Merry Christmas

Today we celebrated one of the highlights of our spiritual lives, it was Jesus' birthday! A day to give gifts on the day that we received the greatest gift of all, a day to celebrate family and friends on the day that makes possible true family and true connections between people, a day to remember our hope, a day to tell the stories that we live by to our children, a day when we celebrate what makes possible true peace on earth and goodwill towards men.

I love the smiles and the joy that go with this day.
I love watching my daughters and the contentment on their faces that comes from knowing how much they are loved, and then their excitement to spread that love they feel to those around them. Three beautiful, unselfish hearts that constantly challenge me to be the same.

The highlight of our Christmas this year was getting to participate in a feast for the homeless at the Warming Center. We live in a world marked by hardship and pain and I don't want to forget that in the midst of the joy that fills our home at this time of year. My desire is to spread that joy, to welcome people into the circle of our laughter who don't have someone to laugh with, to find moments of peace in the midst of it all, and to know and share our hope on this day of all days as we celebrate the reason for our hope. We felt blessed by the presence of so many friends sharing in the joy of our Christmas and we felt blessed to be able to give and to receive in this way. It was a beautiful place to be on Christmas day.

Courtyard Fun

Living in Family Housing with a courtyard full of kids creates quite the communal living experience for us. There are always people around to play with, talk with, fight with, eat with, share all the ups and downs of life with. No one is perfect. We are all faced with our differences and similarities daily and learn to give each other and ourselves a lot of grace.

I love that our girls are growing up in this environment. They have friends from Chile, Vietnam, Belarus, Korea, China, Canada, Libya, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and of course, the US. They learn to share, they learn to problem solve, they are color blind and oblivious to many of the differences in the people around them. They just love their friends and love all the fun they get to have with them. They are inclusive and accepting, kind, generous and full of laughter. What an example to all of us adults who often have such a hard time with the differences between us.

Yesterday we had a spontaneous painting party on our front porch:

So much joyful creativity, sharing of paints and brushes and personal space, complimenting each others pictures, enjoying each others company. I think there was as much paint on most of their bodies by the end as there was on their papers. Especially as they were reaching around each other to dip their brushes in the paint and then carrying a dripping paintbrush back to their spot, or trying to walk and stepping on each other's pictures. We dipped most of them in the laundry room sink before heading them home!



Today the impromptu fun was a pool party:

When pool space got a little tight they got creative with their real estate.

Fun times on hot days. Community living at its best.

Easter Picnic

We had a blustery day here as we celebrated Resurrection Sunday, one of the highlights of our year (you can read some of Mitch's reflections on what Easter means to us here).


The weather seemed to match my mood on this day as it oscillated between dark clouds, snow, and blustery, warm sunshine. The fullness of what it means to me to be human, feeling all the emotions of living daily life on this planet. The joy and hope of Christ's resurrection defining how we seek to live our lives today. The reality of a husband finally getting home at 4:30 in the morning, swamped with work, exhausted, stressed. Three precious, sweet girls with bright, expectant eyes, trusting, loving, knowing, laughing, living in the present moment of this beautiful life we have. Me, taking it all in, struggling to let go of the things I cannot control, feeling the depth of my thankfulness for all that I have been given, loving the now and hating the now, knowing that now is all I have and yet living in the knowledge and hope of what is yet to come, remaining connected and in love with every member of my family. Daily life.


After church our friends the Cuthbertsons came over and we celebrated Resurrection Sunday with them, laughing, feasting, soaking up sunshine, loving on little girls, watching the antics of big kids flying in the wind and making kites, celebrating as one big family.


Ruthie in her Easter outfit playing with an Easter egg:

Josie wanted to show you her egg:

Anna working hard to peel hers:

Does she seem bigger to you? All grown up and cute as a button:

Nora and Ruthie, forever friends:

Josie and Nora running in the wind. These two are a good match for each other:



The colorful picnic spread:


The younger generation served their plates first and found a spot on the picnic blankets:

Then we joined them:

Here's wishing your Easter, too, was full of real life, good times with friends, smiles and laughter, sunshine and not too many dark clouds that keep us grounded in our own humanity.

