Ward Picnic in the Park

My children will be proud of me. Whenever they move or have a major life change, I encourage them to get involved and make new friends. Chris was off to London the week after we moved to Monument.

There was a Picnic in the Park ward activity. I put on a brave face and went all by myself to begin making new friends.

Kevin's Help

Kevin kindly offered to come to Colorado for a couple of days and help us get settled, work with Chris on getting the harder to reach blinds put up, set up shelves in the storage area, move the second half of our stuff from the container on our old neighbor’s farm, move the hot tub, and get the rest of the electronics up and running. 

Kevin took the shuttle bus from the airport and I picked him up at the park n ride around 11:15 am on Wednesday morning. Kevin immediately jumped in to help and began by planting the geraniums in the flower boxes.

He worked non-stop beside Chris and I for the next few days. We were all worn out together.

On Thursday, we all drove back to Firestone for another load. Chris had to drive all the way to Greeley to pick up his one-way U-Haul rental. Not convenient. Kevin drove him there while I stayed behind to pack up the garage. I think I got the wrong end of that deal!

That hot tub was a nightmare to move and even with friends who came to help, Chris ended up backing the Pilot down the hill to the backyard instead of rolling the hot tub up the hill on dollies. He might have driven over some of the landscaping!

After loading lots of stuff from the garage, we drove over to Mike's (our neighbor) farm where we had stored lots of boxes for over a year. These boxes are never ending! 

Gotta love Chris' "NO WHINING" t-shirt!

We started a 3-car caravan driving back to Colorado Springs with Chris driving the U-Haul and a long trailer with the hot tub and 4-wheeler. Kevin drove the Pilot with a smaller trailer, and I drove the Audi. We all stayed connected throughout the drive by phone.

Chris and I had done a pretty good job of unpacking from our first load, so we weren't thrilled with more unpacking, more boxes to break down and more mess. We have too much stuff!

Chris and I drove Kevin back to the airport on Friday afternoon around 3:30 pm for his 6:30 pm flight. I'm pretty sure Kevin was happy for the rest. Chris and I drove to Firestone with the long trailer to return it to the Pelican Shores HOA. 

I had been coordinating with a young boy from our ward who agreed to do some yard work for us. We arrived at the Firestone house around 6:40 and Chris jumped in to teach Bradley how to use the zero-turn mower. Chris helped Bradley get the yard mowed for the week.

It was another late night of packing things into the Pilot. We didn't leave Firestone until 9:30 pm and arrived in Monument around 11 pm.

Whew. We are tired.

Next Pathways Term

My next term with Pathway begins on July 3rd. I am teaching the second half of the Jesus Christ and His Everlasting Gospel. It is another new course for me to teach so there is always a lot of extra time preparing my lessons.

Unpacking

Our unpacking has been nonstop for the past week. I would unpack boxes and then come back later and do some organizing. 

Before moving, I spent time planning out my kitchen and deciding where things would go. So when it came time to figuring out where to put things, it was already planned. 

Some things didn’t actually fit as I have found the face frames of the cabinetry are bigger allowing for less room in some drawers. I could share a few tips with those cabinet designers! 

Chris worked all day and then spent hours in the evening working on organizing stuff, setting up the electronics, and installing more blinds.

Father's Day

Father’s Day came and went in a blur of unpacking. 

I guess we can thank our new neighbor, Chris Ward, for inviting us over for some dinner. He and his wife, Kim, had friends over for a BBQ. 

We loaded up plates, enjoyed a short break, and fixed a plate for Misha before heading back home in the rain.

First Sunday in Our New Ward

Chris and I attended our first official Sunday as new members of the Woodmoor Ward. We had been to Sacrament Meeting there once before so the bishop knew we were moving into the ward and had already requested our membership records. 

Kristen will keep her records in our current ward until she returns and is released by our former stake president. 

We already have callings! Chris and I were asked to team teach the Temple Prep class. There is one young man that the bishop specifically wants us to teach before he leaves for school in August. As far as callings go, this seems perfect to fit into Chris' travel and my Pathways teaching.

