4 greats.

1. Four families. playing the weekend away...

Thomas Pond/ Nederlands

This weekend we all ventured up to Nederland's

(11 miles up Boulder canyon..beautiful mountain town)

to fish and walk around the small town.

Come to found out it was HIPPY FEST that day. (for reals.)

Umm dreads to your waists, tie dye everywhere

(and the reason we left)...everyone smoking doobies!)

Time to go kids! (17 bt. us all!)

We ended up at Chatauqua for a picnic and then

off to fish at Thomas Pond.

Funny note about Chatauqua is we

got kicked off our table because it was the
"Wizard of Oz" sing-a-long.
I kid you not, we had Dorothy, Tin-man,

the Lion and the witch (adults!)

ask us for our table.

2. Pen-pals from New Jersey.



Ashlyn got a pen pal in 5th grade and they have slowly been writing back and forth. Now they are writing constantly talking about their separate 6th grade lives, comparing school days and sending each other cute little gifts. I think it is sweet they have formed a "cross-country" bond. Who would of known a friendship could blossom from a penpal!


3. My first Sunbeam Lesson.

I have 8 little sunbeams again! I was excited. And Mace was soooo happy to have mama back! It was back into Primary with the happy, hyper, 3-4 year olds. My first lesson: "We are grateful for our food and clothing" My kids loved to guess where milk came from (consensus : a kitty and baby cows! ((what!??) and we get our clothes from China. (good answer. but nope, plants and animals (silk worms and leather.)

I had a good time diving back into 2 hours of keeping up with all the kids!




4. First day of school

Excited, anxious, nervous...the feelings of all the kids!

Starting new schools is not easy.

I tried really hard over the summer to establish

some good friendships for my kids. and yes, we have been blessed.

The night before school started, Father's Blessings

and Webcast videos off of lds.org.

Lessons of making important friendships,

and lessons of

doing your best and NEVER giving up.

I love those videos.

Then Ry and I told the kids how proud we were

of them for making this transition.

It wasn't easy, but their attitudes and hearts have been amazing.

I love my kids...

Off for more greats! xo!

sunbeam. Jan. 5, 2010

Repost: Aug. 28, 2010.

GUESS what? I am back. Tomorrow I resume my Sunbeam calling. yay. simple joys. and my 3rd picture just made me unexepectedly cry. a sweet cry. Mace's buddies. (love u Blake and Cade!)

Sunbeam/ sun beam.

: a ray of sunlight.

When you turn the age of 3 in our church, (by the new year), you become a Sunbeam. You "graduate" from nursery and move up to the primary. On Sunday I had a new Sunbeam. My little Mace is now a big boy and sits on the front row with 7 other little Sunbeams. And guess what? I inherited all 8 of them! Yes, I am lucky enough to be their teacher. Some people may think it's babysitting for 2 hours. But I sure don't.

The definition of a sunbeam means a ray of light....I think the church knew exactly what they were naming them....our little 3 year olds are simply rays of light in our lives. Their little hearts and minds are so excited and ready to learn about life.

AND yes I chased Amelia up and down the rows to get her to sit and Hannah and Mayelle fought over who sat on my lap, and Ryan cried 2/3 of the time, and Mace proudly owned me by keeping his hand on my leg the entire hour, but I loved it. Simply loved it.

My pretty church clothes will no longer be pretty, they will be wrinkled and dirty and full of lots of 3 year old love. That's okay. I am ready.

The church entrusts me to be their very first teacher, the very first influence on their little hearts. And I am honored... I am excited and hopeful. Sunday I came home exhausted and so happy all at once. And when Ry asked Mace what he learned today on his very F I R S T lesson as a sunbeam, Mace happily responded in his little 3yr old voice,

"That I am a child of.....of...of..um. Oh yeah God."

Yes. Perfect, my 45 minute lesson that was a little (a lot) crazy made one little influence:

Mace knows he is a child of God. The title of my lesson. sweeet.

You know, I really love our gospel.

I love that my kids will know where they came from,

why they are here (on this earth), and where they are going after this life.

There is a plan.

A simple plan of happiness and if we follow it, we will all live together.

Forever.

Love that knowledge every day in my life too. What a comfort, what a blessing!
and congrats to these other "cousin buddy sunbeams" too!

