Denya's Visit

A lot of people are working from home either full time or as much as possible because of the Covid pandemic. The church closed down their offices and Denya has been working from home for almost two months. She has really been wanting to come home for a visit, so on May 16, she loaded up her car and came to Colorado. We were all so happy to see her! Ryan was using the treadmill room in the basement for school, but now that he is done, the desk is available down there, so Denya set up her laptop and made a little office for herself down there.

We go for a walk quite often in the evenings, and one night we went to the MAC and climbed the incline, which is 200 stairs. There is a trail at the top that winds around the hill and back to the bottom, so we hiked on that and then walked around so Denya could see the facilities since she's never been here before. They have a zip line, big playgound with some unique play structures, splash pad, and some fire pits, to name a few things.

Denya has done a lot of weight lifting in Salt Lake. She is missing not being able to go to a gym, so one day Denya, Britta, and Ryan started using each other as weights and lifting. Denya has competed in squats, bench, and deadlift. Maybe this is the squat?

Britta gives it a try with Ryan.

Ryan did a few squats with Britta on his back and he was concentrating hard.

Ryan didn't think Denya could pick him up. Surprise! She is one strong girl! Don't mess with her!

Ryan is not about to be outdone by a sister, so here he goes!

Ta Da! Who needs a gym when you have siblings to lift?

Britta doesn't trust Ryan. Much laughing going on, I love to hear it.

It was Lincoln's birthday while Denya was here and he has been saying he wants a cat for his birthday for months. Landon's family already has 2 dogs, so a cat is not going to happen. Then Lincoln started saying he wanted a cat cake. Megan made one for his birthday that had a cat made of white chocolate from a mold on the top and it was so cute! I started thinking about some cut out cakes that I have made and I wanted to try a cat. I found one on Pinterest and Denya helped me cut it out and decorate it and we had it for Sunday dinner the week after Lincoln's birthday.

It turned out pretty cute!! All the grandkids loved it.

Ryan had his wisdom teeth out and that gave us a good excuse to go to Smart Cow. Ryan didn't get any fun toppings on his because he was afraid he couldn't eat them, but the yogurt is delicious plain too.

Eating inside right now isn't allowed with Covid, and Ryan just wanted to go home, but Denya sat at an outside table for a minute so I could get a picture of the sign.

Every so often Denya takes a break from work and comes upstairs to play with the kids. It's so fun to have her here!

Can you believe Denya can still do a headstand?? 

And Britta can do a handstand!! What great balance they have!

And of course Dagny is just like her Aunts!

Airplane ride!!

Denya wants to learn how to knit Christmas stockings. I taught her a little bit when I was in Salt Lake for my birthday, and she has watched a few You Tube videos and has made a dish rag. I'm so proud of her! She is making a couple more for practice.

Casting on is the hardest part, so she got some tips and help from Delwyn, the master knitter.

One evening Denya, Britta, and I walked around the neighborhood. It was cloudy and the Castle Rock was so green and pretty.

Sure am thankful for these 2 daughters!

Denya has been here for two weeks and is going back to Salt Lake for a friend's wedding. She is thinking about coming back again after the Collins reunion. Yay! I hope she does! It has been so fun to have her here.

Ryan's Wisdom Teeth

We have had a hard time scheduling a time for Ryan to get his wisdom teeth out. The past few fall and spring breaks he has been on some trips, like going to Moab with the Young Men and going to New York with the Marching Band. Spring break is during swim season, and I wasn't sure how much time he would need to take off, and they do practice during the break if they are in town, so I didn't want to do it then. We were planning to have it done as soon as school let out before Covid started, and now the pools are closed and Ryan can't work as a lifeguard, it's time.

He wanted Derrick Price to do it since he did Blake's wisdom teeth. I wanted him to go to the oral surgeon that Britta went to and be put under general anethesia. Blake moaned a lot getting his teeth removed and I could hear him clear out in the waiting room and it was very unnerving to have to listen to as a mother. It sticks in my mind as one one of my worst parenting moments, to be wondering if my child is in pain and hurting. Derrick prescribes a sleeping pill to take the night before and another in the morning to make you drowsy and I remember Blake falling asleep in the car on the way to Derrick's office. I told Ryan I couldn't take that again and that Delwyn would have to take him. I found out tonight that Derrick and Blake had planned it all to make me nervous. And it worked!!  Derrick laughed and confessed to Delwyn when he found out why I wasn't there. It still didn't make me feel any better. Blake was pretty loopy and maybe he was in some pain.

And it's a good thing I stayed home. They were gone 4 hours!!! Ryan wasn't drowsy enough and so he had to take another sleeping pill and then wait for it to take effect. Both bottom teeth were deep and the roots were going every which way, which made it really challenging to get them out. It took 45 minutes to get the worst one out and Derrick had to break it into pieces first. Ryan said he didn't really feel very sleepy and he was pretty aware of what was going on. A couple of times he was in pain but just powered through it to be done. He felt like they were breaking his jaw. I was pretty nervous and paced around the house and yard quite a bit. Good thing Denya and Britta were here to keep me company. Blake's only took about an hour and I couldn't imagine what was taking so long. Delwyn started texting me after about 2 hours. The assistant came out and gave Delwyn an update and it just took a long time. Good thing he's the last kid, I don't know if I could take this again.

