Amy's New Apartment

Amy's current apartment lease is up in the middle of August. She has been searching for a new place to live for the past couple of weeks. Some were too expensive or just didn't feel right, some required that she share a bathroom (which she didn't want to do if she didn't have to), had a cat and smelled (which the owner forgot to disclose), and were just dirty and gross.

She finally found a place to live in a 3-story townhome. There are three bedrooms on the top level, the second level has the kitchen and living room, and then Amy chose the room on the main level. She will be next to the garage and have a parking space in the garage. Her bathroom, while not an ensuite, will be next door to her room. It will be the bathroom that guests use sometimes, but she is isolated enough that she doesn't mind.

Kitchen

Living Room

Amy's Room

Front Door by Amy's Room

Amy's Bathroom

Townhome Exterior

The good news is that her friend from work is buying a townhome in the same neighborhood and will be close by. They can go to the gym together and will be in the same ward. In Amy's words, it is a tender mercy. She called to tell me this while I was hiking in the mountains with Chris and Misha. I was surprised I would even have reception. God knows that sometimes you just need to talk to your mom!

Misha's Birthday Week

Misha has worked really hard in recent months to create a new group of friends, many which work at the CU Denver Rec Center with her.

For her birthday, they brought her cupcakes to work on Monday.

Her dad and I surprised her with a Doordash delivery of Voodoo donuts on Monday evening so that she would have a treat for breakfast on her birthday on Tuesday morning.

Misha was thrilled to find out that there was finally a permanent parking spot available for her. She has been parking on the street over the past year. Since overnight parking is not allowed (which is crazy in a neighborhood of homes and apartments), she has been ticketed a number of times. If she gets home late, she sometimes has had to park blocks away which isn't ideal for safety.

So now, she has her own parking spot behind the apartment complex. She has to pay an extra fee for it, but when you factor in not having to pay parking tickets anymore and the safety factor, it is a blessing. Gotta love it when your adult birthday gift is a parking spot!

Misha took Tuesday off from work and enjoyed lunch with friends, went to a concert, and then played mini-golf with friends. One of her friends drew Misha a cute card.

Misha came home on Friday night (mostly because she needed to do laundry), but she also had presents to open (I don't have any wrapping paper at the moment because it is all packed so mostly it was opening her eyes), and she came hiking with Chris and I to Lake Odessa in RMNP on Saturday.

Before Kristen left on her mission, she created special occasion cards for the next year and a half. Misha got to open the first one for her birthday.

Slurpee Day

Misha was the only one that took advantage of the 7-11 Slurpee Day on 7-11-2024.

I totally forgot about it until she texted me a picture. That is a fun thing we used to do when all the girls were home.

Kristen to Arcadia, California

Kristen's MTC group left for Adelaide, Australia on July 9th...without her. Kristen's visa still hasn't come through. Her companion, Sister Foote, left and Kristen joined the two other girls in her room as a threesome companionship until the next day when Kristen left for the Arcadia, CA mission as a visa-waiter.

We did get a nice note and pic from the new Mission Leader, Sister Jones, when Kristen and her new group of missionaries arrived in California.

"They have arrived! Thank you so much for letting them come and serve with us. We love them already!♥️"

Kristen Mission Email - Week 3

LAST DAY AT THE MTC!! I'm a bit bummed that it's gone by so quickly and that I'm already having to say goodbye, but I'm so excited to get into the field. 

Here's the weekly rundown:

• Reassignment to Arcadia, CA
• The 4th of JULY! 
• Vocal solo at Sunday devotional
• Pickleball!!! 

I am officially headed to Arcadia tomorrow morning. Since, we're still waiting on my visa, I (and one other elder going to Adelaide) will be in California for a bit until they arrive. Whether I'm there for a transfer, more, or less, depends on a lot of varying factors. Even though my visa should be here any day, I'm still hyped to get out into the field. It's unexpected, but I'm trying to stay positive about it. It's a solid reassignment mission and I am hoping God has some people there who need my special touch. 

I said goodbye to my sweet companion, Sister Foote, today. Since she has had her visa for awhile now, she will be headed down under. Of course, we will see each other again someday soon and it will be a grand reunion, most likely in a church gym.

I had heard holidays were a solid experience at the MTC, and the 4th of July did not disappoint. The day itself was pretty routine, but after sunset, we got to watch the one and only "Joseph Smith: Restoration of the Gospel" video (or something like that). This might be the closest I get to a movie for the foreseeable future so I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

We then were let out into the quad to watch the fireworks over Provo. I'll be honest, I didn't see a lot of fireworks, but it could've been because I was too busy screaming the national anthem, "yeehaw", "USAUSA", "I love Texas" (courtesy of Sister Wright), and "*insert eagle screeching*". 

As you can imagine, the energy was high and I loved spending the night with new and old friends. I haven't even told you the best part. We got to stay up PAST BEDTIME! 11:00pm BABY!!! 

It was a treat to break routine for even half a day.

