Caleb's Corner, Spring 2013

Caleb is also a joy and a delight to me, as is his sister Chloe. :) I thought I'd share a few photos of Caleb from the last few months.

Where did Caleb go.....

Getting warmer...

There he is!!!

Hmm...

There he is again!!!

We had a special family movie night recently where we ate dinner in the living room and watched the Tigger Movie together.

When Caleb sported a green striped polo one Sunday morning, Sean remembered a picture we have from when he himself was around three years old. What do you think?

so cheesy

No more kisses, Daddy!!

We found a snail outside and Caleb was absolutely fascinated. He loves being outside, and we have had some really nice weather of late.

Caleb's Corner (Jan-Feb)

Chloe gets a lot of attention these days... but Caleb is such a joy!!! I want to enjoy him (and blog about him!). He says the greatest, funniest things! Almost daily I think, "I need to write that down," but rarely manage to. Here are a couple examples of cute and/or funny things.

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A few weeks ago we purchased the classic Disney movie Lady and the Tramp. We've watched it with Caleb twice now, and I've seen a couple effects.... 1) During pre-meal prayertime, he asks for "proteck from bad doggies" (and from "bad monkeys," which is related to on of Sean's coworkers scaring Caleb with a gorilla mask a few months ago). 2) He likes to role-play a lot, and has started issuing instructions when we are playing together. One day recently, it was, "You be Butch, Daddy. I'm Lady." He proceeded to refer to Daddy as Butch (the Tramp) throughout dinner, which was hilarious to me. "Thank you, Butch."  "I all done, Butch. Get down, please, Butch?"

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Yesterday, Caleb and his daddy were tossing a soccer ball back and forth while I was sitting nearby. After Caleb threw it, he looked over and said, "Mommy, clap!" (Only it sounded like, "Mommy, cwap!" and I wasn't sure at first if he had said "crap" or "clap.") He knows what he wants, I guess... We are working on learning to not demand things of others...

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Caleb tripped and landed on his bottom. He asked, "Mommy put bandaid on Caleb's bottom?" I had to chuckle.

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"Kwo-wee two old months," instead of "Chloe is two months old."

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And now, some pictures, because pictures are just awesome. :)

chalk time with Daddy... Caleb's quite the artist ;)

at Santa Barbara Zoo-- it was a beautiful (bright) day in January

with our buddy "Cam-wun" (Cameron)

hanging out in the back yard one day... he really wanted to wear that hat

checking out the bbq

he loves hugging and kissing, and even sharing with, his sister Chloe!

our beautiful boy

I'm starting to understand it when people say their kids are growing up way too fast. My kids are growing up way too fast!!! :) I'm loving each new stage, and getting to watch him mature a little more every day. It's incredible. A little scary, too, to teach him now to navigate the world. It feels weighty because we are entrusted with such responsibility to train and instruct and guide Him toward God, though only God can save him. He's learning so much from us, whether intentional or incidental--the whole "caught" vs. "taught" concept. Our kids will pick up what we really believe by how we live, and they will notice whether our actions match what we say we believe. God is refining us all through this process, and I'm so glad He's given us the kids He has, all three of them. :)

Chloe's first month, in pictures

hanging out at home

we went to the park on New Year's Day, and it was freezing!! nice to get outside, though (she's actually inside my jacket!)

our little snow baby: we call her Boo (from Monster's Inc.)

so tiny!

Memaw & Pawpaw, my grandparents, got to meet her at Christmas

Mommy needs to hold her sometimes too!

Chloe and Uncle Mark, my older bro, getting acquainted

Papa loves holding her :)

my old friend Stu meeting Chloe-- we got to hang out with the Hawkes clan, my "second family," and it was most excellent. There are few people more dear to me on this Earth

family photo

Grammy and her grandgirl! (Love my new LightScoop... thanks for the idea, Mal!)

Run!

Today's forecast: 60's and mostly sunny; 100% chance of run in the afternoon.

We did it! Caleb and I went for a run... though I must say he gets the easy end of the deal. :) It was really windy, the kind of wind that snatches the breath out of your throat and causes temporary panic. It was also the type of wind that provides significant resistance! For precisely that reason, I chose to alter my Bullet out-and-back route by turning right instead of going straight down Bullet Road. When it's really windy and you're running outside, you know one half of your run will be pretty much miserable, and the other half will be a breeze (ha). You'll feel like you're flying when the wind is at your back. Well, I didn't want to start out with a miserably slow first half. So we turned right and had a cross-wind, somewhat challenging but not impossible to deal with. It was lovely! Overcast and windy, but not freezing! It was a great time. Here's how it went, in minutes.