He came home with some pain pills and instructions to ice for 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off for the next couple of hours. His appointment was at 5:00 pm, which was another surprising thing, I expected it to be much earlier in the day. Comfort Dental is open until 7:30 pm, but I was still surprised they start a surgery that late in the day. It was after 11:00 pm when we went to bed. Ryan wanted to sleep in the recliner so his head would be elevated. I was going to Wade's at 7:30 am to watch the grandkids so Ryan could have a quiet day to sleep and rest on the couch. Britta offered to sleep on the couch to keep an eye on him and also to give him his next dose of pain meds at 2:30 am. I have the best kids and it is so touching to see them love and take care of each other. My kids really do have such good relationships with each other. Ryan was pretty miserable and I was wishing I had told Wade and Landon that I couldn't take care of their kids. 

I left the house pretty early and tried not to make any noise. When Denya got up and went down to the basement to work, this is what she saw and sent me this picture. So sweet! The recliner got uncomfortable in the middle of the night because Ryan is so tall, so he moved to the couch and Britta moved to the floor. 

After a couple of days, Ryan was getting bored so he tried to teach me how to play a video game. I was a poor student, but it was fun to try. I just can't get the controller to move fast enough to move my people or shoot my weapons, but I gave it a fair try.

The right side is pretty swollen. Ryan is getting tired of soft foods and says applesauce and ice cream don't stick very long so he's always hungry. Why do we have these body parts that we don't need?? I'm glad our family is done with wisdom teeth removal!

Memorial Day and Fire Pit Fun

We took this pretty pink flowering basket to Blake.

 While we were here, a Mom and her son came by with these yellow flowers. I said, "I don't think I know you, I'm Shanna." She said her name was Kelly and her son Josh used to work with Blake at Five Guys. I thanked her for coming and thanked her for remembering Blake. She said her son comes here occasionally and I was so touched to think that people still think of him almost four years later. He had such meaningful relationships with people, he was always sincere and genuine and people knew he really cared about them. 

Britta and I stopped by the cemetery earlier this week. We put up this colorful pinwheel last month and it's been one of my favorite decorations. It is so pretty when a little breeze is blowing. 

This cemetery is such a peaceful place. There are so many trees and there are always birds chirping.

I got this picture from social media. I'm proud and happy to be a Collins and I love the support Mom gets from Dad's brothers and sisters.

We had planned to grill and eat outside and use the fire pit. It was a little chilly, but we finally decided to just do it! Landon and Megan and the kids came over and joined us. We ate dinner in the house and then started up the charcoal. Dagny and Lincoln were super excited to roast marshmallows.

Roasting marshmallows takes a lot of patience and there was much laughter.

Dagny was all about eating the marshmallow and didn't even care about making it into a s'more.  

It's a good thing humans never out grow roasting marshmallows!

Ryan's was perfect and I might have been a little jealous.

Roasting Starbursts is now a popular thing. They get so soft and gooey and just melt in your mouth. Denya first told us about them a few years ago at the Collins reunion.

Landon had never heard of roasting Starbursts and after he gave it a try, he agreed they are pretty amazing.

Of course Ryan had to catch something on fire. That's half the fun of it.

Blake gave me this fire pit one year for Christmas and I always think of him when we use it. I like to think that he is nearby watching us have fun with it.

Bike Ride with Denya and Britta

We all love to ride bikes, and I'm glad I kept my old purple bike when I got a new one several years ago, so we have enough bikes when we are together.  When the kids were growing up we would bike on the Froot Loops path that takes leads towards downtown Castle Rock. There is now a really nice path we can get on by the High School and it goes clear to the south end of town, the Plum Creek Trail.

We stopped for a break on this little bridge near the creek. 

Always a joker, Britta considers diving in.

There are lots of trees, grass, and bushes that makes it hard to believe I-25 is just on the other side.

Spring is so pretty, I love all the green.

I love how you can see the Castle Rock in the distance. I'm so thankful this is where we live!

We got off the trail at the Police Station and rode through down

town before heading home. A fun ride today for sure.  Biking with my girls is one of my favorite things to do!

Church Parade for the Graduating Seniors

Our ward usually has a barbecue to honor the graduating seniors. It started when I was Young Women's President and my secretary, Nicole Knutson, had done this in her home ward when she was growing up. It's called the HOGS barbecue (Honoring Our Graduating Seniors), and our ward has held it almost every year since then. Since gathering in large groups is not allowed, our ward decided to do a parade to honor the seniors. The kids would stand in their driveways and ward members would drive by and could throw out treats and prizes. Denya and Britta decorated the driveway.

Our happy senior!

Bishop Bellum and his family led the parade.

Most cars had congratulations posters or decorations.

Ryan got some mardi gras necklaces, lots of candy, and a few gift cards.

Nancy Brown waves from her pretty jeep.

It was really fun to see some of our ward members after no church for two months. 

There are 6 graduating seniors in our ward and we were first on the route, so we jumped in the car at the end of the parade and joined the caravan to drive by the other houses. It was quite fun to scream and cheer and all the kids looked so happy. These parades have been so fun! Maybe they will become a new tradition.