FLORY POWER

Rescuing the Rescuers

2011-01-03T10:51:00.005-07:00

January 1 dawns the start of a new year and new beginnings. Sometimes we expect a lot, sometimes we're pessimistic and decide to be grouchy about it all, and sometimes we just decide to set that day aside to help those who give up a lot of time to help us. That was the case for Jeff and I as we began 2011. I know that sounds like a big deal, but I think it was really more fun for us and a chance for the rescuers to realize just how insane the people in Colorado really are.

Saturday morning was a very brisk start to 2011. The thermometer at our house read -8 degrees, but the thermometer at the Pueblo airport, about a dozen miles to the East, was reading -21 degrees. But, oh, what a gorgeous morning! That perfect robin's egg blue sky, a few whispy clouds, the snow still hanging around....Still, it took a few moments to decide on how to dress in preparation for the, uh, task ahead. We finally made a decision on our wardrobe, gathered our sleepy son up, and hit the road. Our destination was Palmer Park in Colorado Springs, but first we had to make a detour to a friend's house nearby the park to drop Luke off. He wasn't happy about that since the original plans were for him to be with us, but he dealt since it was so cold and we didn't want to worry about him. Besides, he'd have a young friend to play with, and he loves that!

So, on to what we were doing. Well, we joined about 600 other crazy individuals and braved the frigid temperatures to run a race! It was the 33rd annual Rescue Run 5k and 10k, which benefits the El Paso County Search and Rescue. I guess a little over 700 people signed up (interesting, since we saw numbers over 1000, and I saw the number 1 bib), but not everyone came. That's okay, all the money still goes to help these rescuers who brave horrible conditions, bad situations, crumbly rocks, floods, snowstorms, get a little over-anxious on the Manitou Incline and Pikes Peak, and so much more in order to help keep those of us who love the outdoors safe. They even help those who aren't so outdoorsy! So, this is a fun way to show support.

The course was a moderately difficult one with a lot of hills. It also took us over pavement, slightly sandy soil, and gravel, all of which were covered by a layer of snow. And ice! I have heard that a number of people slipped and fell on the 5k run, especially on the way back down the hill. I am pleased to let everyone know Jeff and I both stayed upright, something that could've been tricky! Speaking of, I thought of grabbing my Yaktrax before leaving the house, but decided not to. Yeah, I think next year they'll be a must!

When we started our run it was a balmy 5 degrees. Toasty warm! Not really, but since the winds were calm, it really wasn't that bad. Once we started running, the toes warmed right up, too. Jeff wasn't sure which course he would do, though he'd initially planned on the 5k (this race you decide which one to run while on course). When we got to the fork he went right, making his first run of 2011 a 10k. I was behind him at this point and was happy to see him taking the challenge! You have to realize that I'm the runner. He runs really well, but he's a mountain biker. He grabs a few miles on his feet each week, but the rest of the time is spent on his bike. This was a big step! I did eventually pass him, but I wasn't sure what to expect on the amount, size, or distances of the hills, so I was preserving myself. He did a fantastic job of keeping a steady pace, and he still came in under an hour! I'm very, very proud of him.

Speaking of how the run went, I now know I can push myself a lot more on this course. I got stronger as the time went on, even while watching my footing so I wouldn't get hurt. By the last 2.5 miles I had a really, really good pace going. My last 1.5 miles I believe I ran about a 7:15 mile. I passed a lot of people, and the SAR teams posted at various points around the course got a kick out of my singing while running. I'm glad I could provide some laughter! I finished in a conservative 56:17 for the 6.2 miles. Not bad, considering the course conditions and the fact I had no idea what to expect on difficulty!

(horrible mid-stride shot, but you can see I'm definitely singing!)

Once we were done and cooled down (which, frankly, sounds really strange since it was maybe 10-degrees now), we headed back to our friend's house to have some lunch and pick up our son. It was a great, great day! The perfect way to begin what will hopefully be an active year, and a great new tradition for us. Happy New Year, everyone!

Resolutions? Nope! I set goals!

2010-12-31T17:11:00.003-07:00

I have a problem with making resolutions for the incoming year. They're too easily broken, too easily ignored, and too easily forgotten. My solution to this problem is to make goals instead. This means I can change them, not do something stupid in order to achieve that goal, and not feel guilty if it doesn't happen. It makes life so much simpler!

So, as we usher in 2011, I will share what my goals for the year are. Brace yourself. I think I am officially 100% insane now:

1. Complete the Pikes Peak Ascent in decent form and fashion. This is a half marathon (13.1 miles) up Barr Trail from Manitou Springs to the summit of Pikes Peak. The distance isn't the issue, it's the nearly 8000 foot elevation gain! Okay, so I need to be on the ball and get my entry in immediately as it opens or this will have to wait for another year, but I have a plan in place!

2. Complete my first (and only...I'm not that insane!) full marathon in October. That will be 26.2 miles of pounding the pavement through the streets of Denver. I don't plan on being fast, just finishing. I'd really like to finish ahead of Jared Fogle's time in the NYC marathon (the Subway guy). I'd really hate to have him show me up!

3. Get those 3 mountains in this year! Pikes Peak Ascent doesn't count. I know this is all weather dependent, but I'm okay with that.

4. Camp more. We love it, we just need to do it more often.

5. Complete the bike race at Pueblo Reservoir in April. I've been talked into this, but I'm game! Jeff will be doing the race, too. Just a more advanced trail.

6. Get that triathlon in this year! I'm upping the ante here. Instead of doing a sprint tri (half mile swim, 11-15 mile bike, 3.1 mile run), I'm going for the "regular" distance. I can't remember the swim distance, but it's about a mile, the bike is 25 miles, and the run is 6 miles. If scheduling is tough again, and/or a sprint tri is more readily available, I'll hold this goal for later and do the sprint triathlon.

7. Finish the race tomorrow morning (New Year's Day) in the snow, frigid temps, and hilly terrain of Palmer Park. This is in Colorado Springs, and it benefits the El Paso County Search and Rescue team. Jeff is running the 5k, I am running the 10k. We're both in really good shape, but I have a feeling this one will wipe us both pretty good! Who cares? It will be fun, and it benefits a GREAT thing for all of us!

8. Most importantly: to have fun! I always strive to be a halfway decent mom and wife, I need to do better as a homemaker, and constantly live to grow in my faith, so those really don't apply to this list. I'm pretty sure I'm over being a mediocre Airman, and my career is in God's hands. I do the best I can to serve my country and community, but I can't do it without Him leading me. So, that leaves having fun!

I wish and pray for all of you to have a fantastic year. Enjoy your families, enjoy whatever environment you live in, and have a blessed time! Happy New Year! Now, let's get busy ringing in 2011.....

2010 In Review...

2010-12-26T14:58:00.006-07:00

Okay, so it might be a tad early to be posting this since we're a week away from New Year's Eve, but it also doubles as a Christmas letter, so...

What a wild, fast-paced, and fun year! The year was rung in with the usual fireworks from atop Pikes Peak. It's quite the spectacle from 40-miles away! It was also the fourth year we were blessed to see this sight. If the forecast holds out, we won't be so lucky on year five. That's okay, we really need the snow. February brought the world together for the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. Little did we know this was going to be the start of something thrilling and invigorating for us! Luke saw the figure skaters, speed skaters, and hockey players and stated, rather bluntly, that he wanted to skate. Being the parents we are, we seized the moment and immediately looked into lessons. He was on the ice within a week....and immediately hated it. Little did he know you can't just walk out onto the stuff like you can a sidewalk! But he stuck with it and tried as hard as he could to become great on the ice. He informed us he wanted to play hockey, and he's on his first team now. This was one sport we never even considered when we found out a baby was on the way, but it's one we've enjoyed watching in the past. Maybe that final Penguins game we got to go to with the Fayette Energy Facility guys while I was 4-months along did the trick! Hockey is definitely more fun to watch when it's a bunch of 4 - 8 year olds, though!

(Luke's on the right, his buddy, Parker, next to him)

Jeff took up mountain biking with a vengeance this year. He went through two bikes (okay, he still has his first and uses it on the road) and logged about 600 or 700 miles on the trails. There were some spectacular crashes, a few moments of blood, and a couple of hilarious videos, but no broken bones. Thank goodness! He took me with him a few times, but I just can't keep up with the man! He's an animal on the bike! I'm grateful to have a husband who is so inclined to be outside and doing something active. He didn't sail much this year, but sometimes the schedules just don't mesh with real life. He did get to take Luke out for about an hour, though! Both thought that was just an awesome way to spend the afternoon, and I'm just glad they got off the lake before the winds kicked enough to blow them all they way to Leadville!

I started running again before the new year, but I wasn't wholly serious about it. Once I realized I felt better than I had since before my pregnancy, I kicked it up a notch. We ran our town's annual 5k race on the 4th of July, and I was thrilled to have been in the top 10% of all the competitors (there's more to that, but I'll explain later)! I found a few more races I wanted to do, started logging my miles, and ended up with an invite to run my first half marathon in Denver in October. It took me about 3-months to get ready, but I completed those 13.1 miles feeling better than I expected to (I was still rather sore, though!) in 1 hour, 55 minutes, and 30 seconds. I smashed my goal of 2 hours and 30 minutes!! That was my big news for the year, and one I'm not afraid to say I'm rather proud of.

I never did get to compete in a triathlon this year like I had planned. I never could find one that worked with my schedule. I'm okay with it since I ran the half marathon, but I hope to try again this coming year. Jeff and I both planned to do three 14ers (Fourteeners = 14,000 foot mountains), but we accomplished only one each. No complaints there, either, since Mother Nature had a bigger goal than us and provided deadly thunderstorms and monsoons that began in the mornings instead of the late afternoons. That led to a lot of people hiking and climbing at night, and a lot of others who decided they could handle the weather during the day. It was a banner year for people coming off the mountains in body bags.....or not at all. Nature was telling us to give it a rest this season, and we gladly listened. Still, Jeff was able to make the climb to the summit of Mount Princeton outside of Buena Vista (pronounced Byounah, not how you'd want to say it) in late July while I summited the one I really, really wanted to do: Mount Massive outside of Leadville. Remember how I said the 4th of July race had more to it? Yeah, I climbed this mountain (and was coming down, still above tree level, when a fast moving storm hit. No lightning, thank God! Just a ton of wind and graupel) the day before that 5k. It was July 3rd, and it was amazing! Definitely the prettiest 14er I have done to date! Most emotional, too...

Luke did more than just skating and hockey, too. He played Tee Ball for the first time. He enjoyed it, but was frustrated because he couldn't handle the ball more. He showed in another leadline class at the Colorado Summer Classic Horse Show on a pony that had never left the property before. Both were fantastic and the stars of the show (Finn was the smallest pony there). And he got some time learning to ride his bike, getting some hiking in, and begging to go camping.

We were able to make it to both Utah and Texas to visit both sets of grandparents this fall. Utah was over our 12th wedding anniversary, and it was an active trip! Luke loved getting the time with Gramma and Grampa, Jeff and I loved getting to do a few trails on our bikes together. It was too short of a trip, but it was a lot of fun. Texas was over Thanksgiving and a bit of a shock. I don't know what the temperature was when we arrived, but the next day was the day before Thanksgiving and it was 86 degrees! That's insane for that time of year, even for Texas! Thanksgiving brought the cold front and the daytime temps dropped to 35. See? Shocking! But it was a fantastic trip filled with family and a lot of laughter.

Finally, we have the arrival of Christmas. We stayed home in our quiet little house and had a nice morning opening gifts, watching A Christmas Story, and enjoying each other's company. We also started a new tradition: sledding on Christmas Day! While most of the mountains have been hammered recently and have a ton of snow, the same cannot be said for us, the Front Range, or the Wet Mountains out the front of our house. Still, we loaded sleds, snow gear, and hot chocolate, then piled into the 4Runner to make the trip to San Isabel. We really weren't sure there would be any snow, so imagine our relief and pleasure when there was JUST enough to sled for a while! We had a ball, and we're only a little worse for the wear.

I hope the year was as fun and eventful for all of you!

Merry Christmas!

To Israel, With Love.....

2010-12-06T20:36:00.003-07:00

Not many people are aware that I have a heritage of firefighting and law enforcement in my family. It's widely known that we have a strong military background, but I think most are actually shocked when they learn about the other civil service connections. It is something that we don't hide, but it's also not brought up in casual conversation nearly as often as the Air Force. Let me give you the very fast rundown:

My mom's side of the family holds the law enforcement background. I can't really explain why, but every mention of NASCAR gives me a bitter feeling. You see, this racing sport finds its roots in prohibition. It was a group of Bootleggers, the name given to those who illegally transported the outlawed liquors to underground bars (speakeasies), who are responsible for the death of my great-grandfather, an Anderson County, South Carolina Sheriff's Deputy. He was killed in the line of duty while pursuing a car known to be supplying a speakeasy and was run off an embankment. You can view his memorial on the Officer Down Memorial Page here.

My dad's side of the family had a number of men who served as firefighters in Moline and Rock Island, Illinois. My parents still display in their house a photograph from the 1920's (I believe) of my dad's uncle and two of his fellow firefighters on an engine. When I've visited Moline, I have made it a point to stop by the old firehouse. I am sad to hear that it is vacant and falling into decay now, but the voices of the past speak loudly at this spot.

What does this have to do with Israel? Well, it gives a little background, and a little insight into some of my feelings. For a short time in high school I considered pursuing a college degree in law enforcement. I even visited the Police Academy in Salt Lake City to inquire! Then I saw how those cadets were training and thought I could never survive that kind of discipline and structure. I was always kind of enamored with firefighting, but I figured I wasn't strong enough and too big a chicken to actually consider making that a career. I don't have any idea why the lack of confidence never entered my brain when I decided to enlist into the military. Having a Smoky the Bear hat brim pushed into your forehead with some madman yelling at you to stop looking like Elvis (meaning my collar was standing up) at 5am while you're trying to eek out the Air Force Song isn't exactly a walk in the park! But, that was the decision I made and I have absolutely no regrets.

Now I am sitting here nearly 15-years after I flew out of my hometown for Basic Military Training and ponder those naive teenaged thoughts. It is no secret that I was blessed with the opportunity to join a Reserve unit in Colorado Springs last winter that holds a unique mission. I was excited because it meant I would actually be serving with planes. I mean, I've been in the Air Force a long time, but never stationed with planes! Okay, so I lived about 200-yards off of a very busy runway while I was Active Duty stationed in Hawaii, and Kelly-turned-Lackland has C-5's and F-16's, but I finished my Active Duty time in Texas on the Annex with the label as "one of those weird people who disappear once they park their cars." The legal office at Andrews may have a fantastic view of Air Force One, but other than being able to see the plane out the window because we shared a MAJCOM and base, we had nothing to do with aircraft. I digress....

I mention this unique mission because it also brings my firefighting heritage full circle. The 302nd Airlift Wing is the only Air Force Reserve unit with the mission of aerial firefighting via the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS). There are four C-130 units with this capability, but the other three are Air National Guard units. While I admit I am not one of the lucky individuals who gets to operate the MAFFS systems and fly all over the place to help those in need, I am proud to be able to support this mission by being a member of this unit.

This past week saw the eruption of the worst wildfire in Israel's history. It was fast-moving, burning over a large expanse of land, and deadly. To their credit, this small nation realized they needed a lot of help from the international community. Our crews and planes were called to leave on Saturday morning. It was such an amazing example of how quickly we (myself included here) can get a typical C-130H aircraft turned into a firebombing tanker and a crew into the air in a matter of moments. As the planes left the cold of Colorado, we sent our prayers with them to the warmth of Israel.

I am pleased to report that the fire is now contained with hot spots being mopped up. Our planes should be headed home soon, if they aren't in the air already. The people of Israel can rest a little easier tonight, even while they grieve the loss of 42 lives. We await the arrival of our crews back to Colorado, and we start the preparation for the next call. Meanwhile, I sit here tonight thinking of this and finally realizing just how ingrained a familial heritage really can be.....

Rock 'n' Roll Pro-shots

2010-11-01T19:28:00.003-06:00

These are just a smattering of my favorite shots by the professional photographers from the half marathon two weeks ago. What an exhilarating feeling! After looking at every single photo, and watching the finish line video multiple times, I also have learned that I strike my left heel too much while my right foot lands pretty beautifully mid- to forefoot every single time. Guess who's going to work on fixing that by going to a more minimal stance (i.e. Newton running shoes and Vibram FiveFingers....basically: barefoot). Heck, I'm not a big shoe person, anyway :)

About mile 3, right before the old Union Station. I thought this was a fun shot since we were in the same step, same stride, and both looking at the camera. She pulled away shortly after and finished 19-minutes ahead of me.

Deep in concentration, probably singing, around mile 9 or 10. Two steps later and I realized I was inches from running the photographer over! Whoops...quick sidestep and all was saved.

Photographer JUST missed my hands up, but it's still a good shot

Stopping my watch at the finish line

Rockin 'n' Rollin Denver....

2010-10-17T21:47:00.007-06:00

As much as I absolutely love watching the sun come up and the world come to life, I desperately hate dragging my lazy butt out of bed in the morning. This is especially true when the seasons turn and it's cold. I made the exception this morning, however, to have an adventure through the the streets of Denver, Colorado.

My day started when my alarm went off at 4:45 am and I stumbled out of my very comfortable bed at my cousin's house in Highlands Ranch. If ever there was a time I was grateful to not have to wear make-up or make a big ta-da about getting ready to go somewhere, this was it! My body was protesting and the bed was calling. Frankly, I was amazed because I slept great and felt no anxiety when I thought I would. I pushed forward, layered my clothing, made sure I had everything packed up, stuffed my hair in a ball cap and braided my pony tail before heading out to my car. Thank goodness the train station was minutes away and I didn't have to worry about driving this early!

Imagine my surprise when I arrived to a full parking lot, had to wait in line to buy my ticket, and piled into the train with close to 100 people heading to the same destination as mine. It was at that moment I knew the decision to ride the light rail was an excellent plan for the morning. It was easy to settle in for the 30'ish-minute ride into downtown Denver, giving me a chance to munch a granola bar and hydrate just a little bit. I watched as more people filled the train and figure the final count was probably close to 300 people leaving the train and walking the nearly 1/2 mile to the Civic Center Park. Really, this was a wonderful way to keep a bit of the 38-degree chill of an autumn morning in Colorado!

I arrived to the park and still looked around in amazement at the amount of people who had already shown up for our early morning excursion. I figured I'd make a pit stop (which required standing in line for about 15-minutes), find the gear check area to drop my gear bag and shed my warm clothing, make one more pit stop, and head for my corral area. Turns out that was wise because I only had about 5-minutes before I went from shivering to stretching my legs on the pavement from the moment I dropped my gear bag!

I don't know if you've ever seen 16,000 people cheerfully facing the daunting task of running 13.1 or 26.2 miles on a chilly morning before the sun has risen, but it is definitely a sight to behold! I was a little wary of ever being able to settle into a decent stride, but the fabulous race and planning crews in events this large, the wave start worked like a dream. From the moment I crossed the start line I was able to catch my stride and set to work attempting to achieve a bit of an insane goal.

The run down 14th Street was really inspiring since there was a throng of spectators braving the cold to cheer us on. Even shop owners stepped out to lend their support! This went on for about 2-miles. By mile 3, the streets were nearly deserted. I managed to wind my way through a lot of people who were already struggling while actually enjoying the historical architecture. I was actually given chills as we ran past Union Station since I had just learned its history a few days prior. I had no idea we were so close to it! Once we rounded the corner onto 17th Street, the masses of spectators were back. So was the first real test of the course.

We were about 4-miles into the course by this point and the road turned into a short, but steep hill. I am so thankful I live in Pueblo West and have been training on the hills in my community for so many months! This hill was a piece of cake for me, to the point I increased my pace! There were a few of us who were able to do this, but the majority were dropping like flies. Some had to step off the course and catch their breath, others walked slowly. It truly showed who had prepared, and who was doing too much too soon.

The top of the hill came quickly and we wound our way into the park that houses the Denver Zoo. As I neared the 6.2-mile mark (10k), I realized I was just shy of the half-way point. It went by so fast! I cruised through the next couple of miles, increasing my pace and stride length all the way. Then I hit mile 9.

This was the most difficult part of the race for me. It was also around this time I realized I could no longer feel my butt....literally....and the ball of my right foot felt like I was stepping on a large rock with every step. I immediately thought "oh boy, this is going to make thing tougher and I'm going to pay for it," but I pushed on. While I still could not feel my butt by mile 10, I did get relief in my foot and gained an extra bit of strength that still surprises me. I knew I only had 3.1 miles left and increased my stride and pace again. By the time I reached 11.5 miles, I was completely comfortable again because my butt regained feeling. I've never experienced that before! It was quite strange.

Mile 12 was the point where the marathoners split from the half marathoners. It was such an organized thing that I was impressed for the umpteenth time. I also knew I was just over 1 mile from my finish line, that I was done with any and all slight (and I mean VERY slight) uphill sections. In fact, this part of the course gave us a very slight downhill, so I took full advantage. I opened up and decided to start my "fast finish" from here rather than the last 1/2 mile. The course also gave us about 1/4 mile of a steep downhill, so that gave me even more opportunity.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I ran my first half marathon today! I have trained hard over the past few months in an effort to just complete all of those miles. I was eventually challenged to enter the Pikes Peak Ascent next summer, so I changed my goal to running this race in 2 hours 30 minutes (the qualifying time to enter the Ascent). I crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 55-minutes, and 30-seconds, absolutely smashing my goal! It was a total feeling of euphoria!

I am now sitting here with sore muscles, a very tired body, and a really cool finisher's medal. I'm riding a high that is rivaled only by the birth of my beautiful son, but I also know getting out of bed tomorrow morning....AFTER the sun comes up.....is going to be a wee bit painful. But I figure if I can climb the steps to the Capitol building and climb on top of a pillar to take a fun picture after my race while my legs are screaming at me to just sit and rest, followed by walking those few miles back to Union Station (where I decided to catch the train back to my car so I wouldn't have to walk any further), then I can climb out of bed and head to school.....

Hockey Mom!

2010-10-01T20:33:00.003-06:00

Yes, yes, it is true: I am now officially a Hockey Mom! In all honesty, when the glimmer of kids came up in our lives, I never once imagined that the term "hockey parents" would ever enter the picture. It's just now something that we've ever been big into. Baseball, swimming, football, even soccer was more along the expectation line!

Fast forward a number of years and get to know my amazing, stubborn, and dead-set 4-year-old son and you can now find us picking out equipment to protect said child from cracking all of his bones on the ice.

Last spring, after Luke started to learn how to skate, we were invited to watch a youth hockey tournament. It was the BEST hockey game ever! The most adorable kids, the most enthusiastic parents, and just a ton of fun all around. It's hard to believe that we'll be cheering our youngster with those others, but we are extremely excited about it.

Now, if anyone can give suggestions on how to keep Luke from having his stick attached to him at all times, especially in bed, that would be great......

Not so long ago...

2010-09-30T22:07:00.002-06:00

There are times in your life when you put aside the writing you so enjoy producing because you're actually tired of writing! Such has been the case for me since my degree program has me writing many, many academic papers. Just this past summer I wrote over 150-pages, for one class...in just 8-weeks! I have been burned out. It was not so long ago that I undertook this blog as a way to express the crazy things that run through my mind, as well as the insane things we do as a family. I vowed I would never let this activity go the wayside. I guess I shouldn't vow things like that to myself any longer.

Through it all, however, I have had some fantastic fun with my small family. Luke and I spent way too much time with the ponies, but we got a wonderful horse show out of it. We have watched Luke grow from a timid little one on the ice to a capable ice skater who is now ready to start playing hockey. He also finally got to participate in tee-ball, got in on some hiking, decided he needed to ditch the training wheels on his bike, started pre-k, and gave us the scare of our lives when he contracted bacterial pneumonia in February. He's such a little pistol, and he refuses to do anything but go 8-bazillion MPH all day, everyday!

There have also been a lot of logged miles. Yes, I have taken my joy of running up a notch. I managed to place 5th in my division, 80th overall (out of 300) in the 4th of July 5k here in Pueblo West (after climbing my one 14er of the year the day before), but I wasn't quite satisfied. August 29th I crossed the line in the 4th position, 1st female, and the winner of the prediction for a 10k trail race at Pueblo Reservoir's South shore (Arkansas Point). I was 43 seconds off of my predicted time, which may as well have been the exact time it was so close. They'd never seen that before! Two weeks ago I added to that with a 3rd place division finish, and 15th overall finish (out of 95) on a 4-mile race over the paved bike trails in Pueblo West. That one earned me a medal! But here's the big thing: I will be competing in my first half-marathon in two weeks! No, I won't be in the top runners, but that's not really the point.

Jeff has really stepped up the mountain biking. He has tackled so many trails along the front range, and a couple of easier ones in Utah (since I'm not the technical rider he is) this summer that he is now ready to race. He has crashed, drawn blood, scratched the daylights out of and broken a brake on his bike, replaced a helmet, and endured my endless giggling over stories and videos of crashes and cactus (not him, but it's a really great story and video of a friend!). He's really becoming a beautiful and fast MTB rider, I'm very proud of him.

There were camping trips, and we are back to strictly tent camping. I can't say I'm brokenhearted; I am a traditionalist on a lot of things, after all! But I don't recommend the way we got back to the primitive style. As we were preparing to head out for a weekend trip with Jeff's parents, our trailer decided it no longer wanted any part of it. The fridge started a nice fire, we spent 3 extinguishers and some water from the hose to put it out, and the insurance company totaled the whole thing. The good news is that it didn't engulf the trailer, and it happened here at home before we had it hooked up to the truck instead of while we were on the road or asleep.

In the meantime, I am hard to work at my degree again. I am ready to be done with school, but I have a long, long way to go. More papers, more silly classes to fill requirements I couldn't give a hoot about, and more opportunities to learn about the past that thrills my senses. It's time consuming, but it will be worth it in the long run....

