May 2014:
This month I had the Easter Cantata. Saturday (before Sunday) Evening and Sunday Evening were our two performances. It was very hot up on the stage, but it was a great experience and I LOVED it! Part of me was sad it was over, but the other part was glad because of the time it took every Saturday.
The week after Easter, 5 of the 7 of us got sick with fevers in 6 days. It was a rough week. Then Deacon's eardrum ruptured. He's never had an ear infection so we were really surprised. He just woke up one morning with blood in his ear and blood continued to seep for a couple of days. He was grumpy and had a fever the night before, but we thought he was just getting the illness that the rest of us got. He never pulled at his ear.
Yesterday the weather was wonderful so we decided to take the kids fishing. We went up Pikes Peak a ways to a lake (or reservoir) called Crystal Creek. It was very pretty and of course we forgot our camera :(. On the way down our brakes started smoking and stinking! We stopped half way down and poured water on them. It was scary-I don't think we'll be taking the van up there anytime soon. The brake pads and drums aren't even that old.
Well, that's about all for us.
April 2014:
Colson no longer sucks his thumb! He just stopped on his own. Now all of the 3 that used to suck their thumbs don't.
Deacon still talks a lot of jibberish. He's closing in on 2 years old and doesn't talk.
For the kids Spring Break, we went house hunting in Oro Valley! Well, Denver and I did. We dropped the kids off at Denver's parents house and left them for 2 1/2 days. While there, we ran a 10 miler! (training for the half for the brigham city peach days). We got to see a movie and eat out a couple times. It was a way quick trip, but so fun to finally get to buy a house. 12 1/2 years of marriage and we finally get to buy! But what a stressful process. Yikes. A huge thanks to Kristen who drove down a week later to check out a home for us. We've put an offer on a home, done the inspection, just waiting for the appraisal and for the seller to do some fixes and then we'll close, hopefully, the middle of May. We already have paint colors chosen for almost each room (we've never been able to choose paint colors for rooms).
March went by really quickly and we think April, May and June will go even faster. We plan to move in early July. The kids are excited to move. Colson calls it 'the hot place' or "oreo valley" :)
March 2014:
February: February was cold, of course. The one thing I like about winters here though is that it is sunny so it warms up the house. One day this month it was -14. Denver drove to work in the jeep and when he got to base he had to unzip the plastic window to give security his ID. When he did that, he bent the plastic down and it cracked leaving a hole! Crazy!
We had a good month. We've been enjoying going to pack meetings with Garrett for scouts. He has a great scout leader and makes it fun. Garrett was hung up by his ankles when he earned something and the moms got to paint their son's face when they entered the next level.
For Valentines day, Denver and I went to Texas Roadhouse. Mmmm, good.
The Saturday after that we went to a town in the mountains called Cripple Creek. There was an ice festival there. It was really busy. There were ice sculptures of Little Mermaid (all the characters), the Scooby doo mystery van, a castle, a slide (yes made out of ice that kids could slide down), a butterfly and more. Some of the sculptors were out sculpting so we could watch. What a talent! It was neat to see.
Maelie likes school. She tried out for a play, but didn't make it. She also entered a sandwich making contest through the school and if she is one of the finalists, she'll have to make the sandwich and whoever's tastes the best, wins. She chose to write about a hard-boiled egg sandwich with bacon slices on it. We'll see :).
Garrett loves to read. He's read 3 of the 5 Fablehaven books and loves them. He accidently put the 4th one in the washing machine with his load of laundry (I think it was hiding in his pile of clothes in his room and he just took it all and threw it in- you can imagine how his clothes came out being washed with a 500 page book) so he is waiting to go to the library to check it out. In the meantime he is reading Tennis Shoes among the Nephites.
Sterling got to eat pizza with some other kids and the principal for showing honesty (it is the character of the month). He does puzzles with me often. He put together a 500 piece puzzle by himself-he wouldn't let anyone help.
Colson likes having his Mom as his teacher in Primary. He also loves to go to the YMCA. When he grows up he wants to be a superhero or a police man so he can hook the bad guys. (? his words, not mine).
