Today Is The Day

Gay is flying in today

Wednesday

Joy and Jack and Gay will be together for the first time in 30+ years

Healing

A family united

We are excited

We are full with anticipation

A bridge crossing with no limits

Jesus in control, our faith and trust in Him

Praise the Lord

Matthew 19:26

A Day In Denver

Today it was 68 degrees and sunny. We talked about doing another road trip versus staying in town. Got out our Colorado book and our Denver Book and looked through both. Hmmmm the Glenn Miller exhibit at the museum in Ft. Collins, Colorado Springs, Mirror Lake, 16th St Mall....the Mall won. Off we went, first to pick up some pictures at our local Walgreen's. We ordered them through Picassa on line and presto, ready at the pharmacy. Very nice! The guy at the photo department said yesterday they had 2000 orders! Things are definitely done on the big side here. We asked directions and drove to the 16th St. Mall without TomTom guidance. Oh such brave souls we were. Once near downtown we followed signs to the Visitor Center. Lo and behold a parking space right off 16th St! How good is that! A mile long mall with shops and restaurants and artsy things; a park at one end and and government buildings at the other. A free shuttle bus runs between both ends, actually several buses simultaneously. We walked, rode the shuttle, ate at an out door cafe, shopped (Julie that is). Once we had our fill of 16th St Mall we drove to the Cherry Creek Mall. That was more difficult to negotiate. A Farmers Market was just finishing up their day and the normal routes into the parking garages were blocked off. After some minor delays and frustrations we found the perfect spot...2 spaces away from the Macy's entrance. Once inside we were greeted with the wonderful aroma of hot Cinnamon buns, coffee, popcorn and the bright lights of a mega mall. We walked around a little, sat, shopped - had our obligatory Cinnamon bun in honor of mom - along with some raspberry lemonade. Home to a long nap. Fun Times in Denver!

Course Complete - Great Gratification

A little over a year ago Jack embarked on a journey toward certification in Band Instrument Repair. He researched the possibilities of going to school at an out-of-state program (Vermont that is), college campus, or online program. He looked and reviewed and contemplated. Then he happened upon the CIOMIT - Colorado Institute of Musical Instrument Technology - in Castle Rock, Colorado, an online web cast interactive program. It was perfect! Jack contacted Dan Parker, the professor and president. In no time Jack had his workshop set up, complete with web cam camera and microphone. So, in September 2007 Jack started the BIR(Band Instrument Repair)Clarinet Fundamentals completing the course on November 24, 2007. The course was intense, requiring written and skills testing. With each course the school sent the appropriate tools and books. Next came the Flute - and since Jack has had little experience handling a flute this particular course proved more challenging. Jack studied, worked and persisted and on February 24th 2008 received his certificate of completion for the Flute Fundamentals. Next came the Brass Fundamentals course. Jack completed this course in May of 2008. At that point we had put our condo on the market. We wanted to find one level living and a better shop area for Jack. An amazing turn of events happened next. The condo sold. Julie took a job with a travel nurse company and in a little over a month after the closing on our condo we found ourselves on the road to a Travel Nurse Job in Denver Colorado! Denver is only 26 miles from Castle Rock. Once settled in Denver Jack contacted the CIOMIT school and Dan Parker. Dan was elated and Jack promptly signed up for the "Power Course" in Saxophone Fundamentals. A six week course packed into 2 weeks at the school in Castle Rock. It is official - Jack has completed the Saxophone Fundamentals and the full requirements for the basic curriculum in band instrument repair. Hooray for Jack!! He is very happy and I admire him for his persistence and completion of this challenging course. We thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the wonderful adventure we are on, feeling assured that this will be used for His glory and for the advancement of His Kingdom. To God be all Glory and Praise!

ROCKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

This is where we are headed - Rocky Mountains
Getting closer
The destination - and the highest continuous highway in the US
No Kidding.. STOP !!!
Snow in the higher elevations

At it's highest point the winding and switchback turns of the Rocky Mountain Trail Ridge Road is 12,183 feet. We did not get that high but we did get over 11,000 feet. The grade is never over 7% so as far as steepness of the road it was never hairy...however, the road did not have guard rails and on one side would be straight up mountainside and the other side a straight down drop. Yikes. Jack did not like that part at all.

