Sneezes and Wheezes

Audrey is sick today.
She has a cold and on top of that is cutting 3 teeth. She is drooling like a dog - soaking her shirts, and seems just plain miserable. There is a constant stream of snot running from her little button nose and she is having a hard time resting because she can't breath very well, so she is a little grouchy.

For the first time today, I watched her feelings get hurt.
Owen was playing with his trains and it looked pretty interesting to her so she made her way over to him. As she reached for "Henry" Owen shouted, "NO AUDREY!" She curled her bottom lip down, burst into tears and high tailed it over to me for comfort. It took her a bit to recover. I am sure this is something that we will deal with often, but I guess I wasn't expecting it yet. It was rather sweet.

I think she will be signing soon. We think she does a very laid back version of "all done" and today I think she did "more." I have been anxious for this because she has quite a holler when you aren't moving quite fast enough for her. These signs, among others, were so wonderful in helping the boys communicate before they could talk, but they were signing quite a bit sooner than Audrey. I love their ability to do this (it really is rather amazing) and how much hollering it eliminates!

Mark is in his first full day of classes today. He called me after the first one and he sounded like he had a smile pasted on his face.

I am feeling the effects of waiting. My parents and grandma will be here tomorrow morning. They are leaving tonight after work. I have lots to do, but can't seem to think of anything to do, because I can't wait for them to be here.

Happy Thursday!

Meeting New People

I had a great experience yesterday - I met a new person.
I guess I have done quite a bit of that recently, but this was different.

When Mark was at orientation last Friday he stopped by the area for seminary wives and spoke with a gal there - gave her my name and contact information. That evening Megan called me at home and said she wanted to get together to get to know me a little bit. We decided to meet at the park yesterday. She has a little girl - Noelle - who is just a bit older than Ethan.

I had my first moment of panic right after I hung up. "What have I done?" For some reason there is a small part of me that would rather not meet anyone new. But, how am I supposed to make friends if I don't? Anyway, my second moment of panic was Tuesday morning when the phone rang at 7:45 and it was Megan. I thought she was going to cancel. (Ok, I know this doesn't make sense because panic moment #1 and panic moment #2 are completely opposite, but you know how the heart is - not always rational.) Panic moment #3 came when I was on my way to the park and realized I had given her the wrong directions (why am I giving directions??), have no idea what she looks like or what kind of vehicle she drives and no way of contacting her. I felt sick!

God does care about the details of my life (and my kids too)...
I parked the van and said, "Lord Jesus, I cannot do anything about this. I kind of don't want to meet this gal and I kind of really want to meet this gal. You can make sure she finds this place. Can you please help?" I sat for a moment and then we headed over to the playground. It was down a little path so we had a little walk. As we neared a turn in the path up drives a blue van with the window rolling down and a gal saying, "Are you Lorrie?" Thank you Jesus.

And what a blessing it was, we all had a very nice morning. Ethan and Noelle had a great time playing pirates and ship's captains. It was SO nice to have an adult, mommy conversation. And we found that we had quite a few things in common.

Later in the afternoon, Megan called to give me some directions to a splash pad I was looking for. We ended up talking for about a half hour. She might be meeting us at the splash pad tomorrow and is probably going to help me get together a "curriculum" for Ethan and I to do pre-school at home. She is a teacher in waiting (used to be a teacher before kids, waiting for her youngest to start school so she can teach again). God has already used her to be a blessing to me and my family.

I don't know if Megan and I will become friends or not. I am not too worried about it. I trust that God has already picked out for me the relationships I need to grow and be grown by. As a good friend encouraged us, "the kind of people you want as friends are looking for you too." I am really looking forward to being found.

Resolution: I like meeting new people!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my mom's birthday.

I love my mom more as each day passes. From one year to the next I find that my appreciation for her deepens and my ability to express how grateful I am for her gets harder. She is a special soul, a true supporter and an ever present help in times of trouble! For most of the time in my married life this has been from a distance, but oh how I treasure the times we are near.

I only have to wait two days and she will be near. She is coming to visit for the holiday weekend - along with my my dear dad and my precious grandma (who is visiting in Iowa for a couple months). I can't wait and neither can the rest of the family. Ethan checks in every couple of hours to find out if it is Friday yet. And then we have to talk about the order of the days and what day today is and... you get the picture.

