Celebrating 60 years

 Dave's parents were in town visiting with Julie & Pete for a few days, then they drive up north and stayed with us for 2 days. Thursday was my mother-in-law's 60th birthday and we celebrated with dinner and cake. It was nice to have Julie around to celebrate with us.

Riding Lessons

 I had gotten a groupon for a 1 hour riding lesson for Lilia for half the price. She got to meet, groom, and ride a horse named Blackey. This will be the first of many moments of Lilia riding on horses.
I couldn't be there because I had to study and take a test for Old Testament class. Dave told me the woman was surprised about how much book knowledge Lilia had about horses.

Kids will climb

I just left to go out for dessert with some girls from class. We were celebrating that our papers were finished and Biblical Interpretation class was over. We sat down and the waitress would be right over. I already knew what I was going to order...then I got the call. "Katie you have to come home. Lilia cut her head open." 

It didn't bleed a lot, but it was fairly wide. She had climbed up some shelves in the closet to get something on the highest shelf when she fell back and hit her head on the corner of the wall. She cried, but didn't realize she cut her head until she felt the spot where she hit and there was blood. 

Since we knew she didn't have a concussion we let her go to sleep. I slept with her until I couldn't take her rolling around any more. I was thankful she was moving so much - she was ok. 

The next morning Dave and Lilia got to urgent care by 7am, were the second ones seen and the doctor glued the cut closed. We were afraid she couldn't have her riding lesson that day, but the doctor said she could. Everything worked out; as it always does for Dave.

Rocky Mountain National Park

 We had been here almost 10 days and I needed to get into the mountains. Dave rented a car ($30 for the week through State Farm ins.) and we made our way into RMNP.

   
     One of my favorite parts is the awe-inspiring drive through the Big Thompson River Canyon. The heights of these rocky cliffs are mind-blowing and breath-taking! They fill your windshield that you can barely see the sky.




      As the sun was getting closer to the horizon that night, the hills were that perfect silhouette of shades of blue and purple. It was so stunning.

Bear Lake

     On our drive to RMNP we spent some time praying; one of the things we prayed for was to see wildlife.
Lilia and I were in the lead on the trail when I heard some splashing in the brook to my left. I looked and saw what I thought was a salmon. We climbed down and over to where this fish was just chillin'. It turns out that it's a greenback trout. The rangers were so excited to hear that we saw one because they were on the brink of extinction and they are trying to bring them back. This fish was traveling up steam to spawn, and unlike salmon it will return to the lake to live on.

     After that exciting find, about 25 yards up the trail a jack rabbit comes flying down the rocks and stops about 4 feet in front of me. It was awesome! Before I could snap a picture, it hopped away, up the trail then into up the mountain. Dave and Alex chased after and got this picture. It was so fun to see something we've never seen in the wild before!

      Bear Lake isn't very large, but there is a trail that goes around the whole lake. It was perfect for the kids to explore and get acclimated to the altitude without pushing them too far. I asked the kids to predict how they thought the water would feel. They both guessed kinda warm, kinda cold, since it was a warm day. We splashed out hands in and it was just cold.

Snowball fight in June?

During our Bear Lake hike we came across a mound of snow that hadn't melted. The elevation is 9450'.
So what do you do when you come across a pile of snow in summer? You throw snowballs at one another!

I love this one even though it's a little blurry and not great lighting. I love it because Dave just launched a snowball at Lilia and she's ducking/running away. Good times!

Junior Rangers

Lilia and Alex worked hard filling out a booklet and answering questions in order to receive their very own badge to become a junior ranger.
The cool thing is that each National Park has its own badge that looks a little different. That's such a fun goal that I think we'll aim for.

Forced to Slow Down

     What I love about life out here in CO is that you really do slow down. Living out here for just the summer is simpler, but also more complicated.
Last Thursday (our first full day in Fort Collins) Dave was reversing out of a parking spot when he smashed the front end of the car into a 3ft tall pole. It's probably the poorest design, and not just because we did it, but the maintenance guy said he sees it all the time. Well instead of my family dropping me off at class I got into the car of 3 other staff guys (don't worry mom, they are ligit guys on staff with Cru). Our car was leaking transmission fluid so it was undrivable. It is currently being worked on and we are hopeful to get it back early next week. Oh and did I mention that Dave recked his mom's car!!! That was a hilarious phone call, "Uh mom. I uh got smashed up your car." No, actually my mother-in-law is probably the most gracious person. She wasn't upset in the least.
     So life has to be simple when you don't have a car. If we want to get somewhere, we bike. If we need to grocery shop for the week, I borrow a friend's car.
     I bike to class and I'm gone from 8:30-3:15. Dave and the kids do some kind of school lesson, play outside, walk to the pool, and bike or scooter around where we live. We have no TV, which is actually quite nice. Nothing's on in the summer anyway. The kids watch shows on the compter. We hang out with friends most late afternoon/evenings because everyone lives in the same community. It's so ideal.

     I even bought a bike. It was $30!!!!!!!!!
If you know me, you know I hate biking. It's uncomfortable on my shoulders and I hate pushing myself physically, which a bike forces you to do. Well I didn't have a choice because I needed to get to class. And since I needed a bike to get to class I bought a cruiser, which is more comfortable for me. I do hate how sore my thighs are, but the freedom is lovely. The views of the foothills of the Rockies are even more lovely.

