• "You'll be meeting your five cousins for the first time," Agnes explained to the twins. "And your grandma and grandpa, and your two aunts and uncles. You've seen all their pictures in our photo album; your cousins are on the Christmas cards we get from each year, and your dad and I show you their pictures from the e-mails they send. Of course they've seen pictures of you too."
• "Mom, we won't remember everybody's names," Mel said worriedly.
• "Don't worry. You'll remember them in no time at all," Agnes reassured her. And you'll remember too, if you refer to the family chart in this book's introduction.
• "Mom, is it really true that there's TONS of snow in Colorado? That sounds really neat!" Mal couldn't wait to play in the deepest snow he could imagine.
• "It's another couple of weeks, but I hear they already have had two or three good snowstorms," Agnes replied. "Let's go online and have a look."
• As they were searching NOAA and other weather sites, Mort commented that the Rockies are well above Denver, the Mile High city.
• A Thin-Air Breathing Tip
• "Ag, just how hard is it going to be to breath up there?" he asked.
• "It usually takes a day or two to get adjusted, but I've got a secret that should help," Agnes said.
• "What's that, Mom?
• "Mel, do you remember when we were climbing Mount Baldy? I showed you how to take deep, slow breaths to make it easier to climb; inhale: one-two-three steps, exhale: one-two steps. If we all try to breathe like that when we land in Denver and then during the hour or so while we drive up to your grandparents' house, we should all do ok. No running around for awhile, though. OK?"
• "Sounds like a plan, Mom," Mel said with a smile, feeling superior to her dad and brother who missed that lesson when they decided not to climb all the way up with her and her mom.
• Holiday Preparations
• The remaining three weeks were pretty hectic, what with buying and making home-made presents, writing and sending Christmas cards, checking everyone's snow and ski gear from last year, not to mention the dozens of e-mails and phone calls between the Maloneys in the "flat lands" and Agnes' family in Colorado.
• Mal and Mel decided that they would give everyone home-made gifts, since they spent their allowances on toys for the children they met at Thanksgiving. They cut and pasted pictures from the Sunday newspaper onto little refrigerator magnets that Mort cut from larger flat magnets that he had in his toolbox and Agnes showed them how to make a rainbow of snowflakes by folding and cutting pieces of colored paper. The twins also shared whispered secrets about other surprise gifts they were creating.
• With all the preparations for their trip, Mort and Agnes were particularly grateful that Mike was taking care of the airplane and rental car reservations.

Please click HERE to continue reading.

• iNTRODUCTION TO BOOK 3
• iNTERADVENTURE - The Twins' After-Thanksgiving Surprise
• • Chapter 1
    A ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS
    
  • Episode 1
    A Thin-Air Breathing Tip
    Holiday Preparations
  • Episode 2
    The Drive to the "Family Homestead"
    A Joyful Family Reunion
  • Episode 3
    Exploring a Real Gold Mine
    Holiday Plans
    Mountains Are Definitely Higher than Hills
  • 
    Episode 4
    A Beetle Arithmetic Lesson
    A Different Holiday Tradition
    A familiar Christmas Meal and a Different Kind of Christmas Carol
  • Episode 5
    The Keystone Capers
    Waiting for the Red Fox
  • Episode 6
    A Different Kind of Beach and Roller Coaster
    In the Shadow of Black Mountain
    A Different Kind of Downhill Skiing
    Uh Oh
  • Episode 7
    On the Edge of a Cliff
    A Lesson in Nature
    The Beach at A-Basic
  • Episode 8
  • 
    
• • INTERADVENTURE - Leaving the Rockies
• Chapter 2
  STARVED ROCK IN WINTER
  
• Episode 1
  A Coffee Shop's Mini-Astronomy Lesson
• • NOTE: Links to resources and graphics coming soon