Weather of the Week

Tuesday and Wednesday evenings brought thunderstorms. Thunder roaring, hail falling, rain crashing down and lightning interrupting the night sky. Thursday brought rain, rain and more rain.

Now it is Friday. The warm sun and the glowing aspens that have succumbed to fall kiss the cool snow caps on the peaks of the San Juan mountains. The sight is spectacular and the drive up to Lake City this afternoon was truly breathtaking… see for yourself->

We are blessed to be able to live- even if temporarily- in such a beautiful area!
~sjt

Lake City, CO

Visiting, sermon preparation, radiation treatments, walking in the beautiful fall colors, racquetball; these are just a few of the things filling up our calendars these days! Last weekend we took off in different directions- Emrys to Lake City and Sara to Phoenix to get stuff out of storage. It was a grueling weekend but good. Sara was able to visit with family during her short trip and Emrys did some more “settling in” to the manse.

Radiation is going well. Sara isn’t experiencing any of the side effects yet and we’re half way through! Praise God!! In addition, she’s taken on racquetball twice a week while she’s in Durango and walking on the off days. Her energy is back and better than when we started!
Last night we had rain and thunderstorms all night. It was the first time in a long time and so in spite of the cold air that came with the storms we slept with the windows open. It was great! And this morning we’re back to Colorado blue skies.

Have a great day!
~sjt

Cruising Into Fall

With radiation treatments underway, Sara’s still off and running. Although we’ve been warned that her energy may fade near the end of the treatments… we’ll see! Emrys is in Hebrew texts up to his elbows as he prepares sermons for Lake City and thoroughly enjoyed his stay so far in the small town. Last Sunday he preached for a full house as the regular end of summer crowd was in attendance – about 90- and then a women’s retreat that was in the area from Kansas City showed up adding another 40 to the numbers. It was standing room only!!

This we’ll split in separate directions, Sara heading to Phoenix to empty out the storage unit into her parents new garage with lots of help and Emrys off to Presbytery Meetings in Allison, CO and then to Lake City.

The fall colors are beginning to paint the landscape in Durango with rust, orange and gold peaking through the summer greens. Fall is such a beautiful season that was truly missed during our time in California.

Emrys has received his official acceptance to the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand which cements our plans to head off in January. He has to be in Dunedin by January 15th so we will most likely begin our jet-setting soon after New Years. Now that things are cementing this adventure is becoming more real and we’re getting excited again!

Hope all is well with you- our family and friends!!
God Bless!

Sharing SW Colorado

We’ve arrived back in Durango and are having fun showing Ginger & Sophie our little corner of paradise. Yesterday we drove north to Andrew’s Lake, Animas Forks- a ghost town, and Silverton. It was a beautiful day and fall was definitely in the air. It was only about 50°. (Link to photos ->). Our outing included Ginger rock climbing, hiding in abandoned mine shafts, gorgeous mountain views, amazing blue water at Baker’s Bridge, exploring houses that remained standing in Animas Forks and wandering through the gift shops in Silverton. It was a packed day and everyone slept well last night!

Today we will meet with the radiation oncologist to schedule out Sara’s treatments. We’re aiming to be done by October 7th so that Sara can move out to Lake City too and the driving back and forth will be finished-for the most part. Emrys will begin preaching at Community Presbyterian on Sunday- so the commuting begins. He’ll drive out, spend the weekend and then come back to Durango.

On the Road Again

We spent the weekend with Emrys’ family as they gathered to remember his dad. It was a good time of visiting under the circumstances but also difficult as well. We left on Monday and made it safe and sound to Branson, MO and are enjoying some down time with Sara’s family.
For those who haven’t been to Branson, it can only be described as a tacky Las Vegas of the Midwest. But there are outlet malls which are pretty fun! On a mission shopping trip we were able to get some dinnerware. (Ours was hand-me-down stuff that we handed down to someone else when we moved from Pasadena.) We now have dishes to eat off of when we get to Lake City- which is a good thing.
We will hang out here through Friday or Saturday when we will start our trip back to Durango. We will get back into town late on Sunday. Sara’s Mom will be with us next week as well as our good friend Sophie. It will be a good time.