Race for the Cure, Dog Park at Chatfield State Park

Angela and Kyra and one of Angela's co-workers joined Sharon in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, October 4th. It was pretty chilly until the sun came out, but we were very comfortable after completing the 5K walk. Denver has one of the largest events like this in the nation - over 60,000 participants!

Angela thought she was hiding but didn't realize that Sharon had sneaked up on her and taken the earlier picture (see above)!

Dwight and Kirk at Chatfield State Park a couple of weeks ago. The dog park there is HUGE and Kirk loves it!

Summer's End

Sharon and granddaughter Jordan attended the Genesis Presbyterian Church annual retreat, "The Summit", in late August at the beautiful YMCA of the Rockies. The subject matter was presented very creatively and with lots of laughter. We all attended "Zombie University", identified those parts of our lives that get in the way of our relationships with God and family and called them zombies, even naming them and trying to stone them out of our lives! Here Sharon poses with the Zombie University mascot.

All who attended Zombie University received a diploma and commemorative pen from Pastor Don and C.E. Director Rob. Here is Jordan receiving her diploma.

Jordan shows off her diploma!

Dwight flew down to Albuquerque to attend a funeral on Friday and got to spend an overnight with Steve and family. Here he is with granddaughters Grace (above) and Ava (below).



Granddaughter Kyra spent part of the Labor Day weekend with us and joined Sharon and Kirk at the church picnic. Kirk really liked the singing!

Kyra and Granddad finally got to go fishing on Sunday! Didn't catch anything but it was quite an adventure.

Kyra thinks fishing is fun!

Ghost Ranch 2009

This year's visit to Ghost Ranch was very special. It was Kyra's 5th trip to the ranch with us and she had a wonderful week (and threatened to tie herself to a tree so she could stay longer!) She's already planning to apply to become part of the Ghost Ranch college staff (in 10-12 years!) Sharon participated in a very interesting course on "NEW EYES FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE FROM THE WORLD CHURCH", led by Clifton Kirkpatrick. Dwight enjoyed a week of rest and relaxation, and was the only one of us who could stand the 74 degree temperature in the pool (the heater was broken) because he brought along his wet suit! Steve, Beth, Grace and Ava came up to the ranch for an overnight on Friday. Enjoy our pictures!

We spent a weekend with Steve's family in Los Lunas before heading up to the ranch. Here are Grace, Kyra, Ava and Beth.

We worshiped at First Presbyterian Church, Belen. This is Steve giving the children's sermon.

Kyra and Grace had lots of fun playing together.

Ghost Ranch - picture taken at dusk by Dwight. A place of peace.

Kyra and Dwight ham it up after breakfast. We're so happy to be here!

Kyra got to go horseback-riding twice this year - including cantering across the ranch to the cabin used in the movie "City Slickers".

"Lady", a 40-year-old horse (88 in human years), roamed the ranch and greeted people, but spent most of her time in the alfalfa field.

Steve and Beth and the girls enjoyed the air conditioned family center at the ranch - designed specifically for very young children and families.

Beth caught this picture of Steve with the mesas behind him. He celebrated his 33rd birthday the week we were there.

Sharon and Beth froze in the pool with Grace and Ava and it was fun (but short-lived!)

Dwight, on the other hand, was able to spend more time in the pool!

Sharon and Ava (picture sent by Beth after Sharon complained that since she took most of the pictures, there were very few of GaGa with the grandchildren!)

Sure wish you could have seen the scene just before this picture was snapped - Grace saw Kyra walking up toward the dining hall and took off running, crying in delight, "Kyra"!!"

Couldn't resist adding this fun video of breakfast with Grace, Kyra and Ava.

Kyra won an award for earning top points in a scavenger hunt during the week's youth program. Awards were given out during the Saturday celebration at the end of the week.

Time to say farewell and see you next year. This is Kitchen Mesa (so named because the dining hall/kitchen sits below it). Photo by Dwight.

