A Year of Change

Yesterday I had to bomb down to Denver to get a new phone as mine was smashed the day before. I made it back around 2 pm and after dropping something at Lori’s office, unloaded the truck and headed out to pick up the boys.

When I arrived at school and was waiting in the carpool lane, the Director of the Middle School saw me and came over to the truck. He told me that in all the years they’ve been doing this trip, they never had the guides compliment a kid. He said that not only one, but two guides said what a great kid Jagger was. Apparently he was the first one to jump in if any help was needed and was always there to assist. Next up his Homebase (homeroom) teacher came over and basically said the same thing. She said Jagger was awesome. When they were pulling rafts out of the water only a small group of kids helped and Jagger led the way and as soon as he had one raft out, he went back for the next one. She too was quite impressed. When I told this to Lori, she said, “huh, we are good parents”! Ty meanwhile was on his hike and was equally impressive. Apparently he led the way in jumping in and dunking his whole body in the frigid lake for 5 Starburst candies and 5 gummy bears. Guess he did this twice and after he led the way, the other kids followed!

Jag’s trip was great and I’m sure he’ll share some details with you all when you next talk to him. This morning after we drop the kids, I’m driving Lori over the pass to Frisco to get her drivers license. I have lots to do today as I leave tomorrow morning for my 4 day hunting trip. It’s cool and raining here this morning which is nice. Hope all’s well, we’ll be in Denver next week for the 3 day weekend. We need to scrape up enough cash to buy Jag a computer, it never stops. We just found out he needs a new laptop for school. They give Ty a Chrome Book today so we get a break there. That’s it, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday Ty went on his ropes course, Lori and I managed to open a new bank account, which we needed to get her her drivers license, and I cleaned out the garage. You wouldn’t think we’ve been here long enough for me to have to clean out the garage now would you. Anyhow it needed it so that’s what I did.

Jag is on his overnight camping trip and will come home later today. Lucky we bought him his rain gear as it rained last night up here. The boys slept in tents and are rafting and hiking. Today Ty has about a 10 mile round trip hike to Booth Falls.

I dropped my phone and shattered it yesterday meaning I need to bomb down to T Mobile and get a new phone, super. It’ll be warm hunting this weekend but that’s ok with me. It is cool in the mornings up here but was almost too hot to sleep last night so I can only imagine how hot it was in Denver.

That’s it, 5:45 and time to run, God Bless.

The boys had a blast at school. They met some new friends, like their teachers and love the food. Ty said he had bow tie pasta with fresh pesto sauce made from the school garden for lunch. Both had a little homework which they finished up right away when they arrived home.

This morning Jag leaves for his overnight camping and rafting trip while Ty will go to Breckenridge to do a ropes course on the mountain. I’ll pick Ty up at 3:15 but we won’t see Jag until tomorrow. Lori has clinic today so we’ll all be out of here early. Yesterday she was in the OR (operating room) observing a spine surgery from noon until 5:30! It was quite the experience. She had to scrub up and put on all the gear like the scrubs and all.

Meanwhile I went to Denver and took care of some business and was back up by 2:30 giving me just enough time to unload some stuff and then go get the kids. After school we had to hit the grocery store so we had food for the boys sack lunches today. I’m going to try to run down valley to the gun club today to shoot off a few more rounds before I go hunting this Friday. I can’t wait!

That’s it, nice and cool here this morning, it sure feels good. God Bless.

p.s. how ya liking the stock market, hmmmm

Here we go, school starts today at 8:15. I’ll drop the boys and then head to Denver hoping to be back by noon. I was going to take Lori to get her license but we need two proof of insurance documents so we have to open a bank account up here today. We’re already running late at 6:42 am so time to go. I think I’m also taking down the old box springs up here and swapping them out with the ones in our guest room.

More to come after school, the rush is on.

God Bless

Ok, this morning Lori has her driving test at 8:30 and then we need to clean and organize my office and the kids homework room which are one in the same. We still need bunk beds but they’re not in the budget until at least mid September so the kids will have to make do.

Yesterday we actually accomplished a lot. We ran to Walmart and stopped by our friends to pick up our boot warmer. Next up was cleaning up the kitchen/living room which are also one in the same. Lori hung some paintings and I started on our bedroom.

