Johnstown BBQ Day June 5, 2010

Small town celebrations! We have enjoyed/participated in Johnstown BBQ Days since we moved here in 1989. Early in the morning the first Saturday of June 1990 we were scared to death when we woke to fire engines going up and down every street with their sirens blaring and megaphones shouting "Get out of bed!" We didn't know the firemen wanted everyone to be at the fire station for breakfast; we just thought the town was on fire!! Nowadays, Johnstown has grown so much that our area of town does not get the continuous supply of sirens it used to. We can actually turn over and go back to sleep. All the years Randy and Tim were teenagers, they got up and went to the fire station to eat breakfast. Rowen has gone a few times, but I have never gone. But we don't sleep in on BBQ Day. There is always a cause to be involved in. Some years we have walked the parade in support of various candidates, but in the last 12 years or so, some in our family have either helped with the museum activities or parade entry or the parade organization itself. Randy and Tim used to love helping with the parade, and wearing STAFF shirts!
This year, Jeffrey drove the ACE float in the parade, and Rowen and I helped staff the Parish House Museum. Emily walked in the parade with other historical volunteers, and Beth and Jason took pictures.

Nicole Hinkle, Emily pulling the wagon with LeighAnna Kaus and Ethan Hinkle, Phoebe Hinkle walking along behind.

Historical Parade Walkers: Suzanne Kloberdanz, Quinten Kaus, Kelly Kaus, Phoebe Hinkle, Nicole Hinkle, Ethan Hinkle, Emily Albertson, LeighAnna Kaus

Ethan Hinkle and LeighAnna Kaus in sepia~

Nicole Hinkle and Kelly Kaus

Kelly Kaus, Janet, Suzanne Kloberdanz

Emily holding LeighAnna Kaus

Ethan Hinkle looking cute and old fashioned!

There were booths in the park all afternoon, free tours at the Museum, duck races on the irrigation canal, a play at the high school, and the fireworks at nightfall. Plenty of stuff to do in Johnstown on BBQ Day!

Beautiful Colorado Weather...

'Tis a privilege to live in Colorado!

This year the last couple weeks of May, and the first 3-days of June, the weather has been absolutely perfect here in northern Colorado. Every morning when I get up at 5:00 the temperature has been right at 50'F, and the highs in the afternoon have been poised between 68' -78'F. The skies have been mottled with small clumps of clouds, with the sun's warm rays held back just about perfectly. Because of this, we have been eating on our deck every evening, and lunches on weekends. A new mosquito zapper and a new wasp trap have even kept most of the flying pests away.

Tonight after our family meal of home-made pizza on the deck, Jeffrey, Beth, and Dad went on a bike ride on a gravel road north of town, up to where the Big Thompson flood of '76 washed out the bridge. It is such a quiet, restful spot that we have enjoyed before. Jason and Emily went over 3-miles south of town to Pioneer Ridge subdivision, which is at the top of a significant hill, a challenge they enjoy. Janet doesn't enjoy such bike riding, but she enjoyed the evening by taking her sewing machine and the quilt top that she is piecing out to the deck. The picnic table worked very nicely for it! When we got home from the bike rides, we found Janet on the exercise bike in our basement! She had logged over 8-miles, and likely got more exercise than all the rest of us.

An old picture which sparked some thoughts!

This is a picture from around 8 years ago of five of my six children. Tim, second from left, is playing Don't Wake Up Daddy with Emily, Checkers with Beth, Othello with Jason, and Chess with Jeffrey simultaneously!! I just thought it was a precious picture and wanted to share it with you.
Thinking about this picture, I was reminded of last Saturday when a lady asked me, "What do you grow?" She probably meant in our garden, but I said what popped in my mind first: "Children!" It has been my privilege to have and raise children and spend more time with them than most parents get to, because of homeschooling them. I love each one of them so much and as 3 John 1:4 says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."
Growing children is a lot like growing a garden.
You have to prepare the soil.
You have to plant good things.
You have to weed out the bad things.
You have to wait for a harvest.
You have joy along the way as you see the growth.
Randy, Tim, Jeffrey, Beth, Jason, and Emily: You bring me joy! I love you all!

