as we near the time to cross back over the mountain~

Good morning friends and family with greetings from here along the Western Slopes.  It's 5:23 in the a.m. and how nice it feels to just be sitting here in my pajamas not having to hurry out the door to get to school by 6:15.  Christmas vacation, a winter break from school has finally at long last arrived and for the next 16 days we are "free".  Students and teachers alike, not only from attendance centers in Olathe, Colorado but all over the place as well, are glad.  I am one of them.

The days ahead of us will be full, that's for sure.  Tomorrow, weather still permitting, we will take out for home in Kansas at mid-morning.  Old Monarch Pass will definitely be covered with snow and the going may be slow at times but I am sure that we will make it.  Even if an 11-hour journey turns into a slightly longer one, it doesn't matter because getting there safe and sound is what counts in the "Renfro World" these days.  Mike and I look forward to celebrating with both of our families, the Renfro's on Christmas Eve and the Scott's on Christmas Day.  After Christmas we will head south into Oklahoma and Texas to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Altus, OK and Mike's aunt who lives just across the Red River into Texas.  By next weekend we will make it back here to south western Colorado.  We are praying for safe travel and decent weather but realize that this IS winter time and anything can happen and might!  For all of the travellers out there we pray for travel mercies.  The going may be pretty treacherous for some.

I've been trying to go through old photographs lately and cleaning up the ones I really didn't need to keep while organizing the others into some type of manageable fashion.  A job that really should take only an hour or two has become a much longer one, probably because I have spent so much time looking at each one of them.  Sometimes I'll pull a photo up and show it to Mike, explaining the story that was behind it.  Ever find yourself doing the same thing?  Hey, it should be a good winter time project for me this season so why hurry?

I didn't realize how much fun it would be to take photos, especially of all of the scenery I see each day here in Colorado.  Since my arrival here seven months ago I've taken hundreds of pictures, so many that literally I wore out my camera and it broke.  For the past two weeks I've been without one of my own and you know, I kind of miss it.  So today I'm heading out to buy a new one, having found one I like at the local WalMart.  Even though I really would rather not spend an extra $150 today, especially in the most expensive month of the year sometimes, the way I figure it being able to take photos is a pretty inexpensive way to cure anything that might ail you.  Shoot, I'll probably be money ahead in the long run.

Well, it's time to get this day going with so much to do before we leave for Kansas in about 24 hours from now.  Wishing for all of you guys a wonderful Christmas Day upcoming and a peaceful, prosperous journey into the New Year, 2014.  God bless you all and thank you for being my good friends.  Love you, each one.

From the photo files of 2013, seven of my favourite of photos~

Working with a dear friend and fellow teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Hutchinson, KS.~At this time she was Jessica Mandeville...now Jessica Ray.  A great teacher who really loves her students :)

Little NaDonna and I~Both of us were in the "broken" arm club together in 2011 and unfortunately she found her old membership card and entered it once more this past spring.  She was the flower girl for our wedding and did a great job, even though one arm was dressed in a cast.

Monarch Pass, at the summit on a very cold and snowy February Sunday morning.  This one is where I learned to respectfully "fear" this 11,000 + elevation.  It will probably look very similar to this tomorrow morning as we make our way back to Kansas.

The day that KANSANS came to visit us here along the Western Slopes~Mike's cousin, her husband and their friends from Great Bend stopped in as they were travelling by motorcycle while on vacation in Colorado.  What a spirit lifter that was for this lonesome and homesick flatlander.

WOW~the view from the very top of the Grand Mesa in late June.  It was like seeing the topography map in Mr. McMurray's 7th grade social studies room back at Haven Grade School.  This really was spectacular to see,

Two of the many animal friends that frequent our neighbourhood~up close and personal.

Last but not least, in August we went back to Lincoln Elementary while visiting Kansas and stood underneath the very same basketball goal that we were married under in late May.  Seven months ago today we made the "road" a whole lot shorter.  Time flies~