Meanwhile the boys were in Eagle Vail at the sledding hill with 3 or 4 other boys as the Fire Department came out and sprayed water on a giant sheet of plastic to make a giant slip n slide. You could see it from the highway (I-70), as it was longer than a football field! I picked them and their bikes up around 3pm and then at 4, a doctor that Lori also manages, picked the kids up along with his son after soccer and took them up to their house in Cordillera. They went swimming and play with Eric’s boys for the next few hours. About 6:30 Lori and I would join them for dinner. We made it up about 6:40 and the kids were still at the pool so we had a chance to meet and visit with Eric’s wife Kim. We have known Eric for years as he’s Dr. C’s lead PA. A bit later some of their friends and two more kids showed up to join us for dinner. Eric picked the 5 boys up from the pool (2 of ours and 3 of theirs) at 7pm. We had a really nice dinner and they too welcomed us like our friends the night before. The kids went outside to play some golf before dinner as the home they’re living in (while their’s is being remodeled) is on a golf course. Anyhow we had a great time and stayed until around 10 when everyone, especially the kids, were getting really tired. They’re still sleeping and probably will be for a while.

It’s cooler today and still smokey from all the fires on the West Coast. School starts tomorrow so lots to do today. Time to go but get ready for a big week! I leave to go hunting on Friday so lots going on, so hold on to your hats! God Bless.

Ok, yesterday was one big social event. First up was the school bbq at noon which was great, then a 5:30 pm visit with our new friends who are soon moving to Boca and then a 8pm dinner party at Sue’s where the boys played hard with a bunch of other kids until 11pm. Throw in a trip to Costco and the consignment store, as well as a shop for some new shoes (Jagger is size 13!), and that took up the entire day.

Today we’re going on a family bike ride before another bbq at one of the doc’s who Lori manages and a bunch of other family’s. Everyone is so welcoming to us up here and going out of their way to help us out. It’s a real small town community feeling. I was telling my Mom yesterday and she was saying how she knows what I mean as it was like that when she was younger.

That’s about it, Lori took off at noon yesterday when we went to the school bbq and didn’t have to go back! What a change from her old job. I asked her if she felt guilty and she said a little, as that’s how her old doc made her feel. This is a different World up here though and from he perspective, a lot better! The boys and I are pretty happy too! God Bless.

Wow, this week went fast. Guess that happens when you’re busy. Lori and I are up but both boys are still sleeping. Last night we went to an event for new parents at school. The school has very few openings each year, except for kindergarten, so we only found one or two parents with kids going into our boys grades. Everyone wore name tags with their kids names and grades so you could identify parents of students the same as yours. It was quite a diverse crowd and nice. The food which was prepared by the school staff was so gourmet it was over the top! A company called Sage Hospitality handles all the cooking. Thankfully it’s included in tuition. Each day they have several hot lunch options, a salad bar, a sandwich bar, various soups and other choices. Last night, for example, they had pineapple wrapped in bacon with aioli sauce, fresh mozzeralla with baby tomatoes and basil, homemade brownies and much more. The kids are very lucky as it’ll be like eating at a great restaurant everyday. Some of the head staff spoke a little bit, and Mike who is the Director of the School, was saying how lucky the staff is to be here and how lucky we as parents, and our kids are too, as the spots are coveted with lots of people trying to get in that don’t. So, school should be quite the experience this year.

Today at noon we have a bbq at school for new students and then a party at 8pm at Lori’s co-worker and new friends home, whose son Jagger has been hanging with. Sue (our new friend) set this up so we and the boys can meet some new kids and parents. She’s the South African lady and has been a big help at work and in general. It’s cool at night but feels great. I need to set up the office today as I brought up my desk top computer yesterday and have it working but need to get the wireless router working. It’s almost 7:30 and the battery on this computer is almost out so time to run. It’s still hard to believe we are lucky enough to live here. Every time we look around it’s like a painting! Hope all’s well, take care and God Bless.

Up early and need to be on the road by 5:45. I hope to be back up here by 1 as we have a parent meeting at the school at 5pm. Jag went mountain biking yesterday and took a couple of spills over the handle bars on the way down the ski hills. He has a pretty good scrape the length of his left leg. Luckily he’s 13 and will heal fast. We stopped by Lori’s work yesterday and then Ty and I went shopping for school supplies. It was me and 400 other parents and kids crowding 4 aisles at Walmart, what fun.

