Merry Christmas!
Last Christmas we were in Black Canyon City, AZ and we are here again this year. We love it here and are enjoying our retirement………..again..
We started our new summer jobs at Lake John in Walden, CO in May. It is an RV park and cabins on a phenomenal trout lake in northern CO. We are 1 ½ hours east of Steamboat Springs and 1 ½ north of Granby. We are surrounded by mountains on all 4 sides in the midst of “North Park” What a great place to work and live. I work in the office and general store and Jim does boat maintenance, groundskeeping and housekeeping. Josh and Nichole (the owners) are so wonderful to work with and we have plenty of time off to play…….Jim has caught some very big trout, fly fishing on the lake. Check out pictures and information at lakejohnresort.com. We’ll be there again this summer, May through September. Come and see us next summer.
So many family happenings…....Alisha (Becky’s daughter) and Billy are in Golden, CO. (Kalyn, 18 and Allie, 13). Jeremy (Becky’s son) and Brandy are in Whitewood, SD. (Ethan,15 and Sydney, 13). Avey (Jim’s daughter) and Albert are in Sacramento, CA (Elena, 5). Melanie (Jim’s daughter) and Travis are in Phoenix (Jack, 9 and Harvey, 5) Joe (Jim’s son) and Liz are east of Phoenix ( Aravis, 14, Judah, 11 and Daisy, 9) (Liz’s kids, Mason and Hadley). Karen (Jim’s daughter) is in Hoxie, KS (Isaiah, 23, Holden,17 and Bella, 15). We always have intentions of making the “Circle Tour” but only manage a partial one. We had some milestones…..Kalyn graduated high school and started college and Harvey and Elena started kindergarten! We are so blessed with our blended family and wonderful grandkids.
As a reward for all our hard work this summer we went to Cozumel, Mexico for 2 weeks and had a wonderful time diving, laying on the beach and eating lots of street tacos. The next week we flew to Atlanta to visit my Aunt Jean (my Dad’s sister) in Athens, GA. We spent almost a week and had a great time sharing stories and pictures about my great, great, great grandparents up to her childhood with my Dad. I got to spend time with my cousins Phillip and Kevin and their wives Robin and Betsey. It’s the first time we’ve spent any length of time together as adults and it was wonderful to get to know them. We had a wonderful time.
November found us back in Black Canyon City for the winter. We’ve had a great time visiting with family and friends and making new friends here.
Our wonderful fur baby and traveling companion, Lucy left us December 6. We miss her terribly and have great memories of our years together.
We’ll be spending Christmas Day with Melanie, Travis and the boys, eating chicken ‘n waffles and watching Christmas movies. Avey is coming from CA for a week of visiting and fun. Can’t wait to see her and Elena! The 1st of the year we are going to meet friends in Quartzite for 10 days of boondocking, jeeping and RV fun. February 15th will find us back in Denver for 6 weeks (in the RV in the winter) while I undergo total knee replacement and recovery.
Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Jim, Becky, Sadie, the spoiled Aussie princess and Yaqui, the cat.
