Chris' Asia Work Trip

The rest of Chris' Asia work trip involved long days of work and evening dinners. 

He helped at a conference in Singapore (where he also presented).

He flew to Australia and then New Zealand. While he kept pretty busy with so much work, he was often exhausted and lonely.

He did have a few weekends where he had some downtime and did a little sightseeing and hiking, but that is not always so much fun to do on your own.

Love the Dahlias

I have really loved the three dahlias that I planted this spring. They have been blossoming a lot of the past couple of weeks. The huge dinner-plate size plant got so heavy that it kept falling over and broke off part of the plant. I had to cut it back

The other two plants are great for picking and having flowers in the house.

I keep cutting new flowers as the old ones fade away. I will definitely plant them again. I want to try planting ranunculus as well.

Eyelashes

Amy recommended an eyelash serum. I started using it in July and my eyelashes just started showing lots of growth in the last couple of weeks.

I kind of like putting mascara on now!

If you want to try this lash serum. Click here.

PS It is not easy to take pics of your own eyelashes!

Pumpkins

I planted one pumpkin seed this spring and ended with about 30 pumpkins!

Misha carved one for the house (which didn't last very long) and then she took a couple home to Denver to carve for decorations.

I invited my neighbor down the street to come and pick a few. She brought her four-year old and he finally decided on a couple.

I still have a lot so I will either spread them around the yard for decorations or invite neighbors to come and pick a few if they want.

Awesome Sunset

Misha posted a picture of the sunset on our family chat. I hadn't been paying attention to the sky, so I appreciated the reminder to look outside.

Denver

Pelican Shores

The sky was beautiful with the amazing fall colors and lake as a back drop.

Chris' Birthday

Chris was in Australia for his birthday. The good thing? We got to wish him birthday on the 15th and 16th since he was far ahead timewise.

The sad news? It isn't so much fun to have a birthday on your own.

He sent us a birthday morning picture!

We celebrated with a nice hike in the mountains, takeout from Wahoo's Fish Tacos, and Crumbl cookies once he got home.

Rainbow in Ft Collins

I went to the Ft Collins temple while Chris was gone. It definitely helped pass the time and give me so people interaction.

The sky was dark and overcast when I went into the temple and it began to pour once I got back to my car. I stopped at a tile store, Costco and then went through the drive thru at Chick fil A for dinner.

The rainbow was brilliant.

Flu Shots for Amy and Kristen

After Kristen got back from San Diego, she went to stay at Amy's for a couple of days. They both got their flu shots from CVS where Amy's roommate works in the pharmacy.

Chris in the Philippines

When Chris knew that he would be going to Singapore and possibly Hong Kong, he decided to add in a stop in the Philippines. He always says that he never knows if he will ever get back again and so takes advantage of Asia work trips to fit in time to see he Filipino friends

He invited them to come and swim at the hotel where he would be staying on the Clark Air Base. He ended up getting rooms for them to come and spend the night.

They were thrilled. It was a new experience for them, especially seeing the prices on hotel food ($15 hamburgers were a shock). They came and swam, hung out and enjoyed time with Chris.

We have been blessed to help support Allysa in nursing school, so you could say that we have four daughters in college! Allyson will graduated high school in a year or so and we will likely help her with advanced schooling as well.

It will change their lives to have an education and a well paying career.

When he left, they took a bunch of pics and said another teary farewell.

Misha Home for the Weekend

Misha came home for the weekend to spend some time with me (and to do her laundry).

She spied the multitude of pumpkins in the back garden area and spent a couple of hours carving a pumpkin and cleaning out the seeds.

Long Work Trip for Chris - Philippines

I dropped Chris off Saturday morning at the airport around 10 am for an 11:30 flight to Japan and then a connection to the Philippines.

He will be gone for two weeks and needs to start his trip in Singapore. He figured if he was going that far, he ought to try and fit in a trip to the Philippines to see some of his favorite Filipinos!

Sadly, just before boarding was to start he got notification that the flight was delayed. The departure team was delayed and delayed until he was looking at a four hour wait. Ugh.

He could have gotten so much more done around the house on Saturday morning with that extra time!

