Hiking will always make me feel close to God.  You can see God’s love for beauty.  From rivers, rocks, trees and animals. Being out on a trail brings serenity- it is my escape when life gets overwhelming,. Being outdoors anywhere in Colorado fills me with peace.

I am so blessed to share this passion with special people, friends who feel that same joy from being under the clouds and vulnerable before God.

This week was a bit overwhelming to me for many reasons. I was able to get out twice this week and soak up some sun and walk among the trees. The days were warm, boarding on hot, but filled with life.   On Thursday of this week, I met up with a precious friend for a spur of the moment hike. We both needed girl time and we both love being outside. We hiked mid-day, so not my favorite time to hike.  I am a morning or evening hiker as I do not function at my best in the heat. We had already hiked about 3 miles and were headed back.  While I was talking my friend grabbed my hand and started praying and calmly her disposition changed dramatically.  I looked over my shoulder and my heart stopped.

We had just rounded a corner at the bottom of a hill and right beside us, no more than 20 feet away was a large brown bear.  It is not uncommon to have bear sightings in our neck of the woods, it is however, truly the first time I have ever encountered one face to face. Words cannot even describe it.

Clearly we did not go unnoticed. It was ever so clear that he saw us, he did not retreat as we thought he would.  He watched us closely for good while,  we kept hiking as we tried to keep an eye on him but not lock eyes with him.   My friend was singing a song for protection as I was praying for God to protect us.

Unfortunately the rest of our hike was uphill, literally all uphill.   It was hot, my heart was racing, my mouth was cracking from the dryness, I tasted blood in my throat from the dryness.  While both fairly calm on the outside, inside I think we were both not really sure how the rest of this hike was going to turn out.   At one point in our hike we rounded another corner and headed uphill,  this hill was now parallel to where the bear ascended to keep an eye on us.  Were we going to run into him again at the top?  What would or could we do?  It is truly a pretty helpless feeling.  The only thing we could do is keep calm, continue walking and PRAY!   God was there, he was so there with us.  He protected us and got us out of there physicaly unscathed.   This hike tested me in so many area’s,  it is such a blessing to be on this side of it all, it tested my faith, my endurance and strenghtened me in many ways.  I am so thankful that God was there with us.

Our journey to Salt Lake was perfect! Every little detail was as it should be – such a blessing. We arrive with plenty of time to get settled and rest up before our first session. We were even able to check into our lovely room early!!!

Once settled we were able to go pick up our convention goodies! I always love that part, it ‘s like Christmas in July. We got the c-u-t-e-s-t little, red bag.  Isn’t it darling?

We got three awesome new stamp sets along with all of our make and take supplies.   This week was filled with shopping, eating out at yummy restaurants, fellowship and everything Stampin’ Up!

A few of the highlights of this convention: The new Holiday Catalog!!!!!  It is chalk full of some really fun and exciting stuff.   I cannot wait to share all of it with my stamping buddies.  I also got really jazzed about  Project Life by Stampin’ Up!  Until hearing about it this week, I was very disconnected about the whole concept of it, but after seeing it demonstrated, explained and even getting my hands on it, I am sold.   I am planning to get my hands on it and even challenge some of you to take a challenge with me.  Are you interested?   I hope you are, it will be so much fun!    Also congrats to my awesome up-line, Jen Jacobsen who is just a SU Rockstar and got lots of awards and is once again in the top 100 demonstrators in Stampin’ UP!

I love the Prize Patrol Stamp Set and Die Cuts that I got, it was so exciting!!  Prize Patrol also gave out a DSP that I have been wanting along with two other stamp sets that I am excited to use.  I am so excited to play with all of my new goodies.

All trips need an adventure, right?  Well this trip even had a little bit of that.   When Hayden (birthday boy) found out I was going to be in Salt Lake he asked me if I could check out a record store there that he had heard about.   I truly did not think it would be possible, nor was I sure if it would be worth it.  I was proven wrong in both instances.

