Dear Family & Friends,

With record snow falls and snow still on all the 14ers, it's hard to believe it's summer. Not only did we get snow in April and May, Aspen has re-opened some of its ski runs. I love it! But, summer's taking its time to get here. Thus, the reason you're getting a spring update in July!

April Showers

Things are so great here. It still feels like a dream. The only down times are when I think of my friends back home. I wish you all could be here with me to experience life in Colorado. It's everything I've ever dreamed of . . . and more (not to sound too cliche-ish).

As I mentioned in my last update, I've fallen into some great fellowship here. What started as just a small group to attend, has become my core group of friends. Also, I've become fast friends with a fellow-Tulsan, Mike Staires, who moved here to take a similar job as mine, with another Christian camping organization. He and I meet every other week for coffee, and commiserate about life away from our dear friends, and the mixed emotions that accompany enjoying such a great city as this.

Which brings me to this segue: a recent MSNBC ranking of "10 Best Cities to Live In" ranked Colorado Springs #3 (http://tinyurl.com/6p8nhj). Admittedly, though, it lost some of its glamour when I noticed three of the top 10 were Texas cities. Just kidding, Texas people.

I feel pretty good about how much I'm taking advantage of living here. I skied 6 or 7 weekends this winter/spring. On Wednesday mornings, a group of us have started hiking half way up The Incline in Manitou Springs before work. A few days a week, I get up at 5:45 to take Jasmine for a hike part way up Blodgett Peak, where I stop on a ledge overlooking the city and spend a few minutes in quiet reflection. I hiked a 14er last weekend (a mountain over 14,000 feet tall . . . there are 55 of them in Colorado), and have planned my next 14er for July 12th.

The other thing I'm really enjoying about living here is the fact that I get to see so many of my friends who roll through town, or near it. It truly is a destination city and state for Tulsans. So far, I've hosted my brother and his family, Brad Camp, Monica Watts Whitely's little brother, Matt, and his girlfriend, Tara, Jim & Trisa Ulrich and my mom. As of yesterday, Forrest and Austin Carpenter are slated to come in a couple weeks. I've seen folks from church like Peter & Mindy McKechnie who came to help out with Work Week at Trail West and the Redeemer families who joined them, the Chalker girls who are all doing an assignment at Trail West right now and Mindi White who was out for training. And, of course, there are all my Young Life staff friends who I've seen when I've taken customers to tour our Colorado properties.

That said, please take advantage that I live here. Though I have no intentions of leaving, only the Lord knows how long I'll be here. And He's blessed me with a home just big enough to entertain a handful of people overnight. So, make your reservations now!

By the way, I am completely enamored with the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo here! It just opened up one of the most amazing exhibits, that includes a cougar habitat, a wolf habitat and an incredible grizzly bear habitat. These pictures don't do it justice, since all I had was my camera phone, but the bears were playfully fighting right in front of me. You'll never get closer to a grizzly . . . nor would you want to. And I've never seen a giraffe exhibit as great as this one. You actually are face to face with them, and get to feed them crackers. Honestly, if you're my guest, I'll practically insist that you go.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Finally, I just have to boast. One thing I didn't like about my last house in Tulsa was the lack of a good patch of unshaded ground to build a vegetable garden. That's not the case with my home here. Thanks to Kyle Shannon for the plans, I built a raised-bed vegetable garden in my back yard. Salmonella-tainted tomatoes? Who cares? I'll have scores of safe, vine-ripened ones in just a few more weeks! Not to mention snow peas, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, purple and red peppers, canteloupe, amy melons, strawberries, carrots, spaghetti squash and lettuce.

If there's one thing I'd want you to take away from this update, it's this: Since moving here, I've grown a new, deeper appreciation for friends and family. I really miss and love you guys!

I hope all is well. Please stay in touch. And please come out and visit!

Blessings,
Brian

"Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory." - Romans 5:2 (NLT)



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