Catching Up (September 2010)

30th Annual Early Iron Car Show

September 4, 2010

A new record, 516 cars, in Cole Park. A beautiful late summer day in Alamosa!

Jamie is chosen to be a Boyd Ambassador!! We are SO proud!!!

Fall Soccer
This is Jamie's final season in the U8 soccer division. He is such a good soccer player and scored many goals this season. Some teams actually coached their teams to double team Jamie, which was frustrating for him. He had fun, though, and I'm excited to watch him as he moves up to the next age level.

Flag Football
Jamie decided that he wanted to play football this year. He first wanted to play in the Tackle League but, at the last minute, decided to start out with Flag Football first. We figured it would be a great way for him to learn about football before getting too serious about it. He loved it! He was a great little running back and wide receiver...once he had the ball and took off running, there wasn't anyone who was fast enough to catch him!

Jamie caught the pass and took off running...

...by the time he got to the end zone, the closest defender was 20 yards back!

Playing both soccer and flag football kept us running! Jamie had football practices on Sundays, football games on Mondays & Wednesdays, soccer practices on Thursdays and soccer games on Saturdays. It was good for him to learn how to budget his time and get his homework done before all of the practices and games. I know that his sports schedules will keep us busy for many, many years to come!!

Boyd Fun Run
September 24, 2010
This years Fun Run was dedicated to Peyton Sanchez and served as a fundraiser to help the Sanchez family. Peyton is the 4-year-old son of a friend of ours who has been diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis. NF has caused tumors to grow on Peyton's optic nerve so they are having to travel to Denver weekly for chemotherapy appointments. It has been amazing to watch our community come together to support the Sanchez family.

Jamie came in 9th place in the fun run...he was 9th place in both the fall and spring fun run's last year. He is consistent!

Fall Color Tour
September 26, 2010
We took off after church and headed up into the San Juan Mountains to see the fall colors. We wanted to go through Summitville and then come back through Alamosa Canyon but forgot our maps and couldn't find the road we wanted. We explored a little, 4-wheeled a little, backtracked a little and ended up in Del Norte. It didn't matter, the colors were absolutely gorgeous. The golds & reds of the aspens were amazing in contrast with the green pine trees and the deep blue sky.

3rd Grade Field Trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park
September 30, 2010
Mrs. Price's class and Mrs. Shioshita's class left the school at 8:30 and drove to the Sand Dunes for a day of fun in the sand and sun. The students were divided into groups and had a scavenger hunt, searching for clues and evidence of animal and plant life at the Dunes. Later, we met with two park rangers. One ranger did a presentation on the life cycle of a salamander and even had a salamander that everyone could hold (if they wanted to)! The next presentation was the 'Animal Olympics' where the kids attempted to test their skills against animal counterparts. They learned that many animals have extraordinary skills that help them survive in their environment. We ate lunch and then headed to the dune field to play!! The kids had so much fun rolling down the hills. Jamie was covered in sand and had sand in every hole & crevice!!

They had to be back at school by 2:30 for an assembly. This was Jamie's first opportunity, as a Boyd Ambassador, to carry the flag into the assembly. He was nervous but did a great job. I could tell that he was so proud of himself!!

This was a fun, but bittersweet, day for Jamie's class. They had a great time at the Sand Dunes but it was also Ashley's last day. Ashley's family moved to Bayfield and it was very sad to say "good-bye"! Jamie and Ashley have been friends since they were less than a year old...Jamie is only 2 weeks older than Ashley. There were lots of hugs and tears, Ashley will be greatly missed!

Catching Up (August 2010)

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. I thought that life would slow down once school started but, nope! At least it hasn't yet!!

I'll take a couple of posts to briefly touch on what's been happening at the Brooks' household for the past couple of months and then hope to resume posting regularly.

August 20, 2010
As summer's last hurrah, we carpooled with our moms group/playgroup to Walsenburg to spend the day at the Wild Waters water park. It was a nice water park and we all had a great time! I definitely see more visits to Walsenburg in our future!


First Day of 3rd Grade
August 24, 2010

Rest In Peace

Wow. Nothing like the sudden, unexpected death of a friend to jerk a person back to reality. I was flipping back and forth between TV stations, watching the Rockies and Broncos games, when I got the email that a friend had died. Neither game meant anything to me from that point on...all I wanted to do was find my family and hold them tight!!

I started going through all of my photos, trying to find pictures and when I didn't find very many, I realized one reason that Dean was such a great person...he NEVER wanted the spotlight. He was always in the background, getting things done, but never front and center. I did find a few photos of his car, The Phantum Cruiser, and I remembered one that I had of him with Emily & Shelby from a trip to CruiserMania in Anthem, AZ in 2005.

Dear Dean,

No one knew the torment,
that you were going through;
We only kept on seeing
What we really wanted to.

We saw the outward smile,
but not your inner pain;
We never really dreamt,
That you would never smile again.

Now we know your worries
Crease your brow no more
And your spirit rests in peace
Upon that distant shore.

And we in turn remember
The good times, not the bad:
We remember when you laughed with us,
Not when you were sad.

And laugh - we laughed often
For good times there were plenty
With jokes and songs and beer and wine
And a glass that was never empty

Like all the best friendships
Most valued when you win them,
Our lives have been the richer
Because you have been in them.

