Getting Settled

Hi everyone! We are excited to share our new life in Denver with you! We arrived last Sunday after an 18 hour drive from Milwaukee with a moving truck, a pickup truck, and two life-saving walkie talkies!

We couldn't believe we fit everything into our
moving truck!

We made it!

We arrived at our apartment, which was not exactly what we were expecting. After trying hard not to enter into panic mode (easy for Brandon, not so easy for Ilissa), several phone calls, and a night on our friends’ air mattress, it was all sorted out and we were given a new apartment, complete with a great view of the mountains! We were very thankful to have our friend Neil, who also attends Denver Seminary, and Brandon’s parents and brother there to help us.

We also got to drop Ilissa’s boxes off at her new school, which is HUGE and beautiful! She is definitely looking forward to teaching there!

We got to do some exploring in Colorado with Brandon’s family. We headed west to the mountains and rode the chair lift to the top of a mountain in Keystone. We then headed to the Continental Divide where we did a little sightseeing. Up next was Country Boy Gold Mine in Breckenridge. We went on a tour of the mine and learned what it would have been like to be a miner in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Definitely thankful we do not have to work in those conditions! We also went on a tour of the Bronco’s football stadium. Their love for John Elway was very obvious!

On the chairlift at Keystone.

At the top of the mountain in Keystone.

We made it to the Continental Divide!

Hiking the Continental Divide.

If only this was really how we hiked!

Brandon and Tyler threw rocks off the top of
the Continental Divide. Of course.

Panning for gold at the Country
Boy Mine in Breckenridge.

The rest of the week brought more unpacking and we are just about completely settled in now! We went for a bike ride Saturday morning, headed to Chatfield Lake to cool off in the afternoon, and have been going for walks and a few runs (if you can call them that…) on the trail behind our apartments. We’re definitely still getting used to the altitude here!

We’ll get some pictures of our apartment up soon so you can see where we’re living.

We miss all of you!

Brandon and Ilissa