Trek in Colorado

While I was getting everything back home ready for the move to Germany, Trek had an important class he needed to attend before starting his new job in Germany.  He got to fly out to beautiful Colorado for 2 whole weeks.  I was super jealous of all the adventures he had while he was out there. He had a great time.

He first visited the Garden of the Gods in CO Springs.

He also visited an adorable German restaurant with his classmates there.

He drove to the top of Pike's Peak which is the tallest peak in CO at 14,000 ft.

He said that the roads were pretty scary since they were on the side of a cliff all the way up to the top.

He also did the Manitou Incline with his classmates.  He climbed over 2,000 feet in less than a mile.  HOLY STAIRS.  Man, my legs would have been jelly after this.  But he loved it.

He also got to meet up with some of our friends from Hill AFB & spent Father's Day with them.

His last adventure was 7 Falls.  It was a small hike & ended with a large waterfall that was actually 7 smaller waterfalls all intertwined together.  Absolutely beautiful.

It was a short TDY, but he loved every minute of it.  We sure missed him at home, but I was glad he was having so much fun.

A Mother Goose Comedy

While Trek was gone, I tried to find some things to keep the kids entertained until we moved.  The city was offering 2 theater camps for kids.  One was for kids ages 16-11 & the other was for teens ages 12-18.  I signed Taya up for the first & Cadence & Lorien up for the 2nd.  Each camp was a week long.  On Monday, the kids all auditioned for parts in a short 45 minute play.  By the end of the day, the parts were fully cast & everyone received their scripts.  By Thursday, all parts had to be memorized & ready to perform.  Saturday was 2 full performances at the theater down town.  I was amazed at how quickly it all happened.

For Taya's theater camp they chose the play 

"A Mother Goose Comedy."

Taya got the part of Raven Lurch.  (aka the blackbird).  She had the most lines in the play.  I always get nervous when my kids have lots of lines because I worry they won't memorize them, but they always do.  Taya had all her lines memorized by Tuesday morning.  It was crazy.

She had SO MUCH FUN.  We quickly put together a blackbird costume with her black pants & a black t-shirt.  We found a boa at Michaels & a white masquerade mask.  We painted the mask black, cut feathers off the boa & glued them to the mask, & then she wore the boa over her shirt & pants.  Not bad for a quick make shift costume when you're living out of a suitcase.

The play itself was adorable.  It was a funny take on Mother Goose rhymes.  In fact, Taya was the cause of Humpty Dumpty's fall which "cracked" me up.  She did an amazing job.  I just love seeing her up there doing what she does best.  She loves theater & definitely belongs there.

Taya made some great friends there as well as said hello to some of her old friends from when she was Gladys Herdman in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" during the Christmas season.  We've sure loved & appreciated this community theater in Prattville.  We are going to miss it.

Great job Taya.  You were amazing.

June Fun

June was a crazy month for sure.  It was so crazy that I'm almost happy that July is just around the corner, but we did do some really silly & fun things in June.

Trek had a 2 week TDY in CO in June so it was just me & the kiddos for most of the month as we packed up the house, cleaned, & moved into hotels without him there.

As we finished up our time in Prattville, Alabama, we had to say goodbye to some amazing people.  My girls are going to miss their church youth group there.  They've been amazing.  They have had the funnest Wednesday night activities (like toilet paper dress making) that the girls will never forget.

In preparation for our move, Trek gave all the boys haircuts.  But of course he has to have FUN with it.  Thank heavens he did NOT keep Bladen's hair this way.

And of course in the boredom of camping out in the house with no TV, beds, furniture, toys, or food, the kids find time to take silly pictures of themselves on my phone while I'm weeding the flowerbed so we can move.

Trek & I managed to go to the Birmingham, AL temple one more time.  I'm going to miss that cute little temple.

And I managed to get my hair cut & colored (something I haven't done in almost a year!!!)

We spent our lazy days putting tougher puzzles, cross stitching, & playing card games.

and again, making faces on mom's phone,

and we spent most days at the pool.  Taya's hair has natural highlights from all the time we've spent at the pool.  I wish I had natural highlights like her.

For not having much & living like an episode of "Survivor" we enjoyed the month & made fun out of whatever we could find.