The Generosity of Love and Spirit

Joe, Amber and I just spent a wonderful three day weekend in Grand Lake, Colorado. If you've never been there you should go. I can't believe it's been so long (almost 6 years) since we were last there. I'd forgotten how special of a place it can be and this trip didn't fail to remind me of that.

The day actually started off with a trip to Johnson's Corner for breakfast. Yum! We had just received our breakfast when a large contingency of motorcycles pulled up into the parking lot. Not just any motorcycles mind you (that wouldn't warrant a notation in the blog), but a group of women who I'm sure put black leather, pink and bling on the map! They were so impressive that not one consumer in the place was focused on their food.

They were the "Women Who Ride". A group of extraordinary women who ride for breast cancer (Gowitheflo.org). When we met them they told Amber that they had raised $24,000 for Breast Cancer. You go girls! I'm in awe of all of you. Keep you eyes posted. They took a photo with Amber (showing her tattoo). We hope to see it on their blog!

The drive was beautiful and uneventful. No traffic, no accidents, no bad weather. Just a slight hold up on Trail Ridge where they are ripping up the road! Yikes! Plan on adding some time to your trip if you take Trail Ridge this summer.

We arrived at our hotel just at the end of the Main St. Grand Lake and unpacked for the night. Nice little log cabin type hotel. Nothing fancy. Just a place to crash. Then we went into town.

Pretty quiet since it was a Friday afternoon. We hit a few stores and then found a place to have dinner and a cocktail and to relax a bit from the drive. Nice dinner...very good food. Now on to more shopping!

We came across an amazing little shop...it had shoes in it! OK...not just shoes but shoes, bags, blankets, rugs, and jewelry. The shoes had handwoven stitching and leather on them. They were beautiful. The store manager, Omer, was pleasant and tried very hard to sell. Amber and I are easy targets for shoes but we were not quite ready to buy. But, the story doesn't end there. Stay tuned.

Just outside of Omer's store was an amazing set up of hand made garden statuary's, flowers, garden arches, parts of old fences, wooden boxes...well, look at the photo. You'll see. But we didn't know where it all came from. The store behind it was an interior designs store. Lovely stuff but not our style. So we moved on.

We cruised the rest of the small main avenue and saw one of the decorative garden stakes that we had seen in the garden display earlier. Now I was on a mission. I had to find out where those items came from. So we went back to where we started and Omer told us to go to the back of the interior design store and that's where we would find them. Bingo! There they were. Rabbits, pelicans, cowboys, lighthouses, butterflies, goats, chickens, roosters! All kinds of wonderful, whimsical outside decorative items! I was in heaven! OK...I was only in the "backyard" of the store but it was filled with so much fun!

We picked up a couple of items, a rooster and a rabbit. They are made out of old car parts and full of color. We couldn't resist. Now to plan a place to put them. Mental plan in the works.

While Joe and I were outside of the store Amber was inside chatting with the store manager. They became fast friends and Amber ended up telling her a little bit about herself and her situation. This is where the Spirit of Love and Generosity part of the story begins.

Amber's new friend, Marjorie, had an instant bond with Amber. She wanted to know more about her and invited her to spend a weekend back in Grand Lake at her Bed and Breakfast and for Amber to attend one of her workshops....for free. Marjorie is not only a talented interior designer but creates beautiful paintings as well. This put Amber on the moon. That someone she had just met would make such a generous offer. But, it continues on.

Marjorie took Amber next door to Omer's store and purchased for her a beautiful pashmina scarf and wrapped her in it. She also gave her a book called Heaven which was so appropriate. Marjorie was an angel sent to Grand Lake to be there to spoil Amber and that is what she did. Amber was so overwhelmed and surprised. None of us could believe the spirit and generosity of this women. We visited for awhile longer and went on our way. Amber (and Joe and I) were a little stunned by the moments we had just experienced.

