FIRST day of SCHOOL

Oh my heart. Mason's BIG moment. Kindergarten

What I remember about each kiddo:

Ashlyn's hot pink and blue feather.

(she is now into her looks a bit...spent an hour in front of the mirror :0

BUT She is determined to get another 4.o ALL year.

Jake's tootsie eyes. (with his pirate tooth :)

(He couldn't WAIT to see all his buddies from school)

Mason's sweet demeanor. calm. quiet. which he never is. he was nervous :)

AND...lastly. my Austin's happy smile. so organized. Always ready for school.

So grateful for him. Such an easy, happy, hard-working child. :)

Love these kids with all my mama heart.

Wishing them the best school year of 2011~

Summer soccer nights.

Ashlyn and Madi are best friends.

they just started soccer together.

3 days a week.

They love it.

and so do I!

Ashlyn is on the team Hurricanes.

(she played soccer for 5 years and took a few years off.)

Now she is interested again, so here we go!

Their first game..(2-1) Way to go.

(Ash plays right forward)

and

can I say,

the summer nights here in CO are dreamy!

They are in the 90's, clouds dart across the sky,

the SUN slowly sinks into the Boulder mountains...

Oh. it. is. beautiful.

we love it.

* Ashlyn-soccer team Hurricanes

*Jake- soccer team Dynamite

*Austin-basketball team Hornets

*Ryan-softball team DirtDevils

*me- I just love to run every day.

:)

and our schedule is packed Monday through Saturday.

sometimes (well mostly) we have all 3 kids at practice or games.

Plus I have (and Ash and Aus) Mutual every Thursday!

I live in the car. (clock 68 miles tues/thurs)

It is complete craziness but we would never change it. ever.

(might I mention Ry and I don't see much of each other!)

Jake. Team Dynamite. Aug 2011

Team Dynamite.

Undefeated Champs.

Winners of Arsenal Cup

Up in Fort Collins.

Way to go jakers.

5 goals.

love it.

(I love this team for SO many reasons.)

Top 5 in state, but more importantly

Jake loves it.

and has such great friends.

He learns to make goals, work hard,

and accomplish great things.

Love u Jakers!

Jake's coach, Rachael, (l0ve her!)

and her twin boys, (Blake and Brandon) Jake's Buddies! :)

26.2.

Check one off my bucket list.

Before my 34th birthday (July 20th),

I wanted to run a marathon.

So on a beautiful, (HOT) Saturday in July, (92 degrees)

I ran my marathon.

My alarm went off at 4:30 am.

Here is how it went:

I started out strong (I tried!), physically and (most importantly) mentally.

I had 2 water bottles and two gel packets..and my ipod with all my fav songs!

I took a drink every 10 min to stay hydrated.

and took a gel packet at mile 12,

All is well...(under 2 hr @13 M)

but by mile 18:

the wall hits.

but.

continue on by sheer will.

I made it tooooo far to stop.

so I continued,

and the pain set in (lungs fine..it's those leg muscles!)

at mile 23.

But by then, determined to finish and

proud

to make it this far.

You just keep putting

one. foot. in. front. of. the. other.

and.....finally....mile 26.2.

A feeling like no other.

One that makes me feel that

I can do just about anything.

And when tough times come,

you can get through it...

tenacity. strength. strong will

(when there is a desire)

Happy 34th bday. :)

Time 4 hrs 13 min.

big mace

Mace's lost his first tooth :) do you see it? bottom left

a mama moment for sure!

And....he started kindergarten on monday.

oh man I cried :)

25 minutes in the car.

big tears!

I wasn't expecting it..because mace was sooo ready!

I thought my heart was too...but it wasn't :)

he loves it! I am so glad. pics to come.

Another big milestone down! (saaaad)

oh goodness!

(i love my job!)

Dear Colorado.

Clear Lake. Georgetown

Boulder Canyon. Little Switzerland

Boulder. Looking out to Denver. 360 degrees of views.

oh loving it! beautiful day.

Dear Colorado.

We love you.

really we do.

the stott's love your beauty.

we love to hike, explore, fish, relax and hang out all day with you.

we feel so lucky to live amongst so much beauty :)

and...

thank you Boulder. For being so fun...

for your hikes and canyons, for your hills and beauty...

we love to hike up and enjoy your moments.

we love CO and

all it's glorious days of sunshine.

We have grown to love CO so much.

We have become part of you.

