May Photo Dump

It's JUNE!!  Spring has arrived in the mountains - the snow is gone - the days are warm - but the nights are still cool!!  PERFECT!  And since we all seem to be spending more time at home these days, I'm glad I live where I do and have a beautiful house and property to hang out!!

9:30 - that means it's time for coffee on the deck - every day that I'm home!!  I LOVE sitting on my front porch with coffee in hand - 15 minutes in the sun and then 45 minutes in the shade!!  After all, when you're retired, it's OK to take an hour coffee break!  I do love my new sign!

I struggled last year with what to put on my tree downstairs between the time we get home from Mexico and the 1st of June when I decorate for the 4th of July!  So I headed to the Dollar Store just to see what I could find - little umbrellas - how perfect!!

Grand daughter Kenzie got braces!!  Isn't she cute?

With the snow gone, it was time to take down the "snow" pictures but the only other set I have happens to be fall pictures!  So I went through years of photos to find the 2 perfect "spring and summer" photos!!  Although it's hard to tell from this picture, I love the two I picked out and had done on the canvas!  The left one is of Slumgullian Pass above Lake City and the right one was taken over at Sargeants where we ATV.

Oh darn - the bears are out of hibernation and strolling the neighborhoods!!  I kept thinking it was time to start bringing the hummingbird feeder in at night but I hadn't started doing it yet.  Glenn wasn't too happy with me about the ruined fence!!  The  bear did get a drink of sweet water - but won't be getting it again!!  I set an alarm on my phone for 8:00pm every night so I won't forget!

When I was in Iowa last fall, I had bought a couple of gnomes - and this 4th of July one is as cute as ever!!

Since I left my tall coffee mug in Mexico for next year, I didn't think I would have a problem finding another one at Walmart or Goodwill - but no luck!!  Amazon of course had them and I love my new one, even though it took FOREVER to get delivered!!  We sure were spoiled with 2 day prime that now has become 7 to 10 days prime!!!

And that's a wrap for May!

Fishing Time In Pueblo

If it's the end of May, it's time to go fishing in Pueblo - according to Glenn!  I do agree it's the perfect time to go as it's not too hot yet and usually not super crowded!

Camping was just opened in Colorado on May 18th!  And since ALL state and federal campgrounds now require reservations, I knew that everyone would be itching to go camp so I made reservations a couple of hours after they opened it up - we had marked on the map which campsites we liked and 4 out of the 6 were already booked by the time I made ours!  Yes, everyone in Colorado wants to camp this year as there's sure nothing else to do as everything is still closed!

It was fun to get the 5th wheel out and packed again for the summer!  But it's always a little daunting to me when we triple up with the boat behind it - luckily Glenn is an excellent driver and has no problem!

Our spot turned out very nice since there was a tree at our campsite!  We headed out on a Tuesday and stayed for 3 nights!  Glenn immediately headed out to fish - and I started a book, no surprise there!!

Burgers on the grill and a few fish to clean!

It always feels like "luxury" camping since we get to plug in at Pueblo!!  Which basically means I don't have to worry about running the battery down with extra lights on AND using the A/C if it gets too hot!!  (Which it did one day!!)

I enjoyed walking each morning as Glenn would get up early and leave and I would sleep in a little bit!  We were at a spot where he could park the boat in a cove and then just walk up to the campsite so he didn't have to load it every night!

We had some awesome clouds move in one evening and a couple showers of rain!

It's a beautiful setting at the reservoir, so much different than mountain camping!

Our neighbor Peggy came down to fish with Glenn one afternoon and they had a great time fishing!  I just enjoyed my books and movies and was content to stay around the campsite!

Here's Glenn heading back to the marina where I had to take the truck and trailer to pick him up!

Glenn didn't catch a lot of fish but he had a great time - until next time!!

The Food Pantry

I missed working at the food pantry while we were in Mexico!  The food pantry is one of my volunteer jobs and it's a great feeling to pack these boxes for the people in our county that need food!

I know I've been working at the pantry for over 2 years - maybe it's 3 years!!  I was started in the "egg" department and cold and frozen foods and I'm still in that area today!  We serve our clients on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month, usually rain or shine!  And trust me, there have been MANY very cold days we had to work in the warehouse - that's the days you wear long underwear along with several layers of clothes!

Two boxes are given to each family, a regular box and a green box.  The regular box holds the dry goods and eggs, along with a dairy or frozen item.  The green box holds the produce with breads and desserts put on top.

This is the section I work in.  If we have eggs, they are usually in bulk and have to be checked for cracks and then put into egg cartons.  Our goal is to give each family a dozen eggs each time but that doesn't always happen - if we're short, then we just put 6 eggs in a carton so at least they get a few!  Also the freezers and refrigerators are usually packed full of yogurt, cheese, milk, creamer, juice, etc. and any frozen dinners or convenience items that have been frozen to keep them fresh until it's time to pack them.

Boxes are put on a conveyor belt and we pack as they go by.  Outside the building there is another team who checks in the registered people and unload the items into their cars!  It's amazing how this all works and I was in awe the first time I was there!  Usually about 300 to 350 total boxes are given out each time!

A lot of the groceries are given to this organization from the local grocery stores along with Walmart - the rest is bought from Care and Share with donations.  What an awesome ministry!

May Birthdays

When our family gets together to celebrate, there are usually a couple of birthdays involved!  Because graduation fell on May 22, it was also the perfect time to celebrate the May birthdays!