Planting the garden finally!

We finally got the garden planted last evening, May 20. This is the latest date, I believe, that we have ever planted. This spring has been cool and wet, with our last snow after Mothers' Day. We were waiting until the frost possibility was finally past. We planted 13 tomato plants, lettuce, zucchini, spaghetti squash, green beans, marigolds around the edges of the garden, and some other flowers in pots. This is the first time we have ever planted the garden without Rowen, but he was at a Historical Board Meeting. He has been having some back pain again, so we wanted to spare him the trouble. Today he has gotten the pond/water feature going, and spaded the part of the garden pictured on the right edge of this first picture, so I hope he doesn't hurt his back with that!

The girls planting tomatoes

Janet making the bean rows

Beth planting green beans

Emily planting some flowers

Jason cutting the milk jugs for covering the tomatoes

Jeffrey was taking pictures, writing thank you notes, and answering the phone for us.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

We were color coordinated with our red wall for church on May 16!

Jeffrey's graduation party May 14, 2010

After a pretty nice day, rain started about 4 pm! We were wondering if people would still come, but they did! Sixty-eight people came to congratulate Jeffrey on his graduation. At times, it was crowded and crazy, but everybody had a good time.
Jeffrey and his cakes. On two laptops, we had a slide show with pictures of Jeffrey throughout his life. People seemed to enjoy looking at the pictures.

The food table

We appreciated people driving all the way from Colorado Springs, through rain and slowed traffic, to celebrate with us!

Ben got wet coming in!

Judy Hunt and Janet

Jeffrey greeted each person and gave them a thank you card for their input into his life.

Jeffrey getting a bite, Janet cutting the cakes

Maloria McAteer, Lois (? last name), Barbara Sloan

Sunshine and Brett Gearhart, Barbara Sloan, Lois, Timmy Lucas

Uncle Alvin and Katherine Gafford

Ross and Maria Nichols greeting Johnnie Ullmann

Beth and Esther Mendez

Judy Hunt, Steve and Paula Grzenia

Jeffrey visiting with Sunshine Gearhart

Ross and Maria Nichols and Jim Lutey

Paula Grzenia and Nancy Johnson

It was rainy and the parking was full!


Jeffrey playing his Mountain Dulcimer for Drs. Matt and Cara Brown

Quinten Kaus, Ben, Marlene, and Kassie Reynolds

Kelly, LeighAnna, and Randy Kaus, Dr. Matt Brown, Marlene and Ben Reynolds, Dr. Cara Brown and Lincoln Brown

Kelly Kaus, Nicole and Ethan Hinkle

Manoj, Anjali, Christy Manoharan

Janet and Ardie Briggs

Sarah and Kwani Mendez, Rosie and Carrie Lucas, Faith Brown, Sammy and Timmy Lucas, Josias, Crystal Lucas, Judy Hunt

Jason, Harry and Quinten Kaus, Michael Durkee

Eladio, Carmen, and Sherolyn Cruz, Esther Mendez, Beth, Steve Cunningham, Rowen, Tonya Sickler

Kelly Kaus and Janet

The Red Wall in our Living Room

I'm sure one or two people have been holding their breath waiting for a finished picture of our red wall! Well, here it is!! Drum roll....

Here is the opposite wall, with the nice mirror and swag that our dear friends, the Kauses, gave to us. We like it here because it reflects the red wall! The swag looks perfect with the other colors in the room!

This reflective picture not only shows the swag, but in the mirror, you can see the new curtain on the deck door.

For those of you who have never visited us in person, you should know that these framed pictures hold the likenesses of our children back in the early 2000s with their names and the meanings of their names on them.