Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, Theme Nights and Going Back to School

Happiness is not an accident, nor is it something you wish for.  Happiness is something you design. - Jim Rohn

So many amazing things and adventures have happened since I last updated my blog so I thought it was about time I updated it since I had some free time.
I have experienced my first true American thanksgiving now. It was great. There was plenty of food including mashed potatoes, gravy, fruit pies and  a meat one I made, rolls and of course turkey.

Turkey

Amazing meat pie I made :)

Pies!!!!

That night I headed to Greeley to experience another American experience by going black Friday shopping. It is like boxing day sales back in NZ but crazier. We had to line up for ages to go through the check out. There were people everywhere. It was unbelievable. It was crazy but was a great thing to experience.

Next on the list was Christmas. We had 2 weeks break off school which was great because we all needed it. I spent break having fun, hanging out with friends, and spending time with my host family. Christmas Eve we headed over to Monica's parents house to have Christmas lunch there .It was a great afternoon and that was the start of the Christmas celebrations. On Christmas morning we got up and opened up our presents. Everyone was very spoilt and it is going to be even harder to pack now (Good luck mum :) ) Then we spent the afternoon eating food, watching elf and enjoying the company of family.

Got to love Christmas pjs :)

We had to go meet Santa!

Christmas shopping in Denver

Awesome Christmas party

7 Dwarfs

It was a necessity to dress up for Christmas morning.

New years eve was the next holiday we celebrated. It was a great night of watching our favourite movies, spending time with family and friends and welcoming in the New Year. Let's hope this year is even better than the last.

We have started a new tradition here by having theme nights once a week with my host family and Kristen. Each week we have a difference theme for example our first theme night we had to eat our whole meal with just our hands or face. We had spaghetti for dinner that night so it very interesting.

What you don't eat spaghetti like this?

Eating pizza with tongs and glasses on that you can hardly see out is harder than it looks.

I moustache you a question. Don't worry I will shave it for later.

So school is back in session now and it is going good. I basically have a whole new schedule so that I could graduate. My classes now are:
Beginning Art
US History
Ceramics
World History
PE
Health
Teen Challenges

All is well here and I am having more and more fun each day if that is even possible. To everyone back home in Christchurch I have been keeping updated on the recent earthquakes and aftershocks so stay safe and you can make it through it.

Sarah :)

Denver, Fort Collins and Halloween and the Lion King

The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating. The paths to it are not found but made. - John Schaar


The last couple of weeks have been jammed packed of lots of fun. It all started a few weekends ago when we took a family trip to Denver. We drove up there Friday night and stayed at Anne's place, a family friend. On Saturday we got up and headed off to Colorado Springs to go to the zoo! It was a great day. We saw giraffes. monkeys, bears and many other animals.

Me and a giraffe

At the zoo!

That night we went did a bit of shopping then it was to Griff's. The best burger place in the world. I have never had a burger so amazing. If you are ever in Denver you need to go there :)

Mhhhhhh Griff's

On Sunday we went to Anderson Farms. It is a farm with a corn maze, pumpkin picking, animals and much more. It was a great afternoon occupied with getting lost in the maze, face painting and cotton candy.

Outside Anderson Farms

The whole family :)

The next weekend was also very fun. Friday night Wray beat Yuma 36-0 in football. Very exciting considering Yuma are our rivals.
On Saturday Kristen, her family and I headed off to Fort Collins for the night to celebrate Kristen's birthday. We went out for dinner with her cousins Kayla and Greg. We had the most annoying, overly happy waiter. It was quite funny how happy he was. Then we went bowling. It was so much fun we laughed, took photos, sung at the top of our lungs and of course we bowled. Some were better then others haha :)

Bowling :)

Group photo :)

High Five!

On Sunday I found out that the All Blacks had won the World Cup. It was a great way to start a great day. I couldn't believe we had won. Good work boys! You made New Zealand proud. So on Sunday we did a bit of shopping and gradually made our way home.

Victory!

I also have experienced Halloween. On Saturday of Halloween weekend we went to Old Town in Burlington. I went trick or treating for the first time in my life. Very exciting. We also went through a haunted house which was very scary. Thank you Anne for protecting me! :) That night we went to a Halloween party which was a lot of fun.

Trick or treating.

On Halloween we went trick or treating and we got so much candy. Halloween is the best holiday ever!!!!!

All our candy! I don't think we got enough :)

2 weekends ago the drama class from school plus Louise and I went to Denver to see the Lion King on Broadway. It was incredible. The show was amazing and I couldn't believe how incredible it was. It was a great weekend.

Group photo!

The weekend just gone I went to Goodland, Kansas with Kristen and Julia. It was a lot of fun even though we were in Kansas ;) Then on Saturday I went to my last football game. We sadly lost. It's hard to believe that there are no more games to go to.

We are in Kansas now!

Last football game :'(

As you can tell life has been very busy so this is just a little catch up on what I have been doing since I last posted a blog.

