Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Well we have been quite busy since the last time we have updated all of you.

This past week we had two of our good friends, Ian and Jeremy, come out to visit us. They are great friends that Luke has played soccer with and known for a few years now. It was so fun to have them out and show them around Steamboat and the snow. We rented some snow shoes for a couple days and went on some sweet hikes up a mountain and across a frozen Steamboat lake! We also went tubing one night which was very fun. The week they came we got somewhere between 15 and 20 inches of snow in just a few days! We are so thankful and blessed to have such good friends and are looking forward to seeing where we all end up.
Jane has been very busy lately as she has started to record her songs!! She just finished recording six of her original songs at a local studio. The songs are awesome and we are anxiously awaiting the final copy of the demo which should be done any day now. We are hoping to send the demo to some contacts we have made in the music business and pray that the Lord will allow it to get into the right hands if that is what He has planned. And if any of you have some contacts in the music business then be sure to let us know!
Luke was invited to a player combine down in Austin for the new expansion USL-1 team. This seems to be a great opportunity for Luke to move up and would be a great stepping stone to continue to progress his soccer career, not to mention we would be able to be back in Texas! This is a new team but it's a team that has lots of great connections with the owner of this team also being a part owner of Stoke City, in the English premiership. They have a developed a formal partnership with the two teams. Please pray for this opportunity and that the Lord will lead and keep Luke away from injury and be with him during the trail.
We are excited about where the Lord is leading us and we thank you for all your prayers and encouragement!
Enjoy some pictures...

Mount Werner and Steamboat Springs seen from the top of Emerald Mountain (the mountiain across the valley)

This is Steamboat Lake completely frozen over and we hiked across and around it! Kinda sketchy in some spots, but it was fun.


Ian (right), Jeremy (middle) and Luke after crossing the lake. Hans Peak in the background.

This is what happens when you snow shoe after 12 or 13 inches of powder falls!!

Ian, Jane, and Jeremy with Mount Werner in the background

This tractor can really launch the snow!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year

Hello and Happy New Year!
We hope everyone had a fun and blessed Christmas and New Years! Over the holidays we were reminded how much the Lord has blessed and surrounded us with such wonderful family.

We spent Christmas down in Texas with the whole Williams clan. It was a little weird for Jane since this was the fist non-white Christmas she has ever had, and it was 70 degrees on Christmas day. Even though we had to leave the beautiful snow of Steamboat, we still had a blast in Texas. We had such a fun time hanging out with everyone and it was the first time in a long time we all got to hang out together as a family without having to plan something like a wedding. After some crazy flight delays we finally made it to Texas late Saturday night and were able to stay the whole week and eventually left Friday morning to head back to Colorado. Our cousins, the DeZonias, as well as Grandma Shack came down from Iowa and enjoyed the warmer weather. Our house was definitely busy but we had a great time cooking up some amazing food (including deep frying a turkey and other assorted foods) and playing fun games with everyone. It was great to be back in Texas for a little while, and who knows, before we know it, we might be moving back there.

When we made it back to Steamboat after some more crazy flight delays and had a little mini Christmas with the Melvins and enjoyed a relaxing day. We then got up the next morning and headed over to the Crooked Creek Younglife Ranch near Winter Park which is only about an hour and a half away. We met up with Emily and Cody and their YL kids for their annual ski trip. It was so fun to be able to see Emily and Cody interact with all their kids. They are both so passionate and talented at what they do with those kids and it is so evident that the Lord is really working through them to make an impact in the lives of these high schoolers. Even though we only got to spend one night there we were so glad we went. And Jane got to experience her first ever Young Life Club, which she really enjoyed!

We brought in the new year with our friends the Kings, and had a great dinner and played some fun games as well as shot off a few fireworks. Then, on new years day, we went snow shoeing. We hiked up Emerald mountain which is just down the road from our house. It was so much fun hiking on the trails or making our own trails through the powder. We are going to try and make this a more regular thing since we enjoyed it so much, not to mention it is quite a good work out!
Enjoy some pictures:

Here is the local expert snow shoeing guide!






First time in snow shoes!


Christmas picture!

The whole clan: Williams', DeZonia's, Blair's, Benac's & Shackelford

The beautiful Williams/Blair/Benac family girls




The deep frying team!


The massive hot tub and gym at Crooked Creek

These are the cabins where all the kids stayed


A huge moose we saw on the road to Crooked Creek