SAM - 2014 Home My Site Map


JANUARY - So, the second semester of eigth grade started strong. Sam seems to have found his groove in school. He made the honor roll last semester for the first time in middle school. They had a nice breakfast for him at the school and I was actually allowed to come see him get his award. Cotillion also started this month. Some of the same boys returned but some did not. I was told during the final dinner and dance, I was NOT allowed to come. When I picked him up at the end he said he was dancing with a girl before dinner and she kept stepping on his toes. Then she stopped, flustered and said, "I'm sorry, I'm just so nervous. You are soooooo cute!" Oh boy, I still haven't heard the end of that one. Sam has also been playing YMCA basketball and CSAHA Hockey with the Red Bandits.
FEBRUARY - So, Colorado has been freezing cold since the end of December so we have spent most of our time indoors. Sam is still playing baskteball and hockey. He is also still doing Cotillion. This month he also went to the Winter Warrior campout with the scouts up at Camp A near Lake George. He did ice climbing and snowboarding. The boys stayed in the lodge at the camp and stayed up late talking and eating goodies.
MARCH - STILL cold in Colorado. Sam participated in his Percussion Ensemble for band class. They played a song from the Blue Man Group Show. It was really cool. Sam has decided not to take band anymore. He wants to try something new. So at the high school he will be taking drama.

Finally, the last week of March was Spring Break. Sam and I decided we would head someplace warm [er]. We went to Moab Utah. We took 1 1/2 days to get there and back due to the iffy road conditions. Here was our itinerary:

Day 1 - Drove from the Springs to Grand Junction. We decided to go see the CO Monument and go to a nice dinner before turning in and getting ready to head into Moab.
Day 2 - We woke up early and drove into Moab. We couldn't check into our hotel until later so we decided to go out to Arches and did a 7 mile hike through the Devil's playground. We stopped by the Delicate Arch for a quick picture. Finally we headed back to the hotel and had a nice dinner.
Day 3 - We woke up early again and drove out to Canyonlands. We did about a 3 mile hike around the rim of the Island of the Sky, and then went over to the Upheaval Dome. Finally we stopped at Deadhorse State Park. This was a very "up" day and I am afraid of heights so Sam had lots of fun trying to get me to go and look over the edges. Finally we came back to the hotel and had an AWESOME dinner at the Blue Pig. YUM!
Day 4 - Today was a more casual day. We did a river trip down the Colorado River to the bottom of Deadhorse State Park (I liked that much better). Then we drove up the river a ways to see the view which was very pretty. Finally we had some gellato and shopped a little downtown. Dinner was a Moab Brewery which was okay.
Day 5 - So the entire time we were there we kept seeing these 4-wheel drive called Razors, and Sam wanted a ride. So we stopped by Moab Cowboy off-road adventures and took about a 3-hour ride through the Sliprock state park above Moab. Oh man, now Sam wants a Razor. It was great fun going up and down the rocks. I didn't want to drive but our guide was great. Afterwards he recommended Milt's Stop and Eat for burgers which was again GREAT.
Day 6 - It was time to head home. We decided to drive back from Moab on Highway 160 to Highway 50. We had to stop in Gunnison overnight due to snow on Monarch Pass.
Day 7 - Finally, we rolled into home midday.
APRIL - First we spent some time early in the month with the Easter Bunny who brought Sam a super awesome Hockey Shot to help him get better. So, last year April was a bit of a let down for poor old Sam. He didn't achieve the grades he needed to earn something big for the end of the year. BUT NOT THIS YEAR!! In April Sam was already ahead of the game with A's in almost all of his classes. So, we both agreed he would get his big birthday present of a PS4; HOWEVER he could not open it until after we got his final grades for school. I figured I could always take it back to the store, if necessary (but more on this later).



 MAY - So, although I thought that May would be fairly quiet time in the Derrickson household, it was not.

Sam did some fun things this month. He went to a STEM class up at UCCS where he built a catapault and had to launch marshmallows. His team's catapault launched the marshmallows the farthest and won for the day. This made him very proud and he said to Grandpa and I, "Maybe we do have some of this engineering stuff in our genes." Ya think??

