Crazy Puncture Wound

There were lots of pins required to piece Kristen's curtains together.  I seemed to have forgotten about them though when I leaned over to grab some scissors.  I didn't feel the pin go in to my arm, but I sure felt it when I sat back up.  I must have put a small tear in my vein or something.

Free Food

My daughters came up with some pretty pathetic "Dress like a cow" costumes to get a free meal at Chick-fil-A, but Chick-fil-A was rather accommodating and gave them all free food anyway.  All it took was three cut out brown spots pinned to their shirts.  There were others that were definitely more enthusiastic in their costuming.

We left Chick-fil-A and stopped next at 7-11 for free Slurpee day.  They were a little more willing to have their picture taken at 7-11 without their cow spots--the spots came off pretty quickly once their meals were served.

Prairie Dogs

If you love prairie dogs and support the relocation of prairie dogs, you should just stop looking now.

This is how Chris likes to spend a few minutes before work each day. 

Urban Adventure

I found this Groupon for a scavenger hunt in downtown Denver a couple of months ago.  It has taken us awhile to have some time to take advantage of it.  The Groupon was through UrbanAdventure.com.  I recommend it for a fun family activity and what better way to celebrate Misha's birthday with a little evening fun.  The weather was delightfully perfect. We did a lot of walking.  I should have heeded Chris' advice to wear socks and shoes.  My feet were burning with my flip flops after all the walking.  We started at the Capital building and meandered around downtown, on the 16th Street Mall, and down to Larimer Square and then back again.  Our time for the scavenger hunt would have been better except that we stopped for dinner at Chili's midway.

We happened upon Chris Powell filming for Extreme Weight Loss.  I guess his show is now based in Denver.

Celebrating Misha

A teenager.  Isn't that sweet that I have two of them?   Actually my teenagers are great. 

I was making the requested waffles for Misha's breakfast when she walked down stairs around 7:30 am.  She likes to celebrate her birthday by being awake at the time she was born--7:53.  It was just Misha, Kristen, and I to celebrate the birthday waffles.

We let her open a gift for breakfast and then a few throughout the day.  As a gift, she got out of chores for the day and played video games.  She was most impressed with the $100 gift from Mom and Dad.

We headed to Denver for the evening for some fun so Misha's requested "donut" cake had to wait until Thursday morning.

She Came Home

Kristen finally arrived home around midnight on July 8th.  She left to visit Grandma on the June 18 with Christopher while the other girls and I were at Girls' Camp.  After her cousins asked if she could stay when they visited Grandma, Chris extended her stay until July 1st.  On June 30th, we got a called requesting for Kristen to "please, please, please" stay a little longer.  There wasn't much activity-wise that she was going to miss, so we changed her reservation.  I must admit I was beginning to miss her quite a bit. I think she too started to get a little home sick after the second week.  It's a long time for a little peep to be away.

Her flight didn't arrive until 11 pm, so Chris hung out in Colorado Springs after work in order to bring her home.  I must have dozed a bit when she got home but quickly woke up when I heard the door chime ding.  Kristen was already upstairs in her home checking it out.  I had spent hours cleaning, organizing, and hanging pictures.  I also had curtains ready to hang but needed Chris' help to make that happen.

She tackled me in a hug when I walked in to her room.  I quickly got her settled for bed and kissed her good night.  I was glad to have her home.

Visitors

My brothers, Brad and Mitch, were our first family visitors since moving in to our house.  They were in Silverthorn, CO for a couple of days mountain biking and drove down to visit on Sunday afternoon.  We had a BBQ lunch, walked around the lake, and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Obviously blue was the color of the day.

Deck Washing

Misha had the job to wash both decks one afternoon while Chris, Amy and I were gone.  She was fine cleaning the lower deck, but wasn't quite sure how to get the hose up to the upper deck.  It helped to have Chris home later who could then reach up with the hose for Misha to grab on to.  I had tried to hand her the hose, but with a bit of jumping on my part, I still wasn't able to get the hose into her grasp.  I turned the spigot on and it only took a second for me to process that standing beneath the upper deck was a sure way for me to get wet.  Chris and I ran in to the house.