1:45 -- starting to feel warmed up, muscles are remembering what they are supposed to do

4:45 -- tired legs, they remember too well!

10:10 -- rounding the final corner for the home stretch

12:45 -- done!

I consider this a smashing success. No collapsing strollers, no injuries, no walking, no tears of defeat. It was good. I am thankful for days like today where things actually go okay.

I'm considering signing up for the Bolder Boulder, supposedly the second-largest race in the US. I thought I saw that stat on the web site, but now I can't find it (it's always good to verify your facts...). This year's race is going to be on May 28, 2012, Memorial Day! That is 96 days from now, plenty of time to work up to a 10k. :) We'll have to see if Sean wants to make it happen. Boulder's a couple hours from here, and we might need to stay there the night before since the race starts first thing in the morning. I think it would be fun! Sean and I did a couple 10k's last summer and it was a great experience each time. We shall see! (No strollers allowed at the BB, so we'll have to figure that out.)

Until next time.... walk in grace!

On grand entrances

Today was going to be the day. Projected high of 48 degrees, plenty warm outside. Energy, motivation, and free time were all mine. Today was the day I was going to start running again!

I have missed running-- the endorphins, the fresh air, the permission to eat more freely (not the least significant benefit, in my mind!). Pregnancy nausea and winter weather had made it all but impossible to run outside, which I vastly prefer to running inside. I have been feeling better recently, and it was such a warm (relatively) day, that I decided I would get down the jogging stroller off its hook in the garage, bundle up Caleb, lace up my running shoes, and go for it. Even if it was destined to be a short jaunt, I was okay with that. My goal was to make it all the way down Bullet Road (about a mile out from our house) and back. If I had to walk partway, and I was pretty certain I would need to, I was okay with that too.

Well, I got as far as the driveway. Caleb was a little red-jacketed Michelin man strapped into the jogger. I had inhaler, phone, and garage clicker in hand. We started walking down our driveway, which boasts a fairly steep slope. I guess I had not securely locked the jogger into place, because it started collapsing as we went down the driveway. I am SO thankful Caleb was not harmed. He just sat there on top as it folded down on itself, probably a little flummoxed that he was so close to the ground. I, however, did not escape without injury. Somehow I managed to whack my shin pretty good on the jogger as I tried to catch it without falling down the hill, hard enough to create a lump and a deep gouge. It didn't bleed much, but as I looked at it I didn't think it would be wise to try and run on it.

I managed to get the jogger upright and locked into place with Caleb still in it, and gingerly conveyed it and my throbbing leg back up the driveway. I took Caleb inside, removed his jackets and hat and shoes moments after putting them all on, and got some ice for my leg. I must admit I cried a little as I sat there holding a towel-covered bag of ice to my leg, mostly from the frustrated hopes of not getting to go outside and run, partly from the pain. Why does everything have to be so difficult? It would be easy to get inordinately upset over this kind of disappointment. I think it drives home the point that there are trials of all shapes and sizes (and outcomes). It might be a miscarriage-- been there, doing that-- it might be a job loss; it might be a broken pencil or a paper cut or a loved one's death or a thwarted plan-of-the-day.

I am so glad God's plans are never thwarted! I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. (Job 42:2) He is the only one who can definitively, authoritatively "say the word" and guarantee that it will happen exactly as He planned it. That is a comforting thought, even with a bruised shin and a disappointing lack-of-run this afternoon. As Sean comforted me, there's always tomorrow! Stay tuned for the next chapter in my up-and-down-and-all-over saga. :)

Glacier Wins Qualifier-Quantity Award

[this is a bit of a retrospective post, sharing one part of our April trip to Alaska]

Touted as "the largest glacier accessible by car in Alaska," Matanuska Glacier was the destination we chose for the last full day we spent in Alaska (waaay back in April!). Ashley and Vaimana, our sister and brother-in-law and lovely hosts during our stay, had to work that day, so Sean and I made a day of it. Ashley so graciously lent us her car and carpooled to base with her hubby. The glacier was located an hour or two away from Eagle River, where they live, and it turned out to be such a rewarding excursion. I'm so glad we went! Such a unique landmark of the area, and not a geographical feature either of us has ever visited (or seen) before. I'm pretty sure there aren't any glaciers in Colorado.... or Hawaii or California, for that matter!