Pony Daze...

2010-02-01T21:56:00.005-07:00

I realized it's been quite a while since I have shared pictures of my beautiful boy on here. Defunct mom, that's for sure! He's going to be a man before I know it, and I'm constantly amazed at the changes he experiences every day.

One of the gifts he received for Christmas was a set of brushes, complete with hoof pick. He has been very anxious to use them, we just haven't had a whole lot of chance. Last Tuesday finally afforded decent enough weather, time on our part, and opportunity for our friends to have company. We've all been busy!

I love that I could barely get Luke out of his seat quick enough for him to greet his fuzzy buddies! As soon as his feet hit the dirt he took off running to pet noses and say hi to Jack, Penny, and Polly. They were all lined up at their gate waiting to greet their favorite small person, too. I had the camera, but I was unable to grab a shot of this since I also had my arms full with Luke's saddle, bridle, helmet, brushes, and jacket that he so conveniently forgot to grab. I will readily admit that I'll be happy to see the day Luke carries his own tack...I have plenty of my own to worry about!

I grabbed a halter and pulled Jack out. Luke immediately grabbed his brushes and set to work getting his buddy ready for a ride. Well, as ready as Luke could get him since he can't reach his back or do his feet without help, but it's still a big accomplishment. He did a great job, too! I then threw his tack on, helped Luke get his helmet on, and walked the pony to the mounting block. Luke was already waiting for us and I could only stand in amazement as he stretched his foot up, put it in the stirrup, grabbed the pommel & cantle and hoisted himself right up! He then proceeded to top that perfect mounting off with an immediate sliding of his right foot into the other iron, getting himself square, picked up his reins and said "walk, Jack" while he appropriately squeezed his legs closed. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Wasn't it just yesterday that he needed me to lift him into the seat and put his feet in the irons? Didn't I have to hand him the reins and make sure he was ready?

We did wander around a bit and had a good walk. Luke showed me how well he does his "up-downs", what a good leg he has, spontaneously reached to pet & praise his pony on his own, and demonstrated that he is actually prepared to begin walk-trot lessons. It's a bittersweet thing for me because my baby boy, my little leadline rider is ready to progress. I've wanted this for him, but I'll miss our own little lessons and fun at shows while in the ring together. Not only that, I need to learn to keep my emotions and stomach in check while he learns to tackle riding by himself. Oh my...

I did manage to snap two pictures before Luke dismounted...again, he did this all by himself. A friend told me he looks like he was falling asleep, but he was griping that I had the camera out again. He gets tired of me taking his picture all the time. But I'll always remember that even HE laughed when he saw them!

Every single day my child correctly uses a new big word in a sentence, and he does something that is probably beyond his years. Every single day I thank God for allowing me another 24-hours with him and marvel at how he is growing up. But I have to think that every single time I see him in the saddle I will only see my little child on a large grey pony....

Natural Disasters Equal Natural Tears...

2010-01-22T22:45:00.003-07:00

There is just no other way to say it: I am a complete emotional mess. I hide it well, but then I sit here after everyone else has gone to bed and I cry. I admit that it is not one of those things I just sit and do on regular occasion, but when something hits me in the heart I let go and cry. The only thing that keeps me from being completely buried in embarrassment is the fact that I know I am not alone.

I know everyone is aware of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked the tiny third-world country of Haiti barely 10-days ago. That's no longer news. But it is haunting me. I am struggling with the fact there are so many children who have lost everything, including their entire families. I am wishing I were among the people who have volunteered and deployed to help the Haitian people, whether on their own, through an organization, or with the military. And I am praying. Fervently. It's all been emotionally draining.

Yet the good thing is that I know who I am and that I'm not the cold-hearted person I sometimes am accused of being. When it becomes your nature to hide emotion and a lot of personality from those who aren't family or the closest of friends you begin to hear all sorts of interesting impressions and accusations. Sometimes it makes me laugh, this time it made me bawl my eyes out...

New Year, New Semester, New Life....

2010-01-18T23:17:00.006-07:00

January ushered in more than just a new year, it brought the start of another semester of school for me. I am still a part-time student, it's what's working for me, but I have upped things to 3/4 time: 9 semester credits. Yes, I am well aware that that fact is less than exciting, but it is what seems to work for our family. Right now those classes are still history classes, but they do involve a lot of work. Especially this semester! Four research papers, one speech, and plenty of time making sure I don't completely blow tests that are all essay questions. I see many late nights in my future! But it IS all worth it!

January also brought about some new things for the family. I have been on a mission to clean out the accumulated stuff in our house. Things such as coats, clothes, toys, and just...stuff! I am pleased, yet also very humiliated to share that we donated 9 trash bags of adult clothing and coats (seriously, 3 of those bags were JUST the coats Jeff & I had accumulated!) to the shelter at the Salvation Army. But other than that, I have finally nearly completed the cleaning out of the basement. Goodwill has gotten to know me a wee bit too well! Luke has been fantastic with this. It's tough for a 3-year old to understand having so much and sharing with those who don't, but he's thrown a few things in the donation boxes.

But I think the biggest new thing actually revolves around yours truly. It's probably not any kind of a secret that I have been looking and applying to return to full-time work, but it is a bit of a surprise when people find out where. I have been turned down by some, had the FBI position cancelled (but they're retaining my resume, so that's VERY good!), and am still waiting to hear on a few others, but they are all Federal positions of the intelligence kind. Right up my ally, and definitely where I am trained. The door that has been opened, however, is the one that finds me back in uniform.

I cannot even begin to express my excitement over that fact! It is truly amazing how one can feel they've left their job unfinished but then be given another chance at fulfilling the mission. Even better is the fact I'll actually be with the planes this time instead of only sitting inside a SCIF freezing my butt off! Yes, being an Air Force Reservist is a part-time job, but it's also still 24/7. The door opened with the opportunity of becoming what is known as an Air Reserve Technician, the same full-time position my dad held for so many years (just in a different shop, of course!). Until my SCI clearance is upgraded again (which tends to take months....always) I will be doing structural inspections on the C-130, including X-rays. VERY cool, and I'm trained in the art of taking, developing, and reading X-rays! But I do hope I'll get the chance to crawl inside an intake for an inspection. I always feared it when my dad had to do something similar in the F-16, so it's sort of facing that fear, but it's also just kind of fun to say "I was the smallest person, so they sent me in." How many people can say they've hung out inside an aircraft engine's intake?

(Not part of the 302nd, but a great demo of intake inspection)

Needless to say, Luke is a little excited about this, as well. He keeps telling me I can't be an "Air Force Man" because HE is the one who is, but he's thrilled to get to know the airplanes. This child takes after his mom, uncle, and sometimes Grampa in that he hears a plane (or helicopter) fly anywhere near the house and shoots out the door to take a look, and he's expressed that he wants to fly later in life. I can't wait to get him familiar with these Herculean birds!

(one of my unit's birds dropping water on a wildfire)

If you have read this far, I thank you! I know it's a bunch of rambling drivel, but it's also the quick catch-up. I hope January has been half as exciting for the rest of you!

Joyeux Noel...part 2

2010-01-13T22:12:00.004-07:00

Yes, yes, I know I am slow on this.

We woke on Christmas morning when daddy got home from work. Well, Luke woke up, I was allowed to sleep in another hour. I'm quite grateful for that! But then the fun began.

Luke could not hold his excitement at being able to finally tear into the presents without getting into trouble. I add that caveat because he tore into two gifts on two separate occasions and presented his treasure to us with pride. Imagine his disappointment when it was taken away and he got to spend a few minutes in time-out for that little trick. But he learned, and now he was ready to devour the paper. He thought it was great fun and couldn't get enough! He even enjoyed the orange & apple I put in his stocking (momma & daddy got one of each, too, don't worry!). The orange instantly became a temporary baseball while the apple became an instant breakfast. Goofball kid...but I can't complain that he loves his fruit.

He thought it was great fun that he was allowed to help us tear the paper off of our gifts, but he also thought our stuff was very boring. It didn't make sounds, it didn't have Lightning McQueen on it, and it wasn't something that he could put together to drive stuff on or use as an airstrip. His toys, however? He was in complete heaven! I'm also proud to report the few items of clothing were much appreciated as he attempted to wear all of it at the same time, pre-washing. The books he received were all read (at least in part) before noon. And the puzzles were sadly told they had to wait until we could find a spot on the floor to put them together. What a great kid to patiently wait for that to happen!

Once things were somewhat picked up, family was called, and everyone was fed I took off to deliver some cookies to friends in Penrose. Daddy took a well-deserved nap and Luke joined him for a bit. I wasn't gone that long, but they were both up & playing by the time I got home.

All-in-all, we had a fantastic day that was full of nothing but family fun. As much as I enjoy being with extended family on holidays, it is pure love to have Christmas morning involve just me & the boys.....

Joyeux Noel...part 1

2010-01-02T17:35:00.006-07:00

I had so much fun preparing for Christmas this year. Luke's third seems to have been the most fun thus far, and he was certainly ready! After quite some time of exclaiming over the lights, helping me put up the decorations, doing a really good job of staying calm while we gave toys to OTHER kids, and deciding he wanted nothing to do with the Christmas program at church, Christmas Eve finally rolled around.

Daddy had to work, but Luke and I went to the 5:30 candlelight service at our church. That's earliest Christmas Eve service I have been to in a very, very long time. When I lived in Hawaii I went to an 8pm service, but that WAS the late service. Otherwise, it's been only 11pm services since I was young and my parents decided I was old enough. That is, however, much too late for a little child. I was actually quite surprised at just how crowded it was! I figured most of the kids went to the 3:30 Barn Service, but there were still quite a few at this one. Luke was fidgety, and he even let the entire congregation know he wanted to talk. "Can I talk NOW??" And a round of laughter. I was really amused, but also mortified. He survived, though, and he loved the candles. Then came time for us to have a special treat for dinner: Christmas pancakes at IHOP!

This really was a treat because we don't go out that often. I was just sorry Daddy couldn't join us for this one festive occasion, though. You see, this was the reward for the gift Luke gave us, fittingly on Christmas Eve. A year ago this month (January) he had been fully potty trained as was doing really, really great. When I had my pulmonary embolism in February, all that training went down the toilet. It was so bad for a while that he would have a full-fledged panic attack if we even attempted walking into a public restroom....which ended up painful for the parents, but we dealt. For the past almost year we have been fighting to get him back onto the potty. On Christmas Eve morning he marched into the bathroom, sat on his potty, then hollered to us at the top of his lungs "I POOPED!" And that was all it took! He's been in big boy pants ever since!

We got home a little after 8, later than Luke's bedtime, but it was a special night. I let him watch a Christmas show, we continued tracking Santa on NORAD's map, and he was too excited to go to sleep. Eventually he caved, and Santa was able to make his visit. I finally climbed into bed somewhere around 2am, and the sugar plums danced in our heads all night long....

New Year's Eve....

2009-12-31T13:01:00.003-07:00

I know I still need to post on Christmas and my crazy child. He definitely gave us a unique present this year, but it's one we're more than happy to have. More will come on that later...

For now, I want to remind everyone that this is a night that is so much fun for everyone. Last year I posted about the AdAmAn (add a man) Club from our area and their annual climb up Pikes Peak to shoot fireworks at midnight. What a fantastic way to ring in the New Year, and let me tell you just how jealous I am of them this day! It is glorious outside. Not too cold (should be in the teens on the summit), just a little bit of wind, robin egg-blue skies with no clouds. Absolutely gorgeous!! And perfect for climbing! As I write this the team is about 2-miles from summit, meaning they have about 2 hours left to climb. They should summit about 3pm MT. They can then rest a bit, enjoy a donut and something warm to drink, set up for the 5 fireworks at 9pm in honor of the original Frozen Five, and make sure all is ready for the midnight show. They've also assured us that they have extra fireworks this year for a bigger show. Yay!

This year they've done things just a little bit differently. Sure, they've done the same thing of leaving Manitou onto Barr Trail yesterday morning, camped at Barr Camp overnight, and left the camp this morning around 9am. Sure, they've flashed the mirrors and let everyone in the Springs know their status. But this year they've joined cyberspace! They're tweeting and Facebooking status updates.

So, for now, the point of this post is to let everyone know that. Make sure you check them out! Follow them on Twitter at TheAdAmAnClub, and on Facebook at The AdAmAn Club. In honor of this, I will TRY to get a few pictures of the fireworks tonight. I just don't know how well it will work since I'm far enough away and it's dark...but I'll definitely try...

Salty Thoughts...

2009-12-28T22:16:00.003-07:00

As I glanced out my kitchen window last night I noticed how the dark clouds with a flat edge contrasted the sky and I was instantly swept back to my days in Hawaii. To see how easily the pale blue sky fell right into the dark blue ocean always fascinated me. Unless it was night, I always gawked as I drove home from the Tunnel to Hickam, or crossed to the Windward side of Oahu via the Pale, Like Like, or eventually the H-3. There were times it was tiring to see the white clouds hanging low on the mountains and have to convince my brain that it didn't mean snow (unless we were talking about Maui or the Big Island, of course), and it was often frustrating to have a great amount of rain but never any lightning & thunder, but it never got old to see that great big body of water we know as the Pacific Ocean blending into the sky along the horizon.

I had someone look at me very oddly on Christmas Day, too. I had cookies to take to friends in Penrose, so hubby asked me to stop at the gas station to get him some more Dr. Pepper. Nevermind the fact we had plenty of cans in the garage, he wanted the 2-Liters. He's addicted. Now way around it. Regardless, I started giggling while waiting in line because the "Woohoo" song came on. I don't know the real name, I've always called it that. It came out the same day I landed in Hawaii and the only part of the words I remember are "WOOOHOOO!" So, that's how it came to be dubbed. Everytime I hear something that was popular while I lived there, I grow calmer, or warmer, or smell the ocean, or smell the sweetness of the pineapples that grew in the fields above my head at the Tunnel, or think of the boat (that would be submarine, not ship, and not a sail boat), or many, many, many hours sitting on the beach or in Aloha A'ina Park watching the ships & boats entering or leaving Pearl, and countless miles run on the roads, sidewalks, and bike paths on both Hickam & Pearl. Or it all floods back to mind. This day it made me warmer, and I told the person who looked to see what I was giggling about that this song made me instantly feel warmer because it reminded me of another time. I'm sure they thought I was completely out of my gourd, but it was the truth.

Hawaii has been on my mind a lot lately. It's not just because it's cold here and I still wish there was a place that had mountains as fantastic as the Rockies out my back door while beaches and that glorious salty scent of the ocean out my front door. There are reasons the place is on my mind. No, we are not moving. No, we are not taking a vacation (what the heck are those, anyway??). It's reasons that will come forward in due time. But they're such sweet memories that nobody needs a reason to think of them, anyway...

And The Fire Danger Is...

2009-12-21T22:55:00.004-07:00

I couldn't help but take this shot at the beginning of the month. It was a whopping 2 degrees outside with 8 inches of snow on the ground. I started laughing.

Here's your sign!

Winter Wonderland....

2009-12-21T22:07:00.007-07:00

I thought it might be fun to talk about our interesting early winter weather. When we get a good storm out here, it doesn't make much news. It's a little frustrating at times, but something those of us who live in Colorado have to bear with. It's a pretty widespread belief that Colorado equals mountain towns and skiing (sound familiar, Utah folk?), but what so many people in the nation, including the national media, have no idea that the areas with the major population are actually on the desert plains EAST of the mountains! Seriously, for us to get the snow we have this year is unusual. Even more unusual is the below zero temperatures. The first week of December we here in Pueblo had 8 inches of snow, didn't get above 10 degrees during the day, and were as cold as -18 at night. That is very, very early! We usually don't see that kind of cold until the end of January, and it lasts less time than this snap did. Yet, there was barely a breathe of mention about it. Oh well, life goes on.

But this weather that started back before Halloween has made me notice something. I'm truly shocked at the amount of kids who aren't properly outfitted for the snow and cold in a state that is no stranger to the stuff! Sure, I gave the benefit of the doubt in October because it was still early and many stores still didn't have a full stock of winter clothing, but in December? Really? Luke and I were toasty and enjoyed our snowy start to this month simply because we like to be outside and I'm one who will search the universe to get appropriate clothing. He is set with his snow pants, warm boots, gloves, hat, and coat. The most expensive thing being his boots because I kept being outbid on Ebay, so I bit the bullet and paid the average $25 for them. But while we were out there in appropriate gear that cost next-to-nothing, the other kids I saw were in light coats, no hats, no gloves (not even knit!), jeans, and tennis shoes. They'd be out for 5-minutes, MAYBE 10-minutes, then go back inside because they were cold. And we didn't see them out again. I know it costs money to outfit your kids for weather like this, believe me. I know! But even my parents, who for many years could barely afford to rub two dimes together, always managed to find us snow pants, boots, hats, gloves, and coats so we could play outside in the winter, and it didn't break the bank (thanks, guys! I REALLY appreciate that you did that for us!).

Anyway, I realized that we didn't have a sled for us, or for Luke. Griping about improperly geared children and I was neglecting this part of my son's life? Um, whoops. Luckily, I knew we could find some at Sports Authority and we dashed to the mall to buy one....but not until we trudged our snow packed road, ran down a bit and slid on our butts. We soon found neighbors in their windows laughing at us, and the dog was all-t0-pleased to join the fun. Upon our return, I immediately decked us out, inspiring giggles while I envisioned Ralphie's little brother being bundled up in A Christmas Story. Out the door we went and up the hill.

It didn't take long until the boys across the street came to join the fun. I took advantage of the moment and broke the camera out. Luke was having a ball! Sadly, just 2 days later, our snow had nearly all melted. We're still waiting for more (though current rumor has it we've got a good chance at a White Christmas..I hope so!)

Now for the contrast: the East Coast. My big brother and only sibling lives with his family in Virginia on the mouth of the Potomac River. They get some snow, but nothing spectacular. That's hard on a man who grew up in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah! Well, they received one whopper of a storm this week and it's my turn to be jealous. Actually, it's quite nice because they'll be moving to Shreveport, Louisiana in April, so Virginia is working on giving them some incredibly sweet memories before they leave. I'll steal and post the pictures of my beautiful niece and nephews playing in their approximately 2-feet of snow when I get them, but for now, I'll just share a couple that David took after just one short night of snowfall.

Global warming? I'd have to vote for a Global Cooling cycle, and I am enjoying it!

Neglect...

2009-12-05T21:56:00.003-07:00

Good grief, I have neglected this blog! I love to write, and while I may not be the most gifted at the stuff, I get a lot of satisfaction from it. Why then have I basically forgotten about this very fun outlet for nearly a month? There's not one specific answer, but a lot of it does revolve around school. Some revolves around time with family and the ever-present "welcome to the Holiday Season" illnesses. Not much of an excuse, but it's the best I can offer.

There are certain times during the semester that I become a writing fool. I can handle it since I do love to write, but it takes time away from the recreational aspect of the outlet for me. Especially since the majority of what I write involves a great deal of reading, research, and figuring out what information I am actually going to use in the space allotted papers that deal with typically very past events. Not always the easiest of tasks, as was the case this semester. I chose to write on Sir William Wallace, who gained most of his American notoriety when Mel Gibson took his role in the film Braveheart. Talk about a tough man to find reliable information on! But the work paid off as I somehow managed to use every inch of space I was allowed and gained a 98 on the paper. Relief!

Mid-November also brings about a little bit of a frenzied time preparing for the Holiday Season. While it is only the three of us hanging out at the house this year, it does take a little planning. It seems like there's often a business trip planned around this time, we tend to get sick more often, and meals take more planning. Luke can't seem to shake cold, after cold, after cold. I actually managed to take the full-fledged Norovirus on this year (vs. past years when I was the one who grabbed the mild version) and decided to become friendly with the porcelain bowl and bathroom floor. The nice thing about it was that I didn't have to worry about the Thanksgiving calories! Jeff has managed to just get a few sniffles, so far. I guess we can't complain, really. It beats our usual "illnesses!"

As with all good things, it is time for me to refocus on my approaching finals. While I don't expect to have this blog be quite so quiet through this time, I do need to get through these final assignments and tests. So I now return to studying through the rest of the evening.....

My Deepest Appreciation....

2009-11-11T00:08:00.007-07:00

This is such an incredible day for me. Each year it becomes more and more special. Luke and I attended the Veteran's Day parade in Pueblo on Saturday. I realized it is the first one I have been to as an adult that I have not marched in. That was sobering. I don't know if I can explain how, or even if I can make anyone understand. Realizing there is probably less than a handful of World War I Vets left, that the men and women of the generation of my grandfathers who served in World War II are dying very quickly, that the Korean War Vets, and even the Vietnam War Vets are aging and dying from things we are only beginning to understand hit me hard. My own generation is seeing things change rapidly, and appreciation sometimes seems to be slipping.
But then I think of those who have set the example for my life. My biggest hero will always be my father. My father, who worked so hard, gave so much of himself to allow my mom to stay home and raise my brother and me. Being a member of a fighter unit in the Air Force Reserve, working full time at that job, meant he left the country more often than other Reserve squadrons. Even when I was a small child, 2 weeks often morphed into a month or longer. But he made probably more than his ration of 5-minute phone calls from Denmark, Canada, Turkey, Thailand, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and many other places. They were words we lived by. He was often a staple at my horse shows, but also the only dad who came in his uniform. And he has left me with sweet, sweet memories of being an excited and spoiled little girl who relished the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of an F-105 and F-16. I regret I never had the chance to spend a day or night with him at work like my brother did, but am also so very proud David had that chance. Thank you, MSgt Melvin M. Ahrens (USAFRes, Ret)
My second hero is my big brother. We may be 5-years apart in age, but we are close in spirit. Sure, we have, and have had our sibling spats. Who really wants their baby sister tagging along to to every imaginable events, anyway? And how many can really hold their wits when that baby sister throws a royal fit because big brother gets to have "all the fun" with the planes while she has to go to bed early because she's truly little? But he always knew who he was and what he wanted to do with life. He worked hard, hard, hard and was accepted into a private university that is widely known to have produced some of the best pilots the U.S. Air Force has ever seen. Not only that, he was awarded a full ride scholarship. While he was turned down for a pilot's slot, he was navigator qualified, earned his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering, and has proceeded to achieve his graduate degree in another engineering field. He is now a Lieutenant Colonel in our Air Force, and a fantastic family man. I can't be a more proud sister.
Not to be outdone is my wonderfully patient husband. We met in 1997 on Pearl Harbor. I lived on Hickam Air Force Base, which literally is separated from Pearl by a fence of brush and two pole gates; one at the edge of the water, one in base housing. This incredible man caught my eye and returned my smile. 1 year and 4-months later we were married. That was 11-years ago, but he has remained by the side of this crazy blonde chick from Utah. Any man who can serve on a submarine, let alone an attack submarine with the hull number of 666, is someone special, and I can't believe I ever got so lucky. I only regret that an injury cut his Naval career short.
I need mention my amazing father-in-law. Once in a while he speaks a bit of his time in the Navy, but I know the memories are difficult for him. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War, though he endured things no man should ever have to encounter in his own country. I sincerely doubt he is aware of just how much we appreciate not only him, but the example he showed to the man I married.
There can be no comparison to the men and women who have sacrificed all for our country. Nor can we forget those who are still missing, including Sgt. Matt Maupin (Edit to add I am an idiot. In my tiredness and emotion, I failed to remember Sgt Maupin's remains were recovered and brought home nearly 2-years ago....) and Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. But my appreciation to every single person who has dutifully served our country can never be measured in words. Had it not been for the farmers who stood up against the tyrannical King George, we would not have this nation. Had it not been for all of those who have put on the uniform and not only fought here, but overseas in defense of our allies, there is no telling where we'd be today. Had those people not stood up and taken the oath to protect our Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, we could not stand today and say
THANK YOU.......

Fort Hood....

2009-11-05T22:39:00.003-07:00

I am sure I am only echoing the thoughts of everyone else in the nation tonight, but my heart is absolutely sick over the news coming from Killeen, Texas tonight. My time in service to my country afforded me the opportunity to witness some really bizarre behavior from my peers and superiors. I saw one of my officers lose his mind and drop a box of ramblings in a foreign language at the main gate on Hickam AFB, HI. It was addressed to the Base Commander and we were shut down with the thought someone had left a bomb. I saw some of the younger soldiers and Marines, in particular, become so tired that they would just fall over from exhaustion while on duty. I went through multiple bomb threats and evacuations. I was even present and on duty for an actual bomb exploding in the office of the First Sergeant at the Security Police Force's orderly room on Lackland AFB, Texas. She survived, though she lost a hand, an eye, most of her fingers on the surviving hand, and had other injuries. She also managed to finish her career. The newly dishonorably discharged airman who managed to get the bomb on base and into her office was prosecuted to the fullest extent. A few months after that all of America witnessed the horrific acts of 9/11. That was the worst example of humanity, and the strongest example of "brotherhood" I have experienced to date. A Middle-Eastern restaurant had been completely vandalized and nearly destroyed by angry citizens. The woman who owned it still somehow managed to open for lunch, but only because of the support of military members who were off-duty on September 12th. And the entire lunch and dinner crowd made the news. It was all military. I worked with a devout Muslim. He was angry over the happenings, and he was fearful, too. The entire crew on our shift, plus some, surrounded him and made sure was safe.

I never did see anything like the soldiers at Fort Hood saw today, however. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining! I am simply heartsick and wishing there was more I could do. I know the chaos that arrises in the moments surrounding a disaster. I don't think I even want to imagine the fear and pain, even in these many hours after the fact. No, I was not in the Army. Many of my coworkers were, or still are. Fort Hood was less than 2-hours away from those of us who were stationed in Texas for a time. It's a huge part of the community as a whole, even hundreds or thousands of miles away. It's a small world, to say the least.

