“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD… He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green” – Jeremiah 17

For those of you who didn’t see last week’s blog post, I am taking a one month break from my usual format and just posting lots of pics of my family and what we are getting up to 🙂 It is finally hot in Colorado; can I get a rousing, “Amen!” The picture above is my big hearted Dad and I, in honor of Father’s Day.

We took the family to Grand Junction this week to check out Mesa State College because my son is senior this year. I can’t tell you the exhilaration of driving 7.5 hours to find that our peaceful Palisade campsite was maybe 50 feet, on a hot, mirage-filled day, from Interstate 70! But, we decided to laugh it off with a little repetitive and quality family humor, “I am so happy to be up here in nature listening to the soft twittering of the wheels, as they patter along the blacktop and the deep throated ‘hoot hoot’ of the big rigs passing by.” Daniel and I love to do a certain pastime together; our kids affectionately and disgustedly call it, “40 year old flirting.” In the picture above, you will find us being goofy at our campsite.

While it wasn’t the Colorado piney woodlands we were hoping for, the black top provided hours of entertainment for our little ones. So, it wasn’t all bad!

We enjoyed a BIG breakfast out at the Pufferbelly Station Restaurant. Some of the kids had to be rolled out of there after their “all you can eat” pancake breakfast.

This is the older boys with Daniel at the top of the National Monument, a rocky park that gives Petra a run for its money! I am refraining from sharing the pics of my boys taking a leak in the wild. Sorry for this harsh realization about me but it was hilarious and I couldn’t resist the photo op, especially since my boys are especially gifted at it and you can’t see a thing from behind. Those glorious pics will remain under lock and key until… Their wedding days 😉 If you are thinking to yourself, “That lady is mean to her poor, innocent boys, “ let me just fill you in on a recent activity which isn’t a solo act or unusual. I was happily taking a shower, enjoying the stress of the day melting off in the blistering hot water when, suddenly, I heard a crazed Isaak-esque laugh and, at the exact same moment, saw a cascade of ice cubes and water above my head. Oh, there will be paybacks for that one!

Randomly, there was a $1 flip flop sale while we were in town. This creative chick loved all the colors!

Isaak has developed a fantastic new skill of being able to hiss just like a raptor to make me jump 10 feet in the air on command 🙂 Oh, how I dearly love the humor-inspiration the desert climate provided. Lol.

While the surrounding mountains are high desert and rocky, the area right around the river is lush and green, full of vineyards and orchards. In this picture you can see some of the contrast.

We took the whole family on the “extended version” tour of Mesa State. All Joab really wanted to see was the weight room. 🙂 Big family bonus- every single one of us (8) received a free t-shirt. Joab felt a special affection for their “New Mavs” team, as I showed up at our home gym today and said, “Oh, LOOK, Joab, we are twinsies!” Oops, didn’t realize he was wearing the free shirt right out of the shoot like I was.

When I got home, everything had started to bloom!

And, overnight it seems, my lettuce is almost ready.

I can start using fresh herbs in my cooking. Mmmmm. Cannot WAIT to use that Basil above to make Margarita Pizza for my family, maybe with a cauliflower crust.

Tell me what you are up to this summer. I would love to know.