Beatles, Beetles and "Grand-bugs" in the mountains

BEETLES:

School has started already for a month, but Barb and I were able to sneak in a couple of fun get- aways during the past month. In the middle of August, we joined our friends Barry and Rene Meyer at their Grand Lake Cabin for the weekend. That was the Beetles! Their cabin overlooks Shadow Mountain Lake which in past years had no view of the lake. But because of the tremendous amount of beetle kill near Grand Lake, we actually had a great view of the lake from their deck. Can you say wine and cheese with great friends?

On Saturday, we hiked above timber line and had lunch at about 10,000 feet. It reminded me of scenes from the Sound of Music and was just a great day! On Sunday we hiked to some falls above Grand Lake and spent the afternoon driving over Trail Ridge to Estes Park... another wonderful day in the Colorado mountains.

BEATLES

The next week end we joined some of Barb's friends from work to attend a Beatles concert at Red Rocks, an amazing natural amphitheater just outside of Denver. The group is called 1964- The Tribute. They look exactly like the early Beatles with black suits, skinny ties, boots and beetle hair cuts. They also sound exactly like the Beatles and play their songs straight. We joined 10 thousand screaming fans in singing along with every word. It really is amazing. As they played, the words and harmonies came back immediately. If you ever get a chance to see these guys, do it!

Barb and I couldn't help ourselves and danced to a few of the Beatles greatest hits!

Red Rocks and Beatles...does it get any better?

GRAND BEETLES:

Yes , it does get better: No matter where we travel or what we do, we can't wait to get back to our grand-kids. These little bugs are the best!

God is so good!

Can you say Chowda?

Last week Barb and I traveled to Boston and now I am actually posting this from San Diego..once again suffering for work! In Boston I was attending the NSDC ( National Staff Development Counsel) summer conference and had been selected to present a session on some professional growth intiatives we are doing at Grandview High School. I co- presented with Alicia Pray, our Technology Coordinator. It was a great professional stretch and it went well.

Barb decided to come out with me a couple of days early so we could tour Boston. Four great days of Boston weather and lots of fun before the work.

Barb and I in front of the USS Constitution.. Old Ironsides!

Barb sitting in the right field "good seats" in right field at Fenway PAK. Can you see the "Green Monster " behind her? This was a really great tour: Saw a red seat in center field marking where Ted Williams slammed the longest homerun in ball park history... over 500 feet from home plate!

Bunker Hill. We climbed all 290 steps to the top.

On the right is the tower of "Old North Church, where Paul Revere sent the signal: "One if by land, two if by sea!"

And no trip to Boston is complete without an "al fresco" dinner in Little Italy. Barb and I enjoying dinner at Vinny T's!

Barb must have walked 15-20 miles during my conference sessions. Several trips to the Boston Common to walk the Freedom trail, visit Paul Revere's house and Beacon Hill and many more historic sites.Took a harbor cruise. Quite a city and quite a trip.

Twins and Birthdays

February and March are busy times in our family with all of the birthdays and family celebrations. All of the special days coupled with Barb's babysitting of our three grandkids led to this post: The pictures you see are first about TWINS! Last week Barb was babysitting Nolan ( Mark and Abby's son) and he was in our bedroom looking at himself in our mirror. ( Mark likes to do this too!) Actually, he was kissing himself in the mirror....( who taught him that?) So we snapped this picture. I bet you didn't know that Nolan has a twin, did you? Mark and Abby have been keeping that from everyone... Pretty cute twins, huh?

The second set of twins is Barb and me. We finally broke down to buy helmets for skiing. Yesterday was our first day to try them out. Another beautiful Colorado ski day at Copper Mountain. It was near 40 degrees at the bottom and still great snow. I won't tell you about Barb's incredible wipe out on the last run. Skis and poles everywhere on a very steep slope.... other skiers asking her if it was a "yard sale" She says she was just trying out her helmet... Sure!

She slid down the hill to find a place to put her skis back on and found me watching and filming from the bottom!

These TWINS are Payton and Brady. Wes bought Brady a set of Nerf dart guns for his birthday. (See Brady and Payton preparing for battle.) Acutally, it was even better to watch Payton stalk her daddy with the guns. Begs the question: Who did you buy these guns for, Wes?

Of course, when Brady shot himself in the eye without the glasses, Cara's comment was: Great present, Wes! But the "twins in glasses" love playing Nerf house battle!

On to Birthdays! Enjoying my new I-pod and biking jersey from my kids! Great birthday presents!

On my birthday, I wanted to go out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants with all of the adult kids. A great night at Trappers ! We missed you Brad and Jayne.

Oh No! Ski day in Colorado

Whenever our grandson Brady drops something or sees a problem, he says "Oh No" in a really cute way. In fact, we have all taken to copying his " Oh no!" saying. So when Barb and I went skiing yesterday and saw this run, we had to take this picture:

We probably should have known it was an omen for later in the day when we chose to take an advanced run called " Triple Threat" which was all moguls...that was not fun! But all in all, we had an awesome first day of Colorado skiing. The temp was in the 30's at the base... not bad for Janurary... not a cloud in the sky and we skied up to lifts all day!