Sister Paige Wazenegger (friend from high school going to Brazil)

MTC District

Sister Campbell

Provo Sky

One of the sisters in the branch presidency heard a musical number I did with some of the sisters in my district the previous Sunday and took it upon herself to get me an audition for a vocal solo with the MTC President's wife. I'm not quite sure how I got roped into it, especially since I vehemently declined the offer when brought up by some of the sisters in my district, but I did it anyways. 

The sweet and very talented Sister Williams offered to accompany me with my song of choice, "Peace in Christ". We pulled a number together in about 24 hours and after the audition, I found out I would be singing at the Sunday evening devotional. Wahoo. 

Okay, but actually, WAHOOOO! It went very well, and I sang in front of an estimate of 1000 missionaries. The video of my performance is HERE.

A side note, remember my screaming and squawking from the 4th? That was a careless oversight on my part and left me quite raspy in the days preceding my performance. Oops. Tender mercy, my voice cleared by Sunday afternoon. Note to self, no more screeching. 

We found our district sport. For the last week, we spend our hour of gym time playing pickleball and four square. If you aren't aware, pickleball is kind of a big deal in Utah, so the fact that I can hold my ground against the locals (which is most missionaries here) is substantial. Let's just say, I ball. It's the highlight of my days, and Sis Foote and I are quite the pairing on the court. All I can say is I hope they have pickleball in Australia, or I might have some withdrawals. 

I disregarded a spiritual thought last week, so here it is: As a missionary, we have lots of rules and standards to uphold. Many seem tedious and unnecessary. One of the big things we teach as missionaries is the importance of following God's commandments, even though they may seem tedious and unnecessary. But why do we do it? BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM! 

As I've tried to follow the standards set for me, I have to remind myself why they're there (not always because some elder did something stupid) and why we follow them in the first place. I thought of this analogy. When you're learning to drive, you might have a driving instructor. 

Now, as the new driver, we have to trust that our instructor is going to tell us where to go and how to do it. We don't go rogue and say, "That's stupid, let me figure it out myself." If you're wise, you'll usually follow what they say, and when you mess up, they usually have their own brake on their side. They won't tell you to do something that will put you or others in danger. 

Our Heavenly Father is similar. He tells us where to go, and sometimes, he puts rules in place that keep us and others out of danger, and though we might not always understand their purpose, we trust that He knows better and do it because we trust, AND love Him. And for those things we don't understand, turn your thoughts to 1 Nephi 11:16-17. 

16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God? 

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

We don't know all of God's whys, but we know He loves His children. And that's enough.

It's crazy that my training time has already come to a close. It's hard to understand how fast the weeks go by but how slow the days go until you're actually a missionary. It feels like ages and a breeze all at the same time. However, I'm ready to leave the MTC bubble and get out into the real world. And also to not eat MTC food anymore.

Talk to you next time (probably) in California!

Singing at the MTC

Kristen was asked to sing at the Sunday Evening Devotional at the MTC.

Link to Kristen Singing "There is Peace in Christ"

She doesn't usually like to sing in front of big crowds, so I am proud that she gathered her 20 seconds of courage!

Salida 4th - Day 4

This morning was pretty much a repeat of yesterday. I showered the night before, Chris got ready, I got lunch ready. Plus, we were heading for home later in the day, so we had to get everything packed up and loaded in the car.

We listened to Come, Follow Me Podcasts as we drove in the mountains and then stopped in Cottonwood Pass to hike to the Ptarmigan Lake. It was 6.5 miles out and back with 1500 feet of elevation gain!

This hike was not nearly as busy as the Waterdog Lakes hike. With the elevation gain, we just took it slow and easy. I ate more than a protein drink for breakfast and had a much better time hiking today.

When we finally reached the lake, we spread out our hiking blanket that Chris got as schwag from some work conference. 

We enjoyed turkey and cheese wraps, apples, pretzels, and chips. It was nice to enjoy the view but if you are planning on getting into hiking, be sure to also bring along some bug spray. 

We made our descent in about half the time, changed out of our boots and hiking gear, and settled in for a three-hour drive back to Firestone.

 

Salida 4th - Day 3

Chris and I slept in. Blessed sleep! 

I showered the night before, so while Chris got ready, I worked on getting breakfast ready, making lunches to eat while hiking, packing snacks, and getting drinks ready.

We were out of the house a little after 9 am and walked out to find a deer grazing a few doors down. The deer around town were totally not afraid of people.

We walked around the Farmer's Market, bought some cucumbers for our hike and headed off to the mountains toward the Monarch ski resort. We bought tickets to ride the Monarch Crest Tram. We only planned to ride the tram up, but they still charged us $18 for a round trip ticket. Sheesh!

We planned to hike around at the top and then back down to the Monarch Crest shop.

The ride up the mountain on the Monarch Crest Scenic Tramway took less than 10 minutes. It was uber windy once we got out.

We had to put a pin in Adelaide on the map of where people were from around the world!

After taking a few pics we pulled out our windbreakers and were grateful for the bit of warmth they offered.

