Happy New Year

Well, here we are at our new gig in Estes Park, CO, kinda amazed at what's transpired in such a short period of time. They say," time flies when your having fun", and we can certainly attest to that. Hard to believe that just a little over three weeks ago we were in Kansas finishing up at Amazon and headed back to Colorado for the holidays. We had a wonderful time beginning the moment we arrived in Golden with shopping, wrapping presents and last minute cookie baking which has become a tradition with our grand daughters. Sugar cookies and gingerbread men by the dozens....    

Christmas morning was chaos but so much fun....Grand daughter Allie got a pogo stick (remember those fellow boomers?) and no..... Grandpa didn't give it a try. Jim's youngest and very prego daughter Avey and her boyfriend flew in Christmas day from California and we had a wonderful visit. Christmas Day pictures

We had a chance to get to get to know her beau Albert, who is a pretty quiet guy until you get him talking about football. Sadly he is a Raider fan! We told him no black & silver colors or Raider football logo was allowed in Colorado and offered to buy him something in Bronco orange which he politely declined. As luck would have it the Broncos & Raiders were playing 
the day after they left and yes (thankfully) Denver kicked butt! 

The day after Christmas was spent enjoying left overs followed by a stroll after dark in downtown Golden to check out the lights. We  celebrated the occasion with a cup of gourmet hot chocolate made with steamed milk, Ghiradelli chocolate, whipped cream and sprinkles, yummmm ....great fun. Golden after dark  

The following day began with a drive into the mountains west of Denver so Albert could see real mountains and snow (he's never been out of California). We made it to the top of Berthoud Pass which is over 10,000' and thankfully it was pretty clear so the views were good in all directions.  Mountain drive

We arrived back in Denver in time for lunch at the Atomic Cowboy. This restaurant was featured on Triple D ( Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives on the Food Channel) (http://www.atomiccowboy.net/)  and is actually 2 restaurants in 1....Sulley's Pizza (home of the 27" manhole cover sized pizza and the Denver Biscuit Co where everything is served on a HUGE baked from scratch biscuits. Becky had grits and shrimp (OMG delicious!), Jim had pulled pork and fried onion rings on a biscuit and the kids played it safe  by splitting 
a small pizza. All in all a day to remember.... Atomic Cowboy pix

Both of our grand daughters are active in sports and before leaving we got to watch Allie's last "indoor soccer" game which was for the championship. The game is played on an astro turf hockey rink-style field with Plexiglas walls, (imagine hockey played with a ball instead of a puck.... it's that fast) They finished second but hey, at the age of seven it's not so much about winning or losing but all about having fun. Truth be known it's questionable who had more fun.... the kids playing or the parents and grandparents watching. Sure wish we could bottle up some of that energy....LOL. 

We packed up and left for Estes Park on Sunday and have settled in nicely. Located at 7,700'+/- the town of Estes Park is the eastern gateway into Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a beautiful place surrounded by majestic mountains and incredible views. The resort we are managing is aptly named River Spruce. Located on the spruce covered banks of the Big 
Thompson River it's advertised as a place where one comes to relax, renew and restore. Stand by for more on that and the area to come. Becky celebrated her (let's see was that 29 or 39 and holding) birthday on the 11th which was made even more special by a visit from our kids Alisha and Jeremy along with grand children Ethan and Allie. They all went sledding in RMNP with grandpa who found the experience a bit chilling....LOL. (Pictures of River Spruce) 

In closing we pray that all of your hopes and dreams come true in the New Year. Thank you for being our friend for friend's are like blessings. The more we treat them like blessings the more friends we'll be blessed with and we feel truly blessed. Vaya con Dios....Becky and Jim