SAM - 2007	Home	My Site Map

	JANUARY - Sam and Mommy had a another early New Year's Eve. About 9pm we put on our 2007 glasses and took our yearly picture. Then Sam took a bath and went to bed and Mommy was asleep by 10pm. Mommy turned the big "39" this year and Sam helped have a little birthday party. Sam took Ice Hockey lessons again at the CC Tigers Honnen Ice Rink. He's getting to be a pro and coach Kevin now uses him as an example for the other skaters. This year I think we will be signing up for the amateur hockey league so Sam can get started playing for real. Finally Sam participated in a "Go See It" at the Mining museum for Cub Scouts. The boys got to see all of the big mining equipment, see a sample mine with a giant jack hammer, and mine for gold in the indoor sluice box. This was great fun and all the boys enjoyed it.
	FEBRUARY - February was a a nice month for Sam. He had a Valentine's Day party both at school and at daycare where he received losts of goodies and gave them too. He also lost his upper tooth next to the middle for which the tooth fairy gave him $1!! Sam and the Cub Scouts also went to the Animal Shelter for a presentation this month. The boys all loved the animals they saw and Sam wanted to bring home some baby German Shepard puppies.
	MARCH - Sam had a jam-packed March. First he had his Basketball party at Fargo's pizza. Sam scored one final basket for the season during the final game which capped off a great season of growth!! Then, Sam and his entire Cub Scout Den participated in the 2007 Boy Scout Pinewood Derby at Canon School. Sam's car won the "Toughest Looking" car and nearly all the boys in the den won a trophy for speed or for overall design of their car. What great fun! Sam also lost his other tooth next to his front teeth so he is looking particularly like a bunny rabbit these days (just in time for Easter!). Next Sam went to the St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Colorado Springs with Grampy. The parade was VERY long (about 3 hours) and Sam stayed to the end and ran out in the street to get candy!! Near the end of the month Sam, Mommy and Grampy went to see the Monster's Inc show with Disney on Ice. Sam had a great time and came home with a yellow car. Finally the last week of March was Spring Break and Sam and Mommy went to the Denver Aquarium for the first time. It was awesome with lots of sharks and even mantarays to pet and feed.
	APRIL - This was another very busy month for Sam. First in the month was coloring eggs and having easter. We went to the Ft. Carson Eggstravaganza and Sam got to see a magician and be part of the show, he saw the easter bunny, and finally got to bounce in a playhouse. Then he colored eggs with Grampy and Mommy. We had a tie-dye kit for the eggs so Sam got some really intersting looking eggs for the Easter bunny to hide. Sam got to fly a kite this month at the park. There was just the right amount of wind and it was a beautiful day. Near the end of the month was Sam's Pirate birthday party at the Memorial Park Aquatic center. The center has an indoor slide, a lazy river, a big indoor jungle gym. The kids had a great time swimming in the water and having lots of Pirates of the Caribbean cake. The final tragedy of the month was that Sam nearly broke his nose tossing handkerchiefs during gym. I know, you ask, how can it happen?? I don't know, but he is my son after all!
	MAY - Whew, we finally made it to May. This month marked the end of first-grade, a huge milestone for Sam. He started the year struggling to read and by the end of the year had been promoted to second-grade books, he was advancing so quickly. Sam enjoyed another piano recital with Ms. Sofia. He has made great advances in this area as well, picking up songs quicker and quicker. Mother's day was special this year as Sam's great-grandmother Billie Derrickson has decided to move to Colorado to be closer to her family (she is 84-year's old). On Mother's day Sam took his Grammy to Red Rocks park to do some hiking and then had a nice BBQ for his great-grammy, grammy, and mommy!! This was the end of an era for Sam's soccer team. Two of his teammates (Race and Austin) are leaving the team to move to CA with their family. This will be a great loss as this team has been together for 2 years and has really taken great strides in improving their skills. Near the middle of the month Sam's Tiger Cub Scout den participated in their advancement ceremony from Tiger's to Wolves. There are seven boys making the advancement. We are one of the largest den's in the entire pack and have good and consistent participation!! Finally, on May 25th Sam celebrated his last day of 1st grade!! His teacher Mrs. Reed was a dream and really helped to mold him into a polite and caring young gentleman.