Amy thought it would be fun to see if she could avoid the water and promptly headed out.  Bad choice.  Chris quickly locked the door, and Misha took only a second to realize that she had an easy prey.  Wet Amy.  Let me in!!  Dadddddd!

4th of July

The 4th of July dawned a little too early for some of my peeps as we attended our ward breakfast.  We told certain peeps that they were welcome to stay in bed but would have to make their way to the breakfast on their own.  That was good enough incentive to get them out of bed.  Breakfast was at 8 am.  Our breakfast fare included pancakes, bacon, eggs, muffins, fruit, donuts, juice, and milk--something for everything.

Following breakfast we headed over to Old Town Firestone for the parade.  I think the last time we attended the parade in Firestone was when Kristen was just over 1 year old.  There is a rule that people in the parade can't throw candy and the like to kids.  The last time we attended it was pretty pathetic.  We figured the rule still stood, but were pleasantly surprised by all the "rule breakers" who threw candy anyway.

Our Bishop, representing Comfort Dental, was dressed as a tooth and was accompanied by not one but two tooth fairies.  Amy and Allie took the opportunity to snag some pictures.

Our new neighbors down the street, the Wasdens, invited us to their afternoon of fun at the lake.  They had lots of family visiting and had invited friends.  One of Tasha Wasden's brothers had built this amazing waterside.  The kids had a beach area for playing and lots of kayaks and paddle boards.  And, of course, life jackets.

Chris had invited the Bishop's family--the Johns--to join us for swimming later in the afternoon. 

Tasha invited them to join the watersliding fun.  We left Wasdens around 4 pm and headed back up the street to our house.  I made a quick run to the grocery store for our BBQ later in the evening and then started getting everything ready.

The Burnham's also joined us.  They had spent the day working on their extra garage and were more than ready for a break and a bit of celebration.  We had hoped to set off some fireworks on the lake, but the wind was totally uncooperative.  Much to the kids' disappointment, we decided to hold off on the fireworks until another day.  After most of our guests left for the evening, Chris and I and some of Amy's friends sat out on the deck and watched fireworks from at least five different shows.  It was pretty cool.

Friends and Summer

There aren't many days when my girls don't have friends over, aren't swimming, or need help staying occupied.  We love that there are so many fun things for them to do so close to home.

Kristen and Girls' Camp

And where was Kristen in all of the Girls' Camp-ness?  She and Christopher left for Washington on Wednesday morning.  Chris was going to stay with Kristen until Saturday morning.  She would then stay with Grandma and help her unpack in her new place on Anderson Island (closer to Tacoma, WA).  It was a major move and change of life moment for Chris' parents.  Linda retired from working in the school system on Friday the 20th.  Her years had blessed so many handicapped children and parents alike.  She will be missed.  Chris and Kristen were able to attend her retirement party which I have heard was full of kind words, tears, and much gratitude.

Kristen will stay with Grandma until July 1st.  We wouldn't have had her stay away so long except that her cousins from Thailand were returning for a couple of weeks of summer vacation and Ashley specifically asked if Kristen could stay.  (Ashley is about 8 months younger than Kristen).  They are like two peas in a pod. 

Online Garage Sale

There are a few things I am selling.  I'll be adding to it, so check back.  Make an offer.


Close to My Heart 12x12 My Legacy Book Scrapbook Albums-post bound
Cranberry Fabric $10

Hunter Green Fabric $10

Navy Blue Leather $15

Child Craft Dresser/Changing Table  $180 (well made, good condition)

LowePro Fastpack 100 Camera Bag $85

Black Leather Coach Tote $120  (limited use) Certified Coach # on inside.

Pelle (burgundy leather and new) $25

Scarguard MD 1 oz. $40

Dance Dance Revolution 2 $25 (includes Wii game and dance mat)

Sony Handycam Vision CCD-TRV58-NTSC $95
Includes camera, charging cable, 2 batteries, carrying case, tapes, and Video Transfer Cable

Girls' Camp

I suppose if I had thought too much about Girls' Camp, I would have freaked out about three nights of camping.  Fortunately, my mind was consumed with so many other thoughts in finishing our home and moving and unpacking, that I didn't allow my mind to go there.  For those of you who do not know, I am not a camper.  NOT.  But, I was looking forward to spending time with the young women of our ward, the leaders, and my daughters. 

