Baseball, A Tour & School 'almost done'

I discovered this week that a Columbine is a flower!!! (The State flower in fact)

Another couple of weeks have passed by.  It just goes to show how much you are enjoying your days when they pass you by so quickly!!

We were able to attend a baseball game!  It was on Monday, 9 May, and we were able to get tickets from 'Mac' an aussie, who is an ex exchange teacher of about 30 years ago.  We went with James, another Aussie teacher and saw a great game between the Denver Rockies and the New York Mets.  I suppose the game itself was slow in that there was great defense from both sides, however, the Rockies won in the 9th innings 2-1.  The locals sure love their sport and are very vocal and passionate!  The Coor Stadium is very impressive with views of the field from anywhere. We were sitting fairly high, (nearly at the mile mark), right behing the batting so had a clear perspective of the field.  It's one thing to watch a game on TV, but so much better to experience it first hand.  It was fun and I'm glad we got to see it.  Rick's been watching the baseball very regularly ever since!!  The last game the Rockies played, they lost it after a mega 14 innings battle.

Tom ready to see some ball!!

A great view, nearly a mile high in the stadium

Tom, learning some technical points of the game from Mac.

The Rockies mascot came close to our seats, kids just love him!!

Sarah has started to learn how to tumble in training for the cheer squad.  Tumbling is now on Tuesday evenings 5.30-7.00pm.  Today will be her third session, and I have to say she is doing very well for someone who is 16, taller than me and has never done any gymnastics at all.  Go Sarah!  You'll be doing flips and somersaults before you know it! 
Cheerleading is a very expensive sport.  To help offset this cost, over the past week there has been a fundraising effort expected by the girls in selling 'cookie dough'.  This is a 3lb bucket, about 1.3kg of varieties of different flavours for $15 each.  Our contacts are a bit limited to school, church and the few neighbours we have met, so this has proved to be a challenging and difficult ask. Way outside mine and Sarah's comfort zone.  So we'll just have to go with what we can do and be pleased with that.

Tom performed in the end of year Choir Concerts last week.  I went to both the Monday and Wednesday night events which were both outstanding.  The standard was very impressive, with a lot of the music coming from a religious background. I think one of the most beautiful pieces was the double choir, where half the choir was on the stage and the other behind the audience at the rear of the auditorium.  The harmonies and sound was outstanding. I took a couple of pics, essentially to capture the moment, but especially to preserve the image of Tom in a chorus gown.  I don't think we will see him like this again!!  Good work Tom and well done, it was a great experience.

Tom, top back and center!

The whole choir including old scholars. 
The sound was magnificent and very stirring, especially the Alma Mater and the Battle Hymn of the Republic..

Looking good Tom!

Last Friday evening, CITEL (Colorado International Teacher Exchange League) organised a tour of the Governor's Mansion.  This is where the Governor can reside if he chooses, and is a luxury mansion restored to its former beauty.  It's not as large as Government House in Adelaide, and the original grounds have mostly been sold off.  Originally it was built by the businessman Walter Scott Cheeseman for his wife and daughter, it was subsequently owned by two other distinguished families and eventually sold to the state as a residence for the Governor.  It was built on a hill in the city centre looking out to the mountains.  It was in the dress circle of society surrounded by other mansions.  Unfortunately, over the years, the economics of upkeeping most of these buildings led them to be sold, demolished with modern (ugly) buildings replacing them.  It's sad that alot of history has been lost, but at least this one mansion still remains.  I love the history of how Denver began, first as frontier town, and then as a boom town when a massive gold vein was discovered.  The capitol was originally in Golden, which is in the foothills, but then moved to Denver.  This explains why the Capitol Building upkeeps the gold leaf Dome roof.  This elegant home still retains some of the aura of prestigious living and glamourous entertaining  of years gone by.  It's probably not the most practical of homes, but had a class of it's own setting the socal standard for Denver.

The Governor's Mansion - Denver City

Very elegant and genteel..

That's the life Rick!

