Start of a Beautiful Day  Thomas Kinkade

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Thank you for taking the time to visit our little corner of the web.  Well we just finished our first winter here in the beautiful mountains.  It was a very mild winter but very beautiful.  We are living in the Granby area of Grand County which is right outside Rocky Mountain National Park.  The area here is so beautiful and has so much to offer.  On this page you will find links to our individual pages and other links that we think are worthwhile.

Recently Colorado and the whole world was shocked by the senseless tragedy of the shootings at Columbine High School.  My soul has been seeking some explanation, but can find none.  The only thing I can be certain of, is that I will never let another day go by without letting my own children and husband know how very much I love them.  The following column was written by Woody Paige, a Denver Post sports writer.  I found it very touching.

The day the flowers died

April 21 - The columbine that was growing alongside the road in Littleton has wilted and died. It bloomed and blossomed everso briefly. The blue-and-white petals have drooped and turned brown. From a frost, or maybe out of sadness. Is that moisture on the stem the last drop of a melting snow, or a teardrop?
The columbine is a delicate, fragile flower. But the beautiful flower, according to lore, has a will to live and a resolve to prevail. That determination must be why the columbine can survive the cold and harshness of the Rocky Mountains winters and spread its joy, color and seed in the spring. The columbine is Colorado's official flower, and the state song is "Where The Columbines Grow.'' Columbine also is the name of a high school. A good, proud, honored school. I've spoken at Columbine, and I've been to Columbine's games, and I've known Columbine students and alumni. And I'm sitting here weeping about the tragedy at Columbine. Like its namesake, the life has been taken from Columbine. There will be no talk of sports this morning. The Rockies and the Nuggets reverently canceled their games Tuesday
night. It is not a time for fun and play, but a time for mourning and reflection - and prayer. Not when the flowers of a new, young, fresh generation have been stolen away. Where have all the flowers gone, my generation used to ask? We must be held accountable. In the 1950s we didn't lock the doors of our houses and left our bikes leaning against the wall. We were frightened at school only on the day the polio vaccine shots were administered. Where
have all the flowers gone, and where did we go wrong? I called my daughter at college in another state Tuesday afternoon. I just wanted to
be assured she was OK. I know that sounds ridiculous, but all parents felt pain. Tuesday was supposed to be another normal day at Columbine. The sky was as blue and white and free and happy as the columbine. The school's daily announcements were mostly positive, and the one that wasn't barely
scolded in the usual educational way. Seniors were preparing for graduation, and some hadn't turned in their "graduation contracts'' and
were reminded of their oversight. Otherwise, the Columbine wind symphony had received all superior ratings at a Colorado High School Activities
Association competition. The girls' golf team had finished third in an invitational tournament in Greeley. Students who were 18 had to register
with the Selective Service (and I didn't realize they were compelled to anymore), and four seniors had been chosen to speak at the commencement
exercises. Justin Carlson will give the farewell address. What can he say - "Where have the flowers gone''? And the school was to be open to parents
Tuesday night. Then, everything changed. The world began to revolve around Columbine High School. Sad, stark pictures from Yugoslavia were
replaced by sad, stark pictures from here at home. A quiet, peaceful community became a war zone. And Colorado, which had been the site for the trials, understood better - too well - the bombing and the suffering in Oklahoma City. They assassinated our president in Dallas; they murdered our civil rights leader in Memphis, and they've killed our kids in a Denver suburb. Damn them. On Arbor Day (April 17), 1891, Colorado students voted overwhelmingly to recommend that the columbine be named as the state flower. The cactus was a distant runnerup.
A hundred years ago this month the Colorado legislature passed a bill making that official. Since then state government laws have been enacted to protect the columbine. It is illegal to dig up, or even pick more than 25, columbines. Shouldn't there be more laws protecting our young people?
Columbine has a different meaning now in Colorado. There should be a memorial - a park for youths - overflowing with columbines. And everyone attending an Avalanche playoff game, a church service, a family gathering should pin a real columbine or a blue-and-white drawing of the
flower next to the heart. It's not nearly enough, but we must remember where the columbines have gone.
Francis Bacon once wrote of the "columbine innocency.'' And that flower and that innocence should never be allowed to wilt and die.>>> It's
ironic that tonight we have forecasted Snow..may it wash the stained grass side and bring pure and freshness once again..

    Links to Columbine High School Memorial Sites:
 Please Pray With Us
For the Love of Columbine High
Let Us Join Together
Dear Families
Innocent Tears
Pray for Columbine
In Their Honor
Official Guest Book of Columbine High
Denver Post Memorial
Please Pray for these Families
Tribute
Remember the Innocent
 If You Came Back From Heaven
 Please Pray With Us
 We Are Thinking of You
 When Tomorrow Starts Without Me
 No More Tears From Heaven
 
 

Links:
David White
Lynn White
Aaron Endel
Austin Endel
 Grand County Visitor's Center
 The Grand Tour
 Granby Chamber of Commerce
 Winter Park Fraser Valley Home Page
 Grand County Vacation Planner
 Rocky Mountain National Park
 Unofficial Rocky Mountain National Park Home Page
 Colorado Vacation Planner
 State of Colorado Home Page
 colorado.com
 Silver Creek Resort
Outdoor Recreation Opportunities in Colorado