Quick Get-away to Winter Park

We made a last minute decision to head up to Winter Park for Labor Day.  We left after church, and headed up to the mountains.  We stopped and ate Pizza at Beaujoe’s in Idaho Spring, then finished the drive up to Winter Park.  We got in kinda late, but the kids, of course, wanted to go swimming.  So, I put Blake to bed while Rusty and the kids wore themselves out at the pool. 

The next morning we swam again, and then headed out to do a mile hike to a lake that was 10 miles away.  What we didn’t know was that it was 10 miles on a very bumpy, narrow dirt road, straight up the mountain.  After about 40 min, we got to our destination.  The wind was blowing like CRAZY, and it was about 42 degrees.  I was ready just to head back down the mountain, but Rusty wanted to keep going.  He was sure the wind would die down once we entered the little valley where the lake was.  So, with Blake and Josh bawling their eyes out, and Halle and I freezing to death, we made our way down to the lake.  Where is was still freezing and windy.  The kids and I immediately wanted to turn back, but we sat frozen for a few minutes trying to eat our lunch.  We started back up the hill with Josh still crying.  So, I stopped the kids, and we talked about how important it is to try our best, and even when things are hard, to put on a happy face.  We promised we would all do our best to get up the mountain, and not whine and cry.  Halle was amazing.  She was our little trooper blazing her way up the hill.  I didn’t hear one word of complaint out of her.  We kept saying things like, “we’re so strong, we’re so brave” and she loved it.  I gave Josh a piggy back ride most of the way up and he had to say things like, “you can do it, mom!” in order to give me “energy” to keep carrying him up the hill.  I put him down about 50 yards from the top and let him finish himself.  Both he and Halle were so proud, and I was too! 
A few days after we got home I had asked Josh to do something and he said, “It’s so hard, Mom.” I said, “Is it harder than climbing that mountain?” He said, “No.” I told him if he could do something as hard as climbing a mountain in the wind, he could surly do this small job.  He thought about it for a minute, put a big smile on his face, and went and finished his job.  It was really sweet. 

After the crazy hike we decided we needed something fun.  So we went and rented some bikes and rode along a beautiful trail right along the river.  Halle and I had a tandem bike, and Rusty pulled the boys in a trailer.  We stopped and threw rocks into the river—always a favorite pass time with the kids. 

The kids just love staying in hotels, jumping on the beds, and having adventures.  I was so proud of the way they acted, and can’t wait until our next grand adventure.  As long as it’s not cold or windy :)   

My Amazing Grandma

My Grandma passed away on Aug 22, just a few days before her 89th birthday. I flew out to Utah to attend her funeral, and it was wonderful to reflect on her life, and commit to be a little more like her.

There are a lot of things I love about my Grandma, but the one that stands out the most is how she made each and every one of her 10 children and 41 grandchildren feel like they were her favorite. You never went away from Grandma’s house without a big boost in self confidence, because you had just spent the last hour being told how wonderful, special, beautiful, and talented you were.

The last time I saw my Grandma was in June. Blake had just turned one, and the last year had been a crazy one. Taking care of three kids often leaves me a bit frazzled, and taking care of three kids on vacation ALWAYS leaves me frazzled. I was running a little low in spirits. I hadn’t seen her in awhile, and the whole time I was there she sat right next to me, with her hand in mine. She kept patting my hand, and telling me what a special girl I was, how wonderful and important I am, how I was looking so beautiful, and asking if Rusty knew how lucky he was to have me. You can bet by the time I left I was feeling on top of the world—she successfully boosted my spirits, and left me feeling confidant that I could do anything! I will miss that so much.

My Grandma has a favorite story she loves to tell about me. I think I’ve heard it at least 50,000 times in my life. When I was little, I was a talker. My mom jokes that I could speak in complete sentences before I could even take one step. I was probably less than 2 years old and my parents were over at Grandma’s house. My mom was relating one of my latest tricks, and my proud Grandma said, “Well, isn’t she above average!” My tiny self immediately parroted, “Above average?” in that sweet baby voice. Well, that just cracked her up. So, every time I would see her she would tell me that I’ve always been above average.

At her funeral, as I had time to sit and reflect on her wonderfully rich and full life, I was struck with a few things. Things that I want to do in my own life to honor her memory.

One, make each of my children feel special everyday.

Another thing that really stuck with me was how much she loved my grandpa. He died when I was just a baby, so most of what I know about him comes from her. He was truly the love of her life, and I have never heard her say anything but loving, positive things about him. We watched a little video interview that David did with her a few years back and she said, “Never was a woman more loved by a man than I was.”

