Catching Up

How did we get to November?  This just seems amazing to me.  A few photos to get caught up with our fall before we head into the holidays.  Thanksgiving (and my mom's birthday) are next week, which is wild to think about!

In September we enjoyed Labor Day Weekend in Estes Park once again.  Titus & I celebrated our 3rd anniversary.  He took the kids on a great hike into RMNP and the weather was perfect!  We stayed in Elk Ridge this year.  After 32 years of staying at the YMCA of the Rockies, we were shocked there was a basic cabin we had never stayed in! We liked it best of any cabin we've been in yet!

We once again participated in Operation Christmas Child.  Madi & Abe enjoyed finding treasures of all kinds for their boxes.  Abe took great care packing his box this year.  I'm not sure why he has such a goofy grin on his face - other than he just had a lot of fun!

This picture just captures our back yard so well.  We love this old barn.  And on this morning as I was heading out to work, I was taken by the fog and the color.  We do love our old farm in the country!

Each fall we take some pictures of the kids to mark another year and have prints made for family at Christmas and to put in the photo books for the grandmas.  This year it was so bitter cold and windy when we went out - but I think we managed to get some good shots despite the weather!

Oklahoma High Point & Air Force Retirement Ceremony

OK High Point on Black Mesa

Photo by Madi Staples

On our way to the Air Force Retirement Ceremony

Stopped off to see Buddy Holly

Abe dished up dessert for himself.  Then told me, "I think I over did it!"

Tennessee & South Carolina

In July we took a trip to the TN/VA border to visit Titus' sister and her family.

The Birthplace of Country Music: Britol TN/VA

While there we drove to Charleston for a couple of days.  It was the first time the kiddos saw the ocean! We enjoyed a day at the beach, a great seafood dinner, and a tour of Ft. Sumter. 

Riding the Waves

We weren't sure what all we ordered.  But everything was delicious!

Touring Ft. Sumter

 We spent one day going to the Great Smokies National Park.  Simply gorgeous.  So lush. So green. So many trees.  Here we are riverside.  I think it took us about three attempts to get this shot.

Colorado 14ers Trip

We spent five days in Colorado.  It was a glorious time.  Our main goal was to summit a 14er.  Quandary Peak was touted as a family friendly mountain boasting an elevation of 14, 265 ft. above sea level.  

Looking up at where we have yet to go.

We started off at 7am on Sunday morning.  We finally reached the summit at 1:30pm.  It took us longer than we had anticipated.  Once you get above tree line you battle rock fields the rest of the way.  Unstable footing and a seven year old who stopped every fifty steps made for a long trek up the mountain. 

A view from the top! I can't believe we made it!

Monday we decided we needed a bit more of a relaxed day.  So we drove toward Glenwood Springs and hiked up to Hanging Lake.  At just over one mile this was a much quicker hike for our family.  The lake is just gorgeous.  An amazing blue-green color that is clear all the way to the bottom.  Water falls grace the backside of the lake, and above the waterfalls are more waterfalls that you can walk behind.  I didn't venture up there this time.  My knees were really screaming at me and I have been up there before.  Titus & the kids took lots of great pictures, so I felt like I was there with them!

A fallen log provides a ledge for picture taking on the lake!

We had originally planned to hike a second 14er on Tuesday morning and then head down to the Rockies game.  But with our long day for the first hike, we were worried that it would wear us out too much and take too long and we'd miss the game.  So instead we headed down early, ate lunch in a park by my old apartment, and went to the Rockies game as scheduled.  We had purchased the cheap $4 Rockpile tickets a few days earlier and found our way to our seat.  

Just before the game, a Rockies Event person came up to us and asked if we were a family of 4 and if we would like a free seat upgrade and bag full of goodies.  Well, OF COURSE we did!  So she took us down to some pretty sweet VIP seating on the Pavilion, gave us a backpack full of water, peanuts, cracker jacks, color programs, and a signed baseball.  Then the Toyota people (because it was a Toyota promotion) gave us hats and T-shirts and we sat in a 4-Runner during mid-2nd inning and waved at a camera projecting us on the Jumbo-tron.  Seriously!  It was such a cool experience.  In all our games, neither Titus or I have had anything like that happen to us.  It capped off our trip in such a fun way!

In the Toyota Tailgate Winner's seating for the Rockies game.

We are now home, recovering, doing laundry, cleaning the house, and all the things we must do to pay the bills.  But we have some pretty great memories and pictures from this trip to keep us going until our next big adventure!

Checking Out

I have now been married to an educator through three spring seasons.  There is no doubt about it; no matter where you are, if you are connected to education in some way, April and May are pretty much a blur.  I honestly remember spring break being last week, not two months ago.  And April?  Where did that go?  My time spent in WI for my nieces confirmation seems like a distant memory.

And don't even get me started on May.  It is May 10th.  Ten days into the month and I'm still thinking it should be April.  There are only four days left at my husband's school.  That's it!  Then, it's office hours for him to wrap up the year and start working on the fall.

Teachers, administrators, students, parents, everyone is at a point where they are feverishly working to hold those final events, finish up those final projects, and make sure all their necessary jobs are finished up before the  end of the school year, which, like I said, is less than a week away.

So, we have pretty much checked out for the last month.  And, I pray, we will check back in soon.  A trip to the mountains sounds pretty darn good right now.  We'll see if we can swing that sometime in the next few weeks. But if not, maybe just a day sitting on the porch, drinking tea, watching the cows, and walking with the dog along the creek will have to work to recharge our batteries.

Until then, we remember that our lives are run by seasons.  And this season will soon come to a close.

Meeting an NBA Legend

Last night we were honored to be guests at an FCA Legacy banquet here in Kearney.  The guest speaker was Bobby Jones.  My husband was thrilled because he knows of the legacy he left in the NBA.  But I had never heard of him, sad to say.