One of the things I am looking forward to is hearing Owen squeal when he sees them. He takes off running and in his highest high pitch says "Pawpaw!", "Yaya!" I can't wait for that. I know they look forward to it too.

Skills

Audrey has new skills...



straws = bubbles from vaporlife and Vimeo.



Official crawler from vaporlife and Vimeo.



Hello, Good-bye, Good-night from vaporlife and Vimeo.

Words of the Day

I thought I would let Owen do the talking today...



Owen Singing from vaporlife and Vimeo.

Owen

Owen has been showing an interest in using the potty since a month or so before we moved from Indiana. We figured it was just the initial spark of interest but were happy to encourage it and still do. During our transition time his interest has ebbed and flowed. He is not at the point where he is taking any initiative on his own unless he has been put to bed. Amazing how quickly they realize that is a way to get up.

Anyway, I have had two situations in the past two days that have made me want one of two things. Either...
1. The potty training fairy waves her wand and Owen is instantly potty trained, OR
2. We forget it altogether and he stays in diapers.

The first was yesterday, I sent Owen to take a potty break and was finishing up something in the kitchen before I headed up to help him. I found him sitting backwards on the potty (This is the easiest way to train boys! It is nearly impossible for them to spray potty all over the place.) raising a cup - the cup we use to drink/rinse our mouths after brushing our teeth - up out of the potty.

Did that sink in...

The cup was dripping - so I knew it had already made it into the potty and the water was a little yellow - so I knew he had been successful in his trip to the potty.

This led me to a few thoughts...
1. Was that his first dip into the potty? Did he take a drink?
2. Has he ever done this before?
I have no way of answering either of these questions.

Then today, similar situation, I ask Owen to come up and use the potty. He began to engage in evasive maneuvers and after a bit of my best mommy tactics he finally made it up to the bathroom. I exited the bathroom to quickly put something in their bedroom and Owen comes out of the bathroom with no diaper on. For reasons I won't go into, this led to a quick swat on the bottom. It was pretty convenient since he was diaper free. My hand felt a little strange when it left his bottom.

Yes, he was covered in poop. And now, so was my hand. No wonder he was so quiet downstairs!

Well, you laugh or scream and I decided to laugh. (Thank you Holy Spirit!)

Is there any better way to play trains than in the buck?

The smell of...

When we first moved into our new home we had the unfortunate realization that our carpet had been thoroughly enjoyed by dogs. There was dog hair, which Audrey helped us find. And the smell made it obvious that they may not have been required to do their business outside. We learned quickly from neighbors that the previous tenant had some mental problems and indeed she had dogs who spent most of their time inside the house. As we addressed this problem with the management company (mc) we work with they seemed to want to work with us, but not necessarily to replace the carpet. After Service Master made 2 trips to clean the carpet and one trip for an "evaluation" Mark was forcefully kind in reminding the mc that this really was not our problem but theirs. Moments after that conversation they called back to say that the owners approved our request for replacement. HALLELUJAH!

So, after 2 rescheduled appointments (argghh!) we got new carpet on Monday and now it smells great in here!

Just to give you an idea of what we were smelling I thought I would post these lovely pictures of the condition on the eroded wood floor. The carpet guy - who is also a certified restoration man - assured me that this was not mold, but damage caused by pet urine. Lovely...

Living room

Dining room

PS - We have learned that "the owners" (as the mc refers to them) are actually the parents of the brokers we work for. Whenever we have an issue that we know will be referred to "the owners" I dare Mark to say, "We need to have the dishwasher serviced, can you ask your dad to send someone out?" We get a little chuckle out of this.

Back to School

And so it begins...
today is orientation at the seminary.
I must admit that I wasn't expecting my first "1st day of school" picture to be of my husband, with not a school bus but a Volkswagen Jetta. But, I do think that my heart will feel much the same when we send Ethan off to school as when I blew Mark a kiss good-bye.

I think I will have more to feel and say about this as our new reality unfolds, but for now the simple reality that he is doing what we felt God invited us to in April '06 is completely amazing. Actually, all that we have experienced over this last year and a half has been part of the invitation. That is a welcome thought because it reminds me of the truth that God is in the journey, He IS the journey, not that He is waiting at the end for us to arrive.

