We are in Colorado!!

Kelly absolutely loved Kanakuk Colorado (she's asking me every day if I've signed her up for next year yet) and we have made it to the cabin. We drove up from the west and it was really beautiful. We did stay in Keystone for two days and the guys really enjoyed the two golf courses there. Nick and Connor played the Estes Park course yesterday. We ate at Ed's Cantina on Monday night, and last night we had some great pizza at Village Pizza. Bill and I are watching the hummingbirds and woodpeckers from Estes Perk, a coffee place up the hill from the cabin. The photo shows the deck where we are sitting, and Deer Mountain in the background.

July -- iphones, kamp and vacation

Hello everyone. Well, I say everyone, but I'm not sure how much this thing gets read...so please leave a comment if you do read it :)

I'll start with the new iphone. I love it, but don't like the battery drain. I wasn't planning on get it until after we return from our vacation because the 3G network isn't available where we are going and I did not want to stand in line for it. I already had the iphone, but the plan was that I would give it to Bill (who had lost his phone) and get the new one. My sister-in-law had spent about 7 hours at the Apple store on Launch Day (Friday) and was unsuccessful in activation and left empty-handed. She was back up there on Saturday and after several hours they still coulldn't get her activated. I was on the phone with her as she asked about their stock levels in case her sister-in-law (me!) wanted to get one over the weekend and they told her if I came up there right then they would put one on hold for me and I could get in the line. I impulsively dashed over there. It was kind of cool getting in the store. I went up past the line, to the 'bouncer' and gave him my name. He nodded knowingly and had someone escort me to the back of the store. I think this is the closest I will ever come to VIP treatment!! The guy in the back working with my SIL told me he could hold it for me but I couldn't jump the line. I said "of course" (I hate line-jumpers). He then looked at me and said, "but if you want, I can activate it right now." I said "of course" and I became a line-jumper! They apparently saw it as some sort of benefit to my SIL for the way-over-the-top trouble she'd had in activating her phone. Anyway, I now have the 3G phone, and Bill has my 'old' phone. It's been fun playing with it! The photo above shows all the applications I've added to it...most of them are free.


Kelly is at Kanakuk in Colorado. She is our only camper this year...helpful for the checkbook, but kind of sad nonetheless. I counted it up yesterday and over the years with the 3 kids, this is our 20th term at kamp! We haven't heard one word from Kelly. I hope she likes it. K-CO is a lot different than the Missouri camps and this is her first year to go to it. She did take a 3 day horse trip, which hopefully went well. Nick went to K-CO last summer and loved it (actually liked it much better than Missouri) and was planning on going back this summer. That is why Kelly decided to go to there instead of her standard 25-day term (this one is only 13 days :), but then we had to cancel Nick because he was supposed to go on a 10 day road trip with a bunch of guys he graduated with, up to the All-Star game, and that ended up falling through. So Kelly ended up in CO without Nick! Some have asked why Connor didn't go to camp... I don't know what to say except he's 16 :)

We pick up Kelly on Friday and will go to Keystone for a mini-vacation of 2 days before getting to our cabin up in Estes Park. The guys will play both golf courses, and Kelly and I will shop and hang out. We are driving up to the cabin from the west side of the mountians which means we will drive over Trail Ridge to get there. I have this thing about HEIGHTS and am not looking forward to driving over the top. We will have 2 cars (we are actually meeting in Keystone) and that means I need to drive one of them, or maybe I'll ride with Bill or Nick over Trail Ridge. I need to get over this heights thing, but really...the road is very exposed in some places and cars have been known to, well, you know...

Hope your summer is going well!

June recap

Today is the last day of June, so for most intents and purposes, the summer is about half over. Connor starts football on August 4, which means we have to be back in town from Colorado the weekend before.

June's been good! Kelly went on a Dino Dig trip with about 20 kids from school and 3 teacher/staff chaperones. They went (and camped) to New Mexico, Colorado (yes, she's already been to Estes once this summer :), Wyoming and South Dakota. They saw Mt. Rushmore, and actually dug for dinosaur bones at an excavation site in Wyoming. The dig is run by a Christian college and they approach it from a creationist worldview.

Connor's been recuperating from that dislocated shoulder. He's begun playing 7-on-7 football, although I'm still unclear as to whether the doc has approved it :) He is currently at Beach Camp in Florida with the youth from Prestonwood Baptist Church.

Nick and I went to Kansas State for orientation and enrollment. He's enrolled for 15 hours for the fall, and we are having an ongoing conversation on whether he should just take 12 as he adjusts to college and pledges a fraternity. He is pledging Delta Upsilon and will be living in their house. I toured the house when we were up there and it's pretty cool: 3 levels plus a basement, sleeping dorms, study rooms, an industrial kitchen... they have a full-time cook and the pledges do all the cleaning! Nick did Wildcat Warmup, a welcome weekend for new students. I had a relaxing weekend at a hotel in Topeka while he did that. A tornado had hit the campus just 36 hours before we arrived, so there was a lot of debris around. However, the school did a great job of keeping the weekend going.

Nick had all four of his wisdom teeth extracted at the beginning of the month and it was a difficult week. Now, 4 weeks later, he has developed an infection under his gum and is just as swollen as the day after they were pulled! He's on a stiff antibiotic and the doc says he'll be feeling fine in no time.

Last week, Nick, Kelly and I volunteered at West Dallas Community School in the mornings. We enjoy doing that every summer. We may try to work it in for two weeks next year. The kids are great, and it's easy to bond with them in a short period of time.

Nick has been playing golf almost every day. Kelly has been writing stories. Connor has been hanging out with his friends, and looking for a job. Kelly leaves for Kanakuk Colorado on July 7. We all pick her up from camp on the 19th and head up to the cabin. Bill is taking two weeks off, so that will be nice. And Astro...well he's just been hanging out!

Kelly's 8th grade graduation

Kelly graduated from the 8th grade last week. She has loved middle school and is somewhat sad to leave it behind. Some middle school highlights: Wildnerness Trip (with all the 8th graders in the Ozark Mountains), Academic Awards for Science and Latin, National Latin Exam awards - 7th grade and 8th grade (gold medal summa cum laude), State Recognition for SAT score taken as in 7th grade under Duke Talent Identification Program, 6th grade Physics Camp by Women in Physics at University of Texas at Dallas (selective admission), and just enjoying school. (Hope this didn't sound too much like a Christmas letter! We are very proud of her and thankful that she enjoys learning and have a strong curiosity).

Nick graduates!!

Nick has graduated from TCA!! It was a wonderful ceremony and we are very proud of him! We were thrilled that his grandparents from Phoenix were able to attend. Nick leaves tomorrow, Monday, to work on a friend's ranch for 2 or 3 weeks. He is looking forward to college at Kansas State (go Wildcats!) where he has already pledged Delta Upsilon fraternity and will be moving into their house. They seem like a really good group of guys and we are excited for him.

Kelly wins two 8th grade Academic Awards!!

We are very proud and excited for Kelly as she has won two Academic Awards. When we learned she was winning an award, we guessed it would be for Latin. She did win a Latin award, but she also won a Science award! She loves both subjects and we are thrilled to see her rewarded.

Legacy goes all the way to state!

It was a fun ride for Connor's baseball team as they had an undefeated district season, and won all of their playoff games until the state championship, which they lost 11-7. Connor had a great playoff run and was named to the all-tournament team. Unfortunately, he completely dislocated his shoulder during the championship game. Next week he will begin 12 weeks of therapy. His summer has changed now that summer baseball, summer basketball, and 7-on-7 football are off the radar!