More Dear Friends

Hi all!

Happy Thanksgiving. We will be spending Thanksgiving somewhere in CA, not sure where, but it will be interesting to cook a turkey in a teeny tiny oven, that is for sure!

This letter is kind of a sequel to the other "Friends" letter I wrote.

After we left Utah, we headed to CO to visit a bunch more people. We decided that we should hit the mountains before the snow fell and we were glad we did. We had such a great time.

Our first stop was to see my cousin Diane and her family. Diane and I are the oldest (me) and youngest (her) girls on my dad's side of the family. There are three boys in between us and since there is such a big age difference, we never really got to spend a whole lot of time with just us, so this was a real treat for me. She and her husband Kenne were more than wonderful as we settled into their neighborhood, ate some awesome spaghetti and meatballs and played with their adorable kids - three boys no less! We had some late night chats and good food. Not to mention that fact that Diane's dad was there, my uncle whom I don't see that often and my other cousin Karl. All are now living in CO and it was great to be able to see them and chat a while. I found out that Karl, like me, is into healthy eating. As we were heavy into one of our food discussions, Diane walked by, heard what we were saying and said, "Oh this is great! Karl finally has someone to listen to him talk about all his organic food issues!" HA! It was funny because I am sure my family feels the same way about me :)

Anyway, our girls had a great time playing with the boys and little baby Nico (who was only 7 weeks!!) was more than adorable, as you can see!!! Gotta love babies!!!

Totally adorable Nico at about 7 weeks!

Next we drove down to the Air Force Academy where Zman took a tour, we got settled and ready for the next big day - Army/Air force football. Unfortunately, Army stunk! UGH! but, the game and tailgate were fun. Dad's friend Jon AKA "Homer" came down for the game, so it was nice to hang around with him for a while.


Jon, Isaac, Todd and Zach enjoying the first half of the Army/Air force game. That was the only enjoyable half. Isaac was fascinated to learn that Jon was once a member of the Army parachute team. After the guys jumped, he couldn't ask enough questions, so I, being the great mom, sent him to sit next to Jon and ask HIM a hundred questions. He has young kids, so he was a good sport about it all.

Next was a nice long stay at the Koehlers. Rob and Chris have been long time friends. We met while we were all in grad school at IU in Indiana. Our two oldest boys are the same age and they were best of friends for many years. We hadn't seen them in almost 9 years and WOW, have things changed. All our boys are now taller than the parents - by far!

Rob and Chris were just great and it was so nice to talk with them, hang out and just see how life is going in CO. Chris and I were very close and it was just awesome to see her again after all these years. Rob too was great. He got us tickets to the game, busted on Zman, totally hung out with Kik and let us borrow the car. What a treat! They are just a great family and it was fun to see how grown up their boys are. They are super kids and I wish we had more time to be with them.

Funny Kik line: Rob had been totally hanging out with Kik all day and was just super with him. Kik loves people who give him their undivided attention and answer his incessant questions. At dinner that night Rob had changed and Kik said to me - "Mommy, where is that fun guy in the blue shirt?" HA! "right next to you sweety!" Too cute!

Kevin, Alex, Nicole, Jordan and Zach all snuggled around a very asleep Isaac. I kept forgetting to take pictures, so I made all the big kids, after a super fun game of "Catch Phrase" go in and get around Isaac for a group shot.

I am sure you are wondering how Kik got to sit in a real firetruck! Well, Rob and Chris's smoke detectors are wired directly to the fire department. And, being my mothers daughter, I am not a very neat cook. I let one of my meals over flow in the oven and when we opened it up the room was filled with smoke! We tried in vain to get it to blow out the door, but sure enough, the smoke detector started screaming. Chris called, but they were already on their way. En route they were finally gotten a hold of, but they came anyway. Kik was thrilled and I was embarrassed! Chris tried to make me feel better by letting me know it wasn't the first time and surely wouldn't be the last!

Next was a quick little dinner with a great friend of mines daughter Heather. Heather is a great gal and is on her way to be a missionary in a place FAR away! She came to our RV and had a spaghetti dinner with us and it was so nice to chat with her about her future and what has been going on in her life. She is totally sweet and a breath of fresh air! I failed to take a picture with her, which makes me crazy! Maybe I can dig one up from long ago :)

OK, only a few more to go! We drove up to Boulder to visit another roommate of Dad's - Steve AKA "Gumby" Don't ask me about the nicknames? I don't get it! Steve and his wife Jennifer were fun to hang out with. They too live in a nice neighborhood and our eye sore of an RV stained that landscape for a long weekend! We got snowed in and had to stay an extra day or so. It was fun. They have three children and all the kids hit it off doing this and that. One liked to sit on the couch all day and watch football like Zman and the other two liked hanging with the girls playing around, having a snowball fight and playing flashlight tag. Steve and Jennifer were more than gracious and we had a nice time while in Boulder. Jennifer took me on a tour of Celestial Seasonings and Steve and dad hung out remembering old times. The funniest part was when Steve asked us over and over........how long are you going to be doing this?? how long??? How long??? HA!!

Last, but not definitely not least was our trip to Frisco to see an old friend of mine, Kathy. Our mothers met before we were born, so we have grown up together. We live totally different lives, but still seem to have a lot in common. I didn't get as much time with her as I would have liked, but between hitting the road and her working, that is the way it went. We did get to have lunch and go for a walk around Frisco and it was great. We had a nice talk and good food and I hope to see her again soon - sooner than last time!

Once again, God has blessed us with such wonderful friends and family. People are always so willing to open their doors to us and let us stay, feed us and give us a much needed relief of just stability, even if for only a day or two. We love you all so much and had a super time! Thank you!!!

XO Mom