Boulder's Apple Palooza!

One of our church members, Claudia Mills, is the author of 63 children's books including her most recent effort, The Last Apple Tree. Yesterday, we took part in a virtual book launch with the author and today, Belinda enjoyed hearing Claudia read at the local library's celebration of "Apple Palooza" including hearing about the "Tree of 40 Fruit."

A visit to Nederland

We made it to the carousel!

Belinda is ready to go!

Riding a moose!

Charming footbridge

Boulder Creek 

We decided to take a long-awaited drive to Nederland this morning and are so glad we did! Driving the winding road west from downtown Boulder took us to this little town which is 8,234 ft. (Boulder is 5,318 ft). Our goal this morning was to ride The Carousel of Happiness which was such fun! A lunch at Busey Brews made for a nice outing for us!

Pride painting

This week, Charles worked up a piece in recognition of Pride month. 

"Getting a round to Pride " 

24x24, gesso and oil on canvas

 

Annual Conference is done for another year

Mountain Sky Conference clergy

Ready for the procession

With Deb Wacker

The highlight of Annual Conference, for Charles, is the ordination service. It is always an emotional experience as he processes with the other clergy and relives his own ordination as he watches the ritual unfold before him!

Day three in Casper

UWIF breakfast

 

"Draw the Circle Wide"

Playing through

The day got off to an early start with the annual breakfast program of the United Women in Faith. Belinda took part on Zoom (she can be seen in the pink shirt on the Zoom screen above the speaker's head)! The afternoon session at the Annual Conference included a heartfelt farewell litany for our bishop who is retiring in August. Charles can be seen on the left-hand side of the photo above.

The business of the conference concluded earlier than expected and so Charles was able to get in nine holes of golf at the Casper Municipal Golf Course. Not a fancy course, it is nonetheless well-cared for and included seeing some pronghorn antelope!

Day two in Casper

Clergy session at First UMC

Lunch @ Sanford's Pub & Grub

Quick stop to see some local history

A nice place to see some culture!

Supper @ Hokkaido Ramen

Following this morning's clergy session at Annual Conference, a group of Charles' colleagues went to lunch at a funky place called Sanford Pub & Grub where Charles had some fabulous Cajun food, complete with decorations!

On the way back to the conference location, he stopped at National Historic Trails center to get a glimpse into the fascinating story of the trails (including Oregon, Morman, and California Trails) that passed through this area. He also made time to take in some of the offerings at the Nicolaysen Art Museum. He had visited here several years ago, it is a must-see in Casper!

After the day's business was completed, Charles stopped by Hokkaido Ramen for some authentic Japanese food!

It's official!

Charles was formally reappointed to serve as the pastor of St. Paul's UMC - Boulder for his sixth year at this afternoon's session of Annual Conference.

On the road to Casper

Charles' companion on the road to Casper

"State flower of Wyoming"

Charles is official!

Where the action is happening in Casper

Charles had a rough start to his drive to Casper for Mountain Sky Annual Conference, forgetting his robe which necessitated asking for Belinda to get it him in Cheyenne! Good thing he had built some extra time into the schedule ahead of the afternoon's start to the gathering.

Summer's eve

On the eve of summer, we spotted the first changing leaf on the chokecherry tree in the backyard!

Fore!

New logo

Two tired golfers!

Birdies everywhere you look!

Charles took advantage of the break in the heat to get in nine holes at the Flatirons Golf Course here in Boulder with Myrle, a member of St. Paul's UMC. This was the first time either of them had played this year and the first time Charles had played since October!

Time with Sammy

 Sammy came by the office twice this week, spending several hours each time, getting plenty of quality rest before heading off on his neighborhood rounds.

Holding down the fort

Wesley missed Belinda (while she was in Utah this weekend). He's spent a lot of time napping in her chair, keeping it safe until she returned!

Touch up work

Charles did some touch up on the large jars in the front and a new batch of pill bottles for the back yard. It is a lot of work but the colorful result is worth it!

A busy Saturday

The theme of the bishop's celebration

It was a great time!

Seven couples got married this afternoon!

More buttons!!!

Charles had another busy day, starting early this morning with the church family breakfast, always a fun time. After that, he made the drive south of Denver to Highlands Ranch for a celebration of the ministry of our Bishop Oliveto. On the way home, he stopped at the Adams County Pride event (where he got some buttons!).

Touristing in Denver

With one of the "spirit guides"

Peregrine Falcon part of Raptor Day

The division got its start in Colorado

Old/new in the pueblos of the southwest

fabrics from around the world - this is from Armenia

First up was a visit to the Denver Botanical Gardens. Special exhibits he saw included Raptor Day, Spirit Guides: Fantastical Creatures from the Workshop of Jacobo and María Ángeles, & River's Voice: Textiles by Alexandra Kehayoglou.

After that, he went downtown and stopped at the History Colorado museum to see two exhibits, including one on the 10th Mountain Division and a ceramic exhibit called Revolt: 1680/2180.

The last stop of the day was at the Denver Art Museum where he saw several special exhibits - Perfectly Imperfect: Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Sandra Vasquez de la Horra: Awake Volcanoes, Biophilia: Nature Reimagined, The Russells in Denver (1921), Weaving a Foundation, and Painting in the Andes: 1680-1780.