Sam has also been having lots of fun with his Scout friends. They have some awesome summer plans and they are all starting to look forward too them.

Then, the big man made the 8th Grade Honor Roll for 2nd semester with a 3.7 grade average!! Way to Go!! And, as I was getting the last of his grades on the Campus Portal, I told him he could open his PS4, but he said, "I already have it open!!" Oh well, he did a great job this year and I am so proud of him.

Now here's the not so great stuff

There was a HUGE fiasco about who would be coaching the Cheyenne Mountain High School Basketball Team. Sam was not very enthusiastic until he was hand-selected by the Junior High Coach to participate in the summer program. But, we weren't sure about it since our experience last year was not great. But then, the head coach at the high school decided to quit, and BAM!, Sam is back in!! He really liked the new coach, but then, since he had to practice right when school ended (for both this and football) he couldn't go to the Lake Cottage. He was very sad.

Finally, on May 18th my 92-year old Grandma Billie Ann Doswell Derrickson passed away at Emeritus Nursing Home. My father had to leave the day before to go to Indiana and open the lake cottage for the summer so I got the call from my mom. This was not a huge surprise as my Grandma had Alzheimer's and had been at Emeritus in full-time care for the last several years. But it is still a sad occasion.

I flew out to Fort Wayne with my father to hold her graveside service at Lindenwood cemetary. It was so nice because all of her nieces and nephews came, and even some of her long-time friends. Dad and I stayed at the Lake Cottage and it was so peaceful.

Check out my Facebook Memorial Page and my Biographical Outline for my Grandmother.
JUNE - We started off the month by having our family service for my Grandmother Billie at the Shrine of Remberance on June 7th. Sam was very kind and gave a nice eulogy at her service.

Almost immediately after that Sam went on the Boundary Waters trip with his Boy Scout Troop. Over 7 days they paddled and portaged 50-miles across a series of lakes on the border of Minnesota and Canada.

Due to all the turmoil at home, and Sam's trip, we were not able to have Roxeanne's regular birthday party at the Bear Creek Dog Park in May. So, we made sure to get her out this month, and to make up for it we even got her some yummy ice cream.

Finally at the end of the month Sam took off with his Boy Scout Troop again for 5 days of camping at Camp Alexander near 11-mile reservoir in the mountains.



 JULY - So, to begin the month we celebrated 4th of July with a great picnic at Camp A (and I forgot to bring my camera). Then we headed home for some smores, glowsticks, and fireworks. Sam has also headed to UCCS for a STEM FLITE class which designs computer games (his robot's name is "Bothead").

Sam baked Grandpa his annual 3-layer Chocolate Cake; however, when MOM put it in the refrigerator, it solidified to the cake cover and when we took it off, it brought off the first layer of the cake. We worked to salvage the cake, and Grandpa still said it tasted great!

Finally at the end of the month we headed to Mount Rushmore for the Troop 101 Family Campout. Here's our itinerary:

