Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Coming up for air, and a vacation recap....

Did anyone ever tell you that homeschooling gets easier as the children get older?  They lied.  I'm smiling (now!) as I type this, but being honest that as committed as I am to investing in our children it's just plain hard sometimes.  But this I do know, God is good and sufficient.  His grace is enough.

After a week and a half of grinding away at our new routine in a new school year, I do think that today went better.  

On to a photographic recap of our recent family vacation to Colorado.  What a trip it was!  Almost every day I got up early to squeeze in my Ironman preparation workouts before we left to spend the rest of the day either trail running or hiking with the children.  

Here's our 15 passenger van all decked out and ready to go.  Have you ever seen a vehicle with two car-top carriers?  Me either!  Pretty funny!  



In the interest of saving a bit of money, we decided to get up early and drive the whole way in one day.  The adventure of traveling is one of my all-time favorite things to do.  Tom likes to drive (or more accurately doesn't like to be a passenger), so that leaves me with nothing to do for the whole drive.   I *never* have nothing to do in my "normal life"~ what fun!

The sunrise viewed in the rearview mirror as we traveled West.  


I love even "boring" Kansas~ the big sky out West captivates me.


Gabriel brought his GoPro~ *love* the wide angle effect of that lens!


 So yeah, that's me taking photos of.... tree bark...  : )

Gotta' love me some flare....

One of the best things about this trip was that not only did we get to spend time with my parents, but my brother and his son were with us as well.  The children had *so* much fun with their cousin.


A self-portrait Gabe took with his GoPro (and me with my iPhone in the background...)



So many pretty rocks and so little pocket space... 

Not only did we maintain a break-neck pace the whole week that we were gone, but we also had the dubious honor of making not one, but two trips to Urgent Care.  First Jonathan had to get 12 stitches after a carving accident, then later in the week he ended up getting some sort of stomach virus and got pretty dehydrated.  Once he was given 2 liters of IV fluids he was a different boy.  Poor kid!  I snapped this pic once he felt better~ check out that popsicle!


 Tom being silly with something that we found while hiking.  I think a goatee might look pretty good on him!




So yeah, there's that super-cool bark...


 *Love* this photo of Tom and Tim!

We saw so much wildlife on this trip.  I posted a bunch of those photos here.


Boys and water... they just couldn't stay out.  It didn't matter that it had been snow only hours before. Brrrrrr.....










Tom and I

Dan checking out the view on Trail Ridge Road.

Pretty much the whole crew... including Nate and new wife Jamie + cousin Brenden.

 This little guy was obviously used to getting handouts!








The younger boys carefully filled out booklets to become "Junior Rangers." Here they are taking their Junior Ranger oath.  Pretty fun!

So many memories made... so much fun crammed into one week. My heart wells with gratefulness as I review these photos.

Tom chauffeuring us home...


Rejoicing in the good memories, but getting back to work here....

11 comments:

  1. Looks like a fabulous trip!
    We're hitting the books tomorrow (mid-week - we like to do things differently ;)and I expect some painful bumps as we try to buckle down.

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    1. I'll be praying for you... it is hard sometimes, but God is *always* good, isn't He? So grateful that His grace abounds. : )

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    1. Thanks Bron! It was a blast to have such beautiful subjects on this vacation~ wow!

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  3. Beautiful Pictures!!! I'm so glad you got to spend that time with your family. Hitting the books each fall always brings many emotions...inadaquacy, urgency, and thankfulness to just name a few! I will be thinking and praying for you! Keep sending the pics and any tips you have in organizing your days! :)

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    1. Thanks friend! I agree with you about the myriad of emotions~ and I'll be praying for you as well. We *all* are in need of His abundant grace. : )

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  4. What gorgeous photos my friend! All of them. I'm pleased for you that you got that precious time away...what a blessing!! But, what is that I see in Tom's hand as he drives you all home?? A toothbrush?? No time to stop where there was a sink? LOL! :)

    With love,
    Camille

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    1. Camille! You are *so* funny! When I got ready to post this, one of the children pointed out the toothbrush in Tom's hand. Silly me… in such a rush to put my post together I totally didn't notice the toothbrush! We laughed so hard. "Nobody will notice!" I said…. : )

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  5. No, No, NO!!! Please don't tell me it gets harder! ;) I about died today...felt like I was in the homeschool time warp...like we were never going to finish and I couldn't put out one fire without starting ten more. I'm thankful His grace is sufficient.

    Beautiful pictures!!! And the one of you and Tom - that is PRECIOUS!!!! PRECIOUS!!! It's so encouraging to see other believers loving, keeping their vows...all their days. To see the fruit of your labor. Commitment kept. Lived, fleshed out. Thank you.

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    1. Jenn, ok… so honestly it does get easier in *some* ways… : ) Bottom line: God is good and His grace sufficient. So we're all good, just challenged at times, right?

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