Misha Moving... Again

Misha found a small studio apartment in Denver (close to the Capitol). In her apartment, the kitchen and bathroom areas are somewhat separate, which helps to make it have some division.

Chris and I helped with moving all of her stuff back to Denver. 

We retrieved a trailer from Mead on Thursday afternoon so that Misha could load it up. 

Chris stopped working around 2 pm on Friday afternoon so that we could meet Misha in Denver after she picked up her keys at 2 pm. We arrived around 3 pm. 

With a huge trailer, we had to park in the pay lot at the corner of her block and proceed to unload the trailer from there. Her new apartment is on the third floor, so that isn’t fun for moving, but she won’t have any people living above her to make noise. 

Chris and I helped Misha and Genevieve unload the trailer and back of the Pilot. With her bed set up, we left her to start the unpacking. 

She is grateful to be back in Denver so that she doesn’t have to make the one hour drive to work from our house every day. Still, living at home for a month helped her save money on rent and food.

Cruise Friends Dinner

We got together with our friends that we went on a cruise with four years ago. 

Kristen and Mark S. were about to move back to Oregon, so we wanted have a last get together. 

Jamie and David A. live about an hour or so away, so we don’t seem them quite so often. 

Maria and Rafer B. have become empty nesters this year, and aren’t quite sure how much longer they will be in Firestone. We drove to Ft Lupton and ate at Wholly Stromboli. 

Sadly, the wait staff seemed to forget about us and it took well over an hour for us to get our meals. They discounted our meals and comped us two free desserts. It was nice to chat, but it was a long wait!

Kristen Off to College Soon

The packing has begun. Kristen has taken over a room or two, but there's hope that one day the rooms upstairs will be restored to their tidy order.

She has been collecting bedroom things, toiletries, and packing clothes.

There have even been a few tears for Kristen as reality has begun to set in that she is really moving away from home. While exciting, the thought can also be overwhelming, scary, and monumental. 

She'll be awesome and after a week, it will be Kristen's new normal.

And the reality for Chris and I that we will have three girls in college. Crazy!

Amy Enjoying Work

The bank where Amy works—Utah Community Credit Union—has turned out to be a job that Amy really enjoys with co-workers that are fun to be with.

Amy had a work party on Friday night and sent some fun pictures.

Chick-fil-A Leadership Scholar

I think this packet should have come with the actual announcement of her scholarship from Chick-fil-A and before the check arrived.

The packet included a cool CFA keychain too.

The actual check arrived without much information on it as to whom it was from. I thought maybe it was a bank fishing for her to cash the check and then be obligated to a loan. Good thing I didn't shred it.

The check was made out to the University of Utah, so Kristen found an address of where to send it and is thrilled to have some money on her account already. She had only been expecting $1000 and was happy to see that it was for substantially more.

Makes all those long hours of working and saying "My pleasure" worth it.

Misha's Job Interview

Prior to leaving for vacation, one of Misha's bosses approached her and asked if she had applied for her old boss' position. She had not known that it was posted and quickly got her resume and cover letter updated and submitted.

Shortly after that, she left for her planned two-week vacation.

Once back to work, she had her first real interview scheduled for Wednesday July 26th. It went pretty well and she sat back to wait for about a week before they made any decisions.

Turns out, after conducting a bunch of interviews, the bosses decided not to fill the position at all.

Misha was disappointed, but hadn't got her hopes up too high.

I suggested that between now and the time before she graduates in the next year or so, she should start working on getting her certifications to show that she is interested and motivated to have the job. Maybe just maybe they'll keep the job open for when she is no longer a student.

Hike to Sandbeach Lake

No matter how many hikes Chris and I go on in RMNP, we always seem to find news ones. That's the blessing of being able to search the internet and the Alltrails App.

Our plan for today was to hike to Sandbeach Lake. We started from the lower parking lot at Wild Basin in RMNP.

We arrived shortly before 9 am and got started on the ten mile hike. The first couple miles were pretty constant uphill with a steady elevation gain.

After finally reaching Sandbeach Lake—aptly named for its sandy beach—we found a place away from the crowds and enjoyed a chance to relax and have lunch.

The flies were pretty relentless and I was surprised by how many times those little black flies bit me.

We enjoyed the beautiful views while constantly swatting flies until we had had enough and decided to start hiking back to our car.

Keaton Comes to Play at the Beach

Keaton was staying at his grandparent's ranch in Wyoming for the weekend of the Tim McGraw concert. He came up to play at the beach with Amy.

I had this brilliant idea to ask Amy what kind of vehicle he drove. A truck. Perfect. She needed to have a dresser taken back to Utah and Keaton was more than happy to drive it back for her (and deliver it to her apartment).

