Estes Park

Going to the park...

We went up to Estes Park last weekend and had a blast. Its a cool little town with mountains all around. The wild life runs the town it seems. Elk and other animals are all over golf courses, trails, and frequently stop traffic to cross the street.

Apparently it's mating season for the Elk and they were making some funky noises! LOL

The male Elk does that to draw attention to himself in order to bring more females into his "harem". Haha, guys dont you wish it was that easy to find the perfect woman and get her to marry you. LOL Most of what came out of my mouth hurt me more than helped. hahaha, well thats not totally true.

This last shot was of me trying to teach Kristen how to skip rocks. So she's a little too young right now and I was a little rusty... we'll keep working on it.

Boulder Pics

We LOVE Boulder! Here are some pics from our trip:





Gearing up for our hike...









Ummmmm, I've never seen a sign like this at Paris Mountain State Park...









It's a long way up! Not really, but it felt like it since it is 1000 feet higher than Castle Rock and we still weren't completely adjusted to the altitiude!

We finally made it to the top!!










Kristen loved walking along the Pearl Street Mall




Just throwing in a cute picture of Kristen in her Bumbo seat! Her cute little bell bottoms fit in nicely around Boulder!

Kristen singing

Yesterday afternoon Kristen and I were hanging out while Sherry and Cre were shopping. She was getting tired and fussy so I started singing to her. Immediately she started talking back to me and trying to sing with me - it was hilarious! Then she let out the loudest laugh. She laughed twice and I almost lost it. It wasnt just a cute cuuuuu, it was a real laugh. I dont know if she thought my singing was funny or if she was praising the Lord with me but either way it was awesome! So last night we tried again and I got Sherry to video tape it. No laughing but she was talking... She is awesome!

Things Happening...

First of all, we found our camera. Sweet!

Church yesterday was AWESOME for me. As we spent time in worship it was evident that God was there. One of the last songs that we sang was "Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord"; what a great song. My mind immediately went to Upward training sessions several years ago. Our worship leader at Upward, David Guthrie, sang this song at each session that year. In the midst of all of the behind the scenes chaos that made each session a success, I always paused to worship with David and the attendees. This song in particular revitalized and inspired me every weekend! The words really allow you to put the focus back on Christ and not your circumstances, your past or even your present. Its ALL ABOUT HIM!
Unfortunately through the circumstances of my life this last year, I have not been able to sing that song because the words did not ring true too me. Its tough walking through the valley... but as long as you keep walking you WILL come out. I finally walked out of the valley yesterday morning. That song brought back all of the emotion of the training sessions several years ago. It brings a sense of strength and confidence to my walk with Christ. It reminds me that He is our Rock no matter what the circumstance. I can not adequately describe how thankful I am to have moved from the valley into a new stage of life. We are so excited to be in Colorado and we sense the Lord doing something major in our lives. We have no idea what it is but I say with confidence - God brought us out here!
If you haven't heard the song or if you just need to refocus right now, click play and listen. Really listen to the words. They are words of exaltation, words of strength, words of praise. He loves us, so walk in strength and power today no matter what your circumstances! David, Robbie, Travis, Julie, and Jennifer - y'all rock! I had so much fun being out on the road with y'all. Keep pressing forward and keep praising Him!

Matt Redman - Blessed Be Your Name

Oh where is our camera????

So no picture updates yet because we have misplaced our camera. I HOPE it wasnt left in a hotel room somewhere, but at this point we cant find it. It may turn up somewhere...

So as of now it has snowed nearly two feet here and all of the roads have been shut down. It is the coldest place on earth! LOL - just playing. It has been in the 80's most days. One evening it did get down in the 40's, which was awesome! The air is thin and dry up here so we are adjusting to that. Kristen is also adjusting... she went through about two days of being mildly dehydrated but we got it taken care of with lots of water and some pedialite. She never had a problem in SC but 6000 ft. up changes things a little.

We are going walking every night and it is more beautiful than any walk we have ever taken. Where we are living there are not a lot of city lights so the stars are really bright. The other night we saw a shooting star and it seemed like it was right in front of us. You could even see the red color on the tail of it. Very cool! Sherry wanted to keep doing laps around the block in hopes that we see another. LOL Needless to say after the 4th lap I was worn out! Hahaha

We started a 6 week class at a church down the street called Extreme Makeover by God. It is about getting your priorities in order regarding time management, fitness, nutrition, and peace. The idea is that for all of these things to be balanced, and everything in your life for that matter, you have to be doing them for God first, then your family, and the natural outflow of that is good for you. So God, family, you... We are very excited about it! It is very much like the Financial Peace University class that we have gone through.

Well, we are still looking for a car (we sold both of ours before the move because we didnt want to drive or pull them across the country). We have found some good options but we havent gone to see any of them yet.

Thats about all for now. We are going to Boulder for the afternoon. It reminds me a lot of Asheville, NC - very hippy... but its a cool place.

More updates to come. Leave a note - we love reading them!

Ryan

We are here

quick post because I need some sleep.

Yesterday was a good but long day. We drove through IL and MO into KS. We met Davelyn for dinner then drove a little more. This morning we got up and drove the rest of the way through Kansas, which is beautiful, and got to Denver about 5:00pm. We are so glad to be here. Thank you to all who prayed for us during the trip. Keep praying because the adventure is just beginning for us! Ill post more soon

Ryan

A New Start

Well after much discussion and prayer, we are moving to Denver, CO. We talked about Charleston, Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, Florida... but Denver is where we are heading. God seemed to point us in that direction so that is where we are going. We have no idea what He is going to do but we excited about the journey.

Speaking of journey... we left today! Mike and Lindsay came in on Sunday to help us pack our 26 ft. Penske truck. We packed most of Sunday, Monday until noon, and finished up on Tuesday morning. I also got to go to the Clemson vs FSU football game on Monday!!! It was AWESOME. If you have been going to Clemson games for a while, have you noticed that things are different than they used to be? The tailgating seems to get better every year, the fans have really bought into wearing orange to the game, the crowd is amazing - I remember years back we were loud for the first half of the first quarter and then it was silent. Last night the crowd was loud on every down while our D was out there and sitting on the edge of our seats while the O was on the field. So impressive! Anyway, knowing that this my last game for a while, I took it all in... and came away more impressed than ever with Clemson. I will miss being there so much, but I think they will be ok without me in the stands. These days there are a lot of loud and proud fans. This could be a great season, huh?

So back to the trip... today was a great day. We finally pulled out of Greenville about 1:00pm. Me, Sherry, Kristen, and Myrlot (the dog) all in a Penske Truck. We are actually pretty comfortable in there... Sherry and I love to drive anyway so this isn't so bad. We get to know each other best while talking on long drives. We talk about anything and everything... We also saw some beautiful country today. We drove through the mountains in SC, NC, and TN and ended our day in KY. We are about 20 miles outside of IL we we overshot our goal for today. Leaving so late I didn't really expect to get much past Nashville. Tomorrow we are going through St Louis and into Kansas. We are meeting up with one of my best friends - Davelyn Hill. We should get into Denver sometime on Thursday unless we find something fun to do along the way...

We will update and try to post some pictures tomorrow. I am so excited about our lives right now. Possibilities are endless. My wife is an amazing person. She is truly my best friend - I can go anywhere with her! My baby girl, Kristen, is just like her mom. She rocks! She didn't cry one time in the truck. Apparently she doesn't care for Cracker Barrel but other than that she was great.

Time for bed, got more adventures tomorrow.