We strolled a little further down the row of shops and decided we were a little tired and drained from the experience so we headed back to our hotel.

As we did, Omer stepped out of his store and asked us to step in. He asked Amber which pair of shoes sh had been looking at in his store. She pointed them out, he took them off the shelf and asked him to come with her to the register. He rang them in, wrote them up and gave them to her.....for free. OK...almost for free. That was his intentions but Amber wouldn't let him. She said she couldn't let him just give them to her. She asked how much, he said zero. She insisted, he responded. $10. That's all he would let her pay. This was a 90% savings for Amber and a 100% emotional boost. She was now over the moon and could not believe what had happened to her in downtown Grand Lake. Neither could we.

The rest of the weekend somewhat paled in comparison to our first few hours there but we still had an incredible time.

We moved locations to just outside of town to a place called Winding River Resort. Not as glammy as the name sounds but it's where we would spend the morning running ATV's up and down the mountain. It's a nice place for riding horses, renting ATVs, chuck wagon meals, and ice cream socials. We were to tired to participate after the morning of ATVs and going back into town so we stopped at the store, picked up some items to make dinner and crashed for the evening.

Sunday was a nice drive down the mountain to pick up Claire from her Grandparents and Taiko from my moms. It was nice to be home. The house is quiet, comfortable and...well, home. Aaaaahhhh.

Answers and Explanations

Answers and explanations. Sometimes that's all we need but rarely what we get.

The questions and issues seem to far outweigh the more positive responses it takes to move forward.

But, we don't have any choice. We must move forward. We must take the wins when we can get them no matter how small.

In the win column: A good day here and there....a win. Two or more in a row...total jackpot.

Eating more than 1/2 bagel with cream cheese in a day...a win. Eating fish sticks for lunch and a bowl of mac and cheese and 1/2 a piece of cheese cake for dinner...like Christmas dinner.

Sitting up long enough to watch a favorite TV program or have a long conversation with family....a win. Being up and around enough to take a shower, go to lunch, walk around Target, get nails done and argue with Mom that she has enough energy to go to the grocery store too, well...a win but way to much to make Mom comfortable but not so much that it didn't make Mom proud of her for trying her best.

Like I said...small wins. We'll take them when we can get them.

After 18 days in the hospital again (March 17 - April 5th) and now at home for three weeks she seems to have reached an evening point with the exception of a lot of sleep and not eating enough.

She will still have her good and bad days. We always hope for more good.

And, as we move forward we hope for more answers and explanations.

And, in the same spirit of hope, love and moving forward I want to acknowledge a loss in our family.

Carl Marti, (standing in the photo above)loving husband, father of two smart and talented grown sons, brother, son and cousin left us a few days ago after having endured pancreatic cancer. He was a brilliant, brilliant man, a dedicated educator and a champion of planet earth and her creatures.

You will be missed by a great many and our hearts go with your lovely wife Margaret and your son's and their families.

BELIEVE....

Sometimes it's so difficult to believe in much especially with everything that we've all experienced over the last few months.

So, I thought I would share this story with you. Maybe it will give us all a little hope.

A few weeks ago Joe, Amber, Claire and I visited a craft fair in Denver to check out the goodies.

We also knew that we might have the opportunity for Claire to visit Santa. She knew exactly what she wanted to tell him.

She was very patient. We actually had to go back. He had to take a little lunch break. Claire was okay with that. We actually found a booth that had a product that made "snow" when you added water to it. She thought that was pretty cool. So did the grown ups!

So, we went back and the line wasn't very long. Again, it didn't matter. Claire was bound and determined to tell him about the castle she wanted. There were four children ahead of her. A group of girls around 7 years old offered to let her go first. She said "No, thank you" and waited her turn.

When it came her turn she went right up to him and let him put her up on his knee. He was very good with her but she was speaking so softly that he couldn't hear her so he asked Mommy (Amber) to help him to know what Claire wanted.