Time to run, hope all’s well, God Bless.

Well, somehow we managed to move the couch yesterday. I thought there would be two guys moving it but one didn’t show up so I had to help the other kid. Anyhow we managed to get it in. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up some more and working on the computer. Today we have Comcast coming to install a stronger modem so we have stronger wireless internet. Tomorrow I’m back in Denver and then back up here for a new parents meeting at school.

It sure is nice up here, hope we feel the same in the middle of winter! Lori is changing the World at her work and everyone loves her, of course. I think she’s settling in and no longer nervous and is changing things for the better daily. Time to get moving as Comcast gets here between 8 and 10am. Hope all’s well, God Bless

After our mad rush to Denver and back, we rushed up to Vail to get to a beautiful home where the people are moving back to their home in Boca Raton Florida next month. Our friend who has a consignment shop is helping them sell all of their stuff in an estate sale in about 10 days. She arranged for us to go in early and check it out. The boys and I arrived at 2:30 thinking no one was home. It turned out that the couple who own the home was home and welcomed us into their house. This house was originally built and owned by Jack Nicklaus. They bought it from him about 13 years ago. They were super nice and you could tell extremely wealthy. The couch we came to look at was gorgeous and priced so reasonably I thought there was something wrong with it but it turns out they’re just needing to liquidate a whole house full of stuff. As we began talking, the man said he had some friends staying with them he wished we could meet. He offered me some wine which I declined but of course this led to what I do for a living. Anyhow as we were getting ready to leave, their close friends from Florida showed up.

As I introduced myself Mr. Johnson (their friends) did a double take when I said my last name. He looked at me funny and said, “your dad was either a banker or a general”. I proceeded to tell him who dad was and he broke down saying he testified with dad in Congress and knew him well from Independent Bankers for years! Turns out he was President of the Florida Independent Bankers and they had started 7 banks in the early 70’s and was also an attorney. Anyhow he couldn’t stop gushing about what a great man Ivan was and how he was a legend. They insisted that when Lori was off work, we all come back. So a few hours later the four of us went back and spent the next few hours becoming friends. Turns out the Johnson’s are quite famous as he’s a board member of the Heisman Trophy committee, has met 6 of the last 7 Presidents in the Oval Office, has multiple businesses with our host, who is pretty famous in his own right, along with some 4 star general. Anyhow the evening was great, the people who own the home who are fantastic (he’s a famous physicist and she was a model that looked like Audrey Hepburn in her day) insist we come to Florida in February to stay with them and visit and the Johnson’s insist we come to their suite at a Florida Gator football game, if not this year, next for sure. Now they made a point of letting us know these are not empty requests, they really did insist and we all exchanged information. Both men and their wives couldn’t stop complimenting the kids who were so well behaved and polite. Mr. Johnson told the boys that he knew their Grandpa well and what a great man he was and how proud they should be of him. He also told them he knew they’d be great Americans as they have great parents and really great Grandparents. Meanwhile the lady of the house was giving the boys gifts of knick knacks around her house that she could tell the boys were eyeing. Ty came home with a china teapot that looks like a Panda Bear and a stuffed Panda and Jagger with a glass blown orb that is an oil lamp from Venice. They used to own a company in Venice and have been there like 300 times. He also came home with a ski boot coffee cup of hers that she used to keep her pencils in by her phone. We didn’t see this going on as she took the boys into the kitchen and gave them this stuff or came out with things wrapped up for the boys. Anyhow by 8pm or so we decided to make our way home but not before they gave the kids some more things like 6 decks of cards and some home made candy. I don’t want to give their names as I’m sure they’re searched on the internet often and we want to respect their privacy and generosity. In any case, they were just thrilled to meet us and insist we come back a bunch before they move in early September. We’ll go over today and try to move the couch if I can find some help. I could go on and on as it was a remarkable serendipitous evening. In any case, they were both really nice couples and very very generous to us and kind. I don’t know why but people seem to like us as a family a lot as these kind of things seem to happen to us often. We’re always humble, respectful, and polite. Guess we’re just a likable family, who knew!

That’s it, lots to do today, hope all’s well, God Bless.