Autumn Aspens, General Conference & Counting Down!





For the first day of October, Rick & I escaped into the mountains.  Estes Park initially, and then drove through Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was the perfect weekend to do this drive, as the mountainsides were awash with the yellow from Aspen trees.  I'm sure there were others trees too, but the Aspens are so prominant, and when the sun catches their leaves, they become flourescent!  So many shades of yellow! 

We drove to Bear Lake which was at a 'dead end' and were fortunate to be able to park and walk.  There were so many other people also sightseeing, that the traffic was very busy, and attendants were turning cars away from the parking 'lot' until free spaces became available!  We really enjoyed the amble around the lake..



Rick at Bear Lake, Rocky Mtn National Park, Colorado



The Aspens mingled with Pines, very beautiful!

 

We headed towards Granby following Trail Ridge Road, which took about 2 hours.  It truely was a spectacular drive through the mountains, climbing up past the timberline and then back down into the Aspen forests again.  We eventually passed Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Lake and then to Granby which took us to the main stretch home.  All in all, we drove for about six hours!  Just Rick & I, no one else to ask 'are we there yet?'  Aahh! Pleasure!  What a great day!

This weekend is also General Conference for our church, which is broadcast bi-annually from Salt Lake City.  http://www.lds.org/

Last April, we had the great priviledge of attending every session.  This conference, we watched it at the chapel and from home on BYU-TV!  (Well, I caught the Relief Society session on the internet in my kitchen 'in real time')  For the Sunday morning session, we watched it at the chapel as Tom's boss from his work came (good work Tom!). We watched the Sunday afternoon session at the Werhli's home after lunch which consisted of BBQ ELK!  Delicious!  It's the first, and probably the last time, we would watch conference eating hot chocolate brownie from the oven topped with icecream!!  But despite, this different experience, what a fantastic conference!  I love General Conference, the talks are all excellent, and especially for me I'm sure!!



Bear Lake, Colorado

This past week Tom & I have been shopping in earnest, and I am satisfied he has everything he needs.  My dining table is loaded with missionary items he needs for the next two years.  I am sure he has too much, and will be making use of the scales for sure!

Tom is very excited to be serving soon and has especially enjoyed skyping with Michael in Brisbane.  Our days have been busy, between work schedules, cheerleading training and games and mission 'stuff'!  The weeks are going quickly and so is 'Fall'.  Already there has been snow in the mountains since our epic drive, and one ski field has opened after receiving a deep snow fall.  Officially, they open after Halloween in November.  Speaking of Halloween, the shops are full of magnificent displays for Halloween.  The seasons and holidays are a big part of the culture here, and we look forward to seeing Halloween 'happen' at the end of the month..

This past weekend, I had the opportunity of attending 'Time Out For Women' here in Denver, sponsored by Deseret Book.  It was an evening and a full day of inspriational talks and music!  We did experience a power cut for about half an hour on Saturday afternoon which made things interesting!

 But what a great event, with great company!  Thanks DeAnne, Denise, Lori and Karen for taking me! I'm all beamed up now!!


Elder Bennallack - dinner appointment, Toulon, France

 

This week Elder Jonathon  Bennallack has been transferred!  He enjoyed a baptism last week of Sophie, and this week, he leaves sunny, touristy Toulon and is now in Saint-Etienne which is about 4.5 hours north.  Saint-Etienne is in the mid-east of France, about 60km from Lyon. In his email Jon said he has gone from short sleeves to long sleeves, jacket and coat! There is also no gas in their flat for hot water at present, so interesting times for him.  He sounds very fluent in French and is loving his mission.  We love his emails and look forward to them every Monday!  We received an email from a lady in Toulon who had him and his companion over for dinner Sunday evening before his transfer, she kindly sent some photos!

As of today, Tom leaves in fourteen days... We are counting down in earnest now.