Family Reunion Time - June 23-26

I love Virginia, Idaho. It’s a place I feel like will always seem like home. Since moving to Colorado, I haven’t been…almost a year. I went frequently last summer, visiting Grandpa on the weekends and occasionally showing up without any notice. I always felt welcomed and enjoyed feeling the Spirit in his home. I cannot go without feeling a deep sense of longing from Grandma, I miss her daily. But, going to Virginia brings me a little closer to her and reminds of the wonderful times I shared with her there. We weren’t supposed to have the reunion in Virginia, but what a blessing it was to be there! I was so excited to go!

I drove to the airport on Wednesday night, parked, then shuttled in. I was teased for bringing a sleeping bag. The other person the shuttle worked for the same company, and asked if I was planning to sleep on my flight. Little did he know, I was just going to be picked up at the airport…not fly. Katey arrived about the same time I did, and we headed home. I enjoyed having some one on one sister time and we headed to be shortly after we got to her house.

Thursday I woke up early and started working, I needed to get some hours in before we took off on the journey. Jason and I were going to ride bikes to the library to work, when I noticed the van had a flat tire. I went back inside to continue working while Jason put on the spare and took it into the shop. When he got it all fixed, we headed out on our bikes. I have never biked to work before, it was a fun experience! I was grateful there was hardly any traffic. We worked our half day, headed home, packed up, and hit the road. I didn’t last too long before I was sleeping along with the girls. We were pretty hungry by the time we stopped for dinner, and it was my first time eating at Wendy’s gluten free. The best option I chose was fries, topped with a bacon cheese burger. The fries were the bun, and it was yummy! One hour after dinner, we arrived at the hotel! Kylee and Tia were so excited! They wanted to go swimming…so, we went down and “touched” the water before we sent everyone to bed. Tia had lots of fun stepping in and out of the water, and sticking her bum in it. Sleeping in a hotel room with two youngsters was an experience. It took them a while to fall asleep because one was always bugging the other, but eventually they crashed and so did the rest of us.

I was grateful he had a bike lock! 

And we were off like a dirty shirt!

Wendy's has figured it out! Families are forever.

Kylee enjoying the pool.

Friday we had a delicious breakfast then went swimming in the pool. The water was a bit chilly, but so relaxing. I loved it! We finally decided it was time to go, showered, and hit the road once again. It was about a two and a half hour drive, so we all got a little nap in before we stopped at baby Derek’s grave. The headstone had been placed a while ago, but we’ve only seen pictures. It turned out perfectly. We put up the windmills and they spun happily, just as happily I am sure Derek would be if he were here with us. I am excited to meet him someday and I was grateful we were able to visit his grave. We headed to the Brady Plant Ranch from there, where we got some yummy burgers and food. All the family was gathering outside, and how great it was to see everyone! You sometimes don’t realize how much you miss them until you see them again. We enjoyed chit-chatting and catching up on the lives of everyone.

Placing the pinwheels on Derek's grave.

Tia was LOVING the wind!

Soon, we headed to Grandpa’s to pitch tents and get the party started. We began with a rousing game of Eenie Aye Over. We had so many people playing, many of the younger kids had never played before, thank goodness we passed on the tradition. We are all a lot stronger and better at catching now, so it was difficult for either team to win. Eventually we called it game and switched to Red Light Green Light. We had a Winnie roast at the church, which was absolutely delicious! The wind started picking up, so we moved the party inside. We played minute-to-win it games and sang songs for Grandpa. We also learned some family history about my great grandparents. They leave an amazing heritage and I hope I can do the same for my family. The night wrapped up with all the kids coming back to Grandpa’s for night games. We played kick the can, then Ollie Ollie Oxen Free, followed by a quick game of No Bears Out Tonight. When playing with so many children, we had to come up with some new rules and be a little stricter. It was a difficult! I think we typically only played with 8 to 10 people, tops…usually more like 6 so it was a different story with the ages ranging from 5 to 31. We had a blast and enjoyed teaching the youngsters again the games I treasure from my childhood at Grandpa’s.

