Quilt & Paper

This past summer we helped my mother in law move out of her house so we could buy it from her. One of the things we had to do was clean out the closet of all of Joel's dad's clothes. It was a very hard day for both Joel & Rhonda as they took most of the clothes to the Denver Rescue Mission. What Rhonda didn't know is that Joel & I kept aside some of Joel's dad's favorite shirts. We put them in a box & hid them! Over Labor Day weekend, my friend Jordan helped me start to piece the shirts together into a quilt. My mom & Jordan's sister in law, Briony, helped me finish it up. I had to have someone do the quilting for me, but otherwise, it was my second quilt! I am very proud of it and Rhonda loved it--we gave it to her for Christmas. It is a great reminder of special times. Here is a semi-good picture of it.



We allowed Haiku to make a mess of our wrappings on Christmas morning. It was hilarious. Not as much fun as kids, but close! Doesn't it make you want to get a puppy?? Hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We did--we were in our pj's until 5:30pm! :)

The Snowy Day

One of my favorite books as a kid was The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and here in Colorado we have had MANY snowy days, just like in the book! Early last week the weather forecasters predicted a HUGE storm for Wednesday & Thursday but I'm not sure people really believed them. They have been wrong before, you know. On Wednesday morning (our last couple of days of work before Winter Break), we woke up to find that school had been canceled for Wednesday. Crazy because it hadn't begun SNOWING yet! But, alas, school was canceled. It's the first time I was actually sad to have school canceled-- we were going to see Charlotte's Web as a whole school! Joel was also a bit disappointed because Wed/Thurs were final days at school and it's always easier to get those over with rather than having to go back after break and finish them up. Anyway, as you may know, the city of Denver was pretty much shut down all of Wednesday, Thursday & most of Friday. Needless to say, our Winter Break started 3 days early!!! We had almost THREE feet of snow!!! The drifting made some areas of our yard pile up to 5 feet!

We had a great time being at home, shoveling our above- ground deck--have you ever shoveled your DECK??, meeting our neighbors (thankfully one had a snowblower he was lending out) and playing with Haiku in the snow. She was a bit scared a first--the snow is well over her head--but our neighbor's 80 pound+ yellow lab showed Haiku how it's done. Haiku has a new friend and they are super cute!We are dug out of the snow for now, although the roads aren't great! We went to Greeley last night to see our friends Garrett & Jordan and made it back in time for the Broncos game. (priorities here people). And, guess what? It's snowing again!

Tonight we will go to church and spend the evening with my mother in law, Rhonda, celebrating our Savior's birth. Our priority this year is to remember why we give gifts at Christmas--because Jesus gave us the best FREE gift of all. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Haiku Surprise!

Surprise! As many of you know, Joel has wanted a dog since before we even met. He's been really sad about not being able to get one this past summer. We were just too busy! So, this week when a parent told me in the dismissal pick up line at school she'd give me one of her black lab puppies for FREE, I just had to say YES! So, I told Joel he needed to come home early on Wednesday for a surprise. He thought maybe dinner & a movie! I had him pull his hat over his eyes and we drive all over town. I couldn't fool him though--he knew where we were (within a block). I had the student bring out on eof the puppies and put it in Joel's arms while he was still blindfolded. We all took pictures. It was so cute & Joel was totally surprised. He thought we were just there to look!



We went inside and he picked out Haiku (her name) from the 4 remaining puppies--3 girls and a boy. She is very calm (for a puppy) and is very sweet. We went and got her shots right away and brought her home last night! And so the joy begins!!

Surprise!

A Year in Review: 2006

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! It seems crazy to be saying that already, but it appears the calendar says it's that time of year. 2006 has flown by. I'm not ready for 2007! We have had a great year full of many, many changes! God has been faithful (is anyone surprised?) and we have learned to be patient and wait on his timing.

The beginning of 2006 brought with it the winds of change. By summer time we had experienced the change of a new job, a new house, our car being stolen & many travels. I will try to highlight them for you!

January: A quiet start to the new year & the birth of our new niece, Avery (below with sister Faith).

February: I went to visit Avery in Virginia for a short weekend. She sure is beautiful! Annual Jacobson ski weekend in Vail & Core Knowledge Conference were up next (back to back). The trip to San Antonio was fabulous and included lots of eating along the Riverwalk!













