Colorado Means Family

Both John and I were born and raised in Colorado.  We met and married here and have spent most of our years of marriage here.  So each summer we return to the state to spend time with family and friends.

Sunday we had dinner with our son Eric and his family.  Lots of pictures were in order.

Granddaughter Kylie and me in front of their willow tree.

I am shorter than our daughter-in-law Liz and her son John.

John with our son Eric and Kylie.

We had a fun afternoon and plan to see all of them more in the next five weeks.  Even more time in the future because of a lifestyle change we are making.  Check back for another post about that.
 

We had planned to spend the Spring in Texas after leaving Arizona but May 5, we turned back north to Colorado because John’s brother, Tim, died.  The death wasn’t unexpected—he had been fighting colon cancer for over a year and he was ready to be reunited with his late wife, Diane.

The funeral was held in Canon City at the Mountain View Community Church.  

Following the funeral the family follow the hearse to Mountain Vale Cemetery where he was entombed near Diane and his parents, C. Douglas and Helen Velin Andrews.

The cemetery had been owned by his parents and the mausoleum was built at that time.  Tim had worked in the family mortuary and cemetery in Canon City.

 

John is pictured with his sister Cindy Walker Gilbreth and brother-in-law John Abbott, husband of the late Kendal—the 4th of the Andrews children.

Here are the 3 Johns in the family—brother-in-law John Abbott, our grandson John and my husband John.

Here Cindy is with Chuck Bowman, a friend of Tim’s since they grew up in Castle Rock.

Tim’s oldest, Mark, is seen here with his son Eion.

My dad always said the only time families got together as he was growing up was at funerals and weddings.  That was our experience last week.  Here John is talking to his brother-in-law John and  John Abbott’s friend Nancy Kovalcik

Scott Fawaz, Cindy, and Kim Bolton and Jennifer Fawaz—the daughters of sister Kendel.

John and Nancy are with Alex, Tim’s grandson, and Megan, Tim’s daughter.

Tim’s son Mike is in the blue shirt.  He is talking to a friend.

In the background are Megan’s husband Gabe’s father and sisters.  Closer are Megan’s son Jared, the mother of Faith, Megan’s son Andre’s wife.

Our son Eric, his son John and Gabe, Megan’s husband.  He was grilling hamburgers for our family BBQ following the funeral

This gathering was to share in the family grief and to renew relationships with the remaining family members. We were grateful we could be there.

Time With Family for a Funeral

Over the past week, we have driven to and from Canon City, Colorado, where we attended the funeral for John's sister Kendal. We saw some nice scenery on our trip north.

For two days we had lots of good family time before and after the Saturday funeral.

Kim and Jennifer talked with Cindy.

Tim, Mike and John shared time sitting on the couch.

The three Johns got together for a photo op.

Jennifer and her daughter-in-law Emily had time together.

Some of John's family came from Minnesota for the funeral. They visited with John and Todd and some of the other family in Canon City.

We spent time talking to Todd.

Scott insisted on getting some work done.

Saturday morning Mark took a group of the family to breakfast.

Becky and Tina shared a story.

Andy and Todd had some time to talk.                                                                                         

Kendal and John's grandson Brian and his wife were there.

Whenever John and his siblings get together, we take a picture of the group. This time Kendal wasn't there. Her suffering has ended and the rest of us grieve.

Now we are back in the world of saguaros.

One finished, waiting for repair

After our brother-in-law's funeral on Monday, we spent two nights at our son Eric's home, enjoying quality time with him, his wife Liz and children Kylie and John. Since we travel and spend our winters in Arizona, we don't have nearly as much time with this family as we did when we only lived a few miles from them. So, it was good to have two good evenings to eat delicious dinners and share their busy lives.

We had a good time hearing about their school lives--both parents are teachers and, of course, the young people are in school.

I was amazed at how focused our grandchildren were on their homework. Both have swimming practice after school, so study time in the evening is limited. In this photo, you can see Kylie (while listening to music on her ear phones) working on a paper while Liz and the rest of us were talking and having a good time. The previous night, John sat in that same spot and read a book while we talked. I guess they have learned to concentrate in a noisy environment. They are both good students.

Now we wait anxiously for the RV repairman to come tomorrow and, hopefully, replace our faulty front hydraulic landing gear. If so, Saturday, we finally head south toward Arizona and our winter home.

Family Time

A death and funeral are sad, somber events. But they also provide family time that is both comforting and good. We have two family dinners in the past week. The first time, we didn't take any pictures, but this week John took quite a few. (I forgot my phone that day.)

Our niece Tina invited us and her mother--John's sister Cindy--to dinner Wednesday. Tina is quite a gardener and a very creative person. She grows lots of flowers.

And also vegetables.

Notice the scarecrow in this garden plot.

And the large pumpkin in this area.

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The other day, I told her I had never really seen potato plants. So while we were there, she harvested some she had grown.

You can see evidence of her creativity in this photo. Cindy is standing by a flower bed. In the background, you can see several structures that look like windows--being used as focal points in her back yard. Closer to the patio, she also displayed some old windows from the farmhouse where her husband grew up. 

Here are some more beautiful flowers in her garden.