It was a wonderful thing to hear from a man who achieved so much during his twelve years as a professional basketball player.  He played with such men as Dr. J and Charles Barkley.  And he played against legends like Michael Jordan.  He was a part of teams that won NBA championships, and he was several personal awards himself.  In fact, every team team he was a part of made it to the playoffs during his time with that team.  I audibly said "wow" when I heard that.

But the most impressive thing to me about this man was his genuine humility and ability to see life beyond the fame.  After retiring he went back to North Carolina and became a coach at a small Christian School.  I would guess he probably could have had any number of jobs coaching or commentating after his illustrious career in the NBA.  But he chose to build into the lives and faith of students.  That to me was the most amazing thing about his story.

My husband, who is a huge basketball fan, was so excited to talk with Bobby, get his autograph, and picture taken with him.  We were both so impressed with this very tall man.   It was truly an honor to hear his story and shake his hand.

Her Name Should be Snoopy

It appears that Maggie Jo figured out if she jumps up on her dog house she can see over the panel and bark at the geese and birds in the field.  Huh...she never ceases to amaze us!

Another Weekend of Fun

 This weekend when the kiddos were here we had a great time:

• building forts, 
• enjoying yummy food, 
• playing at Ballocity, 
• going to an all-you-can-eat waffle fundraiser for some students, 
• movie on the big screen at dad's school, 
• church, birthday party for Great-Grandpa's 91'st birthday, 
• and of course, NFC & AFC Championship football games!

Fort Building in the Living Room 

20 Waffle Irons for the Waffle Man Fundraiser

Yum!

Everyone enjoyed their waffles for supper!

I cannot help myself

My family always jokes about how I like to organize.  My husbands family now likes to joke about how I like to organize.  It is true.  I cannot help myself.  To me, there is much comfort and security in organizing my world.

For example, I meal plan.  Each week or so I sit down, take stock of what I have in the freezer and pantry and plan meals based on what I have.  This allows me to use up food before it spoils and keeps my grocery bills lower.  Plus, I know that come dinner time, I have something ready to go and I don't have to worry all day about what I'm going to make when I get home.  Security. Plain and simple.

Now does this mean that if my husband calls me wanting to take me out to dinner I'm not flexible?  Well, actually sometime it does throw me for a loop.  How sad is that?  Sometimes I cannot see beyond my secure organized world to enjoy a spontaneous night with my husband.  But, usually, he reminds me that it is more important to connect with each other and that we don't eat out but once a month anyway.  I do love that man!


But while I do like things organized and like knowing what I'm making for dinner and what house hold task I will accomplish each night, I must constantly remind myself, or have my husband remind me, that this life is about so much more than organization and security.

Jesus did not call us to live a comfortable and organized and safe life.  In fact, quite the opposite is true.  And when I have stepped out of the comfort and allowed for some chaos in my world, that is when I have had the most wonderful adventures with my Savior and my family.  While I do believe order honors God, I do not believe it should take the place of listening to Him and being willing to have MY plans flex with what HE is doing around me.

Christmas 2011

We spent the Christmas holiday with Titus' family in Eudora / Kansas City, KS.  While we didn't snap too many shots this year, we did have a great time with all the family on Christmas Eve and a great, low-key day on  Christmas Day.

Abe with his new BB Gun

Grandma Nancy and all 10 grand kids

Nancy and her four children

Titus & Abe early Christmas morning

Estes Park on New Years Weekend

We spent a lovely night in Estes Park when in Colorado for New Years.  The day in RMNP was windy and cold - but still beyond beautiful.  We visited all the places that mean so much to us.  Where we were engaged, where we were married, the cabins that our family have stayed in for over 30 years.  It was a truly relaxing day.  So glad we were able to make the trip.

The Alluvial Fan - where we were engaged.  

Bundled up for Sprauge Lake

The Cold & Windy side of the lake

Happy 7th Birthday, Abraham!

This last week Abraham turned 7 years old!  To celebrate, we watched the K-State Bowl game, ate pizza, and cheered them on with our friends Keith & Becca!  Even though they didn't win, we had a great time celebrating Abe!  

Abe's Mater Colossal Cookie!

Blowing out 7 candles!

A Daily Meal

The local Christian radio station started a new campaign for 2012.  Last year they took a different verse each week and encouraged listeners to memorize it.  This year, they are encouraging listeners to spend daily time in the Word.  Something most Christians know they should do, but maybe don't always find the time or motivation to be consistent. 

After a great message from my friend and pastor, Ryan Ashley, about looking to the Bible not as a tool to use in study, but as a means for learning about who God is and truly getting to know Him through what He has written, I began to realize I needed to grow in that this year. And then I heard the radio's promotion of daily time in the Word and realized God times those events in my life to get my attention.

Yesterday I heard a conversation on the radio about how we should view our time in the Word as our daily meal.  We would never think of eating lunch on Sunday and then fasting the rest of the week.  We wouldn't make it through the week!  We'd be hungry, cranky, tired, etc.  We have to feed our bodies on reglular basis in order to maintain our health. 

But that is what so many Christians do.  They eat the meal of a Sunday service and then fast the rest of the week.  And then wonder why we don't grow or find freedom or overcome obstacles in our life.  We are not giving our spiritual lives what they need to maintian health or beat sickness.  We get caught in the rut of starting off strong on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  But by the middle of the week we are tired, cranky, depressed, and falling back into old habits once again.

So that is my challenge.  In a few weeks I start co-leading an online Bible Study through my church.  I look forward to this because I will be held accountable to daily read the assigned verses and log-in to post questions about the verses we read.  Daily in the word - and I'm the leader - so I better not drop the ball!  I pray that by the end of the study, it will be a habit for me that will carry me through long after.