Kristen's Mission Emails - Week 51

Hi everyone!! 

HECTIC WEEK!! We got transfer news and...I'm training AGAIN!! 

Curveball for real for real. Sister Douglas got sent to my old area with my old companion (mild amounts of fomo were felt) but I am with the lovely Sister Pratt from Spanish Fork, Utah (and yeah, it's the Parley P. kind) staying in Noarlunga! 

Here's the happenings of the week! 

• Bittersweet goodbyes with half the district AND some of my besties finishing their missions and leaving me😔😭 how rude 
• Did service for a self-proclaimed "antichrist".....what?! but he has very neat hedges now😁 
• Had a poor performance at the ward UNO tournament but it's okay because then I ate 5 different kinds of cake to console my loss and gave myself a tummy ache (can't figure out why tho🤔) 
• I hit 1 year on the mission TOMORROW EEEK. Everything they say about mission time is true. It's so fast but also the longest year ever but I can't believe I'm already this far in! 
• Heart-attacked our friends with my fav 8 year old, Esther, followed by a last supper at Yum Sing with the OG district (rip Noarlunga familia) 
• Got told that with a last name like mine, I should be blonde🗿 
• The sisters had a cute baptism and when he came out of the water, he jumped out with thumbs up and said, "that was wicked!!" 

It was a week full of goodbyes but I've been saying that missing someone is a good sign that you loved them. I used this quote in my farewell, but it's even more true now: 

"There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings. Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

As somebody who cries anytime she sings "God Be With You Til We Meet Again", I resonate so strongly with the fact that goodbyes are so unnatural to our eternal nature. But I love that Jesus Christ made all goodbyes a "see you later" instead. Because of Him we will all live again and see those we love, whether in this life or the next. 🫶 

Love y'all! Here's to 6 more months! 

Sister Kline

A Long Day Back in Firestone

We had to go back to the Firestone house on Saturday to bring another load. Misha came to work on mowing the lawn. 

Plus we had a showing on Saturday afternoon and wanted to make sure the house and yard were totally in order. It took a day away from unloading and unpacking in Monument, but it couldn’t be helped. 

Misha loaded up all of my plants in her car, Chris and I loaded up the Pilot and trailer and we were on our way back to Monument at 2:45 pm. More unloading and unpacking.

Amy Sleepover Pals

Amy’s first college friend from BYU-Idaho is living closer to Amy for the summer while her husband is away for military training. 

Liz brought her daughter, Hallie, who is one-year old to spend a couple days with Amy. Kind of cozy with all three of them sleeping in a queen-size bed. 

They went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, played at the pool, worked out at the gym while Hallie went to the gym daycare, and hung out quietly while Hallie napped.

Unloading the Trailer in Monument

We had a few members from the ward who were able to help us unload the truck and trailers in Monument. The bishop had been so excited that we were moving into the ward and encouraged us to have the ward help. 

The bonus was the sister missionaries who brought their whole district of 6 more sisters and 2 elders. They were awesome. We had to return the U-Haul by 4 pm and we were finished unloading by 2:30 pm. 

We dropped off the U-Haul and then drove a half an hour to the south side of Colorado Springs to pick up the walnut live edge desktop for his office.

Transfer of Keys

Our loan was such that we closed on it over a year ago with the beginning of construction. So instead of another closing, we simply had to get the keys.

We arrived in Monument around 11 am. We had hoped to be an hour earlier getting there but there was just so much to do. We stopped at the new house before heading over to the Alliance model/office to pick up keys and enjoy a small brunch. 

It was cool to see that someone had added red geraniums to our flower boxes. We had joked with our architect when he added red flowers to our plan that they were part of the house. So thoughtful to see that they had actually taken the time to dress up the outside. 

These are some of the pictures Linsey (General Manager) had taken a few days prior.