We sang songs to Grandpa for his birthday and Father's Day. Here he is with little baby Clara.

Everyone getting ready to throw cheetos at my head.

Good effort team, I think we got 9 to stick.

Saturday morning came early, but awaking to a delightful dutchoven breakfast and your loving family makes everything better. We started out the morning with our yearly talent show. Spencer juggled, Chris and his boys tumbled and did handstands, Stephen and Kaymi did a duet, Lisa and Nathan did a rhythm/drum show, Kylee sang Praise to the Man, Josh and Berlin did a fancy ABC song, Trevor showed off his legos, Jack and I sang The Miracle, Mom and Aunt Shara did a piano duet, Michelle sang, Mikey told jokes, Randy played the sax, Grandpa sang an old campfire song, Alexa played the piano, Kara made caramels, Seth read poetry, and Mom raffled off two of her quilts. All in all, I was very impressed with my family’s diverse skills! 

Spencer juggling.

Kylee singing.

Tia singing her song.

Alexa on the piano.

Seth is a poet, and we didn't even know it!

Chris and Weston doing drop kicks.

Colton tumbling over Trevor and Tucker.

The ABC's.

Aunt Gaylynn and Lisa doing a cool hand clap trick.

Kaymi and Steven dueting.

Michelle singing like an angel!

Mikey telling funny jokes.

The lego man.

Mom and Aunt Shara dueting.

Randy on the sax.

The Brady boys doing their head stands.

We played a rousing game of kickball, which turned out great because it allowed everyone to play. Katey and Jason made a great game of Wits and Wagers for us before we had lunch. They sent out surveys prior to the reunion asking all sorts of questions. Using the data, they crafted some fun questions. My team rocked it, we only lost by 2 points, it was a close call. Playing games like this reminds me of how competitive my family can be, which makes me laugh because I realize I inherited a lot of that competitiveness. Lunch was great, and I got to have some one on one time chatting with Kara. We played volleyball and basketball, had some concluding remarks from Grandpa and everything wrapped up. We continued some of the pleasure at Grandpa’s house with taking down tents and eating Casco bars on the carport.

The teams spread throughout the gym making guesses.

My team nailed it...Randy, Dad, Matthew, Kylee, and me.

A new adorable hooded towel from Oma.

Can't you see how please they are!

Grandpa was trying to clean out his house, one of the treasures was this hat from Russia. 

Sunday came and went by far too quickly. I was saddened to leave Virginia, more than I have been in a long time. I think most of my sadness came from not knowing when I would be coming back. Often, I usually have my next trip planned by the time I say goodbye, but not this time. I hope it is sooner than later because I know my moments with Grandpa and the memories I continue to make in his home are precious and without price. I was grateful when he told me I was a working girl and could just fly over anytime, he even said he’d pick me up from the airport. If you know Grandpa at all, that’s a big sacrifice for him. He hates driving there!

The view we all love and treasure. 

Reflecting on that wonderful weekend, I feel so blessed. Mom has three siblings, two have five children and one has four…totally 14 amazing cousins, and my four siblings. Each member of our family is active in the church, all the men have served honorable full-time missions, my only two girls cousins also served, each cousin has chosen to be married and sealed in the House of the Lord, and I have hope the remaining 3 boys will serve and the single cousins will all be blessed with temple marriages. A great heritage and high standard is set for my life and for the life of my children. We are so blessed, and I am humbled to be part of a family. It helps me realize the true purpose we come to earth, to learn to love and to serve…to be together forever as part of Heavenly Father’s family. 

Hiking, Playing, Baking, and Picnicking

Another adventure filled week has flown by. Luckily the weather was good enough we were able to play Frisbee on Tuesday. We are now getting a really big crowd each week, usually at least ten on ten. We play on a big field so we can spread out. Each week we have a few new people too, so the rotation is also good. I enjoy the cardio after a long day in the office.

