May Update (look below for our awesome anniversary trip)

Happy middle of June to you! We've had a hard time finding time to update the family web log. This is a beautiful time of year in Colorado, but also a hectic one. Church activities are at their busiest in June, and the Spring was the busiest ever. Our collective family hobby has become hiking.

A view of the Collegiates from The Crags hiking trail (west of Woodland Park):









Gary up a tree:









Carl between a rock and a hard place:









Dale in a place known only to him:









We went with the Vaughts, good friends from church and avid hikers:









We made it to the top!









What a view, eh?









The kids had a lot of fun together. Bethany walked the dog all the way back down the trail.









Bible Discovery Days (aka VBS) at Bear Valley was great this year. Kathy and Michelle Balbin (seated, left) were in charge of memory work and singing. There was a program at the end of the week, which they coordinated. It was excellent! Kids are far smarter than we give them credit for being.









Memorial Day weekend, we hiked at Roxborough State Park. We saw these deer near the entrance.









It is so much fun to see the diverse beauty of CO from the trails:



















Miscellaneous goofing from Carl (L) and Dale (R)









The Petrillos had faculty and students over for a cookout at their home. It was fun, though the weather was incredibly chilly for late May.
Here's Carl playing in their back yard:









Kathy hanging out with her good friend, Lynn Hite:









A couple more Cozumel pics. Here are the boys in their neat tee shirts that are grey, b & w indoors but turn bright colors outdoors.









Kathy wanted this in the other blog, but it was easier to put in right here.









Earlier in the month, Denny Petrillo and I were on the West Visalia lectureship in Visalia, CA. He goes annually, but this was my first trip there. What a good church! After the last afternoon session, we made the decision to run up to King Canyon National Park (I bought a Golden Access pass and have made good use of it).
Here's Denny standing in front of the largest living things on earth:










Visalia's little airport is probably tied with Meridian, MS's, as the smallest airport I've ever flown a commercial flight into. That's all of it, as seen from my window on the plane.









An out of place photo, but Denny and I at the entrance of the park.







Each of us spoke twice on the program:




















Well, June still has MUCH in store for us. Many visitors are heading our way this summer. Sunday starts Future Preachers Training Camp. We have a trip planned to another National Park (with the Hites) after visits from Kathy's mom, the Inges & Carters from VA. Then, there'll be speaking engagements in Mississippi and Tennessee for both Kathy and me, plus my family coming in August and a softball tournament for me. Hopefully, much hiking will be done, too. Come see us!