Amy and Keaton played on the jet ski, at the beach, sat in the hot tub, and played video games. He stuck around for BBQ hamburgers and then left after 10 or so to drive the hour and some back to Cheyenne to spend time with his family the next day.

Tim McGraw Concert

The big reason for Amy coming home for a long weekend was to attend a Tim McGraw concert that she and a bunch of her friends got tickets for the Cheyenne Frontier Days many months ago.

In the time between getting the tickets and attending the concert, only one of her friends still planned to go. 

I suggested she just book a cheap flight home for the weekend.

Chris and I gave Kristen Tim McGraw tickets for her birthday (for Chris and Kristen).

Amy, Chris and Kristen drove down to Cheyenne on a Thursday afternoon. Chris had flown in from NY and we were all happy that he wasn't delayed on this flight (he's had lots of delays recently too).

They stopped for some dinner and then got set to enjoy the concert. 

Chris and Kristen sat up in the bleachers.

Amy and her friend, Keaton, were down in the standing room only "pit". After having a few drinks spilled on her, Amy wasn't so thrilled with the pit.

But, they all had a great time. The opening act lasted for an hour or so, and Tim McGraw didn't even get on stage until late. Chris had been up since 3 am (Colorado time) and didn't get home until 1 am Friday morning.

Amy Home for the Weekend

Amy found a cheap Frontier flight and came home for the weekend. The bonus of the Frontier flights are that they are relatively inexpensive. The drawback is that you can only bring what you can fit into a backpack. 

Fortunately Amy was able to  borrow clothes and other things from her sisters.

Unfortunately, like so many other flights lately, her flight was delayed by about two hours. Not fun for Misha who was waiting at work to pick Amy up!

Before even coming to the house, the girls drove to Chick-fil-A to see Kristen. When ordering their food and asked for the name on the order, they put "Kristen's Sisters".

When Kristen realized it was her sisters, she took a moment to give hugs.

Darn Ant

I was weeding in the yard. So many weeds.

I noticed that as I pulled some of the viney weeds, I disturbed some ants and they began to scurry about.

I didn't think too much of it until I got back in the house and felt as though something was crawling on me. And then something bit me!

I looked and saw a red ant crawling on my shoulder and pinched it off me. It had crawled all the way up my body. Granted, I'm not that tall, but to an ant, that's a long way up.

On a positive note, don't Kristen's nails look lovely? She does them herself.

A Road Trip with Friends

Misha and a bunch of friends have been planning an epic road trip for months.

They set out on Misha's birthday driving from here to Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington and back again.

They spent time in Vegas, Sacramento, San Francisco, at the beach in Oregon, hiking Multnomah Falls in the Columbia Gorge of Washington, Craters of the Moon National Park in Idaho, and then to Utah.

She even got to stop in Utah on the way home and see Amy! And somehow Chris' shirt went along for the ride.

So much driving.

Pretty sure she is "peopled" out and will need a few days to recover. 

New Roof

In many of the storms this spring and summer, we have been hit with hail as well. One in particular was enough to destroy the integrity of the shingles. So, our second roof in five years.

Delivering the materials. We did opt for higher quality, "hail resistant" shingles this time.

Removing the old shingles (and my finger in the corner!)

The mess.

The gutter guys.

I do not recommend staying at home when a new roof is being installed. I was going bonkers with all of the pounding and nailing! It lasted for three days, and then the gutter guys took another two days. The gutter guys weren't nearly so noisy.

So glad for it to be finally done.

Last Day of Pathways

I was feeling a little burned in teaching non-stop for the past year and half. So, I am grateful that I have almost two months before the fall semester of Pathways begins again. I will enjoy the break.

Chris to Santa Barbara

In all of his years and miles of air travel, Chris experienced a first: an aborted take off.

When the flight Chris was on started its take off, a cargo sensor alarm went off and the captain had to break hard to reject the take off.

The flight then had to return to the terminal to let the brakes cool off. (This was after it had already been delayed due to a mechanical issue).

Killer Queen

Chris and I had tickets to a Queen concert at Red Rocks.

Apparently a lot of people had tickets and the venue was packed. Before we even got into the amphitheater, we had to climb a lot of stairs and then wait in a line that moved quite slowly.

As we neared the entrance, it started to rain. We lucked out in being under a rock overhang that mostly protected us. 

I got a few pictures of a rainbow though.

A couple of weeks ago there was a huge storm with giant hail that injured quite a few people and sent some to the hospital as they attended a concert at Red Rocks. If you are interested, Google "Red Rocks hail" to see videos and pictures. So the venue was taking extra precautions.

We finally entered the venue after the concert had already started.

Unfortunately, the line between reserved seating and open seating wasn't well marked, and we picked seats in the reserved section. Yes, we had to move when the ticket holders arrived 45 minutes late.