He was relieved to finally be on his way, but now he would miss his connecting flight from Japan to Manila. 

Such a long flight. He finally was on his way on Saturday afternoon around 2 pm and I got notification during church Sunday morning that he had finally landed in Manila.

Fortunately he stayed in a really nice place in Manila Sunday night and then planned to go see the De Oceras on Monday.

He offered to have them come and swim at the hotel pool he will be staying at on Monday night. That grew from an afternoon a the pool to booking three extra rooms for them to stay the night as well. Hadn't planned on that, but probably something the De Oceras never get a chance to ever do.

From the Philippines, Chris will fly to Singapore, then Australia and the New Zealand.

I just know I am going to miss him for two weeks!

Kristen's Fall Break to San Diego

Kristen left Saturday morning for a long day of road tripping to a friend's house in San Diego. She went with a group of about 8 kids. They spent a couple of days in California playing at the beach, exploring, and enjoying time away from studying.

They stayed at one of the friend's homes and left to drive back to Utah on Wednesday the 11th.

Misha's Popcorn

Misha texted for instructions on how to make popcorn on the stove. She doesn't have a microwave.

I gave her some instructions and told her that she needed to make sure she shook the pan a lot so the popcorn didn't burn. I'd say she did pretty good for her first try.

She might scale down the amount next time. Apparently she had two more big bowls of it!

Pulling the Jet Ski Out

It's that time of year. Time to pull the jet ski out of the water. It didn't get much use this summer. Enough use that somehow the latch to close the seat cover got broken, but not enough to use up a full tank of gas.

I shuttled Chris down to the beach to get the jet ski and then met him at the boat ramp so he could attach the trailer and then pull the jet ski out of the water.

We brought the jet ski up to the house so Chris can get it fixed and cleaned up for the season. Quite likely it will be one of the last times we use the jet ski on the lake. 

If/When we move next summer, our neighbor, Mike, said already that he would buy it from us. It is good deal for anyone who does buy with the low miles and usage.

Serious Commitment to Halloween

I drove past this house the other day on my way to get a hair trim.

As I drove by, I thought, "Now, THAT is a serious commitment to Halloween decorations!" I think I counted 20 large and small skeletons.

I posted the pic in our family chat and Chris said:

"I saw that one too. It was lots of skeletons. Where do they even store this stuff?"

Kristen jumped in with the best response: 

"Probably with the skeletons in the closet!"

A Not So Good Day at the Bank

What do you do when someone (not Amy) leaves the keys to the bank vault in the lock?

Not much until someone finds the spare set!

Misha's Lucky Days

Misha texted that she was having a lucky day: she found $20 on the ground, she got free breakfast, and her class was being held over Zoom since her teacher had Covid.

A couple of days later she sent a picture of the free pizza she got for lunch!

Kristen Hair Cut

Kristen spent Sunday morning watching conference at one of her college friend's home. After that, a friend dropped her off at Amy's house and they spent Sunday and Monday together.

Amy had Monday off work so she took Kristen to get a haircut with Amy's haircut lady.

Before

After

Kristen wasn't too sure she was loving the bangs, but I bet it was nice to have the ends cleaned up.

An Amazing Answer to Prayer

As a follow up to a previous post on potentially moving, and specifically moving to the Colorado Springs area, Chris and I planned a time with our realtor, Craig, to look at houses in CS as well as Monument on Friday, Sept. 29. 

The idea of moving to the Springs area really began to take root about 2 years ago when Chris and I planned a quick getaway to the area and just began toying with the idea of what life might be like in the area.

I remember thinking at the time that a temple would sure be a wonderful bonus.

The closest temple is in Denver, about 45 minutes away. Not far and certainly doable. We used to go to the Denver Temple all the time before the Ft. Collins Temple was built.

We have always loved Colorado Springs and have enjoyed our visits to Air Force games, the Garden of the Gods, and the mountains.

So on Friday we had a really busy day with Craig, registering him with builders so that he can get credit as our realtor, checking out property, and looking at current homes in the area.

We found a few builders and places to consider. If we are to move away from the magnificent view we have in Pelican Shores, both Chris and I would love to move to a property with an equally magnificent view.

