Christmas Eve Travel

From Atlantic to Pacific...I think the traffic will be terrific...tonight! But, there's no place like home for the Holidays. No matter how far away we've roamed!

Hi there. Kelley and I are flying home to Michigan tonight. We don't depart from Denver until 5:15PM so we aren't scheduled to arrive in DEEEtroit until 10PM or so.

The good news is that we are able to stay in Michigan until January 3rd so we look forward to some major quality time...sort of like you see in the movie "Four Christmas"...

Winter in Colorado

We just have some photos to share of the beautiful snow that fell last night. I should be studying for my final exams instead of playing outside, but hey, what can I say.

We sure are excited to come home to MI in about 10 days. We think it would be neat to have our families out here in CO for Christmas some time also?

Here is the view from one of our favorites spots in Boulder. We have had dinner there with mom and dad Fannin. The restaurant is called "Pasta Jays" and has a nice view of the old fashiond looking Boulder buildings.


Here is Kelley in the street with a nice view in the backdrop.

We went for a simple snow hike this morning also.

Then I had to take Kelley to "Spruce Confections" to get her a treat and a hot chocolate.

Visit to The Shirkeys in El Paso, TX

Kelley and I have spent a few days in El Paso with our cousins Matt and Carrie Shirkey and with their children, Jackson and Annika. This is their home on the Fort Bliss Army Base.


My cousin Matt, below, is an Army Chaplain. On Thanksgiving morning he served dinner to the troops in his batallion. He and his fellow officers put on their Army blue dress suits.
Here below is the El Paso Shirkey family. Carrie and Matt and the kids.

They took us into New Mexico to a placed called White Sands National Park. You can see why it was called "White Sands."

Our final event of today was to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant named Barrigas.
You may wonder about my choice of "shorts"...well, it was a bit warmer than I expected and I didn't care to wear my jeans for the entire afternoon.

Weekend in Michigan

Kelley and I went home to Michigan this past weekend. It was a quick but meaningful trip. We really laid low and just spent time with our families. My parents had a nice party on Saturday night that included all of our nieces and nephews (2 of which we met for the first time), our siblings (except Austin and Amy), some aunts/uncles and cousins. It was an excellent evening.

We wish it wasn't so fast, but we are thankful that Christmas isn't too far away and we look forward to returning for the week between Christmas and New Years. We hope to be in Michigan from December 24 (probably a late night arrival) through January 3 (Saturday).

Bye for now.

My Sister...Sarah Palin...My Brother...White Trash

My sister, Marilyn, dressed up as Sarah Palin for Halloween. I think she strikes a pretty close resemblance. Apparently, some people she met last night actually thought she was Sarah Palin!

My little brother Daniel is shown here with his family. He is the one who looks like he should be in the grandstands at a NASCAR race...his son, Colin, would be the driver!

Dinner in the Mountains

Kelley and I recently learned of a small town about 10 miles from Boulder called Gold Hill. It is an old mining town up in the mountains with maybe 30-40 houses. It has a rustic hotel and a restaurant. We visited there this past Saturday night. It was sort of like going back in time.

Visitors from Michigan

This week by buddy Jae was in town for business. His wife, Nicole, was able to join him for the weekend. They stayed at our place. It was nice to be able to show them around Boulder a bit. We went on some hikes, watch CU beat Kansas State last night and shared nice meals together. It is so nice to have some friends from back home around for a bit.

Fly Fishing Trip

Most people who know me can attest to the fact that I am quite the outdoorsman, as such, it was not necessary for me to prove this by holding the fishing rod in my mouth as I wrestled this monster rainbow trout into submission. It was a good thing I had my dad with me to act as a back-up in case things got out of hand.

Dad and I enjoyed a half day fly fishing trip with a local outfitter here in Boulder. The experience was better than I imagined and I recommend it to all.

Who caught the most fish? Well, my dad definitely won that contest as the fish in the top photo was my only conquest.

Mom and Dad Shirkey Visit!

