Honoring veterans

I've spoken in the past about my personal Memorial Day memories...and about my goals to teach boys more about the history and purpose of the holiday. And I know that Memorial Day is to honor those who died in service, and I have such respect and gratitude for all of those people. Today, though, I'd like to just share family photos I've found of relatives who have served, even though most of them did not die during active duty. (The first two are the ones I don't know about. The rest I know did not die during active duty.) For about half of them, I only have the pictures and a name or date. I wish I had more of their stories.

First up is this picture that says it's a relative of my mom's mom (James Waterman) after the Civil War:

And, this is a relative of my mom's mom (Chester "Chuck" Robertson) during WWII: 

And my mom's aunt (Edith "Fern" McKie Robertson) during WWII:

(I don't remember exactly when she died, but I know that I met and spent time with Aunt Fern and that my gram loved her sister dearly.)

And this is Nathan's dad's dad (Al Probst) during WWII:

Grandpa Al was able to meet and enjoy all of my boys before he passed in 2009, which makes me happy. He was such a joyful and kind man.

And here's my dad's uncle (Jack Smith) in France during WWII:

And that same uncle a year later:

I never met him, but I've heard stories about my dad's uncle. After my dad's mom died (when my dad was 5), uncle Jack helped my grandpa raise his eight kids.

And this is my mom's older half-brother (Gilbert Duran) in Vietnam:

Again, great respect for all of those men and women of the armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and for our freedom. Thanks, too, to all who served (including family service members I know I'm probably missing since I don't have pictures). I'll probably share this post again on Veteran's Day but felt these pictures and people deserved to be shared today also. 

Steamboat Springs

Good morning! After Asher's graduation last weekend, we headed to Steamboat Springs for the week to celebrate the end of a very long, odd school year with some downtime. Nathan's mom met us there and was able to hang out with us. The time seemed to fly by! We're back now, so time to share some pictures...

We all arrived on Monday afternoon and just had a quiet evening of some visiting and getting groceries for the week. (We had two units, each with its own kitchen and all.) Tuesday was a similarly lazy day...Noah had an online summer class in the morning, we enjoyed lunch outside at Wild Plum Grocers, and we played games on the balcony until it got too chilly and we headed to our separate units. (With both Nancy and Micah unvaccinated, our visiting was all outdoors.) 

On Wednesday, we went white water rafting for the first time ever. As a compromise between two boys who were wanting more adventure and those of us who were comfortable just experiencing rafting, we signed up for an afternoon session on the Elk River (class III). We went through Bucking Rainbow Outfitters and were quite happy with our time. Our guide, Chuck, was fantastic and entertaining and thought we did a great job as a rafting crew.

All in all, we had a lovely time...staying warmer than we anticipated. Plus, no one fell in the water! (We had wetsuits and splash jackets and neoprene booties given that the water was snow just hours before, lol.) Nancy was our photo crew...catching some while we were prepping on land and also driving alongside the river and snapping some shots. (The bottom right photo was taken by our guide during a calmer section.)

After that, we headed back to our unit and actually hit the pool and hot tub since we were already in swimsuits. Dinner was in town at Salt & Lime (yum!!) and we managed not to blow away on the upstairs patio. :)

Thursday, we started earlier in the day and went to Fish Creek Falls to hike. Having done the short, easier hikes in years past all together, we opted for the longer trail to the second falls. It's about 4.7 miles roundtrip, with an elevation gain of almost 1500 feet. (Yeah, it's rated as "hard.") Partially up the trail, we decided to separate and half of our group headed back down and back to the units. Asher, Nathan and I continued on to the second falls and met the rest back at the units for a late lunch.

I'm particularly thankful that I made everyone take a group picture at the start of the hike...that I'm apparently in better shape than years past (when I can definitely remember having trouble with my knees or legs doing hikes like this)...and that I have new hiking boots that did a wonderful job...

Yes, this is one of my hiking boots at the second falls. Noah and Micah were joking around and gave us a list of things they wanted us to take pictures of when we reached the falls and one of them was a photo of my shoe, off my foot, as a portrait in front of the falls. (Yes, they were that specific, lol.) In any case, thankful for the support and stability they offered, so happy to have this portrait. ;) 

After all that, we ate and then attempted to go play some mini golf at the place we've visited the other two times we've been to Steamboat (in 2009 and 2014) only to discover that they don't open until Memorial Day. Sad. The boys then opted to head back to the unit while Nathan, Nancy and I visited the Botanical Gardens for a bit, with Nancy getting some ideas for her new landscaping. More games that evening and Friday morning before Nancy had to get on the road after lunch. 

We spent the rest of Friday vegging and then grabbing dinner at Back Door Grill (upon the recommendation of our rafting guide). Asher and Micah tried the "Dirty Harry"...voted top 10 in the country according to the menu. It's peanut butter, fried egg, bacon, hashbrown, cheddar and patty on a glazed donut with powdered sugar. Yes, really. 

