Thankful Thursday

Wow. October flew by, didn't it? Feeling extra thankful and happy today (could have something to do with the extra sugar in my house right now, lol?)...so, here are some things I'm thankful for...

1. The inventor of chai. I'm not a pumpkin spice person (and I don't drink coffee), but I love me a good chai in the fall. I usually get my chai made with coconut milk but had one a couple weeks ago made with spiced apple cider...um...yummmmm. :P

2. The weather last Saturday. Noah, Asher and I volunteered with Habitat again last Saturday. We got to help put on a roof...which was something we hadn't done before and was pretty fun. I'm bummed I neglected to take any pictures! The day started out overcast but ended up sunny and gorgeous (highs in the 70s). At the end of the day, we all helped cover materials with tarps to protect things from the snow that came Sunday through Tuesday. 

3. Zenana Outfitters. I looked online but can't find any pictures. :( But, I bought this awesome oversized fuzzy hoodie by Zenana Outfitters recently (found it at a fun shop in Old Town) and it's been perfect for the chilly days this week. It's like wearing a blanket!

4. Reg. You might remember that we named our most recent vehicle Reg. This week...despite the unanticipated expenses and complications of getting him, paying registration and such, getting the brakes replaced and getting the tires replaced...I'm so glad to have him. :) Having a 4WD vehicle with brand new mountain-rated tires is good and gives us peace of mind when Asher's out on the roads. 

5. CEC calling the night before. Even though *we* were fine on the roads this week, we know many others were less confident. So, it was fine with us when the boys' charter school declared a snow day yesterday. Better still, we were thankful that the school decided that the night before and sent out word (via email, text and calls)...so much nicer than waiting and learning of the decision early the morning of the snow day. 

6. Being almost done with our insurance claim from July. So. After July's hail storm and having the insurance adjuster out, we decided to have two sides of the exterior of the house repainted and all of the gutters replaced. It took until recently to get on the schedule (lots of hail storm claims so packed schedules). But, the painting is now done completely and the gutters are 98% done. (They would have finished Monday but it was snowing.) Will get that finished up soon hopefully and get paperwork submitted and be thrilled to be done. Whew!

7. How cooperative Micah is when shopping. The recent snow storm revealed that Micah lacked waterproof shoes/boots, gloves, wool socks and a coat suitable for the weather. Yeah. Boy just keeps growing. ;P Fortunately, of my three boys, Micah's the most cooperative when shopping. (Which also works out well since he's one who truly needs to try certain things on...like shoes.) So, during yesterday's snow day, I took Micah and he tried on at least a dozen pairs of shoes, and we finally found some that worked (and were even on sale!). Yay! We also found socks and gloves, but the boy stubbornly refused my offer of a coat...insisting that his current jacket is warm enough. Boys.

8. The decision not to buy the inflatable Halloween dragon I wanted. Okay, it wasn't really a decision. I couldn't find it in stock anywhere nearby, lol. It was a 9' inflatable Halloween dragon with wings that flapped and it was on clearance. It would have been awesome! But. Our neighbor across the street did this:

So, my lone dragon would have been sad. Guess it's a good thing I couldn't find one, lol.

9. Halloween pictures. I could be sad about the fact that this is the first year I haven't done any costume shopping/making since having kids. Apparently, my boys have all outgrown trick or treating. Sigh. Instead, though, I'll be happy looking at everyone else's Halloween pictures and this collage I made of our costumes over the years...

Yeah, apparently we reused costumes aplenty when the boys were younger, lol. (And, for the record, we did dress Noah up in 2002 in that Winnie the Pooh costume that Asher's wearing in 2003, but I didn't have a digital camera then, lol.)

Okay, better go finish things up before the trick or treaters start. If you're in the area...we're the good house that's giving out full size candy bars...stop by! :) 

Thankful Thursday

Yup, it's late in the day, but it's still Thursday, lol. So, aside from my awesome girls' weekend...and here's one more picture just because...

...here are five quick things I'm thankful for right now...