Strange and Wondrous Things

This morning, Ethan crawled into bed with me and within moments I heard the tell-tale sound of him sucking on his fingers (blasted finger sucking!). He fell back asleep! This has never happened in this young man's life. He is our early riser and usually the first words out of his mouth are, "I want some juice." This is not an exaggeration. Yes... I have reminded him EVERY morning for as long as I can remember that this is rather rude... that I would rather at least get a morning grunt or a "Hi Mom" before the demands begin. He spends no time "waking up" - he is on full throttle the moment his eyes open. A picture like this is almost an oxymoron where Ethan is concerned. So this was indeed a special moment to be treasured. And I did...

Update on "Alert"

Here is an update on what we have learned since Monday...

1. The paper that was posted on our door was a part of a money-making "prey on your fear" scam. They wanted you to pay for the information. Our neighbor's daughter is a police officer and she confirmed our suspicion of this.

2. While the website was part of a scam the information is actually true. We were able to find out the information we were looking for on a legitimate website.

3. The person in question lives VERY close to us.

4. Monday night and Tuesday were challenging days. We rode an emotional and spiritual roller coaster. We were afraid, sad, indifferent, moving... we wept, imagined the worst, pondered, evaluated... We spent much time in conversation with each other and our faithful God. He comforted us and "lead us to quiet waters". We did warfare on our own behalf and on behalf of our children. All of this we will continue to do. But, we will rest...our souls will rest. And we are already knowing the peace that passes understanding.

5. One of the greatest invitations we received during this time was from a co-worker of Mark's. He said, "look for the blessing in it." And so we will.

Alert

Ever gotten one of these...

Attention Neighbors

A sex offender has moved into this area!!!
We are asking everyone to become aware!!!
Find out who they are and what their address is!

www.neighborhoodredalert.com

I did.
Today.
It was taped to my front door.
Now what?
Pray.

Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

God, I need you to protect Ethan, Owen and Audrey. I need you to help me love this person even though I don't know who they are because you know them and you love them. I need peace. Thank you for being my loving ally. Thank you for fighting for me and my children. Thank you for every moment of your protection in the past, your present protection and every moment in the future. Thank you for being my God...my Mighty Warrior. My soul finds rest in You alone.

Please pray with me.

Church

We visited the first "church" on our list today.
I put church in quotes because it is not like any church we've experienced. It was terribly, wonderfully different. Here it is...


It was held at Chatfield State Park/Reservoir. The name of the "church" is Adullum - in reference to the cave which David and his mighty men occupied and returned to over and over. It means Refuge. The service this morning was a baptism. It started with brunch - a picnic table spread with contributions from all those in attendance. Then the leader spoke for a few minutes about baptism and into the reservoir we all went - those being baptized further in than those of us who went in ankle deep as a way of symbolizing that we were part of the baptism. When the baptism was over we went swimming (at least the boys did)!

When we got home Ethan said, "I like church!"

Now, to explain what I mean by "terribly, wonderfully"...
It was terrible because it was like an exclamation point on our reality right now. The truth is we don't know anyone. That isn't totally true. We are getting reacquainted with a couple, who is now a family, we met when we lived in the Springs 10 years ago. And we are starting a relationship with Wes and Judy Roberts (you might remember Wes mentioned in Mark's blog!) These are all good, good people, but they have established lives and relationships here in Denver. We may eventually fit into the rhythm of their lives but right now we pretty much do life on our own. Which is part of what made this morning challenging. As we drove up and found a parking spot I felt like I was going to throw up. Mark and I laughed about it and got out of the van! As we approached the area where everyone was congregated Mark said, "It isn't too late. We can just walk right past and pretend we are here to enjoy the beach for the morning." We laughed about this too - of course we wouldn't do this, but it was funny to picture. It was hard to start and maintain conversations with people. I am very "small talk challenged". The whole experience stirred us in some painful ways. But...

It was also wonderful! For many more reasons...
- I was so blessed by the truth that God's people, and therefore the church, are everywhere. Because He is everywhere - at work in the hearts of mankind.

- I love having church in God's chapel - the great outdoors. It was really great to not sit in a pew.

- I was emotional about the baptism of people I don't even know because of the beauty of baptism. It is part of such a big wonderful story - redemption. And I am part of that story - AMAZING love, how can it be?

