Rocky Mountain National Park

We had one day set aside for driving Trail Ridge Rd., which is the highest paved highway in the country, but the day we had set aside turned out to be a rainy, dreary day.  We decided to go ahead anyway, and ended up getting some beautiful pictures.  There was something magical about driving up the road and looking down on the misty clouds that hovered around the mountains.  We felt like we had stepped into the Lord of the Rings book and were looking down on the Misty Mountains.  We practically expected to see an elf running the slopes or a dragon coming around the corner!

No words are sufficient to describe the beauty of these mountains.  We were absolutely awed.

Personally, I fell in love with all the evergreen woods - I guess it reminded me of the woods that I grew up around in the mountains of Northern California.  I really felt like I could just become a mountain woman and live in these woods forever...

Here is Jacob just staring out the huge window looking at the spectacular view from the Visitor Center.  When we reached the top of this drive (at approximately 12,000 feet) I have to say I felt very lightheaded and dizzy.  It went away after a few minutes... 

 Yes - this is snow!  At the bottom of the park the temperature was in the 80's.  By the time we reached the top it was in the 40's!!  

Colorado - First Few Days

  The power in our home in Maryland had gone out during a Friday evening summer storm, and we were living with partial power from our generator. By Saturday morning it was clear that our power was not coming back on, and our flight to Boston  connecting to Denver kept getting delayed.  Danny checked the flights online and kept on checking them until it became clear that we would not make our connecting flight.  We needed a quick decision, and after changing our flight and even the airport we flew out of, we had flights but we had to leave in less than an hour!  

Fortunately, we were mostly packed, though I did have to pack wet laundry in my suitcase that had been sitting in the washer since the power went out.  I wondered in the back of my mind if our whole trip was going to be this doomed.  I say this, not only because of the power outage, but because we were only going by the skin of our teeth to begin with.  Colorado had been battling record heat and some horrendous forest fires.  The home we were renting for week two was in a town under pre-evacuation orders.  We wondered if we were meant to go at all.

But we did.  We arrived after midnight in Denver on a hot, summer night.  The next day, we grabbed a bite to eat at Ted's Montana Grill (where we dined on yummy, juicy buffalo burgers) and then headed out to the go-kart track before leaving Denver behind.

Jacob and Hannah were the only ones that drove the karts - but these are no ordinary karts.  These karts went 45 mph!  Danny, Ryan and I sat and watched on the sidelines in the un-airconditioned warehouse, fanning ourselves with menus but loving every second of watching them race around the track.

After leaving Denver, we headed over to Boulder for a few nights. Our first morning there Jacob and Danny went to visit the beautiful campus of the University of Colorado.  During this time, we also walked around Pearl Street Mall and saw some very unique sights.  Below is picture of a soldier-who-looked-like-a-statue trying to tease Hannah.

This is a picture of a guy who we had seen playing his guitar in the street for money.  We snapped a picture of him in the ice cream shop, mostly for the cute kitten on his back.  Just a glimpse of the kind of characters that littered the streets of Boulder.

While in Boulder we also went to see the movie Brave!  A wonderful, humorous movie about Hannah! haha  Yep, this is a story for another time...

Dad doing some cookin' at the Estes Park rental, where his brother Donnie and his family came over and spent the Fourth of July with us.  We spent that day strolling the streets of Estes Park and hanging out at the house.  Owen and Olivia, their two kids, were absolutely adorable!

Olivia was shy at first, but soon warmed up and fed us all "cupcakes" that she had made out of coasters.

That same afternoon there was a car show that Danny and the boys walked through.  

Owen down by the rocks in Estes Park.  What an absolute cutie!

And this, I have to say, is my favorite shot of the entire trip.  I bought a frame to frame this one.  It is just a wonderful picture of Jacob sitting on a rock by the river, gazing off into the distance,  a wonderful snapshot of his peaceful, serene nature.  What the picture doesn't show is that I was sitting on his right, after he ever so carefully helped me climb down to this spot just so I could put my feet into the icy cold water (which the day before had been snow on the top of the mountains that melted and now flowed in a rush through the small town of Estes Park).  

Later that week...

Danny and the boys had the adventure of a lifetime.  Truly.  They rented ATV's and went up a trail in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Little did we know what would happen that day!  They had gotten bored on the easy trails, and even though they were warned that the advanced trails were not for beginners, they decided to try them anyway.  Apparently, Jacob was going up a hill, hit a rock with his machine, it tipped back on him and then tipped over completely.  Danny said it all happened in slow motion - he was horrified as he watched the machine threaten to come down right on Jacob's leg, but Jacob leaped nimbly off and rolled away, saving his leg from being crushed. When they told me about it afterwards, I am sure I turned pale... but I thank God for watching out for Jacob.

