Camping Trip

Movie at the Park

We attempted to go see a movie at the park. Before it started, the kids could have their faces painted, and there were games, etc. Unfortunately, we got rained out... it was a nice try though.

Last Hurrah!

We decided to try Brynley out at Keystone to see how she would handle high altitudes, since we were going to go camping a few days before school started. It was a quick day trip and we had a blast. We took the tram up to the top of the mountain (oxygen in tow, just in case). Once we got up there, the resort shut down the tram. We chose to ride out the storm up there, in one of the lodges. There were about 2 other families who also stayed to ride out the storm. About an hour and half later, storm continuing, we were shuttled off the mountain in a Suburban. Exciting trip! Oh, and Brynley did fine, until the end...glad we had the oxygen with us!

Brynley's Belated Birthday present

What a nice surprise!! Aunt Tiffani, et al. sent Brynley a dress up costume of Tinkerbell, a Tinkerbell doll, and much more. This girl squeeled with delight!! Of course, Tiff also sent a few things for Eric, too. (Thanks, Tiff!!)

Catching Up- End of Summer

My parents came out end of July/ beginning of August for a visit. We decided to get some KFC and go to the park. It was so much fun!

100 Things I Have Done in My Life

This was taken from my friend Stephanie's Blog. I had nothing better to do tonight... By the way, the things in RED are things I have actually done.

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Swam with Sharks

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Hugged a goat

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola (a ski gondola up a mountain)

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen a Shaker community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason (not from my husband!)

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a hot air balloon

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Book of Mormon or Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Had your heart stop

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Read an entire book in one day

I want to add a few other weird things that have happened...

Was asked to go on a blind date with an unknown customer's brother's friend (and actually went!) ...
Wrote to a missionary (I had never met) for over a year...
Was a model for a Department Store...
Saw the changing of the guards in Czechslovakia....
Was in Czechslovakia when it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia...
Met my sweetheart on a blind date...
My daughter's heart has been stopped, oh, 5 times...
Had chicken pox and measles at the same time, with my brother...
Been in 2 car wrecks in less than 5 minutes...


What fun things have you done?

This and That...

Here are a few other pictures from the camera...

John and I took the kids to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We took a lot of pictures, but I accidentally erased them..OOPS! At least I had this one of Eric with the Giraffe's.


We get a lot of severe thunderstorms / tornado's out here. This didn't develop into anything big, but I thought the clouds and the colors were awsome!


Today while I was updating this blog, Eric got a bloody nose. This was his solution to keeping it from bleeding:



Then after making a few adjustments, he was able to make it stay on his face without any hands to keep it on! He was so proud of himself...

4th of July

This year, I was out of town at a conference in Keystone for a few days. So we had Grandma Lott come in to stay with the kids while John worked. These are photos of the kids at the Bishop's Breakfast for the 4th, and then later I took one shot of the kids watching the fireworks (sorry is such a blurry shot).

Summer Fun!

This summer we have done many fun things! We enjoy going to a Sprinkler Park in Aurora...




We like to take friends with us too...



This day, it was too cold to be in the water, so we went over to the play area of the park.









We went to The Denver Zoo with Uncle Mark, Aunt Sarah, Baby Christen and Grandma Lott


Brynley enjoyed having Grandma Lott read one on B's favorite books.






Grandma also gave Eric his summer buzz haircut!!

Eric didn't like the buzzers all that much.
You'll have to see his other pictures to see how it turned out... I forgot to take a post picture.

Mary Had a Little Lamb...

On the way to church yesterday the kids were singing songs... this was Brynley's version:

Mary had a little lamb, the police were white and slow...


We laughed so hard!!!

Notes From Church

Yesterday, our speaker in RS focused her lesson on a line from the song Choose The Right: "Choose the right, let no spirit of digression overcome you in the deepest hour." We discussed that we all need to have great faith to battle the spirit of digression.


What do we do, personally, to help get out of those depths? How does your faith move you forward? Some said they took a bath, listened to music, made a phone call, physically removed themselves to a better place like the temple grounds. I shared how my mother reminds me that there is a time and a season for all things...and I have learned that with Brynley and the roller coaster up good times and bad, that it is ok to feel mad, feel disappointed, feel overwhelmed, but it does us no good to dwell upon that. That we must pull our selves out of the depths.

I personally try to call a friend (Destre Downing) who doesn't mind listening to my depressed moments. I am thankful for her. She always finds a positive spin on things, and reminds me that all trials do come to an end.

No one is exempt from trials...there are only variations...

From the Ensign, May 2004 by Elder Dennis E. Simmons:

Our scriptures and our history are replete with accounts of God’s great men and women who believed that He would deliver them, but if not, they demonstrated that they would trust and be true.

He has the power, but it’s our test.


What does the Lord expect of us with respect to our challenges? He expects us to do all we can do. He does the rest. Nephi said, “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” 19


Our God will deliver us from ridicule and persecution,

but if not. …

Our God will deliver us from sickness and disease,

but if not … .

He will deliver us from loneliness, depression, or fear,

but if not. …

Our God will deliver us from threats, accusations, and insecurity,

but if not. …

He will deliver us from death or impairment of loved ones,

but if not, …

we will trust in the Lord.