Amy packed up again for camping and her 4th year hike on Monday.  I dropped her off at the Stake Center on Monday morning at 7 am.  Again, she was with a lot of her friends, so that part was kind of fun.  I sent her off with many of the 4th year girls of the Stake for their hike.  We had packed up sleeping bags and pads on Friday afternoon and dropped the off at Adamson's so that they would be transported to camp for us.  We weren't thinking that Amy would need hers.  Fortunately, we had extra sleeping bags at home and Chris' bought another mattress from Cabela's for me to use.  I just sent that one with Amy.

While at Cabela's, Chris also bought me a cot.  His words, "I want you to enjoy camping."  Well, that is a stretch, but the cot might ease things a bit.  We actually were ready to purchase a cot and headed to the back of the store to look at kayaks with Misha.  I ventured in to the discount area where I found the exact cot marked at least 60% off.  The employee there opened up the cot and helped me put it together to make sure that it was in good working order.  Two straps were broken that helped in carrying the cot, but they didn't effect the usability of the cot.  We could figure out straps.  When Chris came in search of me, I showed him my find.  He was impressed, especially as the employee also showed us how to get an extra $10 off.

So Misha and I were packed and ready to head out on Tuesday morning, meeting our group at the Stake Center.  Again, 7 am.  At the last minute, I grabbed what I thought was my iPad and Misha and I were off.  Not five minutes later, Chris called.  Groan, what did I forget?  Since I was the leader in charge and was already a couple of minutes late leaving home, I didn't want to have to go back.  I had grabbed Chris' iPad and not mine.  Chris kindly said that he would meet us at the church.  Once I arrived, I checked in with all of our drivers, made sure all girls had arrived, all drivers had permission slips, and all gear was in transit.  After exchanging Chris' iPad for mine, we were off.

I drove Misha and her friends in my car.  Since I had never been to Camp Batel before, I followed the other drivers.

We arrived 9-ish at the Camp.  Our gear that we left with Adamson's had already been distributed to all of our tents by the YCL (Youth Camp Leaders) who had arrived on Monday.  Next year that will be Amy.  We all got settled, found our t-shirts and schedules, and waited for Amy and her group to arrive.  There was just so much about camp that I never understand during the planning.  Now it all began to make sense.

When Amy's group of 4th year girls arrived, almost all of the girls were tired and zombie-like.  I guess one of their group snored like a lumberjack, and none of the other girls got a great sleep.  The next night wasn't much better for Amy.  She was kind of a poop around camp all day long because she was so tired.

The next night was exciting for a few of the leaders who started innocently enough singing and helping a group of 1st year campers handle their time away from home.  This morphed in to having to clean up throw up in the middle of the night.  Not fun for them.

My favorite moment of the whole camp was during our service project.  We were helping to move firewood and logs out to the road for a gentleman who came to gather the wood to heat his home for the winter.  He had had a stroke and had lost feeling in one side of his body.

As the girls worked, they started singing (camp songs no less which would not leave my brain) and all of a sudden as if dominoes were jumping back into place after being knocked down, a human log-moving line formed.  The logs were quickly passed to the road, and the effort expended was minimized.  It was amazing to watch it happen and then be part of, especially when there were enough girls to form a second line.

We later learned that Jerry, the man who came to collect the logs, arrived later in the day to begin gathering.  When he found out that the logs were all stacked along side the road for him, he was brought to tears.  Because he does not have full use of both of his arms, he goes to a country store in Laramie, has them start his chain saw, drives with the chain saw on idle for an hour, and then proceeds to cut, load, and haul wood.  It was wonderful to be a part of such a blessing.

We bribed the girls with french fries and ice cream on Thursday evening to inspire them to clean their tents and have all of their stuff packed and ready to go for the morning.  We wanted to leave as quickly as possible after the final flag ceremony. There was also a prize for the cleanest tents.  It worked.

As Friday morning rolled around, the girls had their stuff out of the tents and ready to go by 9 am.  Many of them pitched in to help clean our camp area as well as the pavilion where we ate meals.  It amazed me though, that there were girls that just sat and watched it all happen.  Even after I asked them to go help.  By the third or fourth request to help, I wasn't being quite so nice.

