Denver Temple

We finally made it to the temple! Hooray! We left early Friday morning, dropped Ella off for a day long play date with Avery and hit the freeway. Monday and Tuesday I worked on sorting clothes to figure out what the kids needed for summer clothes. I got a moment to shop at Hobby Lobby in Cheyenne then a stop at Once Upon a Child for clothes. Amelia was very excited to shop for her own clothes. She brought me outfit after outfit exclaiming how cute each outfit was. We had some lunch then headed down to visit the Curry family.

The Curries have a really fun house! Elaine keeps chickens and rabbits in a large penned area. Her kids were so amazing showing my kids the animals. Heidi looked so cute and in her element helping the kids pet the rabbits and chase chickens. Justin brought along some old family photos to show off. Their daughter was baptized on Saturday so the Curries had a full house with visiting relatives. We are grateful they let us visit for an hour or so. Since we were near Ft Collins we stopped off at an Asian market. I was the only white girl in that store, well a black gentleman was also in the store at the same time. You know you've struck gold when you are a minority. I collected ingredients to make Ramen soup from scratch and Miso soup. Yum. Justin checked out a bike shop before we headed down to our hotel. Traffic was slow and clogged so we pulled off and enjoyed a meal at Noodles and Co. We love that place because they offer so many different cuisines and are family friendly. Evelyn serenaded us with her new squawking tricks. We finally made it to our hotel around 8:30. Course the kids went nuts after the long car ride.

Saturday we went swimming first thing after enjoying some breakfast. Justin was not interested in swimming so he took Evelyn up for a nap while I played. The kids and I played 3 Little Ducks and 3 Monkeys Swinging from a Tree. All you do is sing the songs and chase little ducks or monkeys. Everett loved Ring around the Rosies, water style. We cleared out of the hotel once the Woods family let us know they were at Costco and almost ready to meet up. Amelia drew two cute cards for us about going to the temple. She signed it love, APEE. Love that! The Woods family met up with us at Chick-Fil-A, one near the temple with a play area. Robbie drove Justin and I to the temple then returned. We wanted to leave them with enough vehicle space to transport all 6 kids. After our session we switched! Managing 6 kids was a bit tricky (6, 4, 2, 2, 6 mths, and 6 mths). The kids watched part of Totoro one of the kids favorite movies. We always think of Grandma Jean when we watch it. Once the kids got restless we took a walk and let the kids join in a wedding photo session, ruining their gorgeous photos. Just kidding! It was a close call a couple of times. I think we went on 4 potty breaks. Phillip and RJ were staring at the replica of the Christus in the visitor's center. RJ stared long and hard then muttered, "he not do anything Jesus needs batteries, double D?" We enjoyed a windy, cold walk around the temple then back to the van to finish Totoro and get snacks. I wish we knew some folks in Denver who could watch our kids. It is so amazing when the YW come down and babysit.

I was really affected by the new endowment film. One thought that stayed with me is how much words can change when emotion and inflection change. I learned a lot and felt so uplifted! We really needed that visit. We were the witness couple so that was also fun and new. In spite of two diet cokes I still fell asleep during the first part of the session. Darn it! I tried so hard to keep my eye lids propped open.

Sarah is celebrating her birthday this week. We joined the Woods family for a birthday dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. Right before we left the temple parking lot Amelia burst into tears because this trip was sooooo boring and not fun. We counted our blessings to attend the temple, see friends, eat out, and swim at the hotel. She was still moping at dinner. Then a blessing in disguise came and made balloon animals for the kids. That totally made her day. Amelia and RJ got brown horses while Phillip and Everett got dragons. Phillip wore his like a hat. Thanks to the Woods for hanging out with us. It was fun!! We enjoyed a long, QUIET trip home. It was a good chance to talk and absorb the events of our day. 

Our house is in shambles. Since it is sooooo messy and stinky I will take advantage and deep clean each room. Should be a fun time. Can't wait to unload. Sometimes I miss moving so often because we never had extraneous stuff, only the essentials. When you live in one place for longer than a couple years stuff starts to pile up. Let the great purge begin. If Mom wants to come help me I won't say no?! Also, got to wish my Dad a happy 60th birthday on Thursday. He has all he needs in life: house, wife, truck, new garage, and a hammer. He is approaching retirement from the Army in June. Sounds like he already has several job offers, with lots of over seas travel in store.