Though you are not UT. We will always hold

CO so dear.

Pics of Boulder Canyon Bliss.

Hike up one Saturday afternoon.

Georgetown the next day.

Loving life. Loving my friends. Loving my kids. and Loving CO.

As busy as life is. (1000 miles an hour.) I simply try

to

enjoy

the

simple

moments.

and that is with my family.

up in those CO mountains.

love it.

So much good ahead.

(Maui so soon too!)

xo!

Georgetown Main Street. so darn cute!

Let your LIGHT shine :)

We made it!

We did it.

(me, Sister Ashworth and Sister Grover!)

I am home from Girls Camp.

What a fun, amazing, hard working week!

exhausted (NO sleep! maybe 5 hrs a night), dirty, but so uplifted (love those girls) and happy with the results!

My theme turned out well (yay!), my decorations, and devotionals too..!

oh what a relief :)

I will chat more laters.

I have to clean up from camp, unpack, head on out to Jake's tourney,

the twins have EFY in Denver,

the house needs an overhaul, and school starts in a week!

(oh and Austin has a talk in church tomorrow!

( a General Authority, Area Seventy, and the Stake Presidency

will be there. No pressure right?! :) He will do great!

off to life..!

(p.s took some pics of camp. It was just like the old Parent Trap movie...

Camp was up in the gorgeous mountain pines.

Each ward with a cabin, OURS..25 bunk beds lining the wall, a mess hall down the way,

an outdoor chapel, a meadow, and a big open fire pit. All spread out amongst the mtns.

It was absolutely beautiful there :)

x0!

Ok, I have time...here our some of the fun

h i g h l i g h t s:

~Secret Sisters...Each girl got a special secret sis. One for our ward and one for the Stake.

(The girls loved to give and receive fun treats, bookmarks, quotes, treats..etc)

~Each night, us Leaders would leave a treats with a quote on their pillow.

~crafts: string bracelets, homemade journals, (so cute!) and little bags with cute decor

~Fun, happy camp songs around the fire pit

~certifications: first aid, knots..etc. I was in charge of Constellations..it was a fun class.

~Water games in the meadow

~scripture study in the quiet mountain top

~devotionals by me. "Royal Princess Daughters"

along with song, scripture, and a lesson.

~testimonies by the fire light (with our Bishop who drove ALL the way up Thurs night

and he brought homemade brownines and icecream! :)

~late night "nice" pranks to each ward cabin

(heart attacked with hearts and Hershey kisses, You've been mooned with cut out moons and treats..etc)

~I made handouts, bookmarks and inspirational quotes for each girl each day :)

~staying up till 1:00 A.M every night and waking up for

PK duty and fire pit devotionals at 6:00 A.M. (umm, yes, I AM TIRED!)

~Us Leaders silly stringing the girls at midnight :)

~Overall, Girls camp was amazing. And so great for the girls.

It is so important for their little testimonies to grow, and to learn, and to understand how important they are to their Heavenly Father.

I LOVED being apart of that :)

and today, by the way, I get a NEW CALLING!

that has to do with the girls....yay!

Boulder BEAUTY

Between all my craziness (and fun!) of planning girls camp,

I wanted to make sure and give

my kiddos some attention this weekend.

WE did (quick) fun hikes up Boulder and Georgetown.

oh it is SO

beautiful indeed.

breathtaking.

I took some (lovely!) pics...I will post tonight!

it was so fun.

the reminder of wonderous nature is.

and how lucky we are to enjoy it every day.

back home, taught my lesson, did girls camp handouts, started packing..

my list is a mile long. so fun though :)

more pics. of georgetown. clear lake. the prettiest spot in CO.

xo!

(I love where we live.)

Ashlyn's first Tri!

Ashlyn's first Triathlon

It was a beautiful morning.

She was nervous, but excited to do it!

We were proud of her.

Way to go Ashlyn!

Learning the "transition" is new to both of us.

Her swim was so fast. Her best event :)

off to the bike and the run!

Finish hard! She did great.

She won her age division and beat all the kiddos.

The tri had a few problems with marked course (I led her to the adult run...oops!)

But most importantly, she had FUN!

The whole family went down and supported Ashlyn.

My sister Amber was there too. What a fun morning.

A good experience for her :)

Love ya Ash!

and I will do it with you next year..

but I need a good road bike! (hint ryan)

and don't ya know....everyone bikes here in CO! everyone