Category: Family Adventures

What is this going to be?

This started out with a “simple request from Issac to his Dad – “Can we build a play house?” (Isaac even helped with the design!) We were delighted to spend a weekend with Nick & Rachel, Issac & Kaylee helping with a special project in their back yard. Carl, Beth, and Anya also came to help!

We will never get enough time with our grands! We had so much fun loving on them and sharing life together – even in these small moments of time. Adventures with family – the best there is!

Anya recently had corrective hip surgery for a birth related hip dysplasia issue. We loved just “chill’n” with Anya – she never let her awkward cast slow her down!

We traveled to Canon City to worship together with our home church (Canon Community Baptist Church). This was a celebration of the first Sunday to be back TOGETHER INSIDE singing, praising, receiving the Word, and real fellowship after a long drought of being forced to separate. (Notice no masks or social distancing) We even wore t-shirts proclaiming our “family”!

Meanwhile – back at the “ranch”….. the playhouse was being built with love and care. It was a joy to share the experience of our generations (Papa, Dad, and Isaac) working together on a joint project – lots of memories to be shared later!

The weekend was a success – playhouse up and enclosed! More finishing touches to come later – but the kiddos loved the new playhouse and were up and playing in it early the next morning. Mom will love the hours they will spend playing outside in their new “house!

Welcome to the great plains of COLORADO!

We stayed at a KOA Journey in Limon, CO – a nice place on the plains. We are always amazed at the endless open terrain – we can see for miles and miles and miles – not a tree or shrub in sight! Wonder what the pioneers thought as they crossed this prairie?

AND Then……

Count ’em, one…two….three….????

Somewhere another wheel disappeared from our rig between Limon and Brush. We were able to pull into a service shop in Brush. He couldn’t help us, but gave us directions to Great West Trailer Service & Sales between Fort Morgan and Wiggins. Can we make it another 25 miles? God was with us! They were very experienced and able to completely replace both axles, leaf springs, brakes, wheels and mount new tires. What a relief! Thank you God for your provision and care for us!!

All of this took us off the road and “camped” at Mom Johnson’s house for two weeks. We were so thankful for a safe place to stay and so enjoyed our special time with Mom! We shared stories, celebrated Dennis’s Birthday, laughed, shopped, attended online church together, listened to old LP records, played games, connected her with family via the internet, and completed several “to-do” lists that needed attention.

And a time for memories….

We took some time to drive around Fort Morgan to reminisce. We drove by the High School, Riverside Park, Rainbow Bridge, the GW Sugar Factory (YES it still smells like “that”!) and the pond at the park where we had our first “date” ice skating after school one day.

Our trailer was fixed, It was time to say “see you later” to Mom. Our next SOWER Project would start in a few days at Glen Eyrie. Mountains! – here we come! It was great to have Pikes Peak in our view again …loving our adventures!

A Petition and a Proclamation!

How Fun! We received this petition from the Busentiz clan inviting us to come visit. We responded with a formal proclamation “To the citizens of Autumn Glen of the kingdom of Newtonia, Kansas”- what a fun way to start our next adventure!

Traveling during the COVID-19 regulations meant we could still not eat indoors. Our rig would not fit through the drive thru lane – so, Dennis had to do a walk thru between cars to order some lunch! …. making memories!!

What!?? We checked into Gunsmoke RV in Dodge City for the night. When we came out of the office we did a double look… the trailer only had three wheels! We never felt a thing – everything was fine in Garden City when we got gas (only 40 miles away!) We arranged to have it fixed the next day and went looking for the missing tire/wheel. We never found it. We are still dumb-founded about the whole ordeal! Due to damage on the axle, they had to cut off the end and put on a new spindle and temporary wheel/tire. After staying an extra day and night, we headed out to Newton again (although a bit gun-shy (pun intended!) about pulling our rig).

We were able to park at Ben & Janna ‘s house in Newton – THANKS! – a perfect setup for us! Our first day with the family was a beautiful day! The kiddos were full of energy riding their bikes and showing us new tricks!

