Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Snow! (but not enough...)

This midweek update is brought to you by: Snow. Lots of it. Denver was supposed to get 7 to 17 inches, but I'm not sure where the current levels are. We are still getting hit with it, although it was not enough to cancel school for today. The rest of the visit with the cousins was fun, and I've put up some pictures of that. I took a few shots of the snow before leaving for school, and the latest ones are of the front of the house. It's dark in my room right now, as snow has covered the window well covering... I may go out and kick it off to have some more light. As I do my homework this afternoon, I'll be playing some Relient K Christmas music... oh yeah.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Cousins...

Late Wednesday night, the Uncle Jon & Family landed in Denver; the welcoming party brought them back home to crash. It's been a good visit so far, and I'm glad that the weekend is here! I'm almost done with the week's homework, so it'll be time to hang out.
Today the cousins were able to visit Focus on the Family and Garden of the Gods, and then pick Katie and me up from school. This evening, we're watching "Thor" (who also happens to be our school mascot), and tomorrow should include a good deal of hiking. The weather has gradually warmed up the past few days, turning out to be quite pleasant this afternoon.
I have posted more pictures from my birthday week and the Abells' visit... more from this week will come soon!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Concert Pictures

Even though I forgot the camera in the hotel room when Dad and I went to the Switchfoot and Anberlin concert, we still took a couple pictures with his phone. They are up for your enjoyment...

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Back to School Tomorrow...

For once, I am glad for parent teacher conferences (they were never that big of a deal with homeschool!). Why? Because I like three day weekends. Friday was off for DCC, so we all made the most of it with a guys' mountain biking trip and a girls' mall excursion in the morning, and the whole group visit to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in the afternoon. It was a great week with the Abells, and school did not send us off with unbearable amounts of homework (thank you, God!) I had an amazing 17th birthday; even my soccer coach unknowingly gave me a birthday present by canceling practice for the day! We had steak, cinnamon rolls, twice baked potatoes, and more for dinner, and concluded the evening with presents and Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Grandpa and Grandma Paige arrived on Tuesday, and left for Florida with Christie and Luke on Thursday. The PSAT on Wednesday went well (I think?), but we'll receive the results in December. Saturday morning, Dad, Katie and I brought the Abells to the airport; the rest of the weekend has been fairly uneventful. I'll put up the pictures from the week soon...

Monday, October 10, 2011

Switchfoot & Anberlin, the Abells, and Snow!

The weekend began Friday afternoon as Dad and I inched our way through the traffic to Boulder. Over two and a half hours later (rather than the normal 1 1/2), we arrived at our hotel. Shortly after, we again battled the maze of of cars to the Boulder Theater. Anberlin and Switchfoot put on a great show, and wow, it was packed. Most of the converted concert venue was standing room only; the admission line wrapped around the outside of the buildings for over two blocks when we first arrived. It turned out that we were in the  the middle of the line. Switchfoot played some of their older hits, as well as new songs from Vice Verses: Stars, This Is Your Life, Dare You to Move, Meant to Live, Selling the News, Where I Belong, Restless, The War Inside, and Dark Horses.
 Saturday morning, we drove around a bit in Boulder; I took some pictures of the slightly frosted scenery. As the day progressed, the rain turned to snow, and by the time that we picked up the Abells, it was coming down somethin' fierce. Yesterday, we loaded everyone into the white van and spent the majority of the day in the mountains at Mueller State Park. I believe that it was many of ours' first time having a picnic in the snow, but despite the cold (and the snow falling from the trees) we had a good time. After lunch we hiked a couple of miles in the snow that proved to soak most everyone's shoes, socks, and pant legs. The snow covered landscape was beautiful; I've posted the pictures that I took. Tonight is my soccer match against Wasson High School, Thurdsay evening holds the first Crossover Game (one of three pre-playoff games).
All the snow on the ground at our house has melted, but Pike's Peak is still coated, as the rest of the range is. The only remaining trace of the weather here is a nearly melted snowman...

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The City Harmonic!

Dad, Katie, Christie, Luke, and I just returned home from seeing The City Harmonic in concert. It was a great show, and they did a fantastic job even in the face of technical difficulties. I'm putting up some pictures now...

Monday, October 3, 2011

October!

I feel at rest (temporarily) as I now sit down to write this update. For the moment, reality is suspended and the deadlines, reading assignments, and vocabulary lists are pushed away. Well, the past week has been busy. That may be an understatement, but it suffices.
    Katie's softball season came to a close on Friday night, unfortunately with a loss. However, the team did well overall; through the ups and downs, Katie made some good school friends.
    Soccer is still going strong. Thursday night, we were definitely the underdogs in the matchup against Lewis Palmer. It was a tough game that tested everyone's skills and endurance to the limit. By the end of the night, we had done what had not happened before in our school's existence. Our 1-0 win was the first ever against LP, as our school is now five years old, and it had never previously prevailed. Saturday was another story- a bitter 0-4 loss in the grudge match against Rampart who beat us 2-3 in overtime earlier this season. Next Thursday night, the playoff-determining Crossover games begin.
     Sunday afternoon, Dad took us hiking to The Crags (near Woodland Park). The aspens were turning colors, the mountain air was crisp, and we enjoyed the getaway (we had not been on a hike for a few weeks.) Pictures of that are up, as well as the ones that I promised last weekend.
    This Friday, Dad and I are going up to Boulder, CO, to see Switchfoot and Anberlin in concert. YEAAHHHHHH!!!! (I'm mildly excited.) :) Saturday, the two of us will go from our hotel to the airport and pick up the Abells, who are staying with us until the 15th! In a few weeks, the South Carolina cousins are coming out West and staying for a few days. So all in all, it's going to be a great month! Well, it's time to get back to the books and prepare for a full day of school tomorrow... Happy October!

So sorry!

All,

I said last weekend that I would post the latest pictures, and then I ran out of time. This weekend, I didn't even have time to post anything due to my school workload. So, I promise an update before the weekend (I hope it will be tonight) with last time's pictures and the new ones from this weekend. Thanks for understanding!