Deacon talks a ton, but NONE of it makes sense. He knows what he's saying though because he'll repeat the same jibberish. He gives good hugs and good kisses. He eats a TON!
I am still enjoying my weekly Cantata practices. Visitors are welcome to sing in Sally DeFord's Cantata performance as long as they practice at home. There is a facebook page with the songs and all the things she changes and discusses during practices so...anyone is welcome to join!
That's about it for us. We're excited to be able to go to the family camp this year-we just need to buy a new tent because our tent poles broke. Cheap poles, but it was an expensive tent. Any suggestions on a good brand?
February 2014:
January was COLD. Not really, but lately it has been. We love the sun that shines in the winter here. In PA and IL it was very cloudy and dreary in the winter months. Here it is much sunnier. We were dumped on this last week with snow. 7 inches and still counting (ok, maybe not dumped, but it was a lot for us!). We had tons of fun sledding (using our surf board thing we got in outer banks, NC-it works really well as a sled!). The kids have had multiple 2 hour delays from school and a few snow days.
I started singing in a cantata (we're performing on Easter Sunday) composed and conducted by Sally DeFord! She's a really witty lady and her music is beautiful! She lives near or in Colorado Springs and does this every year. I am really glad I get this chance to be in this choir. It's a huge commitment (2 hours of practice every Saturday until Easter) but sooo worth it.
Denver turned 34 this month! Whoa! :) He went to a dental conference in downtown Denver for 3 days which he really enjoyed. A lot of driving back and forth, but well worth it. It would be hard to commute 1 1/2 hours everyday there and back we've decided. It actually took him 3 hours the first day to get there because of snow and traffic. He left really early the next 2 days so he wouldn't have to sit in traffic.
Not much else going on here.
January 2014:
December is always a fun month. We have some traditions we like to do. We decorate the tree and house. Make gingerbread houses. Make goodies to give away. Decorate sugar cookies. Make candy advent calendars. Act out the nativity. Christmas Eve dinner. Secret santa.
This month our stake put on a big creche exhibit. We bought a creche in Italy we were going to display, but the nights of the creche were below zero and there was snow on the roads (they don't plow here at all-even on the major roads, they just spray salt-very inefficient) so I didn't get it there on time. We went the last night to see all the creches. There were over 400 displayed. Denver and I were also part of our Ward Choir for the Christmas program at church. It's a big deal here because they have the bell ringers and other instruments.
Christmas Eve we were signed up to feed the missionaries. But on the eve of Christmas Eve Denver and I both threw up a lot! We were both sickos the next day and weak. It's hard when both parents are sick especially when you have a young son that poops in his pants and it's down his leg. Who cleans that up when you're both sick? Deacon, Sterling, and Colson also threw up around that time. In one week, 5 out of the 7 of us were sick. It's nice to be healthy again. We ended up making our planned Christmas Eve dinner on the Friday after Christmas.
The day after Christmas we celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary. We took ourselves to breakfast and later to Tucanos for dinner. It was the first day we really felt like eating since our sickness. It was a nice, relaxing day.
On New Years Eve we went to someone's house and played games. They're an older couple with one kid still in high school and the others came home from college for the holidays so there were all ages there. We played games and had a great time. A couple days later they invited us over again for more games because we had so much fun.
One exciting day in December we were doing laundry and saw a mouse! I jumped on the washer and yelled 'a mouse, a mouse, a mouse' . Denver thought I was kidding until he saw the little sucker. We spent the next 15 minutes trying to corner it and catch it with bowls and nets. It was quite a sight. Did you know mice can jump up pretty high? We thought we had it cornered and then it jumped up our fireplace mantle and ran away. It found a nice little crack to run into and was safe...for a while. We bought some mice traps, put PB on them and then placed them strategically around the house. A couple days later it was dead in a trap.
Deacon is talking all the time now, but none of his sounds make sense. He knows what he's saying though. We get a kick out of it.