These beautiful girls are basically the same height! We enjoyed a special time together with the “olders” as we went to a coffee shop to pick up some drinks and sat in a park just to talk. We got caught up on their lives, their summer plans, and their dreams for the future. Love these special times!

…and we went fish’n with the “littles” (not so little anymore!) We caught a lot of fun, smiles, laughter, chatter, and sunshine (but no fish). More special times – and great memories!

It was so much fun – these kids have a silly streak in them – its gotta be from their Mom and their Nana for sure!

Jon got a griddle! We enjoyed making several meals on this large griddle. Our meals were not just eating together, but we were able to cook together – every moment we spend with our kiddos is such an adventure!!

Let’s plant a new tree! We were able to help with a yard project, it was a whole family affair. Lots of fun digging in the wet clay soil ! It will be interesting to watch it grow and become a conversation piece in the years to come!

These kiddos kept Nana and Papa very “young”! We played hard every day and then enjoyed some sleep overs in our travel trailer (with bacon for breakfast of course!)

CONGRATULATIONS MEGAN!

One of the unfortunate results of current COVID–19 regulations was the abandonment of public celebrations that used to be so common for every graduating class and their families. We were determined to give Megan a joyous celebration of her completion of High School – the family came through with flying colors!

We love you Megan! Praying for your future as you step out into the crazy world we now live in!

Its always hard to say “see ya later” to any of our families – we are SO BLESSED with all of our kids, spouses, and grand-kids that love the Lord and serve Him well in every way! We love the memories, the smiles, and the exciting adventures of meeting again soon!

We made a trip to Colorado Springs to see our Kiddos and Grand-kiddos! We loved getting one on one with our family and catching up on all the news. It was a beautiful Colorado sunshine day – “it’s been too long” – what a joyful adventure!

Isaac, Kaylee, and Anya were all smiles and full of energy! We played, celebrated Isaac’s birthday, talked and shared our love…ahhh we needed this! The day ended too soon, but we’ll be back.

We were invited to Rick & Sharon’s cabin in the mountains near Guffy, CO. Wow – what a beautiful place! They have done most of the work themselves and have created a peaceful haven to live and share with others. We hiked down to their pond and had some great times of sharing! A very enjoyable adventure that God put together for us – we are so blessed!

Jesse and I payed our instruments on the mountain top! So much fun!

More smiles! We traveled to Pueblo to see Ron & Deb – also got to see Jason! More good times shared news and updates with family. We have missed these moments since we started traveling but its great to give/get our love and hugs again!

And then to Ben and Heather’s house to see them and Josh, Jeremy, and Jayden! Ben was recovering from back surgery so we told them to give us a “to-do” list of projects that we could help with – they were grateful for our help! We also played games and enjoyed just being a family – more great memories!

We were able to help replace several veneer rocks on the front of their house, Jayden helped mix the mortar and butter the rocks. Then she made her own “rock” with her hand-print! We also put up some crown molding in the kitchen attached to the cupboards. Something new for us – but Dennis went to “You-Tube University” and was able to make a jig that helped cut the correct angles. Turned out alright!

Wow – their neighbor Sam brought over his catch for the day – three large Wipers (striped base). He taught Jeremy how to fillet – then Dennis fried the fish outside. they were so good! Interesting story here – there were a good amount of leftovers that we bagged and put in the fridge. The next day we set the bag on the counter to prepare for lunch and the bag disappeared! No one knew what happened, although we all suspect Sadie, their large dog, did a “grab-and-run with them!

So now we HAD to go fish’n! Those fish didn’t have a chance! And we caught……nothing! But it was a great afternoon – we all enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air!

Sunday we enjoyed having church at their house – we watched an online session of David Platte and had some great discussion afterward. The we had a great Sunday lunch and played outdoors – Heather’s team won the bean bag toss tournament, look at that form!

We are thankful for our family and the friends God has given to us, living life together with others is always a great adventure! Looking forward to the next time we meet again – should be soon since we plan to stay in Colorado for the summer!

