A horse race, two birthdays, Girls Camp, Father's Day, and a project to boot.

June 9th
Taylor's birthday.

His final year as a twenty-something. Per his request, we had dinner at Red Robin. An hour or two before that, however, we became enthralled with a horse race. It was a bit random... we aren't horse race people. I turned on the telly while I was getting ready, and it just happened to be on: THE BELMONT STAKES. Previously unbeknownst to me (and the rest of the fam), a certain horse, Justify, had the opportunity to win the Triple Crown. Once I was ready, I went downstairs and shared this news with everyone else, and we continued to listen to the hype, hoopla, and build-up to the race. We knew it was scheduled to be run during the time we had planned to be eating dinner... but I also knew Red Robin has tellys all over the place, so I hoped the race would be on while we were there.

Once we were seated, I glance around... none of the tellys were tuned to the race. We asked our {amazing} server if we could change the channel on the one nearest us... she graciously found a remote and found our channel. We visited and ate as the race grew closer.

Finally it was time for the race to start. Previous to this, I didn't think anyone else in the restaurant had much interest in this exciting event. For some reason, after listening for a couple of hours to the coverage of the race, I was passionate and nervous and excited and hopeful for Justify to WIN.

Once the race was over (seriously SOOOOO thrilling), the restaurant erupted in applause. Cool. Other people were excited, too. We finished our meal and headed home for cake and ice cream.

Taylor requested the same cake Kody had.

Better-than-you-know-what.

Although we know it isn't haha.

But it IS darn good. Maybe the title of "Darn Good Cake" had already been taken at the time someone chose to name it. Yeah, I'm sure that's it.

 Do NOT ask me what Bill was trying to do in the above pic. A wet willy? or a wet Billy?

The birthday boy chose the game: Monopoly, Pokemon version.

I was the first to go bankrupt, and Tay was the big winner.
I'm telling you, I NEVER win at that game. That's okay, though. It's always a good birthday when you win the game at the end of the day.


Tuesday, June 12
Mar leaves for Girls Camp

This was Mar's 6th and final year, but her 1st year going with our new Stake.
I'll admit, I was stressed about how things would go for her. I prayed all week long that she would have a good time, make some new friends, have spiritual experiences, and fulfill her role as a YCL well (she had seemed so unclear on what was expected of her prior to leaving).

On our way to the church for the drop off, we picked up a young woman from our ward who is somewhat new, and who could use friends and fellowhipping.

Since Mar didn't have her phone with her (although she DID have a camera...) she didn't take any pics. She took a few video clips for the "one second a day" video montage she's making, however.

I had the picture below sent to me via text with the attached message: "Mauri will probably never know how much good she did this past week. I love your girl. We need more Mauri's in the world!"

What was I so darn worried about? 

When our ward girls arrived at the church at the end of camp, I was there to pick up Mar, but found out that she would be coming home with the Stake camp leaders, who were an hour or two behind (different from our last Stake, who sent YCLs home with their wards... an honest mistake on my part, since I had not been informed otherwise). While talking to one of our adult ward leaders, she mentioned that Mar and A were awesome -- that they had visited our ward's camp site every day, making things extra fun for the first years and other girls.

I made a second trip to the church to pick up once Mar had called to tell me they were almost there. I was so excited to hear how things went for her.

She loved it. She talked about how different it was from our past Stake's camp (even though they are held at the same location). She LOVED the camp songs (say what?)... there were some that were new to her, and some that were familiar, but sung differently. She taught everyone a song they didn't know, and they all loved it. She talked about how they welcomed the 4th years... much different than our last Stake... and how everyone got so emotional about it. And she must have made a good impression on {her boyfriend} Jake's momma, because, once she was home, she said, "Jake says his mom loves me now."

Thanks, Mar, for being YOU.

June 13th

Whilst Mar was at camp, Shi celebrated being 22.

I love that she and her sistas get together fairly regularly, and that they helped her celebrate by taking her to lunch.

I gave her a birthday phone call in between work and a celebration over dessert with some of her friends (she had given me a 20 minute window haha). Bill was working at the temple, so he called later. Much, much later. {wink}

We love you, Shi!

June 17th

Father's Day

Our ward serves pie to all the men during the last 20 minutes of church. Some of the Young Women filled in for Primary classes, and others served pie. It's a nice tradition that the menfolk seem to enjoy immensely. It was a little funny that the RS (in charge of procuring the pies) was so worried about not having enough, then ended up with TONS. I think Bill said he had 4 slices, and Tay had 5 (or vice versa). And there was plenty for any other ward members who so desired after the meeting block was over.

I made 2 pies, a chocolate cream and a strawberries-and-cream. I wanted so badly to snap a pic of them before taking them to the church, but we I, as usual, was rushed to make it on time because I had spent too much time hunting for pics on my old BigMac to make a not-so-quick Father's Day facebook post. If you spot the two pies in front of Mar... those are mine. (I'm so glad someone snapped these pics and kindly shared them... I was in the nursery helping Evie... adjust... to nursery life. She's official in a couple of weeks, hip, hip hooray!)