Here we are at a viewpoint along the way, before we actually arrived at the glacier

here's a group of people....

and here's some perspective: see the little people in the left corner? Front and center, with all the crinkly outcroppings, is THE GLACIER. :)

Gorgeous! I think we took this photo not far from where we parked (there's a bumpy road a few miles past the gift shop that leads to the "trailhead").

It was a pretty awesome day. We had a great talk in the car, I remember, and it was an interesting experience once we arrived at the little guest house/ gift shop. We discovered, after the proprietor looked us up and down and asked if that's what we were planning on wearing, that we weren't exactly dressed for the activity, me in casual canvas flats, denim capris, and a light sweater; Sean in shorts and tennis shoes. Turns out the "path" to get to the glacier was an indistinct trail marked by cones (you couldn't even call it a trail some of the time; there was no visible path), and the landscape reminded me not a little of Sam and Frodo's trek to Mordor, complete with black mud and barren wastelands. :) It wasn't that bad, but because of the seasonal change-- lots of stuff melting-- the ground was pretty unstable at times. There were alternating areas of mud, icy slush, rocks, gravel, ice slabs, hard-packed path, crunchy ice, mini rivers to cross, you name it. Thankfully.... before we set out, the guy at the gift shop let me borrow some galoshes, and even socks! I would NOT have made it very far without them, at least without making a mess of my clothes and shoes.

See the path laid out by the cones? Yeah, neither did we. It was kind of like a scavenger hunt, or a clue-caper. Where's the next cone???

Awesome day, not too cold, beautifully unique scenery, and spent-- of course-- with my very best friend. :)

Camping!

On Memorial Day, we went camping. As in.... tent camping. As in... no toilets, water, or even numbered campsites. :) It was a blast! We did a little research online before taking off for a destination not-quite-known. We also prayed for safety, since we'd be out in the boonies should anything happen to the six-months-pregnant wife (nothing did, praise God!). Sean packed all the food and gear while I sewed new rank on his flightsuit (no pressure...), then we were off!

We ended up finding a beautiful reservoir in the mountains about 15 miles past the Broadmoor hotel (remember that location?). People were fishing at different spots around the perimeter, including a 10-member family that piled out of an extended-cab pickup (at least five kids). Still not sure about that one...

We picked a place, Sean cleared some ground, we set up the tent, then we chilled out with our toes in the water as we soaked up the sun! It was incredibly refreshing. I only had to work a little bit at being okay with doing nothing but sit there. It's good to learn how to slow yourself down and put away the to-do list for once. We tend to not notice God's creation when we are so consumed with being productive or competent or "accomplishing much." We had a really good conversation around our little fire, and it was good to get away.


We had a great time, even though the ground under our tent was neither level nor soft. We survived despite very little sleep (and not much comfort), and came home and took a shower and a nap. Eight hours after arriving back home, we were dressed up and at the Colorado Springs Sky Sox banquet hall for Sean's promotion ceremony to 1st Lieutenant. Interesting venue (I felt extremely overdressed waiting in line with people in shorts and sneakers) but it was kind of cool to have an "event" to go along with the ceremony, and not just of the cake-and-punch variety. It was a lot of fun, and I am so proud of my handsome husband!

Red Rock Canyon Hike

I feel like the luckiest (ok, most blessed) woman alive. We live in a beautiful place, and I get to be a wife to a wonderful man. We absolutely love being married to each other, and I still occasionally get this guilty feeling like somehow we're getting away with something sneaky and someone's going to find out and take it away. Can we really be independent adults who have their own house and life together? Do I really get to spend each day with my best friend? It's incredible and surreal (though not perfect, of course).

And yes, we're still newlyweds, but I do believe God created marriage as a "very good" thing. It was not good for the man to be alone. I hate being alone. God specially created a counterpart, a helper for the man. Companionship is amazing and it is such a gift to be with a likeminded person. Sin taints that relationship, of course, as it does all things that God made. But there can still be some very sweet moments on the earth because God is good and there are significant traces of His good design everywhere.

Here are some photos from a hike we went on the other day (ok, May 17). It was raining a bit on the way as we drove, but we decided to try anyway, and I'm glad we did. It was barely sprinkling as we set out, but didn't feel cold at all. I even worked up a little sweat, and it felt so good to stretch our muscles. The sun came out as we sat on a big rock to eat our snack, and we enjoyed the refreshing beauty of Creation, along with the fresh scent of rain-sprinkled earth.