In my own life, I want to reverse that statement. When Rusty is 80 years old and our kids do a video interview of him (smile) I want him to say, “Never was a man more loved by a woman than I was.”

The last thing came from a journal she kept called “Words to Live By.” This journal had newspaper and magazine clippings of inspirational thoughts, quotes, or life philosophies. It also had a lot of her own words on how she wanted to live her life, and what characteristics she wanted to develop. There was one quote that I thought described her perfectly:

Until you understand--
Do not criticize;
Then perhaps you may wish
Just to sympathize

Grandma accepted people as they were, she loved them no matter what. She loved them even when they made decisions that she didn’t agree with, or when their opinions weren’t in line with hers. I think I can honestly say that I never heard her speak a critical word about anyone. And all of us knew that we had her unconditional love. This quote is going to become my new mantra as I seek to become less critical, and more understanding and accepting.

Natalie, Carlie and I sang, “Each Life that Touches ours For Good” at the funeral. The third verses says, “When such a friend from us departs, we hold forever in our hearts, a sweet and hallowed memory, bringing us nearer, Lord to thee.” I know as we all move forward that we will carry her memory with us, and we are better people for having had her in our lives.

Grandma, I love you and will miss you so much!

My siblings at the viewing

Grandma’s 10 children and their spouses

Nene and Charles meet again

This is a poem written by my cousin Jeremiah. I just love it! (My Grandma's nickname was Nene because one of the grandkids couldn't say Geneve when they were little)

If you could visit Heaven, I would have to imagine a scene unlike most.

As I cast my gaze upon our Father's land, I picture a cobblestone road lined with thousands.
Trumpets blowing so loud, it shakes the heavens and a gate that is wide open for a soul that has been gone for too long.
For heaven, like earth, was not the same without Nene.

She lived her life with purpose and love, not only for every single person she met, but also for her Heavenly Father.
The heavens have welcomed her home.
As she passed through the gates to the Kingdom, she always knew there would be thousands to welcome her back.
As she passes her eyes are on each, but she is focused on one.

She was expecting him to be the first one there, but she knows this man all too well.
His quiet reverence keeps him in the back of the crowd, watching intently,
knowing that his angel has now come home.
She knows he is there, but where??

As she looks at the horizon, she sees an outline of a man she knows all too well!
He is standing underneath an apple tree that bears his signature.
For this moment has been dreamed about and lived nightly for so many years that she realizes what to do next.
She approaches the man leaning on the tree, trembling inside, trying not to erupt.

She sees him as he once was.
Strong, broad shouldered, a larger than life young man.
Words are not spoken, there is nothing that can be said, that can explain this feeling.

They embrace, and the heavens and earth shake, the trumpets sound,
for today they meet again.

Preschool begins again

Cute little Josh started his second year of preschool.  He loves going to school and learning.  He does not love to color.  He will scribble one line down the middle of his page, and say, “Done!”

I am doing the co-op preschool again with some friends.  We use Mother Goose curriculum, and it is FANTASTIC.  I love when it’s my turn to teach and I get to see Josh interact with his friends, learn, and try new things! 

Darn you iphone with your blurry pictures!  

Fathers and Sons campout

Rusty took Josh on the annual church Fathers and Sons Campout.  Josh was a little sad to leave Halle and he was crying.  Halle went upstairs, came down with her favorite blanket, and a picture of herself, and tucked them into Josh’s backpack.  She said, “Josh, now you can remember me always.”  It was so so sweet, and cheered Josh right up.  The boys had a grand time roasting hot dogs, eating treats, and sleeping in the tent.  Well, Josh had a great time sleeping in the tent.  Rusty had a great time listening to Josh snore all night long.  Then they made the traditional stop at the Boulder Waterfall on the wall home.  Good times!

The first day of the 1st grade

Halle started 1st grade on Aug 18th.  She had been a little nervous all summer because someone told her that her teacher was bossy.  She came home from meeting her teacher and dropping off school supplies and she was so excited.  She said, “Mom—my teacher is sooooooooooo nice!  She’s not bossy at all!”  The relief was apparent in her face.  While we were in Utah my mom took Halle on a special little “Halle and Grandma” shopping spree and got her some adorable new school clothes.  Halle was so excited to wear her new, special clothes.  And she looked adorable.  Straight out of the 80’s but adorable none the less.  We hope you have a fantastic school year miss Halle!

Happy anniversary to us!

