Creede

On Monday we went on a journey east to see Colorado territory that we've never seen before. We rode over Wolf Creek Pass, then to South Fork, and on to Creede, CO, in search of fall foliage and here's what we found......

We stopped along one of the streams for a break......
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It was a gorgeous drive! The leaves here are just beginning to change here so they have not reached their peak yet. I do miss the reds and oranges that Alabama falls have but the Aspens here are so beautiful!

BAMA (the puppy)

Meet Bama........isn't he just the cutest?? Nelson Bennett who attends our church in summer, just loves Lucee and would "dog sit" her when we went on vacation. So, he decided to get his own little daushund and bought him from someone in Oklahoma. However, he couldn't deal with him anymore after the first 2 weeks and gave him to us.

He is a cutie but the whole potty training ordeal can be overwhelming. We have talked about selling him.......oooooooo, about every day, but Mason says he's his dog (and he got to name him) and doesn't want to give him up.

And, this little girl can't get enough of him.....

So yes, now it feels like I live in a zoo, with a new kitten, a new puppy, and Lucee. I never thought I would see the day that I would live with 3 animals inside.

What you do for your kids!

Bar D Wranglers

After a funeral and burial on Saturday, and a funeral and military burial on Sunday afternoon, We celebrated Labor Day by going to the Bar D Chuckwagon which is a fun little western dinner show with the Bar D Wranglers. Mike and I came here on our first trip out to CO but we had never taken the kids.

Train Rides for the kids.....

I had to include this picture because it's so cute of these two! Remember our trip to Mexico back in April? We stayed with Don and Ada del Amott who live here in the summer. Some of their friends from Mexico came up for the week so we went with them to the Bar D. This is Don and Ada....

I thought this next picture was hilarious and shows the real deal when you are TRYING to get your family ready for a picture......HA-ha!!

Now this one is much better.....

Here is Mike and Tab, both of Don's pastors. Tab pastors his church in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. He preached for our church Sunday morning and had a concert Sunday night at our church.

Tab's wife Ellen is in the middle of the picture below, with Jan and Cathy from our church.

Dinner is served outdoors under the gorgeous Colorado sky. I chose the brisket (you can have chicken or steak also) with baked beans, baked potato, biscuit, applesauce and spice cake, served on tin plates. The lemonade served in tin cups is yummy!


The food is OK.....but the entertainment is what is so good!

These musicians are fantastic! They play old western songs like Rawhide, Ghost Rider in the Sky, and Orange Blossom Special. But they also do some really funny songs and the kids LOVED it! With it being the last night of the season, they pretended like it was Bonanza and they were the Cartwrights. It was also considered prank night, so various things happened unexpectedly to them during the songs and they laughed 80% of the show!

It was really a fun night and I regret not taking Mom, and Robby's family there back in June. The show runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. They always end the show with a medley of God Bless the USA/God Bless America which always makes me tear up as everyone belts out these songs with such pride! If you're ever in Durango, don't miss out on this show!

Roll Tide!!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!! WHAT A SEASON OPENER!

Most of you know that the season opener was Saturday against SJSU and because it was pay-per-view, Nelson Bennett invited us over to his house to watch the game since he has the ESPN Gameplan. Nelson has a beautiful spot next to the Vallecito Creek so we enjoyed his back yard during half time.

Below is Nelson on the couch with Mason.....

Mason's friend Zac Kujath spent the weekend with us while his mom and dad were away. Zac's dad is the pastor at Pine Valley Church in Bayfield and we are very thankful for this Christian friend of Mason's!

Landon's intrigued by Nelson's Bison/Buffalo.....

And Nelson is the one responsible for this.....

Yes, he is the one who gave us "Bama" (who's first name by Nelson was Skipper)

Mason and Zac play football in the yard...

Love this shot of Zac going for the catch!

We also enjoyed some tetherball....

Landon ROCKS at Tetherball! Haven and Landon love Nelson's tire swing also!

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And as they say...."A fun time was had by all!"

BICYCLES, BEARS, AND BALL

The boys and I have been taking bike rides in the late afternoon on the road that runs through Vallecito. There's only one road in and one road out here. Anyway, we've been riding 3 miles down toward Pura Vida Restaurant and 3 miles back home. It's been great bonding time and I love it! One day while Mason and I were waiting at the top of a hill for Landon, I heard rumbling down below us, on the lake side of the road and saw the rear ends of 2 bears that disappeared into the bushes. I turned around and quietly mouthed to Mason "GO..>BEAR". So we hightailed it back to the house on our bikes, picked up Mike and Haven, and all got into the van to go back down there and see if we could see them again. Mike started taping as we saw a bear at the bottom of a tree and while he was taping, I saw cubs up in the top of the tree. I ask you to forgive me for what you are about to hear and I was very hesitant to post this, but it was an amazing experience. I confess that in my excitement, I took the Lord's name in vain and I apologize for that and am ashamed (and also human...whoops!). But I just wanted to share this neat experience with you, even though it was dusk and you really can't see it very well:

The mother bear was at the bottom of the tree with a cub, and 3 cubs were in the top of the tree!!! It was so wild! Mama bear was limping some so we think she was injured and may have adopted the cubs of another bear that had been hit and killed by a car on County Road 500.

Needless to say, we have not taken any more bike rides without Mike with us!! He is now joining us!

Mason is now playing football for Bayfield Middle School. They have 2 teams, an A team and a B team. The A team is suppose to be 8th graders but they didn't have many go out this year so Mason and a few more of the 7th graders got bumped up to the A team. We were happy for Mason because he was chosen but also concerned that the great team we had last year had now been divided up. And sure enough, for our first game, the B team won their game but the A team that Mason was on lost. It was disappointing but they came back this week and beat Miller Middle School in Durango 6-0! Mason is #22....

I was so happy I caught this amazing SACK by Mason on film!!!!

Landon and Haven were cute, entertaining themselves during the game. He was leading her in a dance and I just had to get a picture of it!

When Landon's had enough of the game, he's had enough! This is how I found him towards the end of the game....

Crazy kid!!