- My faith in my children's ability to adapt and thrive was bolstered once again. They are amazing. They have rolled with us through this whole process with little resistance (outside of the ordinary). Ethan and Owen jumped right in(literally, into the water) to what we were telling them was church. They just trusted us. I cannot imagine what it must be like for a 4 and 2 year old to be going through this. They are brilliant!

- No matter what our church home will end up being I am blessed to be journeying with an amazing partner. Mark is leading us with strength and humility. He is caring for us physically, emotionally and spiritually. I am humbled by God's gift of him to me. I would not have wanted to be standing next to anyone else in the universe as I went through today!

Something new

We started something new this week. We call it "late night".
Each of the boys have gotten a night to stay up after the other two have been put to bed for a little one-on-two time with Mommy and Daddy. We thought it might be a way to fill their tanks in a different way. Ethan's night was Monday and Owen took his turn tonight. We have had fun both times. Ethan wanted to play a game and we built a train track and ran trains with Owen.

What I have most loved about these times has been the opportunity I have to focus on them as an individual; to observe... admire. I noticed things about each of them that I had the space to appreciate.

When you have boys even carrots are swords - especially if you are a pirate!

Anyone who knows Ethan would know that he can be unteachable - a quality we plead to God about on his behalf. But, while the three of us played our game he was open and eager to learn and play. I found myself experiencing deep stirring emotion as I observed the expressions on his face and the moments when the game made sense to him or he got something right. I think Ethan will carefully weigh what he invests himself in. It will have to be something worthy.

Don't these grapes in his cheeks make him look like mafia?

More swords!! Anything to get them fresh veggies. Right?

Owen is a different story, but somehow a similar experience. He is very different from Ethan, but in our time I experienced such joy in his delight of the trains going around the track. I think he will have a simple love of life. He kept saying "WHEEEEEE" in a high pitched voice. I think he will embrace life!

Work glasses double as goggles

I love my boys more than it is possible to express.
Sometimes it feels like I will never be able to get through to their hearts and I just want to move on to another day and start over... praying with Ethan after some discipline and seeing him shake his head "NO" when I asked God to make him wise because he has listened to advise and accepted instruction ...having to physically move Owen to his room because he would not obey. Other times I feel like I could never let go of the moment I am enjoying with them... watching Owen shuffle down the hall in his big orange hoody towel... seeing the wonder on Ethan's face as he bent down over a bug on the patio and then standing to crush it under the strength of his foot.

I can't wait until next week's late nights and all that I will find to treasure there.

Cookies

I baked today.
Cookies.
It felt good.
Raisin Crunch Cookies.
They are good.
Baking is one of my favorite things to do.
It was nice to do something I enjoy.

Do you think that I am worshiping as I do something I enjoy doing? I have been thinking lately about glory. God's and mine. Do I bring Him the most glory when I am my most glorious? If so, then I worship when I bake. That is cool!
Worship with me...

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. ^[a]

5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob. ^[b]
Selah

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.

Wonders

Yesterday was a day of wonders...

We have been making our best attempt to keep the Sabbath since we have been here. For now, that has meant no work; a break from the list of to do's. We spent Saturday working our tails off and so we were very much looking forward to our Sabbath Day. We were heading to the mountains. A great place of wonder of all kinds, indeed a place we worship! I am growing to see wonder as a way I worship God.

We packed a picnic and headed to a place called "Devil's Head" on a recommendation from a worker at REI. She said it would be a great hike for the kids and enjoyable for us too. There was to be a fantastic overlook of the front range at the end of the trail. Alas, we never saw it. I got car sick.

There was the most "wonder"ful mountain road that took us up and the combination of waiting too long to eat my lunch (we got lost and our mountain picnic turned into a van picnic), moving about in the van to give the kids their lunches, and this amazing zigzagging road left me ill. That was about 1pm. I was able to do my last throwing up in the comfort of my home at around 4:30 - stopping at least a 1/2 a dozen times on the way. I would have just done it in the mountains so Mark and the kids could hike, but during one of my early episodes Ethan forgot to tell us that he needed to use the bathroom and so it became apparent that we needed to head home.

Now for the wonder part of this...
I wonder why I get car sick. I have been this way for as long as I remember but it seems that it gets worse the older I get. I wonder why I have to throw up 7 times, why not just once and be done with it! I wonder what we missed or what we were protected from? Different kind of wonder than our beautiful views/roads! But, wonder none the less.

