Halloween Cruise

OK, so it's been 3 months since the last update - been a little busy. Here are some pics of our cruise over Halloween (kid's fall break from school) with some good friends of ours - the Hansens (with all the kids) and the Calls. We sailed out of Houston, stayed on the ship in Montego Bay, Jamaica (don't get me started on the dump called Montego Bay), played in the water in Grand Cayman (I went diving with Rob Hansen while Ang and the kids went with Babette and their kids to the beach), and played with the dolphins in Cozumel. Rob and I went diving in Cozumel also while everyone else played on the beach.

We all had a blast, ate a ton and had more fun. Our family won the ship's "ultimate race" with the kids - did the chicken dance near the toddler's pool, ran up and down all 13 stories, started a congo line, Sarai hugged 10 people, smeared ice cream all over Sarai's face, painted smileys on the kids faces with ketchup, Shem proposed and all sorts of stuff. We had races down the water slide. Gravity helped speed me to first place. I edged out Rob in the water games. I gained 10 lbs during the week (food was great) but no worries - I lost it all within a week being home.

Well, enjoy some pics of the trip and one extra of Grandpa Brown with the kids in the snow right after Thanksgiving.

Camping and more camping

Last weekend we had a blast with some good friends of ours (the Hansens and the Heisers) camping down in Pike's Forest. We relaxed, did some fishing, some biking, visited the largest fossil deposit in the US, checked out the petrified forests of Colorado, explored the Garden of the Gods and had lots of camp fires and hammock time. The banana boats, peach cobbler and roasted starburst were all huge hits of course. We attended church in Woodland Park, just 4 miles away from camp, smelling of campfire. I am sure we were quite noticable. Fun stuff.

Two weeks earlier we spent the weekend up in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). We got totally rained on and spent some time in the trailer playing games. We did take advantage of the breaks in the weather to get up close and personal with the Elk. The kids got to play on some rocks and we all had a great time despite all the rain. It did clear up enough for us to pack up dry on Sunday. Just one more little blessing in our lives.

The Lord works in mysterious ways

We had a fun weekend camping with our good friends the Hansens. We brought them down to our favorite spot near Woodland Park. We forgot to fill up with gas before we left and just made it down to the campsite when our gas light came on. So, we used the Durango very sparingly since we didn't want to have to run into town just to fill up on gas. We had some great campfires, did some fishing (or shall I say a bunch of casting), did a little hiking and just had some fun. We only stayed one night this time. On the way home we didn't risk getting to the gas station that had $3.76 gas but filled up for $3.81. It was still much cheaper than the $3.89 gas around Denver. Go figure - gas is cheaper up in the mountains.

Well, here comes the blessing. On our way home, about half way between Colorado Springs and Denver on I-25 one of our tires on our pop-up camper trailer blew out as we were going about 75 mph or so. We got to the side of the road quickly to check it out. The tire was shredded. Fortunately we have a good spare but there was not a huge shoulder on this very busy stretch of freeway. Well, we look up and we ended up stopping right in front of a sign that reads "Rest Area 2000 feet ahead". So, we limped along to the rest area where we were able to change the tire at leisure without the danger of the freeway.

We brought out the coolers to get some treats and drinks. We were able to use the bathrooms. I showed the boys how to change a tire. I can't remember the last time I needed to change a tire. We had the rest rooms to clean up all the dirt and grease. It was such a blessing to have happened where it did - right by the rest area.

I was chatting with my Dad after we got back and told him the story. He reminded me that we have a cousin that was killed when a tire on his trailer blew and the trailer caused the truck to flip and killed him. Celia also had her truck flipped when she was towing a trailer full of furniture and the tire blew and flipped the truck also. She is ok now. So, I count us very blessed that we did not have any other incident but just a shredded tire and that we had the convenience of the rest area to take care of things. Someone is looking out for us.

Rockies lose a slugfest

Shem and I went to see the Rockies play the Dodgers last night. We had a great time. I thought the top of the first would never end with the Dodgers scoring 8 times just in the top of the 1st. Wells definitely had an off-day pitching and was yanked after the 8th run came in. Shem and I had a great time regardless.

We went to the store and bought some treats to bring with us. I had Shem put them in the backpack while we were in the car but he left the really good stuff (skittles & candy bar) in the bags in the car. Oh well. That's our Shem! We had water, cheetos and rice krispy treats, what more can you ask for?!?

Shem did get a slice of pizza to eat. He thought for the $2 he would get a whole small pizza. The little piece he got was just a few bites worth. He enjoyed it anyway.

We took the RTD into LoDo (Lower Downtown) to the game and back. That is always fun.

Angela is currently at Girls Camp so I get to play Mr. Mom for the next few days.

Photos - Camping & ID Trip

You can check out some photos from the 11-year old scout camp and our recent family trip to Idaho to see Ang's parents. Good times.
http://www2.snapfish.com/photolibrary/t_=136260840

Wonderful July 4th

We had an awesome Fourth of July. We originally were thinking of camping, but the kids wanted to stay home and attend our neighborhood July 4th celebration. We started off by gathering by the pool for the neighborhood parade. A firetruck led the way with all the kids on their decorated bikes following right behind.

Sarai was so excited to decorate her bike and be in a parade. Sarai and Shem had a great time. Angela even rode along on a low rider (Shem's old bike). Seth was more into the pool party later in the day.


After the parade we got everything together at home and showed up to the pool precisely at 10 am to secure the corner gazebo. We definitely wanted the shade since we were planning to hang out all day. We brought the hibachi, a bunch of food and drinks, plenty of sunblock and all the essentials. The HOA provided cake and popsicles and all sorts of pool games (including a root beer chugging swim race - see me, Shem & Seth below).

We invited Shem's friend Sterling and his family to join us at the coveted corner gazebo. They did. As the day went along and more friends from the neighborhood showed up we ended up with quite the crowd at our corner of the pool. It was great. We brought hot dogs for the kids but Daniel, Sterling's dad, brought filet mignon and huge juicy burgers to grill. Now that is the guy to bring to a BBQ! :)