Labor Day Picnic 9-2-13

 On Labor Day we went up in the mountains to Meeker Park picnic area.  We had some time before Randy and Joy and boys got there, so we played some horseshoes.  Our new adopted son, "Bartholomew" was with us, but he doesn't want to be pictured online.  He was probably the best horseshoe player of the morning.   He is living with us and going to college in Greeley, and we are enjoying him being in our family.  He is giving Emily piano lessons and she is loving it!

 Instead of taking pictures of all our ringers, we took pictures of the crazy landings!

 We didn't know just when Randy and Joy would arrive or if they would know exactly where to find us, since there is no cell phone signal in the mountains, so Rowen had the idea to mount our large Kodak umbrella near the entrance to the picnic area.  Sure enough, when Randy saw that umbrella, he knew to turn in!

 Jonathan was happy to see Grandpa!

Rowen, Quil, and Micah went and got the umbrella from the entrance.

   It was a beautiful day!

 

 Micah "stumping!"

 Randy, Joy, and Jonathan

 Quil "stumping!"

Randy and Joy brought homemade ice cream to crank!  It was sure yummy!  Randy's 28th birthday was the next day, so we enjoyed zucchini cake and ice cream in the mountains.

 The boys wanted a turn to crank.

 Joy and Jonathan

 Randy and Jonathan

  Jonathan 'high in the Rockies'

 All of us

Randy, Joy, and family

We went on up to Lily Lake near Estes Park for a hike.  (Now, two weeks later, we are so glad we got to do this fun day in the mountains, because of the flooding and road damage, it will be a long time before we get to go back.)

One of our favorite photo shooting places above Lily Lake

 The ones who were hiking the mountain trail looked down on those of us doing the easy hike around Lily Lake.

 Quil and Micah having a loving brother moment!

 Aunt Emily and her nephews

 Jonathan's birthday picture

Colorado Flooding 2013

  I'm sure most of you have already seen many pictures of the flooding that has taken place in Colorado the past few days.  In Johnstown, we got 6 inches of rain in the week, but many places got much, much more.  In the mountains, the rain was heavy and overflowed the rivers.  As the rivers came down and went through farmlands and towns, all around the rivers there was flooding.  Where we live in Johnstown, we did not have any flooding at all, but north, south, and east of the middle of our town, the roads were closed.  Some still are, because of bridges and roads being damaged.  Rowen has to go the long way to work, and will for however long it take to fix the bridges.
       This is the intersection three miles east of us, on Friday.  Usually we turn north here to go to Rowen's work, or to Greeley.  A little further up this road, past the railroad, the two bridges are out.  So we can't use this route now.

 Here is that bridge I mentioned above. It is the bridge over the Little Thompson.

 This is further north on the same road.  There is another bridge out that is over the Big Thompson River.

 This is County Road 17 north of Johnstown, another route we would usually use that is damaged and closed.

 The next two pictures are of I-25 on last Friday.  Rowen attempted to use I-25 to get to work, but had to get off and return home because of the Big Thompson River over I-25.

 The following pictures are from north of our town where the Big Thompson River goes through.  Emily took them.  The pictures above were from news sources.

We are very thankful to have our phone and internet service back after being without from Friday morning until Monday afternoon.  We are in prayer for all those who have devastating losses and messes to deal with.

First Homeschool Field Trip of the year--August 30

 At the Longmont Museum, there was a special Lego exhibit, with intricate buildings, trains, etc.  Joy, Quil, Micah, and Jonathan went with our homeschool group. 

 This is all made from Legos, which doesn't seem possible!

 After we looked at everything, we went in the next big room, where there were stations set up to make your own Lego creations.

 

There was a place for little people to play with Duplos.  Jonathan enjoyed that!

 Later, we walked around the rest of the Museum.  Quil and Micah were fascinated with the water table where we controlled the flow of water through the irrigation canals by opening and shutting gates.

 There was a school bell rope to pull and Jonathan liked the ringing sound.

 It was special to have Emily's nephews along on the field trip.