Low on Priorities. . .

July, Aug, Sept - OCTOBER???  This must be very low on MY priority list, I think I might have to re-evaluate my priorities!

Goodness, my precious Katie Bird married this summer!  What a beautiful bride she was!  And her husband wasn't too bad either!  But "beautiful" just doesn't fit.  We wish them the greatest life ever.

We went to a BBQ in Garden City, Kansas where Tom and I cooked.  Yawn.   A lot of hard work for hours on end. No sleep, and then try to be "presentable" for awards after no sleep for two days!  Well, they take pictures and IF you might win, you sure don't want to look like you've been cooking over a smoker for two days!  We did, but Tom went up to accept!  My prize was this most incredible sunset - it went from the West - to midway to the East and from the South all the way to the North.  WOW!

We also went to Scott City, Kansas. This is our rig, just after arriving, and before the smoke got rolling!  It was fun, and the folks in Scott City know how to treat teams, and judges!  Hats off to Scott City, Kansas.  The big thing there for me was an Air Show!  Oh Yes - Airplanes!!  I was in my kind of Heaven.  Tom cooked with Beth and Mark as Scorch and ResQue - they WON the darn contest!!

We also attended a wedding in Colorado Springs where I took these shots with Tom's Cell Phone - didn't take my camera and wow, what a back-drop this was!
The top picture is my youngest daughter, Jenny Trader, with her husband Bill and sons, Jake and Ryan.
The middle picture is my next to youngest daughter, Terri Burleson, with husband Brady, and kids, Morgan, Lindsey and Landon.
Then the bottom shot is my oldest daughter, Carol Just, husband Randy, her son-in-laws, Todd and Billy, daughters, Katie, Emily and Jamie!

Dillon BBQ in the spring!

Parker BBQ, inside of the judging tent as judges were signing in and renewing old friendships!

Some of my family did the Arkansas River trip again this summer!

And we can't forget the Frisco BBQ, where Beth and Mark (Rib-It) was second only to Johnny Trigg!  Rib-It has become a feared competitor in the national BBQ circuit for sure.  If they enter, there are those comments: Wow, "Rib-It is coming"!!!

And of course our annual camping trip with everyone!

And the Holy Smoke BBQ at the Abbey in Canon City. One of the largest ones in the state.


So this is a small sampling of our summer.  Until next time!

Addition to "How to be the Favorite Aunt (and Uncle)"!!!

Get a LOT of awards and take your nephew up to collect the awards EVERY TIME!!!  

Notice by the last and BEST award, this nephew is really getting into it and loving having his picture taken!  I suspect he loved all the applause also!  Good job Jacob!!                                               (Beth and Mark aka: Rib-It, also!)

Almost May

Almost May, been an eventful year in many ways!

I spent a week in Parkview a couple weeks ago.  After a week in there, and a big scare, I got to come home.  I am still trying to get my strength back.  But I am fine and doing good.

We had a wonderful Easter at Carol's with an Easter Egg hunt for everyone - adults included.  Can I say again how much I love my girls, their families and how wonderful it is to spend time with them!

Tom and I are looking forward to another summer of BBQ's as Judges, and time in the mountains.  The price of gasoline will certainly curtail much more of our journeys I'm sure.  I am thankful we did some traveling before this inflation hit.  Although we have a rather expensive, spare room on wheels, sitting in our yard!

I am so thankful for friends, so thankful for family and so thankful for the power of prayer and blessings.  I was on the prayer rolls of our temple, and I know, without a doubt, there is incredible strength in that.

Until next time...

Guess Who I Knew?!

Just a real short note - I was laying in bed last night, thinking about the fact that my grandchildren never knew my grandparents, how sad that is.  And most of them didn't know or remember my parents.  Even sadder.

I want to scream at them - I KNEW YOUR great great grandfather - I knew them, I talked with them, I walked with them, I ate with them, I drove with them and later on I drove them!

Just a thought. . . !   Until next time!

Catching Up

So much has happened since February, biggest thing I guess, was our short trip to Arizona. We first went to Albuquerque to spend some time with Tom's 1st cousin, once removed, and his wife. We spent two very very fast days going through genealogy, memories, and a few hours of tape recording the both of them.  It was a visit I won't soon forget.

