Spring turns to Summer

 So it's been awhile since I updated my blog! Sorry! A lot has happened since April, so I apologize if this update becomes a novel.

         May started out pretty normal. I was preparing for my upcoming birthday on the 12th. The closer it got, the more bummed I became. I knew that living 1000 miles away from friends, family, and the only city I've ever known wasn't going to be easy when it came to special events and holidays. So on the 10th, I was going back and forth between cleaning and checking emails, facebook, etc. I decided to Skype my mom with no answer. I called her cell where she proceeded to tell me that she and my sister were looking for a place to eat breakfast. I really didn't think anything of it even though I don't know the last time we or they have ever gone out for breakfast! She said she would call back in a couple of hours and we would all Skype.
Two hours later, I get a phone call from my mom asking if I was ready, but while talking to her, I notice outside my kitchen window, a strange car parked in the driveway with a lady talking on the phone that resembled who else but my mom. When I put two and two together, I opened the front door to see mom and Karen standing there! Wow! Greatest birthday gift ever!!

The visit was short, but sweet. We had a great time. The weather not very cooperative for the couple of days that they were here, but it really didn't matter. It gave me the recharge that I needed.


         June was a pretty busy month for us. Early in the month, it was Grandma and Grandpa Jones' turn to come for a visit. This was also a short visit, but we were glad that we got the opportunity to spend time with family. We spent a lot time at the house. We grilled out, watched TV, chit chatted, and just had a good time. We also went to the park a couple of times. I was happy that Ava got the chance to have so much family interaction in a months time. And thanks to video phone calls, she can recognize the people she sees in the videos when she sees them in person. Technology is a wonderful thing!

The following weekend was Father's Day. We decided to do some exploring. Kyle, Ava, Debbie, and I piled into the car and drove to 11 Mile Canyon. It's about an hour west of us. They have camp sites and fishing. The scenery is really pretty, so I took some great pictures. We had lunch in Woodland Park at a little Mexican restaurant in town. Following lunch, we stopped by Cave of the Winds to take some pictures. Cave of the Winds is a hop, skip and a jump from Manitou. When we got home, we were all absolutely spent.
While winding down, I hopped on my computer, and read from a local news station that 11 Mile Canyon was evacuated due to a wildfire maybe an hour after we left from there. Turned out it was arson, and 11 Mile was just the beginning of many wildfires to come. (Picture below is taken from Cave of the Winds).

          Woodland Park (roughly 10-15 miles west of Manitou) had 10 small arson fires during that next week. Being that the entire state was so dry due to the lack of snow from last winter, everybody was on edge. Who knew when this arsonist would strike again. And the bigger question was where next? Saturday the 24th, we decided to go do some mall shopping. Mainly to just get out of the house for a little while. When we got into the car and started heading home around 1:00pm, we noticed a very large plume of smoke toward our area. When we got closer to the house, we could tell that it was on the other side of the highway, but a little too close for our liking. We immediately turned on the TV where the news was already covering the story.
We watched all day to see when the fire was going to be put out, which way it was moving, etc. However by  around 8:00pm, it was growing and growing with no signs of stopping. The news warned the residents of Manitou Springs that there was a slight possibility of evacuation. Kyle and I were certain that this was not going to happen, so we didn't even pre-pack. We really thought that the highway was going to save us.
We went to sleep as usual around 10:00pm. I think I finally fell asleep by about 11:00pm. The next thing we knew, the phone was ringing at 1:30am. It was Cousin Debbie telling us that the entire town was on mandatory evacuation. My heart sank and the feeling of illness came over me. Luckily we had a couple of hours to get our things together. Besides two adults, a toddler, a dog, and a cat, how do you determine what item is more important than the other when you know you only have a space no bigger than what a Toyota 4Runner will hold? Let me tell you, it isn't easy. I'm sure Kyle and I were secretly thinking about how to strap things to the roof like on that Ikea commercial with the Volkswagon Bug trying to go under a bridge with a mound of furniture. Ha!
We were on the road by 4:30am. Since all of the evacuees from earlier in the day had all of the hotels in Colorado Springs booked, we started heading north toward Denver. We went to a hotel just outside of Co. Sprgs., and one of the staff told Kyle that everything was booked between there and Denver. When we arrived in Denver, we were able to get one of the last rooms at the second La Quinta we came to. By 8:00pm that evening, evacuations were lifted for Manitou, so we waited until the next morning to go home. We unpacked and resumed normal life. Kyle was unable to go back to work as his office was part of the evacuation area. By Wednesday, we thought all was well until the winds started to shift back toward us. When the shopping center just a mile from us got evacuated, we wasted no time. We started to pack. Again! 
This time we were ready! Luckily nothing happened, and the fire was kept at bay. Kyle was back to work by Friday.
As of yesterday, July 11th, the fire has been 100% contained. 364 homes were destroyed making it the worst fire catastrophe in Co. history. The cause is still unknown, but arson is suspected.
 (Pictures below are of day 1 taken from downtown Manitou, and from the back of our house on our deck).

So far the first half of July has been calm. The 4th of July holiday was spent hanging around the house and grilling up some grub just the three of us. It was a lazy day, and that's how we wanted it to be. We are hoping for a quiet second half of July.