In every life a little rain must fall!!!!!

We are staying in Colorado until the end of this month and like much of the United States we are getting buckets of rain, at least for the last three days.  We do not have the flooding like the Mississippi, Indiana, and Ohio but it does make like a little miserable especially with the cold weather (highs in the mid 50's).  But it does give us time to write this blog, crochet a baby blanket and of course shopping. 

Check out the awning -  it is full of water!

It is a little wet here!!

Before the rain but still a little chilly, we had our friends from Florida and New Mexico stop by and spend a few days with Bob and Donna and us.  Doug and April Allmond stopped by on their way to Blue Mesa from Florida to camp host once again in Curacanti National Recreation Area.  A couple of years ago we met Doug and April when we camp hosted at Blue Mesa.  Doug was responsible for the term "our backyard", when we hiked through the many beautiful areas around the southern part of Colorado, Doug would say, "Look at all of this, it is America's backyard and it is free!  He is also responsible for the picture you see when you log on to this blog! Doug and April are treasured friends.   Mike and Rita Kavanaugh drove up from Albuquerque for a long weekend with us.  We always stop by to see them whenever we are in Albuquerque, they always go out of their way to make us feel like family.  The eight of us had a wonderful time together!  It really doesn't matter where we are in this great land, it is always best when we are spending time with good friends!!!!

From left to right:  April, Pat Donna, Rita, Mike, Bob, George, Doug getting ready to enjoy a breakfast at one of our favorite spots near Colorado Springs,

George took this picture at one of our favorite spots in the Springs - Garden of the Gods!

Everyone turn their back on George - he is getting ready to take a picture!  OK I know that I take too much time trying to get a good picture.  That is April in the foreground, Pat to the left, with Rita rushing to get out of the picture behind Doug and Mike trying to stay warm!

Before our guest arrived, we did some work for Bob and Donna's daughter, Maria.  She asked us last year if we could help them build a deck on the back of their house in the Black Forest area near Colorado Springs.  We did find out that we are getting older and are slower to recover but we helped them get it about 90 % complete before we gave out and the weather stopped us!  All that is left is to finish the railings and cover the stairs and stair landing.  Maria was happy with our work and we are happy to be done!

We torn off the old small deck to get ready for the new, larger, and improved deck.  George with his sawsall is putting the finishing touches of taking off the old deck.

Pat, Donna and Bob working under the joists installing hurricane straps (really needed with the wind they get out here).  We are half way done about this time!

Time for a rest for Pat with Mylee (David and Nikki's little puppy) and Bob!

We are staying at the Jefferson county fairgrounds for about 11 days until George's chemo treatments and Donna's medical appointments are finished for the month.  Our next journey will be to Yellowstone and the Tetons but we think maybe we are going up there a little premature.  Snow is still falling in the Yellowstone National Park, we hope that we will not need snowshoes when we get there.   It will be an adventure and even in the winter Yellowstone is beautiful so we are looking forward to our next backyard adventure.

We are staying dry, and hope that all of you are managing to survive the terrible weather that has stuck thoughout the US  this spring.  We also pray for those in harms way, both here in the US and those who are serving our country overseas! 

Congratulation to Maryann Graue on her retirement from government service on June 3rd!!!!  Maryann was a nurse in the Air Force, serving in Viet Nam, before she has served the Air Force as a civilian nurse for several bases including:  FE Warren AFB, Wyoming and Davis Monthan AFB, Arizona.  Along the way she also raised two wonderful young ladies, kept Tom, her hsuband, in line and grounded and became one of our closest friends.   You are one of a kind (we mean that in the most postive of ways) and wish you all the best on your retirement trip through western United States and across Canada!

We just found out another friend is also retiring.  We would also like to wish Joyce Price all the best in her retirement.  We hope you and Frank enjoy your retirement -- it is really not a bad life!!  Take care of yourselves, we hope to see you the next time we are in the midwest! 

To all of our friends and family, regardless of the weather, we hope you are enjoying life!  Until the next time we sit down and jot down a few lines for this blog, we hope life is good for you!  If you get a chance remember our military members serving this country in the four corners of this world and say a prayer for those in harms way!  Remember, if not for them and those who served before them,  the freedoms we enjoy today would not be possible!!!