So tonight I sit here with a heavy heart and tears in my eyes. I have not worn a uniform in 4 very long years, but the ties that bind are strong. So, to quote my big brother, LtCol David K. Ahrens, USAF, "Stay strong, Fort Hood. This USAF Sister is standing with you......."

October Records....

2009-10-29T07:07:00.002-06:00

I think it's fairly safe to say that by now everyone is aware Denver, Fort Collins, and numerous other parts of this fair state of Colorado not mentioned by the media outlets received a walloping of snow yesterday. Snow totals in the metro areas have been upwards of 18 inches. That's impressive this time of year! We here in the Pueblo area, however, remained dry. Windy, but dry.

I finally crashed out last night around 1:30am. I guess that's considered this morning, but still. I woke up just a bit before 5am because of a meek voice calling me. What I saw out the window got my blood rushing! In that short amount of time, just over 4 hours, we had 3 inches of snow on the ground! But here is the real news:

It is now just about 7:15 am and we have over 5 inches. There are some areas that have received over 3 feet of snow! I'm not sure how all of this compares region-wide against October 1997, but national news and weather reporters are saying we've officially passed that storm since this has been just over 24-hours and that storm was 3 days.

I've got a few pictures, and there will be more to come. My batteries died and are charging.....

Another Day....

2009-10-25T22:37:00.003-06:00

...another snow storm. Yup, that's right! Here we are, six days away from the last day of October, and it's currently snowing outside. Again! My lawn is dusted white, my driveway a bit icy. Someone told me that it officially signaled the end of fall for us. I had to remind her that we really didn't receive a fall. The few trees that were valiantly holding on to summer and waiting to change color were promptly shrouded in a sheet of ice and the leaves immediately went brown. Then they blew off.

I will not complain, though. The lawn is halfway dormant and looks better now than it did all summer due to the water Mother Nature is putting out! And it could be worse. It was on this very day just back in 1997 that this area was blanketed in 2 feet of snow. The dusting is much more manageable, and the feet of snow can wait until next month.....

Prayers For My Second Dad...

2009-10-24T12:04:00.006-06:00

Roger is someone I consider to be my second dad. He was such a vital part of my life growing up, to the point I don't actually remember him even missing a horse show, except the ones up North (the exception being if my dad was TDY and couldn't be there, then Rog was in the stands cheering me on and taking video). He was right there with us when dad battled cancer, he was standing next to us when dad retired from the 419th, and he was a near constant at my parent's side when mom nearly died from her 8-day-old ruptured appendix. He also knew that a stuffed cat would help mom since she was missing her fur babies at home, so he gave her a special one to keep her company those 2 weeks in Alta View Hospital. That's just a couple of simple and extremely miniscule examples of this wonderful man, but I'm pretty shaken up right now and having a tough time getting this out.

It has been just within the last couple of months that Roger received the diagnosis of lung cancer. He had surgery to remove half of the affected lung on the 15th of this month. It was a routine surgery that went well, giving Rog a positive prognosis. While he has remained in the ICU because of being kept intubated, sedated, and the close guarding of his vital signs that have struggled to stabilize, he was slowly improving. As of yesterday afternoon, he had been removed from the paralytic drugs, was starting to fight the tube and work to breath on his own, and things were looking up.

Unfortunately, things have turned this morning. Roger also has battled Paget's disease and has a heart valve with calcium build-up. This morning that valve has decided to fail. There are many human hands working on him, but his condition has turned from Critical to Grave. He is not expected to make it. Hence the reason I am completely shaken; something I am sure pales in comparison to what dear Jennie, Chris, Tom, and the grandkids are feeling (my second mom, and their two sons).

Roger is young. Younger than my parents (sorry, mom & dad, for pointing that out), a big and jovial man that knows no malice toward others. He has an incredible laugh that lights up the entire city, and give bear hugs that are second to none. He calls kids "Gugenheimer," and that makes Luke laugh. He's one of the few people that Luke has immediately taken a liking to. He is a Vietnam Combat Veteran, having received 2 Bronze Stars and at least one Purple Heart (I am failing to remember exactly right now) for his service while fighting with his brothers in Big Red 1. He is a Godly man who has dedicated himself to his Lord and raised his boys to be the same. It's more than difficult to see and hear him going through this.

So, please, PLEASE keep not only Roger, but Jennie, Tom, Chris, the 4 grandkids, and other members of the family in prayer through this difficult time. I'll let you all know when I make the trek to Utah, but for now the Lyons family just needs all the prayer and spiritual hands they can get to hold them. I, for one, would greatly appreciate it....

Did We Miss Halloween??

2009-10-23T23:09:00.006-06:00

It's been rather boring around here lately. I've been busy being a student and working on those papers that History majors can't avoid. Luke has been busy with constant growth spurts. Jeff has been busy with work. The typical life of an American family. But it's also a boring life for an American family who likes to live on the go.

That said, Wednesday was a little exciting around here! It was multiple times during the day that I had to look at a calendar, or two, because I was really starting to wonder if we missed Halloween. I can't prepare for the Holiday Season without getting completely through October first. I'm one of those people who gets Christmas shopping done early, but I despise seeing that Christmas stuff put up on the shelves in the stores in early September. Yes, that's right, little trees and all thing green and red were up on the store shelves by the second week of September. It's no wonder my poor body was confused!

But it's not just the stuff on the shelves that had me reeling. Colorado has had snow every month throughout 2009, though I admit the majority of that was in the High Country, above 12,000 feet. We have seen some flakes floating in the air, and a very slight dusting on our patio furniture, but I'm not sure I'd consider that the first snow of the season, even if it was on the last day of summer. And everything being encased in ice last week was quite the exciting moment (even the dog slid and fell a few times! Goofy beast thought it was fun and kept running & sliding on purpose), but it didn't really constitute the beginning of winter.

But Wednesday? THAT was definitely the first snow of the season! We were expecting to see more flakes in the air and a lot of water on the ground, but not expecting accumulation. It was cold, it was pouring down rain, we definitely got a lot of water, and it was a fun day at school because of it. Then came late afternoon and everything went white! By the end of it all there was 1.5 inches of snow on the ground at my house. 18-miles away in Penrose, where the ponies are, the sky had dumped 5 inches. Approximately 25-miles away straight out the front of my house in the Wet Mountain Valley town of Westcliffe there was a whopping 17 inches of heavy, wet snow sitting on the ground! Granted, the Wet Mountains are between us and them, but they're not that far away and at the same elevation.

(completely exhausted, but loving the snow!)

(looking out my garage as the sun was setting...well before the snow stopped falling!)

Luke loved it and was disappointed I wouldn't let him play in it, but he's struggling to get past a cold and I didn't think it would be wise. I, on the other hand, was loving it but seriously confused. Once I decided we most definitely hadn't missed Halloween, it made me feel better....

Kiejiro Matsuhima....

2009-10-12T21:01:00.003-06:00

I had the opportunity to hear the most incredible life account today. One that given a well deserved standing ovation. While I had already planned to attend the speaking event and gracefully exit when it came time to pick my son up from his sitter's place, it turned into a moot point. One of my instructors required us to go for two reasons: 1) it details a very big, very important, very strong piece of history. 2) She was on the committee to bring this particular speaker to the campus, so it was kind of necessary for her to be in attendance.

The speaker was Mr. Kiejiro Matsushima, an 80-year-old survivor of the Hiroshima Atom Bomb. That, of course, would make him 16 when the bomb was dropped; a young and impressionable man.

Mr. Matsushima started his story for us by expressing his admiration for all of us to "listen to speaking of mine." He then went on to state something that I have always said about history: "We have to learn from the past to make better for today." In fact, those are almost the exact words I used for the first assignment I had this semester in American History 2.

Matsushima had 2 brothers who had joined the Japanese Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was draining on all the Japanese citizens because the war just continued on and on. Excitement after December 7, 1941 turned to misery as Japan kept losing battles, food became a big problem ("we always hungry"), and the economy grew worse. By 1944, everyone was miserable and schooling was taken away as every citizen old enough to work went to new jobs in the factories. The students were first excited over this prospect, but had changed their minds by the end of the week.

In 1945 things were turning more deadly for Japan. Attacks happened often, and in one moment more than 100,000 people were killed, but Hiroshima was still okay. By this time, Matsushima's father had passed away and his mother decided it was time for her to leave the city, so she evacuated herself to her in-laws home not terribly far away. Matsushima remained behind...and worked. By the end of July, the work in the factories ended and school started back up on August 1, 1945. It was only five days later the city of Hiroshima was dealt an unfair blow.

Matsushima's school was 2 kilometers away from the center of the blast, meaning he was only approximately 1.25 miles away. He expressed how fortunate it was that school still started at 8:00 AM then, versus the 9:30 AM start time they have now. Why? Because the bomb was dropped and detonated at 8:15 AM and he would still have been in the detonation zone. He also said he felt so lucky to have been in math class on the second floor of this very sturdy wooden building, in the extreme front row, and the extreme South side corner. He thinks it saved his life because he was not on the blast side. His friend on the North side, next to the window, was badly burned and knocked unconscious. He also survived, but died young.

He said he remembered looking out the window, reveling in the sunny day and bright blue sky. He saw the two American B-29 Bombers flying high in the air (he said maybe 10,000 Meters high) and knew there must have been 3 or 4. He could only see the two. He thought they were very beautiful shining in the sun. There were no more Japanese planes and the anti-aircraft guns cannot fire that far in elevation. The Japanese were used to this, though, so there was really no thought about it. "We were careless," he stated. He turned his eyes back and the moment he was center to his teacher there was a "very strong flash. Big, big wind, shock wave. Heat wave. I thought I was thrown into oven for a moment."

Bearing in mind that steel melts around 1540* Celsius, and the heat at the moment of detonation was 4000* Celsius, AND that Matsushima was barely over a mile away, you can imagine just how hot this was. Or maybe not...

He kept his eyes closed, covered his ears, and jumped under his desk. "Hundreds of thunders, then so dark. Almost midnight."

I may have the exact word wrong, but he said the Japanese refer to this as "pikadong," (peek a dong), meaning strong heat, flash, heat, noise. Says it all.

He said he prayed to Buddha and his mother for help. His whole body was bleeding, his clothes were torn, but his injuries weren't serious. Just little cuts from the shards of the broken window panes. At that moment everyone thought a single bomb was dropped beside just them. He couldn't understand what happened. Did thousands of bombs drop? "Many so badly burned in city center, skin hanging. I could see muscle. They swelled like pigs." He demonstrated how these people were walking like zombies because of the pain and the lack of skin on their arms. They were constantly saying they wanted water. "Only two bombers. What did they do??"

He decided to leave the city and walk the roughly 6 miles East to where his mother was, the only person he wanted. He crossed the Miyuki Bridge and could see "whole city burning. Maybe Hiroshima dying." He expressed that he was happy to have a place to go back to. The majority didn't and they just asked for "water, water, water," in the dark. By morning, most of them were dead.

He saw his mother the next morning and she was very happy to see him. She'd been working in a rice patty and saw the mushroom cloud. She just assumed he was dead. I can't even imagine...I don't WANT to imagine...

Matsushima did experience radiation sickness. It was within just a couple of days of the bombing that he gained a high fever and diarrhea. He felt this way for about 7-10 days, then it left. He's convinced the amount of water he drank while walking on such a hot day helped. Not to mention he LEFT the city, where the radiation remained. Rescue workers who came in and stayed for weeks weren't so lucky. Neither were the majority of the people who lived there. Doctors had no idea how to treat the strange symptoms and diseases popping up so soon after the bombing, deeming all of them just "A-Bomb Diseases." A rumor was started to not give the burned survivors water because it would cause them to die. Even the doctors believed this rumor, which we now know to be ridiculous. I can't even begin to wonder the pain these people were feeling, coupled with the dehydration... Eventually people began to drink from the rivers....and drown. That's why we hear stories of the rivers filled with bodies.

He has no idea how many people died that day, but the only figure he's heard is 140,000. That doesn't count those who died later from the cancers, leukemia, and other radiation-related illnesses. I'm sure the number is much higher. He used his sister-in-law's brother as an example. He was burned, but survived. He recovered, grew up, married, and had a son. When the boy was 3-years-old, the same age as my baby boy, he grew sick and died quickly. A-Bomb Disease.

The frequency of cancer in survivors is higher than in other groups. Mental retardation from the radiation also showed up. He told a story of a 94-year-old father who is caring for his 67-year-old son who has suffered from mental retardation since the bombing. The boy was healthy and normal before. He has had some moments of extreme illness, and he's had some cancerous tumors removed (he didn't say where they were, but he did place his hand on his back), but has otherwise been healthy. He knows he's lucky. He knows he's the exception. He says "Thank Buddha." We laughed, but knew exactly what he meant.

He did return about 20 days later and saw nothing but ash when he entered the city. It's an image forever burned into his mind. Because of his experience as a 16-year-old boy who survived the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, he says nuclear weapons "must never be used on any nation again. NEVER again."

I have my own feelings and opinions on nuclear weapons; feelings I won't express here. But I will say that I do agree with him on this. Kind of a shock to hear a Veteran express that view, but it's something I've felt since I was very young.

Asked about North Korea he stated they are "very dangerous neighbor to Japan. We are very afraid of them. I hate it. I don't like it." Can't say I blame him.

So, thank you, Mr. Matsushima, for sharing your story with us. You have left an indelible mark on me....

International Balloon Fiesta, part 3....

2009-10-12T18:28:00.007-06:00

We returned around 4pm for the evening activities. Maybe we weren't fully rested, but enough that we could handle it all just fine. First stop was going to be the launch area for the gas balloons for the America's Challenge race. These are the ones that rely on helium and/or hydrogen to stay in the air and travel thousands of miles. And they were expected to remain in the air for approximately 3 days. Two crew members (pilot and co-pilot), one small wicker basket, kitty litter, some sort of hammock, two sleeping bags, food of some sort, and the same set of layered clothing for 3 days. Oh...my! But it also sounds like a huge blast to me!

We watched a few of the balloons inflate, but were shocked to see one team started inflating only 15-minutes before the scheduled launch time. It was about 30-minutes after the scheduled time that we started talking about how late they were, and how no other racing sport we know of would allow this type delay. When it came to about an hour late we got a few answers. Since there were a lot of people, power lines nearby, and a few other things at stake, the race officials were being very, very cautious. The wind had kicked up, so they were looking at launch windows every 30-minutes. Not so good for those of us wanting to see the launch, but good for the safety of everyone involved. And it was pretty amazing to see how the wind was playing havoc with the crews. Each basket had about 20 people just holding it down, even while each balloon was tethered to a vehicle or anchor in the ground!

(inflating the gas balloons)

(holding the balloon to the ground...and you only see about half of them)

Also amazing was watching these crews work. I did catch one crew member standing on the shoulders of another to untangle a line. The shoulder guy had to have abs of steel to balance his partner who was being pulled all over because of the wind!! But an incredible display of teamwork.

We missed the balloon glow, but that wasn't a huge loss this time. Since the wind had kicked up, the envelopes would not be attached & inflated (those are the balloons). That means you just get to see a giant flame and not a glowing balloon. A big letdown, and one I'm not too upset over missing (Jeff and I saw that very thing in Demming about 4 years ago). But it was all worth missing, anyway, because Luke was given the chance to climb into a basket. How fun, and how cute!! He thought it was cool, until he realized he couldn't see over the top once he was inside...he promptly wanted out.

Fireworks were scheduled for 8pm, but they started about 20-minutes early. I had made a dash to the porta-potties and did my business in record time since I reached them the moment the first mortars were sent into the air. I LOVE fireworks, and I love watching them with my little boy, so I also ran back to where everyone was sitting. Just in time to see about 5-minutes worth and then.......nothing.

Not to worry! They started back up a few minutes later, and even moved around for a view behind the gas balloons! VERY cool!! Especially since it was decided the gas balloons would not launch (in fact, the race was ultimately cancelled) We thought that was it and started to make our way back to the car. Then the Grand Finale took place!! It was the most random fireworks show I think I've ever seen! But it was still fun.

It wasn't that difficult to get out of the park and back to our hotel, which is really saying something considering the amount of people attending. We all were tired, but happy. Luke fell asleep on the way to the hotel and barely twitched when I carried him to the room. I don't think he moved at all that night, but he was awake and quietly entertaining himself at 5am the next morning. What a great kid! He was ready for breakfast with Memaw and Papa at 6, which was good because they were hitting the road back to Texas after that.

We left Albuquerque around 8:30 and were able to see a few more balloons. Luke was mad, and made sure we knew it by telling us over, and over, and over again. He didn't want to go home, he wanted to go to the balloons. He eventually got past that, but he still lets us know he wants to go to the balloons. I think we have a kid who had a great time! I know of at least one adult who did, too.....

International Balloon Fiesta, part 2....

2009-10-06T19:09:00.011-06:00

Saturday morning broke early and crisp, but we were ready for it. Even Luke was easy to wake and was ready for a little bit of breakfast! So we got dressed, headed downstairs for a quick bite, and piled into the car for what should have been the quick drive to Balloon Fiesta Park. Granted, we were only about 15-minutes away (the closest we could get with all the hotel rooms booked for this event), but we knew that 100,000 extra people all hoping to see the Mass Ascension would make it longer. We wanted to be on the field and at the launch pad of a family member's balloon by 6:30. Lesson learned.

We actually left the hotel around 5:45, 15-minutes later than we wanted to. We were in line for our exit by 6:00....and still about a mile away. We saw the Dawn Patrol (those who go up early to test the wind currents and report to the pilots on the ground) go up, and we knew we were going to miss the ascension from the field. Huge disappointment! But the good thing was that we had a great view from where we were on the freeway. We sat in place for about an hour and were getting anxious. I'm so grateful to have a fantastic little boy who barely gave any complaint. He only got mad about me and Memaw blocking his view! The time did come for the Mass Ascension, and we witnessed it from our spot on the freeway, though we had made it to the edge of the off ramp by now. Jeff and I decided it was safe enough to let Luke out of his car seat and onto Memaw's lap to watch. Afterall, we were lucky to move only a few inches every few minutes, so...yeah. He sat for about 5-minutes before I strapped him back in. We were finally making progress! Just a few more moments and we were finally parked and ready to go.

The view from the field is amazing, so I'm pretty bummed we missed the Mass Ascension from that vantage point, but at least we got to see it!

(Dawn Patrol)
(Mass Ascension)

The different balloons were a lot of fun. There were the standard ones with different colors, but there was also the bumblebees, which kiss at take-off, a cow, a witch, a pond with fish and ducks, Snoopy as the Flying Ace, and the 70th Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz balloon. The list goes on, of course, but it was really cool to watch them land. Brought back some memories from elementary school when we had a balloon land in our playground, and also taught me some new lessons.

(Pigs can fly!)
(Great Horned Owl)
(The Pond)

(Wizard of Oz)

(Snoopy the Flying Ace)

(Holstein Dairy Cow)

(Ladybug)

The really cool part about watching these guys fly and land was the realization of how similar it is to sailing! Both rely on the wind, but not too much wind, both require special skills to navigate properly, and both are much harder than they look. That's the easy rundown, but it gives you the idea. It definitely gave me a whole new appreciation, and being that this is aerial navigation, I like it even more!

We took the time to see the venders, visit the mounted police unit, the FBI crew that was there with some REALLY fun toys, watch the police and sheriff's helicopters both land and take-off from the field, and just take in the whole scene. The cousin we had hoped to watch launch from his pad had landed near the Rio Grande, so we had to wait for his crew to get him packed up and back to the park before we could say hi. Once he made it, we had a short visit. He had a busy weekend and not a whole lot of time to goof off with us, which was to be expected. Luke collected a couple of cards (like trading cards) and a sticker from a few of the various crews, which he thought was cool. His real treasure, though, came in the form of his very own balloon made in the same manner as a beach ball. It did come time for us to take a break and head back for lunch and a quick rest before the evening activities, and all the balloons were currently on the ground, so we left around 1:00. Luke, knowing we were done for a bit and there was nothing exciting to see at the moment, promptly closed his eyes and was out for a nap. He even slept through lunch at the restaurant! He woke up in time for us to grab a 30-minute nap at the hotel, but Papa was kind enough to entertain him. Then it was back to the park for the evening festivities.....

(Leave it to me to find the horses..visiting with a "giant Jack," one of the multiple Percherons the Sheriff's office uses for mounted patrol)

(playing in the gun turret of the FBI armored vehicle on sight. I'm still a tomboy at heart and love big toys!)

(waving at the Sheriff's helo taking off, Luke loved this)

(hugging his "checkered flag" balloon)

(sound asleep for a nap...he had a big morning!)

International Balloon Fiesta, part 1....

2009-10-06T17:58:00.008-06:00

Sometimes I feel like we're a family constantly on the go, but we have a lot of fun in our adventures! This past weekend we made the 5 1/2 hour trek South to Albuquerque for some fun with hot air and gas balloons at the biggest balloon gathering in the nation. It was a two-fold trip since we were also going to see Memaw and Papa Flory before winter really starts to rip. They drove over from Texas to see their only grandchild, and we love that.

It was an interesting drive, however. Through Colorado and on over the Raton Pass into New Mexico it was very pretty since we apparently hit the scenery at maybe a couple of days past peak on the leaves. It's always great to see the hills and mountainsides glowing with golden cottonwood and aspen leaves while the oak turns red! Then we crossed the state line and moved more into the very rural, middle of nowhere plains of New Mexico. The nice thing was there was plenty of healthy antelope herds to admire, and the wind pumps were spinning with a fury in the winds. The weird thing was we saw mostly Colorado plates, along with a smattering of Oklahoma and Kansas plates heading South with us. I think we only saw one single New Mexico plate until we were past Glorieta! And it appeared the majority of us were definitely heading to Albuquerque, especially those who were obviously carrying balloons (vans and trucks hauling cargo trailers). There was fire in the mountains West of us toward Taos and Espanola that was giving a great display of smoke in the air, so that entertained me for a long while. We crossed the pass into Santa Fe and were........stunned. Apparently the "great" part of this city is nowhere near I-25. Either that, or it's only touted as a great and beautiful city when it really isn't. Seriously, it was pretty ugly. Admittedly, we only saw that tiny piece while driving through.

But we were close to our destination, so that part was fantastic. And the drive was really a simple one, which is always a very big plus. So, we rounded into Albuquerque and started looking for our interchanges and exits for the hotel. Memaw and Papa had already checked all of us into our rooms, so all we had to do was get there and take luggage in. Always nice! So we pulled in and made our way upstairs to the room.

Luke wanted to swim, but the hotel failed to let us know the pool would be shut down for the season. He was very, very good about it, despite all of us being bummed. He quickly shifted gears and decided running around on the grass to expend the energy of being in the car was a great idea. We all agreed, and the races with Memaw and Papa ensued.

Then we all piled back into our 4Runner and made the short drive to the home of Memaw's cousin for a little visit. They own a wrecking yard and Luke was giving quite a treat!

Bud asked Luke if he liked forklifts, if he'd ever been on one, and if he'd like to drive one. Well, I'm sure you can guess the answer my 3-year-old gave and they took off for a drive. Luke loved this! Bud was operating the gas & brake, but Luke was steering and operating the lift. He even got to lift 2 cars over his head!!! All by himself!! He thought that was pretty darned awesome, and I have to agree. Then it was back to the house, with a small exception. Luke spotted a little tractor and pedaled around the yard for a bit, then begrudgingly headed back into the house with us. A quick cup of coffee and some milk, then we had to head back for a bite to eat and some shut eye.

Saturday morning would come quickly and we were heading to Balloon Fiesta Park around 5:30am....along with the other 100,000 plus people who made the journey for opening weekend. Sleep was vital! And we drifted off with full bellies.....

Breckenridge is for Anniversaries...

2009-09-30T14:26:00.012-06:00

This past weekend afforded us a chance to get out of town. It's the perfect time of year to hit the ski resorts for a little getaway because the summer tourist season is over and the ski season has yet to begin. Prices are in the dirt, and there are plenty of things to see and do. We took advantage and headed to Breckenridge for the weekend.

I was excited for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it was time in the High Country during peak leaf season. That was also a bit disappointing because the cold snap we had managed to stop the color in its tracks. Much of the trees were already bare, many more were just pale. There was still some green, but mostly it was pale and past peak. I don't mind, though. It was still beautiful. The hard part was the amount of the evergreen forest that is dead, ripe for a fire to sweep through. Stupid pine bark beetles have just devastated this part of the state. You hear about it, you know it's there, but it's startling when you actually look around and see (I usually don't because I'm looking at or for other things).

Second, Saturday was our eleventh wedding anniversary. This was a time to celebrate and it's not often we do much more than go to dinner for our anniversary. Being able to get away was wonderful!

So we headed out on Friday and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to our destination. The first shock was the amount of snow still up there. We knew the last storm had dumped a couple of feet, but it was amazing how much as still there! It was so gorgeous....

We were there early, so we grabbed some local pizza as a snack. Fatty's is in the old Colorado House hotel building, and it's pretty cool! It's modern now, but you can still feel the layout of what it used to be. And the pizza is great! Worth the stop. We wandered next door to the Mountain Outfitters and found some great stuff. Too bad we didn't need any of it...or maybe that's a good thing. They had such great stuff that we'd be broke if we decided to actually shop! Then it was off to get checked into our hotel, so down the road we went.

Jeff ran in to get the keys and came back out with a perplexed look on his face. I thought "uh oh, what's going on." They had upgraded us and we had to go to another hotel! It wasn't actually a hotel, though. They gave us a 1-bedroom loft apartment in one of the timeshare buildings! That's pretty cool! Made it easy, too, because we now had a kitchen, something I was hoping for.

We dropped everything off, took a quick look around the room and building, the hopped back into the 4Runner for the 20-minute drive to Keystone for dinner. We had been told to check out the Wolf Rock Brewing Company restaurant there, and we figured it was a good time to do so. Anniversary dinner a night early. Oh. My. Goodness!! If you're ever in Keystone, or the surrounding area, you MUST eat at this place! The food is to die for! And so affordable for the quality! Seriously, the only meal I can compare it to is the 5-star restaurant we ate at on our wedding night. It is THAT good!