I was grateful for a short week at work, even though it was my managers last week. I am now moving onto my fifth manager in less than a year, not sure if it’s me or them…I am grateful for what I learned from MJ. She left me with the advice to be humble, come with solutions, and take charge of my career. We had a going away lunch and then an after work party on Thursday. The after work party on Thursday reminded me of my summer in the Bay. I haven’t been around alcohol much since then, but that afternoon it was bad. I sat down at the table near her husband and he said I sat in the seat that was joining the shots. He grabbed the waitress and ordered me and the other five people a few shots of something, even after I told him I didn’t drink. He continued to tell me one drink would never hurt, I resisted, and let someone else take the drink when they came back. I had my water, and I was perfectly content. I left as soon as I could say goodbye to MJ, but she was a bit tipsy at that point to so I gave her a quick hug and hit the road. It reminded me how grateful I am for my standards and that I no longer spend time around people who are drinking. I also appreciated having my own car so I could leave on my own time, verse in the Bay I was dependent on other modes of transportation.

I went straight to a training about refugees and how we can help them in the Denver area. I enjoyed the short part of the training I was there for, and chatted with the few other people in my ward that attended. I was filled with gratitude for the country I live in and the freedom I have to choose how I worship, and I hope that never changes. I am also grateful for employment and the ability to speak English.

Friday was a great day, I went for a little run and then started working on my paperwork…sorting through paperwork that moved with me from Utah…it’s bad. I’ve kept it hidden so it hasn’t bugged me too bad other than when I needed to add to the pile and I felt bad. I was in the middle of sorting, spread out all over the living room, when I got a text from Smiles to go hiking. They committed to be home by 5:30, so we headed out…Smiles, Esto, and Sara. We went down to Manitou, with the goal to hike the incline. Traffic was a little worse than we expected, so we got there a little later. Esto really just likes to start so we ran to the nearest trailhead. We started going up these switchbacks, then realized it didn’t seem right. We thought if we kept going we’d eventually get to the Incline. The incline is a set of manmade stairs that you climb straight up a mountain. Come to find out, we were hiking on the trail people normally come down…oops. We made it to the Incline, thought about going down…realized that was a bad idea and ran down the switchbacks. We did make it back in time, but I think we may have spent more time in the car than the hike. They were pretty good sports about it.

The crew, and my messy pile of papers I had to clean up very quickly.

What a great view, we went straight up the mountain. 

When I got home, the Merrill’s were there and ready to go to the temple. I made dinner for the girls, we ate, and Smiles came over. They were a little hesitant about him, but they welcomed him as much as I expected them to…they don’t like men much, other than Papa and their dad. We all went to the pool and played with them in the water. So much fun! We had a couple other kids join us, so then all of the sudden we were in charge of four kids and I was extra grateful he was there. The other two kids didn’t really like to share their toys, but we let them play with our rings as long as they gave them back when Tia or Kylee wanted one. We spent our time diving for the sticks the girls threw to us. Katey and Jason ate dinner, then we headed up. They went home and Smiles stayed around with me and Liz just chatting.

Saturday we had our ward picnic. We went to the park, it was sunny and hot. I really wanted to play in the water, so luckily we did play some water balloon volleyball and threw the balloons at each other. The bishopric grilled for us, we chatted, played volleyball, and Frisbee. Bishop had a huge exercise ball he pulled out and we played volleyball and kickball with it. Wow, that was tough! For volleyball, you had to hit with two hands or it just shoved you to the ground or bent your arm the other way. It didn’t last too long, then we switched to kickball. This was also tough. I caught a few balls, but that took a wide stance. We had fun and enjoyed the afternoon. I watched Finding Dory that evening with some wardies, which actually turned out to be a really cute movie. It was the first movie I watched in the theater in Colorado.

It looks small in the air, but having that thing come towards you was scary!

It was almost half my size, I think I knee-ed it more than kicked.

Smiley catching someone's kick. You had to get your whole body under it to stand a chance. 