In the distance is Garden of the Gods, a fairly famous park of red-rock formations

Me and my best friend  :)
(a little secret: my grin gets a little crooked when I am really happy)

Another reminiscing post: Big Sur

The last weekend in March 2009 was a momentous one! We (our group) planned a trip to Monterey/Seaside to participate in the BIG SUR MUD RUN, a five-mile trek through sand and trails and paved road, including pushups and wall obstacles and soldiers yelling at you, an annual event sponsored by the Army. Starting and finishing at CSU Monterey Bay, it was an amazing course!! Lots of energy all around, thousands of people, even a few pirate costumes. :) One of the best experiences ever. Sean and Travis, one of our friends, won in their category (20's military male). Doesn't surprise me; they are pretty studly. I was in the heat prior to theirs, and was hoping they wouldn't catch me too quickly. It was toward the end, but they did catch me, even with a ten-minute head start! I hate the feeling of being chased, and would much rather set my sights on people to pass. But I was definitely happy and proud that they won! I was surprised how yucky I felt only a mile or two into it, even though I'd been training harder, and I actually stopped to walk a few times. Early-morning starts are not the best for my body. But it was a very worthwhile experience nonetheless, and I'm very glad I did it. We were all quite muddy by the end!
The collage below displays pictures from our drive back along Hwy 1, a famously-scenic route along California's coastline. Hopefully I will find pictures of the mud run itself to post soon! Now that we don't live in the Golden State, I am extra thankful we did things like this to enjoy the beauty God has established there.

Montana De Oro (Mountain of Gold)

One of our favorite places to hike or camp, Montana de Oro State Park is absolutely incredible. We love that place so much, we did our engagement photos there! On this occasion in March '09, Josh's mom was visiting from Texas and a bunch of us hiked some trails and took some photos. It's really spectacular when you are able to start out at the beach with awesome rocky outcroppings, then ascend 1400 feet to the top of Valencia Peak (bottom row, second from right), through flower-strewn paths rustling with lizards and birds, all the while taking breaks to contemplate the vastness (and the bright blue-ness) of the ocean. Absolutely beautiful day, and awesome memories with our dear friends.

Yesterday Sean and I were marveling at how quickly we made friends in Santa Maria. And what a quality group of people too! We did Bible study AND fun stuff like barbeques and hikes and camping. We really cherish that season and know it's a rare gift we were given. How often do you fall in with a group of people and feel at home right away? How often are you able to share so much of life with people you just met? They really became like a family, and we love 'em and miss 'em.

Fox Run Regional Park

We have discovered a lovely park just three miles from our current home, called Fox Run Regional Park. Although we didn't see any foxes, we did enjoy some fantastic weather with just enough sun to keep us from feeling too chilly, and gorgeous surroundings to fill our eyes. Lots of pretty trees and cool trails. We even spied some tracks, both of animals and cross-country skis. We happened upon a picnic table in a clearing and decided to come back in a few months and have a meal there-- when the table's not covered in snow! It was a lovely day, and we were grateful for the opportunity to get out, move our legs a little, and spend time together.

Recent life

Our front-yard view on a nice, crisp morning

 

This was too cool-- my car was covered in frost one morning so I had to take a picture. Waking up to a sparkly frozen world is still a novelty for this CA girl! I am learning to leave the house five minutes earlier than normal so I can scrape the ice off my windows and still be on time. :)

Making spaghetti! I have a strange penchant for taking pictures of meals we make, dunno why. I am infatuated with cooking and love to share the everyday stuff that makes up our life.

The moon was huge the other night! That day it was supposedly the closest it will be to Earth in all of 2010, so it was amazing. Picture doesn't do it justice, of course. Sean called me on his way home from work and said, you have to go outside and look at the moon! At that moment I was boiling noodles, frying Italian sausages, and making a white sauce on the stove and didn't want to leave it as it was thickening, but I went outside anyway and took some photos. Since I turned the burners off, the sauce ended up being super thick (or maybe I added too much flour) but Sean still said it was really good. I am really critical of myself, and almost always think I should tweak the things I make, even just a little. But he's right: they are still edible, and still really good, even if they are not always out-of-this-world fantastic.

That's our little corner of the world this past week or so. Until next time!