Merry Christmas 2010

2010 started out with a road trip to help son Steve move from New Mexico to Indiana, close to Beth’s parents, so that Steve could start an MSW program at Northern Indiana University (Master/Social Work). Beth and Steve and the girls (and all their worldly goods) drove from Belen (near Albuquerque) to Denver after Christmas. Friend Jim flew to Denver from Wisconsin on January 1st to help with the drive east. On January 2nd, Beth and the girls flew from Denver to Chicago where her parents picked them up, while the rest of us started the drive east. Steve and Jim drove the moving truck, hauling a sedan behind, and Dwight and Sharon drove the family van along with Mello, their chocolate lab. First night, Kearney NE, where we met up with grandson Caleb and his mom. Next day, lunch in a very cold and snowbound Omaha restaurant with Steve’s friend, Howard. That night, we made it to Cedar Rapids, where the below freezing weather and wind froze up the moving van and we ended up cooling our heels until the following afternoon. That meant driving through Chicago during rush hour, followed by snow and wind and dark roads as we finished the journey into Michigan City. After a day of helping with the unpacking, Dwight and Sharon flew home. What did we learn? After nearly 4 decades of marriage, we still enjoy spending long days together in the car! It was a great adventure.

Sharon and Caleb pose for a picture in Kearney in January when we met for dinner.

Steve on the phone trying to arrange for service for his frozen moving truck, Cedar City, Iowa.

Service arrived, but it took several hours to get the truck going. It was very very cold!

The Carlisle house in Michigan City, where Steve and Beth lived for most of the year.

Dwight keeps busy taking a photography class every semester at a local community college, offers the opening prayer for the Colorado Senate on a few occasions (January-May), and preaches around the presbytery when he can. He was invited to teach a Sunday morning Bible study series at First Presbyterian, Littleton, in the fall and has been asked to come back and do another series beginning in January. He loves teaching so this has been a real gift. He continues to be a member of the Denver Presbytery Permanent Judicial Commission (which didn’t meet this year; that’s good news) and to serve on the Synod Coordinating Council. He is still on disability because of his back injury, is in constant pain and spends the better part of every day resting so he can keep up with the few activities he’s able to manage.

Sharon continues to work for the City of Lakewood – 14 years as Central Records Administrator in the City Clerk’s Office. She sings in her church choir (Genesis Presbyterian, Littleton) and will serve on session starting in January. She traveled to Dallas for several days in October to grade Presbyterian ordination exams (hard work, but very meaningful and important), and hopes to be able to do this again next year.

Marc: Son Marc and wife Kim live in Colorado Springs with daughter Jaellynne (age 3½). Sharon recently enjoyed having dinner with them (see pictures below). They are expecting a baby boy in March.



Steve: Son Steve started the MSW program at Northern Indiana University last summer, but after seeing that a part-time pastor position was available in Byers, Colorado, he and Beth decided this could be an opportunity to live in Colorado and still have the time and resources to earn that 2nd master’s degree. He applied, the church responded and the rest is history. Yup, they moved again, arrived in Colorado mid-September. We have enjoyed seeing them and their girls (Grace, almost 4, and Ava, 2) regularly. Within days of landing in Byers, Beth was offered a teacher’s aide position at the local elementary school, so Steve is currently a stay-at-home dad. Steve just learned that he's been accepted into Denver University's MSW program, with partial scholarship(!) and will begin in the fall.

Dwight wanted to start a holiday tradition with Grace and Ava - making gingerbread cookies, so that was on the agenda last week:

Other Stuff:
May – Traveled to Michigan City, Indiana to visit with son Steve and family and to attend nephew Michael’s wedding in Milwaukee.

June – Very busy month! Grandson Caleb and his mom drove from Kearney for a weekend visit. Also in June, grandson Kaelan and his mom (Albuquerque) came to Denver to visit family so we got to spend a day with Kaelan; in mid-June we were well taken care of by friends Jon and Danny Yeagley for a weekend at their cabin near Fairplay.