The View

Living Room

Kitchen

Basement Bathroom

Stairs and future piano nook

Girl/Guest Bathroom

Upstairs Bathroom

We enjoyed fruit and bagels for brunch at Alliance. They gave us a binder with all of the details of our house—house selections, trades who had worked on the house with their phone numbers, the warranty, etc—as well as all of the manuals for appliances, the fireplaces, furnace, etc.

And... we got the keys. Welcome home. 

Moving Part 1

Moving is not fun. Not fun at all.

We always say that we are never moving again, yet here we are. 

We planned to move on Friday, June 13 and we had to be in Monument mid-morning to have our official hand over of the keys. I spent all week packing up the house. We had to finish up the storage room, I packed up the kitchen, pantry, bathrooms, our bedroom, our closet, and all the closets and crannies. It was non-stop with little time for rest. 

Chris took Thursday and Friday off. We went to pick up the moving truck from Ft. Lupton on Thursday around 4 pm and friends came to help load up the truck and trailers around 5 pm. 

On Friday, Chris and I were both awake around 3:30 am and decided to get up and finish loading things on the trailer. We had hoped to leave around 8:30 but didn’t actually leave until 9:30. 

Good thing we got the early start that we did. 

Chris drove the 26’ U-Haul with a trailer attached and I drove the Honda with a trailer attached. My first time driving with a trailer. Turns out leaving a little later helped us to miss the worst of morning traffic. We picked the right lane and drove about 65 mph without too much incident.

Last Night Sleeping in Firestone

We kept two foam mattresses, pillows and blankets at the house for our final night in Pelican Shores. 

Not the comfiest sleep ever, but since we were up at 3:30 am, we didn’t spend much time in bed.

Thank God for Unanswered Prayers

Unanswered Prayers 

Garth Brooks

Listen to the music here: Unanswered Prayers

Just the other night at a hometown football game

My wife and I ran into my old high school flame

And as I introduced them, the past came back to me

And I couldn't help but think of the way things used to be

She was the one that I'd wanted for all times 

And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine

And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then

I'd never ask for anything again

Sometimes I thank God 

For unanswered prayers

Remember when you're talkin' 

To the man upstairs

That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care

'Cause some of God's greatest gifts

Are unanswered prayers 

She wasn't quite the angel 

That I remembered in my dreams 

And I could tell that time had changed me

In her eyes too it seemed

We tried to talk about the old days

There wasn't much we could recall

I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all

And as she walked away

Well I looked at my wife

And then and there I thanked the Good Lord 

For the gifts in my life 

Sometimes I thank God 

For unanswered prayers 

Remember when you're talkin' 

To the man upstairs 

That just because he may not answer doesn't mean he don't care

'Cause some of God's greatest gifts

Are unanswered 

Some of God's greatest gifts

Are all too often unanswered

Some of God's greatest gifts

Are unanswered prayers 

I recently read this Facebook post from a man I dated many years ago.

Hello Friends!

An overdue update, since I very rarely post on any social media. Life’s been super intense! 

• I went through a devastating divorce 

• I left the LDS Church 

• I saw two business ventures flop 

I’m healing, growing, and starting over. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗜’𝗺 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴—𝗝𝗗 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗧. 

𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡: Sometimes life crowns you king. Sometimes it body slams you into a brick wall, breaks every bone in your pathetic body, robs you of all your belongings, and then laughs as it leaves you a bloody pulp. I’m sure I’m not the first, and I won’t be the last. My heart goes out to each of you who are similarly going through hard things. 

Here are a few highlights from over the last few years: 

• I was divorced two years ago. My life catastrophically ended in July 2023. I can’t even tell you the devastation this had on my life and soul. I’m currently in the market for a new life (and wife?). if anyone has any good leads. I’m finally reaching a new (relatively) peaceful place in my recovery. Thank you for asking. 

• A year and a half ago, I left the LDS Church after discovering that many things I once dismissed as “anti-Mormon rhetoric” were, in fact, true. This may come as a great shock to many of you who likely thought of me as being as “true blue” as Mormons come. I promise you, my own shock was far greater. I was crushed and decimated. 