The next day we just wandered the town, did a little shopping, had some ice cream, and headed toward Frisco, Silverthorne, Dillon, and the reservoir named for the original town of Dillon. It is very well known for J24 sailboat racing, is highly touted as one of the best lakes for sailboats, and a place we've wanted to check out for some time now. It was incredible! We've already decided we HAVE to head that way for a regatta next summer and to do a little camping on the shores. Not to mention it was such a great day to sail.

Then we did the little hiking loop known as Sapphire Point. It's just an easy little trail that loops around the hill and overlooks Lake Dillon. Luke initially didn't want to do it, but then decided it would be fun to canter with daddy around the loop. He had fun, despite being a bit grumpy. The sun was thinking of setting by this time so we headed back to Breck, had dinner, and relaxed in our room for the rest of the night.

Sunday morning was warm and vibrant. We checked out, headed to the middle of the town, and to a playground on the river to let Luke play a bit. He thought that was a fabulous idea! Between the playground and the grassy hill on the other side of the river, we had a very happy little boy! We watched a little girl de-cloth herself and play to her heart's content in the river, and Luke wanted to do the same. We let him feel the water and he quickly changed his mind. Not that we would've let him do it because we didn't have towels and it was much too cool (temp and water), but it was fun to watch! Much like most of the snow that had melted from the peaks, it came time to hit the road and head on home. It was such a wonderful weekend and we didn't want it to end. While it's always nice to be home and with our pets, it's always hard to leave the High Country. I'm so grateful we live so close to the mountains that we can get away like this pretty much anytime we wish, and I never tire of it. Great thing is my little family feels exactly the same way....

The Last Day of.....Summer??

2009-09-21T19:59:00.003-06:00

Oh, how I love living in a place that's unpredictable! Today, September 21, 2009, is the last day of summer. Autumn actually begins around 5:18am tomorrow, but you'd think we were starting winter today!

I climbed out of bed around 6:30am and it was only slightly cloudy. It was also much warmer than I expected, but I was well aware that would be changing very, very quickly. I set about getting myself ready for classes.

By the time Luke and I were leaving the house at 8:30am it had completely clouded over and was starting to rain. Considering my child gets mad when it's not raining and he thinks it should be, his mood largely brightened by this sight. He still wanted to see ponies instead of his sitter, but he wasn't quite as grumpy about it. And the temperature had dropped a good 10 degrees from my waking.

I had dressed us both in preparation of a cold day, but Luke fared far better than I did. I about froze my bum off walking from my vehicle to my first building! Imagine my surprise at finding that first class was cancelled, and I was back outside. I went to the College Center building and promptly bought another sweatshirt to layer more. Much better!

My second class was held, so that was a nice thing...a good review for our test on Wednesday. I was misbehaving and keeping Twitter up during this time and saw all the reports of heavy snow. Not in the High Country, though it was heavy and shut roads down there, but in Denver and Colorado Springs! Then it was back out to the car. Guess what?

On September 21, 2009, the last day of summer, Pueblo, Colorado had big, wet snowflakes mixed in with the rain!! And it was a whopping 36 degrees! That was about 40 degrees colder than yesterday!

Eventually the clouds broke and the rain/snow mix stopped falling. I could see the Wet Mountains out my front window. Completely white all the way down to the valley floor! I hope to grab some shots in the morning, adding in Pikes Peak. I know the mountains were expecting at least 6 inches, so I'm sure the Peak managed a couple of feet. I can't wait to see it!

While I'm sad to say goodbye to summer, I do look forward to my planning months for next summer. On top of that, Luke loves snow, so I'm happy to see some this early.....

Manitou Incline by "Moonlight...."

2009-09-20T22:02:00.005-06:00

I had to place "moonlight" in quotations because the mood didn't peak out until we were on our way down, but that doesn't matter.

Jason, Heather, Kerry, and I did a night hike up the Manitou Incline earlier this month. We actually weren't sure it was going to happen because the afternoon had been quite busy with heavy thunderstorms, but it cleared out by the 8pm meeting time. Funny thing: most of Colorado Springs was wet, wet, wet, but the incline and Barr Trail (our descent route) was dusty, dusty dry!

Anyway, I have noted that we met at the upper lot above the Cog Railway in Manitou Springs at 8pm. Grabbed our headlamps, tightened our laces, and set off. Silly me, the temps had dropped enough that I decided to wear pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Not the best idea for the climb up! You see, the Incline was a sort of railway ride from the town of Manitou Springs up to about 9000 feet to look over the town and city of Colorado Springs. That shut down about 100-years ago, but the rail bed remains, and people here love it. Technically it is private property, owned by the employer of all involved in this particular hike, but it's so popular that nobody seems to mind the trespassing. All sorts of athletes come and train here. It's a mile up the mountain, I mean UP the mountain, with an elevation gain of around 1500 feet, or so. I can't remember for sure, I just remember being impressed. One of these days I'll have to get the GPS out and look again.

What an interesting time to do this hike, though! This was the first time up the thing for both myself and Jason. I haven't seen a view of a city like that since I lived in Hawaii and saw Honolulu and Waikiki from Tantalus (one of the mountains on Oahu)! But it was odd to only see what the headlamp lit in front of you and see nothing but darkness as the "trail" faded away above us. We were all huffing and puffing. Remember: Heather is a triathlete, I am training to do a triathlon next summer, Kerry lives not far from the Incline and does it a few times a month, and Jason is a mega-hiker. The amount of sweat pouring off of us and the amount of panting could make anyone's imagination wander!

(don't let the photo fool you, it's super steep and NOT a bunch of steps!)

We kept on and reached our "summit" about an hour after we began. The view was spectacular!! And the wind was cold. I was immediately grateful that I had on pants and long sleeves....and that I remembered to grab my softshell before leaving the house.

(Manitou Springs leading into Colorado Springs)
(Heather, Jason, Kerry)
(Me standing rather oddly...)
(The other first-timer: Jason)

It took a few minutes in the dark to figure out where Barr Trail met our spot, but it showed up. It's amazing how different everything looks in the dark! Barr Trail is the other trail to the summit of Pikes Peak, one that I desperately want to do. It's 13-miles one-way to the top of the Peak, and we had 3-miles of it to take down to our vehicles. It was amazing! Some of it was slick because of the steepness, but overall, it was just pristine quiet and beauty in the dark. We could hear the stream but couldn't see it. We enjoyed our view of the moon finally peeking out from the clouds, and we loved seeing the lightning that was undoubtedly in Kansas by this time. Above all, we loved the workout. It was time for us all to go home and find our beds (I made it home and to bed by about 1230am, and I had class the next morning...this was a Tuesday night!), but we went happy.

I can't wait to do this one over, and over, and over again! In the meantime, it's now up to Kerry and me to make the date, time, and trail for our next adventure....

Race for the Cure....

2009-09-13T22:56:00.004-06:00

What a great day! Luke and I headed out from home this morning at 6am to participate in the Race for the Cure in Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs. I was really anxious and excited for this race. Breast cancer has touched so many people, yet there are still tons of people who don't perform monthly exams. I had my own scare. Fortunately, my lump was benign and has since disappeared, but that's not the case for all women (and some men!). My dad's cousin, Carol, is one such example. I am happy to report she is now a survivor, and I was proud to run in celebration of her victory.

It was a cool, cloudy, damp, and somewhat foggy morning. Perfect running weather, actually. We caught a glimpse of a snow-covered Pikes Peak when we left the house, but it was very quickly shrouded in clouds for the remainder of the day. Kind of a bummer given the excellent views of the Peak from Garden of the Gods, but that wasn't the point.

I had the opportunity to join a local news station's team, and I took it. Turns out I was the only community member who was smart enough to figure out the "banner" we were to meet at was actually the live truck. Weird....but they were quite appreciative. We all headed to the start line together.

The first mile of the course was all uphill. It was probably 4-5% most of the way, something I've really never noticed the hundreds of times I've driven it! And it was tough...pushing a jogging stroller with an almost 40lb child in it up that was quite the workout! But the views were glorious. We rounded to where my favorite view of the park lies and I was awestruck by the rock formations touching into the fog. I had my camera, but I wasn't stopping to take a shot. I knew I could come back through with the 4Runner later. It was also at about this point that we were given the relief of a brief downhill. Finally! I was able to extend my stride and catch my breath!

The last 2 miles really were up and down (uphill and downhill), but it was such a great course. I'd have to say it ties as my favorite (H3 Freeway opening in Hawaii is the other course...and only ran once). I was also thrilled with my performance. Given that I just started kicking up my running a bit, that it was 7 months ago I had my embolism, that I sadly struggled in my 4th of July race, and that the first finisher ran the course in just over 19-minutes, I am thrilled with my 26:57 time. And the fact I felt I could've gone another mile or two was icing on the cake. I'm regaining my endurance and speed, if even if it's at a slower rate than I'd like.

About 5-minutes after our run

Bundled up against the rather cold wind!
My "number" and celebration tag (thanks, Luke, for holding it for the picture!)
Not quite as foggy, but who cares? It's just such a gorgeous view!
Our parting shot driving home...

Luke had a ball. He loved the course, he loved all the free food (he's a boy, what can I say??), he danced and danced to the music when we were done, he clapped, he cheered, he sang. And he told me "we need to come again, Momma." He meant to run or bike the park, not just our usual style of visit. Good boy! I was too busy having fun with him to get pictures, we just had such a great time!

For all the fighters, survivors, and in memory of those who lost their battle, I am so happy to have been able to do a small pittance for you and your families. I am grateful for the VERY fun news and weather staff of KRDO for opening this opportunity, and I am happy to have had my eyes opened...even if it was incredibly scary. Ladies, please do your monthly checks, and never be afraid to ask for help. I will continue to run this relaxed and slightly emotional race, but I hope that someday there will be no need.....

Bad Memories...

2009-09-11T10:51:00.003-06:00

I hate this date. I dread it the other 364 days of the year. I especially hate being in an area that I can't visit one of the crash sites. I told myself I wouldn't do this, but my mind decided it had to.

I used to live a short hour's drive (40 miles as the crow flies....but the roads wind) from the Flight 93 crash site. I spent a LOT of time out there. No matter the time of year, that strip mined field is always cold. And it speaks loudly. I usually went very late on September 11 for my own mind, after allowing the ceremonies and family visits to be complete. Now I can't do that.

I spent some time working in the Pentagon. Not often, and not a lot. But enough. It speaks. I will never forget my Chief. He was with me in Texas 3 days prior working on a special project. He was taking it up to the SIC on Thursday, September 13. He never made it. I can't believe I have seen the area he died in from both the inside and from the belt loop. It's haunting.

I have yet to visit Ground Zero. Opportunity just has not been there. For now, I am okay with that, though I will visit at some point.

Some out there are aware of not only feelings from that day, some know my own story. There are certain words, certain sounds, certain moments that send me into a bit of a panic. Those who know are the ones who've witnessed it. Last year they released some information from that day that shocked me, though it didn't need to be kept. All I can say is I'll never forget one of the most level-headed and goofy Lieutenants (now about to make Major) I have ever known start to turn grey and asking a why question in extremely colorful language....

I'll never forget actually denting the monitor and cracking the headband of my headphones when I threw them off my head while racing out to the outdoor break area to find my mission supervisor and officer while screaming to the analyst to get to my rack. I'll never forget calling all of my airmen back off of leave, except for the two who were either stranded in an airport while trying to fly home on schedule or stuck in downtown Manhattan and no longer had cell phone service. I'll never forget the relief when those two were finally able to get hold of the unit. I'll never forget seeing on particular word and knowing the world will never know. I'll never forget my normal 12-hour shift turning into a hellish 21-hours.

I will NEVER forget!

Never Forget....

2009-09-11T00:24:00.003-06:00

It's been 8 years, but to me it still feels like yesterday. It is a never-ending nightmare. I will NEVER forget!

'Nuff said.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2009-09-10T22:14:00.003-06:00

We've been busy! I've got tons of pictures to share, but they'll have to wait a couple of days. Tomorrow is a sort of sacred day for me....reasons I can't really and fully explain to anyone and expect them to understand. Therefore, I will share pictures from the Colorado State Fair, some fun in the City Park, my hike up the Manitou Incline at night, and the wonderful pony who is Jack's return to Colorado after Friday.

Horrible Fires in the West...

2009-09-01T10:47:00.005-06:00

...make for great sunsets. We had our third evening in a row of decent rain last night, but the clouds mostly cleared out just in time for one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen. I'm not even sure I've taken a picture of one since I lived in Hawaii! One of the meteorologists even highlighted my picture on the 10pm newscast last night. The picture led the newscast off, then was used in his "teaser" for his segment within the first five minutes of the broadcast. Point being that my picture may not be the greatest, but people really noticed the sunset.

With how much more smoky it is today, I'm willing to bet the first sunset of September 2009 will be even more spectacular than last night's....

August Snow...Again!

2009-08-30T18:50:00.004-06:00

I can't express how many times it has snowed in the higher elevations during the month of August this year, simply because I have lost count! Today was one such day, though.

I waited all day for the clouds to give way some because I just knew Pikes Peak would be dusted white from today's weather. I was right, and here is the end result:

I admit it's a bit hard to see on the photos, but the sun is beginning to set and the light isn't quite right. The big white, zig-zaggy line is the upper portion of the Pikes Peak Highway. I hope it's still there in the morning because it'll be a beautiful shot....

New Colors...

2009-08-29T12:22:00.003-06:00

As difficult as it is, I have decided to change to the fall colors a few days early. I really just wanted to wait at least until September. But, alas, I saw signs of fall's fast approach on the way to the ball game last night. *sigh*

The geese and ducks are starting to fly South in droves. The leaves on the trees are starting to turn, especially as you get higher in elevation. The cottonwoods along Fountain Creek in Fountain (suburb of Colorado Springs) are showing the earliest hints of turning yellow, while maple trees even in my own area are beginning to demonstrate the same hints of orange and red. And the feel in the air? Oh my...

So, with a bit of a heavy heart, but also with the slightest touch of excitement I turn the blog colors to that of autumn. The good thing is that while we are well aware the snow will soon be flying, fall still brings on adventure for this family always going strong in the out of doors....

360 Days of Sunshine, and The Boys of Summer...part 2

2009-08-29T10:15:00.005-06:00

We dashed home for me to change from shorts into something more appropriate, grab some jackets, and fresh batteries for the camera. Luke took a nap while we quickly ran around to get on the road. One more quick stop for some food from a drive-thru and we were off. The simple jaunt from our home to Security Service Field seemed to take forever in the Friday evening traffic, but we made it. Along with what appeared to be most of the rest of Colorado Springs. We've never seen so many cars there! But we made it.

Tickets bought, we made our way to our seats....which were taken. Okay, we'll take the same seats in the back, no big deal. We got there after the game started, but in plenty of time to see Jason Giambi up for his first at bat. Poor guy, he kind of fluffed it and couldn't make it to base before being thrown out. Well, we're all rusty when we take time off, and we were happy just to get the chance to see him play.

looking around at stuff
Giambi at bat

Luke was having fun with the music, clapping and dancing as it forced its way out of the speakers. He giggled as he watched the other little ones around us having fun, too. He still can't quite understand why we can't just go out on the field and play with the guys, but he has fun watching. And he always gets a kick out of Sox the Fox, our mascot.

There was a short time that Luke did get a little bored and wanted to go for a walk. Daddy took him, and then he was fine. He came back and watched Giambi grab a base hit, saw the only run made for the Sky Sox (a home run!), and continued to dance. We could see he was still just exhausted, but he was having fun.

Sox the Fox leading the cheers

The Sky Sox lost, incidentally to the Salt Lake Bees, a team I never thought I'd be cheering against. Okay, I can justify that by saying I'm cheering against a team that isn't nearly the same as the triple-A team I grew up with. If it isn't the Salt Lake Buzz, then it's not the same team. Anyway, they beat us last night. But we had fun.

There has been some controversy in having Jason Giambi return to the game. He was kicked out for doping charges. But my thought has been this: if Michael Vick gets a second chance after felony animal cruelty, which harmed many living beings, then Giambi deserves a second chance after hurting only himself. My feelings on him deserving a second chance were heightened last night at the end of the game. The entire crowd remained to watch the fireworks, but they were slightly postponed. Security was trying to get Jason Giambi off the field so they could kill the lights, but Giambi refused to budge. He was signing autographs, trying as hard as he could to get everyone who was there with a ball, or cap, or simple piece of paper. That speaks volumes! They finally did actually grab his arm and physically pull him away.

The lights were killed, the music came up, and the fireworks began! Luke jumped, covered his ears, but smiled big the entire time. Let me add that I love fireworks. They give me such a thrill! The fact my little boy was having fun watching a show from a closer vantage point he's than he's ever been was very, very fun.

It did come time for us to make our way to our 4Runner and come on home. We obviously did not miss the crowd in the parking lot, and we obviously filed out with everyone else. It gave us a bit of time to chat. The final thing Luke said before he drifted into slumber again was music to my baseball-loving ears:

"When can we come back for more baseball?"

360 Days of Sunshine, and The Boys of Summer...part 1

2009-08-29T00:37:00.006-06:00

We had a busy, busy day yesterday! But it was wonderful. One of the great things about living in Colorado is the fact we get 360 days of sunshine. It may not be all day long, but that's not the point. Yesterday was one of those days that it was sunny, warm, and gorgeous the entire day. We took full advantage and ended up completely bushed.

Luke had yet to go out on the lake. He's been out to the boat, has been on the boat, and has even been IN the lake on numerous occasions, but he hasn't been underway. Until today. Okay, so it was Catch he got to go on, but considering she's made for racing, and therefore speed, we haven't really wanted to take him out on her. Especially on a day like today when the wind has been enough to get some decent speed and heel (or lean) when your sails are full. We went out with a friend who has a cruising vessel, instead. First thing I want to say: what a difference between that boat and ours!! The cabin is actually livable, and she's much steadier in the water. By steadier, I mean she doesn't have as much side-to-side action....because she's made for cruising, not to go very fast and turn very sharp.

Luke was excited because he loves water. He then decided to take over and steer for us. Thank goodness daddy was also at the helm because we may have only done circles and serpentines in the marina! But the kid was having fun, so who can blame him. And it's not like sails needed to be trimmed or anything at that point; we were on diesel power.

Once into open water the engine was killed and the main sail hoisted. Just with that one sail up we picked up some speed. Then the genoa (the sail in the front, of which there are many forms...today was the genoa) was deployed and we were off! Luke suddenly got bored because he was no longer steering and he didn't realize he could move around. Not to mention, he wasn't in the mood for pictures. Goofy kid. But he quickly got over it.

chocolate boy proudly steering

boredom

It didn't take long for him to realize the wind makes the boat do funny things....like heel over onto its side. Not like a capsize, just a heavy lean. He had fun holding on and watching the water get closer to the lifeline. I, on the other hand, was grateful for the sailing harness he had on under his life jacket, despite my enjoyment at the thrill of riding at an angle.

whoa, man! Getting some speed!

Allen, and a great demonstration of the boat heeling, the picture is NOT crooked

It didn't take long after seeing me sitting at the rail that Luke decided it was his turn. He grabbed daddy and marched right on up the deck to plop down and swing his feet over the edge. He sat there to eat his apple, and he was a little disappointed he couldn't quite reach the water to splash his feet. Yeah, you don't sit the rail on the heeling side, you're up in the air, but I think he still enjoyed it.
Hanging with daddy at the rail

At one point I was sitting the rail enjoying the sunshine and wind in my face as the splash of the boat cutting through the water filled my ears when the wind picked up enough to heel the boat even further. Jeff was at the helm, I wasn't in a position to grab Luke, and he decided to shoot across the cockpit toward the water because he could actually reach it now. My heart and stomach in my throat, I quickly said a thank you to Allen who grabbed him....smart move despite the harness being attached to keep him on board. Silly child just loves the water! He was good and relegated himself to not reaching for the wet stuff. Instead, he stood and watched the waves the hull of the boat was making as we sliced through.

We were on the water for 3 very short hours. We probably would have been out longer, but the Rockies have signed Jason Giambi to the team. He is making a comeback to Major League Baseball after some time off due to doping charges. He is also currently playing for the Rockies triple-A farm club located in Colorado Springs. Good for everyone to not just jump the lines and to do it right! Make the player "earn" his spot! Anyway, we had plans to go watch the Sky Sox play tonight....primarily to get the chance to watch this slugger play a bit. So we headed back to the marina......

The Winter Banner....

2009-08-27T17:25:00.005-06:00

I've had a few people privately ask me about the new banner. I finally figured out how to put a picture on and wanted something that was special to our family without actually BEING our family. I could've put something dealing with hunter ponies and jumper horses, but that'd only properly fit Luke and myself. While Jeff does ride, he doesn't get the joy out of it that Luke & I do, nor will you find him in anything other than his roping saddle. He's a team roper, and he'll always be that way. I will always be a hunter/jumper rider, and Luke...well, he's showing great desire to jump, but we'll see. Anyway, that idea was out pretty early.

I could have put the boat up, but that's for Jeff, and I'll do that on the Catch 24 blog (which DESPERATELY needs to be updated...bad Denise). Luke has yet to go out, too. So that was also out nearly immediately.

Then I thought about how much we love to be outside, especially in the mountains. Luke, of course, has not climbed any of the 14ers with us, though he's technically old enough. We don't want to make him do it just yet (they're pretty steep), but he'll likely start doing some easy 13ers with us next summer, maybe even ending in an easy 14er by the end of the season. We'll see. Still, he HAS been up above 12,000 feet, loves to be outside, loves to camp, and will hike all day if you give him the chance (as long as it's not too steep or difficult). So, I thought I'd find a place pretty special to the three of us and put it there.

I came across the picture while looking for something nicer than we've been able to capture. It was taken at sunset on a day clear enough that I'm sure you could see well into Utah during the daylight hours. It is obviously winter, too, which just adds to the dramatic color. It is a special place for the three of us because Luke and I went leaf looking last year in that mountain's shadow, gazed in awe for miles and miles as we drove by to watch the elk rut, and love to venture in its direction just because the area is so lovely. It is special to Jeff because he has been on so many 4-wheel trails in its shadow, saw his first wild moose in the area, and really wants to live close to its base. For the two of us adults, it is special because it is the climb we did together that challenged our brains & lungs.

"It," of course, is Mount Elbert. Tallest peak in Colorado at 14,440 feet, second in height only to Mount Whitney in California in the lower 48 states, and 17th highest in the entire nation. And we climbed it! You all already know about that, but it is part of this story, too.

So, when you open our blog and see this picture, you now can see what we are so blessed to see everyday: the beauty of Colorado. You can also know why it was so chosen to be the lead-in to our family's life stories.....

Crossroads...

2009-08-25T22:33:00.003-06:00

I'm anxious. I actually feel quite a bit like I did when I graduated high school: ready to conquer the world, but not sure how to go about it.

Each year I try to set some goals for myself. Sometimes I get a few done, the past few years I wasn't able to complete any other than getting my baby here safely, and this year I actually managed to complete them all plus one. Now I'm starting to make my goals for next year. I have one ready. A big one. And I'm already having problems. I need a pool, but I don't want to join a health club or the YMCA to have basically unlimited access. Why spend that kind of money when all I need is a pool? Ugh...but I'll persevere and see what I can do.

But then comes my other goal in mind. It's been there for...well, forever. I was there once, but had to back out because of a pregnancy that wasn't cake. I didn't want to risk my health, or that of my unborn baby, so I backed out. Now I'm ready to jump back in, but I need to figure out some things that I may not get help with. So I'm also frustrated.

I was never even supposed to be able to join the military because I tore my knee apart when I was a freshman in high school. In fact, my orthopedist said I'd never run again. I believed him for two years, then decided he didn't know crap about me and took charge. By the time I graduated, I was only dealing with being afraid to take the plunge. I was 19 when I just decided one day, told the recruiter exactly what I wanted, basically got it, signed my commitment, then went home and announced to my parents I had joined the Air Force. Fun thing to do when you're eating dinner! I left Valentine's Day 1996 for Basic Training, and it was the best thing I could've done. Now I'm ready to get back....only part-time as a Reservist because of family. It's all in the timing, and I feel like I'm back where I was then...

I readily admit that the goals I set are for selfish reasons. I do need to emphasize, however, that selfishness is fueled by wanting to make my little boy proud. I realize all kids are proud of their parents, but I just have a need to have him see me doing something worthwhile. I fooled around as a teenager and young adult enough.....

Or Is It 14,115 Feet?

2009-08-24T22:31:00.011-06:00

It's almost a different beast when you're used to heading out for a day's climb with someone else. I think it's harder to get out of bed when you're going "alone!" I was able to get to bed Friday night around 10:30 with the intention of getting up around 3am Saturday morning. It almost happened...I hit snooze twice and got up at 3:20. I figured that still gave me more than enough time to get on the road by 4am. I had everything ready, just had to get dressed & grab my pack and poles off the table. THAT I did have zero problem doing.

The other weird part is that I traded my dear husband vehicles for the day. He had a sail race on Saturday, Luke was staying with neighbors for a few hours during the race, but then it was with daddy at the potluck after the race at the marina. It's much easier to just trade vehicles than car seats, and the Saturn gets much better mileage, anyway. There was plenty of room in 3 other vehicles at the meeting point to keep the poor little car from having to worry about even an easy mountain dirt road. But it was strange to be sitting so low to the ground, though the coyote feasting on a roadkill deer partially in my lane on the freeway near the plant was VERY easy to see.

I was about 5 minutes late to our meeting point on the West side of Colorado Springs, but I wasn't the last one there. Whew! That's a relief! I even had time to dash to 7/11 for my "crab fisherman breakfast (that's one full of copious amounts of calories, specific to the job at hand)!" Jason and Kerry patiently waited for me, but we were still waiting on Heather. Strange, but we figured she'd meet us at the trailhead and we wanted to get started. It was already after 5am!