Sunday, I fed the missionaries. We have a really picky elder so I tried to make something he would eat, he normally only eats meat and I heard he ate potatoes. I made a crockpot full of potatoes, carrots, hamburger with a cream soup on top…he didn’t eat it. He picked at the hamburger. I also served salad and cantaloupe, which I don’t think he ate either. I finished with some gluten free brownies and mint chip ice cream. What a treat! I found out several people didn’t like mint ice cream though…Well, I tried. Smiles and Esto joined the elders and I think everyone got full except the elder. Once the elders left, they helped me pick up and do the dishes then we chatted until we called it an evening.

Overall, a great week. I am so grateful for the memories and fun times. I love summer and the sunshine that comes with it!

Peace out.

-the tall girl

A Thoughtful Week

This week has been a whirl, and I feel like it was fairly normal. I have been encompassed with thoughts, and I will share those with you. First things first, we had a regional YSA activity on Saturday up in Arvada. I enjoyed meeting some new people. We arrived pretty close to on time, then watched as people joined. We started a volleyball game and soon we had 8 or 9 people on each side. There began to be a few too many people for my liking, so I headed with Tabby to her brother's house. Her cousin was in town and they have a fun backyard. We swung on the tire swing, played some corn hole, ate some watermelon, then headed back to the party. We didn't miss much, and joined in for dinner. We sat by a crew from Fort Collins, then joined another group for a game of Catch Phrase. I ran from that to Kubb, where I was able to teach people how to play. Such a fun lawn game! I went and checked out the chalk art, then played some big kid Jenga. We got a little intense as the tower got taller and wobbly. After a few rounds of that it was dancing time, I danced a few songs and then we headed out. A long afternoon, but good. Hopefully next time I see those folks at an activity I can actually say hi and remember their names!

As for the thoughts, they mainly started on Sunday when I was reminded I had the spiritual thought for Family Home Evening on Monday. I chose my theme to be a classic song from my childhood, "Have I done any good?" We sang this so often in my home, at least every week during family council and it's been on my mind. I find myself asking more and more, wondering what good I have been able to do that day. I have grown to enjoy the version of this song sung by Alex Boye on the Mormon Channel. It puts a fun new spin, and allowed me to review the words in more detail. The good things are often small things, like cheering up the sad or helping someone in need or picking up some trash or using the cashier's name. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. You never know what their story is, or what troubles they are struggling with.

One phrase reminds me to evaluate my motives, "Loves labor has merit alone." We are blessed even when we try to do things out of love. When we are trying, blessings will come. The Lord places people in our lives that we can help and vice versa. Are we allowing people to help us when we are in need? Do we share our burdens?

Many times thinking about the validity of my days can be overwhelming. Sister Linda K. Burton gave a talk in conference about helping refugees in our area. I think of that term loosely, as refugees can be anyone around us in need. She counsels we should prayerfully determine what we can do. As we bring the Lord into our acts of service, we will be provided with more opportunities to help us grow and overcome our own trials. King Benjamin taught we should do all things in "wisdom and order." We should be careful to no burn ourselves out...I have a very hard time telling people no, so I need practice with this one.

The story of the good Samaritan brought some light onto this subject as well. Katey shared the story at the end of our family hangout which brought it into my mind while all the rest of the thoughts were flowing. When the good Samaritan stopped to help the man no the road, I am sure he didn't know exactly what would be needed or how long it would take. He was obviously on his way somewhere, but he stopped and served. Now, with this in mind, the good Samaritan did what he could to help the man and then left him in the hands of another to finish the care. That person then had the opportunity to serve, but the good Samaritan followed up with additional acts of kindness as his bandwidth allowed. Sometimes we have to help to a certain point, then be reassured it is enough. He was willing to put off his own agenda, he may have been a little late to his meeting but in the scheme of things he did what mattered most.

I hope my prayers become more sincere in searching for the opportunities that are right in my way. I hope I can have the courage to respond to those opportunities as they are presented. Look around, I promise as you seek to fill each day with good you will be able to! You will be blessed and there will not be room enough to receive it.