So, Amber knelt down beside Santa and translated. At that point Santa noticed that "Mommy" had some bruises on her hand. Claire told Santa that "Mommy has owies because she's sick". At that point Santa finished up with Claire and then her turned to Amber and asked if he could talk to her for a few minutes all he while making sure Claire was comfortable.

Amber explained what Claire was talking about and at that point he took her hand and Claire's hand an offered to pray with them. He spoke softly and in a very comforting manner. He then told Amber to have a seat on his knee. He wanted to talk to her some more. I couldn't hear the words he was saying but I could tell by the look on his face and the look on Amber's face that he was very genuine in what he was telling her. I stood on the side and cried. I knew that this was no ordinary Santa. He was there for a reason.

You have to keep in mind that most Santa's will take about 2-3 minutes per child. At this point between Claire and Amber is was already over 15 minutes and there were several children and parents in line. This didn't seem to matter to him because as soon as he was done speaking with Amber he stood up and came over to speak with me and Joe. He held our hands and told us that he wasn't just a representation of Santa but that he was there as a representative of God and that the reason he plays the role of Santa is because he believes that it does help children. He said that he spends time with children that are dealing with terminal illnesses but spends most of his spare time with cancer patients. He knew what he was looking at when he looked at Amber.

When he was done speaking with us he explained that he had given Amber a Teddy Bear Angel. Something that he doesn't give out very often. Amber was only the second person he had given one too at this event and the first person begged him to give her one just because she wanted it. He said Amber truly deserved the Teddy Bear Angel and that it meant so much to him that he found someone to give it too.

The encounter was a little emotional for all of us. It was, in itself, a mini miracle and something that we will never forget.

Thank you Santa. Merry Christmas.

Do you know the way to Santa Fe (la la la la la la la la la)

OK...Channeling Dionne Warwick. I actually think I sang it in my head several times while on the trip. And yes, I do know it actually San Jose.

We took the long way or scenic route down (so I'm told). We did pass a beautiful hillside that had a single grave stone with a couple of wooden crosses stuck in the ground behind it. It was so striking that I made Joe stop and go back. Pics attached.

Our goal was to meet up with Joe's daughter and her family. They were actually just two hours behind us because they spent some time in the Colorado Springs area being tourist.

Santa Fe is such a different culture. Earthy is the best way I can describe it. Laid back. No one in a hurry. Just how it should be on vacation.

Joe found the perfect place for us all to stay. It's called Fort Marcey and it was the perfect home away from home with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a full kitchen and a large living room which became a stage and/or train station almost every night we were there.

It was just a few minutes from downtown but with a 2 year old and 5 year old in tow it was always just a van ride down the hill.

Our second day there Gramps had a plan to take his girls fishing. With a Princess and Snoopy fishing poles in hand we found a place with three ponds set up just for kids.

It was perfect. Joe's plan was to teach his grand daughter how to fish. He gave her the Princess pole the day before and she casted her line all over the house. So, it was no surprise that as soon as she put her line in the water she had a bite! She caught the first fish! It was short lived though. She caught her second fish (one more than her mother and her grand mother) and then she was done. Grampa showed us all up catching 6 of the little blue gill that stole our bait more than anything. We didn't leave them hungry.

Did I mention that the Snoopy pole was rescued from the barn at Joe's mom's house? It was Joe's daughters when she was about the same age as her daughter. Priceless right?

A couple of days of shopping and checking out the area and a lot of time spent with the kids and grand kids. It was exactly what we needed.

We miss them already.

I'll have a chicken sandwich, fries and the afternoon with my Grand Daughters

I have a large dislike of Burger King. I really do.

I have never had one meal there that hasn't given me horrible indigestion.

But, if it means that I get to spend a couple of hours crawling around the BK playground with my Granddaughters than I will put up with a little heartburn.

