The Temple and friends

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Denver bright and early.  I almost stayed home because I was starting to feel terrible.  No other symptoms, just the horrible cough that would shake my whole body.  The youth at a temple trip for baptisms so we decided to make a weekend out of it with the whole family.  One of the main focuses of our trip was finally doing something "that we wouldn't regularly do" with the $100 bill Grandma Haley sent us for Christmas.  What did we do....Country Buffet of course.  Morley was the only one who had been before and Drew was just in food heaven.  He couldn't believe he could eat anything he wanted and as much as he wanted.  Drew and Brayden were also amazed that they could just leave their plates on the table and they could get a new one each time they wanted more food.  Oh the simple joys we had during lunch!  Ella was fascinated with the digital coke machine.  It was fancy and you could add different flavors to your regular soda choice.  I quite enjoyed a vanilla coke!  In the end, I think we had used about 25 plates between the six of us.  Everyone left with full bellies and a fun experience!

We went straight to the temple and had a wonderful experience.  The main reason I wanted to bring the whole family was so we could all physically touch the temple.  When the new Ft. Collins temple grounds were broken a few months ago, we were encouraged to "physically touch the temple so the temple can touch us".  It was a special thing to do as a family.  Matt entered the temple with Drew and Morley while I stayed outside and in the annex with Brayden and Ella.  Drew was beyond excited to attend the temple for the first time and also excited to spend time with two of his best friends while doing so.  Brayden and Ella and I walked the grounds a few times and went inside the annex to warm up often.  It was a peaceful Saturday afternoon.  Everyone had a wonderful experience!  Matt was able to baptize both Drew and Morley.  What a special moment they were able to share together!

After a stop at one of the new Cabelas stores, that had a ginormous fire place, he headed to our friends.  The Briggs' were kind enough to let us crash at their place, even with Boomer tagging along!  Kris could hardly believe how tall Morley was.  She was at the hospital just hours after Morley was born and has been around him so much through the years.  She just saw him about 6 months ago but he has been growing like a weed and is about 5'9" now.  I know he will be 6' tall before too long.  He needs a shopping spree....but how long will those clothes last?  We ate pizza, stayed up late and had a great time hanging out.  My cough was getting worse and I slept very little...

Sunday we went to church with Briggs and it was wonderful.  I enjoy attending other wards, however the children do not for the most part.  We had lunch back at their house and the Stanworth's came over too.  Oh how we love them.  Erica and Kris just are the best and I wish I could see them regularly.  The six of us get along so well and always have a great time together.  They are all planning on coming out here soon for a long weekend, we can't wait.  We wanted to stay longer but I was not feeling well and getting worse...as you can see in the picture with Kris and Erica.  I slept the whole way home, when I wasn't coughing.  I was so thankful for a wonderful weekend and so thankful to be home at the same time.  It was a long restless night and I was so happy to not have school the next day.

Monday was a long day that I spent in my bed, quarantined from everyone.  I took Morley to the store to buy some breakfast for everyone since we were out of milk and I wasn't up to cooking breakfast.  He bought "a breakfast of champions" as he called it.  The kids were thrilled, I didn't mind.  Thankfully everyone behaved all day and the house wasn't destroyed while I stayed away.  It has been a long time since I have felt horrible.