I know it's not the usual post, but I felt I should share and maybe I can count it as part of the good I did today.

Much love.
-the tall girl

Family Time is the Best Time

I have been fortunate the last couple of weeks to have a lot of family time. Family time is wonderful and I feel very blessed to live close to part of my family! At the last minute, I decided we needed Shrub and Ross to come visit while Mom, Dad, Jack, Lindsay, Betty, and Allen were in town. Luckily, she accepted the offer and made the trip out here. The Friday she flew in I was so anxious all day, focusing at work was almost impossible. I couldn't wait to see everyone!

Finally, her flight landed and they made it to pick up. I helped with Ross and the baggage, then we headed to the Merrill's. We got there pretty late, but luckily Ross was sleeping so we took him upstairs and enjoyed a short chat before we all fell asleep.

Welcome to Colorado, Ross!

Saturday morning we went to the Farmer's Market, so much fun! Longmont is a fun place for people who are g-free, they had tons of samples I could eat. I tried salsas, hummuses, breads, pancakes, etc. They even had some goats we could pet. You can see the girls were a little hesitant. After we finished at the market, Mom, Dad, Shrub, Ross, and I went to return some of my slacks and then we got distracted by some sales. Mom was kind enough to buy me a pair of shorts, along with my other sisters. I haven't been shopping with my siblings and Mom in ages. We came home to play a couple games and enjoy the kiddos after naps. Jack, Lindsay, Betty, and Allen arrived shortly after everyone woke up! Yay!! The party had officially started. We had a winnie roast in the back yard and roasted marshmallows. Here are some pics of the fun evening.

Tia petting the goat.

Playing at the kid's corner.

Look, baby Ross can walk!

Cooking out, love it!

Like father like son, you can see the third generation standing in the background.

Sunday was a wonderful day to go to church! We all walked together, a line of people and strollers. Pretty awesome. We enjoyed our meetings and a relaxed afternoon. I can't remember too much of what we did on the Sabbath, other than it was an enjoyable day.

One fun Sunday activity was reading books!

Monday, Memorial Day! A year ago, I was at Grandpa's and we spent a lot of time at the cemetery. Grandma's headstone had just been placed and I was fortunate to be there as one of the first to see it in person. It is a treasured memory, as well as a hard one to remember. A time of sadness, but peace knowing I would be able to see her again. This year, new memories were made and very fun ones! Papa and I began the morning early with a trip to the park with Kylee and Tia to allow the people cooking breakfast some time to themselves. We enjoyed playing around until breakfast time. After everything was cleaned up, we headed to Golden Ponds. The sun was out, a slight breeze, making the perfect day for walking around. The ponds were gorgeous and we got to see all sorts of birds and trees and water. The kiddos loved throwing rocks into the river, it was fascinating to watch them throw rock after rock. We had a little picnic, then enjoyed the walk back to the cars. Everyone was pretty wiped out, but Mom and Dad headed home.

Tia got to touch the water and she was obviously excited!

Kara, Tia, and Baby Ross

Mom and goofy Betty

Shrub and I had a bit more time so we played one round of castle panic then headed to the airport. About twenty minutes before we arrived, we got a text that the flight was delayed. After a short break from the car, we loaded up again and headed to the airport. This allowed Shrub some time to eat and to feed Ross. It was hard to say goodbye, as usual...I never like to see them go, but luckily I get to see them in a few more weeks. I headed home, made dinner for the week, and unpacked.

Ross was super happy, look at that smile!

A pretty good summary collage of the weekend!

....Fast forward three days...

I headed up to Longmont during my lunch break and worked the rest of the day from the Library. I fifth-wheeled it and headed out with the parentals to Rodizio's. Woowee, I ate ton of food! When they told me the cheese rolls were gluten free, I was sold on the place. A lot of the meat was actually a little saltier than I normally like, but some cuts were melt in your mouth good. The grilled pineapple is always a delicious treat! Just as we sat down to eat we got a call from the babysitter that Kylee had thrown up all over the couch...the poor girl seemed fairly calm about it and said she was willing to continue babysitting. I am grateful for her!! Having time with just the sibs was a wonderful blessing and a great start to the weekend. We waddled home and then stayed up late watching Oceans 12, it was a pretty good show.