Our self photo taken at arms length...










Taking a break...

A professional photo taken for us at the top of the mountain:

Later in the day we recorded some amazing video of an Olympic hopeful who was skiing right near us! The grace... the beauty.... the speed!

We even saw a guy ski jumping near us. You will be awed by the "air" this guys gets in this video! I can't even imagine the guts it takes to try this move!

All in all a great day on the mountain... just a shadow of what we hope our retirement will be like.

And Colorado is STILL the place we belong!

Zoo Lights with Oma and Opa

Last week-end just before the end of the holidays, Barb and I enjoyed a night at the zoo lights with Payton and Brady. It was a warm night for winter in CO. so we drove downtown with the grandkids to enjoy the last night of holiday lights at the zoo. Cara and Wes thought that it was a great idea so they could go out for a "date night." We thought it was a great idea because we could have a "date night" with our grandkids. Payton and Brady thought it was a great idea because they LOVE animals.... and the lights were cool too!

Payton loved seeing the giraffes and seals and even found a white fox that nobody else had seen. That girls loves her animals. In this picture she took with Oma's camera, she found some white mountain goats.

That night Brady, Payton and I rode the carousel... or was it a merry go round.... never know which it is. I know it has something to do with which direction it goes... but we all loved it. Well , Payton and I did. Brady wasn't so sure about his camel!

After seeing a few more lights and not many more animals.... I think they all went down for a long winter's nap... we played on a covered wagon and rode some cool oxen and then stopped for a hot dog ( Brady's favorite part). Then it was on to home.

All in all, a fun night at the zoo and a great holiday memory!

December fun and so much more!

Last Saturday we joined our kids on their annual trip to the mountains to cut down a Christmas tree. We used to always get Colorado trees.... so fresh that some even started to bud out in our house. But over the years of having to wire them up, drill in extra branches and trim them to fit inside, we have tended to go to Home Depot for the perfect Noble fir trees.

This year the kids said: "Come on, Dad! It'll be fun. We'll get the passes and we will drink hot chocolate and have an adventure!" Knowing that part of my mission statement as a father is: " To create family memories," they knew they had me.

So last Saturday we joined the caravan of Wes and Cara, Mark and Abby, and Gwen and Tim and all of the grandkids and adopted grandkids up the mountain to the Pike National Forest. Three Hondas Pilots and the old Explorer four-wheeled up the mountain!

So after an hour or so of trekking all over the mountain we all found trees, cut them down and loaded them on our cars. Barb and I somehow managed to agree on a tree... she accused me of perfectionism... can't undertand what she meant! All of the kids were having side bets that Dad would use his tree for trimming and still go to Home Depot for his "perfect" Christmas tree. That just sealed the deal. We were putting this tree up!

But back to the mountains. As I said, all of us found trees... and all of us managed to find our ways back to the cars. Barb and I were the last ones back... she said something else about perfectionism... and then we joined the kids for some well earned hot chocolate.

By then I was getting into the spirit. We enjoyed the incredible day in the mountains and the the time with family and we all made it back home safely. Check out each of our kids blogs to see their trees: ( theirs are all better than ours!) But just to prove the point, we put ours up this week despite the harrassment from my Chicago friend, Jim, who kept calling us to say something about Charlie Brown and how it only took him 30 minutes to put up his perfect artifical tree.

So after drilling and whittling four braches in to fill in the holes and wiring up the branches, it was up and looking pretty good. And with a cup of nog in hand I began to reflect on the significance of the whole experience. No, it is not a perfect tree. But the fact that our kids wanted us to join them for the experience is perfect. And in many ways this tree is a daily reminder to me about what is really important. Like so many of us, I can get caught up in the Crate and Barrel glitter of Christmas. What is on the outside is so enticing. But this tree, like our humble Savior, who came to earth in a simple manger is a wonderful reminder of what is important. We are so blessed... with amazing children and grandchildren and friends. So may this post be a reminder to you as it was to me, that Emmanuel is with us at this Christmas time...not in the glamor, but in the form of a child.

And so with the spirit intact, we put up our lights outside.... just couldn't resist!




Merry Christmas to all from Barb and Bruce!

Tuition or Kitchen?

So what do you do when you are no longer paying college tuition? You think about the remodel projects that you have had on hold for so long! Last fall it was the family room. This fall it was the kitchen and all of the doors in the house. Brad Lanser, our contractor did a great job... so if you live in Colorado, we'll send you his contact info. Here's a few pictures to give you an idea. By the way... the first picture is of our granite... it's called Lava. Pretty upper-middle class, huh?

By the way... Barb and I are no longer going out to eat. Must use the new kitchen.... so if you are in the neighborhood... stop by for a meal!