Day 1 - Drove from the Colorado Springs to Greeley. Although we thought we'd have time to go see Auntie, it took us nearly 3 hours just to get there from Colorado Springs, so we decided to have breakfast the next morning.
Day 2 - We woke up early and had breakfast with Auntie, Uncle Cary, and Sethie at Village Inn. Then we were finally able to get on the road. To get to Mt Rushmore we decided to go up through Nebraska on the Fossil Freeway. We stopped at Scottsbluff National Mounument and Agate Fossil Bed National Monument. Finally we rolled into the Center Lake Campground about 5pm that evening and proceeded to set up camp. MOM did not bring any food; but Ms. Lori sweetly offered to share food with us so we were saved.
Day 3 - In the morning we went through the Wildlife Loop of Custer State park and then in the evening we went to the night show at Mt. Rushmore.
Day 4 - In the morning we went back to Mt Rushmore to see the site, take a Ranger tour, and view the museum. In the afternoon the boys went swimming and played around the campsite.
Day 5 - The morning was spent in a service project for the campground building walking paths on the trail around the lake. The afternoon was spent at the Crazy Horse Memorial touring and doing a flag ceremony.
Day 6 - Today was rock-climbing day at Sylvan lake!! Sam took to it like a duck to water. They were calling him "Spidey-Sam" he was going up and down the lines so quickly. Sam and I ate lunch at the lake and then headed to the tent for a quick nap. Finally we had dinner at the Blue Bell Lodge YUM!
Day 7 - Pete and Martin offered to take veryone's left-over food and cook us all breakfast. What a fine feast! Then, Horseback-riding!! This was a great 1/2-day ride next to the French Creek in Custer State Park. During the ride I noticed Sam's saddle seemed loose and when we got to a stretch where we were running he started slowly slidding to the left until he was nearly perpendicular to the ground. I had to stop his horse. It was SOOOO funny I was laughing so hard. And then Karen asked me if I got it on video but I told her I was laughing too hard!! Then back to the Blue Bell Lodge for a chuckwagon dinner. This was the last evening at camp so we spent some time cleaning and packing.
Day 8 - We left our camp site and headed to Hot Springs to do the Archealogy Merit Badge at the Mammoth Hot Springs museum. We had a very nice lunch at "Wooly's" with Lori and the Partirdge family and then headed to Cheyenne, WY.
Day 9 - After spending the night in Cheyenne at LaQuinta we rolled into our driveway at about 12pm.

This was a great trip. We got to meet and talk to so many in the Troop that we don't often get to talk with. And the location could not have been better!!
AUGUST - Sam starts high school!! Whew Hew, my last 4 years!!! Oh yea we went to the State Fair as well.
SEPTEMBER - We had a beautiful Indian summer here in CO, with record temps. There was still rain but it was sporadic. Sam is playing footbal with the C-Squad at Cheyenne Mountain High School. Unfortunately there are only 21 boys on the team to begin with, and slowly we start losing more and more boys to injury, ineligibility, disiplinarian issues, etc. And by the date of their 3rd to last game they only have 10 boys on the field. Against teams who are bringing out 60 boys at a time. What a fiasco. The Varisty team actually had to cancel the rest of their season becuase they had so many serious injuries (think neck). The C-squad boys are finishing their last few games with the help of the 6 sophmore boys still left playing. What are the odds? First team in Colorado Springs history to cancel a football season.
OCTOBER - My cutest harvest with his awesome minions Halloween shirt. And one of the pumpkins we grew in our garden. So far this month Sam has gone to the Homecoming Dance, we went to Hellscream Haunted House, we saw The Book of Life movie, and we are preparing for the Halloween spectacular at the Derrickson house.




 NOVEMBER - YEAH! Our vacation to New York City is finally here! Here was our itinerary:

Day 1 - Flew from Denver straight to JFK airport...sort of. There was a 5 hour delay out of Denver. But we finally rolled into our beds about 10pm. Still do-able.

Day 2 - We set the mood of our trip by attending the 2014 Christmas Spectacular Rockettes show at Radio City Music Hall. The show was awesome!!Then we headed to Grand Central Station for a nice late lunch. And finally back to Times Square for dinner and shopping

Day 3 - We woke up early again and had tickets to see The Statue of Liberty. I purchased online tickets to the pedestal level for viewing (which was great because they were sold out on the day we were there). Then, off to Ellis Island, which was a bit disappointing as most of the displays had been taken down due to damage from Superstorm Sandy. Then in the afternoon we had tickets to the 9/11 Museum tour. This is a place all American's should go. The displays were so moving and we were a bit rung out emotionally by the time we headed back up to the courtyard to leave. And then we saw a name with a white rose in it and stopped by to say Happy Birthday. Really a solid experience. As we were heading back to the hotel we stopped by Wall Street and I had some awesome Thanksgiving Day soup and the best brownie I have ever had at Pret a Manger. Wish we had one of those in Colorado.

Day 4 - Today was about Central Park where Sam had his one and only meltdown. The Starbucks we had been stopping by each morning on our way to the metro had a broken oven so they couldn't heat up a sandwhich for us. But he still was able to have a Chocolate Mocha Frappucino and a Birthday Cake pop. But about 45 minutes later as we were trying to find the Balto statue in Central Park he was nearly kicking and screaming on the ground because he was SOOOOOO hungry. I had to stop at one of the street vendors and get him a hot dog to tide him over until we could have lunch at the American History Museum.