March: Spring Break trip to Virginia. Everyone now has Crocs! (minus Avery, but she'll get hers soon, I'm sure!)
March also brought major discussions about purchasing Joel's childhood home from his mother, securing a loan & talk of a new job at the school where his mom actually works (D'Evelyn Jr/Sr High School).



















April: A closing date for the sale of Rhonda's home is set for the end of May. The planning for fixing it up begins! Joel headed off to Las Vegas for a weekend with his brother! We also learned that Joel is invited to work at D'Evelyn!



























May: On Mother's Day our car was stolen & found all within about 24 hours. God really protected us both physically & financially through this whole process. You can visit the blog entry "Car Violation" to see pictures. It is all fixed now & running smoothly.

We sure do love to cram everything into the last week of school! Two years ago it was our wedding, this year, the purchase of our home!
The day after school got out we both traveled to Vegas to visit with Joel's brother & his family (Charis & Arden above and Tobin on the right) and to celebrate our SECOND anniversary! We had a great time visiting with them & staying overnight at "Treasure Island".















June & July: Much of these two months are a blur. The first two weeks of June we helped Rhonda clean up & move out of her home and worked on projects to get ready to move ourselves. We moved in on June 29 and my mom & dad came June 30. We were very grateful for their help with MANY projects. Somewhere in June we also had a great time camping with our friends Garrett, Jordan (above) and their two dogs, Glacier & Arya. It was much needed resting time for us! Check out the blog entries below for pictures of our house projects!

At the end of July my sister, Aimee & her husband Gary came for a visit. They left their two kids in the care of my parents "Oma & Opa" (Grandma & Grandpa in German). We had a great time for the three days they were here.

August: In August, I went to Wisconsin to be with my sister & family while Joel stayed in Colorado for a while. Gary was in Wisconsin, but busy working, so Aimee & I had a great time traveling to Rockford to visit with family & get in good "sister time". At the end of the week, Joel flew in & we all went on a true vacation. We rented a house up by my parents sailboat, so we could go out on Lake Michigan. It was a great trip! You can visit the blog entry "Family Reunion" to see more pictures.

September: At the beginning of September we went to Wyoming with Joel's mom for a Jacobson family reunion. We had a great time visiting with family members we don't see often. It was also a nice break from the daily grind of school. OK, so it was the first week of school, but everyone needs a break, right?!

We learned how busy our new life was with Joel driving 30+ minutes each way to work every day & with a new load of preps. He teaches High School English to Freshman & Juniors and it is a very academic school. He stays late most days & brings work home.

I am still working at Lincoln Academy & am the Instructional Coach (I work with teachers) and the Enrichment Director (I worked with gifted/advanced students). We both love where we work!

October: In October I went to Albuquerque to visit my friend Jeni (you can see a post on that below--Albuquerque) and Joel went with his mother to Buffalo, WY. His dad is buried there & it has been six years since he passed away. It was an emotional & encouraging weekend for both of us!

My parents came at the end of October and we cleaned out the garage! Miracle of Miracles! We love it!

November: My favorite season of all! We have so much to be thankful for, including the joy of adding a new niece to the Jacobson family in March! The first three weeks of November were very busy with church obligations, work commitments and of course, Bronco football! Joel was able to go to the Chargers/Broncos game (disappointing, but fun).

Thanksgiving brought with it much needed rest & a great visit with Joel's brother and family. We had beautiful weather, so we were able to get outside a few times. Joel, Ted & their mom went skiing one day!

December: December holds another great season for us--the birth of our Savior. Our Christmas tree is up and we are eagerly awaiting another vacation and time of rest. We look forward to visiting with my parents--they will be here for a ski week the first week of January!

We would love to hear from you! Our guest room is all set up now and we would love to have you come through Denver for a visit, too. Colorado is beautiful all year round & we don't get nearly as much snow as the news would lead you to believe!

With much love,
Joel & Sarah

PS I update our blog fairly regularly, so check back throughout the year for updates!

Let it Snow!