• I tried to start two different businesses over the last few years. Marketing, it turns out, is NOT my strength. LOL. It doesn’t matter how good your product is if no one knows it exists. Now that I’ve used up my savings in a blaze of optimistic entrepreneurship, 𝗜’𝗺 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀. 

For many months, I have felt broken. Some of you have been aware of my struggles and have been gracious enough to reach out and offer your support. You will never know how grateful I am. You truly discover who your friends are when your life falls apart. Of course, most of you didn’t even know—because I’m an introvert who can’t share emotional trauma. In many ways, I’m literally starting my life over from scratch. As if I were playing a video game and I failed at Level 50. 

God is good, and I still have faith for better things to come. Thanks to each one of you for your continued friendship and support. A brief reminder to always be kind—as you seldom know the struggles that each person may face. 

Love to you all.

I was in love with him. He seemed just right for me. I wanted to be married, to have a companion, to not be single anymore, and for God to give me a “Yes, this is the one.” God gently said no again and again until I finally listened. And my heart was broken. I did move on and suddenly one day Christopher walked into my life. And I am SO grateful for an unanswered prayer. 

It is not often that I receive an answer to my pleadings of, "But, why not God?" but as I read my friend's post 30 years after dating him, I am so grateful for the circumstances of my life now.  

Don’t hold on so tightly when you somehow think things have gone awry in your life or that God isn’t listening. He is. He does. He is aware of every detail of EVERY detail in your life.

Alexa and Cali Cleaning

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get all of the cleaning done along with the packing before we left the house on Friday morning for Monument. I asked our neighbor’s daughter if she wanted to come clean and she was happy to. After about an hour, I suggested that she call another girl on our street and see if she was available and willing to come help. 

Alexa and Cali worked diligently all afternoon cleaning the kitchen, wiping out cabinets, cleaning the fridge, and cleaning counters, toilets and cabinets in the bathrooms. They were definitely worth the money to have help.

Misha Getting Caught in the Rain

Colorado got lots of rain and some crazy hail in some areas of the state on Tuesday afternoon. 

Misha was at work and had gone on a supplies run. She and her coworker were happy to find an underpass to hang out under until the storm passed.

Misha Baseball Game

Misha and friends went to a Rockies game. The bargain for the night was buy one get one hot dogs. 

The Rockies aren’t so great this year…they almost won but lost it in the final inning.

An HOV Ticket

We received a ticket in the mail for jumping the double line on the HOV lanes near Monument. 

Normally we wouldn’t do that, but there was an accident in the HOV lane with emergency vehicles on site. 

Chris commented, “Quick. Take a picture.” So, when we got the ticket, Chris simply sent them the picture and they forgave the ticket

Last Day in Highland Lake Ward

When our friend, Rafer Burnham, came to chat with us before church and found out it was our last day in the Highland Lake Ward before moving, he mentioned it at the beginning of his High Council talk. 

Chris and I were no doubt feeling overwhelmed with moving, packing, and still not selling our house.

The choir director invited everyone to join an impromptu choir song of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". By the third verse, I was overcome with emotion and quietly cried on Chris' shoulder. As the congregation was invited to join in on the fourth verse, I felt as though the music gathered me into a hug. It was an amazing moment.

24 years in the Longmont Stake. This starting over stuff is heart-wrenching.

Kristen's Mission Emails - Week 50

Hello! Another quick update!! 

• Mission tour with Elder Meurs, the area president!! So good, so spiritual, so fun to see all my friends! 
• Got a flat on exchanges!! Sometimes I'm glad I don't have a car! But lots of fun going back to my old area w/ Sis Ballard 
• It rained all week!! Sometimes I'm sad I don't have a car! 
• Did heaps of service (not as much as planned tho, thanks rain) 
• Said bye to all my friends leaving this week :( I hate goodbyes)

1 Corinthians 12:31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Ether 12:11 Wherefore, by faith was the law of Moses given. But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled. 

