Trip to Estes Park

 Since we didn't go to EP in October we "needed" to go in December. We like to go twice a year to make sure everything looks good as well as to visit family. I'd prefer to go in the fall, but winter in Estes Park is nice. The fun event for this trip was the boys doing the polar plunge. The river and pond were iced over, so it was fun to walk on it to and from Coffee on the Rocks. 

Our first day there, the boys decided to go sledding... into the freezing water. I think Steven was the only one to do it, and he went twice.  (Only one video would upload) 

The next day, the boys decided to do the polar plunge. Mike, Steven and Tommy did it, followed by  Alison, Dave, Steven, Roland, Loisl, Alison, and Isabel.

In the evening, we played games and enjoyed each other's company. I love my family and am grateful for the opportunity we had to buy our place in Estes Park. It's been a financial and familial blessing. 

Erik's tree in the Festival of Trees and Audrey's FOT performance

I've wanted to donate a tree to the Festival of Trees in Erik's honor for a few years, but knew this was above my skill level. A woman Meagan Beard posted in a community group about wanting to collaborate on a tree and I jumped at the chance to utilize her skills. To say she did an amazing job would be an understatement.  She did most of it late at night while her kids were in bed and the on the day of, Ash and I went to the convention center to help her set up. 

The tree cost around $700 to create and they started the bidding at $2000. I was nervous it would sell, but it did, for $2100 to Tracy Biorge or Biorge Construction. I feel like writing her a thank you note, but don't know if that would be appropriate. I love how giving people are. 

We planned on coming back during the festival to see it and were please to find out that Audrey's teacher does a mini recital there. 

Random November

I hope Mike never grows up, because he is so much fun. He's been working a lot but makes the most of his time with us when he's home. We all feel very lucky to have him in our lives. (I might be a tiny bit sentimental because I'm blogging from Mother's Day 2025 and he's been a rock star) 

Audrey lost another tooth on the 8th and got into the lost and found while helping me clean the church

Audrey lost yet another tooth on the 17th

Sarah and I went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at her school, which inspired us to go to NYC for spring break and see it in person. 

We bought a new marbles game for our Riverjoy and decided to play it as a family. We liked it even while getting annoyed with it. 

Happy 19th Birthday Mija!

 Sarah turned the big 1-9 and was kind enough to grace us with her presence. (I'm being serious, we already miss her so much!) Sarah is a gift to those around her. She's kind, generous, smart, funny, and an all around good kid. (But not perfect, which is good) Going to SUU has been great for her, and she's flourished. Happy Birthday Mija!

"If you give a cat a cookie" Mantle version

When we were designing our home we knew we didn't want a TV above the mantle, so we put it on the east side of the room where we now have J's KC 135 picture. We had an entertainment center and TV for a few months until we decided to not have a TV on the main level and have a couch there instead. We love this, until Audrey. It's nothing against Audrey, but she and her friends would watch TV in our room and ate in our bed all. the. time. Crumbs and kids in our bed weren't our favorite. We didn't want to move J's picture, so we decided to put a TV over the mantle. The only issue was that there wasn't wiring to do that, so...

In order for us to have a TV over the fireplace we had to take off the old mantle and surround along with the floor tile, create a PVC pipe channel for the wiring to go to the cupboard on the left of the fireplace, sheetrock, have stone added along with new flooring. It was a project, but we LOVE how it ended up. 

 

We got a great deal on the mantle, but it meant trying to stain a stained mantle and then going back for an unfinished one. Still, we love the completed work. We used Karl Zeeman again and he did a great job. After he finished the tiling Mike got our frame TV up. I'm blogging from June, so I can confidently say it's been a big hit. 

Audrey starts piano and has her first piano recital

 We tried to have Audrey learn piano from Sarah, but she quit as soon as she heard there would be a recital. We thought she might be ready and decided to go to Ruth's teacher, Miss Kara, in hopes that it would help her stick with it. At her first lesson she learned there would be a piano recital in two weeks and decided she wanted to play in it. We were surprised and pleased at her decision. Sometimes kids just need a little more time. 

Starley Family day at Hogle Zoo

 We took advantage of Hogle Zoo's Veteran's Day free admission and brought along the grandparents. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day in November. We saw all our favorites and were grateful for the opportunity to go together.