1. Date nights. When the boys were younger, we didn't manage date nights very often (though we did have a lovely neighbor who volunteered to watch them once a month or so to let us go out...which we didn't take advantage of often enough, lol). Now that they're older, though, we've been doing a pretty good job of making time for us once a week. Sometimes it's dinner and a movie...sometimes it's shopping together...sometimes it's a play and dinner...sometimes it's just to go for a drive. Regardless, it's the time together that's important along with the fact that we make it a priority. Yay, us!

2. Neighbors. Speaking of neighbors, I love that we know ours. We still live next door to that lovely neighbor and the boys still know that theirs is a safe house to go to in emergencies. Our neighborhood organizes events like summer get to know you gatherings and classes on using fire extinguishers and how to do CPR and the ins and outs of xeriscaping. I say hi to people on the way to get the mail and know that my neighbors will bring my mail to me if misdelivered. Yup. Just generally very happy with my neighbors and our neighborhood. :)

3. The fact that our boys are older. While Nathan was in London last weekish, I was reminded of how glad I am that boys are older now. It was so much easier holding down the fort on my own with mostly self-sufficient kids rather than having to mind small beings, lol. Of course I love babies and toddlers (and am happy to watch them for my friends and family!)...but I'm pretty dang good with having three teenagers right now. 

4. Fort Collins. I had another Climate Action Plan Community Advisory Committee meeting today and again came away just so happy to live in Fort Collins. It's not perfect, obviously, but I so appreciate the work the city is doing to strive for improvement...the level of dedication and planning and consideration. 

5. Heated seats. Because sometimes it's chilly. ;) 

Reunion!

So...last weekend I had a fabulous fall break reunion with girlfriends from college. These are women I've known since 1993 when we all lived in the same freshman dorm hall at Whitworth (well, one of them I've known since we were four, lol). After the dorms, most of us lived together in apartments also before we all graduated and moved on. We've mostly been at/in each others' weddings (barring snow storms and obligations across the country)...have celebrated the births of our children...have been there when two went through divorces. These are the women who have been there as we've all become adults. :) 

Here's one of the earliest photos of all five of us together (taken in 1995 in Spokane's Riverfront Park during college)...

And here's one from the last time all five of us managed to get together...

That one was taken in 2003 at Elitches in Denver. (We actually got together a number of times between 1995 and 2003...but then we had kids, lol. We still got together, but not all five at once.) So, sixteen years was quite long enough! Here, then, is the most recent shot of us altogether...

(Taken October 20, 2019 on a VERY windy day in Estes Park.)

Three of us live here in Colorado so the other two flew in from Texas and Washington. We started with pedicures in Denver then drove up to Estes Park and reminisced over photo albums I'd put together of our gatherings over the years. Saturday, we did lunch (complete with mimosas) and headed into Rocky Mountain National Park...ending the day warming up in our lodgings and playing hilarious games and visiting even more. Sunday was for shopping in the wind and seeing elk just off the side of the road and dinner out and more visiting. Monday we loaded up and I dropped one friend at her place before taking the other two to the airport. 

Here are some of the more random photos...

That bottom left photo is on the shuttle heading back down from the Bear Lake trailhead. We did the Bear Lake loop to start when we got up there...

...and then decided we may as well do another hike and went to Alberta Falls from the same trailhead...

Yes, we took loads of pictures on Saturday. We utilized Molly's selfie talents, my selfie stick and the kindness of strangers, lol. We were hoping for some end of the season bursts of fall color but mostly just got chilly weather, lol. It was fabulous, though, to catch up and spend the time together!

And that was our reunion weekend. :) So blessed to have these women in my life! And, we're determined not to let another 16 years go by before we all get together again. ;)

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday, y'all!

1. The DMV. Surprisingly, yes. I'm thankful for the DMV today. We've had a couple of incidents now where Micah's school paperwork has run into trouble with someone else already using his social security number. This latest time, I was told that they could verify his social security number through the DMV (since they require proof of that for licenses and such). We couldn't take advantage of that since Micah isn't old enough to currently have a permit or license. Soooo. This morning I took Micah to the DMV to get a state issued ID (which also requires proof of social security number and, thus, gets him in the system). We were in and out in less than 20 minutes--very professional and helpful service. Sweet.