So, I get directions from the front desk for this record store, they made it sound like it was not too far and they failed to mention that it was not a great part of town.   Luckily my friend Stefani offered to come with me.  I am ever so thankful that she did.   I probably would have gotten lost if I had gone on my own and it would have been pretty scary for me to ride that train alone.  There were several unsavory characters on board.  =)

Stef and I  ride the train as far as it will go and then we have to walk the rest of the way.  It was about 6:00 PM and it was still 96 degrees out.  We saw a few things along the way that made us realize we are not in our little bubble any more.  We make it to Randy’s Records and I find two great vinyls that my birthday boy had on his wish list. S C O R E!!   While I was wrapping things up Stef called a cab for us.   I was so thankful to not have to go back the way that we came.   It was a funny little journey, one that I will never forget and I hope that my birthday boy will always appreciate.

If you know me at all, you know how hard it is for me to be away from my family. This year was no exception and probably was even a bit harder for this girl. Why? You may or may not wonder, but I am gonna tell you. Ha! This particular trip always falls on two very special birthdays. That of my first born and that of my best friend. Do you know the sadness and guilt that comes along with that alone? Well take that and add that it was my baby boy’s 13th birthday!! Yep! His momma was absent for his 13th birthday! What momma could be so remiss?

The beautiful thing is that my boys love me so big that they graciously gave me their blessing. God has a way of working all things out for the good.

Shortly after all the flights were booked, the convention fee’s paid etc. I remembered that we had planned a special 13th birthday date with our son. We had planned to take him to his first concert!  You can guess the sheer horror when I realized this concert – that never made it on our family calendar- was now on the same date that I actually flew out of Colorado?  Oh the turmoil and grief I put myself through, how selfish of me to forget. Once again. God showed up, once again my boys poured out their grace. I so did not deserve it.

Once again, all things worked out beautifully.

God gave me peace to live in the moment. To enjoy the place that he had me in. Although I occasionally wondered what Hayden was experiencing the evening of the concert and how Kip was doing with three teenage boys at a rock concert, I was able to just find contentment in what I was experiencing.

The boys had a fabulous time, it was as magical as I had hoped it would be, Hayden went to see Journey, one of the very first groups I saw in concert. He loved it just as much as I loved it 25 years ago.  <3

Summer holds a dear place in my heart because I get to spend more time with my family. I enjoy the more relaxed schedules, the sleeping in a bit later, staying up a bit later and our little getaways.

I cannot imagine doing life without my best friend and our two little minions (and their friends). Every little trip is an opportunity for adventure and great memories.  This trip met that expectation and more.

This past weekend we took a day trip to the Sand Dunes.  Our goal was get there before all of the water disappeared,  we finally made it!

It was a blast, just hanging out and playing in the water.   Kip and I kept commenting how great it was just watching our kids be kids.  Something about water just brings the kid out in people.   When we first got there they were all uncertain if they wanted to take their shoes off and walk through the water.  Once they did, they hunkered down and played for a nice long while, splashing through the water and playing in the sand.

As fun as it was to play in the water, the Dunes were calling us.  We all agreed we needed to climb to the top of the highest one.   I had forgotten how ‘un-fun’ it was to walk through deep sand.  However, I was not going to be the one to crack, so I trudged along behind everyone else.

It was a beautiful hike, we could see a storm starting to come over us, and we were pretty unsure if we were going to make it to the top in time.   The boys made it up much faster than Gillian and I did, in fact they pretty much ran up the last climb.   Gillian would have gotten up with the boys but she insisted on walking with me.  Love my girl.  We had fun just taking our time.

Once we got to the top, we heard thunder in the distance so we all ran down, some of us tried rolling down – @sandinplacessandshouldntbe.    As we got near the bottom it started to sprinkle – I’d say we had pretty awesome timing.

As we went back across the water, we were all very shocked to find that the water temperature had changed dramatically.  When we first got there it was so warm and inviting, as we were leaving it was cold and refreshing.   It was just a perfect little day trip.   A memory worth storing.