I suppose the last couple of weeks have been quieter, but we have been kept busy as our schedules dictate.  For myself, I have spent a fair bit of time researching some more Family History and have found enough names now for the kids to take to the Nauvoo Temple in June.  I have also dabbled in some painting. I am enjoying it, but greatly miss the guidance of Chuck, and look forward to classes beginning again in September.  I have been making a study of trees, and will continue practising until I feel confident with these pines.  There are so many varieties of pines here in America.  They are all individual and have a beauty and strength about them that I am determined to capture. 

Winter Morning - a study of pines

The Shade Tree - inspired by the area down by Andrew & Mel's creek

Sunrise at the beach - taken from Shane Goldberg's photograhy. This was tricky, so will repaint it sometime.

Last week, as well as cub scouts, I also volunteered at the Temple laundry.  This is a busy Temple and it was really good to see how all this is managed.  Let me just say, there is always a lot of folding to do!!  I was glad I could help a little.

School finished on Friday for Tom (again!!).  I think he is well and truely over high school now, and I will be glad not to hear from the attendance office anymore.  Good for you Tom, you went the extra mile!  Sarah and Rick finish the school year this Friday and we will all be glad not to have to get up at 5 or 6am for a few months!!
We have commented how different it feels being the end of the school year.  There have been concerts, but not nearly the end of year frenzy we usually feel, and with summer coming, usually it's Christmas.. but it's not!! Instead we have a three month summer break ahead of us.  Over the past few days, we have been planning in earnest, checking out possible routes and prices.  America is this big smorgasboard of things to do!  We are bound by some dates such as the youth trip to Nauvoo in June and EFY Provo in July.  We will have a few visitors staying starting with Lucy in early June, and Chani and Deegan in July.  In July, we are planning a road trip to California and then a trip to New York in August, with small trips in between.. 

This past weekend we had dinner with the Stutz family here, and the Mercer family on Sunday.  We have been greatly blessed with the friendships we have made here.. We are hoping to go camping with the Mercer's to Yellowstone Park in June sometime..  So much to do!!

Over the past couple of months, eastern America has been hit by natural disasters one after another.  There was the heavy heavy snows of winter that crippled the East, followed by heavy rains.  There has been so much rain, the Mississipi River has now burst many of its banks and flooded many towns.  This has put about 9,000 people out of their damaged homes, and has affected businesses as the river is used to transport wood, coal and other raw materials and cargo.  Wildlife such as alligators are being found where they normally are not!!  So alot of distress has resulted.  And now, over the past week, tornadoes again.  There have been many of them, but two biggies, first in Minneapolis destroying homes and lately on Sunday a huge one to hit in Joplin, Missouri destroying a large part of the city including the hospital, and killing over 125 people. There are approximately 1,500 people still unaccounted for.  It's devastating to so many.. We seem to be a bit more sheltered here in Denver, but still have been recieving tornado warnings for some areas.  We have had a lot of rain over the past fortnight, with thunderstorms today, but it should be a lovely weekend ahead. 

Today is our son-in-law's birthday.  Happy Birthday Nathan!  We are so fortunate to have such an exceptional young man as part of our family and truely love him.

Nathan & Karlie

BYU Women's Conference, Cannery & Mother's Day

Alot happens in just a couple of weeks!

First of all, the BYU Women's Conference was simply an amazing experience that I had the good fortune to be a part of.  We left on Wednesday 27th April to drive to Provo Utah.  That is four of us, Dixie Grange, Kenna  Tripp, Michelle Ballard and myself.  The trip through the Rockies via the I-70 is now becoming a familiar one to me!  There is still plenty of snow in the mountains with recent falls, and I never get tired of the snow scenes that pass by.  These spectacular sights of the magificent rock formations and pine covered slopes with the Colorado River winding its way, are ones I hope I never forget.  It's about an 8 hour drive to Provo, depending on how long and how many comfort stops taken!