(In case you're wondering, too, I was able to get his paperwork sorted out in all of the situations, though it was a bit of a pain. Hoping that having the ability to verify through thd DMV makes it easier in case it happens again.)

2. Typhoid vaccine pills. We're planning another out of the country family vacation and have been slowly getting all of our required/recommended immunizations up to date. One of the things we all needed is the typhoid vaccine. We opted for the oral vaccine instead of the injection and I finished my series last week...woohoo! (It's been a bit of a production with travel consult appointments required for Nathan, Noah and me and additional shots for Nathan and me. Asher, at least, had everything taken care of before he went to Costa Rica in June. We're down to just Nathan finishing up his series. Whew.)

3. Overcoming fears. Last weekend, friends from boot camp met Micah and me at Ascent to climb. It was the first time for some of them (or the first time in a long time) and a good reminder for me of how far I've come since the end of May when I started going with Micah. We had a great time and they talked me into using the auto belays...something that I'd avoided since the first time Micah made me try it last spring. I hate the falling feeling when you first let go. I *know* it will catch me (I watched it a number of times before trying it, myself) but I hated it enough that I hadn't tried it again in months, opting to get belay certified instead so Micah and I could belay each other--which doesn't have the same lurching feeling. But. Last weekend, I did it!

Thankful for these lovely ladies for pushing me outside my comfort zone!

4. Fall break. CEC is officially on fall break today and tomorrow, and Asher and Micah are glad...as there have been a number of midterms and papers and such leading up to this. To celebrate, after the visit to the DMV, the three of us went to Ascent to do some climbing and then go out to lunch. 

Look at those handsome boys of mine! It was a nice start to the long weekend. :) And, hey, I used the auto belays again! It still isn't my favorite thing, but I'm so glad to now have that option for times when Micah isn't available to belay me. Climbing ropes works different skills and muscles than just bouldering, so it's good for me to mix it up some.

5. Nathan's job. Nathan's been in London this past week meeting with numerous business clients. I don't say it often enough, but I'm so incredibly thankful for him and for his job. I'm grateful for the work that continues to challenge Nathan and help him grow...for the reliable and good income that makes it possible to support our family and has allowed me to stay home with the boys. Love him!

(Just one of the shots from last weekend's leaf pictures.)

Okay, off to enjoy the rest of fall break!

Leaf picture tradition

Okay. I was going to wait until Thursday to include this in things I'm thankful for. But I can't wait! :)

So, on Saturday, I decided to seize the day and take my annual leaf pictures. Like last year, last week's snow and freezing temperatures caused most of the leaves to go all ugly and fall off before they had a chance to turn beautiful fall colors. Worried that I might not get another chance, then, I took advantage of having Noah home for the afternoon and stopped at a local park to find some leaves... 

We started with some traditional jumping photos. To get better cooperation, I told them all that the person who jumped the least high would be the one to get buried in leaves, lol. We ended up with a "jump off" between Nathan and Micah and ended up burying them both, even though Micah clearly won. :) 

Then, I also tried to get some nice pictures of me and Nathan...with boys showering leaves from above. The boys, though, interpreted this to mean throwing armfuls of leaves directly at us, lol. Still got some good shots, though... 

And I got a nice group photo...

Here are some other random shots from our time at the park...

Yes, leaves down other people's shirts became a thing...and I wore my shiny silver shoes...and they continued to pile leaves on me even while I was taking pictures. :)

And after all that, they decided to have a foot race for some reason. Nathan took the early lead but then somehow fell, and the boys finished alphabetically. 

There was also some backflipping by both Asher and Micah (I didn't get any photos of that, unfortunately...Micah's been delighted that he finally learned how a few weeks ago). And just before we wrapped things up, I decided to get some jumping shots of Nathan and me...

Do you see the arm coming out of my armpit back there, lol!? Yes, Asher and Micah were in the background photo bombing us. Of course. :)  

And, thus my leaf tradition continues. Yay!

(I'm still hoping, by the way, that the remaining leaves turn beautiful...because I love fall. But, if they don't cooperate at a time when we're all in the same place (which also might be tricky for the rest of this month), at least I got my leaf pictures!)