I've been assigned to teach in the Primary (Colson's class) along with my other calling. I've been sitting with his class during Primary to help the teacher out. There is one boy in there that is super hard. One Sunday he spit in my face- I was ticked. Another Sunday he was scratching the other teachers hands and drew blood. I'm glad to say that this year, he won't be in my class-they've split that class for the new year.
Denver and I started a new workout plan. I've only done it for one week and he's done it for 4 and he's already lost 15 pounds! I was sore after the first day in all the right places. Now, a week later, I already feel stronger.
That's all the news from our family this month. Until next month.
December 2013:
November started with a day trip to John and Jolena's home. While there we got to see the home they are buying. We had a wonderful visit with them. The next week we headed to Bill and Becky's and had a wonderful visit with them as well. While there, we left the kids and drove a couple of hours to Oro Valley (north of Tucson) where we met with a dentist wanting to sell half of his practice. We enjoyed talking with him and his wife and then we got a job!!! When we drove there we were hesitant because Tucson was crowded and not very beautiful. Oro Valley is around the bend of the mountain and has much less people and was beautiful. We fell in love with the area. We never thought we would move back to AZ, but we are super excited about it! On our drive back to Thatcher, we stopped at a gas station to get a soda. When we went to pay for it, the cashier told us it was taken care of. Someone had paid for our drinks! Nice people still exist.
The next day Kristen and Gary and kids came to visit with Bill's family and us. We enjoyed riding horses that night.We drove home the day after that. It was a quick trip, but with Denver finding a job, we have 8 months of 0 stress in looking for one now.
We had a big service Relief Society activity this month that I was half in charge of planning and carrying out. We made cuddle cocoons for babies who were way preemie and usually didn't survive (something for the mom to keep-it happened to a lady in our ward). We made child quilts for a hospital. We made fleece blankets for an elderly care center and cards for them too. We also collected food for the food bank and clothes and household things for Airmen's attic (that is a military program) Low enlisted (who make very little $) can go to the airmen's attic and take what they need. It was a good activity. Afterward I played volleyball with some women until about 11pm. We play every other week for about 3 hours. I always come home tired and sore. Watch out, I'm getting better and ready to play at the family reunion!
It snowed on and off for 4 days. They should've cancelled school (or late started) because the roads were so icy. Cars, including mine, were slipping and sliding. That was the day I learned how to put the jeep in 4wd. Very fun in 4wd!
Denver had his wisdom teeth removed this month. He was able to be IV sedated and loved it. He got 3 days off after his surgery. Too bad he doesn't have any more wisdom teeth to be removed:). It was nice to have him home.
During his time off, Maelie's school had a Thanksgiving Feast that parents were invited to. I don't think I've ever had that good of Turkey before. I'm not a huge turkey lover, but I loved it there. I went back for 2nds of turkey!
On the down side, our Thanksgiving turkey was dry and not so good. I only ate a little. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The kids had the whole week of Thanksgiving off from school. Denver and I changed the brake pads and shoes on our van the day before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving morning we had the missionaries over for a movie (their mission pres. let them watch 2 movies on Thanksgiving (G or PG)). After they left, we had our Thanksgiving feast. The highlights were the sweet potato casserole-I have the best recipe if anyone wants it-totally not healthy, but soooo good. Could be a dessert. The 3 pies and the bought rolls :). The eggnog/sprite drink was good too, but the rest was mediocre. The deviled eggs had too much pickle juice in it, the potatoes were too salty, the gravy was gross and the turkey was dry. But, it was still a fun day and the kids liked it so that's all that matters.
Friday after Thanksgiving (today) we set up our Christmas decor, tree and lights. Denver's sister drove through CO Springs on her way to her inlaws in Utah from Texas and they plan to stay the night tonight and then drive some more tomorrow. That's our November in a nutshell.
November 2013:
We enjoyed watching conference with the Roku! It was nice to watch without worrying about our internet buffering and cutting out talks. We are happy to announce that Garrett got into the school by our house! We are still waiting for there to be room for Maelie.
