November News

am so bad at this “once a month newsletter” thing. Sorry but you will have to just settle for getting a letter every now and then. Well it is already November. July—October flew by and we were only able to fit in one more camping trip this summer. We had a great time being with family and friends. We were able to spend our time kayaking, swimming, playing putt-putt, hiking and of course eating! The summer activities have finally wound down and we are looking forward to the Fall & Winter seasons. This year Fall in Colorado has had its perfect Fall Days but then there are days like today when the temperature is over 70 and you think it is summer again. The leaves turned early this year and due to a pattern of high winds they were not on the trees long, especially in the high country. We were able to make our yearly family visit to Cripple Creek and Victor to see the leaves. It was a fun, but windy day. We took a picnic lunch of home made soup, breads and of course cookies and had a great time spending time with family. This year we took the train ride in Cripple Creek and followed that with ice cream. This was definitely a highlight for Taylor (our 2 year old niece). Our ladies retreat at church was at the end of September and it was a wonderful time of encouragement and reflection. This year we went to a new place down in the Wet Mountains and had a great time hiking and seeing the sights. It is always fun to see something that we have been working on all year come together in the end. On our way home we were able to stop off at Bishop’s Castle. This is a medieval castle being built by a crazy man and is pretty interesting to see. My friend Leah had never seen it before so we decided to enlighten her. I know she will never be the same again now that she has experienced this, HAHA! Leah, my dear friend also got hitched in September and I was honored to be able to be a part of her special day. Congrats Leah and Adam!Steve purchased a new toy this year for hunting season, a nice enclosed trailer to pull behind his truck. For the weeks leading up to “The Big Trip” he spent time cleaning it out and finding a perfect spot inside for all of his hunting gear.Well hunting season has finally come! Steve has been in hunting mode for so long and his long anticipated season has come. He was able to go bow hunting the weekends through September and now he and “the Guys” are riffle hunting. There are 8 guys, staying away for 9 days, living in a tent in the mountains and loving life! I am so glad they have this hobby, they get so excited and are all like little kids at Christmas time. Speaking of Christmas, do you know there are only 47 more shopping days left till Christmas! Oh my goodness where has the time gone!? I was just thinking about the fact that Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks and I really don't have things organized yet. Steve and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year. We will be celebrating with my family as well as Steve’s mom, Step dad and family. The crazy thing is that I will be on a business trip in Anaheim that week until Wednesday and so poor Steve is going to have to make sure the house is cleaned and ready to go. He can do it though, he is so awesome and always helps me with things around the house!If I don't see you all or talk to you before then , have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were able to go out to Venitucci Farm this year to pick pumpkins. They had all kinds of things going on from live animals to play with to live music to dance to. We then we had our Pumpkin Carving and home made chili night last week. We of course watched “The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” and made Carmel Apples.Work has been good. I went on a business trip in October to Sacramento. It was a lot of fun and I loved meeting so many of the people I work with long distance. I also worked the convention in Denver last week and had a great time. I am looking forward to my next trip to Anaheim. Steve stays busy and takes things one day at a time with work. There are still a lot of changes going on and it can be a little unsettling. Hopefully with the new year things will all settle down. Well, as far as news I think that might be it. At least that is all I can seem to remember right now. Our weeknights stay full and our weekends fuller. I am not sure how we stay so busy but it just happens. I guess it keeps us out of trouble. We hope you are all doing well and hope to hear from you soon.God Bless~ Steve, Shawnee & Moose