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)!

May travel for Wisconsin wedding, Indiana visit with Grace & Ava, followed by June visit with Caleb

We've enjoyed a busy couple of months, traveling to Wisconsin for nephew Michael's wedding to Tracy on May 22nd in Milwaukee, followed by a week with son Steve, Beth, Grace and Ava in Michigan City, Indiana. The weekend after we returned from Indiana, grandson Caleb and his mom, Dawn, drove to Denver from Kearney NE and spent the weekend. Enjoy our pictures!

Sharon and sister Kathy (mother of the groom) share a warm moment over coffee in Milwaukee, each wearing our team's baseball caps!

Siblings Richard, Kathleen and Sharon - the family joke when Mom & Dad were alive was that we always needed to take a "last picture together" before it was too late, so we have carried on the tradition! Here we are at Nathan and Tracy's rehearsal dinner.

Granddad and Grace enjoy a fun moment in our hotel room in Milwaukee during the wedding weekend.

Grace and Ava enjoyed playing in the sprinkler at nephew Nathan's house the day after Michael's wedding - it was hot and muggy and the rest of us wished we could take off our clothes, too!

Dwight, Beth and Ava enjoy relaxing in Nathan's backyard. Ava's wearing a Rockies cheerleading dress :)

Big Sister Grace enjoyed wearing Nathan's football helmet!

Granddad keeps Grace warm after her romp through the sprinkler.

Beth is building her "Giggle 'n Go!" business - weekly classes in movement and dance for preschoolers in Michigan City.

Grandma Sara Carlisle and Ava pose for a picture.

Sharon and Ava relax after a fun time in the kiddie pool at Grandma & Grandpa Carlisle's.

Steve is working 3 part-time jobs while he prepares to enter an MSW (Master of Social Work) program in July. Here he is filling out reports related to his work with the U.S. Census.

Grace came to church with GaGa and Granddad - First Presbyterian Church, Michigan City.

GaGa and Ava say good-bye just before we head to Chicago to fly back to Denver.

Before traveling to Indiana, we contacted an old friend, Hank Blunk, who lives in South Bend, and made arrangements to visit. Hank and his wife, Mabel, invited us to their home for lunch, then gave us a tour of South Bend, including Notre Dame University. Here we were introduced to "Touchdown Jesus", so of course, Dwight had to have this picture!

Dwight, Sharon, Hank and Mabel - enjoying a walk along the St. Joseph River.

Caleb (age 7-1/2) got a big kick over having Kirk sit on his lap!

Grandma (Sharon) and Caleb enjoyed getting to know each other again.

Caleb and Granddad (Dwight) pose for a picture at Starbucks.

We took Kirk for a couple of walks over the weekend. Here we visit the "prickly bush" that Caleb fell into 3-4 years ago (and has never forgotten!)

Caleb wore his Rockies shirt with pride over the weekend! We went to the Rockies dugout store on Saturday to buy a Rockies cap he can wear for his baseball games this summer.