Ramantics 2018: Hooray for Hollywood

It was so fun to see Zac and Ben both up there on the stage this year for Ramantics!  *feeling all the proud and happy mom feelings*

Ben decided to give theatre a go with his big bro, was fantastic and had a blast.  He played ukulele for one piece, trumpet in another, had a lovely solo in the performance of "Little Do You Know," and took part in several of the large group numbers.  Zac is just fun to watch.  He has a smooth voice, great stage presence and always makes sure to add energy and pop to his dancing. He had solos in the "Another Day of Sun" and "Halellujah" numbers, sang in a few smaller group pieces and was dynamic in the large group numbers.   It's a show that is directed by some of the seniors, so there was some craziness and frustration with the organization, but it came together so well, and they sold out two of their three performances.  Zac is hoping to be selected as one of the senior directors for next year, so he took a lot of notes on what to do...and what not to do!  I didn't get photos with the family on all three nights that we attended in our various groupings, but Josh took a selfie of the two of us the night he and I went together.

The last picture is of Zac with the display he put together for the show.  He was elected as Historian for Rampart's Thespian Society at the end of last year, and one of his jobs is to put together the display for the shows over the year.  It came out well!

Both boys were shining stars for me.  I am so proud of how brave they are to get up there and do what they do.  I was never so bold and self-aware in high school!  They had so much fun getting this performance together with several of their favorite friends.  Bravo!  Huzzah!  Dilly dilly!

 

The Bits: Januay 2018! The 1st through the 21st

The 2018 Bits begin!

Luke and I finally got around to seeing The Last Jedi again, so now we know how it ends!  So good!!  And better yet, my parents were able to join us for their first viewing.  My mom has a favorite new movie now.

Thank you, President Monson, for your years of service, example of rescuing the one, and leading with love.  I will never forget the first time I heard you speak in person at Women's Conference, soon after President Hinckley had passed and you were called to be prophet.  I knew the minute you walked into the room, I felt in my soul, that you were a man filled with the Spirit of God and would lead us well.  You will be missed! (January 2nd, 2018)

Go get it, Hermie!  Luke worked hard to make a hermit crab course and the crabs did an awesome job of getting to that banana.

We laughed out loud through the whole thing.  A great way to wrap up winter break!

The men and their dogs.

So happy to live in a town where THREE different people approached my dad while we ran errands to thank him for his service.  I was really neat to witness, and made me so proud!

Getting stuff done!  Bedroom wall painted, dead grass raked so Ruby stops coming into the house dressed as the Grass Monster, and spackling of the broken edges and touching up of baseboards and doors.  So nice to cross things of the list!

A feast fit for Kings!  My mom worked hard all day to make us a delicious Epiphany dinner, complete with a Kings Cake.  Happy Three Kings Day!

Sunrise unfiltered.

Second semester found Luke back in his favorite homework spot.  One of his vocabulary words was "contradicted" so we talked about how "favorite" contradicted "homework."

Celebrating one amazing Papa and Dad who turned 70 on the 11th!  He's a guy you want to know: kind, hardworking, thoughtful, suuuuuuper wacky, the best storyteller and a million more things that are just quintessentially him!  Love you, Dad!  So grateful to have done life with you, and looking forward to all that is still to come.

The right caption for this picture would be "sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy!" but it snowed in the Sahara, and it won't snow in Colorado Springs, which makes me glum, chum.

We had our last full vision and hearing screen this month, so the band's breaking up until next August.  I'm kind of sad!  It's been a fun few months working alongside these awesome ladies: (L to R) Jackie, Kathy, Di, Diane, Cristi, Terra, Cyndi and me.

At Pack Meeting Luke continued to make his way through Webelos by earning 3 more pins, and Tommy received his very first badge: Bobcat, plus 3 Wolf belt-loops.  Go, Conlin Cubs, go!  I received my very first 5th Mother's Pin for that Bobcat--it's amazing to think that we are at this point in our boys lives.

