The end of the year finds us well and happy, and here we are enjoying the first snow at our house in early December. Global climate change has left Durango and the Southwest in a long dry spell, so any precipitation is welcome! Since this photo, we've had a lot more snow ~ see the other photos in this gallery! We had a great Thanksgiving visit in Tucson, AZ with Bob's mother, Florence and his sister, Phyllis. Bob's mom is a healthy 87 years old, really enjoying living in an excellent retirement home with her own apartment. The facility includes a bank, clinic, library, hair dresser, exercise rooms and a great dining facility. We spent some quality time with her and Phyllis, with whom we shared a great hike in Catalina State Park, where we were "camping" in our RV. Beautiful weather and other activities ~ we visited Kartchner Caverns, a fairly newly discovered underground cave system, with gorgeous crystaline structures and colored formations. We also had a great shopping experience at Trader Joe's, which does not exist in Colorado, and which makes Bob jokingly suggest that we actually move to Tucson.

Just for fun, here are a few highlights of our past year:

* Good visits with Marilyn's sister Melissa and her two children, Jackson (currently a junior at University of Colorado) and Celine, who just became a freshman, also at CU. They are thriving and enjoying themselves so much! Melissa has been training and running a lot, recently a half-marathon.

* Bob led another photo tour to Africa in early fall- another group that was his "best group ever", of course. He also taught two courses for Elderhostel participants through Colorado State University- one in Yellowstone, and one at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah. Both were very enjoyable with good photo opportunities.

* Marilyn has been bagpiping for various events and singing (tenor) with the Durango Choral Society. The highlight has been a joint performance in both Telluride and Durango with the Telluride Choral Society and the San Juan Symphony- what a fabulous experience! We presented music from Copeland and Bernstein, including West Side Story- so much fun to sing.

* We continue to be visited regularly by deer, fox, skunk, an occassional bear and other local wildlife at our house. We also entertain a huge variety of birds including bluebirds in the spring (we have installed several bluebird houses and they have raised many nests full of babies). We feed our bird friends except in true summer, and always have out a water basin which is heated in the winter to keep it from freezing. Very popular with the non-human neighbors.

* It's been about a year since we lost our dear dog, Cheena, and our kitty, Gabriowl. So now, Rafiki has been an "only child" for a while, and after being somewhat disoriented and depressed at first, he's bounced back well. He's actually more obedient and cooperative now, and totally bonded to Bob and Marilyn, so that's a good result. His former unpredictable and poor behavior has mellowed and he's really a very good dog now. Of course, he's getting older, as we all are ~ but Bob and Marilyn are dedicated to staying healthy and enjoying life for a long, long time.

Be sure to check out the other galleries on this website that show many of our excursions throughout 2007.

We surely would love visits and/or messages from all of you, so please stay in touch.

Love- Marilyn and Bob

The end of the year finds us well and happy, and here we are enjoying the first snow at our house in early December. Global climate change has left Durango and the Southwest in a long dry spell, so any precipitation is welcome! Since this photo, we've had a lot more snow ~ see the other photos in this gallery! We had a great Thanksgiving visit in Tucson, AZ with Bob's mother, Florence and his sister, Phyllis. Bob's mom is a healthy 87 years old, really enjoying living in an excellent retirement home with her own apartment. The facility includes a bank, clinic, library, hair dresser, exercise rooms and a great dining facility. We spent some quality time with her and Phyllis, with whom we shared a great hike in Catalina State Park, where we were "camping" in our RV. Beautiful weather and other activities ~ we visited Kartchner Caverns, a fairly newly discovered underground cave system, with gorgeous crystaline structures and colored formations. We also had a great shopping experience at Trader Joe's, which does not exist in Colorado, and which makes Bob jokingly suggest that we actually move to Tucson.

Just for fun, here are a few highlights of our past year:

* Good visits with Marilyn's sister Melissa and her two children, Jackson (currently a junior at University of Colorado) and Celine, who just became a freshman, also at CU. They are thriving and enjoying themselves so much! Melissa has been training and running a lot, recently a half-marathon.

* Bob led another photo tour to Africa in early fall- another group that was his "best group ever", of course. He also taught two courses for Elderhostel participants through Colorado State University- one in Yellowstone, and one at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah. Both were very enjoyable with good photo opportunities.

* Marilyn has been bagpiping for various events and singing (tenor) with the Durango Choral Society. The highlight has been a joint performance in both Telluride and Durango with the Telluride Choral Society and the San Juan Symphony- what a fabulous experience! We presented music from Copeland and Bernstein, including West Side Story- so much fun to sing.

* We continue to be visited regularly by deer, fox, skunk, an occassional bear and other local wildlife at our house. We also entertain a huge variety of birds including bluebirds in the spring (we have installed several bluebird houses and they have raised many nests full of babies). We feed our bird friends except in true summer, and always have out a water basin which is heated in the winter to keep it from freezing. Very popular with the non-human neighbors.

* It's been about a year since we lost our dear dog, Cheena, and our kitty, Gabriowl. So now, Rafiki has been an "only child" for a while, and after being somewhat disoriented and depressed at first, he's bounced back well. He's actually more obedient and cooperative now, and totally bonded to Bob and Marilyn, so that's a good result. His former unpredictable and poor behavior has mellowed and he's really a very good dog now. Of course, he's getting older, as we all are ~ but Bob and Marilyn are dedicated to staying healthy and enjoying life for a long, long time.

Be sure to check out the other galleries on this website that show many of our excursions throughout 2007.

We surely would love visits and/or messages from all of you, so please stay in touch.

Love- Marilyn and Bob