Up first is Gwyn's birthday which was May 18 and she turned 5!!  OH MY GOSH - how can she already be 5???

Glenn's birthday was next, May 22nd and he turned 68!  He's excited to use his new thermos when we go camping and fishing this next week!

And Kylan celebrated his 13th birthday on Monday, the 25th!!  He joins the teenagers!!

Ice cream sundaes with all the toppings were served to celebrate the birthday buddies!

Make those wishes!!

What an awesome weekend we all had!

Graduation - Part Two

 Time for the ceremony to begin!!  Since we were watching on a large TV it was hard to do snapshots but luckily sister Patty in Iowa was watching on her phone and she took several screen shots which was awesome!!

I love this shot of the graduates with the mountain in the backdrop!

What a great ceremony and we were cheering them on from our seats at Jaime's home!!  The school district did an awesome job of putting graduation together, in spite of all the difficulties!  Many schools are not having anything so we all felt very blessed to know that Rayna and Matias were able to have a ceremony on this memorable day!

It was a great opportunity to get some family pictures with the graduates too!

Proud grandparents!!

Aren't the girls a great looking bunch? (despite the horrible lighting in front of the windows)

And check out these cousins!!  They're all getting so big and before we know it, they'll all be taking that walk too!

We had a great afternoon and evening spent with family!  In spite of the pandemic, our family came together and celebrated Rayna and Matias!!

Graduation - Part One

How exciting - our FIRST granddaughter to graduate from high school along with our "adoptive" grandson!!  We were all on pins and needles waiting for Woodland Park High School to make the final arrangements which had to get approved through 3 different agencies!  But it WAS all approved and an actual graduation was going to happen - although a unique one at best!!

Rayna and Matias will never forget this graduation during the pandemic!  And we all hope it's the LAST graduation that has to happen this way!  But regardless, we all were just glad that the kids would get to walk and we could all watch it via livestream from our homes!

Graduation took place on May 22 - yes, it was Glenn's birthday - and Jaime planned a party at her house for the relatives!  The actual party came before the graduation at 5:00 so we all met at Jaime's and started the picture taking!

The kids had each set up a table apiece with annuals and school memories - it was great to look through it all!

They donned their caps and gowns  and looked so sharp in them!

Decorating their hats seems to be a tradition now!

Cakes were displayed and boy were they good!  Glenn was thrilled when we cut into Matias' cake as he had ordered German chocolate which is Glenn's favorite!!  I had already told Glenn I wouldn't be making him a German chocolate one since we would be having graduation cake so it worked out
 perfect!

The kids opened their cards and gifts - I had started a scrapbook for Rayna of her professional pictures which she was young and then school pictures almost 18 years ago!!  I finished it up a few days before graduation and it did come out really nice!!

Rayna and Matias had to leave around 4 to get into town and up to the football field where graduation would be taking place!  There were staff around to get them where they needed to go and masks were mandatory - their seats on the football field were 6 feet apart and all in all, it worked out very nice!

We took our places at Jaime's house and all remarked on what a unique experience it was going to be to watch them on TV!!  It certainly was a lot more relaxing than sitting in an auditorium!  Here is the gang all ready to watch!

We're always blessed to have a tech guy around when we run into problems and that's exactly what happened when Jaime tried to live stream the ceremony!!  It was touch and go for a while but Robby got things straightened out just in time to start watching!!   To Be Cont'd....

Mother's Day In Ft. Collins

It was a nice drive to Ft. Collins and a whole lot less traffic!  What fun to see everyone again!!

The kids always have things to show me in their rooms and Aleah was busy choreographing a dance for her mom on Mother's Day so I helped her with that!  It was actually pretty cool outside and when I got up the next morning to walk, it was 37 degrees!!  You would have thought I was back in the mountains!

Aleah and Parker had gotten up early to decorate the downstairs and have the table ready with gifts for their mom and even me!!  I received a lovely card, a bookmark, a bracelet that Aleah had made and a little bag full of tiny notes - so sweet!!

Parker was bored I guess and wanted to set up a game - he asked his mom if he could get some plastic cups down and of course she said yes!!  Cute game but Jill had NO IDEA he was going to set up all of her cups - glad it's her washing all of them instead of me!!

I did play the game and enjoyed it!

Robby cooked us a yummy omelet for breakfast and Jill and I had some down time to get a little bit of reading in! I enjoyed a butter braid with my morning coffee - it was so good!! After lunch, Jill, Aleah and I went to Starbucks to get some frappes - yes, the line was out on the street - but it did go fast!  We enjoyed our drinks as we walked around the oval at CSU!  We were hoping all the trees would be in bloom but they're not quite there yet!  I think that last snow they got put everything a little bit behind!

It was sure nice and green though!

Robby cooked us an excellent dinner that night, along with Jill's help!  King crab and shrimp prepared 2 different ways - SO GOOD!!!  Also corn on the cob and Red Lobster biscuits!  After all of that, I sure didn't need any dessert that night!  We enjoyed some tv and relaxed!

Monday I enjoyed watching both kids do their online studies!  Parker didn't have a lot to do but Aleah was on with her teacher so that was fun to watch and to see how their different programs work!  It's certainly a lot of technology that is way beyond what I know!

After lunch it was time to head back to the mountains!  Thanks Jill for a great time !  It was so fun to celebrate Mothers Day with you!