We got to Craig and grabbed a bite to eat, then headed over to the church. This is what was in the yard when we got there. :-)

We had about 45 until church was to start, so the kids and I went for a walk. It was a gorgeous night, so it was really nice. It was also a much needed break for kids who had been sitting in church and a van all day long!

We had a good service and James preached very Churchy message, from the Old Testament prophecies to Jesus establishing the Church in Mark, chapter 3, to A. J. Tomlinson and the Arise, Shine, up through some of the things that have happened since then to where we are today. I told him after church that when Jesus said He wanted us to preach the "whole gospel" He didn't mean we had to do it all in ONE NIGHT! ;-)


James asked all of the kids to come up front and sing God is so Good. I don't know how they ended up perfectly stair-stepped like that!



We stayed the night with Darryl & Stacy Clark that night. Gerald & Janis Cox came over and visited for a while, too. It was great! We so seldom get to be with any of those people and I really enjoyed it. They are a MESS! Ha! I can't remember when we finally went to bed, but it was LATE.

The next morning Sister Janis came back over and we all had breakfast together before loading up and heading out.

We made it as far as Steamboat Springs (ha!) before stopping. James knew of a soda fountain there, so we all had Italian sodas--a cherry, a boysenberry, a raspberry and a grape. James had a really fantastic fresh squeezed lemonade. After that we went next door so the kids could look at all of the great cowboy and western stuff. They, of course, had to model everything they found...

We made it to Jon & Em's house sometime that afternoon--3 or 4 o'clock, I think. The kids all had fun running outside and playing with the "pet" garter snakes that the Smith boys have captured and been keeping in the garage. I had a bit of a headache that day and nobody really seemed up to staying up and partying until all hours like we usually do. What a bummer! I think we all went to bed at about 10:30. That's so wrong! It's okay though. We'll make up for it next time! :-)

We left on Tuesday and went to Mardel in Colorado Springs. It is sooooo nice to be able to go there every few months! Even if you don't find much, it's just so nice to be able to walk around a great big, nice Christian book store. You take it for granted, that's for sure. In this giant city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, there is not ONE good Christian book store. There are two small ones that we've found--that aren't very impressive at all. It's crazy! But then, it seems to fit. I've really begun to wonder if there are any Christians at all in this state other than our little group! Ha! We just came from west Texas, you know. There are so many people there who are just simple, old fashioned, conservative folks. Here... well, most folks are just about the opposite of that! It's crazy. Anyway, Mardel was GREAT and we picked up a couple of books from the clearance section of the homeschool stuff. :-)

We made it home at about 6:00 that night, I think. We got everything unloaded and unpacked and got lots done the next day including all of the laundry and ironing--and horse lessons, too. Don't remember a thing about the next day, just that it wasn't nearly as productive as the first! We did have full school days both days, so that's good.