My Favorite Corner of the House

It's not really a corner, it's a wall. These last two weeks have been tough. It was one of those times when you feel unable to get on top of anything, life gets you down, emotional tensions run high in all directions, you are kept busy with sick kiddos all day, all week, it seems impossible to keep your house clutter free and feeling peaceful. I was feeling pretty low and stressed to the max in all directions.

And my friend Michelle made me this banner:

"love lives here"

Our reminder, even in the tough times, of what it is that keeps us going, of the good that we do have, of so much to be thankful for.

I was inspired to create my own artwork that symbolized our family to grace our wall: And then I cleared that wall of everything else, so these reminders stand out to us of who we are and what we have.

Even if I have been unable to keep the floors or counters or desktops cleared of 'stuff' in the craziness that is our lives, there is a simple space in my home that reminds me of the peace and grace and love that lives here. My favorite corner of the house.

A Crafting Party

Anna loves to craft. She can spend hours at a time with her glue and scissors and paper and yarn and other art supplies just creating. The things she creates are not necessarily things you can hang on the wall nor do they have any utilitarian use to them at all, which is why she has a treasure box. It gives her someplace to put her treasures that she has crafted or other special things she has been given: Here are some more of her creations that she made today, hanging on our art line:So this year for Anna's birthday we decided to have a crafting party. In our home we value making things that we can use that will last out of the materials we have around us. Our crafting party was centered around each child making a 'treasure bag' and then filling it with treasures that they created. I whipped up a bunch of cloth bags, one for each child attending, and sewed a patch on it where they could write their name ('Anna's Treasures' or 'Josie's Treasures'...). Each bag was unique, made of a different material out of my fabric stash, all different sizes. The kids got to choose their bag and then Mitch sewed handles on them of whatever color ribbon they chose. Here are some of the bags on the end of the table, a colorful assortment:

On another table we had set out all the craft supplies we could find. We have been gathering fall treasures for a while now: pine cones, fall leaves, acorns, feathers, sticks... We added those to our other basic craft supplies of paper, felt, ribbon, string, scissors, glue, tape, pipe cleaners, buttons, needles and thread, yarn, crayons, markers, colored pencils and whatever else we had on hand. As each family arrived their child got to choose their bag and then just craft.Each child was unique in their approach to crafting. Some picked up their scissors and just started cutting. Some looked for different objects in their favorite color and then decided what to do with them. Some had a definite idea of what they wanted to make first, found the supplies they needed to make that and set to work.Mitch was the expert seamster attaching handles to each bag as the kids were ready:I loved watching all the kids creating. Each treasure was unique. There was no wrong way of doing it. Their finished products were so colorful and creative! Owls made out of pine cones, felt nests, acorn hats strung together, leaf rubs, leaves glued onto paper, coloring, large creations out of whatever could be found that could be tied or glued on next...Tristin and Sophie gluing fall leaves onto paper:Here are Anna and Josie's finished bags, now empty of treasures that they came home and put into their treasure boxes:

Of course we also had yummy chocolate cupcakes and ice cream! What birthday party would be complete without that?
Happy Birthday Anna! I hope you had a fun party, a party that was uniquely you, surrounded by people that love you who came to celebrate you and join you in doing what you love to do.

Birthday Hike

Last Saturday we went for a hike up Green Mountain, my birthday hike. Our friends Jeremy and Patty were here visiting and went with us. Beautiful day, great company enjoying the stillness of the Fall mountains. Patty:

Jeremy spotted Anna while she climbed up this rock:

Here's the successful climbers again:

Josie showing you some of her 'treasures' that she found:

More Fall treasures:
Hiking along talking:

I had the camera the whole time and was having fun taking pictures. I really was there too, even if this is the only picture I have to prove it:

Anna climbing some more boulders:

Josie attempting to get where her victorious sister is:

Does it smell like vanilla, Anna? A beautiful Ponderosa Pine:

Josie was quite impressive hiking. She rode in the Ergo backpack the first part of the hike but then when the going got steep she wanted down and hiked all the rest of the way up to the top. Here she is hiking along with her Daddy'O:

