GREAT grandparents!

This post is LONG overdue. Somehow, time has been getting away from me these days! We enjoyed a wonderful visit from Darin's parents about a week ago. With the busyness of moving in, getting established in our new town, etc., I truly had not realized how very much we missed family until they pulled into our driveway. That first hug brought tears to my eyes, and our time together went far too quickly. We biked a favorite path together, showed them our favorite garden and river spots, went out to eat, and mostly enjoyed having our family collide with this new place! It was great for Caleb to be able to walk to school with his PaPaw, and Meghan loved snuggle time reading with Granma. Thanks for going the extra mile (literally) for us, you two!

Enjoying dinner on our deck the first night, Granma Judy's and PaPa Bill's effects on our kids were readily apparent!

PaPa Bill couldn't quite tough-it-out to eat Caleb's lemon sorbet at our favorite downtown ice-cream shop.

Enjoying a snuggle at one of our favorite garden spots. 

"The boys" and their bikes

Meghan learning how to cast... now that's what a PaPa is for!

"Caleb's" Tree

Several years ago, Caleb's grandparents each "gifted" money to him to buy a tree for the house we had built. Shortly after, it became apparent to Darin and I that we would probably not be staying in that house very long. Caleb has been VERY patient in waiting for his tree, and I'd say it was worth the wait. Look at the beauty he picked out! And thanks to PaPa Bill and Darin for their landscaping expertise!

Trailblazers

Snow has arrived in the Rockies!

Both Caleb and Meghan surprised us with their hiking capabilities last Saturday, covering over 4 miles and gaining considerable elevation. At times, Darin was wearing the backpack and I was sporting the Meghan-pack! Well worth the effort, however, when we reached our destination: Bierstadt Lake.

It turned out being a "ducky day;" at the above lake, a duck jumped right onto the rock we chose to snack on, and became fast friends with Caleb -- or at least with his granola bar! Later, several approached Darin to see what was cookin' on our portable grill.

Evidently, the elk are "in rut" and the males are "bugling." Imagine a high-pitched, warbling trumpet. We were able to both see and hear them, as they are rather bold this time of year in the safety of the national park.

We are so enjoying these opportunities the Lord has afforded us! "Nature" spills into our actual town as well: driving through a neighborhood after church Sunday, we thought there were statues of mule deer in a front yard... until they started running!

Steppingstones

I set out to write a book once, but I didn't. The wording, the timing... none of it was ever perfect.

I did not set out to write this entry tonight, but I am. Words cannot perfectly convey what is on my heart. But we're all imperfect people, each with a little glimpse of the whole to share. 

The title would have been Steppingstones: A Path from Truth to Trust. When Caleb was two and in Mother's Day Out, I wanted to spend that time compiling some of the lessons God had been teaching me for several years. Lessons that made God real to me -- not just a faith passed down from my parents, not just stories handed down by loving Sunday school teachers -- but undeniably, personally real. For the most part, these lessons followed trials (though a wider lens has shown that my trials were blessedly small). Depression, an eating disorder, and the physical inability to have a child on "my" timeline, to name a few. But now, looking back on each of those struggles, a treasure meets me instead of regret. 

Some precious friends back in Texas are going through an unimaginable trial right now, one they've faced for years. (jessicakaylor.blogspot.com) I cannot see their treasure yet. I pray that God has blessed them with glimpses of it -- glimpses of His Person that the rest of us may not fully perceive in the midst of our busy lives, daily directions of how to place their hope in Him...

It is possible to be fully convinced of the reality of the One True God, and not at all understand what He is doing in a given situation at a given time. Most of my Christian friends would agree with this, but much of the world holds this as the grounds to dismiss Him altogether. 

From one of my tiny trials:

Heavenly Father, 

You are bigger than

this too-familiar numbness

Your glory shines brighter than

this present darkness

Your joy runs deeper than

this nameless sorrow

Your Presence

rebukes this loneliness

Your Love 

reassures this aching heart.

"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."

~Malachi 3:6~

I love you, Jessica. And He loves you more.

