Denver, Colorado

For spring break this year, we went to Palo Duro for a day, and Denver for three days. Palo Duro was a lot of fun, the usual picnic, hike, and playing in the river.

On Thursday, we left for Denver. We arrived in time to check into our hotel and then go to see BYU play Wofford for the first round of March Madness (the whole reason we came to Denver.) There were a TON of people there.

The people waiting to go up the escalator. 

Part of the line outside.

BYU did not play the greatest, but they still pulled through with a 74-66 win.

The next day we drove down to Colorado Springs. We started out the day by touring a cave there called Cave of the Winds.

It was a pretty fun tour, though it was sometimes a little tight. There was one passage which they called "Tall man's headache, Fat man's misery." They're only advice to this passage was, "Suck, tuck, and duck, and with any luck, you won't get stuck." The passage was incredibly small, but also very short, so we weren't sucking, tucking, and ducking for very long. After the cave, we went to take a quick look at Garden of the Gods, which isn't actually a garden, just a lot of rocks, but they were fun to climb.

Next, we went to Seven Falls, which is 7 waterfalls, but it only looks like 6, they count this little flip at the end as a waterfall.

It was a pretty sight, but the stairs next to it that you normally climb were closed because they had ice on them, so we just rode the elevator to the top and enjoyed the view. After Seven Falls, we went to lunch, and then to tour the Olympic training center in Denver.

The tour was really cool, we even got to see a few potential Olympians actually training. There was also a little hall of fame where there was a bobsled you could get in.

 There was a really cool, HUGE statue out front.

That was the end of our day in Colorado Springs; we were going to go to this "Focus on Family" place that looked pretty fun, but it was closed because the Duggars from the show 19 Kids and Counting were taking a vacation there. We all decided that we don't like the Duggars anymore. So we went back to Denver and got DELICIOUS cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. I had an amazing time in Colorado Springs. Saturday was the day of the game, so we spent the morning in the beautiful city of Denver. First we went to the aquarium there and Tyson, Justin, and I got to snorkel in this big Under the Sea exhibit. I had my doubts about it at first, but I had a really good time.

After checking out the rest of the aquarium, we went on a tour of this old fashioned candy factory called Hammond's. It was neat to see how they made all the different hard candy, and the samples were delicious.

Then it was time for the BYU game. This time BYU was playing Gonzaga. The cougars played so good! It was really fun to watch the game, and despite some doubts (mainly on my part- Gonzaga is a tall team,) BYU won 89-67! They are going to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in a LOT of years! I had an amazing time in Denver and am very glad that I had the opportunity to go!

I'm Selfish!

Yesterday on the way to church, my mom was trying to teach Abigail what selfish was and why it's important that we're not selfish. None of us thought that the lesson really got through to her, but today she proved us wrong. Abigail was playing with Ryan and Addison today and she came up to me with her hair sopping wet, literally dripping water. She asked me if she could sit on my bed while Addison gave her a hairdo. I told her that she couldn't while her hair was so wet because I didn't want to have to sleep in a wet bed tonight. As she walked away, I heard her tell Addison, "She said no because she is selfish!" I guess that I needed that lesson on not being selfish!

Doubles Tournament!

Last weekend I competed in a doubles tournament with a new partner, Jessica. We are still getting used to each others playing styles, add to that the fact that it was 34 degrees, around 8:30 in the morning, and out first time competing in A division, and I think it's safe to say that we probably weren't playing our best. This was proven by the fact that we lost our first match 8-0. This was pretty discouraging, but it put us in the consolation bracket where we won our next match 8-0. We then proceeded to win 8-1, then 8-2, and then in the (consolation) finals, we won 8-3. It was pretty exciting to win consolation since it was our first tournament together. I think that we will be able to do better next time, once we are more used to playing together. I am sad that I am not playing with Alex anymore (we won the B division doubles tournament last season,) but I'm am excited about getting to play some more with Jessica!

