It's Christmas time

I just can't seem to get into the holiday spirit. We've had a rough time lately with friends that have had strokes and another one that passed away this past week. All's you can do is to be there for those who need you. I really don't have much to say I guess..........

Praying that I am wrong

Today is the morning after Barrack Obama was elected President of our United States of America. I pray that my feelings about him are wrong. I am happy that last night was a historic event and that the American public is rejuvinated with this pick. I have always stood behind whomever is elected into office and I will do the same here.

Oh, how things change!

Its October!!!! I love the fall, but change is in the air, is it for the good or bad, I think the good! We pray and pray for all of the things in our lives to be "fixed" or "made better" and sometimes how we think these things are going to happen are not the way that God fixes them or makes them better, sometimes you just have to sit and think "why didnt I think of that!"
So much has been changing that we have to trust in him, always.

Mel and Aidden just came for a visit and came camping with us this past weekend. We love it when our family comes to visit! Aidden was a little ham and kept everyone laughing, he is just so darned cute.

I am in a "great" state of mind! Some of my personal burdens have been lifted and I feel great! Now we all just need to pray that everyone else's are lifted also.

Summer 2008

Summer, 2008. It has been a great one and a busy one. Mike, Leigh Ann, Kati and Ava were just visiting Colorado Springs for their vacation. We had lots of fun! Frankie went with us to the Royal Gorge, we went camping with Frank, Dawn and Frankie up at Mueller, went to the top of Pikes Peak on the Cog and lots of other fun! We all had a really good time! We also went to Omaha this summer a couple of times, once for my sister Lisa's 40th Surprise Birthday party and also for my niece Rachel's wedding to Dr. Phil! Dr. Phil is not really a doctor, but a great teacher! But we still call him Dr. Phil, I am sure he is probably tired of it by now, but he is now part of the family and has to take the abuse like the rest of us. The wedding was absolutely beautiful! Melissa was maid of honor and Aidden was in the wedding also, it was so much fun to spend a week in Omaha with our kids and all three of the grandkids there! Sal and I have had some great camping trips this summer also!

Camping and more camping....

Every weekend is a new adventure. So far this year we have camped at Pueblo, Mueller, John Martin Resevoir and Lathrop State Park and it is not the first weekend in June yet! This month we have another Mueller (primo sites - I had to fight some woman off for these, she probably got site 123 though......) and Pueblo. We are going home for a week for my niece's wedding also, and get to spend 7 glorious days with ALL of our grandkids - Melissa will be there with Aidden and of course, Kaitlin and Ava live there so I am thrilled to be able to spend time with all of them together. Ok, I know I always talk about seeing the grandkids, but I am equally as excited to see everyone else!Ok, let me tell you about our camping trips - Mueller a couple of weeks ago, Frankie, Sal and I went for a hike (Dawn was really sick all day Saturday and big Frankie had to go into work). We went to the visitors center and walked over to some trails from there, we noticed we did not have our water with us so Sal walked back to the visitors center to get the truck (maybe 10 minute walk) and I just said "I'll go ahead and take Frankie on this short hike and we will meet you here when we come back" Big mistake.....first clue - no water - second clue we are at about 10,000 feet altitude, third clue - straight down a mountain means straight up a mountain later. When I say the 2.6 miles I thought, no big deal, Buddy and I do 3 miles all the time (on level ground) - It was a beautiful hike down to a lake, Frankie had a blast and then we started seeing where we needed to go to get back......here is a picture taken of me when we saw the first hill....

Sal was a little worried about us by the time we got back..... We had a great weekend though with more hikes and fun. Here is Dawn trying to entice a squirrel to come down out of the tree and eat her treat..<
Next we are off to Lathrop State Park and we spent Saturday at the National Sand Dunes Monument
from there we are off to Zapata Falls - you first drive up the side of a mountain on a very buppy road for quite a bit, then you get out and hike 1/2 mile further up the mountain to a beatiful stream, then you hike up the stream in the water and rocks into a crevice which has a waterfall inside the cave. The water was so cold I got a minor case of frost bite on my toe....it is quite the hard walk and you are holding on to people you don't even know, we got all the way up inside the cave and the entire waterfall is frozen solid, when we got back Dawn and I just sat there with our beet red feet up in the air trying to get the feeling back, remind me never to sit next to Dawn in our pictures again......skinny b

Camping Season has officially begun!

Sal and I went camping for the first time of this 2008 season. We have quite the summer/fall planned with camping, but the first time out is always the best. We met some friends down at Pueblo and had a nice relaxing weekend. We have gotten alot of our maintenance work done around the house and yard done so that we can camp whenever possible. We will be camping at Pueblo, Mueller State Park, John Martin Resevoir, Lathrop State Park, Navajo State Park, Mount Princeton, Twin Lakes and the big daddy of all camping - Lake Powell, Utah in September. My niece's wedding is in Omaha in June and then Mike, Leigh Ann, Kaitlin and Ava will be visiting us in August. I honestly don't know how I ever had the time to work! I love it that both of my kids have webcams now, it is so neat being able to see the grandkids. Aidden likes to talk to his grandma daily, Kaitlin is at that "too busy" stage but still appeases me and Ava is changing so fast. I love the fact that I get pictures all the time now from everyone - even my sister Lisa has a digital camera now!

Cruisin 2008

The cruise was wonderful, we had a blast! A 10 day cruise is just right! We were there with 3 other couples that we know from Maryland and had 3 formal nights, one of which we missed because it was catamaran/snorkeling/rum punch day……..That was really the only day that I drank more than one cocktail or glass of wine so I was very good! We even went to a nude beach (Orient Beach) on the French side of St. Marteen. (No we didn’t go nude….) The boobies were not much worth seeing and the men wear these little coin purse pouches over their packages and then string up their butts, the problem was that they were all 70 and older and not in very good shape….They are so unbelievably rude on that side of the island (and very expensive – a hamburger and fries on the beach was 23 euro so about $35 or so, the Dutch side St. Maarten was very friendly. We went to St. Kitts, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Thomas also.

We were on Celebrity (which we absolutely love) cause they treat you like royalty all week long. I am very used to being called Madam now…….I told Sal I wanted to be called this when we got home and one of our friends offered up the term “mydamwife”….There were an awful lot of 80-90 year olds on this ship, we think cause it was 10 days and maybe the younger folks can’t get that many days off in a row.

It was hard not talking to everyone at home though while we were gone, one thing about a cruise, you really do leave all your thoughts and worries behind.

Happy New Year 2008! We now have 3 beautiful grandchildren, Kaitlin, Ava and Aidden. We went home for Christmas to Omaha again this past year and Melissa and Aidden stayed with us for about 3 months while Chris was in schools and transitioned to his new base in North Carolina. They made the successful journey to NC and will be moving in to their new home any day now. Mike, Leigh Ann and Kaitlin are all loving the new addition to their family. She's adorable! Sal and I are getting ready for our 10 day Southern Caribbean Cruise at the beginning of March. We are cruising again with some friends from Maryland. We are looking forward to another great year of camping with family and friends.