We ended up at the very top of the amphitheater.

About an hour into the performance (after it started 20-30 minutes late due to the rain delay at the beginning), one of the venue hosts announced that we would have another 30-60 minute rain delay. They wanted ALL guests to wait in their cars or in the visitor center.

Chris and I just opted to leave. 1) they weren't really that great, and 2) it was already close to 10 pm. Chris had to fly the next morning for work. Instead, we listened to the real "Queen" on the 45-minute drive home.

Watching an Arrest

Amy sent this picture from her work. Apparently they were passing a slow Monday morning at the bank watching the police make an arrest.

Taylor Swift Concert

Kristen is a Taylor Swift fan, no doubt. 

She and her friends have been looking forward to the Taylor Swift concert all summer. In fact, we had to plan vacations and the cruise around it!

Kristen spent time planning her outfit, making friendship bracelets to exchange, and listening to hours of music.

Kristen and her friends left in the afternoon so they could enjoy some of the pre-concert festivities and get their concert "schwag." (That's t-shirts and stuff if you don't know the term.)

Kristen drove and they parked at the train station outside of Denver and then road the train into town. Though the train was supposed to be functioning on a "Taylor Swift" schedule, it wasn't so easy for the girls to get back to their car after midnight. 

Kristen used her travel skills and they even took an Uber at some point.

Apparently the concert was epic and it was all worth it.

The next day she informed us that she had PTSD. Post Taylor Swift Depression.

Amy Move to New Apartment

Amy and her roommate, Chelle, moved to a new apartment in American Fork. It is a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom place on the third floor.

They had a couple of guy friends with trucks who helped them pick up new mattresses and then move some of their bigger items.

Picking up the apartment keys.

Brad brought Amy a queen-size bed frame and an old table that Chris and I bought when we were first married. We passed it on to Brad when we purchased something new. I think it has been sitting in his storage since he bought a new table.

I believe he also told Amy he didn't want it back! I told Amy she needed to keep it to pass on to a new generation. She was just happy to have it.

It took awhile to get everything moved. They still have to go back and clean their old apartment, but have some time before their contracts there are up.

Odessa Lake Hike from Bear Lake in RMNP

Chris and I keep finding hikes in the national park that we have yet to hike. Which is great because we love being in the park and having it so close.

Because of the reservation system, we have to reserve our visits a month in advance.

Odessa Lake was a new hike and like most hikes, has a pretty steep incline from the start. I usually set off thinking, "Why do I like this so much?" as I huff and puff up the path.

We continued on marveling at the beauty, the green-ness of the mountains still, and the waterfalls. We didn't realize we would encounter waterfalls on this hike and loved them. Along the way we passed by Lake Helene, Notchtop Mountain, Knobtop and Flattop.

Before beginning our descent, we stopped for lunch, eating the Subway sandwiches we had purchased.

Our view of the waterfall in the distance.

We were glad to have our hiking poles as we had to cross a couple snowy patches along the trail. 

We made it across the first section of snow without too much trouble.

I don't know if you can see some of the slide marks in the snow as we both slipped on the snow and slid a bit. That was just a little bit unnerving.

From here we began our descent of the western slopes of Joe Mills Mountain toward Odessa Lake, more than 500 feet below us in the valley. Little Matterhorn and The Gable Mountains were on our left and across the valley.

We stopped for awhile at Odessa Lake and enjoyed the sunshine and the views.

The wildflowers were in fine form through this burn area (burned approximately two years ago).

And another waterfall.

We continued our hike past Fern Lake and then to the trail head where we hiked out a bit to be picked up by the shuttle bus.

We didn't realize we would have to wait for over a half an hour for the bus to arrive. Fortunately we had a covered area where we could sit once it started to sprinkle on us.

Good hike.

Visiting Jamie and David

When Chris and I were in Buena Vista, our friend David called and made a special request of Chris.

David was being called as the 2nd Counselor in his ward's bishopric and wondered if Chris would be willing to ordain him a High Counselor.

Chris was honored to do so.

We drove to their ward in Fort Morgan about an hour away on Sunday morning to attend their ward with them.

Chris ordained David after the meetings.

We drove to Jamie and David's after church for lunch. They moved a couple of years ago and this was the first time that we have been out to their farm.

They moved from Firestone in search of some land to raise animals.

They now have pigs, goats, chicken, turkeys, and quail (probably more too). They all seem to be thriving.

We miss having them closer as it is a drive (mostly for them) to go on date nights or meet us at the temple, but we are grateful to continue their friendship.

Misha is 22!

Can you believe this sweet little thing is well into her 20s now?

We love our Misha. We love that she is creative, hard working, takes initiative to fix stuff and figure things out, and lives close enough that she can pop in on the weekends.

We love that she and her sisters all complete our family!