Celebrating passing off all of his math facts: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division!

Seven throwback photos for 7 decades.  Happy 70th to one of the best!

It was an honor and a gift to be able to escort Mikayla through the temple for her very first visit.  It will forever be one of my most precious days and I will cherish it in my heart always.  I am so proud of this girl for all she has endured and risen above to become the amazing young woman she is today and the fantastic missionary she will surely be for the people of Anchorage, Alaska.

Honorable mention!  Benny, you are amazing!

Sitting sandwiched between my men at church, three on one side, three on the other, I couldn't help but feel like the luckiest mama ever.

So many exciting things happening in January for our primary!  I'm exhausted.

President Russell M. Nelson was sustained as prophet and president of the Church on January 16th, 2018.  From the Deseret News:

"I declare my devotion to God our Eternal Father, and to his Son, Jesus Christ," President Nelson said. "I know them, love them, and pledge to serve them — and you — with every remaining breath of my life."  At a press conference following the broadcast, the new First Presidency answered questions about diversity among the leadership, the role of women, challenges facing the international church, LGBT issues and the retention of millennials.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I am reminded of how grateful I am for all the men and women who have stood, and for those who still stand, against the mistreatment of anyone based on their race, religion, gender, sexual preference or place of birth.  Sadly, 50 years later, we still live in a time when we all need to step out of our comfort zone to stand and have our voices heard against injustice.  It is well for us to remember that we are all brothers and sisters.

We spent a Saturday in Fort Collins for Josh's 2nd swim meet.  He had 2 PR's by a few seconds each for events he has done before, had one event where he slowed from last time (darn!), and he also tried one new event.  After being sick most of winter break, it has been slow for Josh to get back to feeling really well and having energy, so we were all just happy to see some improvements.  He loved getting back to racing again!

Snow in The Springs: AT LAST!!

Happy New Year from The Lodge

Zac, Ben, my parents, Adam and I all returned to the mountains, and to Tommy, Luke and Josh, who had stayed behind, to ring in the New Year with our friends.  What a fun night!  We celebrated with a cheese fondue course followed by a chocolate one, which was so delicious.  We played some fun large-group party games and said goodbye to 2017 and hello to 2018 with a midnight toast.  It was the perfect place to start the year off right with so many awesome people.  I loved hearing the snippets of conversation carrying through the house as everyone relaxed and enjoyed themselves.

The first day of January was Luke's first ever ski lesson.  I really wanted the day to be perfect for him, so that he would love the sport and we could make it a family affair heading into the future.  The snow so far for our winter season had been terrible, with very little snow in the mountains and almost zero snowfall in The Springs, but the warmish day at Copper and lessons being low on the mountain, where they manufacture snow anyway, ended up being a great combination for Luke.  He had a lot of fun, was OK with the falling and took to the sport happily.  Phew!  I think learning the balance to ride a bike this summer was such a help.  He already can't wait to go again!

Josh had woken up in the middle of the night with a stomach bug (the poor kid really wanted a winter break do-over!) and it hadn't snowed at our mountain resorts in a week, but because Luke had his lesson, Adam, Zac, Ben and Micah went up to ski/board anyway.  They spent a lot of the day on the lower part of the mountain where the snow was better, strengthening their turning skills (skiers) and working on their goofy foot (boarders).  Tommy, my parents and I brought them lunch and waited to catch a glimpse of our shiny new skier with his class, before driving to Frisco for lunch at a yummy daytime eatery called Bread + Salt.  Then we hiked up into the hills above the town to a lovely snowy mountain creek scene.  It was a really nice day, and I felt so happy to hear how much fun Luke was having.  I hadn't realized how stressed out I was about his first ski experience!

We ended the day back at the lodge in the hot tub, watching the beautiful sunset behind the mountains.  It was nearly time to head home to get ready for school to start up again, but we felt rejuvenated and refreshed after this escape to one of our happy places with so many people we love!