Woah, where did the last 10 days go?!

For most of the last 10 days I have been either driving in the car, or staying up in Vail, Colorado, with a picture window view of the mountains--and no internet connection.  I was definitely looking up and definitely finding joy.  But no computer to tell you all about it. 

Let me explain--no, there is too much.  Let me sum up:  (Buttercup is marrying Humperdink a little less a half an hour...)


Kyle was in Denver, planning to drive 2 hours to Vail to meet up with us.  We were in Utah, planning to drive 6 hours to get to Vail.  My mom was planning to visit with my Grandma in Denver and I wanted to come down with the boys to see our house and then we were going to drive with Kyle back up to Vail to spend the weekend.   My brother Zach was flying in and meeting his girlfriend to show her around in Denver and then drive her up to Vail.   I am proud to say that despite major car trouble and cell phone failures, we were able to accomplish all of those logistics and we still even loved each other when it was all over.  

 I found joy in the craziness by trying to stay grateful. 

I am grateful for mufflers--because Kyle's fell off last week and we now know what it's like to ride in a car that doesn't have one.  :)  Props to his $10 make-shift repair job to last a few days so we could spend the weekend together while we wait for the parts to be shipped to the mechanic. 

I am grateful for bikes--even though we didn't get to take them to Vail.  As we were leaving Utah, my parents' car was making a huge thumping sound every few minutes.  After a 3 hour delay in when we were planning to leave anyway, we drove it to the mechanic to see what was going on.  After taking off the bikes, the bike rack, and redistributing some weight in the back and the back seat, the thumping was mostly gone.  So, we rode bikes today when we got back. :)

I'm grateful for DVD players.  We have done tons and tons of driving this summer.  We've played games and listened to songs and appreciated nature out the window--and we have let the boys watch a lot of shows that have helped to maintain our sanity. 

I'm grateful that we have a home!  The landlords are still finishing up a few remodeling and repair projects, so it's not quite ready for us to move in yet, but it was so fun to get to go see it and visualize ourselves there and start mapping out which rooms will be used for what.   I'm grateful that Kyle has a job and is making money, and that we are right now saving lots of money so that in a few weeks we can make the big move without racking up the credit card.  I still feel like it's worth it.

I'm grateful for beautiful mountains and fun parks and neat hiking trails and yummy snacks and old fashioned games.  We had so much fun at the condo playing hide and seek with the entire family.  The adults were screaming as we ran for our lives to get to base.  So great.

I love being outside, in nature, removed a bit from man-made stuff and more focused on God's creations.  As we hiked up one of our favorite trails to the waterfall (which, in the winter, is an enchanting snow cave), I found myself looking up.  Looking up at the trees, the sky, the grandeur of the view.  And looking up to praise the One who created it all.  All that looking up made me feel a lot of joy. 

So that's the last week or so in a nutshell.  On the drive back to Utah I was kind of saying to myself, "Wait, why are we driving in this direction?!  We're going the wrong way!!"  But, we've already done our last long goodbye to Kyle, and it will be just a few more weeks and then we will do our last big drive of the summer, our last unpacking of the summer, and our first move-in to a house with a yard and a garage!!   I'm determined to savor the precious parts about this time right now, find as much joy as I possibly can, and then sprint to the finish with a big smile.  Here we go!