	JUNE - Sam began June by taking off with Grampy to the lake cottage in IN for 2 weeks. He had a great time swimming, fishing, boating, etc. What a life!! Mom on the other hand stayed home and worked on the house. UGH!! But lots of things got done like Sam's room converting to a BIG boy room. No more toddler bed!! Sam decided for the next phase of his bedroom he would like to have Trasnfomers. Pretty cool!!! Sam created a grand scheme while he was in IN to have a summer lemonade stand at which he would make enough money to earn an iPod. I told him he'd have to make the entire amount (thinking oh this will pass, he'll never make that much!!). However, Sam has had three sales so far and has a grand total of $80 made so far!!! Wow!! The advantages of living on a busy street are good for the Lemonade trade!!
	JULY - The bike parade was on the Fourth of July and Sam, Grampy, Grammy, Great-Grammy, and Buster all decided to attend. Sam and Buster had a really great time!! For the first time in about three years Sam was finally able to have fireworks. It actually rained earlier in the day so it was nice and wet and no danger of fire!! Of course that hasn't stopped it from getting hot since then. Sam, Mommy, Cody and Andrew also went to Waterworld up in Denver. It was HOT that day and the boys had a great time getting wet in the water.
	AUGUST - Yea, it was time for the big Derrickson camping trip for the year. I decide to back the trip up one week so that we could have plenty of time before school started. This time we decided to head to the western side of Wyoming to Yellowstone. This could have been a very long one day drive but I didn't want to kill myself or Sam so we decided to travel through central Wyoming (BLEAK!) and stop for the evening. On the way we went through the Wind River Canyon which was spectacular. The first night we spent in the little town of Thermopolis. Thermopolis has the largest mineral hot springs and we spent the evening swimming in the pool and seeing an Indian dance which celebrated the dedication of the springs to the Federal Government. The next morning we rose early and went to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center where we got to see a Megasaurus!! By lunch time we were heading to Cody Wyoming where we visited the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum. The Museum was spectacular and I wish we had more time to spend there. Finally in the afternoon we headed into Yellowstone and the Canyon campsite at the center of the park. This campsite was FABULOUS! with good bathrooms and clean public showers. Unfortunately during the camp set-up we found out our air mattress plug was missing so we had to go to the great store there in Canyon and purchase a new one. When we got to the store though they only had cots. I went ahead and purchased those and they were GREAT! Why didn't we get those earlier? We ate dinner at the cafeteria and headed back to the tent for a good night's sleep. Here is a summary of the action packed week we had: Day 1 - Mammoth Springs and Tower. During this day we did several small hikes like through the Sheepeater cliffs and out to ?? falls. Day 2 - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We hiked down to the top of the lower falls which was about 1/2 mile and a 600 foot elevation drop. Then on to Lake Yellowstone. On the way back to the camp we stopped at the Bisquit Basin and did the Mystic Falls hike (3 miles long and about another 600 foot elevation gain). We were TIRED this night. Day 3 - Old Faithful. We hiked the entire lower basin which ended up being about another 3 miles round trip. We sat down hoping to see Grand geyser but didn't want to wait so we moved on. It didn't go off until after we were past the Morning Glory Pool. But we saw it from a distance. Day 4 - We slowed down a lot this day and in the morning we had a horseback ride near Canyon. It was nice to have the horses carrying us around instead of walking. Then we went through the Hayden valley and Norris where we did a quick 1 mile hike through the Artist's Paint Pot. Then after lunch we headed for the Lamar Valley for some animal watching but all we were able to see were Buffalo (not that that's bad but we wanted to see a bear). Day 5 - We rose early and packed up the car and headed to Colter Bay campground in the Grand Tetons. We quickly set up the tent and headed for Jenny Lake. At the lake we took the pontoon ride over to the west side of the lake and hiked the very popular trail up to Inspiration Point. This was about 1 mile round trip but was another 600 foot elevation gain. The last 100 feet or so was a goat trail around the side of the hill. A little scary for a nervous mom, but we made it and the view was spectacular. Day 6 - We rose early again and by 10 am we were rafting the Snake River down through the Tetons park. It was GORGEOUS! The ride was about 2 hours long (a bit long for a 7 year-old boy) and there were only very small rapids. I think Sam liked it and we may try some more challenging rides. Finally, on Saturday we began driving home through Western Wyoming. The drive was o.k. until we got to the southern part of the state and it began to become very bleak again. We stopped in the afternoon at Fossil Butte which was very cool. We spent the night in Green River and unfortunately Sam began complaining of a headache and his neck aching. I medicated him up and we sprinted home as quickly as we could. It turned out he had a bacterial infection and was on medication for a week!! Oh well. Again, the weather was great while we were in Wyoming and Sam I did fantastic (except for a few little glitches with the bikes, the air mattress, and being sick). Next year I think we might do a trip during Spring Break to Southern Utah, the Arches. Finally, Sam began second grade began at Skyway Elementary on 20 August. His new teacher is Mrs. Cross. Lots of the kids got split up this year and Sam's friend Ryan was put into the other second grade class. Sam starts soccer practice the same week. And we went to the Youth Hockey meeting which begins in September. So the year is starting out with a bang and looks like it will be great!