Everyone still smiling…….must have been a good day!

In doing more research this week, I felt I was validated when I read an article about truly knowing and listening to your body.  How many of you trust your body’s signs and signals?   I think we must always consult our doctors on a regular basis, but really, we know more about our own bodies than anyone else could and I feel that we really should trust in that more than most of us do.   I have been dealing with some very off the wall Histamine reactions for about 20 years now. They come and go very sporadically. There has never been really any rhyme or reason to them. The same foods and situations would cause a reaction one time and wouldn’t another. The severity of the reactions also vary.

Through the years I have documented so much, I have taken it all to my doctors and they had no understanding of it.  I have had food allergy testing, blood work and really nothing could be explained. I have read much about different diets; Blood Type diet, gluten free diets and low inflammation diets.

Along the way we have adapted bits and pieces of each into something that works for us. However, with a few of us having different blood types and knowing what foods we can tolerate and what foods our bodies crave and the others cannot stomach can get a bit challenging. For example, I am the only one in my immediate family who can tolerate and eat a red sauce, in fact I crave it and can eat it without pasta. They others do not enjoy it and often have heartburn or what have you after eating any type of red sauce.

All of this meal planning can get very cumbersome and so often we have gotten frustrated and go back to what is easy, until we began to feel tired and sluggish and find the motivation to once again figure this eating thing out.

Recently, I found a simple salad that I love and can replicate. It was a very healthy salad: Spinach (the only leafy veggie I was able to really eat without getting sick), strawberries, blueberries, feta or goat cheese, almonds and salmon. I got my fruits and veggies and proteins in and not a lot of calories.

So last week, I picked up some salmon and made it one night and was as happy as can be. No problems. Two days later, I made the EXACT same salad and an hour later I had THE WORST,  to date Histamine reaction. I seriously thought I was going to end up in the hospital. This one came on FAST and furious.

On top of all my normal symptoms; hives, swelling, difficulty breathing and horrid stomach pain I also experienced a racing heart rate, my eyes turned red and I thought my head was going to explode,. I felt like I was on fire and almost lost consciousness. My precious husband brought me my antihistamine and grabbed my epiPens. After I took the pill, I must have lots consciousness for a split second because as I came to, Kip was holding a bag in front of me and I was violently vomiting. I began shaking and felt very distant. He was just about to get me in the car and race me to the ER when I started feeling a bit better.

We both had to wonder, what caused all of this? Once stable and in bed, we plugged my symptoms into WebMD and found something called Histamine Intolerance. There are foods that you should avoid and foods that are good for people with this issue. Who knew? Shouldn’t someone have known about this?

Come to find out I had three things on the list that are high in histamine. Spinach (WHAT?) Salmon and Strawberries which are a histamine liberator.

Why did this meal not cause me trouble the first day? I have eaten these foods many times and never had trouble. The issue was probably in the freshness of my salmon. All of these foods can be eaten but they must be fresh. Next time I will omit the strawberries and only use blueberries.

But quite literally my dinner nearly killed me.

What a crazy and very scary journey but I am thankful to have found a name of what I am dealing with and a guide to help me navigate in meal planning.

Moms are the best teachers and trainers in a child’s early life. There is no greater legacy for a woman than to have been blessed with a loving matriarchal lineage.

It is truly a blessing to have one on one time with each of my gifts. February was a particularly fun month for Gillian and I, as we got two very special dates together.

The first was a fun girls church event for young girls who shine for Jesus. It was a fun night with friends, good message and wonderful music.

Gillian and I also had the opportunity to get out of school one day and head up to Denver to see one of my favorite ballets, Cinderella. We had a great time and enjoyed the very beautifully performed ballet, it was really a dream come true to share this experience with my daughter. I still am so thrilled that she loves to dance. I love that we have that connection. I pray, that she will exceed my abilities and take full advantage of the talents that God has given her.

