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.