Ute Pass can sometimes be the perfect place to spot a black bear, or two, in the early morning hours, but it was quiet today. The summit house on the Peak was like a star leading us to our destination, and the sky was just barely starting to get a bit of color. It was beautiful...my favorite time of the morning! We made the trailhead by 6:15, which was already 30-minutes after when we wanted to be underway, and it was already packed! A quick trip to the outhouse, a change from sandals to hiking shoes, trek poles locked onto packs, packs thrown on our backs, and we were off! It was 6:30am, and 39 degrees at 10,100 feet. Still no Heather, though.

The trail here was incredible, not horribly steep, but beautifully wooded. I love the smell here! The stream was so clear, too...something that never ceases to amaze me. We could see the rock outcrops near the Crags, hear the creatures waking up and chattering at us, and gave pleasant greetings to our fellow hikers. We could see tree line and it seemed like we made it there in a very fast manner, but it had already been 2 hours! Wow! Tree line is also the point Kerry and I made a pit stop. There's typically not many places you can hide above that level, which can be problematic when it's as busy a trail as this one. Then we heard a greeting, and some friendly conversation among Jason and....HEATHER! Leave it to the triathlete to be the one to start about 15 minutes behind us, miss the trail cut-off, go about a mile out of the way, turn back, and STILL catch us at tree line! Our little group was complete.

Sunrise
looking toward the Crags
The trail before tree line
The first peak of the sun actually on our trail right near tree line

We cruised on and enjoyed the views around us. On the ridge above us were 4 mule deer bucks galloping along, heading for the cover of the trees below. The hummingbirds were buzzing, the pika were meep'ing, and there wasn't a cloud in the blue, blue sky. We stopped to look over the Highway 24 corridor toward other mountains we know and love and decided this was our "Sound of Music" moment. Guess who started the singing? Yup, the dorky one who was the youngest of the group.

two of the bucks
The ridge the deer were on
"The hills are alive with the sound of music!"
Sentinel Point

I can't believe my camera zooms a couple of miles!!! I see the Jeeps!!

We pushed up to where the trail leveled off a bit and stopped again for a snack and some photos. We could not only see the summit, but had a fantastic view of the summit house. There were already a number of cars coming DOWN! Good grief...it was just a little after 9am! But they couldn't see what we were. Their loss, let me tell you. Then we pushed on.

Summit house up top,

Snack/picture break!

The next probably 3 or 4 miles were very easy, a very slight uphill grade that took us through the Devil's Playground (so named because lightning bounces from rock to rock during thunderstorms), across the Pikes Peak Highway, and on up toward the summit. We took a break for more photos around 13,500 or so feet in a gorgeous spot that we could see Colorado Springs, Woodland Park, and a great number of reservoirs belonging to our group's employer, and on out to the plains (through the haze from the numerous Western wildfires). We pushed on.

The Devil's Playground

Heather, Kerry, Jason, yours truly...Colorado Springs behind us ~13,5k ft

Here's where it started getting steep again and we were back to going short distances before small breaks. The lack of oxygen forces it, really. It seemed like we'd never reach the Boulder Field, but it was finally before us! Our class 2 portion of the hike! We located the cairns (small piles of rocks) marking the way, but this isn't a spot you absolutely have to remain on the trail. We were off trail a number of times, but still near it. The funny thing about it, though? It's class 2 because you have to use your hands and pull in a few places, but it was still easier than the portion right above tree line and right below the Boulder Field. Well, at least to me (Kerry agreed).

Jason and Heather about halfway up the Boulder Field

Kerry led the way through the Boulder Field and was first to summit. Tradition says she had to because this was her first 14er. What a moment! But it was also weird because the first thing you see on this summit is a warehouse with propane tanks to the side. Ahh, the life of a tourist spot! But it's the best way to get up to the top. We were relieved, happy, and anxious for our world famous Pikes Peak donuts at 11:30am, 5 hours after we began. But summit pictures came first.

Jason making his way up
Heather smoking us all

Kerry making her first summit!

I'm sure you've noticed the title. I say that because all the 14ers have grown, one by eleven feet, one by only 2 feet, but most by about 5 feet. The height for Pikes Peak is still officially 14,110 feet, but the new height is listed at 14,115 feet. The only one made official this year was Mount Elbert, which grew from 14,433' to 14,440...the rest are sure to be made official shortly. Still, both the GPS we had with us read 14,106 at the sign, but you can see it's in a lower spot with the naked eye. What a strange place to put the thing...

(ignore the mileage...I forgot to mark and started it late)

Pictures done we headed inside and were shocked by the extreme heat. It was in the mid-50's outside, but sweltering inside! One nice thing about this summit is there is food, drink, and bathrooms up there! Pit stop, then donuts (with pictures), and a swig of something not off our backs, a change of socks for me (thicker socks for the downhill), and we were headed back down. It was 12:30pm, making time on summit 60 minutes.

Kerry's first summit!
Kerry with her donuts
My extremely cheesy "look at me!" donut picture

It took us 4 hours to descend. 12 miles roundtrip, 10 hours on the trail. Whew! We stopped a lot just to enjoy the nature around us. It was such a lovely day. The clouds were starting to build as we came down, and though we weren't really in danger, we knew we had to keep an eye. It did finally end up raining after we left.

There is so much from each of my climbs this year that will always stand out for me, but this one had a different element: tourists. I'll never forget the looks on various faces in the summit house. Those of us who climbed up (either the way we came from Crags, or the East face up Barr Trail) had a look of health, happiness, accomplishment, and donut ecstacy. Those who drove had a look of fear, relief of being alive, and a bit of "wow, I feel weird," accompanied by glazed eyes. Those who came up the Cog Train were moving very slow and had a look of "I don't feel so good," and very glazed eyes. The hikers were polite, the tourists rather rude. Not my fault I've taken my pack off, put in so it's narrow in front of me near my feet, and you STILL run into it! Man, the dirty looks we hikers got. But the best part? The double-take looks those who drove up gave us, followed by the slowing of vehicles and the "what's wrong with you? Why are you walking up this thing? Are you crazy??" I loved that!

I do still have one small streak going. It cracks me up, and I wouldn't mind it keeping going because it's funny. On Mt Sherman, Jason, Jeff, and I all managed to come down without falling on our butts....until we were within 50-feet of the vehicles. Then I hit a roller rock and landed on my butt. Mt Elbert saw Jeff and I run down about half the mountain with no problem, but we got close to the end of the trail, close to vehicles, I hit a roller rock and fell on my butt. Pikes Peak was another the four of us managed to come down with now issue. I was literally stepping off the trailhead and into the parking lot when I found a roller rock and landed on my butt. All three times were in front of at least a handful of people (Sherman being the least) who politely tried to stifle their laughs. I just let the laughter roll. Gotta' love it!

My climbs on the 14ers are done for the summer, but the memories will go on. I am thrilled to have made it this far after so many struggles the past 4-years, and I can only hope to pass the passion on to my little boy. Thank God for it all...

Pikes Peak, Baby! 14,110 Feet by foot....

2009-08-22T19:48:00.003-06:00

Success!!! 12 miles round trip, 10 hours on the trail (including an hour on summit), and some really great company. I was able to complete my third Fourteener today, had 1 1/2 donuts in the summit house, and have now caught up to my husband. All since the latter part of June! Okay, so that's miniscule in a season compared to a lot of people, but considering it's only been six months since my embolism, I think it's a pretty big accomplishment.

Oh, btw, I'm not sticking my butt out in the group picture, I was holding on to the rocks on the sign because I was afraid we were going to break the bench. It was creaking!!

Nightstalkers Don't Quit.....

2009-08-20T14:44:00.006-06:00

(Photo from one of the SAR folks who shared it with the 14ers.com community)

Yesterday was a bad day for the United States Army and for the Colorado Mountains. A Blackhawk helicopter (MH-60) from Kentucky crashed on the second highest mountain, Mount Massive. All four crewmen have passed away.

Most people who know me also know that stories like this strike an immediate cord in my heart. This one strikes my heart for two reasons: the military connection and the mountain connection, specifically the fourteener connection.

I am glad my climb this weekend is close to home and not in the same area as my last climb. There is a lot of activity going on there with the investigation, Mt Massive is completely closed to the public right now (including the campground at the base of the mountain), and those who have plans to be in the area of Massive and Elbert have been asked to reschedule their plans and go elsewhere this weekend.

I do, however, wish I were actively serving right now. It's no secret I am biding my time and starting my talks with the recruiters to get back onto Active Reserve duty, probably in the Legal Office, and you can be sure there'd be a good chance I'd be one who was involved in the recovery and investigation process due to my security clearance (since Air Force personnel are involved). So, I'm torn.

(Massive from Elbert. Crashi is just over the crest near the summit)
(Mt Massive from below, crash is near the center of the picture about 200 feet from the summit)

One thing that people don't realize about the mountains is just how dangerous they truly are. You can never go unprepared, and you can never expect the air to remain the same. Aircraft are often brought down by the every-changing thermals, which is why the military trains there. Sometimes, it just doesn't work out.

This bird was part of the unit highlighted in the movie "Blackhawk Down." Yes, that really happened. Yes, it is a very tight unit. I am sure they are grieving beyond belief right now. Not just current members, but those who have been there before. Rest assured, Nightstalkers, that you are not grieving alone. May these men rest in peace, and may their families know we are a grateful nation. NSDQ!

The Pictures

2009-08-20T00:18:00.008-06:00

Mount Elbert from about 9000 feet...after the climb
Barefoot at 14,440 feet looking over the Twin Lakes
The GPS reading, always a plus!
A relieved and exhilarated couple!
The summit log
The Maroon Bells
Highest Pt in CO, Mt Elbert, 14,440 Ft, 8Aug09
Jeff making summit
A pika that was kind enough to stand still long enough for my shutter
Our path off the path, a.k.a. the Narrows
Can you see how steep? And not even close to the finish
Pikes Peak
Break time!
Going up!
Twin Lakes
Me with my hands in my pockets heading toward the first false summit. Second false summit is the point on my right shoulder
Mount Sherman, my first 14'er
Mount of the Holy Cross
Looking Northeast'ish, you can see Turquoise Lake
Mount Massive

The Climb....

2009-08-19T23:26:00.004-06:00

Sorry it took so long. I got distracted. Sometimes parenthood does that, and I think that's just a little bit more important than blogging. :)

It kind of felt like we were heading into some big sporting event by the amount of people hitting the trail with us. Weird thing is that there were already a ton of people ahead of us. The difference was we headed into the dark and thick expanses of thousands of pine trees with backpacks and food, not into some arena where backpacks are forbidden and food is provided. But it was pretty cool. Spirits were high, and you could feel the energy everyone was exuding from their excitement. There was a family from New Hampshire behind us, a guy from Denver who was taking his buddy from Greenville, South Carolina just a bit ahead of us, a group of college students from CU Boulder setting a strong pace directly in front of us, and the guy behind us was here from California. Then there was us, the couple from Pueblo West who convinced my parents to stay an extra week so we could climb this mountain.

Right away we were huffing and puffing. Okay, this isn't unusual on a hike like this, so it's not extraordinary news, but usually the first half mile is the hardest, then you get a reprieve. Not on Mount Elbert. It's fairly steep for about a mile, then it does smooth out for a short distance before a very steep climb deeper into the forest where you can choose to continue to summit or fork off onto the Colorado Trail. You already know which route we took. But before we started this incline, we sat on a log and ate a snack.

We had immediate visitors. Gray Jays, a.k.a. Camp Robber Jays. Very brazen birds that beg for your food. Leave it to me to break even my own rules and put the tiniest of crumbs in my hand to see if they'd eat out of my hand. The answer: yes! And a stern word from my husband, which I brushed off. He was right, but I was victorious, so I didn't care. I snapped a couple of pictures of these two, but they're on my phone and I have to wait for the software update to download them to my Mac.

Snack finished, we loaded packs back on and started huffing our way up the hill. It seemed like it would never end. In fact, it didn't until we were above 13,500 feet! But we did stop a few times before we hit tree line at 12,000 feet, partially to take advantage of the cover of trees, if you catch my drift, and partially to rest. It seemed like it took forever to hit tree line, but that was only a little less than halfway! We already were seeing people turning around, and there was one large family group with about 5 teens that was struggling. Okay, the group wasn't, but one of the girls was really needing to go down. She had altitude sickness bad. But they pressed on. So did we.

The climb above tree line got steeper, so we started going about 20-50 feet, then would rest a moment. I took the camera out and started snapping each break.

By the time we reached 14,000 feet, the girl with altitude sickness was in really, really bad shape. Her dad kept saying "you've made it this far, you can make it to the top." He was saying this as she was puking. Again. And again, and again. We lost count of the times WE saw, but it was too much. I think she finally was able to convince someone that she had to go down because we never saw her again. I still hope & pray she's okay and that the family isn't kicking themselves now. One rule to this game: the mountain will always be there, you CAN come back. We pushed on.

You wouldn't think the remaining 440 feet would be all that difficult when you've made it this far, but you'd also be wrong. At this elevation your brain slows down due to lack of oxygen, you need more calories, and you're tired. We somehow managed to get off trail and onto a narrow game trail, or something. I even thought "huh, I don't remember hearing anything about this, but this is awfully similar to the narrows on Long's." Needless to say, we figured out we were wrong and pushed over to the trail. Thankfully it was easy! We made our first false summit and took a breather. Then we pushed on.

It was only about 150 more feet and we made our second false summit, but now we could see it we were so incredibly close to our true summit. We took another really quick breather and pushed to the top. Jeff was a bit hypocaloric by now, despite our big breakfast and snacks at breaks, so he was a tad lightheaded, but he kept on. Good man! Granted, we knew we'd be eating again very soon and that coming down would help, but still. The talus at this point was slick and the incline very steep, but we managed to do the entire climb sans poles, so we were happy. And the summit!! Oh, my, the summit....

We had a day that was nearly cloudless, so it was perfect. Despite the wind and very cold temps while sitting on top of the state of Colorado at 14,440 feet, it was smoky down lower, so our view was a bit less than it could have been, but we were able to figure out peaks from all over the state. We saw Pikes Peak quite well, the Maroon Bells near Aspen, the Needles Range to our South, and even all the way to the San Juan Range on the Utah/Colorado state line! Jeff signed the summit log while I wrote a note on my hand for pictures, I paused a moment by a flag someone had planted and thought of Jeremy Clawson (who's Utah memorial was on this day), and we posed for summit pictures. Lucky for us, we asked the one person who is shutter happy and took a LOT of pictures for us! He got three shots that we're going to have made and framed, and he made us laugh. What a fun guy!

I couldn't find my gloves the night prior, or the morning before we left, but Jeff let me use his because his baselayer shirt has thumbholes that hold his shirt over his hands for extra warmth, so he was fine. Thank goodness! It was barely 40 degrees on summit and my hands would've been frozen. I took the gloves off as we sat behind a cairn to block the wind, called family, I shed my boots to have some barefoot time, and we ate. We spent about 30-45 minutes on summit and started our descent. Bear in mind we've been drinking this entire climb, and there's no place to "hide" once past tree line. It had been a long time. So our descent started with a sprint down slippery talus and steep slopes from 14,440 feet down to tree line at 12,000 feet. Talk about exciting! How neither of us managed to fall, roll an ankle, hyperextend a knee, or some other obvious damage to ourselves at this time is beyond me, but we didn't! My toes, however? They were screaming at me not long after the other relief came.

So, our time on top was fairly short, but we made it. Of all the people we saw in the parking lot when we started, just short of a quarter of them made summit. We don't know their stories, but we know the mountain will still be there.

We made my parents giggle the next day with our groans and slow movement, the muscles were so sore. And my toes actually bruised enough that I might actually lose a toenail (they're fine now, just acted like I smashed them in a door), but it was all worth it.

Saturday is August 22. Guess what? I've got another mountain to climb! This time it's close to home: Pikes Peak. I'll be solo from the household, but with about 6 other people. I am looking forward to the donut at the summit! (explanation later) Do you think Jeff and Luke will see me wave from 14,110 feet and 40-something miles away?

Heading Out...

2009-08-12T11:44:00.002-06:00

It was such a gorgeous morning Saturday. The skies were clear, the air was quiet, and the temperature at our house when we left was 72 degrees. Bear in mind that we are just 7-feet short of a mile high, so we've got some elevation. It was lovely. Though it was an hour later than we had originally planned and hoped to set out, we were excited and ready for the adventure.

We made a quick stop in Canon City for gas, coffee, and some high calorie junk breakfast food, then we were on our way. A little less than 90-minutes later we made our junction at Hartsel. Anyone want to guess the temperature then? At about 8800 feet in elevation we were seeing the temperature sitting at 35 degrees. Yikes!! It was warmer than that when we did our early season climb on Mount Sherman! No stop this time, just a continuation of our drive in Buena Vista (pronounced B-you-na Vista). The sun was rising now and it was amazing. We could see the rays peeking over the summit of Mt Sherman and it was incredibly colorful from the haze of smoke the multiple wildfires in Western Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.

Near Antero Resevoir the wildlife started were starting their morning feast. Jeff was snoozing a bit, still sort of hung over from the Benadryl, but I saw a ton of antelope grazing in the meadows. I am amazed that I didn't see any deer or elk at this time, but the antelope were still wonderful to see.

Coming into Buena Vista is always quite a sight. The Collegiate Peaks greet the drivers with a huge presence. Mount Princeton was looming this morning and letting everyone know it was going to be a fantastic day. I looked at the thermometer and saw the temps had risen to 45. Granted, we had dropped to just below 8000 feet, but still...

We made another quick stop in this town we greatly enjoy and went on to our trailhead. We had a little over 45-minutes to go. We'd already been on the road 2-hours, so we were anxious to get started. The upper waters of the Arkansas River were beautiful in the morning sun, and there were already a number of anglers out. It was a super easy drive into the outskirts of Leadville where we made our turnoff toward the trailhead. As we climbed the dirt road toward the base of the mountain we saw a very large number of primitive campers waking to greet the day. They were completely bundled up. Uh, that doesn't look good. We looked at the thermometer when we hit the trailhead. 10,000 feet (or just below) and it was 32 degrees. Oh boy...I'm not sure we packed the right clothes! Jeff was in shorts and a tee, I was in convertible capri pants and tank top, and we only had our lightweight softshell jackets and windbreaks. We did both grab a lightweight fleece on the way out the door, but didn't expect to use them.

We found one of the last parking spots (this is a popular trail) and braced for the cold. Stepping out gave us a huge sigh of relief because the amount of sunshine we had made it not too bad! I was fine in my fleece and my pants already rolled into shorts. Jeff was fine in his long-sleeves and shorts. We put our boots on, made sure our packs were ready and put them on, grabbed one more swig of water to keep our camelbacks full, and started out. It was going to be a great day full of adventure!

The Night Before the Climb...

2009-08-10T23:12:00.004-06:00

Friday night seemed to be one that would let us rest and get some good sleep before our big hike in the morning. We needed to get up a little before 3am in order to be on the road by no later than 3:30am. We wanted to hit the trail head and start our hike by 6:30am. Really wouldn't be a problem, we had our packs ready, water filled, cooler set for our after-hike goodies, and small child in bed zonked out from another big day with his grandparents. Murphy had other plans...

Jeff was fairly lucky in that this is the time of year his allergies kick him in the butt, so he had enough drugs in him to knock him out for a while. I, on the other hand, made it to bed somewhere around 10:30pm, 30-minutes later than I wanted. Then I was up at 11:30, midnight, and close to 1am because my small child decided he couldn't sleep. It didn't help that every dog in the neighborhood, ours included, was barking. A lot. Granted, Luke usually sleeps through this, but not tonight.

I had just managed to get Luke back to sleep and my head barely touched the pillow when there was a knock at the front door. I leapt out of bed with a bit of anger, peeked out the window and saw my next door neighbor there. I felt an immediate fear because they've had one heckuva time as of late. One that includes 2 ambulance calls within 3 days, damage from baseball-sized hail on a vehicle, and some other stuff that's just not very fair. Anyway, I open the door and Carly tells me that 4 or 5 kids are running around breaking into vehicles and they caught the kids at our truck (which stays outside due to size and the fact we only have a 2-car garage). The cobwebs cleared and I headed out with a flashlight to find all was fine. Moments later there were 7 Sheriff's cars dashing about the streets, complete with spotlights looking for these kids. Jeff did join me shortly and said he was tempted to sleep outside...I talked him out of that. By the time we got back in bed it was after 2am. Oh boy...

The cops kept their patrol up and we dozed back off. The alarm went off about 25-minutes later, but we hit snooze. After the excitement we figured we could just delay our start about an hour. I was up at 3:30, Jeff about 3:45. We left the house at 4:15...and the cops were still patrolling. Given the problems Colorado Springs and El Paso County are having with the police (there's not enough and some calls just can't be answered due to lack of manning and money), I am so extremely grateful to be in a spot where we have a near instant response and resources to see that even the most minor of incidents is looked into in a very timely manner. And I'm grateful for neighbors who look out for each other. It makes chaotic nights, which are rare, worth it....

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH!

2009-08-10T18:20:00.002-06:00

Yup, that's me on the summit of the 2nd highest peak in the lower 48 States, and the 17th highest peak in the entirety of the United States. Mount Elbert, Colorado, at a height of 14,440 feet above sea level! What a ride!!

The highest peak in the lower 48 is Mount Whitney, California at 14,494 ft, the other 15 are all in Alaska with Mount McKinley leading the pack at 20,320 ft (also affectionately known as Denali).

Rest assured I will detail our trip, including the...uh...interesting night before the climb. For now, I have a 3-yr-old needing attention and dinner to cook. So, stay tuned! Adventure awaits!

Ouray '09...part 3

2009-07-31T16:36:00.003-06:00

We'd finally come to the day I was greatly looking forward to: the return trip up to Yankee Boy Basin at the base of the gorgeous Mount Sneffels! This is where we took our family picture last summer, but we weren't able to venture very far into any hiking forays for two reasons. First, Luke was barely 2 and we didn't want to push him. Second, there was still so much snow that the meadows were still covered and the vehicles were still a good 2-feet shorter than the pack. Knowing that the area was pounded pretty well during the winter, but then experienced a dry and very warm spring (just the opposite of us on the East side of the state), we knew the snowpack would be all but gone.

We loaded into the 4Runner and ventured out after breakfast. I was like a little kid, yet also a wee bit snippy because of the one part of the drive that I knew was going to cause me anxiety. Something about any road that is barely big enough to allow 2 vehicles in opposite directions with one side nestled into (yes, INTO) the mountain while the other side is a vertical drop of hundreds of feet into a raging river doesn't do my heart much good. I decided to study the rock formations next to and in front of me while trying to remember to breathe without hyperventilating instead of completely freaking out. It mostly worked, but Jeff had to give me a little ribbing. I threatened him with the one thing that he really doesn't like and is afraid of, but he only laughed at me. The bugger...

Once past the cliffs, I was fine. I love this landscape and could not believe the range of colors we saw in the wildflowers! They were spectacular! The pictures just don't do justice. In fact, they're rather bland and you don't get any sort of an idea of what we were witnessing. My wonderful in-laws gave me a pocket spiral book for identifying Rocky Mountain wildflowers last year. I nearly have the thing memorized I've used it so much. In fact, it stays in my 4Runner for easy access and use! Anyway, the only flowers I did not see or recognize from that book were the ones that are primarily found on the dry plains near my own house. Everything was blooming, from the paintbrush, to the columbine, to the larkspur, to the chiming bells, to the monkshood....all the way down to the little pink elephant heads! I couldn't believe it! THIS is what was hiding under all of that snow last summer!

We did not encounter near the water on the road as we did last summer, but there was still some. That makes it more fun, and Luke enjoys it. He did eventually fall asleep, but we enjoyed the ghosts of the mines. It's amazing how some houses still stand while others crumble, and how the blocks and belts remain completely intact and appearing ready for work while the building of the stamp falls down around it. While I love to crawl all over these beings, I am smart about it and was shocked to see people walking around inside a house that could collapse and fall at any moment. They were inside and taking pictures!! Amazing! I admit, I did want to stop and do the same thing, but Murphy's not nearly as kind to me and the house probably would've fallen on my head.

There other people up in the area were sparse this day. Unlike last year when it was a Saturday, and despite this being the same weekend (again) as the annual FJ Cruiser weekend, it was almost strange to not see all that many people! Kind of nice, too. More for us to enjoy around us and less to have to worry about on the bumpy road. We finally managed the climb to the middle trailhead for Mount Sneffels, our photo spot, parked and hopped out. Luke was ready to go, go, go! That was fine with me, but it was also time for some snaps of the camera. We spotted a nice buck on the hill across from us and watched through camera lens and binoculars. I can honestly say I've never before seen a deer with fat rolls, but this guy did! It was hard to figure out how he was able to walk, he was so fat!! Then it was time to take a little hike.

Oh, how I wanted to just take off and do an impromptu climb of Sneffels! Not going to happen with a 3-year-old (nor would I attempt that, he'd have a tough time with the altitude AND wouldn't be able to handle the hike), but that's okay. We opted for the hike to Emory Lake tucked neatly into the valley at the upper trailhead. It's an easy hike on a narrow trail and only about a half-mile long. Easy for all of us. And lovely! The lake is a typical dead alpine lake, and sparkling blue from the snowmelt, somewhat akin to a glacial lake. And COLD! I'd say it was probably somewhere between 35 and 38 degrees. Luke was just happy to throw rocks, I took a moment to sit and enjoy the quiet beauty, then wandered up a bit to catch a glimpse of the lower lake at Twin Lakes. And I do mean a glimpse. We took a few pictures, checked out the survey/altitude marker placed in 1933 by the San Juan Mountaineers (at 12,191.4 feet) before readying to head back to our vehicle for a picnic lunch. But wait!