I love how the Book of Mormon unfolds and expands upon the Bible. This is a great example!! Jesus Christ is the best gift, and living His gospel is the MOST excellent way. 

As we seek Him and living like Him, we find the most capacity for joy--a more excellent way! I can't accurately write my feelings on this, but this will have to do for now. 

Transfers this week!! We'll see if anything happens. Prezzy said it's a big one!! 

Love y'all! 

Love, Sister Kline

Misha Mowing

Misha was kind enough to come and mow, weed, and water my house plants on May 26 and then again on June 1 while we were gone. (She probably did a little laundry too). We appreciate that she is willing to help us out.

We had so much rain while we were gone that the three of us spent six hours in the yard weeding and mowing on Saturday.

Have You Found a New Church?

I thought it interesting that one of the Alliance team members asked me, "Have you found a new church?" That, at least, is one thing I don't have to go searching for.

I may need to find a new doctor, dentist, optometrist, hair dresser, and a myriad other professionals, but a new ward I already have and that's a comfort.

House Final Walk Through

We were supposed to have our walk through at 1 pm on June 5th, but I knew that we would be feeling the jet lag if we had to drive home from Monument to Firestone in the late afternoon. We were able to reschedule for 10 am on Thursday morning.

With the cameras we have installed on the property, we have been able to watch the progress on the exterior and see all of the efforts Alliance makes to have our house in tip top shape. We haven't had an interior camera working for awhile. Since we haven’t been to Monument for about a month, it will be a fun surprise to see everything completed.

PS We had our walk through early, but Chris had so many things on his to do list, we didn't actually leave the house until 7:30 or so. We were happy finally to get home, get unpacked, and do some laundry!

Europe 2025 Day 15 Flight home from Zurich

Our flight from Zurich to Washington DC didn’t leave until 1 pm on Wednesday afternoon. We didn’t have to rush and even slept in a bit. We packed up our two week’s worth of smelly clothes and socks and got an Uber to the airport. 

Again, our check-in, security, and immigration checks went smoothly. We had about 30 minutes in the lounge before boarding. Kind of funny as we took off. Each of the seats in the business class had a water bottle stuck in a little cubby. As the plane took off and the empty seats had no one to grab the water bottle, you could hear about ten water bottles falling to the floor one after another. While I sat for the next 8 and a half hours. I spent time typing and watching movies. 

The salad they gave me before we landed was pretty disgusting (and the airplane smells of urine). It had lots of tomatoes, salad dressing, and soggy bread chunks soaked in dressing. Yuk.

Awesome sunset on the way home from Washington DC.

Europe 2025 Day 14 Ljubljana to Zurich, Switzerland

Almost time to go home. We checked out of our room but left our luggage at the front desk of the hotel. 

We climbed up to another castle today. Equally hard as the climb to the Lake Bled castle. Whew. 

Three years ago I bought a love lock for our 25th anniversary to leave in Paris. Due to unfortunate circumstances, that love lock didn’t get placed anywhere in Paris. Today was the day we placed our love lock in Ljubljana to celebrate 28 years together. It has been the best ride being married to Christopher. 

Love locks and pacifiers?

After lunch, Chris went for his massage. I went back to the hotel and sat for a while until it was my turn. It was a nice way to work some tired muscles. 

After the massage, we raced back to the Old Town to try and get a boat tour, but we were just a few minutes too late (and the boat was already filled with a tour). So, we picked up our luggage and walked to the bus station a few minutes early where we were lucky enough to find a bus ready to leave just a bit earlier than the one we had originally planned to take. 

We reached the airport and made it through security in short time. The airport wasn’t busy. Chris and I had plenty of time to relax in the lounge and have a little dinner from the small selection there. 

While we sat in the lounge, we talked to Amy who was sick and driving to the doctor. She hoped to get antibiotics for an ear infection and a painfully sore throat. 

The flight to Zurich was about one hour. We stayed at the Hilton Zurich not too far from the airport. I have now been to Zurich three times and have only seen airports and hotels.