Oktoberfest

Had a great time downtown Friday night with my beautiful wife at Greeley's Oktoberfest. Tried a few new beers, listened to some music, and had a funnel cake for dinner! Third one this year! Who knew that there was still an Occupy Greeley movement???

Sea World

Look who got selected to help Shamu get the crowd wet at Sea World yesterday! Yep, the 8 year old birthday girl in the pink Minnie Mouse shirt! How exciting. They also made a stop at the world famous Broken Yolk Cafe. They begin the long drive east this morning. Thanks again grandma and grandpa!!

Signs

Our good friend Kim was driving by our house this week and captured this amazing picture. It was a real encouragement to everyone in our family! I am feeling better and stronger everyday. I plan on returning to work this Monday after a four week absence. The Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Center at UNC has also been a great help in my recovery and preparation for my October surgery. Many other friends and family continue to bless and encourage me as well. Whether its a cold beer with a friend I haven't seen in months, or a special Livestrong shirt and card in the mail this week, I am strengthened for the road ahead! Thanks!

California!

Well, the group has made it safely to Anaheim, California. A fire pit and s'mores last night while watching the sun set over the Pacific. Pretty rough life for Sarabeth this week, huh?

Vegas!

The party of 6 have made it to Vegas! A nice and dry 101 in the desert today. Thankful they are cooling off with some In and Out Burger and some time by the pool. California here they come!

Fall Festival

It must be the first day of fall if Frontier held the Fall Festival today! Nathanael had a great time today, looking at the book fair, playing games, winning tickets, helping Mrs. Bailey with the game she was running, seeing his friends, and getting his hair colored blue! The baskets that were up for raffle today were amazing! The winning basket went for over $650, while many of the others were in the $250-350 range. Pretty awesome! It was fun to see lots of good friends today and catch up with them. Happy fall!

Colorado!

So that leaves the men home alone this weekend to raise some holy heck! Noah ran well once again at his cross country meet yesterday in Windsor. He is consistently running 8 minute miles. He will be spending the day with his friends in Ft. Collins at Fort Fun. The two kids that are left will be heading to the fall festival at Frontier later today. I have one more week off of work while I continue to heal from my surgery. It will end up being a full month off of work.

No pictures from the action here in Greeley this morning, so here are a few from the drive home last week on I70 near Vail.

California!

Sarabeth meanwhile is headed in the opposite direction of her mother. It is finally her turn to make the 8th birthday trip to California and Disneyland! Jim and Janet are making the long drive with their friends Elza and Colleen and their granddaughter Hannah. Should be a lot of fun this week with the two girls!

Kansas!

We aren't in Kansas anymore Toto. Well, we aren't, but Jennifer is this weekend as a chaperone on the high school cross country meet in beautiful Lawrence. The race is this morning, but they have been busy since they left early Thursday morning with a long bus ride there, a campus tour, a nice carbo load dinner last night followed by some mini-golf! The team will be home late tonight. Go Frontier!

Two Rivers

When in wine country, do as the wineos do?? We skipped the wine festival today because they wanted $43 a person. So instead we made a trip to Two Rivers Winery. It was amazing! We sampled 7 of their wines in the tasting room and visited with the owner. Ended up buying a bottle of Riesling and a bottle of their port.

Downtown

After finishing up the driving tour of the Park, we ended up in downtown at the Rockslide Brewery! Great beer and pretty good food. We walked around downtown a little bit after lunch then headed back to grandma and grandpa's house to cool off for a bit.

Wow!

While we were at the visitor center getting our passports stamped, there was all of a sudden a lot of action. A group of about 8 rangers, security personal and a guy in jeans and a ball cap walked in. It was the Secretary of the Interior and former US Senator from Colorado Ken Salazar. It was pretty neat. The two security guys looked like ex Navy Seals. After the visitors center we made a few more stops including at Echo Canyon where Jen almost dropped the car keys into the abyss. Can you see the mummy laying down in the picture of the rock wall?

Tour

We spent Saturday morning and early afternoon taking a driving tour of the Colorado National Monument. What a neat place! Lots of scenic view points to pull out at and take little hikes to. Also lots of road bikers for Jennifer to try and dodge. We thought of Rebecca and how much fun she would have had riding through the park! Hard to believe this is the first national park we have visited in over 14 months.