I may have mentioned recently that Daniel's favorite pastime is now shooting things. He shoots with water pistols. He shoots with sticks. He shoots with the crust off his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He shoots with the straw from his juice box. Last night, Uncle Howard came for a visit and was teaching Daniel how to shoot spit-wads. (Thanks, Howard!) Once Daniel figured it out, he shot a slobbery, balled up peice of paper through the straw and hit Howard smack in the face. Daniel immediately began a happy dance, declaring, "I killed him! Yeah, I killed him!" Good thing I've read Wild at Heart otherwise I might think there was something seriously wrong with the boy...

This is why we live in Colorado... Last Friday we picked a random trail and went for a family hike near Mt. Evans, one of the 54 mountains in Colorado that is over 14,000 feet. We began our hike at 9,400ft and finished in a large bowl called "Hell's Hole." The elevations was 11,600. The trip was eight miles roundtrip and took us about six hours, give or take a half hour or so for lunch.

We passed a lot of "snowmelt" streams. The area was so green and lush and covered with wildflowers, a surprising contrast to the desert of Denver.The gray colored mountain in the background is Wolf Mountain, just a little under 14,000. Had we been without kids and no thunder claps in the background, we would have gone for it! Goint eight miles in six hours sounds fairly weak until you consider a 2200ft elevation gain with kids strapped to our backs... and... oh, yeah! I had a baby three months ago!!

We get a lot of funny looks from people who pass us and see the number of kids we have in tow. Our motto: "Kids don't stop your life, they just slow it down a little!" We've just had to figure out a different way of doing the things we love.
One way we manage to get three kids up the mountain is that we've talked Uncle Howard into being our pack mule. The boys love being carried and there is lots of silliness that goes on between them. As you can see from the photo above, they have their own private joke going on. When Uncle Howard is not around, Patrick carries Daniel on his back and Eli on his front. I carry Caleb on my back --- and we do much shorter hikes!

I realize my blog is rarely deep or spiritual in nature. It's mostly musings and photos of the boys for the benefit of my mom and mother in law. But today I want to take a moment and tell you something God did for me this week. It's not huge in the grand scheme of the entire world, but it something He did for me personally, something special meant for just me. I realize it is so easy for me to think of God in terms of the Owner and CEO of the World. I forget that he calls himself our Abba Father (translation: "Daddy") or our bridegroom. Those are very personal relationships, so why am I surprised when He does something so personal for me? So, the following involves answers to prayer...

I've been missing my parents this Summer and really longing for some time to sit on the back deck, drink a chai latte and chat with my mom. But they live in Idaho. And we live in Colorado. It's about a sixteen hour drive. Maybe three-less-kids ago and gas about two bucks less a gallon we could have jaunted up there for a long weekend, but it was looking like there was no seeing the folks anytime soon. So I felt like I should at least tell God the desire of my heart. Not really asking, but telling him my desire to see my parents. Would you believe my mom called two days later and this was the conversation?

Mom: Do you and the boys want to fly up for a visit? Me: Sure, but how's that going to happen? Mom: Well, we have some frequent flyer miles and I need to book them by the end of the month. So... God answered the desire of my heart and I get to see my mom in a few weeks!

The second thing God did for me is really much more silly. Last Tuesday I woke up dying for some coffee. But I couldn't run out and through the Starbucks drive-thru because I had a friend showing up for Bible Study in 30 minutes and the boys needed breakfast. I didn't want to make a HOT pot of coffee because it was about 95 degrees outside. I thought, "God, this is crazy, but you know I would LOVE an iced-coffee right now so could you put in on Hollie's heart to stop and get us some on her way over here?" I know, crazy!! I didn't text or call her because I thought that would just be rude. Well!! Thirty minutes later, Hollie is standing at my door with one Iced-Grande-Half Caf-Light Cream-2 Splenda-Americano!! It was the yummiest coffee I've ever had!!

I realize there is not a lot of deep theology in those moments, but it made me stop and remember what a personal God I have and how much he cares about the little things in my life. How much He loves to romance and take care of his children!

Our 4th of July did not go as we planned... In March we booked a cabin at Jellystone Campground in Estes Park and planned on spending the weekend camping with our friends, the Franks. So on Wednesday, the day before we were supposed to head up to the mountains, I spent TWO AND A HALF hours at Super Walmart getting stuff for the trip -- planning the menu, preparing things ahead of time, getting a few new toys for the boys and camping gear, etc. Later that evening Patrick went for a run and I sat out on our deck while Daniel and Caleb played in the back yard. The minute my back was turned (isn't that when things happen!) Caleb was up on the bench that goes around our deck and had fallen off the highest part onto the pile of rocks below. I have to admit my first response was not, "Oh, no! My poor little boy!" I think I actually rolled my eyes and said, "oh brother..." (Our kids choose the most inconvenient times to do these things!) Anyway, he was screaming and then Daniel started crying and I started freaking out and everyone was a mess. Snot and tears going everywhere. I thought Caleb was crying so hard because he did skin his face and head up pretty good and it was an hour past bed time. He finally calmed down after about 30 minutes, but would start wailing the minute he left my lap. When Patrick got home we realized one wrist was swollen and he didn't want us to get near it. So I called the doctor who said take him to the ER, especially since he had fallen more than twice his own height. The doctor at the ER said he was fine and sent us home, but we did have to wake Caleb every two hours to make sure he didn't have a concussion. It was quite obvious to me the next morning that his wrist was hurt. So we went to his pediatrician. Several x-rays later we saw that Caleb did indeed fracture his left wrist. And that put an end to our camping trip since we had to wait until Saturday to get a cast on after the swelling went down.

Caleb sportin' his new accessory, which was not purposefully coordinated to his outfit - purely coincidental!

But the holiday weekend was not a complete loss. We ended up going to Tiny Town, which is exactly what it sounds like. Caleb LOVED it. Maybe because he feels dominated by Daniel all the time and this was his chance to be the Big One.

fee-fi-fo-fum!

We also took a spontaneous drive (no pics from that because the camera battery went dead...) up Hwy285 into Fairplay and then Hwy9 into Breckenridge for dinner. All I can say is Colorado is gorgeous!! My only regret about moving here is that we didn't do it sooner. Truly God's country. So... we just need to move family and the Tennessee Vols to Denver and it would be perfect! On Sunday we got to do a little hiking before the Summer thunderstorms rolled into the foothills.

Daniel and his treasury of sticks, which somehow made it home with us!

All in all, it was a good weekend. We got to see some great fireworks off our back porch and used our grill quite a bit. And we are eternally thankful to the men and women who have laid down their lives to keep America free! Happy 4th of July!