Football, Roadtrip, Homecoming and a Spanish Fieldtrip

Live for today because yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come.

So a lot has happened since I wrote my last blog. I went to my first football game. Went on an epic road trip. I had my first and last homecoming week. I also went on an amazing Spanish field trip.
My first football game was so much fun. It was against Burlington. It included fun with friends, cheerleaders, school band and of course football. Sadly we lost but apart from that it was an awesome night. That was the first of many fun football games to come. Since then I have been to 3 more games which have been just as good if not better then the first.

Football against Burlington

Football in Wray

Wray Football!

Also the weekend before homecoming Emily, Kristen, Louise and myself went to Greeley to go homecoming dress shopping. It was a day of a lot of fun. Trying on terrible dresses, taking photos and having a laugh. It was a great first road trip.

Louise, Me, Kristen and Emily. We thought we should get these ones for the dance....

Roadtrip! Roadtrip!

I have also experienced homecoming week. Homecoming week included dress up days, afternoon activities, the homecoming football game and of course the homecoming dance. The whole week was amazing and so much fun.

The dress-up themes for each day were:
Monday - Cowboys and Indians
Tuesday - Gender Bender
Wednesday - Twin Day
Thursday - Throwback
Friday - Purple Pride

Gender Bender with Melissa, Louise and Kristen

Twin Day which turned out to be Triplet Day!

On Tuesday afternoon there was gorilla volleyball. It is when each grade puts together a team of guys to play volleyball against each other. The Jersey Juniors won :)

Jersey Juniors

Volleyball!

Wednesday there was a huge bonfire where everyone just gathered round talking, dancing and just had fun.

At the bonfire with Melissa, Louise and Kristen

Thursday's afternoon activity was the lip sync. There were performances by the senior girls, junior girls, teachers and the amazing performance by the senior boys along with others. It was so funny.

Senior Boys

All the competitors

On Friday each grade made a float representing their purple pride. Then after lunch our floats were in the homecoming parade. The seniors float won!

That night we went and watched the homecoming game which we sadly lost :(

Homecoming King and Queen at the game.

Saturday was all about the homecoming dance. We went and did our hair and make up at Emily's then it was off to Melissa's for finish getting ready and eating something before the dance. Finally it was off to the dance which was AMAZING. We danced the whole time, laughing and having a good time. It was a great weekend.

Me, Melissa and Makala

Overall it was an action packed, exciting week that I will never forget.
On Tuesday I went on a Spanish field trip to Denver to see the Hispanic Flamenco Ballet. It was a lot of fun driving to Denver. We listened to music, ate food, took photos and had laugh. The show consisted of different Hispanic dances and music. It was great. We then went and ate some Mexican food before we headed home. The trip back was great fun. Squirting water at people while they slept was a great highlight haha.

Just being cool on the way to Denver with Josh.

One of the dances

Group photo!

I also learnt how to count American change! I'm sure they had fun counting my 29c in penny's haha :)

So the last few weeks have been a lot of fun. Every day better then the one before. Shout out to Kristen Hasty for making them so much fun :)

This is what happens when we eat out!

Sarah :)
PS go the ALL BLACKS!!!!!!!!!

Camping That Failed, Elitch's, School and Turtle Races

Life is like riding a bike.  It is impossible to maintain your balance while standing still.

A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks. The first adventure was when we all decided it would be a great idea to go camping. We drove around until we found a spot that looked good. We set up the tent and got the campfire going. Everything was going smoothly. We did what everyone does when they go camping. We ate and sat around the campfire talking. It was a lot of fun except for the lightning off in the distance. We thought it would be fine so we headed off to bed. As you can probably guess the storm didn't stay away. At midnight the wind picked up and the tent was getting all blown around. We packed up camp in the middle of the night. In the middle of a storm. Quite an adventure. Just as everyone and everything was in the car the heavens opened and it bucketed down. Perfect timing I say.


On the Saturday before school started we headed off to Denver to go to Elitch's, an amusement park. It was great fun. We rode quite a few rides, played some games and just enjoyed the family outing.

On the ferris wheel

Connor, Chasity, Me

I have also completed my first week at school which has been a lot of fun. Everyone has been so kind and caring. I have been stopped in the hallway many times by random people just asking if I'm the girl from New Zealand. My teachers are also great. I'm loving it.

My classes are:
Tech Apps (IMT)
US History
US Government
World History
English
Spanish
Senior Seminar (Life after high school)


This weekend is labor weekend so we have had a extra day to relax. On Saturday we went to Old Settlers at a place called Eckley. It was a lot of fun. There was a 3 legged race, egg toss, bike race and also a turtle race. Joe and I entered the egg toss but sadly we didn't win. The same thing happened with the turtle race. We entered 3 turtles but none of them won :(

For the rest of the weekend we relaxed around home with family and friends. It was a great way to finish a great week.


Sarah :)