This last year... With it's ups and downs..

Well... I have officially failed at this blog thing... It's been well over a year since I've last thought about updating this thing... For that I apologize! BUT how exciting to be back together again via the world wide web!! Let me fill you in on the last year... It's been a crazy year.

God decided to bless the world with a beautiful, little creature on April 17th, 2012... Later on June 24th, 2012 he was added to our little family and given the name Little Barry Ellis (named after the man who we bought him from as a joke that our dear friend AJ thought would be so funny...) He now goes by the name Barry or Barrold.. He has been such a joy to our lives and we absolutely adore this little mutt.

Barry comes home with ecstatic mom and not-so-sure dad...
Barry quickly won over Casey's heart!

Barry and his beloved Raccoon...
The raccoon lasted approximately 3 months before it was completely shredded... 

Barry's days at work are sooo difficult...

Barry's first road trip...  

Barry's not the best at cuddling...

Happy first birthday Barry Dog!!!

So, as you can tell... We have become those annoying people that only care about their dog.... We are possibly what you would define as "obsessed." We'll leave that for the psychologists to determine...

What else have you missed out on since I haven't been connected to the blog world... Oh yes... I have a new "role" at the church (which actually isn't so new now... It's been about a year :\)... I am now the Kid's Ministry Director at our Lockwood Campus... This became official the end of July-ish last year... I can say I honestly LOVE my job... Yes, it's very stressful... Yes, some days I get overwhelmed... Yes, sometimes I think "what have I gotten myself into??" But more often than not I am absolutely humbled that God would allow me to have such a big role in His story... I get to have fun with kids and volunteers while loving Jesus... Pretty awesome...

This last March, Casey and I made a big step into adulthood... We bought our first house! We thought it would be a really great idea to gut the kitchen and start over... Some idea.. That turned into basically redoing the main floor! I will post (I really will try to post) an update on the house that has before and after pictures, but below is at least a picture of the front of our cute little home.

Home Sweet Home

In June, Casey and I celebrated 3 years of marriage! How the time has just flown by... We went down to Longmont, CO to see our close friends Mimi and Andy Salonen, went to Six Flags, went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park AND saw Hillsong United at Redrocks!! It was quite the anniversary trip! Love you husband!

Hillsong United @ Redrocks.

This July, however, has been a complete 180ª for us. You see, one of our very best friends was taken from us last month. On July 16th, 2013 around 10:00am, AJ Blain was tragically killed in a helicopter accident. (It's hard for me to even type this because it makes it that much more real.)

You guys may remember AJ from an earlier post titled C+A is now C+A+Junior.... (If you haven't read that post and would like to know a little bit more about our dear friend and the time we spent with him you can read it here.)

Our hearts are literally crushed. We miss our friend. Simple as that. We know that he is flying high and safely with the Lord right now and that brings some comfort, but there is still a dull (and sometimes intense) ache that may never go away fully until we get to see our sweet friend again.

At the time of AJ's death, he had it all. He really packed more life (and Baja Blast) into 27 years than any 80 year old ever could. He had just married the love of his life, Carly, who he referred to as "Miss Wonderful" on May 18th, 2013... He had cows, he had the sweet helicopter he wanted so bad, he had a house, he had a pile of friends and now he had the girl. We had never seem him so happy.

Why the Lord chose to bring AJ home so early we may never know.... What we do know though, is that AJ loved Jesus with all that he was. He truly talked the talk, but more so he walked the walk. He loved people better than anyone I know. He had close friends from all walks of life (literally... There were over 1300 people at his memorial service to pay respects to him). He was able to bridge the gap between any set of people. Casey and I now have some very great, lifelong friends that would not be in our lives if AJ wouldn't have lived this so well.

In the days and weeks after Junior's passing, Casey and I have had a lot of time to think and pray and question God... We still don't have many answers yet (none really at all actually), but I do know I want to live better. I want to love better. I want to give more generously... I want to be more like AJ. I don't want AJ's death in my life to be in vain... I want it to change me. Most off, I want to be like Christ and if I can be more like AJ, I will be pretty dang close.

Our hearts absolutely ache for his family and his beautiful bride. We are at a loss on how to help, but we will continue to help however we can. AJ would count on us to do so. His family is our family. We love them like our own.

My words don't do justice to the man AJ was... If you didn't know him how I wish you could have! He was extraordinary. Truly the light of the world. Please read a beautiful description of his life that his sister and family put together here.

Here are some pictures of one of our best pal.

Jr doing what he absolutely loved. Flying.

Casey and AJ at our wedding.

AJ was so sad to lose his friend, Casey, to me... Little did he know he was actually just gaining ME!

Christmas 2011 at the combined Blain/Ramage household.

His infamous grin.

What a guy.

Junior and his best friend #61.

"Deals never sleep."

He certainly had a way with outdoors equipment... And breaking it.

Happiest day of his life.

Him and his Mrs. Wonderful. The love just radiated off them.

Our hearts are hurting. We are confused. We will continue to put one foot in front of the other. We will honor the life you lived. We loved and love you more than you will know and we are so eternally grateful for your friendship.

Junior, we miss you pal.