thoughts from the deep recesses

Still haven't had time to post more pictures from our vacation. I will. But not today. Today I'm hoppin' in the car and driving to the west side. (That's what we say over here in Eastern Washington. We always say it with a little hint of pity in our voices for the poor inhabitants who have to put up with rain 9 months out of the year. The same way we take glee in informing geographically challenged folk who think everyone in Washington State grows moss behind their ears by telling them Spokane is in EASTERN Washington - where we get four seasons a year - and very little rain!) I'm going to spend the night at my brother's house and then all day tomorrow I get to go here: Gridlocked Workshop with Lisa Kaus I'm SO excited to take a class after five and a half years of teaching them. And I adore Lisa's artwork and can't wait to learn about her techniques and creative process. Plus, who doesn't love a road trip? Have a lovely weekend, friends. S

People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars.... and they pass by themselves without wondering. ~ St. Augustine

We're still doing Summer Bingo . For which enthusiasm has waned a bit - although Savannah got so bored last weekend that she applied herself and managed to get a blackout. But this week, I think the kids have hardly looked at their cards. I probably need to up the ante. Make the rewards a little more interesting, or just different. Something to pique their interest... Gracie is doing much better. Last night was the first night that she's shown any interest at all in eating - she sat next to Asia the whole time at dinner begging for a piece of flank steak. Did she get it? You betcha. When your dog has barely eaten a thing for a week, you're inclined to let her eat whatever she shows interest in... so yes - the dog had steak for dinner. Now this morning she won't eat again. Not sure what's up with that. But I'm not getting out the leftover steak... She'll go in a week from today to get the staples taken out - she has 20 of them running down her stomach. It

This is the first vacation we've ever taken as a family where we didn't have the whole itinerary planned out months in advance. For some reason, Asia wanted to go to Park City for a few days, wander around Southern Utah for a few, then go visit friends in Boise. Other than that - there was no advance planning. Over the years, I've heard great things about Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park... they both were on my wish list... so when we left Park City, we drove in the general direction of Bryce. When we got there, we did some research at the visitors center and settled on a 3 mile hike that would include the Queen's Garden and Fairyland Loop. The park literature promised this was the "best 3 mile hike in the world!" Well, the world's a big place, so I'm not sure I could go quite that far, but we weren't disappointed. Bryce is a gorgeous landscape - with pink, orange and purple cliffs and striking hoodoos sticking up everywhere... it is an amazing

Our friends, Bryan and Heidi Spray, moved to Park City, Utah five years ago. And for five years we've been saying we should go visit them. This year - we finally did. Bryan and Heidi have four kids - the oldest of which is 7 - with their youngest at 13 months. It was so great to see how our kids interacted with them - they were so helpful and sweet. Here they are in downtown Park City... we went down for Park Silly - their super fun Sunday market. Look at these two cute Dads with their kiddos - I bet when Asia and Bryan met 20+ years ago they never imagined this! We had GORGEOUS weather and were able to spend two days hanging out at the pool. One afternoon was spent at the Park City Resort - we rode the chair lift up to the top of the mountain, then rode the alpine slide down... And then we went up again - coming down this time on the 1/2 mile zipline! It was awesome. Fast and fun and terrifying all at once... Those are my feet... with Ethan off to the right. He kept saying "

We're back from vacation. We actually got back Sunday, but it's been such a whirlwind of activity around here, I haven't had a moment to stop and write. We spent nine days on the road - visiting friends in Park City, Utah, then going down to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park before spending a couple of days with friends in Boise... the kids did great in the car for the entire 3000 miles. I have pictures to share - and will break them up into separate posts just to make it manageable. We had a bit of a scare with Gracie while we were gone... she was staying with a young couple who always help take care of her while we're out of town and ended up bloating - which is a serious, life threatening condition for dogs. Her stomach bloated and then twisted, so there was no way for the extra air to escape. Fortunately, our friends got her straight to the pet emergency hospital, and they were able to release the pressure and get her stomach untwisted before any permanent damage