Well what a wonderful extended weekend we have had. You can tell by the smiles on our faces that we are enjoying our time together. Amy and John arrived on Thursday (late). From Friday morning until Sunday afternoon we packed in a ton of grand time together: Brewfest--rain and all, Rockies game, World Cup soccer, Trip to Leadville, many games of "Head and Foot", not to mention lots of laughter, good meals and many hugs. This was definitely a memory maker for the Denver Units. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family!!!

Last week was one of those weeks that will fill our hearts and minds with wonderful memories. It was a perfect week for Grandma Judy and Grandpa Ed (Strode). Our daughter, Michelle, and her family joined us in Denver for a week. We were able to take in lots of sights and sounds of Denver. It would be hard to choose our favorites. The nice part about the visit was that we were not rushed and we got in lots of hugging and visiting time with our wonderful daughter, her husband John, and our precious grand girls-Sara and Lori.

We managed to fit in a trip to the Denver Aquarium, the Children's Museum, a paddle boat ride, shopping, 2 ice cream stops, 5 playgrounds and some yummy Mexican food meals. John got in several "running" days. The girls had lots of play time. And the "mamas" got pedicures. All in all--a fabulous vacation week!!

June 5th found Strode taking on a first time challenge. A fellow at work put out the call that he would be leading a "hike" up to the top of Mt. Bierstadt about one hour from Denver. It is reputed to be the easiest of the 54 14,000 foot mountains in Colorado. So with only one week of preparation, Strode spent about 45 minutes to an hour each day walking up and down the dam that is close to their home in Lowry. The day started early (4:30 wake up) the group assembled and 27 of us took off to try our hand at mountain "hiking". The trip is three miles each way and a gain in elevation of about 2,200 feet from the trail head. The first two thirds is as best described a climbing hike. The surprise came closer to the top. This early in June that is still a lot of snow covering the peak and we had to do some pretty significant 'bouldering' since the normal trail was covered in snow in a number of places. Strode is shown on the left with a look of relief that came with reaching the summit. Top left shows the many stops that we took to catch our breath. Top right, we had to test our balance going up and down crossing the stream. On the right the view from the summit shows the beautiful distant views and the boulder field that we climbed through to enjoy that breathtaking view. After lunch at the top we headed down.

On the Memorial Day weekend Strode and I took in a great baseball game at Coors Field. You can tell by the photos that it was a great day to be outside in Denver. It was a full house as the Rockies took on the Dodgers. Strode was practicing taking photos with his phone, which is still a work in progress:-). We had great seats on the third base side. Rockies lost the game, but it was still a very successful outing as we continuted to celebrate our long weekend.

This was really a "sports" weekend for us. Not only did we take in the Rockies game, but we also attended a Colorado Rapids game. It was great fun. The Rapids were hosting the Seattle Sounders. Strode and I sported our much coveted Sounders scarves to the game. We were greeted heartily by several other Sounders fans (also wearing scarves). We were torn as fans...who to cheer for? Should we root on the home team--Rapids? Or should we support the Sounders --where son John works? We cheered for good plays, but quietly were hoping the Sounders won. In the end, the Rapid prevailed. It was a great evening to watch some professional soccer.