Mom and Dad Shirkey arrived on Thursday and we have had lots of fun together. The photo above was from the pep rally on Friday night before the CU game vs. Texas.

The rest of these photos are from the game.

Unfortunately, the Buffs didn't win this one.

This is a photo of some of my classmates and I. John, Eric and Kevin. These are some of my best buds from the program.

Painting Trip (Today)

We went back to Rocky Mountain National Park today so Kelley could make a painting. This is a spot that both sets of our parents have visited with us. It is a pretty amazing aspen tree grove on the way to a waterfall.

Hiking Trip (a few weeks back)

Kelley and I went for a hike that we did in July 2007. This was our first hike in CO so it was fun to do it again.

Shot of Boulder

This is a shot Kelley took from a park near our apartment.

What is new?

Hello to all:

Things are going well for Kelley and I out here in Boulder.

Kelley is in her 3rd week at her new job and she still seems to enjoy it quite a bit. Our schedule are sort of opposite as I have classes in the afternoons and evenings so I don't see her on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. She is back to her "professional" recreation league volleyball team...they have hired a coach for this Saturday morning to practice "hitting"?

My job as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate business class is OK. I enjoy the in-class time, but I don't enjoy the preparation and grading too much. Tomorrow is the first test.

I've hung out with my little brother Alex a few times. He seems to be doing well. He grew up during the summer. Yesterday we played some basketball and football and it is amazing to me how much a kid can "grow" in terms of coordination over a summer. We just got some free tickets to an amuzement park in Denver so we will go there on October 11.

My parents come to visit on October 2. We are pretty pumped for that. My buddy from college, Jae, and his wife, Nicole, will be here for the weekend of October 18. I am going to a real estate conference in Miami the last week of October. Then, Kelley and I are going to fly home to Michigan for a visit from November 7 -10.

School is good. I like my classes, just don't like having night classes. I'm pretty bad at being alert after 7PM, but I'm trying to suck it up. Our real estate club has done some cool events. I'm hosting visiting students to campus and working as a MBA Ambassador. Also, I've been helping a bit by adding content to this website www.understandmexico.com.

So, that is an update from here.

God bless you.

David and Kelley

Back in Boulder - Kelley's Big News

We arrived to Boulder on Monday afternoon. Mom and Dad Fannin, my classmate Kevin and one of our new neighbors helped us move in. The 2nd floor was a bit of a hassle, but we managed.

Our new address is:
1350 20th St, Apt K-36
Boulder, CO 80302

We are about 100 ft from our old apartment.

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Until next Wednesday we are dog-sitting for my classmate Scott, so we haven't event slept in our new apartment yet. That's good because it's not ready.

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Mom and Dad departed yesterday morning at 7:30AM and then our friend Jessica arrived last night at 10PM. She is staying with us for a few nights.

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Now for Kelley's big news. She got an art job at a local book-making company. She is going to try the job for 1 month as a "contract" employee to see how it goes then they'll decide on the next step. She'll be able to walk to work (6 blocks) and her office is less than 1 block from the cool downtown area of Boulder so she'll be able to enjoy the coffee shops, etc. This will be a way for Kelley to "test" the full-time art world. Call Kelley for more details!

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I started my spanish class yesterday and have already done my homework which is due tomorrow. My MBA classes start on September 8. I start teaching the undergraduate course on Friday (2 days away).

We've been hiking already and feel pretty good to be back in Boulder.

Please come see us!!!!!

Cheyenne, Wyoming and an eating lesson...

Today wasn't too long of a drive. Only about 6 hours. We are staying in Cheyenne, WY tonight. This was a set of windmills we passed on the highway today.


Trying to find a good place to have dinner we figured that the place with the largest cowboy boot would be ideal.


After dinner, many of us were quite "full" and complaining about eating too much. The chief complainer was Dad Fannin...as he was holding a half eaten cookie and a half eaten apple he was coaching us a told us "we've got to stop doing this to ourselves..." Then he realized that he was eating as he said it and we all had a good laugh.