Thursday, February 05, 2009

Garden of the Gods

This boy is cute! He absolutly LOVES hoping around on rocks but with his usual level of enthusiasm it doesn't always go according to plan.
He has given himself the nickname "Mr Bump" (from the Mr Men books).

This fella LOVES rocks also!


More Rock Loving!




Laying down on the job of rock Loving.




A pair of rock loving ladies!!


WE had a lovely afternoon of playing on these rocks. It was a tiny 1.2 mile loop walk with this rock outcrop in the middle. The "T" Buddies (Tom & Tim) have tittled themselves the Rock Walaby and the Mountain Lion. All 4 of the kids (and mum & dad) had a ball playing here for over half an hour. It was lovely in the afternoon sunshine with views up into the mountains.

One of the craziest parts of it is that this is only 5 minutes from our cabin and 10 mins the other way to the heart of Colorado Springs.

The weather has been unseasonally warm. 10-15 C , which means there is only tiny bits of melting snow on the ground hear and there, so we will have to wait to drop Jo off at her camp at the base of the Rockies to see real snow, but on the plus side it means that we have been able to look around with no weather issues. Colorado is very beatiful, but dryer than we were expecting, I guess all of the trees having no leaves makes it a lot less green, but the ground is dry with little vegetation. Also another bazarity was how the beige plains end on the eastern side of Coloado Springs and the foot hills of the rockies are on the west. Interesting.


Another exciting part of this day was going to visit Ransomed Heart's Head quarters. About 3 minutes from those rock formations above is their 3 story commercial building where we were met by Craig (one of John Eldredge's right hand men) for the tour.

It was an act of God that we even found them as we had misplaced their address and they weren't answering their phones. All we knew was the street it was on and that it was an unmarked building. SO we drove along the street and drove into the carpark (parking lot :) of an unmarked building with a lot of 4 wheel drives out the front. I (steve) went in to see if it was the right building and was met by Craig coming out to greet us, as he had seen us drive in. As he and I headed out to the carpark to get the rest of the family an old land cruiser pulled in next to our car and out gets John Eldredge himself so we all got to chat to him as well.

Then we had a full tour of there building, they have an amazing facility, with offices, lounge areas, recording studio, mini conference facility etc etc.

There was much activity there as they were getting ready for the Retreat this weekend. We met 4 other guys I had met in Sydney and some of the ladies that Jo recognised from the DVDs. Everyone was excited that Jo was going to the retreat.

Craig looked after us very well and the kids had heaps of fun.

It was great to see where they work from and to chat to Craig about how they work and where they've been over the years.

5 comments:

  1. Dear Freeman Family. It's obvious you are having lots of good fun that is funny (Cat in the Hat,p7). The scenery is magnificent and you look to be going to lots of interesting places. The Lord is certainly looking after you. You seem to be connecting to all the right people and places at all the right times. I am looking forward to all your comments and spiritual insights when you get home.And I'm very excited for Jo and all the good stuff she's going to be experiencing.
    Things are chugging along in Kalbar and everything is as per usual. Justine's baby shower was held last night at Flavours and a good time was held by all (I presume). The weather is hot. We've had devastating floods up north. 3/4 of Queensland is flooded to some degree or other.
    Church tomorrow but we'll probably have enough to talk about for the rest of the year at Home Group. It's amazing how many insights we can have in only a few short weeks.
    Love to you and the kiddywinks.
    Love JoJo.

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  2. Dear Sarah

    I miss you alot and I wish you were at school with us. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

    Love Annabelle
    xxooxooxxooxxooxxooxooxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoooooxoxoxxoxooxxoxoxxoooxooooxoooooooxxxxx
    (Mummy did all the typing, but I did all the kisses and cuddles... !! :) )

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  3. Dear Steve @ Jo,
    I thought you would want to be updated on Aust. news. Soutern Aust. has had about a week of above 40 temperatures. As a consequence there have been over 400 fires in Vic and 60 fires in N.S.W. Many have been caused by arsonists and then restarted again after they were put out. The shocking news is that over 50 people have died (what a dreadful way to die)and 80 people are in hospital with burns(some are not expected to live) and almost a thousand homes destroyed.These are the worst fires since Ash Wednesday in 1983. The P.M. was visiting the sites and one man put his head on the P.M. shoulder and cried like a baby. It was such a destressing sight. Sorry to write such bad news but I thought you would want to know.
    Love to you both, Josephine.

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  4. Dear Steve @ Jo,
    The news is not good concerning the Vic fires. Over 5,000 homes destroyed, 173 people dead and the number is expected to rise to over 200.Police and army personel etc, are still examining burnt out cars and homes to ascertain the number of victims. It is truly a dreadful situation. The nation has rallied which is the great thing about Australians. Everyone is doing what they can.
    Sarah has heard on the Hamish and Andy Show that they have raised $2 million towards the relief fund.
    Kalbar is still the same. You certainly appreciate the place when you realise what other people are going through. We are very safe, snug and secure and surrounded by beautiful scenery and friendly people.
    Love JoJo.

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