We arrived late afternoon at the BYU Campus.  It's a beautiful campus nestled at the base of the Mountains which appear to rise up immediately out of the valley floor.  The mountains are so close, towering above, imposing but spectacular.  We were assigned to Horne Hall within the Heritage Halls.  This produced a few moans and groans from the others who know the dorms well.  Heritage Halls would have to be the oldest of all the accomodation BYU housing have to offer!  There are 3 twin rooms all sharing an all-in-one bathroom, so we had to quickly establish a roster of sorts to manage the morning rush time!! However, there was a discovery of another loo downstairs in the basement which was dubbed 'the growler' for those who required a bit more privacy!!!  It was a fun time rooming with these women!!

Our luxury digs!

.. but with a touch of class!

We were able to explore the campus, in particular the BYU bookstore which had discounts especially for the conference!  Dixie and Kenna know Provo really well, so we were taken to great places to eat and shop! 
I can't fully describe the excitement and awe of being in the Marriott Centre with about 20,000 other LDS women.  It just blew me away that I was actually there experiencing this!  The session was opened by the BYU Women's Conference Chair, Sandy Rogers, then the opening session was presented by Virginia H. Pearce who is the daughter of Pres Gordon B. Hinckley. She spoke on the 'Small and Simple Things' which was the theme of the Conference. She mentioned a quote from her father: "Keep praying and working.  Things will work out, they always do". She spoke about the miracle of prayer and creating a relationship with God.

Dixie, Kenna & Michelle & I on our way to the BYU Bookstore,
 note the lovely mountains behind..

We had a lot of fun on this trip.  Kenna (middle) was my roomy!!



We sat near the top stairwells for easy exiting, a strategy made by my experienced fellow travellers.  And sure enough, as soon as the opening sesison finished, there was a swarm of women all trying to exit at once to get to the next session.  There were 3 sessions held during the day, all with about 15 different topics to choose from.   We chose to hurry across campus, to the Smith Fieldhouse gym to listen to John Bytheway and his wife Kim.  Even though we were hasty, we still had seats on the side bleachers.  Fortunately, the other sessions were not as crowded, finishing with a main closing session in the Marriott Centre. 

This is an awesome experience!  Waiting for the conference to commence..

Also joining us were Denise, Debbie (not pictured) and Kathy

The opening session in the full Marriott Centre.

Approx 20,000 women scurrying to find the next session!

The displays of tulips are beautiful! I had to stop, then run and catch up!!

In the Smith Fieldhouse, listening to John Bytheway and his wife Kim.

Friday followed the same pattern and I could spend pages describing it all.  But the topics I attended dealt with Keeping Covenants, Facing Grief & Disappointment (exceptional), the Legacy of Relief Society, A Small Beginning in a Grove of Trees (History leading up to the Restoration.  Also exceptional with Susan Easton Black), Managing Family Crisis (heart wrenching), Forgiveness (the big one I have trouble with), and of course, wonderful talks by Julie B. Beck and Elder David A Bednar.  This was a smorgasboard for the soul, uplifting, inspiring and very beneficial.
 
On Thursday night, a concert was held in the Marriott Centre by Shadow Mountain Artists including: David Osmond (son of Alan if you are an Osmond Fan), he is certainly an entertainer continuing the Osmond tradition!, Jenny Oaks Baker, who is a violinist combining hymns with classical pieces.  Truely beautiful music. Hilary Weeks, a popular inspirational vocalist, Josh Wright who is a pianist also combining hymns with classical pieces.  (He has a clip on YouTube where he is playing two grand pianos at once!) He also performed a duet with Jenny Oaks Baker.  Wow! that was something.  He received a standing ovation from a full house! The final group was 'Vocal Point' an accupello group of 9 men with great harmonic voices and clever chorography.  The whole event was presented by Kirby Heyborne (The RM, The Best Two Years).  He did a supurb job.  What a great night!!

Our dorm was about a 10 min walk from the Marriott Centre..

Kirby Heyborne singing a rendition about Sheri Dew. Very funny, she would've enjoyed it!!

Throughout the conference there were service activities to participate in, such as helping to assemble hygene kits, newborn kits, quilts, school kits, christmas stockings, fleece blankets & scarves, Children's activity totes and Autism Caterpillars.  These were all to assist in the great Humanitarian Aid the church is so actively involved in within disaster and war torn areas of the world.

I have come away with a notebook of notes, a renewed energy and inner peace, and a determination to go forward secure in the knowledge that I can do hard things, and achieve whatever I want to.  What a great experience.


The final session of conference, a session with Elder David A Bednar.

After conference on Friday we went shopping, which was continued on Saturday morning!!  Now this is fun, especially in Utah were there are amazing decorative shops for the home.  I can recommend 'The Hobby Lobby',
'Taipan', 'The Quilted Bear' and 'The Rod Works'.  I just wanted to buy so much!  But of course, what we buy, we have to bring back to Australia, so lightweight and sensible items will have to suffice.  But what great decorating ideas!  We spent quite a few hours of browsing, and shopping (which is why we came in Kenna's big car) fantastic!!

It snowed overnight on Friday, and there were road alerts in the mountains.  But due to our shopping exploits, we didn't leave until well after lunctime, avoiding the bad weather.  The roads remained opened, and we had a clear run home arriving around 9pm.  A wonderful getaway that I highly recommend.  I see 'Time For Women' is coming to Sydney later in the year.  If you can go, then go!  A great pick-me-up!!

Heritage Halls, the mountains are so close!

Evidence I was here!

Dixie scraping the snow off the car, fortunately its too warm for ice, but not for snowballs from Michelle (Ann)!

Breakfast on Saturday morning at 'Kneaders'.  Chunky French Toast

Meanwhile, a Royal Wedding occured!  Thank goodness for DVR, so I was able to take a peek at 'the dress' and some of the pomp and ceremony! I also arrived home to Stake Conference weekend here in the Columbine Stake, so another uplifting meeting!!

During last week, the outstanding point of world wide interest is the capture and death of Al-Quida leader Osama Bin Ladin.  This caused an overwhelming wave of emotion here in the USA, where his death was widely celebrated.  This is still a topic of discussion a week later as the tactics, reasoning and action has been debated and discussed in great depth.  Much to-do has been made of this which shows how deeply the American people were affected by the events of  9/11.

However, the most outstanding point of the past week in Sarah's world has been the establishing of the Junior Varsity Cheerleading squad (Cheeers).  This meant a parent info night for me, and a uniform fitting for Sarah!! OK, it's all on now.  If you are familiar with the movie 'Bring it On' which describes High School Cheerleading, then you will have some idea of what we are in for!!  All I can say at this point is: "Wow!"  Meanwhile, Sarah is so excited.  We'll see how she is in the new school year after summer break when the heavy schedule settles on her.  But good luck Sarah, this is all part of your experience (and now also ours!!).

Last Tuesday, I spent the morning in the Denver Auroura Cannery.  This is part of the Church Welfare Program, Deseret Industries.  The Cannery is over by the airport, about an hours drive away.  On Tuesday, they were canning Tomato Soup.  The process was fascinating to me to see.  What a wonderful set up.  I was able to see the process from start to finish, and was delegated to the labelling and packing part of the production line.  It was work, that's for sure, and was able to assist in labelling and packing probably a couple of thousand cans of tomatoes.   I went with Connie and Johnnie.  Johnnie is from Arkansas originally and has this broad southern accent which I enjoyed!  I found myself thinking her accent in my head!!  We had a great time together, and afterwards, I was treated to lunch at the Golden Corral, all you can eat!  I am being regularly introduced to these new eating places, so it's a good thing my neighbour Cheryl, is dragging me to the gym three mornings a week.

The first process, loading empty cans onto the production line.

The tomato soup being poured into the cans as they travel past.

Don't I look gorgeous!  Safety and hygene first!!

Here, the lids are clamped onto the cans.

Then the heat process. Finally they are cooled off in a cold water bath, removed and wheeled to us for loading onto the line to be labelled and packed.

This is the lower end of the line where I was working. Cans are fed on the right, passing through, they pick up the label and then fall into one of the three slots you see here ready to be pushed into packing boxes. 

This is the Bishop's Store House for those in need of groceries.  (A supermarket with no check-out!)

Johnnie and Connie in the sales warehouse where anyone can purchase canned food.

We read on the church website how this past week, several trucks from Salt Lake and one from Denver full of food supplies were sent to the badly affected flood and tornado areas of the the States.  That just might include some of our tomato soup!!

This week, I had success at the Family History Centre where for the first time I found some names on my own.  I have sorted, processed and checked family lines, but have never had success in finding before.  This is very exciting to be able to help my mother-in-law with her history..  I am continuing now, scouring German Vital Records and really enjoying it!!

I have also continued my weekly visit with Bette around Clement Park Lake and really enjoy her company.
Since my return from Provo, I seem to be busy doing one thing or another, and have only managed to do one painting.  It's a repaint of the very first one I did in January, and am still undecided about it.  I think it's very busy, and would like to commence some of my own original work now that I feel I have mastered some of the basic techniques.  Trees still need work..

On Friday afternoon, Rick & I attended a small lunch and a tour of the Colorado Capitol Building. It was built in the 1860's and is a very beautiful historical building complete with a gold leaf dome roof.  My sister Brigid would love this tour with it's workings of our equivilent of Parliament. The assembly rooms are very impressive.  I'll let some of these pics describe the splendor of this place:

The Denver Capitol Building with the gold leaf painted dome roof.



The legistature sit here.  Desks instead of rows of seats.  On the far right sit the Republicans and the Democrats on the left.  Green decor in here, and green blazers are worn by the pollies.



The detail, and paintings are magnificent.

The Senate room - red decor

The stair well looking up into the dome.  Beautiful detail.. (sorry can't work out how to turn these portrait pics!)



Rick, enjoying this impressive tour!




On the western steps, the original one mile high marker.
  A more recent survey determined it was a few steps higher where the brass ball is.



Today is Mother's Day.  And I had the very great pleasure of Skyping with all of my family.  Our son, Elder Bennallack in France, and with Karlie and her family in Adelaide and Michael in Brisbane.  I did have some anxious moments prior, setting up this connection being new to skype, hoping that Jonathon in particular would be able to access a computer at that early hour, but he did and we had a wonderful time talking together.  It was so exciting when we were all able to finally get connected.  It was 7.00 am Sunday in France, 11.00pm Saturday here in Denver, 3.00pm Sunday in Adelaide and 3.30pm Sunday in Brisbane.  We had some technical difficulties to start with establishing the conference call, and when Elder finally connected we could only hear him.  Then his companions were able to connect the camera on another computer and for the last half hour we could see him as well!  He looks so good. Everyone did, and the girls, Chloe and Zayla are simply gorgeous!  I loved their chatter and the faces they pulled while watching themselves on the screen.  It was a bit like talking over the top, and reminded me of so many other happy family times.  They have both grown since I last saw them, and I just want to hug them so tight.  Michael, Karlie & Nathan likewise looked wonderful, and it was so great to be able to chat like that together as if we were all in one room!  Unknown to me, a parcel arrived unnoticed from Karlie and Nathan, so at midnightish, I opened it in front of them, to beautiful flowers.  What a lovely surprise.  I have missed having all our family together, so this was a very special treat to be able to include Elder Bennallack as well. He looks and sounds wonderful.  He got a couple of English sentences muddled, but that is good too, that he has been able to well and truely immerse himself in the French language and culture.  A big thanks to Mario, a member in Periguex for assisting him to skype with us, and to Sam & Sujatha for assisting Karlie & Nathan.  It has been a wonderful Mother's Day, so close but so very far away!! 

Flowers sent from Karlie & Nathan, Chloe & Zayla

Vibrant Daisies from Sarah, Tom & Rick

This is the perfect Mother's Day, talking AND seeing everyone at once!!

We have also just heard the news that our neice and cousin Taylor is engaged to Romney, so congratulations to you both.  Exciting times ahead with another family wedding!

The weather is lovely.  We have had warmth over this past week with temps climbing into the 80's (about 26C) The leaves are mostly out, in various colours and flowers everywhere.  Spring is definitely here, despite the forcast for snow showers later in the week.  There is only a few weeks left of the school year here before 3 months of busy summer.  We left our home in Adelaide five months ago, and there is a lot to do and experience.  Time is passing quickly.