July – We enjoyed July 3rd fireworks in Avon/Vail with friends Tom and Ruth Powers (an almost annual tradition). Dwight flew out to Southern California to visit sisters Donna, Annie and Marcia. Later in the month we traveled to New Mexico with granddaughter Kyra for a week at Ghost Ranch. We drove down a couple of days early so Kyra could meet half-brother Kaelan. They enjoyed a Sunday afternoon getting acquainted (and chasing a couple of roadrunners through a shopping center parking lot!)

August – Steve and family came for a week-long visit and while here, he candidated for the part-time pastor position at Byers, Colorado (about an hour’s drive from us). Also while they were here, we enjoyed a visit with Dwight's cousin, Bill, and family, who live in Highlands Ranch.

October - Dwight flew out to Oakland to join sister Donna for sister Marcia's surprise 60th birthday party (organized by Marcia's family). Unfortunately, Dwight ended up in the hospital overnight and now his doctor is working on figuring out why Dwight's "episodes" happen primarily when he travels. Dehydration appears to be the culprit, based on recent tests. Dwight has nearly doubled his fluid intake to address this issue (which is hard to maintain when he travels).

November – We had hoped to spend our mid-November 39th anniversary weekend with the Yeagleys at their cabin, but after just one night, Dwight was experiencing high altitude issues and we came home early, much to everyone’s disappointment. Our annual Thanksgiving gathering with Kyra's family resumed in 2010 after a couple years' hiatus (we spent some Thanksgivings in New Mexico while Steve lived there).

2011: Next year we celebrate our 40th anniversary (November 14) and plan to spend the year doing some things we’ve always wanted to do, including a cruise to Alaska in late May! Cruising is one form of travel that works well for us - Dwight can rest and maintain his fluid levels as needed, and Sharon loves the pampering!!

The other grandchildren: We are particularly close to our two oldest granddaughters, Kyra (age 12, Lafayette CO – 7th grade), and Jordan (she’ll turn 10 in January, Fountain CO – 4th grade). Jordan’s brother, Jaden (age 5½ - Kindergarten), has become our grandchild, too. And we continue to have wonderful communication and occasional visits with grandsons Caleb (age 8, Kearney NE – 2nd grade), and Kaelan (age 6, Albuquerque – 1st grade). We will see Hannah (age 9, Englewood CO – 4th grade) over the holidays, and hope to connect with Trae, age 7 (Thornton CO), sometime soon.

Kirk: Our lovable Great Dane is showing some signs of age – mostly in the form of fears (afraid to walk on wood floors, refuses to get in the car) so that has been a source of concern.

Dwight and Kyra at the Colorado Symphony Christmas Concert this month (a tradition we enjoy every year with Kyra's family).

Sharon, Jordan and Jaden at the Genesis Presbyterian Church retreat in Estes Park last August.

Jordan and Jaden came up last weekend for our church's Live Nativity. Jordan played the part of a king and Jaden was a sheep.

Caleb got a kick out of having a Great Dane lap dog! Caleb and his mom visited from Kearney last June.

Kyra and Kaelan ham it up for the camera last July in Albuquerque.

Kyra and Dwight at Ghost Ranch last July. Sharon enjoyed a Gospel Singing workshop, Dwight did R&R, and Kyra had a wonderful time.

Kyra, Grace and Ava - three cousins - our house last August.

Grace, Steve, Ava and Beth at Rocky Mountain National Park last August.

Jaellynne enjoys playing in the pool during the summer. This picture was taken in June at her home in Colorado Springs.

Merry Christmas!
Our prayer is that the Prince of Peace will bring peace to our world and that you will experience God’s blessings at Christmas and in 2011. We love your holiday letters, even the ones that don’t arrive until Easter!

Steve, Beth, Grace and Ava visit Colorado!

Son Steve, Beth, Grace (3-1/2) and Ava (will be 2 in Oct) spent last week with us and we have wonderful news to report! Steve has received a call to be the new pastor at the Presbyterian Church in Byers, about 30 miles east of Aurora, so they will only be about an hour away from us, YAHOO! It's a PT position, includes a house and will give Steve time to pursue his educational goals (MSW - Master/Social Work) so it works well for them. Grace is already enrolled in preschool and the move will happen quickly! Here are a few photos from their visit:

First stop: Western Welcome Week Parade in Littleton. We parked our chairs on the lawn of First Presbyterian Church and enjoyed the fun.