We celebrated our 8th anniversary on Aug 17th. That was also the official last day of summer before Halle started school. So, Rusty took the day of work and we took the kids to “The Bay” in Broomfield. We had a fun day of swimming, water slides, and snow cones. Then that evening Rusty and I went on our anniversary date. Rusty did all the planning this year, and I must say, he did a PERFECT job. It all started with a present. He bought me a dress while he was on business in NYC, and I LOVE IT!! Then we went to the temple. From there we headed to PF Chang’s in downtown Denver. We used to eat at PF Chang’s all the time when we were first married. Dessert was at the Peaks Lounge, which is on the 27th floor of the Hyatt. One whole wall is just windows that overlook the city. It was very romantic. We snuggled up on a couch in the corner and ordered Dip your own Strawberries. It was delicious! Rusty gets an A+++ for this date. And I have to say, even after 8 years, things just keep getting better and better! I love you Rust!

My awesome new dress

Georgetown 1/2 marathon

13.1 miles.  Whew….glad that’s over.  The Georgetown 1/2 marathon was a BEAUTIFUL race up in the Colorado mountains.  The temperature was perfect, the sky was blue.  It was the perfect day for running.  I got to race with lots of my girlfriends from the Ragnar, including my lovely sister, Nat.  She drove home from Utah with me to do the race and visit for a few days.  Susan hosted an awesome Carb Loading dinner the night before, that was the perfect pre-race meal.   We all had to get up EARLY in order to make the drive up to the mountains.  When we got there the line for the 10 measly port-a-potties (with over 3000 runners) was enormous.  We were all still in line when the gun went off.  Luckily, it was a timing chip race, so your time didn’t start until you crossed the start line.  Everyone started the race at once, and so the first few miles were chaos!  Adrenaline pumping, Nat and I weaved in and out of 100s of people, trying to find our pace.  It sure does make the time go by more quickly when you are trying not to get stepped on.  The course had lots of rolling hills, but we lost about 1000 feet of elevation by the finish line.  I lost Nat at the mile 4 water station—I didn’t know she was stopping until I was already up ahead of her.  I recently got new running shoes (Brooks Ravenna) and I love them!  This day was no exception—everything felt really good.  Until mile 10.  That’s when things always start to go downhill for me. Aching legs, hungry stomach, tired mind. But I figured that if I kept up my pace then the whole thing would be over quicker.  No use prolonging the pain by slowing down.  I just put my legs on autopilot and focused on my music.  Luckily I had been doing some of my training with Jen, who always runs faster at the end of her runs than the beginning.  This really helped with my stamina.  The end of the course wasn’t well marked, and it seemed like the last mile took FOREVER.  But I crossed the finish line strong, and with a new PR—1:48:49.  Race day makes all those long, hard training days worth it.  I get a runner’s high for about a week! 

 
Josh, who we all aspire to be like, took third place in his division with a time around 1:20.  But I wish you could see the trophy better. It is a gold miners pan, with a piece of fools gold hot glued in the middle.  On top of the gold, is a figurine of a mountain goat.  Also hot glued.  Very high class ;)

Skydiving!

For Rusty’s 30th birthday I gave him gift certificates for Skydiving. Read his skydiving post here.  Due to a fun and crazy summer, this weekend was the first chance we had to go. And through a weird stroke of luck, Carlie was here to watch the kids for us.  So, Rusty and I drove to the Boulder airport, and expected a big training session before we got on the plane.  But nope—they just strapped us in our harnesses, gave us a few little instructions, and we were off to the plane.  And talk about a TINY plane.  There was hardly enough room for the 4 of us in the back.  The view of the Rocky Mountains from the plane was incredible. All too soon it was time to jump.  It was “ladies first,” so my instructor, Daryl, pushed us to the door of the plane, and suddenly I was hanging out the door at 13,000 feet, with my feet tucked up under the plane.  This is when I started to freak out a little.  With a “Ready, Set, ARCH” we were free falling.  It was AMAZING.  The wind blowing in your face, and falling toward the earth at 125 MPH.  Surprisingly, it is not really scary at all.  Roller Coasters make my stomach drop more than this did.  After falling about 5,000 feet in about 45 seconds, Daryl pulled the parachute and we were floating.  He said, “look, look” and Rusty and his instructor, Brian fell right past us and we watched their chute deploy.  We did a few fun spins with the parachute, and then watched as the ground came up to meet us.  I picked up my feet like Daryl told me to, and we skidded across the ground on our bums (which didn’t hurt me, but probably hurt Daryl).  Rusty and Brian landed on their feet.  We were a bit shaky when we stood up, and totally exhilarated.  We both immediately said, “AGAIN!” It was an amazing, beautiful, incredible experience and everyone should try it!