Totality

Sean and I realized years ago that there would be a total solar eclipse viewable from the states and vowed that we would witness it. Sean and I both love anything space-related. A total solar eclipse is like astronomy's Super Bowl. Cannot be missed.

And here we are, living in Colorado, close but not close enough. But, yea verily, Kyle's family had just moved to Kansas, a mere hour from totality. So despite having to miss two days of class, just a week into the schoolyear, to Kansas we went for a long weekend. We had a nice few days there but I only took pictures on eclipse day, ha!

We weren't sure how the weather was going to play out so we just kind of went in a northerly direction and found a place to wait it out. Pompa (who also came for the eclipse but he was also there to soon help take care of kids because Lindsay was about to leave to go donate a kidney (!) to her cousin. She's all sorts of incredible) pulled out a surprise- bubble blowers! That kept the kids entertained (and sticky) for a long while.








(ha ha!)





(heehee!)







We decided we needed to go a bit more north and ended up at a park, where we picnicked and watched, through our eclipse glasses, the moon sneak in front of the sun.


Pompa brought a square of welders glass that made a nice, albeit green, filter for the camera. Eclipse photos all by Sean.

I was really impressed that the glasses allowed you to see the sun's shape even through a bit of cloud cover. But, boy, did we want that cloud cover to leave! And it did! We played and peaked and played and peaked and soon that sun turned into a sliver. We watched and watched that sliver thin until it winked out. Then, ripping off the glasses, we were met with the most glorious sight.


I don't know how the change from a small ball of light to a small ball of darkness surrounded by light could impact my soul so deeply. The light cascading out from behind the moon, the twilight-like atmosphere around us, the skyline rosy as sunset in a full circumference, it just ignited my heart.

And everyone else thought it was just as amazing! The kids were gasping in shock and awe. Though just as I pulled out my phone to record them, a group nearby started singing Happy Birthday, which made them all pause with confusion.

I videoed after that, so it wasn't their initial amazement but you still get the idea. Plus, eclipse time was limited so I wasn't paying too much attention to my recording!

Then after two minutes and some change, a pinpoint of direct light returned and totality was over. But we sure kept talking about it! For minutes and hours and days and months! It was one of the most spectacular things I have ever witnessed and I'm so glad we made the effort. A total solar eclipse!

And you know what? A half hour later, the clouds were so thick we couldn't even see the sun. Boy howdy, we were grateful for its delay!

First Day of School 2017

Yes, we're three months into school, but here are the first day of school photos!

Dash is now in second grade and is loving it. He has a really fun teacher and is doing great in his class.


Liam is also a second grader and in the same class as his brother. He's doing spectacularly and also really enjoys his teacher.


Grey is a kindergartner! It's a half-day class (three hours a day) which is really a perfect introduction to school for him. He loves his teacher, who is a perfect blend of kind, organized, and competent. He already knew a lot of his classmates from church, so it wasn't even too intimidating at first. He seems to be doing a great job in school. He's making so much progress on his reading- when I would work on that with him, he only acted silly and was for the most part uncooperative. Kindergarten is magic!

Cousins at the lake

While Kyle and Linday's family were visiting, we spent a little time by Palmer Lake. And I took some photos.








Lindsay's kids were so interested in what this fisherman was doing and he actually let them try it a bit, which seemed to make their day!


Elsewhere, a game of frisbee golf.


Wren had been wearing a skirt, but it was water-logged within seconds.






Moments before, Dylan flung himself into the water and Kyle rescued him. Gotta have a little cry about that.


When all the big-kid-swings are taken.














Grey's trying to copy the Sawyer's pose.

That time I hiked Pikes Peak

Since we moved to Colorado, Sean's been itching to climb mountains. Last year, he scaled the Incline and hiked up Mount Bierstadt, both of which he... maybe.. forgot... to consult me about or ask me if I wanted to come while he planned the hikes. He did better this time. We waited until Kyle and Lindsay were in town and tackled Pikes Peak along with Austin who was home from college. Most of these pictures, actually, aren't mine but from their phones.


We went up the back of the mountain, at the Crags trailhead, which we didn't walk by but we got to see from above- those are they, there on the right in the photo.


Hiking!


Starting to leave the trees behind.


I'll be honest, I was the pace setter, which is a nice way of saying the slowest. Sean was sweet and stayed back with me while the other three trotted on ahead. This was the view, generally, those speed demons. I really couldn't fathom how they were going so fast (and I'm a pretty fast walker on flat ground). I am the oldest of the group, so it's at least fitting. Actually, they did hold back often and chat with us, and it was lovely spending all that time with them.


It got chilly! Right about now, my hip is yelling at me.


Sean and I decided we'd build a house in that green valley and raise our family and never leave and grown our own food. Since we totally know how to do that.


Sometimes the trail was level and that was heavenly.


A moment to rest and selfie.


Near the top, it's all boulders. It looks intimidating but was actually a welcome change of pace. Having to put my foot at different angles changed what muscles I used and having to think about how to climb distracted my brain from my tiredness.


It was actually pretty fun.


And then, after four or five hours (I can't remember now!) of hiking, we summitted Pikes Peak! All 14,115 feet!


It was so nice to be on level ground. And to have a bathroom. And to buy a Pikes Peak donut and hot chocolate. And just sit for a while.


You know what else was nice? Spending all day with my Love! He's the best in the world.


We eventually started to climb down. We needed to relieve Sean's parents from child watching duty and there were some rain clouds in the sky (and we eventually did get rained on a little). I was feeling pretty jazzed though, still feeling the high of reaching the top and expecting the hike down to be small potatoes compared to what we just did.


I was wrong. Oh so wrong. First problem, my knee. It started hurting a bit when climbing the boulders on the way up. By the time we reached the tree line on the way down, it was screaming in agony. I had to start walking sideways anytime I had to step down off from rocks or whatever, which was, you know, all the time. It looked ridiculous but it was the only way I could descend without collapsing.


The second problem, I don't want to fully disclose but let's just say there were certain digestive tract issues that you really don't want to encounter on a long hike. At this point, I was super glad that our hike mates were far ahead, that it was just Sean with me at certain points, and no other hikers happened upon us. I tell you, it was miserable. Comically miserable.


I'd lie if I said that I didn't cry a little. I just felt so yucky inside and my knee was ready to give. But Kyle thought to have me use a stick as a walking stick and that actually helped a ton. I guess there's a reason people use those things! And you know what? We eventually made it back to the car. I know I slowed down the whole party a ton but they were all so kind and understanding (probably because I was not hiding my misery very well). We started back, stopped for a little food, and drove home. I actually had to go straight to church because the Bishop wanted to extend a calling to me- I thought we'd be done a lot faster than we were (again, my fault), I thought I'd have plenty of time to clean up. I kept apologizing for how unpleasant I must have looked/smelled.

It was two days before I could do down the stairs without turning sideways. But you know what? I'm glad I did it. And I'd actually do it again. The hike up. I don't know about the hike down. But now I can look at that mountain, scraped against the sky, and say, "I walked on your face." I like that.