The weather was iffy so the back up plan was lunch and the play area inside BK. They loved it. See....you don't need all that fancy equipment at places like Jump or Fort Fun and pay through the nose when you local lunchery has enough tunnels, slides and soft matting (no skinned knees)to sufficiently wear them (and you) to a frazzle!

It was fairly uncrowded for a Saturday at lunch time. The girls had the room almost to themselves. This was a good thing considering you couldn't stick a stick between the two of them at first. They had to do everything together. Climb into the tunnel, sit on the slide, slide down the slide....over and over again.

Actually the youngest was a little more brave...I think she would have dove in head first if it would have been a pool. But her older cousin only took a couple of turns down the slide before it was old hat.

It was a photo op for Grams, a little rest for Mom/Auntie and a place for them to burn off some serious energy and get a few chicken fries and mac and cheese (yes BK has mac and cheese)on the side.

They enjoyed themselves, each other's company and were on there best behavior...even with the kids that eventually showed up to invade "their" space. It was very sweet.

Something to Do

It becomes so easy to hibernate once it turns cold. It's natural. Get comfy. Stay dry. Stay warm. But, we needed something to do.

So, what did we do? Got up early.... checked the weather...it said snow in the high country. Great! Just where we planned to go this early Saturday morning. Got the nervous call from our traveling partner(Sharen/Tish) "The weather's not good. Snow in the mountains. I70's a mess.

I'm still in. Let's go! Worse case scenario....we turn back, have lunch and call it a day.

Well three hours later we are standing at the Square in Breckenridge. Our planned destination. We are bundled to the core and ready to check out some snow sculptures. We weren't disappointed.

This was the first time to this event for Joe and I. We almost decided not to make the trip. It was snowing and yep, the roads were awful and it was cold and going to get colder. But, you can't have snow sculptures without snow and cold, right?

There were some beautiful exhibits. Some very talented people put a great deal of time and effort into their crafts so I thought I'd share some photos with you.

We checked out the exhibits, met up with with my nephew and his girl friend, ran into an old friend (Nancy "used to be" Goodwin said to tell Mom and Dad hello), found a place to enjoy lunch and then made the trek back home. Yep, three hours back. Yep, the roads were awful.

Was it worth it? Yep! You bet.

We didn't stay home. We didn't stay 100% warm or dry but we didn't miss the exhibit we've been trying to get to for several years now.

We saw the movie the next day when it was 19 degrees in Greeley. We saw Ink Heart. Cute movie but we could have stayed at home, warm, dry and comfy and waited for it to come out on DVD.

Enjoy the photos!

Worth the wait

This past weekend I spent some time in Estes Park with my friends Jeff and Tina Graham.

Jeff's mother is a artist (painter) and was suppose to be part of a studio tour but she mixed the weekends and ended up being out of town so Jeff and I held down the fort trying to peddle our own wears. He with his engraving and me with my piddly checkbook covers. Due to poor attendance the weekend lacked a sale for any of us with the exception of the two water color originals that I bought of Mrs. Graham's. After knowing the Grahams for over 30 years I was way over due!

The weekend was not a total loss. The Grahams have a lovely home with a beautiful view in Estes. It was very peaceful and the promise of elks sightings had me anxious for the evening to come on Saturday. Well, it came and went and no elk! A few deer in the distance and more eagles, hawks and mountain blue birds than I could count but no elk. Until on my way home on Sunday.

This had to be the most incredible sight I've every witnessed of the wild life kind.

There was a small crowd standing on the sidewalk next to the golf course. I was following Tina out the "back way" and all of a sudden she is pointing at the golf course. There lay the biggest animal I think I've ever seen. My jaw hit my lap and I about wrecked my car! He was massive. Fortunately, one of the golfers had the good sense to pull his gold cart a little closer so there was something to "compare" his size too. The photo still just doesn't do it. He was beautiful.

So, here is the photo of the elk and one of my favorites which I hope to send to Mrs. Graham to have her paint.

Kharen