(Asher had his with chicken instead of beef, and they both agreed that the burgers were probably not in the top ten in the country but were definitely interesting.) And then we packed up and headed out Saturday after stopping for lunch at Hypnotic Chicken because it caught our eye. This sign was up as we walked inside to order. :) 

Made it home Saturday evening and unloaded and unpacked. Whew. And now we're sorting out what the summer's going to look like...

Graduation Day!

Asher graduated today! 

Having learned a little something from Noah's graduation, we made sure to take pictures *before* the ceremony, when spirits were higher and cooperation was more likely. ;) I also pinned Asher's cords to his robe so as not to lose them like Noah did. And we had to cut the back of Asher's cap altogether to get it to fit on his head. 

So. These pictures were taken before the ceremony. Then we left Noah and Micah at home and headed to the event. (Only two guests were allowed per graduate.) Brothers watched the livestream of the ceremony and preferred that. :) I *think* you can see the recording of the ceremony here if you're interested. 

Here's inside the ceremony. Nathan and I ended up in a back corner, which turned out okay because it meant I could stand on my chair, lol. 

The graduates were in spaced out chairs in the middle, with guest on either side. Asher actually ended up on an end, so I was able to get a decent shot of him and see him during the ceremony...

(Yes, that's obviously from closer than the back corner where I was standing on the chair. During parts of the ceremony, I sat with a friend who had an extra seat and was closer to the "aisle" where Asher was. It was lovely sharing the event with her and catching up.)

All in all, the ceremony actually went really well. We enjoyed the speakers and the overall mood of celebration and resilience and pride. Asher's class had 233 graduates...who earned a total of 13,094 college credits (for FREE!), 151 associate degrees, and 88 certificates. The gold cords Asher's wearing signify those graduating Summa Cum Laude (4.2-5.0 weighted GPA)...there were 90 in the class. The silver medallion he's wearing was for having earned his Postsecondary Workforce Readiness Endorsed Diploma...there were 24 in the class. Asher also graduated with High Honors, having earned 60+ college credits and/or an Associate Degree. (There were 153 High Honors graduates.)

So very thankful for this program and so very proud of our boy!

A little sad to not have had more of a celebration right now but looking forward to summer and celebrating throughout in smaller groups. Also, I compiled a collection of videos from friends and family wishing Asher congrats or sharing a favorite memory or giving some advice...so he was able to watch that today and know that people were thinking of him. :) To all those who contributed, many, many thanks!

Four on Friday

Just a quick post with some happy things...

1. Micah got his first Pfizer vaccine shot yesterday!! He'd been closely monitoring the approval and recommendation process for months, as he's quite anxious to socialize even more and waiting until his 16th birthday seemed too far away. (It's in about 10 weeks.) Given his autoimmune stuff, he's now off his meds for a week in the hopes that the vaccine can work with his immune system without interference from his immunosuppressants. Fingers crossed that the arthritis doesn't flare up as a result.

(I'd been in contact with his rheumatologist for the past week verifying the plan about meds and such as we anticipated the approval for 12-15 year olds. Micah wanted to be sure to be ready to go as soon as he was allowed to get the shot, and the mass vaccine site at The Ranch opened up appointments yesterday morning.)

(He'll do the same thing after the second shot and then we'll also do an antibody test to confirm whether the vaccine worked for him.)

2. I actually earned the right to wear this shirt yesterday, lol. 

Okay, I've been running once or twice a week for awhile now but this was the first time I remembered I had this shirt. ;) For the record, I still don't really like running, lol. But I understand that it's good for me. Also, I sprained my wrist back around Easter so running works while I can't lift weights or climb. (It didn't heal for a month while I continued using it...finally went to get it checked a couple weeks ago and was told officially to stop using it if I want it to heal. At least, though, they verified that it's not broken or anything, so that's something.)

3. Noah finished his finals yesterday so now all of my guys are officially done with the 2020-21 school year. Woohoo! Also, whew! So incredibly proud of them for surviving this crazy year and managing to maintain their high academic levels throughout. They each had some different challenges but persevered. Looking forward to a more normal school year starting in the fall, as all three boys' schools have stated that they'll be in-person.

(Actually, though, one of Micah's classes will still be online, but that's great for us because it's only offered through the Front Range Community College campus in Boulder. So this saves having to drive the hour to Boulder twice a week. Yay!)

4. We've currently got this sign in our front yard:

The school provided them and Asher thinks it's weird, but I like it. :) And, for those who would like to follow along, here's the link to watch his livestreamed graduation ceremony on Sunday!

Thankful Throwback Thursday

This week's Thankful Thursday is also a Throwback Thursday. When I sent out Asher's graduation announcements, since we're not doing a party where I can display bunches of pictures of the boy, I included an extra card with pictures. It looked like this:

Click on it to make it bigger so you can read it. 

And then this was on the reverse side:

Just a bunch of pictures of my boy over the years. :)

So very thankful for this kid and the many adventures we've had over the years.