Reuniting, Awe-Inspiring and Creeping Me Out...

Dear All,

What a busy few weeks we've had! VBS was the 8th-12th and went great. Again, see the Hubert Family link if you want to see pictures of that. There are some of Kindrid, Brennen and me mixed in. Thanks again, Jodi!!

Three hours after VBS ended found us on the road to Denver to hook up with Mike, Robin, Andrew and Collin Fiedler, friends from Illinois. I didn't take many pictures, but we had a fabulous time. The kids swam in the hotel pool, we enjoyed several great meals at restaurants, a drive through the mountains above Boulder and a trip to the zoo. Here's a shot Kindrid took of me at the zoo: And one of the kids feeding the lorakeets (sp?) little cups of nectar:

The weather in CO had been pretty unstable and threatening clouds began to gather while we ate lunch at the zoo. It was leave or get soaked so we left a little sooner than we'd have liked. As we were driving away, Robin noted something like, "That's an interesting cloud." The object of her attention was a funnel cloud! Yikes! It didn't touch down, but lingered long enough to make much of Denver very nervous and made the evening news. Brave Mike drove through pounding rain and hail. The hail was heavy enough to cover the ground like snow in the area around our hotel. We met Auntie Carrie and Uncle Matt at the Cheesecake Factory downtown for a great meal followed by a stroll and bus ride back to our parking area. It was hard saying good bye after having such a wonderful time with the Fiedlers.

We arrived home Monday night and left on Wednesday afternoon for five nights up around Yellowstone . What can I say? If you've never been, you should go. There is no way to describe how gorgeous it is there. Every time I go I am struck anew by God's amazing power and creativity in His Creation. Breathtaking. One day we took the Chief Joseph and Beartooth Pass scenic drives. Wow! Go there...do that!!

Here is Kindrid in the snow in which she insisted on getting out to play:

The following day found us at Yellowstone National Park. We got to see Old Faithful this time (missed it last time due to my interest in seeing just "one more thing" first). Brennen wanted a picture so here it is.

My plug for the day...

Did you know that all National Parks are free for three weekends this summer? One was this past Father's Day weekend but there are two more coming on July 18-19 and August 15-16. Taking advantage of this saved us a $25.00 entrance fee to Yellowstone. Find a park near you and go visit!!

I never take enough scenery pictures in areas like this as I feel overwhelmed in trying to capture in a frame or two so much beauty. I can only say again to go see it for yourself if you've never been.

We took both dogs with us on the camping trip and they did great. We dry-camped (no electric/no other hook ups) for four of the five nights. Considering we still have soft beds, heat and water, it's not really roughing it, but we were impressed again at how great the trailer performed. If you plan to camp around or in Yellowstone, be sure to check ahead as many places require hard-sided units and don't allow tents. Grizzly bears. Enough said.

Brennen learned to ride his bike without training wheels on Father's Day. I love seeing his confidence increase each time he conquers something like that. Once he believed he could do it, the hard part was done. Convincing him he can is the whole battle with my little boy!

One more happening of note, and I'll wrap it up. Last night I watched "I Am Legend" with Todd. I looked it up online first and read all about it, even the spoilers. I just don't do scary movies. I know for you hard-core folks that this movie is probably not all that scary, but for me it's about as far as I can stand to go. Suffice to say there were creatures in the movie that "went bump in the night." Nasty, creepy, horrible, blood-loving, only-come-out-in-the-dark-of-night kind of creatures. The movie was actually pretty good - Will Smith has come a long, long way since Fresh Prince!! However, I went to bed with the lamp AND tv on (until Todd made me turn off the lamp) and just couldn't relax enough to sleep. I channel surfed. About 15 minutes later, Todd was in a deep sleep and I heard "a noise." And then more noise. Finally, I sat up and got serious about figuring out what it was as I was pretty sure even my over-stimulated imagination was not imagining this. It was coming from the attic-access panel above our dresser. It was getting louder. And you know what?? On this night of all nights, a HUGE BAT crawls out of the way tiny little narrow crack at the edge of that panel and begins flying about the room. Wish I could say I stayed perfectly calm. Not hardly. As it was coming out I hit Todd to tell him I thought a mouse was coming through. As the words were coming from my mouth, the "mouse" turned into the bat and all words were lost in the squeal!! Poor Todd was sound asleep and came hurtling out of the bed. That was the last I saw as the blanket was pulled up tightly around my head. Todd got it out of the house...my hero!!!!! Within minutes, despite my pathetic pleas, he was back asleep. I think I finally was able to sleep around 2:30 a.m. So, heed my warning. If you haven't seen this movie and would like to, just be aware that it brings out the creatures of the night!

Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Christy