In the past 24 hours it has snowed about 6 inches here in our little city. (This picture is of our mailbox piled with snow) We love the snow, but we love it even more when it brings with it a snow day for school. But, no such luck for us. Just cold weather came with this storm--2 degrees overnight tonight. Joel has shoveled the walk 2x--once last night and once this AM, probably before most of you were out of your warm bed! :) The snow sure is beautiful & is a great visual reminder of what God has done for us--washed as clean as snow with salvation by grace through faith alone. Can you tell I've been reading Romans?

It is a big mess here around Denver--lots of accidents and slip-sliding on the roads! But, despite how the news likes to make it look, it doesn't really snow all that often here in Denver. It snows a lot in the mountains, but not in town! More snow is on the way for Saturday...

Check back in a few days for our "electronic" Christmas letter!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

The last page of my May 2005-May 2006 scrapbook included a few of our favorite things about moving from an apartment to a house, so I decided to include them in my blog. We have enjoyed the things we looked forward to even more than we thought! Here they are in no particular order (with pictures):

1. Having a king size bed! (and having the room for it!)










2. Two separate offices--it makes our marriage work!


















3. Garage!!!!!!!! How did we ever live without one???










4. Trash cans right inside our garage instead of 1/2 block away










5. Great neighbors (no pictures--I thought they might think me strange if I started taking pictures of their houses)

6. Being right where God wants us to be.

In the Process...

Since my parents were here, I have been motivated to work on house projects again. It seems that my motivation sways from scrapbooking (my first love) to house projects (becoming my second love). I'm praying my third "love" will kick in next year--gardening. No such motivation in that area right now. So last weekend I worked on painting the guest room. Previously it had been the "knitting room" & had been used for crafts & office space. The carpet is in good shape, although it is bright green. The bathroom is also very nice-- already painted, new flooring, toilet, mirror & light fixture! So, I set about the task of painting the guest room. My parents had already pushed everything to the center of the room, so that made it a bit easier. You can see the color-barely. It's a nice green. It's very light during the day & it warms up in the evening. I like it! It looks nice with the comforter & new ceiling fan. My mom & I also finished the curtains for room, too. I hope to finish before Thanksgiving!

Success!

Even with a broken toe (I think that must be what it is), my mom, dad, Joel & I were able to officially "clean the garage"!!! It was a huge project & Joel and I know we couldn't have done it without help! When we moved in, the garage was so full of stuff we could only fit Joel's car in it (see the blog about his car being stolen & you'll understand why his car, not mine, had a home inside!). When the weather turned a bit chilly, I was determined not to have to scrape the car (why did we buy a house if I still had to scrape the car???) so, I worked on the garage just enough to fit both cars in it. Both fit--barely. We were door-dinging each other and it was getting a bit annoying.

So, with some help, we officially got it organized. With one trip to Goodwill & one trip to the dumpsters for recycyling, it's clean!!! It's beautiful!!! It's an official "Man Room!". We love it. Everything has a place--the garden tools are all hung neatly, boxes are off of the floor & Joel has a place to work at his bench. Thanks mom & dad!

Day Off

Joel & I were able to enjoy a great day off from work on Friday, October 27. We had been looking forward to it for some time as October is always a very busy month for teachers (parent/teacher conferences, progress reports, etc...). We were able to sleep in, enjoy the day & oh yes, clean! My parents were coming in to town on Friday evening, so we needed to do the usual cleaning for houseguests. Joel said, "It's a good thing your parents come to town so often so we have to clean!" Otherwise, it just doesn't get done. :) Can I get an "amen"?

Just as we were finishing up, I was in the guest room doing something and stubbed my little pinky toe. It hurt, so I took off my sock & examined my toe. It was fine, so I kept working. A little while later, I went downstairs and told Joel my toe still hurt & took off my sock again. This time it was turning black & blue and swelling up to be quite the little sausage. It's now more than a week later, still bruised & swollen & still hurts quite badly. Don't scroll down if you have a weak stomach--there are pictures.

Albuquerque

A few weeks ago, I was able to fly down to Albu- querque to visit one of my dearest friends, Jeni & her husband. They left this week to start a new adventure in their lives in another country. I met Jeni when I started working at Lincoln Academy over six years ago. She taught kindergarten & taught sixth grades. Over the years, we became good friends and when she moved to Albuquerque soon after my wedding, it was very hard. We managed to stay in touch and each October Joel & I would go down to Albuquerque with some other friends from Texas to visit Jeni & Tim. We went a total of 3 times and co-ordinated the trip with the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. This last trip, I made alone.



