After our church meetings, Bill and I attended a baptism, then headed home for the rest of our Father's Day celebration.

Aren't dads da best?
Mom's are the best too, but we're honoring those hard-working daddy-o's this month.


June 19th
A project.

I have finally gathered up the gumption to start refinishing my table that has bugged me these many years. It had previously been our dining room table, but morphed into our kitchen table {due to it's rectangular proportions} after our move. I have always loved the style (minus the UGLY chair cushions) and the size, but have had major issues with the finish pretty much since day one (we've probably had this table for a good 13 to 14 years). If I recall correctly, we had paid for a warranty, and when we had our first issue (bubbling under the surface due to swelling from moisture), we were told that we should NOT use water to wipe down the table. WHAT??? It's a table, for goodness sakes. You put food and beverages on it, and it generally needs to be wiped down afterwards, right? That's just plain ol' dumb manufacturing in my opinion.

Anyway, I'm refinishing it. I've sanded away nearly any sign of the many bubbled areas, primed (2 coats), painted (2 coats), and am currently in the process of polyurathaning it (I'm going for 5 coats). We have the missionaries coming for dinner on Monday, and my goal is to have it done by then.

I will be doing the chairs after our upcoming trip to Utah. I'm still trying to decided what color to paint them... I'm sure all those who live with me are tired of my steady stream of thoughts on the subject. It will be good to have a little time to contemplate.

For FREE: Rockies game, Festival Park, and the Denver Zoo.

May 29th

Rockies Round 2

(for Bill)

Bill had scored a couple of free tickets to a Rockies game, and since I missed the last game (and the accompanying ride on the light rail), he asked me on a date. I took my first CO light rail ride (it was everything I had anticipated haha), and then we made the half-mile walk to Coors Field. We needed to pick up the tickets at a table by the stadium, which happened to be located on the opposite side, so we took another half-mile walk around the stadium (distances are only my guesstimates... I should have used my map-my-walk app for accuracy), then walked back over to the Rockpile on the {of course} opposite side of the stadium.

We were, again, sitting in the Rockpile.

Once the stands started filling up a bit more, I noticed that we were surrounded by families. They were all there on the free tickets also (from a realtor), and most of them had VERY young children. There were a few dads there with the kids (methinks moms wanted the night off), and most of the the families seemed to know each other well. About midway through the game, I was on sensory overload and told Bill I needed to move. I felt like I was in the middle of a nursery class (which, btw, I subbed in a couple of weeks ago in church, so my memory is FRESH), with kids climbing all around us, tired of the game. We decided to get some refreshment, and didn't go back haha.

We purchased some nachos, then stood and watched more of the game. The Rockies were leading, so we had determined to start walking back to the light rail station after the 7th inning. One of the bouncers (not sure what they are really called... seat attendants?) offered for us to sit on the unoccupied padded chairs in the handicap row for a bit. Since the 7th inning was a bit longer than we had anticipated (the Rockies scored a bunch with 2 outs), we gladly accepted his kind offer.

It was fun to hang out with just Billy-my-hero for a while, it was a great game, AND I finally rode the light rail (which, again, was everything I had anticipated haha) for a date night win.

June 1st

Festival Park

Downtown Castle Rock

Castle Rock and Parker both offer all kinds of free concerts and movies in the park during the summer. Since we are {always and forever} on a budget, I added these fun events to my calendar. I'm still not super familiar with downtown Castle Rock, and this particular park has been under construction for the past year, so I was excited to check it out. We invited our good friends, the Gouberts, to come with us. The park was beautiful, the weather was ideal, and the music and environment was super fun.

June 6th

Zoo Day

...another free activity, thanks to corporate zoo passes from Tay's employer. Mauri invited her friend Ashley, and we headed out with Nae and Evie. Mar hadn't been to the zoo since elementary school (except for going to Zoo Lights during the holidays), and we chuckled about how she used to take so. many. pictures. of the animals. She determined she would take more people pics this time, but the first couple enclosures we came to, we were both snapping animal pictures haha. I showed restraint and only took pics of a hyena and cheetah, which I've included below {wink}. There IS something cool about seeing animals fairly up close and personal that you would otherwise probably never run into. (How Great Thou Art usually runs through my mind at times such as these.)

And I couldn't resist a few floral pics, too. The Denver Zoo is so beautiful.

Here's my ONE people pic (I actually took more, but this was the best one):

Isn't this yellow peony AMAZING?

We had planted a bunch of peonies at our Parker house the fall before we moved... I'm a bit sad to not be enjoying them right now. We are still in yard transition here (figuring out french drains, adding another retaining wall level, fixing a poorly done sprinkler layout, etc, etc, etc.), but I can't wait until we get things ready for planting. Then I'll have to patiently wait for another season or two for trees, bushes, and flowers to produce... but I have a vision, and it's lovely.