Just then a group of 4 teenaged boys made it to the lake after summitting Sneffels. Typical of 17'ish-year-old kids (and something I, myself, have done...would probably do again!), they stripped down to their skivvies and jumped into the startlingly cold water. We loved it! And they were well-mannered, so it was even better!

We ventured to our 4Runner, had our lunch, met a retired couple from my dad's hometown of Moline, Illinois (wowza!), and were able to grab this year's family shot at the same spot overlooking Yankee Boy Basin as last year. It's not as good of us, but I'm still quite pleased with it. Such a special place for our little family!

Jeff and I have pledged and vowed to each other to make the climb up what I affectionately refer to as my "love affair," but we'll have to have some serious advanced planning since it's a 5-hour drive....well, actually, about 7-hours to the trailhead.....and will definitely have to camp before & after our climb. In the meantime, we're already planning for next summer's trip out to the Uncompahgre Wilderness. This time, Luke and I will be able to experience the 4-wheel trails, we may do more primitive camping, and hopefully catch fish again!!

Farewell, Sir...

2009-07-24T12:42:00.004-06:00

I'm taking a brief break from telling of our annual Ouray trip to give homage to someone I liked. No, I didn't have a crush on him, though I did think he was cute. But I liked him very much. He was a kind person, a fun person, and a bit of a comic. He was also very driven and touched a lot of people.

Jeremy Clawson was 3 years ahead of me in high school. I never actually realized he enlisted in the army the year before he graduated, but he did. He served tours of duty in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and I'm sure in countless other and smaller campaigns that the general person wouldn't have a clue about. He also achieved commissioning in 2006, promoting from butter bar (2nd Lieutenant) to 1st Lieutenant within the last year. I have also learned he was one of the few who have been awarded the Bronze Star for his meritorious service in Iraq. For those who aren't military related, or just aren't sure what this means, this is huge. I mean HUGE. Jeremy undoubtedly put his life on the line to save someone else and was rewarded for it.

There is a lot of information regarding Jeremy's non-traditional college career that is equally impressive. He apparently uncovered a huge scandal involving the financial aid and athletics department at his school. This resulted in the athletic director being fired. I think that's a pretty darned big deal!

The things I, personally, remember most of Jeremy were the smile that could light up any room and cheer up any person. No matter what, he would greet you with a smile. He cheered for the underdog, and he never made you feel left out. Along with that, he was a goofball. He enjoyed life and just let it be known with goofy actions. In that manner, he always reminded me of my big brother. It left a mark.

Jeremy left us last week. Something happened that caused his death while on post in Oklahoma. Someone found his body on one of the firing ranges at Ft. Sill. It's been quite a shock to the Jordan High School Alumni, those who knew him in college, the soldiers he served with, and, of course, his dear, close-knit family. He leaves behind a wife and a daughter.

The military memorial service is set to begin in about 5-minutes, the burial in Kansas (where he lived) will be later in the week, and another memorial service for his Sandy, Utah connections will be sometime after next weekend.

I have placed Jeremy's blog from his time in Afghanistan at the top right of my own blog. Please visit and let the family know what a phenomenal man Jeremy A. Clawson was.

Ouray '09...part 2

2009-07-22T12:40:00.005-06:00

We woke to a sparkling blue sky and cool temps, but it was perfect. I immediately started on breakfast because the guys were heading out as soon as they finished eating to ride the ATV's over Imogene Pass. Jeff didn't get to make this pass last year because his machine broke down. It was a silly and easy fix, but when you're 260 miles from home and don't have much of a way to look at it, you just chalk it up and find something else to do. That's how we all ended up in Yankee Boy Basin then, and we had full plans to do it again this year. Just not today. Anyway, Imogene is said to be a gorgeous ride that drops down into Telluride. Mileage is shorter than that paved way, but it takes longer because it's the old mining road, not maintained, and only available to 4wd vehicles. I like those better, anyway. Luke and I haven't done this pass, yet, because he's too young to do these technical rides and I don't have my own machine. We're working on a way to remedy things so we can all go next year, but it's a process barely in the stages of conception.

Once the guys left out Luke and I got dressed, cleaned up the trailer a little bit (dishes!), and headed on our way into the town of Ouray. It's so lovely there, even with the 90-degree heat. I had planned for us to take a tour into the Bachelor-Syracuse gold mine, so we stopped there first to make our reservation. Actually, I thought we'd head from there to spend the few hours until our reserved tour in Silverton. I chickened out once we made it onto the Million Dollar Highway. Something in my gut said not to go and I really don't like major highways that are narrow, winding, and drop hundreds of feet into river valleys with no guard rail for a little more sense of security. Funny, actually, considering I will travel on any back road that is narrower, less secure (at times), and drop hundreds of feet into river valleys with little problem. The exception to that is the Pikes Peak Highway. No thanks, I'll take the Cog or hike up the mountain instead!! (I should've bought a shirt that exclaims "I Survived the Drive Up Pikes Peak," but I didn't).

Instead, Luke and I stopped at the back road highway (highway?? Umm, okay) that leads to Engineers Pass. I threw the 4Runner into 4-low and started up. You should've seen the looks I was getting! I guess people are used to see a slight woman with a 3-year-old driving roads like this! We didn't get far up before I decided to stop and take a little hike. I wanted to see if the little trail I saw went down to the river. It didn't, but we cruised through a thicket of chokecherries and into a stand of aspen before we lost the trail. Must've been a deer trail, or something. But I got some cute pictures of my boy playing with leaves before we headed back to the 4Runner.

Once back up at our vehicle I snapped a picture of a train of FJCruisers heading up the pass. This was the weekend of their annual convention, something WE greatly enjoy, despite the fact we're not part of that. They loved that we made it where we were and invited us up to the pass with them. Sweet! I'm there! We loaded up and took off up the road. I didn't snap many pictures because I was driving, but it's a fun pass. Given the time, and that we were quite hungry, I turned around at the pass and headed back down. I love having a vehicle that takes us places like that!

We grabbed a bite in Ouray, walked around the town a bit trying to get an idea of something to bring back for our neighbors watching my old dog and our house, and then headed up to the mine for our tour.

Bachelor-Syracuse was open from around 1850 (the start of the gold rush) until 1988. It produced gold, but there IS some silver ore, which is odd given the rock that the mine lives in. The tour takes you almost 1900 feet into the mountain, and it is quite chilly! It stays around 50-degrees year-round, not much unlike a cave, but with a breeze because of the air shaft (original opening to the mine). It's a wet mine, too, so the mine car travels the tracks through a stream that exits the mine the way we went in. It was cool!! We stopped at a rib and learned the history, saw exhibits and how mining tools from open to close were used, heard stories, and saw the silver in the ceiling of this rib that eventually became a blacksmith shop. I loved it!

We left the town once the tour was over because Jeff and Jason were back at camp. It was time to do more fishing. The night before didn't land us anything and we still had hope. After spending close to 2 hours on the inlet to the lake, we still didn't land anything. But we had fun. Back to camp for dinner and to hit the rack. Yankee Boy was awaiting us in the morning, and I couldn't wait!

Ouray '09...part 1

2009-07-21T20:32:00.003-06:00

We had so much fun last year in the beauty of the San Juan Valley and Uncompaghre Wilderness that we decided to make it annual thing. This past weekend was it!

Jeff left a few hours before me because I had school the morning we headed out. No big deal, but you can't miss class in a short semester. Too much information missed and too big a risk of being dropped. That's fine, I knew it was an easy (and gorgeous!!!) drive, plus I knew I'd end up being right behind him. We wussed out and took our rig. It's heavy, Monarch Pass is steep, and my 4Runner is fast.

The first night was actually spent at the house belonging to our camping buddy's grandmother in Montrose. Nothing too exciting, but she has the only toy poodle I've ever actually liked. Sophie was cool. Made me miss my Red Dog, though. It was nice, however, and Luke & I were able to excitedly share our views of the elk and deer. That's the most elk I've seen in one place since Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Amazing! And the deer were respecting the road grazing right behind the guard rails in a few spots. Luke loved that. But the best story of the night? Jason thought he could make it all the way from our house to Montrose on one tank of gas. He was wrong! He ran out of gas and coasted 4 miles into town...then waited until Jeff showed up with a gas can. I'm not sure I'll ever let him live THAT down! Cracks me up.

The next morning we got ready and headed toward Ridgeway to set up camp. It struck me that the view was clear and the whole area didn't smell like smoke this year. We could see smoke in the air, but it was from a distance away. I believe it's from a lightning sparked fire to the North near the town of Fruita on I-70, but I can't prove that. It made for some spectacular sunsets, though! Anyway, our easy jaunt to the campsite was made, but we got there too early and had to wait to check-in. Whoops. No biggie, with the views in this area it isn't difficult to wait a wee bit.

Campsite set. Luke was having a ball running around between Jason's tent (purist! He was wise) and our trailer. Then we decided it was time to get ready for some fishing. I still needed my license. Now, you have to realize that the fact I'm even mentioning that is near blasphemy in my household. I grew up fishing, I love fishing, and it's a shame I don't get to do it very often since my boy came along! Still, it's nice that I could walk to the visitor center and get it there. No 20-minute drive into Montrose, or even 10-minute drive into Ridgeway to worry about it. Besides, I like the exercise!

This was Luke's first time fishing. Ever. Seriously, I am a bad, bad mom to do that to my boy! He should've had a rod in his hand about the same time I stuck him in the saddle. Too late now. He has his little "Lightning McQueen" rod and was bouncing, ready to go. We figured we'd be right on the river so we put his life jacket on, but he didn't mind. Guess what? They had 2 small ponds right on the river to fish, so he really didn't need it. I'm a bit paranoid, though, and I wasn't going to say anything. He fell in this lake last year and I'd rather not take the risk.

I cast for Luke the first few times. He actually caught a tree branch and pulled it in on one of these early casts and thought that was awesome. He decided to play with that for a while and I started my own fishing. Jeff came and took over at that point. My man taught my boy how to cast and, let me tell you! This child can outcast daddy!!! Seriously! I don't know how other 3-year-olds do when casting, but my child gets it out there!! And he loved it.

When we realized it was after 8pm and we hadn't had dinner yet is the moment we decided to head back to the camp. This is where the rig came in handy: I microwaved some brawts and we ate in quick fashion. Even still had some time to put them over the fire for a few seconds to get that campfire flavor!

End of the day our boy crashed out hard. We crawled into bed and stared at the stars through the ceiling vent. Saw a satellite, countless shooting stars, and fell asleep content in this awesome valley. We had big plans for the morning and were looking forward to it....

Mount Sherman

2009-07-15T11:30:00.002-06:00

I Climb Mountains...What Do You Do?

2009-07-14T21:20:00.003-06:00

I'm sure I'm skipping plenty of stuff, but this is what's on my mind. The first 14er of the season happened in the day before Father's Day. Memaw and Papa were visiting from Texas, thereby giving us a chance to get away and make our second attempt at climbing Mount Sherman.

I mention the name of the mountain for two reasons: so you know what I'm talking about and so you can watch South Park with a newfound knowledge. That place really exists, and it sits in the shadow of the 14,000 foot mountain. Funny, huh? Now when you see the cartoon you can know that one of the peaks in the background is a mountain that's popular for mountaineers.

We set out from the house about 3:30AM on Saturday morning. Yes, that's early. Yes, it's tough to get out of bed at 3AM. Yes, it is worth it. It's so interesting to drive along Highway 50 West and see the lights of Pueblo behind you, Colorado Springs just behind to your right shoulder, and the lights of Woodland Park glowing above the mountains at nearly exactly your right shoulder. Oddly, I never did notice if I could see the lights of Canon City (Canyon City, there's a tilde above the middle 'n') in front of us. But it was worth talking about. It took the 90 minutes we had planned to meet our climbing partner in the gas stop town of Hartsel, in the mountains to the West of Colorado Springs, Northwest of Pueblo West. It's actually a fun stop, but nobody was even blinking at 5AM. Too bad, the sunrise was beautiful! The mosquitos were annoying, but the sunrise was gorgeous. I had to beg the guys to get going again (though the total time stopped couldn't have reached 20 minutes) because my poor bladder needed a break and Fairplay was another 25-minutes away. Thank goodness it's a lovely drive because I was able to distract myself!

We pulled in to grab a bite to eat and have that pit stop before the 15-minute drive up the dirt road to the trail head. I think we probably took longer than we wanted to, but it was still a good stop to have. Actually, it was probably wise to take that wee bit longer because it was very cold, not above 45 degrees. That's not a big deal, except we knew we still had a decent amount of snow to contend with on the mountain. When it's warming juuuust enough to cause a tiny bit of melting during the day, then freezing back at night, you get some nasty ice. We didn't feel like falling on our butts due to being dumb with ice.

The drive up to the gate at at the trail head is so enjoyable. You pass old mines, you see some incredible vacation and hunting homes (some good, some bad, all livable), you see a ton of beaver ponds and lodges, and you see scenery that looks like it's straight off a post card. The flowers that were blooming were ones I have always really wanted to put in my yard, but can't. They won't survive here. Still, the delicate little purple irises are some of my favorites. I caught a silhouette and had to do a double take. I couldn't figure out why someone would put a statue of an elk in this area. Duh, it wasn't fake, it was a real elk! Make that a small herd of 6 elk! And look at that! There are 6 mulies (those are mule deer) with them! Jeff would've missed them if I hadn't pointed them out because he was doing what a driver should: paying attention to the rough dirt road. It was a fantastic start to the morning.

Once parked we geared up and set off. We weren't the only ones with this idea today; there were already a handful of cars and more coming. Nice! We started up the trail with the thought that the first half-mile always being the toughest. In the case of this mountain, that holds true. We stopped a couple of times because of huffing and puffing. One stop I mentioned that I couldn't wait for the pika to come out of hibernation. Silly me, I figured with our very cold and wet spring that they'd hang out underground for a while longer and was immediately met by a cute face and round ears barking at me! Yeah, I looked like an idiot, but the guys nicely laughed it off. The marmots were still sleeping....that meant our packs were safe if we decided to drop them at snack break and summit.

Once past this first bit we had a small part that leveled out and allowed us to get to the Hilltop Mine and form our next plan of attack. This is a mine that produced lead, zinc, copper, gold, and silver at the elevation of 13,000 feet. Yes, men worked AND lived here to work this mine, though the 3 toughest months of the winter saw them down in Leadville (on the other side of the peak) or Fairplay. If I remember correctly, this mine shut down around 1893 at the end of the silver boom, though it's been about 1 1/2 years since I looked this info up (and it took some serious searching!). We only took a moment to admire the fact the bunkhouse and shaft tower are still standing before figuring out where we would make our climb to the ridge. The normal route had a large snow field with an impressive cornice on it. We knew that the trip reports posted on 14ers.com stated the snow was still up to waiste deep and we feared a little avalanche, so we chose the winter route. That meant a much tougher hike, literally a scramble up the mountain. Sweet! It was also at this point that we decided to stop and have a snack. It had been about an hour, and you tend to burn approximately 6000 calories on these hikes. Aside from making sure you take in a massive amount of water, you need to be sure you eat Michael Phelps amount of calories, too.

There was a father and son who caught up to us and chatted for a few minutes. Dad waited for his wife while son (he was 12) went on. Holy moses, this kid was a tank!! He climbed his first 14er at age 8, and he was climbing in water treads today (look like a cross between a sneaker and a sandal) and no socks. I couldn't help but wonder if he was cold at summit, but never got the chance to ask. Being that he was a kid, I doubt it. But he definitely ran circles around every single adult there. Impressive!

Snack break over, we began our tackle of the winter trail. Thank goodness for trek poles, they saved us from doing what the climbers who didn't have them did: grab rocks and hope they didn't roll down the mountain. The trail was mud, which normally would make one cringe, but it actually helped me. Jeff went first and did a bit of slipping. Not bad, but enough it slowed him down. I was in the middle and managed to catch up to Jeff a few times without knowing it until I nearly stabbed him in the foot with my poles. Our buddy brought up the rear. It was good for me because I could see where Jeff was slipping, find my own footholds, and still keep up without slowing down Jason. One more rest once we reached the ridge, took the camera out and kept it at the ready, made sure we were prepared for the snow and knew exactly where the cornice was (so we wouldn't fall through and die!), then we headed up toward the summit. Silly men sent me first with the instructions of "just don't go too fast and get too far ahead." I fell right into my rhythm, worked up to the next "flat spot," turned around in the fog and saw...........nobody. Great.

Lucky for me there were two other climbers there. One was heading down, one heading up. The upward bound climber had been all over the world and was interesting to listen to. The one heading down was from Boulder and immediately let it be known he was a bit full of himself. Either way, it was nice to know I wasn't alone while I waited. Our buddy caught up first, Jeff took a few shots thinking we were at the summit, then appeared to us. I gave him a little teasing and took off for the summit leaving him disappointed. He thought he was being all artistic.

It was only a matter of minutes later that we reached the summit, dropped packs for a moment, ate some more high-calorie bars, QUICKLY took in the scenery around us, gazing at Leadville and Turquoise Lake below us, Mount Elbert (on our list for the end of the month) flanking Mount Massive to our West (I believe), and had a little celebration before the fog rolled back in. We signed the log (a staple at the top of the 14ers, those who climb sign it), packed back up, and started our decent. The clouds spotted us with some freezing rain, grapple snow, and wind, but we worked down. We had already decided not to take the same winter route down and traversed our own trail over the rocks near the normal route, taking care to skip the snow field. We DID have to go through some snow, just not that one we feared would start an avalanche (seriously, not a single person traversed that trail this day). The trip reports were right, there were plenty of times we sank to our waists in that snow! There was one moment that I stopped at hip level with the knowledge of it being at least 6 inches deeper. I plopped down on my side because my knee started to roll. Thanks, I'd rather be a bit wet than need to be carried off the mountain!

A few people decided to glissade (slide) down the snow field, but they were few, indeed. The snow was just soft enough that glissading was a stupid move. That planted them right at the edge of Hilltop, just as we came out in the same place but in a safer manner. Then we marched on down back to our vehicles. The climb down was much rougher on me and I learned I do need some new hiking boots. My ankles need better support. But it was exhilarating to have completed this hike! We downed some not-so-good-for-you drinks (Coke, DP, gatorade!) and headed to Fairplay for some fat food. One of the best burgers I've had and wonderful sweet potato fries at a little place just on the edge of South Park, Colorado. We giggled a bunch.

The drive home was uneventful, but just as beautiful. We were so tired, yet we managed to stay up over 20 hours that day and only went to bed because we knew we had to get the rest. We slept late on Father's Day, weren't nearly as sore as we expected to be (my butt was very sore! But the rest of me was fine), and somehow managed to recover fairly well. We were tired, but it was a good tired. It left us looking forward for more.....

Happy Cousins....

2009-07-13T17:52:00.002-06:00

Then We Came Home....

2009-07-13T17:31:00.003-06:00

The day after our Mount Vernon visit and early Mother's Day dinner was fairly quiet. It poured buckets all night, then again throughout the day. My parents were flying out on this day so we all just kind of had some family time before they left for the airport. I stayed back with the boys so my brother and sister-in-law could have a wee bit of quiet time on the way back from the airport. By now it was only a few days before David was to leave for Baghdad, and it was only fair for them.

It was a bit interesting because of the different ages and the different levels of patience the three boys all hold right now. One was fairly interesting in hitting the other two for no particular reason, one was interested in telling me when the first was hitting, and the last was just trying to figure out what he could do to stay out of trouble. It was actually kind of funny because they all would look at me like they were complete angels, but I could see the devil horns poking through. All-in-all, they were very good, though, and we had some fun.

It continued to pour through the night and I had hopes that I'd be able to make a quick stop to Stratford Hall (Robert E. Lee's birthplace) before I had to head to the airport the following day. It didn't happen. By the time the plantation opened I would only have had about an hour...and it was still pouring. Oh well, it's good to spend a little more time with my brother and his family, anyway.

Luke and I packed our brand new suitcase (that's a story! Had the original one shredded on the way TO Virginia. Airline replaced it) and prepared to leave. We managed a few pictures of the three boys together at the same time and did some laughing. Then it was time to head out. The drive to Dulles was uneventful, just wet. Luke slept most of the way. It was raining hard enough, though, that we were absolutely soaked through just from dropping the car and walking to the shuttle bus. That made it a bit cold for us, but we survived. We made it home fine and were happy to be home again, though it was a bit sad to leave such a wonderful place so full of American History behind.....

Mount Vernon Part 2

2009-07-12T18:03:00.003-06:00

Okay, so now we've left the mansion and settled into our wanders around the grounds. It's amazing to think that this place used to be 8000 acres. It's now just a fraction of that (forgive me, I can't remember off the top of my head, but less than 1000). The Mount Vernon Ladies Association was able to buy the property shortly after the Civil War for $200,000. Makes you realize just how much of a treasure this place is considering $200 would've made you wealthy then. Anyway, it's a good thing they did. The farm was in disrepair, despite remaining in the family and being lived in.

We wandered down the South Lane outbuildings and were able to look into the laundry, storage for George Washington's linseed oils, paints, etc. Talk about a fire waiting to happen!! We saw the yard the laundry was dried in. The stable was in the English tie-stall style (that means the horses would've been cross-tied in halters in a narrow stall, long enough to lay down, but no turning around. Still used in places today, but I much prefer a box stall) with the tack placed on racks high on the wall posts of the stalls. I, of course, loved this. Washington was such a horseman; he trained his animals himself, participated in fox hunts, helped found a couple of hunts (Piedmont Hounds, for example), bred and raised very fine racing stock, and made sure his horses were better taken care of than himself. There is actual documentation that his 2 mounts from the Revolution (Blue Skin and Nelson) not only lived their retirement until death here, but that he saw to it their teeth were brushed daily. Ironic, isn't it? Considering Washington only had one of his own teeth left and used scores of poorly fitting dentures (NOT WOOD!!)....

The stable also had an 18th Century coach that was a neighbor's. It is here because it is said to be identical to the Washington Family coach, but that one was lost many, many years ago. A riding chair is here, as well. Interesting buggy! The stable burned and many of most valuable horses were lost while Washington resided on Mount Vernon. He had it rebuilt in brick. It's an incredible building.

The back of the stable is the mule shed. Washington is the reason the United States has mules. He imported a couple of donkey jacks for the specific purpose of breeding them to horses to make mules. They replaced his work horses in a short time, and he was able to sell mules to others for work animals. It's hard to believe the many things this man contributed to modern agriculture!

We wandered on down the hill and viewed the old family tomb. It now stands empty, but it is a sight to behold! Washington had it in his will that a new tomb be constructed because this one was deteriorating too quickly. The new tomb was constructed well after his death, but it is on the spot he clearly said it should be. Both he and Mrs. Washington's sarcophagus' are made of marble, and nearly the entire family is entombed here.

Weird story about the new tomb: I have already mentioned the George Washington died in the house. What I don't think I mentioned is that he basically suffocated to death from a disease called Quinsy (this is controversial, but it's official). When I took a moment to step up to the gate and pay my respects to this man who so intrigues me, my throat immediately closed up and I started hacking for breath!!! As soon as I stepped away and officially out of the tomb enclosure, I was fine. Grabbed a bottle of water and gulped some down, but was able to breath again before the water. Freaky, huh?

We were running out of time, so I am sad to say we missed the circular/treading barn, the slave cemetery and memorial, greenhouse, most of the gardens, and so much more. For that very reason I will be going back someday. Well, for more reason that that, but still....

The weather was kind to us since it rained on us during both our drive up and our drive back to Fredericksburg, but we had cloudy and dry skies for our visit to Mount Vernon. I'm happy about this! We even were rained on while waiting an incredible amount of time for our table! We did have a great dinner and a good drive home. It was a lovely ending to a fantastic day.....

Mount Vernon

2009-07-12T18:01:00.002-06:00

Popes Creek & Potomac Play

2009-07-08T23:32:00.002-06:00

Mount Vernon Part 1

2009-07-08T22:14:00.004-06:00

It took a little while to get moving the morning after the party. Everyone was slow moving, though I don't remember what exactly was going on. I know we all tried to sleep late, so that was part of it. It was Saturday, and it was raining...again, or still (really only had the brief respite part of Friday and part of Thursday), but I was undeterred. The two reasons were because Mount Vernon was the one thing dad said he wished we could've done back in 2004 when we all had a vacation in D.C., and because it was George Washington.

We finally got it together, grabbed a bite and took off for the hour drive North. We had rain, and more rain, and more rain, but the clouds parted a bit once we arrived. Woohoo! It was wonderful! We decided to do the mansion tour before wandering the rest of the grounds. Since we had planned to meet my brother and sister-in-law back in Fredericksburg for dinner and the line was approximately 30-minutes long, it just made sense. Besides, it didn't seem that long! We were there with a high school group from Illinois, and the conversation was entertaining. Even my almost-3-year-old was entertained!

We were almost to the mansion when a reenactor came through. He was Dr. James Craik, from Scotland, and George Washington's personal physician. He received some interesting questions, though I couldn't catch all the answers. He came closer to us and I asked how long he'd been the physician. The answer was "since General Washington was about 22-years-old," and he started to move on. Leave it to me to bust out with "Oh, so about the time of Fort Necessity!" I don't know if I've ever seen someone skid to a stop and whip about so quickly before in my life! The Battle of the Great Meadows was not a good one for Washington (for those who don't know, it was his only surrender, only his second firefight, a total foible, and led to him retiring his commission in the Virginia Militia shortly afterward.) Dr. Craik was left behind with the scores of wounded and made it pretty clear it wasn't a good subject for the good doctor to talk about. But I thought it was awesome to catch his attention, the attention of a couple of historical interpreters, and the high school kids & teachers ("What are they talking about?" "Shh, listen, you might figure it out!" "Maybe we should ask her....").