Anna hiking:
At the top we got to witness the end of a ladybug migration. There were more ladybugs than I had ever seen in one place before, although I have heard this is nothing compared to when the weather was still warmer a month ago. They were in all the crevices of the rocks and literally covering the branches of the trees on top of Green Mountain. Josie is showing you:

Great hike. I loved being out in the mountains. We can see the top of Green Mountain from our front door, but it is a whole different experience being out on the mountain. We live in a city and although we live along the creek, which is quite a green corridor right through the heart of Boulder with plenty of foxes, raccoons, deer, lots of birds and other wildlife, we can still always hear the cars, sirens, voices and other human made sounds. I loved stopping along the way hiking and just listening to the sound of the wind in the tops of the pine trees, a few birds, and hearing nothing else. I also liked getting to spend a whole day with Jeremy and Patty and Mitch and feel grounded in good friendship again.

Last Potluck of the Summer

We've had a wonderful summer here and are finally feeling rejuvenated and enjoying the rhythm of our life after a hectic last year. It's good to be able to say that! Mitch starts classes again on Monday and we'll see how we weather this next transition in our lives. At least we feel like we're starting out from a good place.

We have had a potluck in our courtyard every Thursday this summer which was a fun time of connecting with our neighbors and eating good food together. Once school starts we all hunker down and start to live a different pace of life, but we have enjoyed our undemanding summer together. In honor of it being our last potluck of the summer Mitch and I made homemade ice cream. It's the best ice cream I've ever had.

What happens when a roadie tries mountain biking?

Well, if he is not accustomed to disc brakes, he will hit the front brake too hard, do an endo and end up on the ground. At least that's what happened to this inexperienced mountain biker.

A quick warning: If you are particularly squeamish, you may not want to scroll down to the picture. Chad, you might want to skip this post.

Today was our friend Jon Nienhouse's birthday, so for his birthday a group of friends gathered at the Betasso Preserve up Boulder Canyon. There is a great picnic shelter there where we all had a wonderful meal in a beautiful location. It is also the trailhead for one of the favorite mountain bike rides near Boulder. Jon, being an avid mountain biker, wanted to do a ride with his friends for his birthday, so this was a great spot for it. After dinner three of us: Jon, myself and Sean Prag, left to ride the three mile loop. A short way in I took a tumble and landed on some rocks. I paused to make sure everything felt okay, and kept going. A little further down the trail I realized that I felt something on my arm and expected it was probably blood running down from my elbow, so the next place we stopped I looked at it, and sure enough I had a pretty good gash on my elbow. (Dad, it was pretty reminiscent of when you fell off of the horse in Honduras.) Fortunately Jon is a nurse. I squirted the wound with my water bottle to wash off the dirt and figured I would have Jon look at it when we got back. We finished the ride and arrived back at the picnic shelter where there were three other people besides Jon that were medical professionals of some sort, so I was in pretty good hands. We got it washed off (a fair amount of blood had been running down my arm by this point), and they each took a look at it to see if they thought it needed any further treatment.

To make a long story short: After the party finished up, Jon found a set of sutures in the first aid pack in their van, so they followed us down to our place where he put in three stitches. He didn't have a full suture kit, so he used the tweezers from our Swiss Army Knife, sterilized in a candle flame, and a pair of little scissors he had with him. Here is a picture of Jon finishing up the suturing while I'm lying on the girls' bed:



Anna was very interested in what was happening from the beginning and wanted to watch while they were cleaning it and while Jon was stitching it. Josie was quite bothered by it and had a hard time (I think she must take after her dad). She really didn't want to come near me before the stitches had been put in and it was all done. We got some good time to reconnect and talk about it as she was going to bed, though.

Here is a picture of Jon's wife, Jennifer, reading to the kids while Jon was stitching me up in the other room. The two on the right are their kids, Ellie Grace and Ben. Our friends Michelle and Nora were also here at the time, but Nora just missed being in this picture.


Many thanks to our friends for taking care of us once again. Jon, I don't know if this was how you wanted to spend your birthday--giving somebody stitches after your bike ride, but we are grateful you were willing to make the house call.