'm just glad these boxes are out of my garage.

again, more to come! they are hoping to open this week if possible. as soon as the last of the orders are delivered, they can inventory the product, label it, hang it, and SELL IT!!

four little grandbyrdies

we survived hoot's

b's best friend's birthday party was this weekend at hoot's. we hadn't been back since "the incident" but we had no choice. braidyn had been looking forward to this day for a long time. however, we made it through, no injuries, just happy faces and a good ol' time!

hoots = exhaustion

mali fell asleep on the way home and when we got home, chris and i sat down in the living room and after a few minutes we wondered where braidyn was. we thought she might have gone to bed so i got up to look and i couldn't find her. i started looking around the house and i found her passed out in chris' office - no joke, this is exactly how i found her.