Our God will see that we receive justice and fairness,

but if not. …

He will make sure that we are loved and recognized,

but if not. …

We will receive a perfect companion and righteous and obedient children,

but if not, …

we will have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that if we do all we can do, we will, in His time and in His way, be delivered and receive all that He has. 20


Have faith, and trust in Him. This is my testimony. Misty

My Neice's Graduation Bash!!

Yup...that's my sister!! Kaysville worst neighbor, but coolest Mom!! This is what she wrote about the whole thing:

I guess on the invitations, I should have put "Kaysville, lock up your daughters...evil is coming to town!" Of course the neighbors arose to the occasion, first by standing in their yards with baseball bats, then blocking off the road with garbage cans, then calling the police nonstop beginning at 9pm. Granted, the band brought ALL their speakers (loud enough to be heard more than a mile radius) playing songs like "shout at the devil" and one of their songs that starts out with a chain saw cutting up a lady and she is screaming!!!! But the kicker was probably when at 10 pm, they dedicated the chainsaw song to all the wonderful neighbors we have!! That is when the cops showed up, who were awesome, and stayed, letting us play till 10:30. So yep, we are officially the worst neighbors in kaysville! Yes! Just what I was aiming for! But Malari had fun and that is all that matters!




Personally, I wish I would have attended a party like that when I graduated!! How cool!! And by the way, their neighbors deserved it, so don't feel bad for them....and besides...it was just one night, and good clean fun. Tiff said the band was instructed to play songs that didn't have any cursing, and the band even handed out T-Shirts and CD's for them all!! Seriously, how fun!!

Notes From Church

So now that I get to go to RS on Sunday's, I decided that I would write down some of the words and impressions from the lesson/speaker. In May, a member of our Stake Presidency who is also a family counselor, spoke to the women. It was so great!! (I just found the notes after cleaning off half of my kitchen table...) He spoke about the expectations we place on ourselves at church, school, work, etc. ...they are created by us... unmet expectations will lead to strained relationships and communication will be the first to go.

Whenever I am at the temple, there is a word that has puzzled me for such a long time...enmity. I finally heard a definition that helps me understand what it is...enmity...a mean deep seeded dislike; a wrong that attacks relationships; born by unmet expectations.


He counseled us to:
1. Rid ourselves of unrealistic expecations.
2. Communicate expectations while there is still love.
3. We do not get all our expectations met.
4. Go to your knees, even during the middle of the day.
5. Be careful not to let expectations remove yourself from the Savior- the Lord is concerned and wants our happiness.

This lesson had come at such a great time for me, since I have really struggled at my workplace for some time. I hope that I will remember these thoughts, which is why I decided to write them down in my blog...

Yes, it's more likely to Snow for Easter than Christmas!!

I wonder why people who are native to this area are always so shocked when it still snows in April? The last 8 years it has always done this? Yeah, Yeah I know...you want spring time, and we get that too..with rain storms all through the summer. Hello people, you live in the Rockies!!! Not Texas!

In Parker, streets look mostly like this, but

it is so terrible down in Castle Rock. I think right now they are reporting 8 inches...which I totally believe!! With being so high there, they wer getting dumped on when we left school.

What we are having now here in Parker is what it was like at 8:00 in Castle Rock. Nasty drive home, until I got to Stroh Ranch. I DO beleive that they will get a lot of snow down there.

This morning I was SO hoping for a snow day, with the forcasters saying we would probably get 10 - 18 inches in Castle Rock. But, no. Nope, we all trudged down to work, and tried to be positive knowing that we would probably be stuck at school, then have to try to make it home in horrible conditions.

By 9:00, the rumor was that we would be sending kids home...at 11:00 we find out that we are going to have the kids stay for lunch, then send them home, closing the school by 1:30. I had 7 kids not come in, so we played games, went to specials, then learned a new song to go along with our Marketplace unit. (Which was a lot of fun , and spent nearly 45 minutes playing..I mean learning it.)

Of course, contacting parents and letting them know that we are closing the school, and then asking what arrangements they had for their child was an added bonus. Like teachers are the ones that decided to make the kids come to school for a few hours only to call parents home from work in the middle of the day was OUR (i.e. the teacher's) idea. Yup, I much rather drag my kids out of bed at 6:30 in the morning, travel unsafe roads at 35 miles per hour (on a road that is 55mph), and entertain kids for a few hours (since learning is really out of the question on days like this), just to interupt and inconvenience the parent. Yup, that is what I like to do!!

Anyhow, the funny thing about it all is that the snow storms really aren't as bad as what Utah winter storms are like. I can't figure out why it is such a big deal here, why they have to close schools, etc. I can't remember if Utah school buses are better equiped or what. I do know that the school district is spread out more, and that there are more rural parts to every school out here (yeah Colorado for building in green spaces into neighborhoods). But, still, I am not sure why things close down out here. I do think that one reason may be because when it dumps here, it really dumps! Hence, 18 inches predicted in Castle Rock.

Still, I am baffled as to why the natives, or the people here, complain so much when we only get a few days of snow, and then it is gone within 1-2 days. We have it pretty good! Decent temperatures through out the year, snow that is gone within days, not too hot and not too cold. We have it pretty good!

Well, I am going to stop rambling, and get to more important things like checking my facebook. By the way...I am so glad school WAS cancelled!!

Something Cam hasn't tried

Extreme Mowing - Click here for more free videos