Just a few more moments and we were let into the formal dining room, the first room you enter on the tour. It is done in classic 18th Century style, with the perfect touches of a man who loved farming. The table was set with what could now be considered odd food. Nothing of an animal was left to waste, so you're greeted with a large cow's tongue. Yum. Then it's back outside to the veranda where you have a spectacular view of the Potomac River. The far side is free from buildings and distraction; the land is protected in order to preserve the accurate history of Mount Vernon. I thought that was awesome. At this point I also split from my parents because my little boy was getting restless. We were given permission to hang out and let him run around on the grass while my parents finished the tour, then I'd cut back in when they came out. What a fantastic policy put into place here! For the record, this is what they do for ALL parents with little ones! If the kiddos get bored and would rather run around, they can do so and the parents can split the tour.

My parents came back out and were visibly touched. They just kept saying "you'll see." So, I was off to finish the tour, entering back into the foyer. Typical of the Federal Style, the doors open directly across from each other to allow a wonderful cross-breeze in the summer, and a stylish illusion. This was also part of the original 4-room house that George Washington expanded on...even so far as rearranging it so the stairs were in a different place! It was stunning, and I was shocked to learn the wood wasn't walnut. It was just stained to look that way in order for Washington to save some money. Here you also see into the family dining room, one of the bedrooms, the music room, and a study. Then it's up the stairs. I would love to name drop, but I realize probably the only people reading this that would recognize names like the Marquis de LaFayette are those who have either travelled to places where it's a commonly known name & history, or live in those places (Erma, you're one I'm thinking of!). Anyway, there were some HUGE names in history who stayed in this home. Upstairs you see the guest rooms they took temporary residence in. Sometimes Mrs. Washington had beds brought down from the third floor to house people in the upstairs hallway! The room that stood out most for me was the one under the staircase. It was teeny, but obviously comfortable.

We walked through one of the bedrooms to the private quarters of Gen. and Mrs. Washington. This was touching. I'd always heard the bed looked short, but never appreciated it until now. In honesty, the beds in the Biltmore Estate appear short, too, because of similar construction. Anyway, this bed was specially made to hold all of Washington's 6 foot 2 inch frame (yes, he was that tall. I don't know why we generally only hear about how tall Lincoln was). Amazing. It was also in this bed that George Washington died in December 1799 at the age of 67. The same age as my dad. That's hard to grasp! But this room was more than that. It was where Mrs. Washington planned everything and ran the household. She taught her children and grandchildren their schooling here. Upon his death, Mrs. Washington closed this room up and moved into the third floor. That is only open to the public around Christmastime.

Down the stairs, the very stairs that Gen. Washington would go up and down each day, ducking his head at the bottom to keep from bonking it, holding the same railing....I don't know how many times I've stepped in his footprints, but this was.....this was....chillingly different. The bottom on the stairs holds his study/library. It's a bright room with an entire wall that is shelving closed in glass paned doors. Some of his books are still here. The chair he used during his presidency is here. And so many other things he used to make decisions. You could see why he chose this location, and you could almost hear him thinking.

It was back outside and to the kitchen & larder. It's amazing to see how people cooked and "kept" food 200 years ago! Ingenious, and definitely unhealthy (no wonder there was so much food poisoning!). I scooted out to the back lawn to meet back up with my son and his grandparents now and understood what touched them. It touched me, too.

There was more, much more of the grounds to see, so we didn't sit long. Down the lane and on to the outbuildings we went.....

Party Time!

2009-07-05T22:12:00.003-06:00

Be patient with the slideshows, they're being slow in fully loading. There are more pictures, it just has to catch up. Blah.

We now had made it home from Popes Creek and were getting ready for the promotion party. I tend to freak out over these things. At my house is one thing, at anyone else's house is another thing. Can't explain it. But we managed to help finish getting things ready a bit and started seeing people arrive. I have no idea how many were there, but it was a lot. At least to the introvert I am.

The boys all wandered outside to play with the loads of kids who were coming. Luke was in heaven because most of the kids were much older than him. He likes older kids. He ran, and played, and ran some more. Then he started chasing the balls the older kids were softly hitting with a bat. I think maybe he spends a wee bit too much time with the dog! Joking, he was just having fun trying to catch them and then taking them back.

I had fun meeting all sorts of new people. My brother, David, introduced me to another person who is into sailing. I'm not "into" it, but my husband is and I've learned a fair amount from him and our buddy, so David thought it'd be fun for me to talk to someone like that. He was right! Dad spent most of his time with an old "Thud Driver," (that would be an old F-105 pilot) which was really cool since those are the planes that got him started in his career, and that David and I have a passion & tons of memories of. He was one cool guy, too!

It finally came time for most everyone to leave, but a few hung around for a while. The kids went to bed, we hung out in the kitchen and talked until it was way past bedtime. Okay, so it was only like 10 pm for my body, but it was late enough. Considering I had another George Washington day planned for the morning, I wanted to be well rested. I heard rumor that David, Mary, and the buddies who stayed on a while were up until around 2 am, but I can't confirm that. I was sleeping in the nice, cool, quiet basement (it was perfect!) and crashed out hard.

It had threatened to really dump some serious rain on the party, but God was ever the kind one and had the storms skirt this portion of King George. Then He brought the sunshine out for the party. It was fantastic! Everything my big brother deserved....

2009-07-05T22:08:00.001-06:00

Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia....

2009-07-05T13:06:00.004-06:00

After a mighty long delay, I am officially back in business! I apologize, and have learned my lesson. NEVER take a 3-credit course that is part of your degree program in 4-weeks! Holy moses, talk about a TON of work!! At any rate, I am successfully finished with that course and happily writing on my new Macbook.

So, on to the remainder of our trip to King George:

This was the day I was very much looking forward to. The trip to Popes Creek. Why was looking forward to this, and what is it, you ask? Easy, easy answer: I was looking forward to it because I am a student of all things George Washington. He and his life (flaws and all) completely fascinate me! And this was where he was born.

My goofy little nephew, JT, decided he wanted to join Gramma, Grampa, Luke and me on this trip, so we all piled into my big brother's mini-van and made the quick trip toward the coast to visit this wonderful place. Have I mentioned just how much I love the Virginia countryside? Seriously! It pretty much doesn't matter if it's a 5-minute ride, or a couple of hours, it always passes quickly and is enjoyable because of the beauty and history in this place. Approximately 30-minutes later we were at our destination.

This place is now part of the National Parks system, yet so few seem to know about it. The parking lot was all but deserted when we arrived. I think one other vehicle was there and 3 school busses were pulling out. Wow, that's kind of sad. Hey, that meant we had more time to just ourselves!! So off we went.

Luke and JT were the typical little kids: they were ready to run, run, run! Thankfully they listened and only ran around when we let them in areas they'd be safe and not hurt anything. We started up the trail to the house. It's a bit of a surprise, though, since the house isn't accurate. Archeological excavation has shown the house that was built for tourists to see is actually on the foundation of an outbuilding. A barn, or something. Oh well, it has some cool stuff (Augustine Washington's wine bottle, now over 300 years old!) and is a very good representation of the houses of that time!

The grounds have been restored and kept beautifully. I don't think the garden had much done with it this year, but sometimes that happens, especially in years of recession. One can't complain too much. The asparagus was very much in seed, but there was one stalk that was perfect for picking & eating. Guess what I did? Yup, I snapped it up! That one stalk somehow lasted through the remainder of the trip, survived the plane trip, and the drive home from Denver without being refrigerated! Not something I would typically do, but....We ate it a few days later with some fresh wild asparagus from our area.

We were able to wander the grounds, see the animals, look inside all of the out buildings, slave quarters, kitchen....everything that was open. It was so lush, green, and gorgeous! And the view looking over Popes Creek to the Potomac starting its flow into the Atlantic Ocean? Oh my...what a fantastic thing to see! That's something one could sit on their porch and peer at each day, for sure!

The highlight of these grounds for me was the foundation of the house George Washington was born in. When he was born the house was still a 2-room home (later expanded to 4-rooms). You can walk on the foundation outline, step inside what would've been the house (grass inside the outline), and just imagine what it was like for Mary Ball Washington to birth her first child (she was Augustine's second wife, making GW his 4th child, 3rd living). The house burned in 1779, long after the George Washington left the place (he was 3 when they moved), but the legacy was left. You used to be able to step INTO the foundation, see how it was built, and have a bigger experience, but tourists began stealing the rocks and bricks. How sad. The Park Service then filled the foundation in and made sure the artifacts would never be able to leave the property again (exception being archeological exploration, of course).

Being with an almost 3-yr-old and almost 4-yr-old prevented me from taking the time I wanted while exploring, but that was okay. The boys were having fun, and that made it worth it. We left for the gift shop (even if you don't buy, it's always a must...I'm a dork), spent a small amount of time looking at stuff, and made our way to the Potomac River and Washington Family Burial Plot.

Just down a dirt road at the entrance to Popes Creek is access to a lovely little beach (that occasionally gets crab pots washing up on it....despite them being small and for blue crab, that is PERFECT for this Deadliest Catch nutjob! Thanks to the park ranger for letting me know & see what he was carrying!) that we let the boys play on. That was part of this trip: I promised Luke the day prior that I'd let him play in some water, either the Atlantic or the Potomac. JT wanted to play, too, and I'm not one to say no to something like that! Well, with other parental permission, of course. Holy crikey, was that water COOOOOLD this time of year!! I knew it was cold, but it was even more shocking than I'd remembered! The boys didn't care, they wanted to go deeper. I do say no to that. Up to their butts was far enough. We played, threw rocks, searched for shells (found some GREAT ones!), and splashed around for about 30-minutes, then it started to rain. Time to get out of the water. Silly JT said "wait! I need to wet my hiney!" Huh? Okay. He proceeded to squat down to get his hiney wet, stood up and said "okay, we can go." I busted out laughing while he made his way to Gramma and Grampa waiting with towels. Leave it to my son, who had already started up the beach, to run back to the water and follow suit. What goofy kids!!

This was still on what was part of the farm. Well, actually not Augustine's, but a brother's place, now private property that's been kept open for the public to see. Just at the top of the beach and into the trees is the burial plot. Excavated in the early 1900's (I'm sorry, I don't remember the year!! Bad History Major), they actually were not able to identify all the members and placed them all in one tomb. They know the names of who was buried there, just not the identities of the remains. George Washington's parents are buried here. How reverent! Mom and I spent a little bit of time here while dad stayed with the boys in the mini-van. They were tired and wanted a movie. At such a young age, I can't say I blame them. It was time to head on home now.

This wasn't the end of the day, but this is a LONG post, so I'll break it in two. My big brother's party was this night, so I'll touch on it in a bit. For now, I'll leave everyone to ponder the first 3-years of George Washington's life. Bear in mind we really don't know much, if anything of his childhood! Who could've known what a figure he'd become, and there wasn't the recording means we have now. He did NOT chop down the cherry tree (that was made up for romantic notion by an author around the time of the Revolution), but I'm sure he did have offer some mischief. I'm sure we all know of children like that....

Another Delay?

2009-05-31T23:44:00.002-06:00

I'm still not doing a good job of getting the words out. Now we have to wait a bit longer because my laptop died...again. For the second time in less than a year, the hard drive in the Toshiba has crashed & burned. The danged laptop isn't even 3-years-old!! The good news about is that I get my new laptop, a MacBook, sometime this week. Just in time since school starts back for me on Tuesday. I really want to share about Pope's Creek and subsequent, but want to share with the pictures. Can't do that when they're just as dead on the Toshiba (at least it was backed up onto an external hard drive only about a week before it crashed so we didn't lose anything!).

Thanks for the well-wishes (Corbie), the concerned emails, and all the thoughts! Mary, you're a goofball! Thanks for being a great "big sis" and wife to my wonderful brother!

Virginia, Day 2

2009-05-06T20:49:00.004-06:00

Luke and I had a really great sleep, which was nice. Upon waking we ventured up the stairs to the kitchen and greeted our youngest family member, Ryan, and Aunt Mary. They somehow ended up waking early, which was not exactly thrilling for Mary, but Luke was happy to have a playmate. It was a pretty relaxing morning with nobody really in a rush for anything. Luke and Ryan played, I conversed with Mary and my parents. Around noon David came home from work to change clothes. That was our cue to get ourselves dressed and ready for the promotion ceremony.

It didn't take long and we were on our way to the base. It was an uneventful ride and easy to find a parking spot. Into the building we went, armed with cookies, brownies, and iced tea. Not only was David being promoted, but he was liked because he provided treats. Military folks are all the same! We had a short amount of time meeting with certain individuals, like David's Commander, some of those conducting the short ceremony, and our escort. It brought back memories for me because it used to be the world I worked in. Different location, same idea. Luke chose this moment to act out and not behave....I felt horrible for David because of it, but he wasn't concerned.

The ceremony was short and David was able to share a bit about his career. Dad and Mary pinned on the silver oak leaves, and I was actually a bit glad to have the distraction of a misbehaving 2-year-old because I would have teared up. I'm a softie that way; this is my big brother, afterall! We then mingled a bit, had some goodies, and packed up for the trip back to the house. There was some time spent at the static display out front....fitting that my Navy husband was missing while the Air Force family took pictures on a Navy base in front of a Navy plane (F-18, for those interested). I do wish my husband was there to complete the scene, but we ended up with some very nice pictures. Always a plus!

Once we made it back to the house it was time for Ryan to nap. I had promised my oldest nephew, J.T., and my boy that we'd go say hi to the horses at Cleydael House. While I wanted to share this moment with the boys, my actual intention was specifically to see this house. It's just down the street from my brother's place, and historic. Being the history buff and lover that I am, I had to see it. You see, John Wilkes Boothe, the man who killed Abraham Lincoln, hid at this house while on the run. That's the short version, and I will refrain from boring everyone with details. The boys were very good and patient while the owners of the property allowed me to walk around and have a look. They even invited me to walk down the old, original road! I, of course, took them up on it, and was in heaven.

There are a couple of sheep and goats allowed to roam the property. Good for lawn mowing, and common on historical farms, so it wasn't a surprise to see them. We were warned, however, that the male sheep sometimes gets a bug up his rear and starts butting. It's good we were warned....he and I had a tussle! He actually was interested in the kids, but I distracted him and was able to keep him away from the boys and hold my own until the owners could grab him. What a crazy animal! Cause for laughter, though. I kidded my parents that I was disappointed they didn't get pictures of the event...I think they were just happy I didn't get trampled. Stupid sheep.

J.T. and Luke had a good time feeding and petting the horses, and then it was time to head on home. It was an uneventful night from there. It simply consisted of dinner, bath time, and bed time. We sat up and enjoyed some adult company, then headed off to bed ourselves. I was anxious for the coming morning, and sleep came quickly......

To Virginia, With Love....

2009-05-05T19:49:00.003-06:00

It has been a very, very long time since I wrote. I've had a busy spring! I am pleased to report that I succeeded in gaining the highest grade in my Sociology class, somehow managing a 99% throughout the semester. How that happened is way beyond me, but I am happy about it. I also received an A in my Psychology class with a 96%. How scary is that?? I'm a little afraid of what that means for the coming years of school left ahead of me. Heaven knows it wasn't exactly a stressful or difficult semester.

Luke and I have also been busy with the ponies, which is wonderful. It gets me out of the house, keeps both of us busy, and gives him something fun to do. But it is time consuming. So I just haven't had the energy to write.

My big brother is now a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force. I couldn't be more proud of him! He leaves tomorrow for a short tour in Baghdad, Iraq, too. Big job he's got with this tour, and I can't wait to talk to him when he comes home to see how weird, or fun it is for him. But since he's leaving tomorrow, that means Luke and I already made our trip to that wonderful paradise called Virginia.

Now, everyone is well aware of how much I fell in love with the Black Hills last summer. What they don't know is that I would probably get tired of the tourist aspect and want to leave after a while. Virginia is deeply embedded in my heart from the three years I lived in Pennsylvania. Sound strange? Well, it might be. But the fact remains that I spent a good amount of time in the D.C. Metro area, and in various parts of Virginia. I dream of that place! And my contingency plan involves that place. I would not get tired of it.

We left our home here in Colorado bright and early on Wednesday morning. April 29th. I was given permission to miss my final day of class for this trip, and I was thrilled. I barely slept the night before, despite needing to be awake by 4am and in the car by 4:45am to make our flight in Denver. In fact, I showered and slept on top of the covers in my clothes....not pajamas! Part of my excitement was definitely resting on the fact this was Luke's first flight. I couldn't wait to see his reaction. After a short stop to see daddy at work, we were on our way.

The airport was surprisingly crowded for an early morning in the middle of the week, but we were still able to sail through security with no problems. I was wise enough to pack only one suitcase for the two of us and grab an umbrella stroller to gate check. It made a huge difference. Luke was just happy to see planes (can you tell he's got Ahrens blood???).

Time came to board our flight....all the way to the back of the plane and finding a window seat (Southwest does not have assigned seating). Luke was enthralled, and he didn't fight the seatbelt. Not that he's ever been allowed to go without, of course, but this was a new experience and it's hard to tell what'll actually happen. When we started moving he announced it to the entire plane. I did hear a few chuckles from the others. And, oh the giggles! When we took off, he thought that was fantastic! The giggles, followed by "some more!" I had to explain we had to fly to Chicago first. "Ooooh, okay." His eyes got big when we landed, but he gave a smile, too. I think he was just surprised at how loud and hard it is to stop a plane.

We had a 2-hour layover, so we wandered a bit. He ran around, enjoyed the moving walkways, and kept inquiring about his stroller. He thought it would be waiting for him. It was hard to explain that it would be after the next plane. We grabbed a quick bite, then sat in a spot where we could see every single plane taking off and landing. He loved that and exclaimed that I had to "look, look, look!! Momma! Watch!!" every single time. It was great.

Second plane boarded, same seats chosen, more giggles at take-off, and we made the short jaunt into Washington, D.C. I admit, I was disappointed we couldn't see more of the countryside and city since it was raining and the cloud deck was low, but I was so happy to be back on the East Coast that I really didn't care. We went to find out suitcase and ran into a problem. Eventually we found it in the baggage office, but it was no longer in one piece. My brand new suitcase had been destroyed. The top was still attached, but not by much. After some searching and trying to figure out how best to handle the situation, I was given a new (BIGGER) suitcase and made off for the rental car.

That didn't take long and we headed out for King George. I had printed Mapquest directions before leaving home, but they were almost worthless. Lucky for me, once I found my way out off of airport property I knew where I was! It was a little over an hour later that we pulled into the driveway of my big brother's home. Something ridiculous like 3 hours later than we were supposed to, but we made it nonetheless.

We got cleaned up, spent a wee bit of time with family, and headed to bed.....end of day one, and quite a restful night!

Bigtime Lead Line!!

2009-04-17T18:37:00.003-06:00

Here's my Little Man in the first show of the season! Silly kid kicked his feet out of the irons again (which he doesn't do at home), shunned the judge when she asked what his pony's name is, and momma' thought the judge was in the ring with us (where she SHOULD have been) instead of in the judges booth. But what a great job Luke & Jack did! Realize that Jack was all sorts of wild (I thought I was going to be bucked off when I got on!), but with Luke on his back he went into babysitter mode and took great care of "his" boy. What a great bond these two have!!

Fountain Valley Lead Line

A Bit Tough...

2009-03-30T21:25:00.003-06:00

It's been a bit of a rough couple of days here in Pueblo West. We've been a community on edge and in mourning. You see, yesterday afternoon a 14-year-old girl went out to the field next to her house to search for rocks...something she did regularly. Her mom was well aware of where she was, what she was doing, and that she'd be back very soon. After 90-minutes passed without the return of Ashley, her mom called the police.

It only took about an hour for the police to find her. She was no longer living. It was revealed that it was a homicide investigation, rumors began to fly, and the community shut down their houses while leaving porch lights on. It was a bit of a long and unsettled night.

Just before 4pm today, just shy of 24-hours after Ashley's body was found, a press conference was held to announce the arrest of a suspect. He is Ashley's 64-year-old neighbor...a man who is married and has 6 grown children of his own. The community has breathed a sigh of relief and has started the task of truly mourning.

I have seen pieces of the arrest affidavit and my heart breaks even harder for Ashley's family. Because of the nature of this horrible crime, I will not provide details, but I will add a couple of links for anyone who wishes to read. In the meantime, I am going back to my random bouts of tears and fervent prayers for the two families most affected by this heinous act....
http://www.koaa.com/aaaa_top_stories/x300750440/Arrest-made-in-murder-of-Pueblo-West-teen
http://www.krdo.com/global/story.asp?s=10098072
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/03/30/news/breaking_news/doc49d1549627610534190047.txt

Post-Blizzard Fun

2009-03-28T11:03:00.001-06:00

Winter's Return

2009-03-27T09:13:00.001-06:00

Winter's Return...

2009-03-26T18:13:00.005-06:00

We knew it was bound to happen for two reasons:

1) March is Colorado's snowiest month
2) It's Spring Break in Pueblo (colleges and grade schools alike).

Nobody is really complaining because we desperately need the moisture. Well, except for the winds...those are worth the complaint. 30 mph sustained with gusts over 60 are complaint worthy no matter the weather!

I promised Luke that we would take our walk this morning, but only as long as the snow hadn't begun falling, yet. We needed the walk, I've been a bit lazy the past couple of days and haven't ventured to the streets (though I did ride 2 lazy ponies yesterday), so I was glad he was begging. I started laughing when we woke up today, though. My comment: "Nice storm!" It was blue skies with a ton of sun. I did check to see what was going on and decided it was safe enough to take a good walk, grabbed the old bread, and loaded Luke into the jogging stroller to head up to the community pond to feed the geese. Trust me, our walks are not leisurely. I work up a sweat and get the heart going.

I underestimated the round-trip distance, but it was a great walk. We arrived to our destination and spent about a half-hour tossing the bread to some happy geese. We weren't the only ones with this idea, though. I was surprised at the amount of people at Cattail Crossing today! Especially since it was cloudy and cooling down quickly by the time we got there. Still, I love being in an area where people always seem to be out and about. When it was time to go I took a quick look around and started to worry that we wouldn't make it home in time. I hoped I was up for a run since it appeared to be a distinct possibility....the snow was within what I know is just over 20 miles away to the West and just over 15 miles to the North. Sounds like a lot, but we already knew this storm was moving in fast. With that in mind, I promptly put the weather shield up on the stroller and started home at a good walking clip. We made it home about 3 minutes before the snow started falling in Pueblo West. Wow! I cut that close!! But, 7 miles round-trip was great, and I still managed to work up a sweat (I blame the layers today, though).

We did need to make a quick run to Pueblo, so I changed pants and we headed out. We were gone about 45 minutes. It was nearly a white-out when we left there....still safe for careful driving since the roads were only wet and visibility was still about 1/8 mile, but fun to see. I guess you get a little goofy when you haven't had measurable precipitation for 3 months. Anyway, I snapped a couple of pictures with my phone. I took a couple of pictures once we got home, too, but didn't get any of the real white-out. We couldn't see the house next door!! But it was difficult to get pictures when the windows were really, really icy since the camera wanted to focus there.
(There are buildings in this picture, you can barely see the outline)
(closer to home...where'd the houses & Safeway go?)

We now hear that Highway 50 is closed between us and where the ponies live. Fun. The snow has picked back up and we expect a decent amount more before morning. A fun tidbit: one of our local news stations has a Facebook page. Dork that I am, I joined. My comment was read on air just a moment ago. Woohoo! Yes, yes, I am leaving my mark on Southern Colorado (you can all groan now).

I can't guarantee pictures. It's getting dark, it's really windy, and the camera doesn't focus so well in those conditions with snow, but I'll do my best. Have a fun spring weekend!

Billy.....

2009-03-22T21:27:00.005-06:00

What sad news we received tonight! It's nothing completely unexpected, but still heartbreaking. I'm sort of at a loss of words for the moment, a combination of being heartsore, tired from my 4 1/2 miles, a little sunkissed, and tired of the wind. So, instead of searching for words that just won't do this beast justice, I am posting the "obituary" I wrote on an equine forum, with pictures added here. It's a bit vague, but it's also a forum. There are other family members who are hurting as badly as we are, and I wanted to protect them. In the meantime......

Billy was my husband's absolutely wonderful, wonderful, would take care of a flea roping horse. He was 3/4 BLM Mustang and 1/4 Quarter Horse (in other words, a whoops!). He was not bad to look at, but the most gawd awful thing to ride. He's the only horse I've ever been on who actually had a very uncomfortable walk!! And forget trying to post the trot....it was impossible! You just ended up standing in the stirrups. But talk about a baby sitter!

Billy taught countless people to ride, kids and adults alike. He never complained, he never spooked, he never blinked an eye. It didn't matter if you were clunking around completely scared out of your mind (as in not holding the reins because you were too afraid to let the death grip you held on the horn go for fear you might fall off...yes, we saw that often), or if you were advanced enough to track down and work a cow back to where she was supposed to be. I even saw him pin his ears back to the point they disappeared over one stupid, stupid act that got me screaming at a family member, but Billy just went to work. The very last person to ride him was our now 2 1/2-year-old son...back when he was 17-months-old.

Billy was so great that he experienced two (yes, TWO!!!) trailer wrecks and didn't care an ounce. If he saw the trailer hitched to the truck, he dragged you to climb in.

But the best thing about Billy was that he was 27-years-old and had nobody but my husband own him. Mr. Flory was there when Billy was born, assisted the mare. Mr. Flory did every ounce of work on the horse, including breaking him. Mr. Flory took care of every aspect. He's had Billy since he was 6-years-old (hubby's age, not Billy's obviously) and very heartbroken.

Billy will remain on the very same property he was born and lived each day of his life on. He's buried in his pasture. I'm grateful for that, and I'm grateful we all had the chance to know such an incredible creature.

Godspeed, Billy. You will be very greatly missed, and we will love you forever......

A Little Sad...

2009-03-18T22:48:00.003-06:00

I know this is silly, and completely irrational, but maybe other moms can appreciate it. It's been a bit of a rough evening for me. We have some friends who are expecting their first baby in June and still had not found a crib, changing table, and a few other things. Well, considering we will not be having any more babies, we offered Luke's. The only request we had was for them to pay-it-forward once the time comes.