Home at last. Kyra greets Kirk when we picked him up after 10 days at Rover Retreat (where he made good friends with a yellow lab).

Brief visit with Kaelan

While we were visiting Steve and family in late July, we drove up to Albuquerque for the afternoon and spent a couple of hours with Kaelan and his mom. Kaelan loves his trucks and trains!!

Kirk gets a new sandbox; Jordan & family spend the day with us; Dwight has a wet suit (and he's a real hit at the pool)!

We contracted with a neighbor to build a giant sandbox for Kirk this weekend, and are working on training him to understand that this is the place he's allowed to dig. We're hoping to stop Kirk from digging up the lawn, eating the trees and bushes, etc. So far, our neighbor has poured 30 50-lb bags of play sand into the box and another 40 bags will be added tomorrow. See pictures below of Kirk getting used to his special place.

Granddaughter Jordan and her brother Jaden and their parents came up Saturday for a fun day at the pool, including a picnic lunch, an afternoon of hangin' out and dinner together. Jordan and Jaden collected all of Kirk's toys from around the yard, put them in the sand box and buried some of the toys to help Kirk understand this is where he's allowed to dig. Kristi and Will took Sharon over to Home Depot to pick up an additional 40 bags of play sand for the sand box (and they unloaded it for us ... THANK YOU!) See picture below of Kristi, Jaden and Jordan.

Dwight bought a wet suit so he could swim outdoors this summer (cold water is debilitating for him so he can't use most pools, but this wet suit has done the trick!) He's been using the pool for physical therapy almost every day for the last couple of weeks. See picture below of Dwight in his new swimgear.

July 4th Weekend with Friends

We enjoyed a couple of restful days with friends Tom and Ruth Powers in Edwards (near Vail) over the weekend, including watching the Avon fireworks from above(!) on July 3rd. Here are a few pictures from our weekend:

Everything is so green in the mountains because Colorado has had so much rain. Truly beautiful!

Eagle River from an overlook on the Presbyterian Church site in Avon.

Dwight and Sharon enjoying a restful moment at that overlook.

Dwight, Tom & Ruth, outside their home in Edwards. We were on our way to see the fireworks.

Kirk was very glad to see us when we came to pick him up on the 4th. He did not like the fireworks and we spent several minutes on the floor trying to calm him that night even though we were in the house and the fireworks were a couple of miles away!

Steve, Beth, Grace & Ava - Weekend Visit

We enjoyed a brief visit with Steve and his family this weekend and got to spend some special time with their girls, Grace (2-1/2) and Ava (8 mos). They were here for a couple of days before heading east to visit with Beth's family in Indiana.

A weekend with Caleb

Grandson Caleb (age 6-1/2) and his mom, Dawn, who live in Kearney, Nebraska, came to town for a visit and a very busy weekend. We saw "Land of the Lost" Friday night (ugh!, but the "boys" giggled through it), took Kirk and some fishing gear to the dog park at Chatfield on Saturday. The fishing was a bust, due to wind, high river, busted gear, and about 10 attempts at casting that all ended up caught in bushes, trees or stuck under rocks.

We all worshipped at Genesis Presbyterian Church this morning, where Dwight was the guest preacher, then we headed for the ball park to watch the Rockies beat the Mariners - yahoooo! There was a brief rain delay (and tornado warning) so we left and headed for a nearby Starbucks, then drove out to the airport so Caleb and Dawn could catch their flight back home (we learned later that the flight was cancelled due to weather and they ended up spending the night in a hotel - quite the adventure!) Here are some pictures of our time together:

Caleb and Kirk on a walk around Grant Ranch (our subdivision) on Saturday morning.

Dwight and Caleb get their gear ready for fishing in the South Platte River, Chatfield State Park. It was a great idea ...

Dwight, Caleb and Dawn at the Rockies game. Rox beat the Mariners in a 3-game sweep!

Sharon and Caleb enjoy the game. The skies were starting to cloud up and soon we were running for cover from the wind and rain.