October brought snow! The kids were thrilled and angry at the sun for melting it so quickly. Debbie was happy the sun came out to melt it quickly :). We went to a Halloween party at a family's home down the street earlier in the month. Our ward had a trunk or treat, and we went to an actual Halloween night party and trick or treating at someone's house from the ward. The kids got TONS of candy! Maelie was a hip-hop witch with blue hair and blue tights, witch dress and hat. Garrett was ??? Just kidding (kind of) batman or a ninja or something that wears a black suit. Sterling was an airmen/soldier/dentist (he wore ABU's), Colson was Spiderman (no surprise there) and Deacon was a skeleton one night and Silvester the cat another night and a lion another night (we have a lot of costumes for his age, apparently). Denver and Debbie were big babies again this year.
The last week in October Denver had a duty that mandated him to be locked up in the mountain (Cheyenne Mountain, aka Norad). They practiced scenarios there and how they would react in a nuclear chemical attack. Fun! Yesterday (Saturday) we drove to beautiful Fort Collins to visit John and Jolena and family and had a great time.
October 2013:
September came and went in a rush. We unpacked our things over Labor Day weekend. We got the last box done right before we had our first visitor! This month we went to Garden of the Gods. Beautiful place with lots of walking paths. The kids have gotten used to their school and are all doing well.
Deacon loves to play and copy his older siblings. He is growing too fast. He goes to nursery in December! (although he is easy during classes)
Colson is lonely while the kids are at school and ALWAYS wants to play with me. He is a happy boy and says really funny things.
Sterling is doing much better in Kindergarten than when he first started. I can honestly say now that he really likes school. He had a rough beginning, but I think he just had to get things figured out with rules and such. He's a smart kid and I fear he's bored in 1/2 day Kindergarten, but I don't think he's socially ready for all day 1st grade.
Garrett started cub scouts here and LOVES it. He has good leaders. He is still a great helper at home and plays very gently and kindly with his younger bros.
Maelie started choir at school and has to be to school early on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She helps a lot with Deacon and he loves her like a mom.
The kids had their Primary Program the last Sunday in September. They did great!
Debbie got a calling to help out in planning RS activities. She was excited for the calling and has gotten to know more sisters because of it.
Denver is biding his time until he can separate from the military next August. He says the military is very different overseas (much better) and is not digging the commanders here and their ways too much. He is avidly looking for Dental practices to buy.
Our ward has been emphasizing missionary work through inviting others to activities and via family history. We are working to do both.
It got really cold here last week. Freezing temps, ice on the trampoline, etc. We are not ready for Winter.
September 2013:
August has flown by. We left the island on Aug. 4th and stayed that night in Baltimore. Then we flew the next day to San Diego. In San Diego, we were reunited with our van and spent time at the beach and at Sea World. We were really overwhelmed with traffic! After that we drove to Arizona. We spent a couple days there visiting family. Then we drove to Colorado, dropped off the jeep that we bought from Kristen, got the kids registered for school, and picked up our house key. Then we drove to Utah to visit more family there. It was very fun to see everyone that was there! Thanks to all who let us stay with them.
The kids started school the 19th of August. Maelie and Garrett didn't get into our neighborhood school (which is 0.1 mile from our home) so they have to take the bus. In Colorado, they have what's called 'choice'. You can choice your child into any other school in the district if there is room, so the kids classes were full. It was frustrating in the beginning, but we've gotten used to it. Sterling started kindergarten at our neighborhood school. Maelie is in 5th and Garrett in 3rd.
The kids started school the 19th of August. Maelie and Garrett didn't get into our neighborhood school (which is 0.1 mile from our home) so they have to take the bus. In Colorado, they have what's called 'choice'. You can choice your child into any other school in the district if there is room, so the kids classes were full. It was frustrating in the beginning, but we've gotten used to it. Sterling started kindergarten at our neighborhood school. Maelie is in 5th and Garrett in 3rd.
Wednesday (this last week) we received our stuff that was put in storage for 2 years. That was fun to be reminded of the things we have, especially the trampoline and piano :). Thursday we got the stuff that came from the Azores. We can finally start living normally (with beds, dishes, dressers, table etc). We've spent the last week before our stuff came 'camping' in our house.
