Simply the Stotts: January 2011

Sunday, January 30, 2011

A Sunday walk, Ry's heart, and little piece of Heaven

Ashlyn and I went for a Sunday walk. A beautiful evening.
It felt so good to be out. My first walk outside in a while.
(looking down into Boulder)

(our pathway behind our home. D U S K.)

I love Sundays.
A time to go to church,
a time to reflect,
and time to spend as a family.
Ashlyn and I decided to take a Sunday Stroll....
Ashlyn was looking for hawks and coyotes.
I was looking for a little bit of peace.
It was a beautiful evening, a great day at church,
time to finally relax.

Ry and I had just finished our talks:
Service. Stewardships. and Blessings.
A topic I truly believe in.
What you put out. Will completely come back to you.
Karma? you ask?
A bit, I do believe.
It will come full circle.
What we choose to reap, is what we will sow.
But I had a moment today.
Ry's talk made me cry.
It came straight from the heart.
I hadn't even heard him speak like that.
Missionary work, the importance of the gospel in our lives,

the love he has for his Father, his Mother, for serving Missions,

even amongst a hard diagnosis, the service and thus rewards.
and at the end, he cried and thanked me, for moving for him.
The sacrifice I made to leave Utah, my sisters, brothers, family, cousins,
to follow his dream to Colorado. Ry so proud of his kids....

For leaving UT, coming here and making a home. A home we love.

He thanked my "new" CO friends, for taking me in and

loving me like a sister, noting how close I am to my sisters in Utah.

He was so grateful.

He spoke to his oldest son, Austin, and told him how proud he was
of him. He gets the Aaronic priesthood in a few months.
A quiet but strong leader Austin will be.
Ultimately: the bottom line:
Live our lives well, people could be watching, but be yourself,

stand up for what you believe, be kind, be gracious, be

the better you. And always thank our Heavenly Father.

It was a great day.

(Like my big hair?!)
At the end of our walk...

(bear with me..my cute and a little bit cheesy story about Ashlyn!)
Ashlyn had asked many questions, which she does all the time.
(She is always so curious.)
So tonight on our walk she asked:
Do you think we could ever touch the sky?

Who invented the English language?

and her best question, the one I could really answer, she asked...

"Is Heaven just like this?" I mean like this, on Earth,

with our families, our blues skies, and these happy days?"

I smiled at her and answered wholeheartedly.
"yes."

What a great day.
One to remember.
I found my peace and Ashlyn found her Hawk.
How she loves those hawks...
(click on pic and I got a pic of the hawk... is far right...flying against the mountain.)

Hope you had a happy Sunday too!

love u Ry.

and

Happy 43rd Anniversary Mom and Dad!

xo!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Thank you. and a little bit of sunshine.

A little bit of sunshine is headed our way:

today: 58 degrees.

tomorrow: 60 degrees.

ahhh thank you.

(pic taken 10/03/10)

Kids waiting for their carpool. Love candid photos.

Their faces so funny. But look at that warm sunshine glowing behind them....nice.

A N D

Oh how I hope it's this warm for my two sissa's

who are coming to visit in one week!

Don't let a snowstorm sneek on by...

(because that could very well happen up in this high country.)

Love these happy moments of sunshine in between a few hard hit snowstorms.

oh yes I do.

Yesterday, Mace, Ashlyn, and I sat out in that glorious sun....

reading books (ashlyn) and playing with friends.(mace)

Oh that Vitamin D felt so good.

A N D

I just want to say

thank you.

thanks you so much.

for all of your love and concern.

All my Utah peeps. All my Utah fam.

You are simply the best.

I am grateful for all of your love.

and to all you Colorado peeps...

(who don't know I blog!)

thank you.

a sweet, heart felt thank you for all you did!

our delicious dinners

(that showed up every night.)

homemade cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, chicken fettucine, PF Changs,

choc covered rice krispie treats, d.c, magazines,

calls, concerns, and just simply

L O V E.

I am a bit overwhelmed with all of it really.

I feel so darn lucky to have all of you.

You bless my life greatly.

Now off to my talk.

Ry and I speak in Church next Sunday (ahhh!)

the topic:

Stewardship. Service. and the Blessings we receive.

A little bit perfect for me right now.

Cuz I feel it.

Now off to a little bit of sunshine too.

xo!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

what a year.

A beautiful trip down memory lane....2010. what a year.
(my fav pic of 2010. Ashlyn running in the fields by our house...)
warm. happy. sunshine

what a year. so many pics!

what an adventure.

who could of imagined?

I feel so blessed.

love u all and thanks for being part of the Stott's lives.

to the next 2011....!

Snow Bunnies, Sledding, and the Sunshine

It snowed!

It finally snowed. Here are the pics to prove it!

I took this with my big lense through my kitchen window.

Bunny in our backyard hanging by his "home" in the bush.

I think one of the most surprising things about the move to

Colorado was the weather. I expected the same climate as Utah

(in all four seasons.) And so far, summer and fall seemed to be similiar.

But Winter, winter has been a entire different story.

The biggest difference between Salt Lake City and here (Boulder/Broomfield/Denver):

The sunshine and about 20 degree's.

Which makes all the difference.

We have blue skies. always. well almost always

But I can't tell you what that does for one's spirit!

I was born and raised 32 years with Utah winters and let me tell you..

they are rough..

One word for you: inversion.

and it lasts all January through March.

Grey, dull skies and cold cold temps.

(hard not to get a little depressed!)

So us Stott's are LOVING the 50 degree winters

and these beautiful sunny skies!

Let me move on...Here are few pics of the kids sledding...

This sledding hill is right behind our house. I took these pics from my big camera lens through the kitchen door.

When it started to snow, my kids were ectastic!

I mean so happy..they could not wait to get out to those big snowy flakes! They sledded for hours!

Even Mace joined in and didn't stop! They were loving the snow

Growing up in the winter makes you fall in love with the

winter wonderland scene.

Surprisingly enough, my kids missed these cold cold days.
They wanted the snow!

I think they froze their faces a bit!

Happy boys!

And since our first snow

we had a blizzard last Thurs.

It was great and bad timing as I had to be down in Boulder that morning for an appt. It was 5 mph bumper to bumper on the 36. Ry and I got off and took South Boulder road. Bad idea too. We got in a fender bender. Our Surburban just "bounced" off the college girls Hyundi...didn't make a scratch (we are sooo lucky)

and we both drove away!

Frustrated (because most people panic in snow! and can't drive...!)

and one hour late, I made it.

Snow bunnies are out. Snow bunnies are here. They keep us all entertained. There fur turns a lighter brown with white flecks. They are all over the yard still. We have seem so many more coyotes out too.They are hungry. They have to come closer to our homes to get food. (the bunnies) Ry and I saw 4 last Saturday (usually you see four all summer)driving out of our neighborhood..they are hungry, skinny little fellows at this point.

The circle of life.