Concordia's New Sanctuary

For the past 13 months or so I have patiently watched as our beautiful new sanctuary has been built. The staff had a tour in July while I was on vacation. I haven't had any other opportunities to tour the church until today. Blake Lavender, a friend of Matthew's is interning with Joeris Contractors and he told me a few weeks ago he would love to take me on a tour. What a sweet boy! I gathered up my girlfriends Darlene & Miriam and headed over after lunch today. We were wowed with it all. They were installing the carpet and finishing up the concrete work. The concrete will be stained this weekend and the pews are arriving on Monday. It is really looking like a church! The photo below is of the 2500 pound steel cross that is hanging over the massive alter area. the workers at the bottom of the picture give you an idea of just how big the area is. There are automatic black out shades above the cross and around the upper windows that can be closed for presentations. The stained glass windows are from the original church on Basse Rd. They are so beautiful.

The glass company is finishing up the final window work. This picture is a view of the narthex from our court yard. It will be so nice to have a narthex again & it is BIG. Mike is looking forward to it from an usher's perspective. He won't have to stand out in the cold breezeway on wet, windy, January mornings.

I took a lot of other great photos but I'm not sure how Pastor Tucker would feel about me showing them so I will have to keep them a secret for now.

Last night they lit the cross for a short while for troubleshooting and training. It was causing quite a specticle along 1604. You could tell people were stopping to look at it. I got goose bumps when I saw it. Not the best picture ......

Thanks Blake! We had a great tour. WHO is that man???

I'm a little disappointed i didnt get to wear a hard hat though!

My little cutie pie

Isn't this cute? I caught this shot of Pebbles while she was on a run. We went for a walk and Mike started kicking old snow. She would run after it like a ball. She was in mid air when I got this picture.

Pebbles had fun but was definitely glad to be back home.

A Big Thrill

We were driving down the mountain on Friday and I looked to my left and there sat a Bald Eagle! He/she was sitting on the very tip top of a blue spruce tree. I tried to get some photos but was too busy freaking out. Hayley snapped a couple of shots and I zoomed in on them so you can see how beautiful he was. When we were driving out Saturday morning we saw two more flying around. I am a bird watcher and have never seen a Bald Eagle in the wild. I think this was the highlight of the trip.

She got this photo just as he was flying off the tree. His head is down - you can see his beautiful yellow beak if you look closely.

Matthew left before 6:00 am on Thanksgiving morning. The snow started to fall that evening and by Friday morning there was a couple of inches of fluffy white snow on the ground. They had gotten an early snow about 3 weeks before we arrived and there was still a lot on the ground. Thursday night's snow was so beautiful. Hayley wasn't looking forward to snow because the last time we were there while it snowed she got deathly ill. She changed her mind and was out running around in it and taking pictures. What a great treat!

Getting the snow off the car with a credit card. We have a scraper on the list for our next trip.

Debbie, Hayley and myself had planned to drive to Creede (about 1 hour away) on Friday for their annual Chocolate Festival. The festival was a bit of a dud but the drive was spectacular.

Pebbles playing in the snow. She would run around and take a bite of snow and all of a sudden she would "freeze" in mid step. I learned that means "Pick me up! I'm cold and I can't move". She was a good sport considering how tiny she is. It took no time at all for her to ice up.

Thanksgiving came a little early

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Tuesday. Matthew had to leave on Thursday for work so we had the big feast on Tuesday and turkey sandwiches on Wednesday. I got up early and cooked like we were expecting 50 people. We loaded up and headed over to Debbie & Bron's and had a great time. Even Pebbles & Nicky had fun. Standing around waiting for the signal to dig in.

How many boys does it take to fry a turkey?

Isn't that a good looking bird?

We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. It was our first Thanksgiving in Colorado and we decided it definitely won't be our last. Mike & I hit the road Friday morning with Pebbles and drove to Albuquerque NM. Debbie & Bron were already there. We slept in and had breakfast before picking Matthew & Hayley up at the airport (they both had school & work on Friday). We pulled up to the cabin at about 7:00 and there were a few challenges that first night. Debbie & Bron always have someone open their cabin up - meaning turn on the water, light the fireplace, turn on the heaters & hot water heater. Apparently, we aren't that smart because we decided we would just do all that when we got there. Well, the cabin was 18 degrees! We unloaded the car as quick as possible and Mike had everything turned on in no time. I made a pot of Chicken Noodle Soup and it tasted soo good! We all put on two pairs of flannel pajamas and two pair of wool socks. That didn't help much so we played several games of "Catch Phrase" to try and warm up. It didn't work. I got the kids in their beds with extra blankets and went to bed myself. I had on so many clothes and blankets I couldn't sleep. Mike was sleeping and was breathing on my cheek. His breath was even cold! When we got up in the morning the cabin had warmed up to about 40 degrees. Once we opened the blinds and let the sun shine in the place warmed right up. We didn't have a problem with being cold any more. Maybe we will have someone open the cabin for us next time we arrive in the winter. The night time temperature was in the teens or lower but the days warmed up so beautifully. The weather was perfect. We spent the first few days visiting some spots we hadn't been to before. We went to the little town of Hotchkiss and stopped along the way to enjoy the view.Matthew looking cool. This was taken in the vacinity of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
Me & Miss Hayley

Hayley & Matthew enjoying the sunshine.


Part of Blue Mesa. It is amazing how low the water gets in the winter.