This summer we have stayed fairly close to home - no exotic excursions nor meandering road trips nor monumental runs. However! It has been one of the most delightful summers we've had in Colorado thanks to an abundance of visiting with family and friends.
In mid-June, my cousin, John, and his wife, Marcie, visited Boulder for a day as a lead-in to the Architecture conference they were attending in Denver. We treated them to one version of the Quintessential Tour Of Boulder including a picnic in Chautauqua, followed by a tour of the CU-Boulder campus and a grand finale of dinner at Chez VaughanMiller!
The last weekend in June found us in Telluride enjoying the company of my grad school study buddies. We had not all been together for 33 years yet, as study buddy Joel said, "...and the conversation continues." Indeed, we picked up right where we left off, laughing, teasing, discussing, hiking, and partying (but no studying WeeHawww!). And, thanks to technology that hadn't even been dreamt of when we were in school, we were able to skype with one of our gang who has been living in Europe for decades (now living in Vienna, but was attending a wine tasting in Czechoslovakia and skyped with us from a hotel lobby...transcontinental partying at its best!).
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| Setting off through town for a morning walk |
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| Hiking with pizzazz! |
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| Skyping with Kate - Glenn showing off our weekend wine selection |
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| Dinner/party time on the deck |
Over the 4th of July, cousin Dan (the middle brother of the Jim/Dan/John Murphey boys) and his wife Yi Lu popped in for a few days. They got another version of the Quintessential Boulder tour including a walk along the Boulder Creek path, a tour of Celestial Seasonings, lunch at The Sink (with a peek at President Obama's signature right next to Guy Fieri's signature), a visit to our farm share pick up resulting in Yi Lu introducing us to fava beans and her favorite recipe (yum!), all interspersed with lovely long conversations around the homestead.
And then there was last weekend, the last weekend of July. What a whirlwind! Devon and Corinne flew in from Kansas City then we all went up to Fraser/Tabernash for a reunion of the offspring of C.D. and Trudy Miller (Kendall's grandparents). Between all of the aunts, cousins, spouses, youngsters, and friends there were upwards of 50 Millers/Miller-hangers-ons - eating, laughing, joking, catching up with eachother, hiking, viewing flora and fauna, poking the campfire, cooking, and generally having a boisterously grand time of it. Life is most definitely not boring amidst a gaggle of Millers!
Immediately following the Miller rendezvous, we were peeled off the camping clothes, polished ourselves up, put on the fancy duds and dashed off to a wedding of a member of our extended family. It, too, was a boisterous affair - but only after a most beautiful ceremony that saw Shahara and Eddie become husband and wife. The afternoon wedding, with its rainbow theme, opened under blue sky and sunshine after a day of rain - a very good omen indeed.
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| Shahara and her parents, Christina and Rex |
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| Amazing! We do clean up rather nicely! |
Let the visits with family and friends keep on coming.
They, more than anything, fill the heart and bring the smiles.
