The Juniper Tree Journey

Settled in our new home.  It's much smaller than the home we had in Conifer, but seems to suit us better.  All three girls are with us at present, though Nicole will leave to had back to Chapman in a week - a sad day for all of us.  We love her dearly and miss her terribly when she's gone.  Karine will stay here until the weather turns worse and she'll need to be closer to Evergreen where she works, at which point she'll move back in (I assume) with one of her employers. 

We've had the country store for almost 14 months now, and thanks to the Lord and lots of help from friends the store is doing very well.  There were those who believed and said that we would never even get it open, but God had another plan.  We've met literally hundreds of people in the past 14 months who have enriched our lives and who have made our store a regular hang-out.  Even as recently as yesterday we had a French family come in who were passing through on their way to Salt Lake City, and we enjoyed 20-30 minutes of French conversation about all the things we miss about France, like the cheese, and the wine, and our friends.  It was like a breath of fresh air, and I loved every minute. 

Last weekend Daphne graciously ran the store while I went off with my band of Marauders to perform several reenactments for Living History Days in South Park City, a restored old west town and museum that's a perfect venue for gunfights.  And the Sunday before we performed in another small town called Hartsel for their annual festival.  It just so happened that our friends Lewis and Lacy Alexander were with us that weekend, and I somehow managed to convince them to join in with our reenactments.  Everyone agreed that Lacy made a perfect brazen hussy in her saloon girl attire :)
I managed to rustle up a couple of horses for me and another of our crew to ride in the parade, and when our guys at the front starting shooting off their revolvers and double-barreled shot-guns the horses did a pretty good rendition of the cha-cha.  When the parade was over I rode over to where our guys were waiting and said, "Next time, you ride and I'll shoot!"  The whole thing was a great deal of fun. 

Some of our group with other reenactors in Hartsel, Colorado.  Lacy's on the right.

Jim a.k.a. "Cherokee Jack"  Myers posing for a photo during the Hartsel parade

Lewis looks pretty B.A. if you ask me