Meanwhile, Hannah and I wandered through town and shopped all day.  We ducked into an Irish pub for a bite when it began to pour, and in between drops we took a carriage ride through town.  We spent time choosing souvenirs for us and gifts for our guys.

Donnie and Owen spending some time down by the river.

This was a hilarious moment!  Hannah had been sitting down on a ledge by the river, and she asked Jacob to help her get up, and then got the giggles.  She laughed so hard that she just couldn't get up!  I do so love these moments...

Olivia spotted a butterfly on her leg as she licked away at her ice cream from Dairy Queen.

To be continued...

My salsa girl is back!!

My beautiful Hannah - I am so grateful to the Lord for what He has done in healing her over the last months!  She is feeling so much better!

For the past couple of years, my poor girl has been so fatigued and in pain that she could barely do anything.  Getting out of bed some days was a major accomplishment.  Walking around a little made her exhausted, and it was a big ordeal when she was downstairs with us more than she was in bed.  Doing school was out of the question.  Exercise was impossible.  Being upbeat and making us all laugh only happened on good days.

All that has changed.

She still has some days that are better than others, and can still struggle with fatigue.  But yesterday my "salsa girl" was back in full force!  It was amazing!  She got up early, did a ton of schoolwork, ran errands with me, took Indy to get groomed, came home and went running with Jacob, then proceeded to take a shower, straighten her hair (which she hasn't had strength to do in months), then do a ton more schoolwork, and then ask - "can we do something?"  

Yes!  She is coming back!!!!

Creation Museum

Last weekend we had an amazing trip to visit the Creation Museum in Kentucky.  It was worth every minute of the drive - what a FANTASTIC representation of creation, the amazing work of God, and how science proves the Bible.  There is an emphasis on Creation vs. Evolution - what a great way to solidify this truth - the word of God is used as the starting point and final authority.  It was refreshing beyond words to be in a public place and have God be glorified!!  How incredible to be in a museum and not have to explain to the kids over and over how what is taught in schools today about evolution is all wrong and that God is the author and creator of all!!

This is the front of the museum, which is set amongst lush gardens with fountains and beautiful bridges.

A replica of "Lucy", the supposed "proof" that man evolved from apes...  the "missing link"...

There were incredible life-sized displays from accounts of the Bible. 

Somehow, this door was the thing that most struck me while we were there.  (If you can't read it, it says "The world's not safe anymore")  It just exemplifies exactly how I feel as a mother - I want to bolt my kids inside and shield them from all the wrong and harmful influences in the world that try to tell them that there is no God, that we all happened by chance, that pursuing the pleasures of the world is okay.  It is our temptation as parents to do just that - lock them in.    Instead, we are trying to prepare them to defend their faith, for the assault on it will come as surely as the sun will rise and set each day.

Here is Jacob and Indy at the hotel - we took Indy with us on this trip - he did a great job and was a perfect pooch!  It was fun to bring him!

Below is an example of the types of things you can read at the museum...

Jacob at shooting practice

Jacob has joined the Antietam Junior Rifle Club as a member of the competitive precision shooting team.  This is an amazing sport that we are just learning all about!  He has practice every week, and then competitions interspersed in there, with at least one a month once he is ready for that.  This is the same sport that you see in the Olympics - it is really so much more intense than we thought - but Jacob loves the discipline of it. 

 This is the club where he practices each week - it is a drive of over an hour each way from our house.

 This is the view I get when I watch the team shoot.  Those targets are awfully small and far away!   Jacob seems to be a natural at it... 

 Here is Jacob working with his coach.  This is an incredible man who has given up the position of shooting coach at the Naval Academy so that he can work with this team - he has been doing it for 38 years!!  

 Listening intently...

 They stand under this awning to shoot, but it sure gets hot out there.  In the winter they shoot indoors.

On the way home last week we got behind an Air Force Protocol Aircraft/Drone of some sort being transported down the highway (you can see it way up in the front) and it was soooo cool to see.  It took up two lanes and with all the police escort we weren't able to get close to it, but it was neat even from far away.  

Jacob's last days of class 10th grade

In the last couple of weeks, Jacob has had his final classes for the year.  I know he is rejoicing!  It was a challenging year but he came out with all A's again - so proud of him!  I took these pictures so that I could remember the sweet moments of driving to pick him up, week after week, excited to hear how class went.  I will definitely miss these moments some day...

This is him walking out of Mrs. Ellis' class - the science teacher he has had for three years - and he will never have her again!! Sooooo sad!  Fortunately for me, Hannah has her still...

And his last day at MCI, carrying out all his art projects for the year.  I KNOW he is glad this is over...