Spring in the Rockies

Green - that is the color that describes the grasses and hills here right now. Down right lush! It's not every year that you can say that. We have gotten almost 2" of rain this past weekend!
White - that is the color of the tops of the mountains. We desperately need the moisture up there - so it is a welcome site.

It has been a great May! School is done for the year, and we have decided that next year we are going to homeschool again. I am happy about it, especially since it was the girl's decision. We are going to be enjoying the next couple months of no school books though!

I had a great birthday week! Thanks to all who sent notes and thought of me. We started out the week with a "short" hike up 14,000 ft Mt. Shavano. That is the mountain that appears in all my pictures - the one with the "angel". We made it to the angel's dress - just below her arm. It took us about four+ hours to get that far; and it IS uphill the whole way! When we stopped to rest, we determined at the pace we were going it was going to take us about another two hours to make it to the top. Needless to say, we stopped. We made it about 12,000 ft.
I don't know the last time I was challenged so physically! By the time we decided to turn around, I already had two blisters on my heals, and was having a hard time walking. It only took us about two and a half hours to get down - KILLER on the toes and Jim's knees.
Steve's hot tub felt GREAT!
By the time it was all said and done, I ended up with four blisters and a new appreciation for those folks who can just "steady on" up those big hills!!
We are going to get some good shoes and try some other 14ers (ones that are rated easy to moderate as far as climbing mountains go) this summer.
I was very impressed with the girl's efforts and think they are really great to be so willing to try such things!

I spent my birthday AM at a little coffee / cafe downtown with my family, and then had a relaxing day. Played putt putt, and had pizza with the Gilmore's that night. It was great!
We were expecting some aspen trees to be delivered, and they came on Wednesday. It took us a couple days to get them in the ground (a friend used his tractor to dig our holes for us! Whew!) and then it rained, and rained, and rained!!! :) I love our trees!

Jim, Pastor Kyle, and a youth pastor from the Vinyard Church and I played in a best ball golf scramble at our local golf course, with wind gusts over 20 mph. We did pretty well considering none of us have played for a long time. We even used some of my drives!

Today we had a fun morning doing some white water rafting. The different companies had some promotionals going on where folks could raft for $10 a person. The river is always up this time of year due to the run off from the mountains. It was fast, exciting, beautiful, and we got very wet. The wet suits helped some, but it was cold by the time we were done with our two hour, ten mile journey. So Fun!! We thought of a couple kids from MN that would love being rafting guides when they get old enough!
Some of the families from our church are planning to camp this weekend - and our family is looking forward to getting out. The camper is already there, and the girls and I will get our stuff ready while Jim is at Youth Group tonight.

We are MN bound Monday or Tuesday. Looking forward to catching up with friends and family. Wondering when MN friends and family are coming to the mountains???? The drive is long, but the end result is worth it!

Salida (and HRCC) is a great place to be. We have had some challenges, celebrations, heartache, and lots of time on our knees!
This feels more and more like ht to know some ladies that were not a part of my church, and develope those relationships. Jim haome to us, and where we are supposed to be. We are seeing God work in us, in our kids, within and through our family and our marriage. It's wonderful!

Our small group finshed up The Truth Project, and are now doing If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat. I was part of a great women's group that completed a Beth Moore study. It was fun to ges done a great job in getting out there and mixing. He is so happy doing the work he is doing!

I hope we can catch up with many of you when we are in MN. For those who follow this and are not in MN - I hope we hear from you soon!
Blessings, and thanks for all you do on our behalf!