Me, Lindsay, Jack, Katey, and Jason

Friday was oodles of fun! We went to Pearl Street in Boulder. There are lots of shops and places to walk around. We enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather. All 8 of us crammed into the minivan, sadly Jason had to work or cramming 9 would have been even better! The toy store was awesome and had lots of old fashioned toys which are fun to play with. It was difficult to get the kiddos to move throughout the store, there were so many toys they didn't know what better things were in store because they thought what they had was awesome enough (You can draw your own analogies from that). The kiddos played on the splash pad and we strategically ran around with them to encourage the play. Water coming out of those holes was pretty chilly, but eventually they got over it. Our picnic lunch was a fun break in the middle of the day. Jack bought some cheesecake, but other than that we left without any purchases.

Unfortunately I couldn't quite capture it all...

This dinosaur moved, most of the kids were absolutely terrified! I tried to snap a picture of Kylee...you can tell she's a little uneasy about the whole situation. 

There were lots of fun rocks to play on. 

I think Allen's favorite part was this dog in the shoe store. He didn't want to leave and kept asking everyone if they liked the dog. I let him relax inside and enjoy the puppy while the other kiddos played outside. 

The rest of the day we enjoyed playing games and taking naps. Jack and I hit up Sports Authority to see if we could get any good sales. I did find some cleats, which have already been put to good use on the Frisbeen field!

Very excited!!

Saturday we said goodbye to the Bryce's and then it was Triathlon time! I have never done a triathlon, but I took a swimming class in college to get up the courage to do one someday. Saturday, June 4, happened to be the day. Katey told me about it a couple months ago so I really wanted to do it. I didn't train at all...I did my Spartan training, which was tough, but it didn't really prepare me for this race...and especially not the swim. I was lucky enough to enjoy a free massage while we were waiting for the race to start. They helped loosen up my shoulders and calf...I didn't want any muscle cramping like the last race! I didn't get nervous until about 10 minutes before the race. Katey allowed me to go first on the swim, which was very nice but she caught up to me. We gave the girls high fives and then headed to the bikes. Getting on socks when your feed are wet is really difficult...I didn't think it would be too challenging, but it was. We finally transitioned and the rubber hit the road. I passed up Katey during the bike, it was probably one of my stronger areas. When I got back to running, my legs didn't know what to do! They felt like sticks of rubber...I was tired but kept pushing. I should have run faster, but I didn't want to and my body was wondering why I was doing something like this again. I got Katey a little treat of water as we crossed paths on the run. She almost caught up to me, but luckily the biking put me a couple minutes ahead. In the end, I only beat her by 6 seconds...impressive! My times were swim 5:16 (200 yards), bike 22:35 (4.5 miles), and run 9:47 (1.2 miles), total time 44:04. We got cool medals, water, Noosa yogurt, and bananas to wrap everything up. Sweet! I am glad Katey was there to keep me pushing me. I enjoyed running with her, we've done very few races together. 

You can see us about to get in the water, pretending we were excited. 

Starting the bike!

We nailed it! Look at us cool champs. 

The shirts are a little goofy, but this picture is to mainly capture the fact my hair is getting curlier. 

After the race we enjoyed taking the afternoon easy. Kylee laid down on the couch and promised she was just resting! She quickly fell asleep and managed to take an hour and a half nap, at least. Jason treated us all to ice cream when we finished with dinner, which was super fun! We did grocery shopping and chatting after the girls went to bed. I was grateful for the time to relax. 

More great memories were created, and I am so grateful for the wonderful family I have. I missed having my favorite little sister there to join in the celebrations. Klaire is off in Hawaii learning a lot and gaining new experiences that are much needed. I was very happy when I got to talk to her a couple times this week, via video and phone. 

Peace out. 

-the tall girl