The crib wasn't as difficult because Luke spent most of his infancy in our bed, next to me. Trust me, nursing that way is MUCH easier and we actually got sleep. Luke was a pretty good sleeper, unless he was teething, but he was also a very, very hungry baby. He ate a ton! I'm grateful for that. He did spend some time in his crib, taking naps in there, spending part of the night in there after six months, but the majority was in our bed. Besides, it's been taken apart and downstairs in storage for almost 6 months. I'd already sort of said goodbye.

The changing table was another story. I cleaned the shelves off, then opened the drawer and started there. I was immediate taken back to when we found this crib and table. I had played with the drawer then and almost felt like a little girl begging for something when I smiled at my husband. He sort of sighed playfully, then paid for our treasures. I started sniffing and tearing up thinking about that. Luke often fell asleep on the table, and there was more than once I let him stay there while I enjoyed the time reading in the glider next to him. Luke also loved to climb the thing and hide stuff from in the drawer. It makes me wonder what we'll find in what in what new place now that the table is gone.

Before we could take it out of the house, Luke climbed up and feigned sleep. He was giggling, but we got the point. We took a few pictures, then broke his heart by having him get down. He felt better "helping" us move it, but we could both see he was a little bothered having to give something of his up like this. It's hard to think of that.

So, I am a bit sad tonight. It's not over the stuff, it's over what that stuff represents. My baby isn't a BABY any longer. That's a bit of a tough pill to swallow.....

80 Degrees....

2009-03-17T17:23:00.003-06:00

It's a lovely day! After I was finished with classes, Luke and I headed for a day outdoors. Who could miss a warm March day full of sun and, well....warmth! It's approached 80 degrees today, and there was just no way I was going to have us cooped up indoors. Nope, uh-uh....that would be a total waste! So we headed off to the Pueblo Zoo.

One great thing about wonderfully nice and warm days in the spring, especially during the week, is that there is almost nobody else enjoying the animals at the zoo. We basically had the place to ourselves! Very nice. All of the animals were seemed pleased to have company because they all came right up to the fences of their enclosures. Luke loved that! Though this is the first time he actually showed real fear of an animal.

The Pueblo Zoo has an alligator snapping turtle that's very, very old. I'm not sure the age, but guessing by the size of this guy, he's got to be at least 50. He's massive! Today was the first time I've ever seen him relate to people and not just sit at the bottom of his tank. He spotted us and swam right up to the glass. Poor Luke about burned a hole in the carpet backing up! I did manage to get him right back over to me and promptly fell over as he tried to crawl on top of my head. He thought that was funny, but wasn't so keen on the idea of putting his hand on the glass. Once he did, though, he realized the turtle wasn't going to hurt him and there was nothing to fear. I admit, I laughed. He peeled backward so quickly that one could have sworn he'd be stung by a bee!!

It wasn't too much longer and we had to come on home. It was getting late, and Luke was tired. Besides, it was time for me to get dinner started. He's conked out cold on the couch right now, but he'll be waking soon....even if he doesn't want to. What a great way to spend a beautiful day.....

Here We Go Again....

2009-03-15T17:17:00.005-06:00

....only earlier. Yes, it is prime fire season in Colorado again. If you'll remember, I wrote about the fire on Fort Carson last April and the refugee horses that ended up being kept company by the ponies. That one was close to 10,000 acres, took a number of days to battle, and remained on Army property. Not too long after that was a fire in the mountains behind Pikes Peak that was around 6000 acres. That was the one that woke me up because we were able to sleep with windows open then and the smoke filled the Upper Arkansas River Valley. It's a strange feeling to wake at 2am and realize the reason is because of the strong scent of smoke, but I did a quick run around and figured out pretty fast where it was coming from. After that it was pretty quiet.

This season has started early, and with a bang. There's been a number of little fires (500 acres, or less), and a few large ones. It was just 2 weeks ago that the plant was threatened by a 6500 acre fire, again on Fort Carson, but that one left the property. It came within about a half mile of both the Ray Nixon and Front Range power plants. That was fun! I got a few pictures, but they didn't turn out to well.
(Nixon shrouded in smoke..the trees in the foreground are part of what burned last April)

Let us not forget about the other parts of the state. The Denver Metro area has had a few fires that have threatened homes, the mountains have had some small blazes, and 900 acre fire occurred about 30 miles East of Pueblo last weekend. It's a little frightening because we are in a "moderate" drought. One millisecond of someone not paying attention and a whole bunch of property is up in smoke.

And now today we have another fire in a residential area in the suburbs of Colorado Springs. Apparently a number of homes and a (large) high school are threatened. The stupid thing is the pictures on the news. We can see the smoke here at the house, so we know it's burning pretty well, but idiot people are standing at what looks like about 5-10 feet away from the flames just watching what's going on! I mean BUNCHES of people! With little kids! What the heck??

Our little community is one that is constantly being told to be prepared, and to mitigate the easements and empty properties near the homes. The reason being we live in what is called a desert grassland, and the wind is always prevalent. One little spark and we could have a whole heap of homes gone. So we mitigate our easement and the empty lot next to us in a rather fun way. Who needs a lawn mower when you have 4-wheeler?? Crunch down the big weeds and keep the grasses close to the ground. Very fun! I don't really know how effective it is, but I hope to never find out.

(pretty crunched down already)
(running over a bigger plant)

(FUN!!!)

(starting the lot across the street)

The whole point of this particular topic is to let everyone know to expect more from us this summer. It is so dry, and the wind has even come earlier this year, it's an expected thing to see and smell a lot of smoke this summer. Don't forget that fires are extremely good for the land and most of the native plants, but when it's so close to homes....yeah, it's a bit scary. Stay safe, everyone!

Midterms....

2009-03-12T23:11:00.003-06:00

I am almost done with midterms. One test left to go, and that's right before Spring Break at the end of the month. I'm not terribly worried about it, though. I am, however, extremely proud of how well I did on my Sociology test! Who would have thought I'd receive a 97 when I missed half of two chapters, had trouble staying awake after my little hospital visit, and somehow managed to not study as much as I should have? Wowza! I am also preparing to register for both the Summer and Fall semesters. Yes, I am going to attend school over the summer. It's a short 8-week semester, and it'll help me gain my goal actually graduating. Going half-time takes long enough! I'll start my emphasis on history by fall, considering that is the Pre-Law avenue I have chosen to take. And how is this for a loop: I need at least 2 semesters of college level language classes. Anyone care to take a guess at what language I am going to attempt?

I have decided that I am very glad I did not attempt college immediately after high school. There is absolutely no way I would have made it. Not that it's extremely difficult, but it is a bit time consuming. When I was 18, I didn't want to do anything that resembled work when it came to learning. I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do with my life. I am thankful I had patient parents who let me hang out at the house for a couple of years after high school! They knew I wasn't ready, and they let me discover what I needed. It made a huge difference.

I cannot discount the military schools, though. Somehow the way we're taught there really cranked it up for me. Now I can sit down in a lecture and pull out what I need...mostly. If I'm lost, I am no longer afraid to ask questions. My tech schools all made a huge difference.

So, that's the short of what I've been up to. Luke and I finally made it back out to the ponies this week. I can't even begin to explain what a wonderful relief and release that was! We started walking again last week, which has been great, but to be around those beasties I love so much....it's so fantastic!

I have pictures on the camera I need to share here. Some goofy things, like our version of fire mitigation. I just have to get off my butt and charge the batteries. It's been so spring-like that we've just been enjoying the yard. Being that March is the snowiest month in Colorado, we are beginning to experience the on again-off again weather. We're actually expecting a little snow overnight! Amazing! We've already experienced a number of decent-sized fires...and they're early this year. Any wet on the ground would be good. Besides, my lawn would probably be very happy receiving water from something other than the tap. But for now, I am going to join the snoring brood and give my poor brain a break. You can all chew on this:

The answer to the language question is Arabic. Yup, going to be tough, but it's definitely original! Yo habla espanol, but I'd like to expand on that. Yes, yes, I'm a little crazy....

A Slight Break....

2009-03-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

I am not hiding, I promise!! I just haven't been terribly inspired to write lately. Between my apparent love of spending time in hospitals, then catching a terrible chest cold right away and having zero energy....the writing has taken a back seat.

I am happy to report that I am feeling much better, though! The writing will resume! I just can't seem to get past how amazed I am that there are actual leaves on trees, bushes, and flowering plants! Not to mention I'd like to share some of my plans for the backyard and garden this year.

So, hang in there. I always have plenty to say!

A Sad Farewell...

2009-02-27T19:22:00.008-07:00

It's a bit of a difficult day for Colorado, and for the world of journalism. I have no idea what the longest running newspaper in the nation is, but the Rocky Mountain News was one of the longest. Now this 4-time Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper who was just 55 days shy of its 150th anniversary has died.

It was announced to us all yesterday that today, the 27th of February, 2009, would be the very last and final printing of this longstanding newspaper. It came as a shock to everyone, including the entire journalistic staff. The local news showed the printing live at the end of the 10pm newscast. People all over the state of Colorado have flocked to gas stations, newsstands, and various other places that sell periodicals to obtain this very last issue today. Believe me when I say that it was difficult to find a single copy by the afternoon, unless you knew where to look.

I am among those who have been saddened by this loss. It is due, in part, to the fact I have always wished to be a journalist. I even pulled a short stint in the military as a reporter, somehow managing to have a number of articles published in various Air Force publications. Despite my desire and love for this particular career, I declined to work toward it because I know full well how difficult a business it can be. I want to be able to support my family should the need arise....and journalism is a dying world. Maybe not the world of televised journalism, but I simply do not have the looks to be in front of a camera each day. Besides, even that world is difficult and you can be cut from it in a nanosecond.

The other part of this sadness for me is the fact I have periodically referenced this news source in my adult life. I was able to get my hands on copies of it in a lot of places, including Washington, D.C. That speaks volumes. It was a publication that was revered for its fair reporting, including spectacular sports reports and editorials that could make a sailor blush. Fair, blunt, and not always politically correct. All the things I love. I will no longer be able to refer to this media source when I want to put a particular subject square in the front of those I'm aiming to reach.

I haven't read all of the articles, editorials, memoirs, and eulogies yet, but I've scanned through. It brought tears. Perhaps what is the most clear thought is that it's not just the end of a very long running era, it is the death of one. It's a sentiment repeated multiple times. Interesting.

The Denver Post is taking over the subscriptions, has hired a number of the employees and journalists, and had their own poignant monument:

(Today Denver is at a loss for words. Farewell, Rocky)

Two political cartoons stand loud and clear amid the print. One highlights the thoughts and feelings of the Mile High City, the other echoes the feelings of the Colorado readers:

The edition is full of articles and thoughts over the last 150-years. I am sharing a few that were of more recent history, the ones people may remember most. The Columbine High School shootings.

The worst fire season in Colorado history, which included the largest fire in the state's history: the Hayman Fire. Started by a Forest Service employee and burned thousands of acres, homes included, in an area that was very close to Colorado Springs AND Denver.

And a story that reached across email inboxes throughout the world. That of a Marine who was killed in Iraq, who's coffin was unloaded from the belly of a commercial airliner while passengers stayed on board and watched, and who's wife spent one final night beside her husband's body while it laid in state before the funeral. Though he was from the Reno area, and the funeral took place there, she was from the suburbs of Denver. The photos and written story that became famous were done by a Rocky Mountain News photojournalist.

Perhaps the final page holds the words that are the most true. It's a tough pill to swallow, but it is still remarkable.

So long, Rocky Mountain News. May journalism do you proud and be fair....

The Ghost Light....

2009-02-26T18:59:00.004-07:00

A little while back I let Luke choose a book while we were shopping. I figured I could reward him once in a while, and books are something he loves. The book he chose is about "Mater," the tow truck from the movie Cars. He has yet to see the movie, but the book was interesting enough for him to pick out. It's titled "Mater and the Ghost Light."

He LOVES this book! Frankly, I'm a little tired of it, but reading something 4 or 5 times a day will do that to a person. Who cares? My boy's enjoyment of reading is what really matters! Anyway, this is also his top choice when it comes time to go to bed.

The other day Luke decided to read his Mater book to the dog. I didn't actually see it because I didn't want to ruin the moment, but I heard it. It was very cute. Red, of course, probably didn't give two hoots, but he also didn't go downstairs. Luke was happy.

Last night was the big surprise for us. We were reading for bedtime when Luke said "Mommai, I do." Okay, what's this? Next thing we know he tells us exactly what the page says: "OH NO! It's the Ghost Light!" Plain as day, with enthusiasm, and extreme pride!

Needless to say, we were also extremely proud and let him know. So, no matter what, I will forever be keeping this book. There's no way I can resist!

Spring Has Sprung...

2009-02-23T12:20:00.005-07:00

Luke and I spent a fair amount of time outside yesterday. Why not? We may both be hacking and coughing every few seconds, but the weather was warm, sunny, and virtually now wind. A little sun was sure to do us some good. And since the weather was so nice, we also tackled the task of watering the lawn.....again. I know other parts of the country are socked in with tons of snow, but we've missed out and will be paying for it come summer.

A few weeks ago I had mentioned that my crocuses and daffodils were coming up. Six weeks early for them to be poking out of the ground. Looking around one could also see the trees were starting to bud, the most obvious being the globe willows and their green tips. Well, yesterday was even more evidence of our early spring. The crocuses are blooming!

Okay, so it's only a couple of them, but I can see the heads on all of them and expect my full garden's worth to be in bloom by this time next week.

My lilacs have buds, my cottonwood tree is really budding...I suppose we'll have actual leaves within a few weeks. The sap has moved to the ends of the branches on the maple trees, and they have little buds, too. It's good to know they survived winter, but good grief! We shouldn't be seeing this stuff for another four weeks! March is our snowiest month, so the thought of that being ahead is a good one. I just seriously doubt we'll be seeing a whole lot.

I believe those in PA and the rest of the Northeast will be sticking with another 4 weeks of winter, but those of us in Eastern Colorado thought Punxatawny Phil was smoking crack. It appears he was right on for those in his area, but for us? Nope! Spring has sprung...

Trotting Along...

2009-02-21T22:06:00.005-07:00

I took these videos the day of my big incident. It was maybe two hours before, to be exact. Luke stated he wanted to trot during his ride, so I grabbed the camera as we set out. Bearing in mind this is only the second time he's trotted, he did really well! Jack, being the wonderful pony that he is, was trying very hard to just take care of the precious cargo on his back. You can see he was less than thrilled that I kicked some sand at him to make him move forward in the first video, but it did work! He's not a lazy pony, just well aware of the little one his back and very, very careful. I appreciate that, and Luke feels safe with him. At this time, Jack is the only pony that Luke will stand in his stirrups on. You can see he tried a bit to stand in the trot in the second video.

Obviously he didn't go further than a few steps, but it's a start! I mean, I don't want to terrify the child, or risk having him fall off right away. No matter what, I'm very proud of him.....

Harsh...

2009-02-19T13:42:00.003-07:00

To say it's been a long and somewhat stressful week would be an understatement. To say that I am so tired of seeing and having much of anything to do with the medical community would be dead on. Maybe I shouldn't be using the word "dead." It's amazing how quickly things can go from great and happy to horribly wrong in a matter of a second.

I spent the better part of 2 days in the hospital at the beginning of the week. Monday was a usual day. Great ride on a wonderful pony, playtime with my boy, and enjoyment of some wonderful, yet worrisome weather. Our neighbor was injured over the weekend, so I worked on cooking him dinner. That's when things changed...

I felt like someone rammed a freight train into my chest. It was sudden, not a buildup. I wasn't worried, figured I had to lay down while the lasagna cooked. Luke very cutely lay down next to me. Then he got bored and took off...I did the same, it wasn't helping me. In fact, it was worsening. I took an aspirin. Dinner being done for the neighbor, I took the dish down the street. On the way back I said hi to another neighbor. It was moments after that I knew, without a doubt, that I actually was in trouble. I called Jeff, who was still at work, and said I was going to Urgent Care. I wasn't even out of the driveway before I changed my mind and headed for the ER the local hospital put in my community. Just a few minutes later I was contemplating calling an ambulance....but being the stubborn person I am, I refused to let 1/4 mile get the better of me and force me to leave my son sitting in his carseat in a busy intersection while I let go and closed my eyes. Had I realized how bad the shape I was, I wouldn't have tried to drive myself, but that didn't come to light until I was so close to the ER. By then I was sure I was going to die. Hindsight is 20/20.

It took a few hours and a number of tests, but it was determined I was to be transferred and admitted to the hospital. It was 9pm Tuesday evening before I was sent home.

Nobody knows for sure what happened. Right on par for myself, every single test, even the "fancy" ones (as my doctor calls them) came back inconclusive. My bloodwork was really weird, and there is definite evidence there that SOMETHING happened, but nothing is concrete enough to tell us. The best, and most accepted guess is that I suffered a pulmonary embolism, based strictly on my symptoms and bodily reaction.

No matter what, this has been a harsh moment for us. I look forward to getting back to "normal," whatever that may be, but am glad to have this moment of rest. Afterall, I am still here! Now it is off to sleep again.....

Beautiful Boy...

2009-02-14T00:02:00.005-07:00

Just a couple I wanted to share....they capture his personality well.

Ponies Rock....

2009-02-13T23:50:00.006-07:00

Jack was very tired this day(he was dozing while I tacked up for MY ride!), but he loves Luke and takes good care of him. Don't mind the mondo-belly on this wonderful (and fancy!) pony....he's an easy keeper who went over-the-top during his "vacation" from November-January. I can't wait to see them together at a show! They're just so cute! (I need to get ground shots of them....it's absolutely adorable!)

Surprise, surprise....

2009-02-13T18:56:00.004-07:00

Don't you just love it when people seem to just disappear for a while, but you have no clue why? Well, in my case, it's just been being busy with school and uninspired to write anything other than psychology papers, sociology papers, and the starts of a research report in response to a research project for psychology. While that may seem boring to others, I have been having a ball doing it. I never had any idea my mind would take to the "soft" sciences like this! I guess it makes sense, given that I'm one who loves to pour over history books just to learn more about the people of our past, how they lived, and what lessons we can learn from them. If you think about it, when one does that they are also rolling the psychology and sociology of that time into the mix.

Luke seems to be enjoying the schedule we have this semester, as well. He gets to play with his friends two days each week: once for a half-day, once for the whole day. He knows when those days fall and starts talking about the fun he'll have the day before he goes. Two more days are spent with the ponies. He loves helping me groom them, plays with his toys and the dogs when I'm handling a difficult or very young pony, and rides the ponies he gets to show this summer. Beyond that, he goes for a run or long walk with me nearly each day...sometimes in the neighborhood, sometimes at the lake to gaze at the bald eagles. I think he likes that time most. But he tells me what he wants to do each day and looks for opportunities to learn around each corner. It's amazing!

We also spend at least an hour each day to read books. He loves his books! Not only do we read a story or two each evening before he goes to sleep, he brings random books to us throughout the day. Everything stops and we read. I figure it's a good thing to encourage. Thank goodness his Aunt Lisa is a librarian!

We're still kind of waiting for winter. The temperatures have called for a light coat, but I'm getting really tired of watering the lawn each week! I'm glad other parts of the country are getting the white stuff and some rain, but it'd sure be nice if some of you would share it! Still, it's made for a nice, active winter out of doors! There's nothing like being an active family who gets bored staying indoors....

IT'S A GIRL!

2009-02-03T19:18:00.002-07:00

Congratulations to Chris and Ginny on the birth of their baby girl just a few minutes ago. I'll provide details when I get them, but for now I'm glad Ginny didn't have to deal with a marathon labor!

ETA:
Brooke Taylor
6 lbs 6 oz
Born 3 Feb 09 at 1646 (4:46pm)
Mom had 16 hours of labor and only had to push 16 minutes!! Everyone is great, and the baby is beautiful.

Gung Ho!!

2009-02-02T22:04:00.001-07:00

Gung Ho!!!!

2009-01-31T11:43:00.007-07:00

Last weekend we attended the first official birthday party Luke has been invited to. Sure, he's had invites before, but from people we knew before he was born. The fact that Tanum and his family are people we didn't know before last fall made this really special...at least in my eyes.

Tanum just turned 3, and he said he wanted to go snow tubing. Step one for his dad was to make sure the agreed upon location actually had snow. Let me pause in this moment to say that last fall I had suspicion this was going to be a dry winter for us. Granted, I thought it would be really cold, too.....which was only partially right. December was frigid. But the dry!! Anyway, there was enough snow at San Isabel to entertain us all for a few hours. So the decision was definitely set to meet at a central location and caravan to the High Country.

We were stuck in an inversion last weekend, so we ventured out into the 15-degree weather and hoped we were all dressed in enough layers to stay warm. Knowing we were heading into the mountains would usually be answer enough since they usually fair better during inversion situations (warm & sunny above the stuck clouds), but we weren't going that high. We need not have worried. Literally within 90 seconds of leaving the gunk the temperature rose by 20 degrees! By the time we reached our destination, the temps were at 39, it was sunny, and we all ended up shedding layers. Okay, not everyone....the little ones were tortured, but they obviously didn't care.

This was the first time Luke had been sledding or tubing, so he had no idea what to expect. He was a trooper and gamely followed me all the way to the top of the hill, climbed into my lap, and giggled all the way down. Now, I'm not overly careful in most things I do like this, but this time I was hitting the brakes all the way down. It's a totally different ballgame when you've got your one and only baby in your lap! Don't worry, by the end of the day we were full force down the hill.

There was a smaller hill off to the side that the older kids were going down. Luke wanted to try that by himself. Us being the parents we are said "sure, go ahead!" The first trip I climbed to the top with him, situated him on the sled, made sure he was holding on tight, called down to daddy to be ready, and let go. I don't know who was giggling louder, me or Luke! But he was great; held on the whole way and thought it was fun when the sled stopped and he didn't. He plopped into the icy snow and laughed hard. Then he climbed up the hill again....and again....and again. Eventually Tanum's big sister, Laralai, rescued us and started climbing & sledding with us. While Luke was having a ball and gamely going at full speed, we were tired!!

I think we stayed up there for about 4 hours. It was a fantastic time that I don't think we wanted to end. Alas, the time came to drive back to Pueblo for pizza, cokes, cake, and presents. We said goodbye to the very little snow on the mountain and hoped we all stayed awake. The kids, of course, napped.

Each child got the chance to pull the string on a pinata, though I think only the older ones had any idea why they were doing it. The very last string pulled (somewhere around round three of string pulling) was the one that opened the pinata. I've never seen that before!! Anyway, the kids had a ball grabbing up the candy and putting it into their gift bags. Then came presents, cake (the kids were all too tired to eat!) and we decided to head on home. Luke still talks about playing in the snow, and he loves the two days a week he gets to play with his friend who's only a little bit older than him. I think it's safe to say he's a very happy little boy.....

ETA: I have pictures, but it's not letting me load tonight at all....they'll be coming soon!

San Antone...

2009-01-29T13:52:00.003-07:00

The "Family" I refer to in this note is the tight-knit group I worked with at Lackland at the start of this century. I have often thought of every single person who was there, and I've had the pleasure of keeping in touch with a few since I left. Those years were the absolute worst years of my life (to date), though only a handful of people know why. There were even a few who completely judged my behavior and figured I was just a lazy loser. Not my shiftworkers. They were awesome. This includes our chief, the only officer I've ever had such high respect for that he has had a profound effect on my life.

You see, due to what had later been found to be a misdiagnosis (and, therefore, mismanaged treatment), I was only able to work during the day....and I left an hour before shift was up. That's because my "treatment" left me so danged loopy and sleepy that being on the road was dangerous. It's also why I was often flirting with being late to work (much to the irritation of those who had no idea and thought I was just irresponsible and lazy). Life outside of work was miserable, and I look back at my time there with absolute shame. I certainly didn't give my all because I was just unable to...despite trying. It's hard to explain.

Anyway, there is this small group of people on Facebook with whom I not only worked, but have been able to reconnect with. Oh. My. Goodness! You people are amazing! You have taken those awful, awful, and embarrassing memories and made them gold! You have made me realize that something in that place, and something in my life during that time really was wonderful. You have made me realize that there is such a thing as true humanity in this world. You have made me realize that mistakes and bad things can happen, but true friends, cohorts, and brother/sisterhood exists. You are all so special, and I am proud to call you friends.

I love you all.

Supermax....

2009-01-28T18:52:00.003-07:00

What a pleasant surprise to have a power cord in my mailbox this afternoon! As such, I start back to blogging with a highly controversial subject: Guantanamo Bay.

I'm sure by now everyone has heard that President Obama has signed the order to shut down the detainee center at Gitmo within the year. Okay, not what I personally think is the wisest of choices, but I'm not the one in charge. But the questions over the coming days revolved around what would happen to the detainees. Would they just be released? Would they be moved elsewhere? If so, where? A few days ago we all received our answer: the detainees will be moved.

I admit, I haven't seen the list of possible places, but one place that is high on the list (and a likely move for the majority of detainees) is the Supermax Federal Prison here in Florence. That is about 25 miles due West of me. Yippee.

Now, I don't mind living this close to a maximum security prison. I don't even mind knowing who some of the prisoners are (notorious killers, bombers, and even a convicted terrorist). I know it's underfunded (shock) and that local officials are somewhat concerned about safety, but I'm also aware that this is not the only maximum security prison with those problems. It's a little concerning, but still not something to actually worry about.

What I do mind is the fact this administration, followed by the masses of the media, has announced to the world where these detainees are going to be going. THAT makes this prison a huge target and puts a good number of innocent lives on the line. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why.

It is also a slap in the face of sorts. There are so many of my veteran brothers and sisters, along with those who are still serving, who worked so hard to bring these people in and guard our nation. That is all I have to say on that.

So, I am trying to watch the developments of this particular subject very closely. It's not always easy, but I think it is a little bit vital. I hate to see my family and friends put into danger.....