The drive to this location took us through bustling Boulder, Colorado where some big event was happening. Bumper to bumper traffic for about 3 miles. Once beyond Boulder we were in the foothills with flat flat "Front Range" on our right and the Rocky Mountains to our left. No gradual up sloping - flat then mountains. The road to Estes Park was fun and beautiful. We took nearly 200 pictures and haven't finished sorting yet. Craggy rock is a good description of the Rocky Mountains. B I G and spectacular. Being up so high was fun and the scenery amazing. We did get to above tree line into the alpine tundra and it was at that point that I could understand the spell bounding beauty of rocks described by Craig Mortenson in his book "Three Cups Of Tea". Back in VT, Mount Mansfield has some alpine tundra areas but nothing at all compared to these Rocky Mountains... fields and fields of this beautiful high tundra and craggy rock made for spectacular scenery...allbeit...scaring the pants off Jack. The only wildlife we saw was a chipmunk being fed peanuts by some kids and a beautiful black bird with red and white markings. Once back down to the 7,222 elevation of Estes Park we felt pretty good. The town of Estes is adorable, old west style, lots of shops and restaurants and touristy things. We met a man (73 years old) in the visitor center who moved there from Kansas 13 years ago. He and his wife went on vacation there and loved the beauty of the area so much they up and moved. He loves it. While on the Trail Ridge Road we met a family from Colchester,VT! Their children are checking out colleges in Colorado and were doing some sightseeing. The wife works in Denver commuting from VT, the husband lives and works in Colchester and stays with the kids. I didn't quite get her work week, but they seem happy with the arrangement.

We drove to Thornton to visit with Joy and Jane and Rob before heading back to Denver. Once back in Denver, we were hungry so stopped at the Applebees near our apartment and, you guessed it, another transplant from VT to Colorado. Morgan grew up in Montpelier and came to vet school somewhere near Denver. She is still in school and has decided to stay and live in this area....reason...."the weather is so awesome"!! Our first real sightseeing day was fun and we did see some spectacular sights.

Love to all the family

Grace and Peace

We had an awesome day

*G E N E R A L ** C O N F E R E N C E*

It is worth seeing! www.upci.org . Click on General Conference live streaming. Free or you can pay for what you can afford and have internet to support. Tonights message, and last night's music are now archieved. Tonight's message (OCTOBER 16, 2008) by Bishop Kenneth Haney was outstanding.

It is well worth it!
Jesus Christ is real and alive and His church is strong and ready to do great exploits!
Jesus Christ wants you to know Him for yourself and experience His power, love and healing as only the God of the universe can do! "Oh, taste and see that the Lord, He IS good!"

Grace and Peace
Grammie Betimes

WEATHER REPORT

Traffic advisory on weather reports
Helicopter pilot - "Amelia Earhart"

Colorado weather report
more weather

older picture of distant mountains

So, we listen to the weather report first thing in the morning and it is like listening to a foreign language.

What is this about weather systems coming from Texas, Nevada....and Idaho.... and Montana..... and over to Kansas and Nebraska? The Dakota's are mentioned often. Not to leave out of the mix the cities and towns in and around the Denver area. There is a Burlington Colorado ( I think it is in Colorado, though it just might be in Nebraska or Kansas...) which one is north? South? West? East? Which way is Steam Boat Springs??? What a cool name, but where in the world is it! And how about Grand Junction...they always mention Grand Junction! There is the "Front Range" and the "High Country" and "High Plains". Then we hear Durango! Hooray, we know where Durango is! It is so weird hearing about states that never ever are in the vocabulary of weather men in New England and have always seemed so far away and apart from my personal experience. Now, I find myself in the backyard of these far away places and it seems surreal.

Well, we know what the temperatures mean, and the predicted cloudy vs sunny skies...but what is coming our way and has already gone by? How do the weather patterns flow? I am going to have to just study this out. I will consult a map of the US, often, it is good to learn new things and expand the mind.

Today in Denver, Colorado it was cool and sunny. Just what the weather man here predicted and just the reason we came to see for ourselves. Is it sunny here more than cloudy? Up until today the weather in Vermont has surpassed the Denver weather in niceness....even one of the local weather casters was in Dorset VT commenting on the spectacular foliage and great weather conditions. However, here in Denver - 2 local ski areas battled it out to be the "first to open" for the season. The skiers are elated, and today on the drive to work I could see the snow covered mountain tops in the sun. That was very pretty.

Every weather report in the morning is accompanied with a traffic update or two, depending on what is going on at the time. The local station has a helicopter reporter who is female and her name is Amelia Earhart. She is quite a good reporter, and I believe she is the pilot, but maybe not.

OK, so now it is back to the maps and fiuguring out just where in the good ole USA we are!

No fear - no matter where we are, Jesus is with us. Nothing can be more awesome, nor more reassuring than that! He is the Master of the wind.

Grace and Peace

Calvary Apostolic Church - Denver

Hi!

This is our second Sunday at Calvary Apostolic. Such a wonderful house of worship, sanctuary of praise and place of bringing forth the powerful anointed Word of God. Deliverance for people bound by sin, healings and miracles are evident each time we come. Evangelism is a key. Ministries attend to the spiritual growth of members and reach out to the community. Services can be watched on line http://www.cacdenver.org/ I believe is the site...if that isn't right google Calvary Apostolic Denver and you will find it.

Evening service is soon to start, so we are off...less than 10 minutes drive. How good is that!

By the way. No snow on the ground this morning. It is cold, damp, gray,rainy low 40's temp.

I understand Vermont is full peak foliage, beautiful blue skies and temps 68. God bless you all!

Grace and Peace