Monument, CO

(I apologize in advance for the lack of posts. I am in class everyday from 9-3, then I get home and have the kids, make dinner and after they go to bed review my reading and/or do homework. My time is limited.)

Garden of the gods

We had a really great time with Julie. Pete left really early the morning we woke up at Julie's, but we will see him when they come down to Fort Collins some time. It was so fun to see her pregnant bump and to know a sweet baby girl is growing inside.
Julie and Pete live in Monument, just north of Colorado Springs. I love their house; it's a cute sprawling rancher.

Their property has lots of pine trees and lots of pine needles. Lilia, on her own initiative, got a rake and began making piles of pine needles. The second morning we were there she got up at 6am. I couldn't figure out the TV and she asked me if I wanted to go outside and rake. I chuckled and said it was too early and we would wake everyone up.
Alex helped some, but he hated getting stuff in his flip-flops. (That's why he is wearing Lilia's school sneakers.)
Julie gave each of the kids $1 for their hard work. It was too cute!

 This is buddy, a herd dog (pictured right). It's the neighbors dog. Every time Lilia would run around the dog would try to herd her. It was so awesome to watch.

Julie, Remi, Koda and Lilia

Note Lilia's posture; she's trying to pose like a dog.









When saying goodbye, Lilia said to Julie, "I'm gonna miss your dogs. And you too."

Pittsburgh

 We rode the incline down from the top of the mountain to the bridge that would connect us to the city. We walked around the city to an arts festival. Unfortunately the kids were miserable. Alex so tired that he fell asleep in my arms on the walk home. Lilia walked most of the way, but with much complaining. Dave and I still had a good time taking in the sites and comparing Pittsburgh to Philly. It was a cool city with a mix of new and old.

I could easily pass by a donut and think nothing of it; a chocolate dessert is another story, but none the less we stopping at Peace, Love & Little Donuts. It's the kind of place where you watch them being made right before your eyes. They come of the line hot and fresh. Wow. These were so good. Comparable to our favorite place in Delaware, The Fractured Prune.

Road Trip!!

 We drove through 7 states, taking 27 hours from Philly to Colorado. We made a short drive after school to see Dave's youngest sister Karen in Pittsburgh. Karen & Jesse were excellent hosts and showed us fun stuff around Pittsburgh.
Karen's apartment is up on the mountain so this is the view just 1 block from her house. Pretty sweet!

The second day of driving was great. We got farther than expected; 10 hours in the car took us into Illinois. We slept at a hotel that backed up to a buffalo farm.

 The next morning we were on the road by 7am. This is the day we spent 17 hours in the car. INSANE. (See picture below as an example of the kids starting to go a little nuts.)
To break things up we stopped at the Rolling Hill Zoo in Salina, KS. Our membership to the Philly zoo let us get in for half price. It was worth walking around in 95+ degree weather for an hour so that we would want to get back into our air conditioned vehicle.

They gave themselves marker tattoos. This was about 7pm, so they were in the car 12 hours at this point.

The vast plains of Kansas

We finally pulled into Monument, CO (where Dave's sister Julie lives) at 11:30pm mountain time. The kids did amazing! We were exhausted, but alive and well.
We left Julie's on Wednesday morning and arrived in Fort Collins, our final destination. The kids are having a blast alread, swimming and scootering around.

Colorado Bound

In T-3 days we are headed out on our longest road trip as a family of four...to Colorado! It's for work, not for a vacation, but we will play, hike and see family on our way out as well as while we are out there.
We drive to Pittsburgh to stay with Karen for 2 nights. Then we drive to either Indiana or Illinois, really as far as the kids will let us go the second day of driving. Then we push it the last 12-14 hours to Monument, CO where we will stay with Julie and Pete 2 nights before our final destination of Fort Collins, CO, which is north of Denver. I have a crazy amount of activities, DVDs, coloring pages, puzzles, mints and gum packed for this road trip. Hopefully we won't kill each other before we make to Colorado. (pray that we won't - seriously.)

This summer I will be taking 3 seminary classes through trained professors via Cru and Dave will take 1.
I'm taking:
Biblical Interpretation (how to properly interpret the Bible)
Biblical Communication (how to preach a sermon that is Christ-centered, not one that is about being good - not that I'm going to preach a sermon ever though.)
Old Testament (do people read those books?? Yes! and they are intriguing, amazing and full of good stuff.)
Dave will be taking:
Apologetics (how to and how not to talk about Christianity with someone who does not share the same beliefs.)

I am super duper excited for this summer for several reasons:
1. I've already done most of the reading and wow!!!! I've learned so much already. I can't wait to put more of it together and connect more dots.
2. This summer will be a complete change of pace for me. I will not be a full-time mom, I will be a student. Dave will be a full-time dad, watching the kids while I'm in class, studying and writing papers and talks. It should be interesting. He's already got a great plan. Everyday they will bike ride, visit the library, the park, the pool, and do some school time. Honestly he will do a better job than I will with that plan!
3. I LOVE Colorado. I love the 300 sunny days, I love the openness, I love the mountains, I love hiking, I love the smell of the woods or the dirt when hiking in Colorado, I love the rivers, and all the nature that is surrounding you. I love that there is no humidity. (insert jealousy here_____.)
4. We get to spend time with Julie and Pete. Julie is pregnant and due in early Oct. with a little girl. It will be fun to see her baby bump and spend time with them out there.

I'm sure this summer will have its challenges, but I think it will be a good one. No, I will be an optimist - I KNOW it will be a good one.