Denya's Spring Visit

Denya's semester at BYU is over. She is staying in Provo for the summer and doing some editing internships, one at Cedar Fort, a publishing company, and one on campus with the Publications and Graphics department. She also has a job working with a professor in the Special Ed department doing some editing on his research work. She is home for a week and we had a great time with her.

 

We love to swim, and a trip to the pool is always on our list whenever anyone comes to visit. Denya and Ryan spent some time in the hot tub. Blake went into the sauna. 

 

The kids wanted to swim some laps before we went into the leisure pool. 

 

 Denya wants to learn how to do flip turns, so they boys were teaching her how and they spent some time practicing.

 

 Ryan used a kick board to practice some kicking.

 

 Of course we spent some time on the slides. Blake likes the body slide. It's a little too fast for me.

 

I prefer the tube slide. It is so smooth, you can just glide right out and the tube rarely tips over. They have some new tubes that are transparent, this picture makes it look like I am just sitting on the water, I am really in a tube. 

 

One of Denya's favorite desserts is Molten Lava Cakes. 

 

 We are still looking for a perfect recipe. I think we baked these just a bit too long, the filling was a little firm. They were yummy anyway and we ate them right up!

 

We played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal almost every night. I don't care for the board game Monopoly, it takes soooo long! But the card version is super fun and quick. It's one of our favorite games! Denya has a lot of property cards.

 

Ready for the next game.

 

The "Just Say No" card is everyone's favorite. If someone plays a card to you to collect money or steal a property, you can "just say no!"

 

 

Denya and I went to a movie, "The Longest Ride." It is a Nicholas Sparks book that we both have read. There are two story lines, one about a cowboy, and one about an older man who is in a car accident and while he is in the hospital, he reflects back on his life. We both like Nicholas Sparks and have read most of his books and then we like to see the movies when they come out.

 

One day we rode our bikes on the Cherry Creek Trail. It is a 40 mile concrete path that connects Douglas County to downtown Denver. There are several spots to get on the trail.

We got on the trail at the soccer park in Parker. Ryan wanted to ride Landon's bike from his mission. I didn't think he would he would be able to, but he is big enough. Ryan is now taller than me, and I keep forgetting he is so grown up.

 

There are benches along the trail, so we stopped for a water break.

 

Denya took these pictures with her phone. Aren't we just too cute?

 

We thought this sign was funny. We didn't see any horses, but I guess they are allowed.

 

We saw this big tree that was perfect for climbing. The trail was beautiful, lots of trails and greenery. Sometimes we were close to the town of Parker and sometimes you would never guess we were close to a town.

 

 

We rode four or five miles, then turned around and came back. It got really windy and we made it back to the car just in time!  We had to load the bikes up in the rain. It was a fun ride and I hope next time we can go a little farther.

 

Denya is headed to Texas for a week to visit Austin and Melissa, then she will go back to Provo and start work. This week flew by and we had lots of fun!

Piano Recital

 

Time for the Spring Piano Recital! Ryan played an arrangement of "America the Beautiful" that was very strong and powerful. I loved it! He also played a Clementi piece that he has been working on for months. 

 

 

Britta played the first movement of a Sonatina by Aram Khachaturian. It was seven pages long! It has three movements and is 21 pages! It is very fast and it sounds like her fingers are flying up and down the keys.

 

 

 The kids have been taking lessons from Mrs. Stork four years. We absolutely love her! She only has a few students from four families. She holds the recitals at her house. Britta and Ryan are her most advanced students and the other kids really look up to them. It makes me happy that my kids inspire Mrs. Stork's students to practice! I am so glad my family is musical!

Blake's Teacher Appreciation

 Every year, the church does a Teacher Appreciation Night. The graduating seniors pick a teacher from the high school that has been an influence in their lives. It is a night to honor teachers for all they do. In the past it has been a dinner, this year was a dessert buffet. Blake chose Tim Byers, the swim coach. Blake hasn't had him for teacher, but he has coached Blake for the past two years. He teaches Spanish and the kids all call him Profe, which means professor.

They have a speaker, this year it was Honorable Vincent R. White, a judge. He talked about the importance of education and told of his own experience of how a teacher saw his potential when no one else cared. He was flunking high school when a teacher took notice, helped him improve his grades, and get accepted into college. It was a very moving talk.

The teachers are presented with a plaque. It has a thank you on it and a picture of the student. The kids write a tribute which is printed on the back. The kids read the tribute and then present the plaque to their teacher.  It is a very nice evening.

