Our Independence Day--4th of July 2014

This year we headed back up to Fort Collins to enjoy being with Grandma.  We took in an ole' fashioned 4th of July parade in Old Town before going over to Grandma's house.

One thing that really struck me this time around is just how very grown-up our daughter is becoming.  It seems different that she is no longer interested in running and grabbing candy when they throw it out on the street.  We're at a new stage in life with Penny becoming a young woman and no longer having Father with us.

After spending time in the "Fort", we drove up the Big Thomspon Canyon to Estes Park.  It was with sober hearts that we viewed the destruction of the big flood back in September.  Here's a picture of a large area that became a big landslide, due to the torrents of water that washed down the canyon, thanks to a week of non-stop rain back in September.

 The town of Drake was literally gone.  Those poor people have gone through their own life changes in this past year.  When we got to the top of the canyon we drove around and went to a Visitor's Center at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, where we viewed a movie and had a nice view of Long's Peak.

By that time, we realized that Penny wasn't feeling very good.  It was probably either altitude sickness or motion sickness from the ride up or a little of both.  But, she managed to eat a bowl of clam chowder soup at a nice, old-fashioned family-style restaurant that we stopped at.  It was one that Mother had recommended as one of hers and father's favorites that they used to dine at.

While we were eating at the Big Horn we watched it begin to rain.  And it just kept on raining and raining.  So, between Penny's upset tummy and the weather, we decided to stop at the grocery store to get some Pepto-Bismol and then head down the mountain, rather than hang out for 3 hours in Estes to wait and see whether or not their fireworks show would be a go or not.  Fortunately, after coming home and playing a couple of games of Yahtzee, Penny was feeling better and it was dry here, so we drove to a parking lot of an international supermarket that sits up on a hill and managed to have a nice view of the fireworks display in Westminster.  

It turned out to be a nice day and made me very thankful for our many blessings in this country.  And it's truly not just our material things.  As we saw, again, on our drive down the mountain, so many folks have seen all of their material goods be swept away in an instant.  

While it's important to rebuild those things for daily living, it's a good reminder that those things are simply temporal.  Thus, the title of our blog--Eternity Minded.  We are praying and striving to learn how to live for things that matter for all of eternity.