This was the only picture we took all day!
Mark snapped it on our way down the mountain.

After crashing for a couple hours when we got home I woke up to "I wonder what Mark and the kids are doing." While I slept they had gone the grocery store and dinner was in the pot. I had no interest in food, but I was blessed by my beloved husband. He had made lemonade out of a day full of lemons. He is a gem!

We closed our day with wonder too. We stayed up late to view the Perseids meteor shower so named because the meteors seem to fall from the constellation Perseus.
We pulled our blankets and pillows out onto the grass for some stargazing. We saw about a dozen or so meteors. They predicted it to be quite a show, but because we are in the city our sky isn't very dark. But, it was awe inspiring none the less. Caused me to wonder many things about God and worship once again at what I know of Him and what remains a mystery.

Wonders.

More happening...

More from the day to day...

Market Day:
One thing I have found to be prevalent is Farmer's Markets. I have been to 3 so far. We have enjoyed fresh picked delights of every color. On my way home from the second market, as I smelled the sweet aromas of the vegetables I had bought, I was compelled to spend some time complimenting God on the delightful way he went about all of this fruit and vegetable stuff. I was reveling in all the colors and imagining the tastes. It was fun to enjoy this simple thing with him. I felt that he was delighted with my delight - just like I am with my children.


Chucky Sue:
... is a mouse who was in our house. More specifically, in our stove. Mark startled a mouse that was on our counter and it ran right into the whole where the element goes into the stove. We spent some time trying to find it and making sure it was unable to get out but could not find the mouse. Turns out it was in a little space under the control nobs. And there it would stay until we got a trap. Thankfully, I had no intention of using my stove since it was so hot!


The next morning the boys were thrilled to learn that we had a new pet! Ethan said, "We are going to get Chucky Sue out of there and he can be my pet." I chose my words carefully as I explained that we would not be keeping "Chucky Sue." What kind of name is that? Would anyone else like to have a transcript of their child's thoughts? He doesn't know anyone name Chuck or Sue.

Mark came home that evening with a trap...


...and first thing the next morning we found Chucky Sue had eaten way more peanut butter than a mouse of his (or her?) size should. Ethan wanted to help let the mouse free (Mark had bought a live trap.) into the neighbors yard! The mouse was so scared and ran away so fast that the most we saw of it was about a 1/2 inch of its tail. I am glad our pet days are over for now. Ethan has moved on.



Pickles:
I had decided that I would not try to do my usual summertime canning since we were in such a state of upheaval, but I made an exception for pickles. I know I am crazy, but you would do it to if you had ever eaten these pickles. I first tasted them at a picnic 3 summers ago at our good friends Kristi and Jeanette's house. These two are some of the dearest souls on the planet. They are so generous and giving and have blessed me and my family more times than I can count with their love. I miss them and I can't wait for them to come visit! Anyway, I invited myself to their place for pickle canning the next summer and we are now pickle snobs.

Throughout the process I had to call the canning goddesses (J and K) multiple times to check on some details especially when I ran out of dill and had to find out it my cucumbers would last! What was supposed to be an afternoon of canning turned into 5 days of having my kitchen (which is quite small) overrun with canning supplies and my fridge full of pickle ingredients. But, we are already glad I did it. Two of the jars would not seal even after re-processing - so we get to eat them now instead of waiting for the 1 month curing process. They aren't quite as flavorful, but they are still the best pickles I have ever eaten! Also, I am excited about our "stackers." I decided to do a couple of jars of pickles sliced for hamburgers just like the ones at the store. They turned out great. Thank you God for little things like pickles!

All prepped and ready to go

Sliced and ready to pack

Done!

Audrey:
My darling little girl is doing some new things and plus she is just so cute I thought I would post some recent pictures of her.

PS - I am writing this while waiting for a meteor shower after spending the afternoon throwing up. (More in another post.)

Happenings of the Daily Kind

Most of our time since we got here has been filled with unpacking boxes, trying to find things and getting lost but there have been some highlights that I thought I would share over the next couple posts...