But we made it out of camp by 10:45 am, had time to stop at a McDonalds for ice cream and french fries, and pulled in to the church with a bunch of tired and dirty girls...and leaders.

A Fun-filled Weekend

With building a house, moving, and unpacking, the past year or so of our lives has been consumed with house stuff.  We often heard from our youngest peep, "House, house, house.  That's all you ever do.  We never have any fun."  And, it was true.  Building a house was pretty much our life.  So two weeks after we moved in, we set off on our first fun, non-house-related weekend. There was still plenty to do at home, but it would keep.

We left Friday morning.  Chris worked for awhile at his office in Lone Tree while the girls and I hiked through IKEA.  I was hoping mostly to find curtains for the living room, but ended up with curtains for Misha and Amy's rooms and a few miscellaneous things.  Sometimes you just have to check things out in person to get an idea if they are going to work or not.  So, I guess that was still house related. 

After a couple of hours working, Chris came to retrieve us and we were off toward Colorado Springs.  We had a little time to spare in the evening, so we found the International Olympic training facility.  We just missed the last tour of the day, but were still able to walk around.  Pretty cool that it is so close to home.

Chris wanted to go to the Garden of the Gods, but the girls were pooped and wanted to do very little.  We left them at the hotel where Amy and Kristen went to swim and Misha read a book.  We grabbed our take-out from Garbonzos and enjoyed a beautiful sunset while eating our dinner.  We walked around for awhile, mostly trying to avoid a herd of scouts.  On our drive back to the hotel, we watched the moon rise.  I think Misha said it was a honey moon.

"The moon illusion should be more prominent during this full moon as it will graze closer to the horizon than at any other time of the year," Samra says. "This will make the moon appear more amber than other full moons of the year."

A full moon coinciding on Friday the 13th is not all that uncommon, occurring every three or so years.

But having the combination of a honey moon and Friday the 13th is rare, last occurring on June 13, 1919, according to the popular astronomy site Universe Today. We'll have to wait until June 13, 2098, for the next one.     Andrew Fazekas for National Geographic

We were up fairly early on Saturday morning since we still had to drive to Canon City.  Apparently we misjudged the time and were about fifteen minutes late.  Our drive took us about fifteen minutes outside of Canon City to the Royal Gorge area for our morning zip line tour.  We didn't realize that we had to go that much farther.  We were moved to the 10:30 am tour with our guides Linda and James.   (FYI, Chris found a Groupon deal for the ziplining.)

Funny sign in the ladies bathroom.

Cute Amy.

"I'm going along with ziplining thing, but..."

Photobomber!  His name was James.

Having fun.

I'm not sure if Kristen knew what she was getting in to, but she was quite the trooper.  She was able to manage the zip line on some of the smaller lines, and then doubled up with our guides on some of the longer lines.  It was a windy day so some lines that wind was blowing in a direction in our favor and on other lines it created a headwind.  I would just like to say that on the line with the headwind, I was the only one that didn't have to employ the hand over fist recovery move to get close to the platform.  Stellar form.  We had nine ziplines to cruise along, sometimes having to hike a distance from one platform to another.  But I think we were all smiles.  That's been a rare occurrence over the past year.

Chris surprised us with suggesting that we take a river rafting tour for the afternoon.  We didn't have a lot of time between our return from the ziplines until the bus left for the river rafting.  We all suited up in our lovely wet suits.  Amy was having a bit of struggle getting hers on.  It was pretty hilarious when Chris and another worker grabbed the top tabs of her wet suit and pretty much shook her into her suit--major wedgy!

Photobomber Misha!

Our guide for the rafting, Bono, was a history teacher during the fall and winter months and then spent his summers on the river.  He liked to teach Amy bits of history throughout our ride after she announced that history was not one of her favorite subjects in school.  Kristen sat in the middle of the raft and "steered".  She loved it.  We all loved it and would happily do it again.  The river was great too.  With all of the spring run off, the water was running high.  But we were in good hands and had a fabulous time.  Yay for the waterproof camera!  It has been my go to activity camera for the past couple of months after my G12 was dropped.  It worked perfectly for us on the river.

We stopped at Texas Roadhouse in Monument on the way home. Couldn't have topped off the day any better for my big and little meat lovers.