	SEPTEMBER - Sam took a short vacation to IN with grammy and grampy to close up the lake cottage and then it was back to school, sports, and cub scouts. So far Sam's wolf scout den has 13 kids in it (the highest in the pack!!) We're having a great time with the other kids and learning all kinds of new things. Sam has had a few problems adjusting his behavior for second grade but he has been talked too and we are seeing great improvement.
	OCTOBER - FINALLY October is here!!! Sam has had a great month. First, he's been on several outings with his cub scout den to Venetucci farm to pick out a pumpkin. Then to a corn maze in Boulder. He has also done very well in soccer scoring two goals in one game!! He had a piano recital at which he played Popeye flawlessly. And finally trick-or-treating where we saw a real haunted house!! Unfortunately during the middle of the month Mommy suffered an appendicitis and she had to spend a weekend in the hospital. This was the weekend of Sam's annual Halloween party at school :( But Sam had fun!!
	NOVEMBER - November was a pretty quiet month for Sam. At the beginning of the month he went to see the "puttin away pork" presentation at the Rock Ledge Ranch with the cub scouts. The Ranch had a demonstration on how food was made during an earlier time in history. We also saw the Indian camp to fufill the theme of the month with was "Indian Nations". The boys were CONSUMED with the outdoor fire and we could hardy get them to pay attention to the presentations. Next, we had a very nice Thanskgiving dinner at Grammy's house with Great-Grammy there with us. We had a nice time and relaxed. Finally Sam has been playing basketball and was able to score enough baskets to earn another MP3 player (he lost the other one within a few days!!). Finally right at the end of the month Sam had a sleep over with his friend Ryan and they played video games and watched t.v. until Sam crawled into bed with me about 2a.m.
	DECEMBER - Wholly cow what a December. Sam and Mommy started out the month on cruise control and ended whith a big "Whew, glad that year is over." In the middle of the month as Sam was out celebrating the first big snow of the season, he hit his head on a tree. We ended up in the Memorial Hospital PICU with two cracks in his skull and bleeding on the brain. Sam was up and coherent most of the time but the side of his head swelled and he looked like the elephant man. He also got ANOTHER black eye. Mommy is about numb with all of these disasters and then we had bad family new that Eleanor Doswell passed away of Alzheimer's. Bille Doswell, here sister is Mommy's grandmother and she is living with Grammy and Grampy but has been diagnosed with the same disease. The news hit Billie hard and we were all very sad. Unfortunately, while Sam and Mommy were in the hospital, Grammy called with the news that her brother Bill (who had been in an institution) had passed away and she needed to attend the funeral. Finally Christmas came and went quietly and the Derrickson family tiptoed into the new year.
More miscellaneous pictures of Sam in 2007: Sam 2007

Top |  My Self  |  My Family  |  My House  |  My Genealogy  |  My Travels  |  My Scrapbooks  |  My Job

www.pcisys.net/~derrica   v.2001-2003