Did someone give the clock a whirl?  How is it possible that we are already into the third month of this new year?   Mister Time, could you, would you, please do this momma a favor and slow down.  I can hardly catch my breath.  My once toddlers are teetering on the brink of tweens and teens.   Oh my heart, I am so not good at this, will I ever be?

Each year becomes more precious, more valuable, more difficult for this momma.  How can it be that in six short years my first born will be an adult and my baby will be right on his heels?

As I rely heavily on photographs and my blog to keep the memories fresh and close to my heart, this past year we started a new tradition that brought our family great joy.   We have our “Thankfulness Jar”.  Whenever we feel prompted we scribble something we are thankful for on a piece of paper and drop it into our jar.  On New Years Day we sat on the floor by the fireplace and read them one by one.  We were so surprised!   We had forgotten so many things that brought us such relief, joy and gratefulness throughout the year, but were so happy we had these little pieces of paper to remind us.

Thankfulness Jar

1. Thankful Hayden’s concussion was not more serious than it was after he hit his head on the playground at school.
2. Thankful I got my tooth pulled and it didn’t hurt at all!  (Gillian 7-24-13)
3. Thankful to spend Labor day weekend at home with family & good friends. Great pot luck at church.
4. Thank you God that Mr. Mesquit is doing better.
5. Thankful for our house and pets.
6. Thankful for Hayden’s help with yard work this Summer.
7.  So thankful for our new front porch, love it!
8.  Loved my weekend away with Dad in January- hotel, movie, dinner.  ~Hayden
9.  Thankful that we have insurance so that Kip could get the melanoma taken care of.
10.  Thankful that my honey works from home.
11.  Thankful that Gillian is part of an amazing Bible Study.
12.  Happy we got to experience The Drive-In with our kids.
13.  Thankful we got to go to VA. PA, MD for Spring break to visit family.
14.  Thankful for my cat.
15. Thankful that we still have our home and our cousins do too.  (G -regarding fires, floods)
16. Thankful that our relatives are healthy – G
17. Thankful that Hayden’s jaw and wrist weren’t broken after his huge bike crash.
18.  Thankful that our miracle ferret, Blizzard survived surgery and intestinal damage.
19. Thankful for the gift of a clean car.  H washed it and G vacuumed it.
20. Thankful that the kids are getting to be stronger swimmers.
21. Thankful for my weekend away with Hayden, it was a huge blessing.  ~Kip
22. Thankful for a fun NYE celebration with friends and family.
23. Thankful Collin Frye is doing better.
24. Thankful for our weekend away as a family in Breckenridge.  Our 22 mile bike ride.
25. Thankful for the week Eli stayed with us.
26. Thankful that Kip was able to get into see a doctor at Jewish Hospital.
27. Thankful for Gillian’s ballet teachers and Soccer Teachers.
28. Thankful that Hayden fixed my MacBook.

I know that Kip and I have enjoyed getting creative with our fruit and veggies.  Frequently, I will gather a concoction of ingredients and work them so that they are getting good stuff  without them knowing it. So far the easiest has been Kale, thankfully it is just colorful without a strong flavor.  Flax & Spinach are two another staples in our smoothies.   To make them pleasing to their pallets we add many of these other varieties:  Pumpkin, mango, berries, apples, grapefruit, oranges, peaches, pears, pineapple, watermelon, lemon, grapes, bananas, kiwi, peanut butter, almond milk, coconut milk and carrots to name a few.

I am not a huge fan of beets, but I am working up the courage to add them to our list of ingredients.  After all, I need to be willing to try new things as well, right?

As a mom it has made life easier, no fussing and I feel good that they are getting more of what their bodies need.

Today’s smoothie is:  Grapefruit, banana, kale & flax seed!  Yummy!

Fry bread, berries, jerky, beans, corn, squash AND they get to dress up. What a fun way to learn about the Anasazi & Inuit tribes.

One of my favorite activities other than the yummy food was the  “story book skin” they were able to make.  What a creative way to show how they were able to communicate with each other.