Colorado Crocketts

Maddie, Sam, Alan, Karen, Connor, Elle, Breanne, Chase at church

Driving to Crockett's home from the Denver airport

The temple bunch

Karen and I took Allie Crockett to see the gingerbread house. Every inch of that house is covered with lights, as you can see in the background. She loved it. 

The day Connor came home. I wasn't there, but it's such a cute picture. 

There is a house in town that has a pirate ship in the yard all year long. It was specially decorated for Christmas. Karen and Allie messing around on the ship. 

Shortly after finishing fall semester, Connor Crockett got home from his mission in Brazil. 

Christmas travel hadn't started yet, so I decided to use my flight benefits and go represent the Hunters for the weekend. I had a blast! 

Karen was nice enough to pick me up at the airport on Friday night, even though she'd already been to the airport many times that week (getting Chase and Breanne, then Connor). On the way home, Karen drove me past some incredible Christmas lights. They were unlike anything I'd ever seen. People call it the gingerbread house. It was bonkers! 

Getting on the flight was quite the adventure. I left campus with plenty of time to get to the airport. I failed to factor in the traffic for the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. It took me twice as much time to get to the airport as it should have. I parked my car in the economy lot at 6:45 for a 7:30 flight. The shuttle seemed to take forever to get me to the airport. Once I got off the shuttle, I ran to security. I did something I'd never done and hope to never do again...I asked people if I could go ahead of them since I had a flight to catch. Got through security quickly and RAN to the B gates. I made it! I'm grateful to be healthy enough to run and run and run. 

Saturday we all went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Connor spent a lot of time in the temple, doing baptisms, during high school. A lot of Crockett cousins and aunts and cousins were there. We had a wonderful morning together. I got to be a witness with Candice. We had a great time chatting and watching the cousins baptize each other and enjoy being in the temple together. The Crocketts are pretty special people. 

Saturday afternoon, we did some shopping to get some remaining items for Sunday. We also did some baking. I met Sam's girlfriend, Maddie. She's really sharp and fun. There were fireworks that evening. The fireworks from the summer were rescheduled to December due to high winds. I happened to be in town for the winter version of fireworks. We all drove to a park, then walked to a great viewing spot. It was cold, but fun. At least it wasn't snowy. 

Connor spoke on Sunday morning. He did a great job. It was fun to hear him share experiences from his mission. After church, we all gathered at Karen's house for lunch together. Alan had smoked some pork and it was amazing. I decided to leave Sunday afternoon instead of Monday morning. Scott and Candice and their 3 kiddos were heading to the airport and there was room on their flight, so I hitched a ride with them. Candice saved me a seat on the plane and we had a lovely visit. Anja, their youngest, wanted me to sit between her and her mom. Anja and Candice taught me a couple of fun games on Candice's phone. Candice and I talked about Christmas books and scripture stories. I told Candice that my favorite Christmas scripture is actually in 3 Nephi 1, when Christ announces that He will be born that night. Imagine! Christ hasn't come yet, but He is speaking to a prophet. The next day, He is an infant on earth. Candice told me she once wrote a song about that story. She later sent it to me and it's beautiful. 

I've always felt very lucky to be connected to the Crocketts through Karen. They are very special people.