Life with the Sheltons

Well, we have been blessed enough to have my mom and sister in town for the last couple of days. So this weekend we decided to make some outings to see what was happening up in the mountains. On Friday we made our way up above Colorado Springs towards Cripple Creek. While there wasn't much fall color yet, there were enough patches of brightness to make it worth the trip. On Saturday we made the trek up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park and were lucky enough to get to hear the elk bugling for the fall rutting season. It was definitely an adventure as on that trip we saw a little bit of everything as far as weather goes, with rain, snow, sun, lightning and the whole bit. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.

Well this summer has been a mix of good times and trials for Kirsten and I. I guess we can start with the good times first. We have been able to make it out for a couple of camping trips to some of our favorite places with good friends. We started the summer camping with a trip with our friends, the Krauses, to Rocky Mountain National Park and enjoyed a weekend of cooking over a campfire and hiking to some of the great places in Colorado. We also made a trip with our other friends, the Kittlemans, to Mueller State Park, which was a park that I have been trying to get into for about 2 years. It was a good time, but we got poured on for most of the trip. Oh well, we still got to camp and did a hike on the second day that made all the rain worth it.

We continue to work on things around the house including some painting and started a landscaping project that we’ve not made much progress on. But hopefully sometime this fall things will come together with that.

Kirsten continues to work with the Goodwill as a Lead Case Manager, working with families that are receiving assistance from the state. Times there have been pretty stressful for her, as a few months ago her manager and friend passed away. So dealing with that, along with getting used to a new manager has been a big adjustment.

I continue to work with Focus on the Family and attend school full time. The hope/plan is to complete my BS in Computer Science by then end of Summer ’09 if I can get all of my classes on the schedule that I need. It will definitely be nice to have that done and out of the way so I can have some more free time with my wife.

Towards the end of July I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and that has been a huge life adjustment. Along with oral medication, exercise and diet change, things are starting to come under control with that and I hope that the trend continues in that direction. The learning curve for diabetes is fairly steep, but the consequences of not managing it are enough to scare me into making the commitment. Kirsten has been a great source of encouragement, and I feel so blessed that she has decided to help me in this new battle.

I think that about wraps up the biggest stuff of the summer, in a couple of the posts below you can see some of the pictures from this summer and I hope to get some more up when I have the time. Take care, and until next time… Be Safe!

Well, even though I was hopped up on percocet after having a wisdom tooth pulled late Friday I couldn't pass up the Colorado Springs Balloon Classic. So Kirsten and I, headed down Saturday morning with our friends Evan and Heather to enjoy the sights. The weather was beautiful and the balloons turned out in full force. I hope you enjoy some of my photos.

So, you made it to our new site... Cool deal... I know we haven't done a great job posting to our blog in the past, and I can't promise it will get much better. But here is a set of photos from some of our adventures this summer. I'll try to write an update post later today or tomorrow to talk about some of the things that are going on in our lives. Until then, enjoy the pictures!