Random Winners, Losers, and Laughers

This morning, before 7 a.m., dressed in his nice clothes for work, my husband was cleaning up evidence that our dog should NOT, in fact, EVER be fed the bone of a pork chop.

No pictures. 

I married a winner -- a husband with a servant heart (AND a sensitive gag reflex).

Yesterday, I pulled the plug on my account with Facebook. This wondrous new technological play-toy connects you with ANYONE ON THE PLANET whom you may POSSIBLY know. How on earth do you people keep up with each other? Am I the only one feeling overwhelmed here? Does being a  facebook-dropout make me a loser? 

No comments.

Walking Keeper (the aforementioned pork-chop-intolerant dog) in downtown Fort Collins the other evening, I passed a small huddle of homeless-looking people holding a cardboard sign. 

"Family killed by ninjas. Need money for kung-fu lessons." 

It turns out a small group of college students were either looking for free entertainment, or running a sociology experiment. If they were recording reactions, mine would have read, "concern, confusion, hysterical laughter." As soon as our eyes met we all lost it.

Question: If you're like me, you may read such cardboard signs from within your rolled-up-locked-up car. But do you ever make eye contact with the sign-holder?

Special Request

Could someone please inform the producer of these horses that anatomical correctness can hinder the scope of a young girl's imagination? 

The light brown spotted horse is supposed to be the MOMMY, for crying out loud.

New Rooms

We have been enjoying making the house feel even more like home, mainly by painting the kids' rooms. Caleb and Meghan each chose the colors for their rooms. Wall ledges provide a dusting nightmare (mom), or a Lego-display-fantasy (Caleb) depending on your perspective. Meghan went ALL girl, and is enjoying her BIG bed (which we share some days for NAPS, which are more for mom than Meg!).

High Ambitions

The other day in the car, Caleb got into a serious discussion with Darin and I. 

"Mom, Dad, I finally know what I'm going to do when I grow up. I have a back-up plan and everything. I want to be an Air Force pilot. In case that doesn't work out, I'll be a park ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park."

[us] "Sounds great, son!"

[brief interlude of silence]

[Caleb] "Well, if I can't do either of those, I guess I'll work at CiCi's pizza."

Just plain funny

Sometimes while reading a friend's blog about her toddler, I regret not having written down more of those funny things your kids say when they're young. 

No worries. Evidently mine are far from "past the age..."

On our first slightly crisp September day...

Meg: "Mom, will you make me some cocoa-cola?"

Later as Caleb ate a (sugar-and-red-dye-laden) Trix yogurt, which also promises the chance to win $20,0000...

"Did I win? Awww, man. I could have been a thousand-aire."

Farmer's Market

Meghan and I made our first trip to the Harmony Road Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago. Cucumbers, corn, summer squash, carrots, eggplant, potatoes, local honey, cantelope... Our canvas bag was LITERALLY RIPPING with the weight of our finds as we headed toward the car. Then Meg spotted the peaches (which had actually been the original purpose of our trip!). How do you say no to a bright, watermelon-sample-sticky-smile begging for peaches? She was happy to carry them herself.

It was almost 2 before we headed home, and neither of us had eaten lunch. Fast food places loomed everywhere, tempting our hungry stomachs with their convenience. Yet somehow NOTHING sounded better than a crunchy cucumber-and-cream-cheese sandwich (first weird blog confession, and no, I'm not pregnant), and little Meg had her sights set on an ear of corn. Simple pleasures; a beautiful day.

 

First Day of School

I know of at least a couple of grandmothers that would love to see this picture of our third grade boy!

Time to Explore!

Even before our moving boxes were unpacked, we took off into the mountains. It felt more than a little surreal to be living a dream Darin and I have shared for over 11 years! The kids loved playing in the chilly water at Lake Estes, and we all enjoyed watching an elk herd in Rocky Mountain National Park, until afternoon thunderstorms chased us out!

(fyi: apparently, experienced --or at least prepared-- hikers are never caught without rain panchos!)