Thankful Thursday

Last Thankful Thursday for August. :) Here's my list today...

1. Friends who fly. Last Saturday, Nathan got to go for a flight with my friend Dave (from boot camp). They saw the Flatirons and Red Rocks and a warehouse fire in Denver, lol. Nathan had a fantastic time and took some great photos...

So thankful for Dave and that we were able to make this happen!

2. Time together. Also last weekend, Asher was home from UNC and we enjoyed some family game time (sans Micah). Since we had even numbers, we tried the team play option for 7Wonders...

It was actually really educational for me...working in teams gave me better insight into how others were making their decisions for play. I appreciate that our years of playing games with boys (through homeschooling and otherwise) has led us to moments like this.

3. Opportunities for adventure. While we were playing games and such, Micah went outdoor bouldering with friends...

I'm glad that Colorado has so many opportunities for adventures and that Micah enjoys taking advantage of them.

(By the way, I finally worked out the insurance and specialty pharmacy hoops and have his new medication for him, but he hasn't started it yet. Thankful that the emergency meds were working well enough that he was able to go hiking and climbing last weekend.)

4. Quick trip to Boulder. Last Sunday, Noah and I made a quick trip down to Boulder to bring Micah his passport for some employment paperwork. Yup, Micah got himself a part time job! So...Noah and I drove down, Noah got a quick tour of Micah's new place (he was the only one who hadn't been there yet), we took Micah to lunch downtown, and then he walked the block or so to his new job to fill out paperwork. (His first official day will be tomorrow.) Along the way, Noah and I saw this quote on a building...

Not only do I appreciate the quote, but I found it awesome that Dylan was quoted right alongside Aristotle and others. ;) Proud of Micah for working hard to get this new job and also thankful that Boulder isn't too far away...for when we forget to send things like passports. 

5. Arborists. Earlier this month, we had an arborist out to look at our Aspens in the front yard. He confirmed that the south tree (they're three separate trees, though they look like they're part of a single tree) was dead and needed removing before falling into the pine tree and fence. (It was actually starting to rot at the base. Bleh.) We'll admit that we hadn't really been paying attention. ;) Apparently, the lean of that tree has been getting worse and worse over the years...

Since we're getting ready to have a new tree planted in the front yard next month (to replace the one we planted a couple years ago that died, sadly), we figured it made sense to check if the Aspen needed removing and, if so, if that was better done before we have the new tree installed. Turns out, yes, it did definitely need removing and doing so would be easier before planting the new tree. (We also talked to the arborist about the remaining two Aspens. All of the other Aspens in our neighborhood planted around the same time have been removed already so we weren't sure if it made sense to just take them all out while getting that leaning one. We're hoping, though, that ours have another few years in them. Fingers crossed!)

So, we had a great chat with the arborist to figure out Aspen removal plans. He also was enthusiastic about our choice of new tree for the front yard and had tips for that. And then he and his team were able to come out earlier this week and carefully remove that south Aspen and clean up some of the dead branches in the remaining Aspens. It looks good...

Thankful for knowledgeable people to talk to!

Okay, that's my list for today. Happy end of August to you all...hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend!