Denver

Well as I said, we were on winter break this past week and so we traveled up to denver and stayed with Trish's mom. On Sunday we went to this theme park area for Nathan's birthday. Haha it was so much fun...6 hours of laser tag, go-karts, and arcades. And the family is so competitive it just added to the fun. haha. I have pictures that I will upload later (im at work bored out of my mind) On Monday we went to the mall and shopped most of the day. The Sears at this mall had an actual lands end store and all the winter stuff was 50% off already discounted tickets. And i guess everyone can guess what that means. I bought a brown jacket that was regularly $90 for $30. and $70 brown shoes/boots for $12!! It was so exciting. And the best part is that they go together and look like a complete outfit-- i can finally be warm and cute!! haha I normally just throw on alot of clothes and im warm but not cute! =) And we went to the dollar theater and watched the Bee movie. it was very cute, but not the best. Good one liners though. We also got to eat at Chilli's, which I have be craving (chips and salsa). On Tuesday we went to the Denver Science Museum -- they had a really neat exhibit on gold. It had large gold bricks and historical examples of uses of gold. We also went to the Hall of Life which was all about health and the body. They gave you a card and you did a little physical as you walked through the exhibit. And then on Wednesday we just hung around the house and played games until we left that night. Now im back at work. (sad life huh?) But yeah i have a couple of pictures that i will hopefully put up here. The weather in Denver was probably the best part of the whole trip. It was about 60 degrees and sunny! ahh sunshine...

denver

The kids are out of school this week (and then Trish is off from teaching) due to a mid-winter break. Its like Lerin's high school. And since I dont work until thursday either, we are taking a mini-trip to denver to stay at Trish's mom's house. We are planning to shop and relax, hopefully go to this theme park thing and play laser tag. haha but yeah. i am really excited to hang out in denver.

see ya!!

Wednesday

Well so i went skiing today. haha. I have been here a month and half and hadn't made it on the mountain yet... As a worker at Copper, I get free ski lessons as long as there is a paying customer, so i signed up for lessons for today. =) And actually my boss set it up so i got free ski rentals as well. lessons started at 10 this morning and we didn't end until 4. I am tired! haha. I really struggled at first which really frustrated me that I couldn't remember what I learned the first time I skied. But one of the instructors came over and helped me get the basics back down and once we did that, I was able to catch back up with the group. The group was actually on their second day of lessons, so i was a little behind. Anyways. I ended up having a good day and can now say I have actually skied up here. Hope to get back out monday. Today was also our last game of 5th grade basketball. I have helped coach it with Andy and have had a blast getting to know these girls. I know that they aren't Christians or even open to the idea, but I hope that I instilled some basic thoughts of self-esteem and self-beauty in them. We actually had a great run 8-2, but we lost our last game so that was a little depressing. But the girls didn't seem to mind -- they got cupcakes and trophies. But it was really sweet - the girls all signed a tshirt for me as a gift. =) anyways here are a couple of pictures from our game tonight.

Catching up

Hey guys! I know i haven't updated in a while, so sorry! But I did have a busy weekend and wanted to let you know about it. We hosted a mission group from Springfield, MO. It was a youth group of about 30 kids and 10 adults. Since they were staying at Copper and skiing there, they wanted to do some form of missions at Copper. And since I work at Copper it became my responsibility to set it up and host the mission event. Saturday night the group and some of our church members passed out hot chocolate and cookies to the guests at Copper during our saturday night En Fuego event. We ran out of hot chocolate and cookies though after like 45 minutes...we were supposed to be there for 2 hours. So the group ended up walking around and talking to people and kinda just enjoying the event. As the host of the event, I really struggled with the organization and success of our effort... just what we could have done with more hot chocolate and then not really having a second plan in place once we ran out. However, I do know that God would consider it successful. Just having a large group of Christians claiming Copper for Him and just having a presence there for Him is a success. There just isn't that kind of group ever present at Copper. So that was exciting. I guess it was just a learning experience for me. We will hopefully have another group coming in a couple of weeks and plan to shovel driveways in the neighborhood of our church. Anyways, that was the weekend!

Snowmobiling

haha yesterday was a complete blast of a day! Since I sell various trips and excursions at my job, my boss and I thought it would be smart if i actually went and experienced what I was selling. So yesterday, myself and 4 friends who are in guest services next to my office, went snowmobiling for two hours! We each got our own snowmobile too. haha (normally thats a 500 dollar trip). Anyways, we drove over towards Leadville, which is the next town on 91 after Copper. We got all suited up in our fabulous speed racer outfits. there were actual huge bibs for us to wear if we wanted. haha. So we had all our ski clothes on, ski gloves, humongous helmets, goggles, and then neck gators. haha. It has hilarious, but so worth it. We got to drive around in this snow arena for a little so we could get used to the snowmobiles. And then we followed our tour guide, Tony, down and around trails for about an hour. We got to go through a snow half pipe -- way fun. Basically just up and down the side of the mountain! =) awesome. and then after the hour of riding we pulled up to this cabin and stopped for hot cocoa and a chance to warm up! (despite all of our clothes) After the cabin we went back out and got to go play in the powder. Our guide decided to have fun with us since it was a bunch of crazy 20 somethings. So we did circles, raced, and bounced over bumps. Tonya and I definitely caught some air as we went... we kinda got in trouble for it. And then we just got to play for a while and go down huge mountains and between trees. It was a blast. =0 It was very windy and low visiblity. The snow stung as it hit my face, but the low visiblity made it feel like we were flying at times. anyways here are some more pictures! =)

HS movie night

Hey guys! oh man i am beginning to miss everyone alot! It's funny how often I will be doing something and suddenly think "oh lerin would enjoy this", "oh hannah would make a funny impression of that guy". haha. just silly things like that. The other day i found this sandwich place that I wanted to show my grandmother, since we would usually go to shelly's and this was a close alternative. But at the same time, I am making new friends and spending time with people here. Last night, I called Alison, our youth, to see about going to dinner and a movie with some of her friends. We went to Ruby Tuesday (mom you would have liked it! one of the side dishes was mozeralla, tomato, and basil!!) and ate. And then we went to the movies, which was just next door really. We watched Fool's Gold, that new Matthew McConaghey and Kate Hudson movie. Oh man it was good. It reminded me of National Treasure (the first one) because they really went on a "historically" based treasure search and found clues and rationalized where it could be. And then there is the romance but it was slight and the humor was great! Definitely great! (Warning there is a flasher at one point).
Other than that, its been a little crazy with the weather. We have had several inches in the past couple of days. While I was at work on thursday, it managed to drop about 5 or 6 alone. By they way, digging your car out of that is not fun. And so we have been on alvanche warnings and additional snow is expected. Poor Andy hasn't stopped working, he basically comes home at like 4 and sleeps for a couple of hours, eats and then heads back out. So pray for him and his energy and his health. I am going to work today, from 10-5. kinda nice being able to sleep a little later than usual and then being able to be off before dark too. I think i am going to try to rent my ski equip today. and then lessons on monday and tuesday if the weather is good. haha. i haven't even skied yet, how sad is that. oh well. really want to go snowmobiling. =) Anyways just wanted to say hi and that i miss you and hope everyone is doing well!

the small things in life

God is so good! Not only did things go well at the funeral and it sounds like it was a good experience (as can be) for those there, but things went well here. Today is Nathan's birthday, he turned 7! haha so went to target and bought a game for him as his present and then since it was my day off, i wrapped all the presents up for him. He got to open one present and then we went to the blue and gold banquet for him. Its the tiger scouts promotion! so i helped out with that as he got promoted from tiger to bobcat. haha. it was definitely funny to me learning all about the world of boyscouts. =) i think its all great and stuff but so much of that stuff of character and leadership and having rolemodels should be done through the church or at least through a relationship with Godly men.
But the truly best part of today was as we drove home we were listening to the local radio station and started singing along. As we pulled into the driveway, Casting Crowns "I will praise you in this storm" came on. Instead of getting out of the car, we all sat in the truck and sang along. it was so cool. just singing and praising God as a group in a car in the driveway with the stars shining in the sky. God is good! oh i am so blessed and thankful to be living with a family!
I have work tomorrow and then on thursday as well so pray for that. hopefully have good conversations! also please keep praying for my family...

Family

Well. As some of you know, my dad's dad was diagnosed with skin cancer a couple of months ago. So before I left for Colorado, I made sure to say my goodbyes and all that. We weren't close by any means. He was the grandfather you had to visit for Christmas or random weekends because they are family. Well dad called and said he had passed away on Friday night. sadly, four hours before his pastor also died. Visitation is today and the funeral is at 10 tomorrow. I comptemplated going but the drive is 13 hours and a flight was 400 to 1,000 dollars. But i truly think it was the best thing; my dad doesn't need to worry about my safety as I try to make it. And my aunt has a broken arm to deal with so its best for everyone that i dont go. So the last couple of days have been a little hard, not in that I missing him -- he is not suffering and its not like we had a relationship -- but that i feel bad for my dad. Just in losing your dad has to be rough and as hard as he tries to act like it doesn't hurt, i know its rough. But the Berry's are amazing, Trish has been great just listening to me and praying for me, and Andy offered to drive me to denver if i flew. So yeah. thats whats going on in my life right now. hopefully talk to yall later...
If you can, prayers for the family would be great. -- alot of financial concerns to go along with just mourning.