We made to Alabama! This marks the finale of our first planned trip – its been 3 months on the road! We parked the trailer in Tate and Kimberly’s driveway, and moved into their house for a week. It was very warm and comfortable to be in a “sticks and bricks” again!

Our first adventure with the Wards was an Alabama home football game. First time for us to attend a college game – so much fun and excitement. They won big time!

These two sisters!! Oh my, Emily and Jessica have so much energy and hearts full of joy – it seemed they were always smiling 🙂 We kept up with them as best we could!

Meet Bentley, such a calm well mannered puppy….and Copper, the bearded dragon! A while back, someone in their neighborhood found the bearded dragon roaming around and of course the girls said “Yes!, we’ll take care of it!”

The girls are taking cheer leading tumbling classes. We were able to watch them practice – they are doing so well! We wish we were that limber and full of bounce!

We were served homemade breakfast by the girls – Kimberly has done a great job teaching them all about cooking and kitchen duties, thanks girls! It was delicious!

For this, Lord, we are truly grateful! We enjoyed a feast for thanksgiving dinner. After dinner we enjoyed seeing “Frozen 2” at the theater. We also were able to connect with all of our family during the day through “Signal” sharing pictures and thankfulness. We LOVE our family – God has hugely blessed all of us – we stand amazed!

We helped the girls make Necklace Hangers for their rooms. They picked out all the materials and did all the work – they had a great time being very creative!

Dennis was able to help Tate fix up his outdoor lighting, both front and back. It turned out great – really sets the house off!

We had a very full, fun, and memorable time – it’s always hard to depart, but we plan to be back for Christmas!! Love you Tate, Kimberly, Emily, and Jessica – thanks for all the memories!

Gunter Hill COE, Montgomery, AL

About 3 hours later we arrived at our camp site for the night. It was a Saturday and we were a bit anxious to watch the Alabama vs Auburn game in the “Iron Bowl”. Our neighbors at the campsite were all sitting outside watching the game – they even had blow up mascots for each team! We braved the opportunity to make new friends – there were two couples our age, each one rooting for the opposite team. We had on our Alabama shirts – they welcomed us with open arms and we visited while watching the game together. (Ugh – Alabama lost, but there’s always next year!)

We never know who or what adventures God has planned for us – but this traveling adventure is great!!

We made it to Niles. MI! Driving into NIles felt like “coming home” since we lived there for about 11 years. It was so fun to get reacquainted with Jeremiah and Asia and spend time with Ray & Sarah. We camped at River Front RV Park on the North end of Niles – beautiful place!

Of course Jeremiah and Asia camped out with Papa and Nana! We enjoyed snuggling with them when the sun came up.

Ray had a few projects that we helped with, trimming trees and putting up dry wall in a hall closet.They fed us well – real fresh smoked ribs from his smoker. Sarah showed Nana how to make Chinese dumplings – yum! They also gave us some smoked cheese that they had done.

The kiddos (even Ray and Sarah!) loved riding the electric bikes and showing us their games. Jeremiah and Asia have sure grown – they are getting smarter than Papa and Nana!

We had so much fun – thank you Ray & Sarah, Jeremiah and Asia for great memories! Now that we’re traveling we’ll be back more often!

While we were in NIles we took care of business as well. Lorree got her laptop upgraded at Revive Our Hearts Ministry. It was great to see a lot of our old friends and co-workers. Our visit went too fast – but we’ll be back!

Before we left home, we offered to help paint if Becki and Jon were ready for that. They took us up on our offer and we were able to help paint the Kitchen and Dining Room while we were there. The color didn’t change, but everything looks fresh and new again!

In August, the four older girls traveled to Canon city and spent the weekend with us. Now it was the four younger kiddos turn. Audrey and Haley came first and then Caleb and Ryan. Great memories sleeping in Papa and Nana’s camper and eating bacon and eggs for breakfast!

We also were able to get in a game of Soccer – Caleb is a tough player!

It was great to have fun with the family and enjoyed celebrating with Becki on her Birthday!