The Museum was awesome. We saw a neat display about Natural disasters and there was a big table where they were projecting a picture of the city as the Sandy devestation was occuring. You could stick your hands on it and touch to see different parts of the city. Really cool. We had to see the dinosaurs. And especially Rex from "Night at the Museum", Sam's favorite. The museum had a Christmas tree with only origami ornaments on it. And a giant T-rex origami. Incredible.

And heading back to the hotel we stopped at The Empire State Building. Another "up" item. Yuck. I hated the 1-1/2 minute elevator ride up to the 84th floor. But I am glad Sam made me go up. The views were amazing. And then back to Time Square for dinner and the hotel.

Day 5 - On this day we had the worst weather of the whole trip. It was sleeting out and we were scheduled to go to see the Sea, Air and Space museum on the aircraft carrier Intrepid. Which again was awesome; however when we went out on the flight deck to see the Shuttle Discovery, we nearly killed ourselves going across the slick surface. We made it though and then headed from there to our Broadway musical Aladdin. This show was GREAT! However, our seats were in the nosebleed section which was so steep it brought back my "up" problems. My feet were sopped and by the time we were heading back to the hotel they felt like blocks of ice. BRRR!

Day 6 - Thanksgiving Day arrived!! We shot down to Central Park to see the parade. Since I couldn't get my boy up any earlier than about 8am, we didn't get to see all of the parade but we finally got right up front in time to see Idina Menzel!!! And she looked right at us and smiled. And after her was SANTA! He looked at us too. Made me all warm and fuzzy inside. From there we tried to go to the Museum of Modern Art but it was closed. Who closes a museum on Thanksgiving? How rude. So we headed back to Times Square for some final shopping, and Thanksgiving lunch at Guy Fieri's American Grill. I got the packaged meal for the day. The two items that stuck out there were the Butternut Squash soup (I am going to find the recipe and make this soup, YUM!) and then the Pumpkin Cheescake with homemade whipped cream and candied pumpkin seeds. So delicious. Sam actually had a Rosemary Chicken Quarter which he ended up licking the bones of!! How's that for an endorsement?!?

After this we had to go to our hotel for our shuttle to the airport. It took 2 hours to get there from downtown New York. GEEZ! And, here's our disaster story. Unbeknowngst to me there are 2 Delta terminals at JFK. I didn't know which one we were at. The shuttle driver told to run inside and find out. By the time I was back out to the curb he was pulling away leaving my 14-year old child alone with no parent...and the wrong luggage. Sam and I spent the next 2 hours before our flight running from our terminal, to the one of the person whose bag we had, to get them exchanged. By superhero efforts we saved the lady going home to Brazil a NASTY surprise. And we got on our flight and waited an HOUR to get up in the air. We were tired puppies when we pulled up in the driveway at 12:30am Friday. And who was out in force at that time? The crazy Black Friday shoppers. Unbelievable!
DECEMBER - So in December Sam and Mommy did some fun things. We went to see the Madrigal at Glen Eyrie Castle. The show was awesome and Sam licked his plate clean!! Sam made it through finals. He got 1 C, 4 B's, and 2 A's. Certainly not where were last semester. He's having issues taking his medication again. Not forgetfulness, but now he doesn't want to take it. He thinks he has a lot more fun without it. DUH! The medication helps with impulse control. And you have way more stupid impulses without it. But he's old enough now and I can't make him, so we're having a lot of discussions about behavior modification. WAY harder than it sounds. We'll see what this next semester holds. But he also made the Basketball team. After all that drama over the last few years, no big deal. No one got cut from the C-squad. Oh well. He's having fun and that's what matters. Then, to kickoff vacation we went to see The Hobbit with the Smith's and dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Yum! And to make it all so much more pleasant Sam had all four wisdom teeth taken out on 23 December. He was not a happy camper on the 24th. But by Christmas morning he was in fine shape ripping through his presents!!
More miscellaneous pictures of Sam in 2014: Sam 2014

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

www.pcisys.net/~derrica   v.2001-2003