The hike here followed the Continental Divide Trail, which also happened to be busy with a motorbike rider, lots of mountain bikers, hikers, and a lady carrying her dog's poop down the mountain (yay for not leaving it on the side of the trail).  I couldn't get close enough fast enough before she put it down, but she had tied the poop bag to a stick and was carrying it like a hobo.

We ended up hiking about five miles after reaching the Visitor Shop. And we decided to get some lunch at the Shredder's Grill food truck. Chris ordered a burger with jalapeno jelly, peanut butter and sliced strawberries. I had a black bean burger with carmelized onions and guacamole. Mmmm.

Taking some fun pics in the big Adirondack chair.

We started to eat outside in the sunshine, but the wind picked up and we moved inside.

Incidentally, the tram closed down due to the wind by lunch time.

We spent the afternoon at hot springs again.

Salida 4th - Day 2

Chris found the Waterdog Lakes hike for us to challenge ourselves with on Friday morning. It was straight up from the get go and promised 4.5 miles (out and back) with 1100 feet of elevation gain. 

We were surprised with the amount of young families and dogs. There were a lot of families and hikers on this trail all the way and on the way down.

We explored the first Waterdog Lake and then Chris opted to scramble up the side of the mountain to the upper Waterdog Lake. I wasn't too keen on the straight up scramble and wandered around some until I found some trails (probably animal trails) that allowed a hike with switch backs. 

Once getting to the top, there was a huge rock field. I called out to Chris and could see him on the other side of it. I never did get to see the upper lake, but impressed Chris with my scouting skills.

We hiked down and enjoyed an afternoon soak in hot springs in the area.

Salida 4th - Day 1

Salida is quickly becoming one of our favorite little mountain towns to visit in Colorado. We found a cute little vacation rental in old downtown and used it as home base for a weekend of hiking and hot springs.

Before arriving in Salida, Chris and I made a detour to Colorado Mountain Lavender, a farm near Cotopaxi, Colorado. We ordered chicken salad from the lunch counter and then took a short walk around the fields while our lunch was being made. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite prime lavender time. There were a few purple sprigs on some plants, but the best time to visit will be in a month.

We enjoyed our lunch (the lavender lemonade was probably a little bit too potent) and then explored a little more of the small towns in the area.

It was 3 pm when we arrived in Salida and quickly located our rental. We were just in time for the 4 pm parade and only had to walk a bunch of blocks. Chris and I even found a spot in the shade, opened up our camp chairs and settled in for the parade.

The parade started at 4 pm and was done by 4:10 pm! Short and sweet.

We followed the crowd to Riverside Park, found an open spot of grass in the shade, planted our chairs once more and enjoyed some live music in the park.

After about an hour, we started to get hungry. We found a few places but settle on Mo Burrito (ate here last time we were in Salida). Unfortunately, we got in line just after a wedding party group and waited at least a half an hour. We could have left to find something else, but figured with the 4th, anywhere else would be just as busy.

The fireworks were to set to go off at 9:30 pm from "S" mountain. 

All we had to do was walk out into the middle of the road and we had a perfect view. We did have to move out of the way for traffic every so often, but enjoyed the show. I think it was done by 9:45!

Amy and Misha's 4th of July

Misha spent the fourth with her friends. They drove to one of the friend's home in Boulder where they had burgers for lunch. After coming back to Denver, they made hotdogs for dinner and then went up to the rooftop of the same friend's apartment where they watched the fireworks.

Amy spent the day in Nephi, Utah with Zac's family for the 4th.

Making Selections Again

Chris and I combined a selections visit in Colorado Springs with Jennifer at Alliance Homes with our weekend to Salida for the 4th of July.

We originally planned to meet with Jennifer at Plush Cabinets at 10 am, but one of the other Alliance employees, Linsey, wanted to show us the staking on our lot. We left around 7:15 am from Firestone in order to meet Linsey at 9 am. 

Our goal is to keep as many of the trees as possible.

We spent about 30 minutes walking the lot and then another 30 minutes driving further to Colorado Springs to Plush Cabinets.

We will have a two-tone kitchen again; this time, both cabinets will be wood tones.

We worked with Randy at Plush to make sure our kitchen, bath, and laundry layouts were what we wanted.

From there, we drove to Dahl Plumbing to work on plumbing fixtures with Jim Welsh. We got a lot accomplished in 2 hours since this was our first visit to Dahl.

Our last stop of the day was back at Arlun Flooring with Heather. We worked on tile in the bathrooms, laundry, kitchen backsplash as well as tried to determine hardwood choices. We might go with a lighter upstairs floor and a darker lower level.

Outside the Arlun showroom, we looked at the exterior color choices with Jennifer.

It was a productive day, though sometimes I feel rushed in making choices. For now, I can still change my mind.

Once our day was done, we drove toward Florence where we spent the night in a converted Airstream trailer and soaked in hot springs.

Chris was more than ready for some time away from work (though I will add the second quarter of 2024 was very good for him at work!)