(Cade, Mace and Blake..(Carson too!)
We are all in this together!

To the next 51 lessons for my new little sunbeams!

(and I will miss Jake's class so much....I love my 16 kids....I will miss their cute smiles and loving faces! But I will still see you every week as well.)

One more: love ya Mace!

Reflection. and my list of loves.

(Jake. late night walk around the lake with the family. Monday night F.H.E)

I have been reflecting a lot lately.
Thinking a lot about our move, our transition,
leaving family and friends. Leaving Utah and establishing a home here in Colorado.
RY's new opportunity, his fullfillment, my fullfillment, our happiness, the kids's happiness.

Meeting new people, making new friends, starting a new ward,
new schools and new sports teams. The stress, the worry (a mama's heart), the wonder, hoping it all
falls into place.
easy? no
Possible? absolutely.

(Ry and the kids. fishing. first Boulder icecream in old town Lafayette. do you see them?)

And you know what?
We are loving it. (and don't get me wrong my Utah fam!)
BUT
after the (yes agonizing) decision to leave Utah and pursue this goal,
we have been blessed.

We have been watched over,
we have been directed,
and we are now finally creating a home here.
and.
it.
feels.
good.

Most importantly:
the kids are happy,
Ry is happy,
and my heart is doing good too!
THe Stott's have had quite the ride since March 1 and our big decision day.
We lost RY for 3 months, sold my (lovely!) house, said 1000 goodbye's
cried a million tears, but got excited for this new journey, this new path!
knowing that we were supposed to go, we were meant to be here
in Colorado.
and it is so good.

Yes, I do have all of my family and friends backing me up.
That means so much to my heart.
I think of all of you still every day
My best friends and sissa's with daily texts and calls,
I am closer than ever to all of YOU!
and with much Reflection

I feel grateful
and blesssed.
And I know
that we are one happy Stott family!

(notice the moon's reflection in the lake?)

and I will end with a list of "love's"
Today I love:

78 degree weather
carpools
Mace's squeaky voice (in the morning)
texts from my betsies
hummus
my 2 new pair of running shoes. (neon blue nike's and zig zag (pink) Reebok's)
my kids loving school! (yay)
color (everywhere)
tivo
sunset (pink lately!)
Ry's hard work
Jake's awesome, new soccer team (and coach!)
wispy clouds (over the Boulder mountains)
ry's new scout calling (with Jake and Aus!)
late night fishing (the kid's joy)
running into friends at Target! (in CO! wow)
Ry's winning run in Softball league (19-18!)
my ipod! (love u. seriously)
pretzel sticks
the FULL moon
phone call from a friend on the EAST coast.
sitting in the sun for 37 minutes and falling asleep yesterday! (wow!)
wide open spaces
my GPS (could not survive without you)
my bloggy-keeping pic's I love! memories
diet coke to survive
my huge dry erase board-schedules!
sisters (3 called me today!)
4 fabulous happpy crazy kids.
thus:
my job.
and lastly...
love.


xo! xo! xo!

Historic Georgetown. Railroad loop. and Mountain Bliss.

WE had a fabulous weekend.

(Ashlyn -putting her fishing line on her pole)

It was beautiful. It was so fun.

We went with the Bagely's up to Georgetown and Clear Creek.

Georgetown is about 45 miles north of us.

We took off Saturday morning and came home almost

at

midnight..

pulling home in the late night stars.

All I can say is we are loving our adventures..

Colorado is full of beautiful wonders.

and (let me just say).....the mountains are amazing.

(didn't think anything could match my Salt Lake Rockies!)

We have fallen in love with all the beauty

it has to offer.

(RY, Michael, Beck, Ashlyn, Austin, River and Jake)

We have also loved our summer days

of driving down the

Rocky Roads.

(I've downloaded lots of John Denver!)
(mace plugging his ears to the toot of the train! It was LOUD!)

Georgetown was named the

"Silver Queen of the Rockies" first discovered in 1864

by James Huff and Robert Steele.

THey discovered the first load of silver.

Within 3 years, the town was booming...
WE loved the Georgetown...it was so full of history.

The homes were original and had so much character.

We first drove up to the town and went on the train...

it did a loop around the mines...

The train ride was quite the sight!

(kids standing (above) waiting for the train!)

IT went miles and miles through the wooded mountains

.