Our new address is 8871 Kalmar Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80920
Phone numbers: 719-649-3651 Debbie
719-649-4459 Denver
Denver started work on the 19th.
We really like our ward so far. It's big!!!! The kids were surprised with how many people there were and excited that the church building had a drinking fountain! This move has definitely been an adjustment for them and us, but we're slowly getting used to all the people and cars and shoppers. Gone are the days when I could walk around the store and only come across one person in the aisle with me and I know them.
August 2013:
July 4th was a fun celebration here in the Azores. We met Elder Scott's MTC comp there (technically they weren't comps, but they might as well have been-they knew each other well). He is on our island and comes from a family of 14. He is in the other branch so we don't see him, but the missionaries were given permission to go to the festivities until 9. The fireworks were set to music and even through all the furloughs and sequestration they only cut it 5 minutes or so shorter. It was neat to celebrate our awesome country overseas.
We went whale/dolphin watching! We saw hundreds of dolphins in the big blue, but unfortunately no whales-migration time had already come and gone.
Deacon is walking! He only takes wobbly steps, but steps, nonetheless.
Denver and I gave our last talks in Sacrament meeting. We've spoken and born our testimonies a lot more frequently in this small Branch.
The last 2 weeks of July will be harder because we'll be without internet and phone and TV and library privileges. We have to check out of all those things 8-10 days before Denver can complete his out processing from the base.
We plan to be in AZ in the beginning of August and Utah in the middle if everything falls in place and are excited to see family.
July 2013:
The last day of school for the kids was June 13. We got them in swim lessons and have been going to the pool a lot. The beach has a lot of jellyfish so we haven't been going there. We only have one more month left on the island so we're trying to see our favorite things one last time. We were lucky to have Janelle come visit us for a couple weeks and took her to all our favorite spots.
The packers came and packed us up in 1 day!!!! They are super fast here and know how to work. Our house is empty which makes it easy to clean, but we've had to be creative to keep the kids busy. Lots of books, playing outside and puzzles we've borrowed from Branch members.
Denver got released from the Branch Presidency. He currently does not have a calling. He's winding down his days in the clinic here. He's enjoyed the smallness of the clinic with only 2 other dentists. He had very neat experiences while in Peru and wants to continue doing humanitarian missions.
Debbie got released as YW president and was put in the primary presidency. Our Branch number is dwindling. We now only have about 9 families with 2 more leaving this summer (including us).
Maelie turned 10 this month and got a military ID! She was so excited. Now she can sit in the front seat of the car when we go on base.
Garrett, Sterling and Colson are loving catching bugs and butterflies and killing bees. They’ve only been stung a few times.
Deacon turned 1. Can't believe it's already been a year. He's still a sweet baby.
That's all for us. Excited to hear from the rest of you.
June 2013:
Sunday, May 26th, we had a special day because Garrett got baptized in the ocean!!! He turned 8 on May 22. Denver's parents are here visiting so we've been taking them around the island.
We have another visitor coming on Friday: Janelle Beukers!!! We're going to show her the whole island, which will take about a day. Just kidding, it will probably take 3 days :). That's all for us. Not much else going on.
May 2013:
Deacon is crawling all over the place and now has 4 teeth. Still the easiest baby ever. What did we ever do to deserve him?!?!? Colson and Sterling go to Portugal preschool in hopes that they will learn Portuguese. The teacher only speaks Portuguese. They can understand, but they don't speak it, yet. Garrett and Maelie were in a school spelling bee.
Debbie ran a 1/2 marathon on May 1st. She had a good time and plans on running the 1/2marathon in Logan in September if anyone wants to join her! Denver is gearing up for his Humanitarian trip to Peru at the end of the month.
We just turned our van in to be shipped to the states. It takes about 2 months for it to get to San Diego, where we will pick it up. For those who don't know, our next assignment is Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs, CO. Still looking for a home to rent there.
Can't wait for summer and warmer weather. 60 for the high is cold! :)
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