Profe's wife, who is also a teacher, is due to have a baby in about two weeks, so he brought his daughter Reece with him to give his wife a break. Reece is three, and she is very cute and was so well behaved! 

I love Teacher Appreciation Night! I have been five time now. Teachers really do have a impact on their students and teach them so much more than just their subject matter. I am so glad our stake has this event.

Blake's Senior Prom

 Blake is asking Jaymie Huff to the Prom with this poster that he and Britta made. She is a swimmer and swims on the girls team at the high school. She is a life guard at the Rec Center, they have a lot in common.

 He also got these roses for her.

 We went to her house so they could exchange flowers and I met her parents.

 Boys have it easy when it comes to exchanging flowers, they just slip it on the girl's wrist.  Girls, however, have to pin the boutonniere onto the boy's jacket, which is sometimes challenging to get it just right so it isn't floppy. I had to help Jaymie.

So handsome, and so pretty!  

Jaymie has a twin sister, Jessie. Her date is Tyler.

 We had a big snowstorm yesterday with about 5 inches of snow. It was quite chilly taking pictures. We went to the Catholic Church on the top of the hill and several groups were there taking pictures. All the girls were shivering.

 The prom is at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver this year. Blake made dinner reservations at Café Montreal, which is just across the street from the museum. After the prom, they are going to After Prom at the High School. There will be all kinds of games, food, and activities until 3:00 am. I'm sure they will have a great time!

Wade's 28th Birthday

 

 We celebrated Wade's birthday a few days late because of work schedules. I made Hawaiian haystacks and Kimberlea made these fancy lemon cupcakes that had filling in the middle.

 

 

 Time for presents!

 

 

 Green has always been one of Wade's favorite colors. Nice shirt!

 

 

 A new bag for his diabetic supplies.

 

 

An engraving tool is nice to label tools and other things. 

 

 

We gave Wade these chairs. Now they will have plenty of seating whenever we come over. Happy Birthday Wade! You are now 28--how fast the years have come and gone! 

 

 

Easter 2015

 Easter was on General Conference this year. We hook a computer up to the TV and watch conference on lds.org. Britta started calling it jammie church, since we stay home and she stays in her pajamas.  Dagny had an Easter dress, and even though we didn't go to church, Megan put it on her for a little bit so we could take some pictures. It is quite fancy with lots of silver glitter.  She is just starting to hold things, and these plastic eggs were just the right size for her little hands.

 

 She is so cute, I took so many pictures!

 

She is always smiling and so happy!

She even had sparkly silver shoes to match her dress!

 

 Baby girls are so much fun to dress up!

 

 We had a yummy ham, cheesy potatoes, and rolls for dinner. Wade and Kimberlea brought this coconut cream pie they had decorated for Easter. 

 

 We usually color Easter eggs the Saturday before Easter. Yesterday we were very busy with conference and then the Priesthood Session. Britta is a student manager for the Track team at the High School this year, and was gone most of the day, so we colored eggs after the afternoon session. Landon was getting impatient and was going to use Dagny's foot instead of an egg. 

 

  Let the coloring and decorating begin! Dagny was interested in all the bright colors.

 Dagny's first Easter egg!

 

You're never too old to color and decorate eggs! It was fun to have Landon, Megan, and Dagny with us. There was lots of talking and laughing. 

 

Blake and Britta wanted to try using a sharpie on eggs. It worked well, we usually use crayons to write our names and and make designs. 

 

 Blake wanted to make a swimmer on his egg.

 

 A few years ago, one of the kids saw an idea to use rubber bands on eggs. You cross the rubber bands around the egg and dip it in the dye. The rubber bands stop the color and you get a striped egg. It can be challenging because the rubber bands slide off easily. Silly Blake wrapped them around his face.

 

Ryan made an egg with music notes. It was so cute! 

Dagny and Britta work on an orange egg.  

 

Our finished masterpieces! 

 

These were some of our favorite eggs. 

 One of our traditions is the Easter bunny hides the kid's Easter basket and they have to find it Sunday morning. Hiding places in the past have been in the dishwasher, in the oven, in the coat closet, and in the china hutch. This year Blake and Ryan's were tied up high behind the curtains, Blake's was in the living room, and Ryan's in the dining room. Britta's was underneath a couple of blankets in the family room. It took Blake the longest to find his. Happy Easter!