It was great fun and happened to be the final weekend of the Balloon Fiesta. Dispite a dissapointing evening at the balloon glow (they start the fires in the evening and the balloons "glow")--it was high winds, so they couldn't do it, we were able to see some baloons on Sunday morning before church. They land wherever they can, so we "chased" a couple and saw them come down right in front of us! Amazing! So, here are some pictures from that trip. There are two series of pictures--two separate balloons coming down, one right after the other. If you've never taken a balloon ride--you should! It's amazing!

Confession of Faith

A couple of months ago we attended some friends' church out of town. It is very different from ours (traditional) and I enjoy attending there when we visit. Ours tends to be a bit more casual & contemporary (www.grace-alone.org). Our friends' church recites The Apostle's Creed frequently, if not every Sunday. I just love it. In our society, we just don't speak this way anymore. People are afraid to say what they believe at the risk of offending someone. Our, we might believe in our religion, but believe that another religion is OK, too. Well, I belive & love the summary of Christanity in The Apostle's Creed. Won't you read it & believe it, too?

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I belive in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlastings. Amen.

$2.39, 85 and 27-43

Fall has arrived! It is such a great season in Colorado! You can see how beautiful the leaves are by the pictures. These pictures are from our back deck & front porch. It's been crazy weather around here. A few weeks ago it turned cold--very cold. We were at a football game on a Friday night & it was actually snowing! Then, all of a sudden last week it was 85 degrees!! We actually were sunburned on Saturday! 85 degrees! Crazy!

We were at the Homecoming Football game for Joel's high school. The kids played well, but didn't really have a chance. They played a team from Weld County (farm country).A couple of the boys were well over 6'5" and one was even 285lbs! They also had a small team & the boys played both offense & defense. Our team is very good this year, but just couldn't stand up to that. We lost 27 to 43. It was still fun to be outside in the warm weather. The final part of my title is $2.39...we're actually HAPPY to be paying that for a tank of gas! 5 years ago that would have seemed outrageous! :)
Enjoy your day!

Two Cars

I know it doesn't seem like much from the picture, but it's a pretty big deal for us--two cars in the garage! Prior to yesterday we had so much stuff in the garage we could only fit Joel's car inside. Yesterday, while Joel mowed the lawn (it had been so long he had to do it 2x!) I worked on re-organizing the garage. I worked for a while--just long enough to get stuff moved around a bit. Next Saturday we'll do a lot more cleaning out. Then, hopefully when my mom & dad are here we can finish it up! Thankfully the weather has been cooler, so it is much more enjoyable to be outside. And, thankfully we could put both cars in the garage last night because when we got home from church the wind was howling!! It was really blowing. When we got up this morning the grill had been blown part way across the deck! Crazy! Winter is on the way! :)

0-50,000

Sofie (what I like to call my car) turned 50,000 today! She rolled over from 49,999 to 50,000 today as we headed home from church, so I had to take a picture! I got to thinking about how much my life has changed since I bought Sofie (thanks mom & dad).



When Sofie was only "12" (I bought her with 12 miles on her)
-I only had no nieces or nephews
-I was hopelessly single
-I lived in a 3 bedroom apartment with my friend, Jen
-I taught 6th grade
-I attended a church where I hardly knew anyone
-I hadn't heard of "scrapbooking" before

Now that Sofie is "50,000" (that's 3 1/2 years old in people years)
-I have 3 nieces & 2 nephews with another one on the way
-I am happily married (Praise God!)
-I live in a 5 bedroom home I own with my husband
-I work as an adminstrator at school
-I attend a fabulous church & small group where we feel connected & love the people
-I am addicted to scrapbooking & am well on my way to owning every tool imaginable needed for scrapbooking

Major life changes in the last three years! Amazing! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the next 50,000 miles!

Curtains Away

One project my mom & I worked on while they were here in July was curtains. We knew we needed to do something ASAP. Mom & I measured, cut & worked on curtains for almost every window in the house. She took the fabric home & finished them up. Below are the curtains for my office (the pink/yellow ones) which I actually sewed myself. You will also see the dining room curtains & new paint. They are the same as the front living room windows. Thanks, mom!