They also took us up on the tram to the top of Sandia Peak, where we had dinner as the sun set over the city!  Breathtaking, can I recommend this to everyone??!!  On the east side of Sandia Peak, is a ski slope. Not something I had ever wondered about, but there is a whole other world on the other side of that mountain!

We left the Q for Flagstaff, where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a restaurant Beth and Mark recommended, Salsa Brava.  Another thing we would sure go back for!

Then on to Laughlin, NV.  Mainly for the cheap rooms, but it was nice to be out of the snow.  We left Laughlin on Friday for Lake Havasu City, AZ, which is about an hour away, just down the river.  We spent two days busy with judging their BBQ, then made arrangements to meet friends the next morning for breakfast.  We then went out on the lake compliments of tickets we had received in a bag from the BBQ.  It was beautiful!

While in Havasu, the weather turned cold and rainy. I sure felt sorry for those cooking in the BBQ contest, 79 teams and I bet they had a miserable night for those who stay up tending their smokers.










We spent a couple more days back in Laughlin before heading home via the Painted Desert.  Geez, it was so pretty.

We didn't stay too long, staying in Laughlin is great for the pocketbook, but we aren't gamblers, so it got old pretty quick. And the smoke - it's all smoking in Nevada and that's just about more than I can take. Even if we had a non-smoking room etc, you could still smell the smoke.  Just one of the things you have to put up with in Nevada I guess. Gambling, drinking, prostitutes and smoking!

But we had a delightful time - it went by way too fast!

The week we got home, Randy found out his younger brother in California was very ill and had been taken to hospital. Then he found out he was on life support and would not make it.  He and his two other brothers made a fast trip out there, the whole family was with the brother when they removed the life support.  Then before the brothers could get back to Colorado, his brothers wife passed who had also been very ill.  But with a big storm headed this way, they were in a hurry to beat the snow.

So that brings my Blog up-to-date.  Now we are just waiting for spring to spring. I am hoping to go back to Arizona, possibly the Painted Desert, to see the desert in bloom next month.

Until next time!

Air Leak

If you woke up to this INSIDE your house, would you consider it an "air-leak"??!!  On the coldest, windiest, snowiest day of the year, I woke up to a wet rug and said what the heck?  Upon closer inspection, I realized JUST how big this Leak was!!!  

This and That!

I am trying to set up a new computer.  So many things to transfer, reinstall, delete, check on, passwords to look up, on and on!!  I've been at it for hours and feel like I've only scratched the surface!  Spending over an hour online with McAfee didn't help this morning!  But it's all coming along...

Toms gone to a wrestling thing across the mountains. He was stopping in Center to get his cousin who was going with him.  They will stay in Pagosa tonight, and he might be home tomorrow night. Or maybe Sunday. I don't do sports, I don't want anything to do with sports when its forced.  I really like basketball, but not obsessed with it. I really really dislike wrestling.  I find it embarrassing to see "grown" boys grappling each other like they do.  But that's just me. So I prefer to not see it in any form. I really enjoy football, but again, not obsessed with it.  I like football on tv, and love love love watching basketball in person.

We are leaving for Arizona in a bit over a week, weather permitting. It will be so nice to be somewhere there isn't SNOW!  We have had a snowy winter!  We just had a storm that left us with many 2-foot drifts.  We have had two day of sun now, but it's still snow covered everywhere!  We won't be gone too long, even though I would like to stay down there much longer! 

We recently gave up our new Sleep Number bed. Tom said he just couldn't sleep on it. We did get a king size bed, which is REALLY nice.  But why, even with a king size bed, I still have to make him scoot over??  And why do I still have to fight to get the covers?  When he won't sleep under covers??  Some things that make me go hummm, and I bet there is no answer to!!!  It's a man thing I think. . .  

Jamie and her new husband moved to Penrose. They seem so happy, and he seems to treat her so good.  I hope so, she so deserves it.  It's hard to see all these grandkids growing up.  Ryan is in an ACT class today, he will be a senior next year at Pueblo West. When did he grow up??!!  

So thats it for now - I don't even have a picture on this computer to put on.  But give me a few hours!!

Until then. . .