View from Mom's home

    My mother's home and yard is finally outgrown the ability of its remaining occupant to keep up.  The laundry room in the basement is more trouble and danger to get to after Mom had taken a tumble down some stairs while making a visit to one of her doctors.  Mom is looking to downsize and find a better, safer living situation.  She mentioned on several occasions that she's going to miss her neighbors and her view of the mountains.
    

Snow-covered Mount Olympus

Sunrise looking to the southeast

A view from the kitchen window

 

Christmas 2013 - Temple Square

     We usually try to spend a portion of the Christmas holiday season with at least one of our children and their family.  This year was an exception. Instead, this year we went to Salt Lake City to spend Christmas week seeing my mother and my siblings and their families.

      On Saturday, Dec 21, Deanna and I drove across cold, windy and not so scenic I-80 through Wyoming.  We noticed several trailers and vehicles that had been blown over by the strong northerly cross wind.  Our normal 9 hour drive was completed about 90 minutes later than usual.

     Sunday evening we had a family get-together at the home of Anna and Ray in Holladay.

 

Emily getting silly at Anna's house.

Monday evening, Deanna, Emily and I drove downtown to take in the lights at Temple Square.

Thanksgiving 2013

Grandma Bowen surrounded by 1 daughter, 1 granddaughter and 3 great-grandchildren

    
Rachel and Ben came for Thanksgiving this year.  Deanna arranged to bring her mother away from the nursing home for a few short hours to have dinner with us.  During the morning before dinner, we had a family council to determine what means we would use this year after removing the meat from the carcass to dispose of turkey remains. In previous years, we have sent the carcass skyward at Crestline Park with the assistance of a helium balloon.  Certain unnamed family members have also practiced detonation skills with black powder at an undisclosed location on another festive occasion.  By a majority vote, we determined that a home made water-going vessel would carry the turkey to its final resting place.

 

 



Ben and Eva doing something with the boat

Deanna and Eva displaying the finished product

Ben was the general contractor.  Eva and Becca helped gather dry flower stems to form the frame of the boat.  A skin of black trash bags was attached to the frame with duct tape.

An appointment had been made for Rebecca to be fitted for ballet shoes in Castle Rock on Friday.  The men had to be educated as to the significance of the appointment.  I apparently do not appreciate the finer points of the art as yet. After taking care of that business, we made a side trip to the actual castle rock from which the town got its name and enjoyed a hike and some rock climbing.

 

 

A look back at the scene of the climb

If you were wondering about the boat...  it sank.

 

Wet September

 

The week after our excursion to Estes Park, heavy rain fell along the Front Range for several days.  Roads were washed out.  Homes were lost and communities were cut off from the rest of the state.  In our own neighborhood, we experienced a sudden downpour and opened the garage door to watch.

 

 

At the bottom of our short street is a catch basin.  We occasionally will see a trickle of water run through it after a rain.  When the rain subsided, we were curious about how much water might have accumulated.   

 

To further pique our curiosity, we drove around the neighborhood and took a few more photos.  Significant hail had fallen to the west of us.  Water was running high in some low spots.  We thought it best to get back home and out of harms way.  

 

Returning home, we noticed our neighbors had also gone to the bottom of the street to look at the newly formed temporary lake. 



Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival - September 7, 2013



On Saturday, September 7, Deanna and I arose early, hopped in the car and made a trip to Estes Park to experience the Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival.  Deanna had taken in the experience before.  I decided I'd better go along to make sure she didn't become too enamored by any men in kilts.  We viewed the parade near the end of the route.

 

 

 

We squeezed into some seats in the grandstand to watch the parade of the clans.

 

The trip wasn't complete without watching some jousting.

 

We observed many fine manly specimens attired in full regalia, including kilts, and were careful about conveying any unwelcome comments or glances as most of them were also armed with dirks.