In between the fun, beautiful things, there have been a few challenges, of course. That's just a part of life. I received an osteoporosis diagnosis (hey, that rhymes), and I'm figuring out what that means and what I should be doing to prevent bone loss. I know I need to start eating better and exercising more, so I hope to get on a better schedule and STOP using food {especially candy – which isn't really food, is it} for anxiety/stress control. I have to admit, as I was planning to start healthier eating TODAY, I enjoyed a few extra treats yesterday. Dumb.

Lo&Ko, Lex, and Emmett visit + Mar's last day of school.

I'm a little out of breath, I've done so much catching up lately hahaha.

Lo&Ko drove in on May 22nd. Lex and Emmett hitched a ride.
It's been so fun to have so many out-of-town visitors in such a short time.

Shi and Kody's main reason for visiting was for Peyton's graduation from the Air Force Academy.

Remember these pics? Most likely not. They were taken after Peyton's first year at USAFA and right before Shi left on her mission. Circa 2015.

Wednesday, May 23rd
Peyton had a couple extra tickets, so Mar and I got to tag along. I know I've posted similar pictures from the last USAFA graduation we attended, but it's still such an amazing sight, I couldn't help but take pics of it again. And we had a little different vantage point this time.

I don't think the pictures do this entrance justice, but believe me, it's pretty impressive.

Then came the long and slightly boring part... the speeches, then the presentation of the graduates. Nearly 1000 of them. Luckily Peyton was among some of the earlier names, so we could people watch and do other unimportant things (like get a sunburn Kody?) while the rest of the names were read.

Peyton is at the top of the ramp on the right in the above pic. I snatched the pic below from one of her FB posts, taken within the same few seconds.

Once it was finally over, the Thunderbird show started immediately, which was awesome. When we attended Dakota's graduation, we had to wait a long time for the show to start. This was the reason I wanted Mar to come (she missed a day of school for it, darn it). I was so happy that she found it as impressive as I did.

I can't resist sharing a couple video clips. They still don't quite capture the awesomeness of their show, but it should give you an idea.

I love this pic I snapped of Peyton once she finally made it up in the stands where we were sitting. 

 

It definitely is quite an accomplishment! Congrats to Peyton!

While we went to the graduation, Nae and Lex and the babies went to the zoo.

That day also happened to be Kody's birthday... so we celebrated that evening.

I had made his requested Better-than-SexAnything cake.

 I'm totally cracking up over Lo's face in the above pic. Hahaha.

 Friday, May 25th

Mar's last day of school.

So many people have posted first day/last day pics, so I looked hers up.

She's going to love that she was wearing the same thing both days haha.

Last day of 11th grade...

... and first day.

 Lex had scored a free ticket to the Taylor Swift concert that evening, so I got to chill with my buddy Emmett. We had been shopping at the outlets prior to Lex heading out for the concert, so Emmett was cranky and DONE by the time we got home, he gulped a little mama's milk (via the bottle... so glad he takes one) and snoozed with the dogs for a bit.

 He was such a good baby the whole evening. I love this little mug, even if it's milk-crusted. We sat on bench swing on the porch for a bit, and Emmett expressively chatted with his adoring Gigi.

Lex said the concert was amazing. I was so glad she had the opportunity to go.


Meanwhile, while I was chillin' with Emmett, Nae, and Evie... Bill and the rest of the gang (Tay, Kody, Shi, Mar + her boy... friend) went to a Rockies game.

Kody had never been to a MLB game before, and he loved it, even if they were sitting in the Rockpile. It was the perfect summer evening, and they all had a good time.

Saturday, May 26th

Lex was exhausted.

So was Lo and Kody, so we had a pretty low-key, lounge-around-the-house-and-sleep day.

Once everyone felt rested, we got up the gumption to make a Walmart run for trip snacks for those who would be traveling home the next day, AND for movie treats. We are an exciting bunch.

I chilled with Emmett again while we waited for the sun to go down. I seriously need to up my selfie game... such blurry pics.

 Once the sun had gone down, we set up an outdoor movie in the backyard.

(This pic doesn't really give you any frame of reference haha... but I promise, it was cool.)

Mar had done a "drive-in" movie with her friends on our driveway a week or two before this, so we gave it a go in our backyard. It was SO FUN (except for Lex, who just couldn't tolerate the little grass bugs floating around... and landing on her haha). We decided that we would have to do more of it over the summer and invite some friends and neighbors to join us.

Sunday, May 27th

Lo&Ko, Lex, and Emmett loaded up the car and headed back to UT.

I loved having so much family here the past few weeks! I love it when they come to visit! We will be back in UT a couple more times this summer, then perhaps not again until next year. I'm hoping most of us can get together around Christmas, and we have a Goldsberry Family Reunion at the end of December -- hoping most can make it to that also. 

So much to look forward to.