1. We spent our first Sunday, after the kids and I arrived, at Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a favorite spot of ours and we were anxious to return there and take the kids. It wasn't until we were exiting the car at the spot we had chosen to hike that it dawned on me that this was going to be a very different experience than what I remembered from 10 yrs ago. WE HAVE 3 KIDS UNDER 5! I quickly let that sink in. Seems funny to me that I wouldn't have thought of that sooner! Ethan and Owen were thrilled to be cut loose on the trail and Audrey was perfectly happy in her sling close to mama. Mark and I were basking in the reality that we could do this every week if we wanted to and that we were together as a family!





2. We have A LOT of work to do in the yard. We negotiated a break on our rent for August in exchange for some hard labor. We must rule and subdue some major overgrowth and weeds. These are pictures of an area in the back corner and our helpers. They were mostly good at pouring and drinking the iced tea! (1st and last picture are of the same area.)

It would take more time and money than we have to make our back yard a prize winner, but we have made a drastic improvement and will keep working at it as the weather permits. Mark heard that the last couple years there has been snow in September!




3. It has been really hot. 90+ nearly everyday since we arrived. Because we do not have air conditioning we have four fans running nearly all the time. It gets really bad in the late afternoon while the kids are resting, so they strip down all the non-essentials for a cooler rest time. We are thankful for the nearly 30 degree change in temperature in the evenings and the pleasant sounds of the outdoors. It makes it feel like we are camping when it is time to go to bed.

closer to the clouds

I began to think about what I would name my blog as I drove across the country toward our new life. I was in the van with Ethan and Audrey and we followed Mark and Owen in the Jetta. All but our essential worldly possessions (toothbrushes, underwear, etc.) were packed away on a semi-trailer and all that has been "known" was packed away with it as we closed the chapter on our life in Indiana and headed west (to Iowa first and then to Colorado). I say all that has been known, but my favorite "knowns" were right with me: my precious Jesus, my beloved husband, my darling children and the prayers of many whose hearts we will miss and lives we shared.

That was Monday, July 2 and when we reached Iowa I still didn't have my heart set on a good name for my blog. I wanted it to "feel" right, not just be some random name I decided on. I wanted the name to come from what I was living and "knowing".

The kids and I spent 2 1/2 weeks away from Mark. WAAAAAAYYYYYYY too long, but God was so gracious to us - meeting our needs in so many ways during this time...

...Mark was so blessed to be staying with a man, Bryan, he met when he worked at Focus on the Family 10 years ago. Bryan, who now works for Ransomed Heart Ministries, was the first to offer Mark a place to stay when the word was sent that Mark would be traveling west and needing a place to board. He blessed Mark (and therefore me) with his generosity, hospitality, genuineness, and friendship. I think I will get the opportunity to meet Bryan this weekend. I am looking forward to that.

...the rest of us stayed in Waterloo, IA with my family. We were spoiled and treated with the utmost care. I really enjoyed being able to spend the extended time with them. I was particularly blessed by the time I got to spend with my youngest sister, Carrie, and her family the first week we were there while my parents and older sister, Toni, were at my Grandmother's 90th birthday party in Pennsylvania. Having Grandma return with them was a special treat too. It was a rare and wonderful time to be with her those days and she plans on coming to visit with them over Labor Day weekend.

But, all good things must come to an end... so they say. Mark found temporary work and a home with a fenced yard (our only real criteria for the perfect home) and so we set the date to head west. My dad graciously agreed to be my traveling buddy so that Mark could start work. We wanted to be together on our 10th anniversary - July 19th - but decided that the 20th would suit. So, we left Waterloo at 5am.

All this time I pondered a blog name and still nothing that suited. Until we stepped out of the van for the first time in Denver. I immediately felt, physically, like I was closer to the clouds; as if, I was higher in the sky. I said something to my dad about it and later on to Mark. But, it wasn't until after we were here for a couple of days that it began to seem to me that my experience with the clouds was a representation of all that I had been through over that last weeks and the life that I had not yet experienced - different. All the "known" - even how far away from the clouds I had grown accustomed to feeling - was going to be different. It also reminds me that my God, who "rides the clouds", will always be the same for me. What peace and rest there is in the love of my never-changing God.

So, I begin this blog with the hope of sharing my new "known" and the blessed pathways of walking with my Great Guide in this land that is closer to the clouds.

Deuteronomy 3:12
God answered, “I will be with you... you will worship God at this very mountain.”

(I took the picture in the header on our first trip to the mountains.)