It's Snowing, It's Snowing, the Winter Winds are Blowing!

Anyone who has ever been to Lubbock, Texas knows that typically, the absolute coldest it ever gets during the whole year is maybe 19 degrees. Well I am here to say that this week, it has gotten down to 2 degrees, -25 if we are counting wind chill (which is way worse than the cold!) As usual, the whole city goes into lock down the moment it gets below 25 degrees and we get a half inch of snow. School was canceled on Tuesday, (which, by the way, was totally pointless and now we have to make it up,) and it was delayed 2 hours both Wednesday and Thursday, (which was also pretty pointless, but I'm certainly not complaining!) It is again snowing right now as I am writing this. Although this weather may not be fun, I am really grateful that it finally actually feels like winter. Plus, now all of the true Texans here (while I was born here, I don't consider myself a true Texan) can say that they have survived cold weather.

Catch Up Post

I have not posted in a few months, so here is a summary of all that has happened. Before Christmas, we went skiing at a tiny resort called Sipapu  (yes it is pronounced sip-a-poo, we had some interesting conversations about the name.) This was all of the kids first time skiing and we all had a blast. Christmas was great as always and we got to spend it with my aunt Darlene who came out to visit. Second semester of school has been packed with homework, but it's good to see my friend's again, I missed them over the break.  Tennis season has finally started back up, and thank goodness. After awhile, just plain running, drills, and matches against your own team gets monotonous. My first match is Monday, and we get to bus over to Plainview for it, (I'm praying it doesn't snow, this past week has been gorgeous weather, but the high for Monday is something like 22. I'm not a fan of Lubbock's unpredictable weather.) Basketball season has also started up for the boys, so I am back to either attending a few game every Saturday, or babysitting during them. Ryan got his tonsils out a few weeks ago, but he is better than ever now. Overall, it has been a great few months.

Thanksgiving Break

This Thanksgiving break, I've been doing a lot of reading, played some tennis, wally-ball, and racquetball, and just spent some time with family and friends. Thanksgiving day was fabulous as always. It was just our family and my Grandpa Cluff, and his wife Annabell. Annabell and my mom made some really yummy food. I know that the Thanksgiving dinner was a success, because we all felt slightly sick afterwords.  Oh, by the way, did I mention the homework. I don't know what it is about teachers, but they all seem to think, "Oh, Thanksgiving break, that means that they have a lot of extra time to get work done, maybe we should give them a lot of homework." I don't know what part of "break" they don't understand, but all of my teachers gave me hours worth of homework. Oh well, I still had a fabulous thanksgiving break, and I hope you did too.

Tennis Tournament!

Yesterday I had a tennis tournament. I was in the 8th grade B girls singles division (which started at 8:00 am.) My family had a LOT going on that day! My first two matches, only my dad saw because my mom had to run the harvest festival parade and watch Tyson and Justin in the fun run (they were both in the top ten.) I won both of those matches 8-1. Then my dad had to go coach Ryan's soccer game, while my mom was at Justin's game, and then Tyson's. So I played my next two matches on my own. I won one of them 8-4 and the other 8-2. That put me in the semi-finals. My mom was able to come for half of that match. I won that one 8-6, but it was a LONG and exhausting match! Then it was the finals. The rest of my family got there in time for the second half of that. I won that match 8-2. In case you have lost count, that is six matches that kept me at the tournament for seven and a half hours, and yes, I do have a massive sunburn. Anyways, I won my first tournament! 

 

In case you are questioning my stylish chose of socks, when the tournament started at eight in the morning, it was freezing and I had left my sweats at school, so my mom gave me some spirit socks to wear (they are my school's colors.) Although it soon grew unbearably hot, the socks weren't bothering me and I wasn't motivated enough to take them off. Since I won the tournament, they are apparently my new "lucky socks" (according to my family.) Whether it was the lucky socks doing or my own, I am very excited to have won a tournament!