Cruise the Rockies X - Grand Junction, CO

We got home from Utah on Monday and Bill had to start back to work on Wednesday. Emily & Shelby arrived Wednesday afternoon and, on Thursday, the three of us headed to Grand Junction, CO and Cruise the Rockies X. My mom, who also stayed at our house while we were in Utah, stayed and watched Jamie while I was gone. (Thanks Mom!) We got to Grand Junction in time to check into our room and visit with our PT Cruiser friends before heading out on our first cruise...a cruise to a winery in Palisade, which was not very far away. We hung out at the winery for a while but hooked up with Phil, Debbie, Virginia & Jessie and we decided to explore a little bit. We took off on a road that said it was a winery loop and I guess we did see a few more wineries but mostly we had fun looking at the peach orchards, unusual street names (really, who names a street B 1/2?) and "art" along a jig-jag road that eventually got us back to our hotel. The PT Cruisers pretty much took over the host hotel and they were very accommodating, we had full use of the courtyard which came in handy for dinner picnic/cook-outs, wine tasting (purchases from the winery) awards ceremony & general socializing.

On Friday, we lined up and the left the hotel at 9:00am and headed to Gateway, CO. I have not spent much time in this part of Colorado, only passing through on our way to and from Utah, so I was unfamiliar with any of the places or activities planned for the weekend. I spent most of the cruise to Gateway experimenting with my camera and finally started using manual focus to get the best shots. At one point, I was hanging out the window, trying to get pictures of the cars behind us. The car directly behind us, Steve Nelson, was such a goof! He kept weaving in and out and getting in my way. Rachel stuck her head out and I got a good shot of her! On the itinerary was a car museum in Gateway but as we drove through the tiny town, I was starting to wonder about what we were going to see. About a mile past "town" is this amazing resort called Gateway Canyons, built by John Hendricks (founder of Discovery Channel). The Gateway Auto Museum is John Hendricks' private collection of classic automobiles, including a one-of-a-kind 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 concept car. WOW!!
We ate lunch at a sandwich shop at the resort and, while many of the PT Cruiser's decided to go back the way we came, we joined up with a few others and took the scenic cruise through Ridgeway, Montrose and Delta and back to Grand Junction. We were there to CRUISE, afterall!! It was a long day in the car but we saw some amazing scenery, definitely worth the trip!
We got back in time (barely!) to grab hot dogs & pizza in the courtyard before Emily had to get the car ready for the car show. By the time she got back from washing her car, the parking lot was full and she got stuck in the back. It got dark soon after so I didn't get many photos of the cars in the car show.

Saturday was another fun day of driving and exploring as we drove to Colorado National Monument. It was so cool to see all of the PT's driving up the switchbacks. The canyons and rock formations in the Monument were so beautiful but hard to photograph without stopping and since we were all in a line, we couldn't stop. We all stopped at the Visitor's Center and then, again, some people decided to go back the way we came. We joined up with others and drove all the way through to the other side, near Fruita. We ate lunch in Fruita and went to the Dinosaur Museum there before turning around and heading back through the Monument. On the drive back through, we took the time to stop for photos...yeah!!! Saturday night we all met in the courtyard for the awards ceremony. Shelby put on her crazy contact lenses (one cat eye & one ghost eye) and it was fun to watch everyone's reaction. Oh, and I have to keep reminding myself that she's only 12!!! YIKES!!!
People started packing up their cars, signaling that the weekend was almost over.

We've never been able to do the Sunday cruise before because it usually goes in the opposite direction of where we need to go but, this year, we decided to make it work. We went to Grand Mesa and, I have to admit, I wasn't too thrilled about it but knew that Emily really wanted to spend as much time with the PT people as possible. I've heard a lot about Grand Mesa but could never get really excited...sounds like a big flat mesa with nothing to see, right? Well, I'm happy to say that I was horribly mistaken! It is a big flat mesa but also happens to be the largest flat topped mountain in the world. It is covered with forests of aspen and pine, there are over 300 lakes and hundreds of hiking trails. In the winter, there are cross-country ski trails and Powderhorn Ski Area is up there too. I definitely want to go back there and do some camping, hiking & fishing! The itinerary said that the Grand Mesa cruise would take us 2 hours...well, it really took us almost 4 hours! We probably could've gone back to Grand Junction and then back to Alamosa the way we came but, instead, we decided to head east and go over Independence Pass. We stopped in Glenwood Springs for lunch and said good-bye to the last of the PT Cruisers and started our journey home. I love Independence Pass, I think it is such a beautiful drive. I remember driving home after spending 3 weeks in breathtakingly beautiful western Canada, Washington & Oregon, only to top Independence Pass and realize that we live in the most beautiful place of all. Emily liked it too, except for the narrow roads & hair-pin turns. It was another long day of driving but, definitely worth it. I was glad to be home, though, and glad that I didn't have to drive to Amarillo the next day!

So, another Cruise the Rockies in the history books. I had such a great time this year! I enjoyed exploring and learning about new (to me) places and can't wait to take Bill & Jamie to the car museum, Colorado National Monument, the Dinosaur Museum and to Grand Mesa. Grand Junction has always been a town that we have to go through (and sometimes spend a night) on our way to Utah but after Cruise the Rockies, it is now also a destination. It was an amazing weekend spent with some truly incredible and fun people...I'm already looking forward to Cruise the Rockies XI in Gunnison!!

I, obviously, could not begin to post all of my photos here on this blog. If you're interested, you can find them on my Flickr page. Also, here is a link to the photos taken by another PT Cruiser, Steve Nelson.