Next, a morning at the Denver Zoo. There's one picture below that could well be named ("Komodo Dragon Eyes Ava ... Looking for Lunch?")!






Sharon brought the family up to Lakewood to say hello to her co-workers at City Hall and it was amazing! Grace and Ava got to sit on Abraham Lincoln's lap!


Then we were off to the library to read and check out some books. Grace loves Dora the Explorer and Ava loves the fish!



Lucky for us, there were also some quiet times at home (very loose definition of "quiet"!) and Granddad got to look at animal pictures with Grace.


We enjoyed a family gathering and BBQ, too. Granddaughter Kyra and her mom, Angela, cousins Bill, Steffani and Connor all joined us to congratulate Steve on his new call to Byers.

Ghost Ranch - July 2010

We took our annual trip to Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico, the last week of July with Granddaughter Kyra, age 11 - her 6th trip to the ranch (see the 2005 picture included below to see how she's grown!). The trip started with a Saturday drive to Albuquerque and a visit the following day with grandson Kaelan (age 6). Kyra and Kaelan are half-siblings and met for the first time. We enjoyed an afternoon of swimming, playing games and chasing a roadrunner! On Monday (July 26), we headed for Ghost Ranch. Sharon participated in a week-long Gospel Music workshop, Dwight did a week of R&R, and Kyra joined in with other junior high youth for lots of fun activities.

Sunday afternoon in Albuquerque: C'mon Kyra and Kaelan, let's get outside and go for a walk!

Look! There's a roadrunner! Let's chase it (this could have gone on forever if Grandma hadn't eventually declared an end to it!)

"Stalking" the roadrunner was great fun. Here, Kyra and Kaelan watch carefully to see where he's hiding.

Granddad, Kyra and Kaelan pose for a picture at the end of our afternoon together. Both Kyra and Kaelan decided it was a fun time together and hope to do it again sometime.

Ghost Ranch, the most beautiful place on earth. The weather was partly cloudy all week with occasional showers, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful time.

You can see Abiquiu Lake in the distance here. Kyra's group spent one morning there learning to kayak and they had also planned an overnight campout in the same area, but rain and lightening moved the event to a building (where they had a "camp-in"!)

Of course, we have to pose for a picture with the grandparents every year. Notice that Kyra is now as tall as Sharon!

But she's not as tall as Dwight ... yet!

Kyra at the ranch in 2005 - just had to show you how she's grown since that first visit to Ghost Ranch!

Kyra and Ema became great friends during our most recent week at the ranch - as you can see, our granddaughter is becoming a young woman (isn't she beautiful?) and we are very proud of her.

Recent pictures of Jaellynne

Granddaughter Jaellynne turned 3 in May. Her dad and mom (Marc and Kim) just forwarded some new pics of Jaellynne enjoying her backyard pool (she saved up her money to buy it herself!)

Saturday morning at Starbucks with Marc

So, how come guys never smile in pictures?! They were facing the hot sun so these "smiles" are more like grimaces, but we enjoyed a leisurely visit with son Marcus this morning over coffee. Nice to catch up.

June visit with Kaelan, followed by a weekend in the mountains with friends Jon & Danny Yeagley

Grandson Kaelan (6) spent a day with us week before last because he and his mom were in Denver visiting family. Kaelan lives in Albuquerque so this was a real treat and, of course, we had to go to the pool! Also watched a couple of videos (Beauty and the Beast; The Fox and the Hound). Here he is with Dwight and Kirk.


A day after our visit with Kaelan, we headed into the mountains to enjoy the hospitality of long-time friends (37 years!) Jon & Danny Yeagley at their cabin near Fairplay. The weather was beautiful and they let us bring Kirk (not pictured here, we wore him out with all the walking we did)!