The little town of Georgetown is nestled amongst the

tall looming mountains.

It was so quaint and cute!

We were surrounded by

360 degrees of Mountain beauty.


The kids loved the train...we went over a tall bridge

75 feet up in the air.

(pic above)

We passed old mining shafts and other old trains.

You could see where the miners would come up each day and work.

In your mind you were able to imagine what it would be like in 1864~

The crew! (above)

Michael, Mandi and Family

Stott Fam.

After the train we went another 10 miles up the canyon to

Clear Creek.

The Lake was up in the pines....

every color of green glowing from the waters.

The green pines and blue skies were a compliment to eachother.
(Mace, Liv, and Poppy running around!)

All the kids wanted to do was fish , fish, and fish.

They couldn't get enough.

All of them grabbed their poles and string,

grabbed a worm and hooked it on....

They fished their little hearts out.


Mandi and I stayed up with Mace and the little ones while the

kids and dad's fished.

We brought a picnic and cold drinks....

the kids played away.

It was a perfect, warm afternoon. We loved being up in the mountains.

A great day it was.

We stayed at the lake 5 to 6 hours...
then the sun started to S I N K down.

time to go....

(River's bottlecap collection...he collects a bunch at each lake...)

We ended the night at Beau Joe's.
The BEST pizza ever.

It was in St. Idaho's 11 miles back down.

It was an old mining town as well.

Beau Joe's is famous for it's unique 5 lbs pizza. (really)

We pulled in at almost midnight.

The kids were exhausted but loving the day and our adventures.

Thanks to the Bagley's for joining us on our day.

They are a great family! My kids LOVE their's as do Ry and I!

We are lucky to have met them..

For many more...

xo!

6:34 A.M.

6:34 A.M. is early.

That's when little Jake wakes up for School. He is the first off.

(It's hard for him to GET Up. He sits in the sun on the steps to open his eyes.)

I still want to post pics of the FIRST day of school!

I will do it this weekend!

But off to Georgetown to hike, fish, river float and picnic!

And I feel like I am RUNNING in circles!

life is BUSY.

I need to get used to this crazy schedule too... (I am a taxi driver!)

bye bye Summer !

and p.s why does Elementary start first?? It's hard for Jake (and me)!

BUT gotta say we LOVE the sunrise..it makes for a beautiful drive!

( and he's still half asleep when we leave!)

I will figure out the bus soon...

When Jake is comfortable with his new school!

and I already have

a carpool set up for the twins (thank goodness)!

yay.....!

xo!

Estes Park. Part 2

Oh crazy days!
I have no time to type and tell you about these great pics!
School started today and we woke up at 6:34 a.m. and it is now 8:54 P.M.
We are finally. slowing. down.
Besides driving back and forth to 2 different school 4 times (22 miles round trip), long run, pool parties, a cop pulling me over, dinner, scouts, cleaning house, homework, filling out forms...it has been busy at the Stott household! (As I bet is yours!)
Here are a few more pics of Estes Park!


Estes Lake, a fishing pond (stocked trout),Stanley Hotel

and St. Vrains Lake!
The kids LOVED this trip!
WE had the best time!


The Stanley Hotel.

built in 1909 by F.O Stanley.

(he is famous for inventing the first Steamer automobile)

It was a beautiful Hotel~ Everything seemed back in time and so charming...

It even felt a little creepy. It was crawling with people and the hotel was having multiple Ghost Tours...it was awesome!

Our kids were loving all the ghost stories...


Ry told all the kids he saw a Ghost hand move the curtain over the window (in the lower pic). It is the tip top room in the Hotel. That is all it took and Mace was so upset! He cried and cried....we couldn't talk him out of it!

Mace was so upset! He wouldn't go in the hotel the rest of the day....

Ry and I took turns staying outside with him.

Look at all the pics of the Hotel!

We had a great day with our friends! The kids loved it by ending the day fishing at the St. Vrains lake...they each caught a little fish. They accidentally caught a turtle and let it go quickly. Ashlyn found a bullfrog and made it her new best friend! And then at dusk, the heavens opened and RAINED us OUT!

This weekend we are all OFF to venture again!

This time to Georgetown

( historic railroad loop) and fishing at South Clear Creek!

(That's if we survive this crazy week :)

xo!

(st. Vrains Lake)