We found a property owned by one builder.

But we would really like to build with another builder—Jayden Homes. Currently, Jayden Homes does not have any lots that we particularly love, certainly none with the awesome view of this one!

After spending a long day of looking, Craig and his wife drove home, and Chris and I drove to Salida where we planned to see the fall colors over General Conference weekend.

For our last two moves, it has been me receiving promptings and then sharing with Chris that moving was a good idea.

Before ever moving to Monarch Estates, these words were whispered to me as we drove by the neighborhood, "You will live here one day." That was out of the blue and moving was not even on our radar.

Almost ten years later, Chris and I were toying with the idea of moving to Pelican Shores after I had received promptings that maybe we should live there. As Chris and I arrived at the property, we both immediately received the distinct impression, "You should live here."

This time, Chris has been more gung-ho on looking in the Springs. I hadn't felt yeah or nay. But to be specific, I hadn't felt a strong "go for it" as I had in our other moves.

Since our visit to the Springs a couple of weeks ago, I have been praying and trying to let the idea of a move take root in my heart. Moving forward as though this might be the plan for us. 

After spending all day looking on Friday, and then listening to General Conference all weekend with a prayer in my heart, hoping for some clear answer, I had still not received a confident "Yes, this is the plan for you" as the conference was drawing to a close.

Chris and I were driving home from Colorado Springs, and mistakenly taking the I-70 route with bad traffic and significant delays; we listened to the afternoon session of General Conference as we inched along.

As we listened to the prophet speak and heard him announce that there would be 20 new temples announced, I began listening to all of the foreign cities and locations.

I can't even fully describe the emotions I felt and the immediate, miraculous answer to prayer that filled our entire car as the prophet announced, "Colorado Springs, Colorado". The spirit filled my heart, and I was so overwhelmed with emotion. It was powerful. I can really only describe the intensity and power of that witness by saying, "If you have experienced such a moment before, then you know."

I started to cry. Chris grabbed my hand and I knew that he knew too. He said, "I'm driving so I can't cry."

Through my tears I noted, "I just needed a yes or no answer. I didn't need the miracle of a temple."

Shortly after the announcement, we received texts on our family chat from Kristen and Amy both saying, "COLORADO SPRINGS!"

God is in the details of the details of the details of our lives. He has been with us every step of the way and in each of our moves. Each move has been the stepping stone to the next.

One of the General Conference speakers this past weekend noted in the Saturday afternoon session, "Where there is a design, there is a designer." Elder Alan T. Phillips

We initially told our girls that we were downsizing, but have felt ever since that downsizing wasn't really the right word. When we think about our house, we look at the rooms we have now and realize that we use them all. We want the girls to have a place to visit with their families someday.

So, this is a new adventure...

God has been bringing about this miracle and moment for years now. 

I often wonder as a miracle is about to unfold if heavenly angels aren't watching and saying, "Hurry! Watch! The miracle is about to happen!"

I put our names on the prayer roll this morning. The next miracle we need/want is a lot with trees and a mountain view (and perchance another miracle or "something better"—a view of the temple—would be awesome!).

Fall Colors in Salida - Sunday

On Sunday we drove back along US 50 and continued on to Gunnison. It is fun to see all of these places in Colorado that are new to us. It was a cute little college town.

We drove from Gunnison to Leadville and from there home and enjoyed conference along the way.

We did get stuck in traffic, but if you read my other post "An Amazing Answer to Prayer", you know the traffic on I-70 was crazy slow.

Once we got through the Eisenhower tunnel, we opted to pay $9 to take the HOV lane. That saved us a lot of time. The traffic app WAZE showed an accident on the on-ramp to I-25 (the quickest way home), so after a bit of rerouting, we finally made it around the accident and back to I-25 and arrived home around 5:30 pm.

Good weekend! Gotta love a Sunday where you can listen to conference and see fall color too.

Kristen at General Conference

After her quick camping trip, Kristen rushed home (hopefully she showered) to meet up with her friend, Paige W., (from home and is attending BYU) to attend the Saturday morning session of conference.