Blake is Ordained an Elder

 

 Blake was ordained an Elder today in the Melchizedek Priesthood. He wanted Landon to ordain him, they have a very close relationship. It makes me so happy that my kids have such a great love for each other. Landon gave Blake a wonderful blessing and admonished him to use the priesthood often to bless those around him.

 

 

 I sure love these boys of mine!

 

 

 

 

 

We are proud parents! 

 

 

 These two have been best friends.

 

 

 

 Blake will be going off to BYU-Idaho soon, and Britta and Ryan are sure going to miss him! We all will! He is the fun and the humor in our family.

 

 

Dagny was beautiful in another princess dress! 

 

 

 Johnny was also ordained an Elder today. Blake was ordained right after Stake Conference, and then we went to the Kidd's house where Blake was able to stand in the circle. It will be exciting to see where the future will take these two great young men!

Landon Remodels his Condo

 

This is Landon and Megan's new condo!  They are lucky to a have a bottom unit which is also on the end. They have lived with Wade and Kimberlea for a year and are so happy to have their own place. Housing in the Denver area is outrageous right now, everything is very over priced. Houses sell in one day and quite often, buyers make an offer that is above the asking price. This condo was a big blessing. Landon and Megan were getting their temple recommends renewed and while Landon was waiting for Megan, he got into a conversation with Tony Porras, the executive secretary, about housing prices. Tony told Landon they have a condo that he has been thinking about selling. He quoted a Landon a price that is less than half the price of the condos they have been looking at. It is an older condo and needs some work, but for that price, it is a great deal. A direct blessing related to getting their temple recommends renewed! 

 

 

I wish I had gotten more "before" pictures. They repainted the whole place, ripped out hardwood flooring, removed a wall mirror, replaced most of the light fixtures, and replaced quite a bit of sheet rock. Landon is repairing an electrical outlet in the kitchen. 

 

 

The kitchen looks into the living room.

 

 

The master closet had some water damage, and they had to replace some of the sheet rock. 

 

 

The master bathroom is probably the worst room in the condo. It looks like there has been some big water leaks and there is quite a bit of black mold. They are almost completely gutting the bathroom. It will take some time to get it back into shape, but there is another bathroom, so they are going to take their time on this project. 

 

 

They took off all the trim and painted it. 

 

 

This is the patio door. There is some open space behind the building, so there is a nice little view and not just more buildings.  Megan bought these nice curtains.

 

 

 They painted the kitchen cabinets. They look so much nicer, I hardly recognized them!

 

 

 Landon installed the dining area floor himself, it looks great!

 

 

This is Dagny's room, a beautiful shade of pink. It's not as bright as it looks in the picture. She also has a magnificent chandelier with a dimmer switch. What a lucky girl! 

 

 

They replaced the vanity and mirror in the bathroom. 

 

 

We are giving them our old couch and we will be getting a new one soon.

 

 

 Our couch looks right at home in their condo! They got new carpet in all the rooms except the kitchen. Their condo has a lot of closets and storage space. I didn't get a picture of the IKEA closet they installed in their bedroom. It is super nice! The master bedroom is quite small, their closet has a place to hang clothes with drawers underneath. There is also a place for shoes and jewelry. They have worked so hard all month and it has paid off! They will be comfortable and cozy here and I am so happy for them!

No More PIne Tree

 

This spring we noticed the pine tree in front of our house was partly dead. There was one big section where all the needles were brown. There is a place in town you can take branches for free through the month of September and they grind them into mulch. We talked about cutting down the tree by then so we would have an easy way to get rid of it. One day Wade came over and just started sawing. I didn't even know he was out there! He got this much done before the battery ran out on his chain saw. I didn't get a before picture. These pictures are day two of cutting.

 

 

Wade is leaving little stubs so he can climb up the tree and cut off branches that are higher. Smart idea!

 

 

 One big branch off!

 

 

 Blake is helping. He is taller than Wade, so he is cutting some branches that Wade can't reach.

 

 

The ladder is a little rickety, but they decided to use it anyway.

 

 

 While Blake hauled off branches, Wade took a try on the ladder.

 

 

The tree was quite a bit bigger than we realized. 

 

 

 Hard at work!

 

 

 Wade an article on line about chopping trees down. It said to cut a wedge the way you wanted the tree to fall.

 

 

We started getting nervous the tree was going to fall into the Bodeman's yard or on their swing. Someone had the idea to use some rope and then pull it. Blake volunteered to get the rope in place.

 

 

 Wade gives Blake some pointers on how to make the tree fall where we want it to. It was harder than it sounded!

 

 

 Blake had to keep the string straight.

 

 

 

 TIMBER! The tree didn't fall where we wanted it to, it actually just snapped and tipped over towards the Bodeman's house. Luckily, it just kind of bent over and so it didn't hit anything.

 

 

The top of the tree was bigger than it looked when it was on the ground instead of up in the air, but together Wade and Blake were able to drag it to the trailer.

 

 

 All that is left is the trunk.  It is still pretty tall and we will need to take another section off before we can dig the stump out.

 

 

 The trailer was packed full for the second time. I won't miss this tree. It will be nice to look out the window and have a full view.

First Day of School

 

It's hard to believe that summer is over and another school year is starting up! School does start early in Colorado, the second week of August. Ryan is in 8th grade at Mesa Middle School. He is really growing and is taller than me now.

 

 

Britta is a junior at Douglas County High School. She is a link crew member this year, they help the freshmen students to learn their way around the school and act as a mentor. Britta is a good leader and is often chosen by her teachers as a role model for other students.

 

 

 I wanted a picture of her polka dot backpack because it is so cute! It didn't take much school supply shopping for only two kids. I felt like I wasn't buying very much compared to other years.

 

 

 Britta found a surprise when she came home from school, I am watching Dagny this afternoon.

 

Douglas County Fair Parade

 

 The Douglas County Fair and Parade is held the second week of August. We love the parade and go every  year! This year Ryan is in the parade as part of the marching band at the High School. He is normally in the pit playing the marimba, but for the parade he played a snare drum. He was so excited! It is his dream to be on the drum line. The drum wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be, but I am sure it will be plenty heavy after carrying it for a mile or two.

 

 

 The marching band was near the beginning of the parade.

 

 

 Ryan did a great job! The band sounded fabulous!

 

 

 The football team always rides on this bus in the parade. Go DC!

 

 

Some of the Sheriff's Department were riding horses. 

 

 

A few years ago, Castle Rock had a town trolley that would stop at different places around town. It is no longer in use, but you can rent it for special occasions.

 

 

 The Rodeo Queen and her attendants are always beautiful on their horses.

 

 

The Cub Scouts and their pinewood derby cars were cute! 

 

 

 There are several karate places in town. One of them had this fun float. We love the parade! It lasts about an hour and has a good variety of entries. I got so busy watching, I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do. It did seem different this year to watch with no kids. Blake and Britta were both lifeguarding, and Ryan was marching, so no kids to collect candy.