Monday, March 30, 2009
My heart is Weeping
Do you remember a story I shared with you about a year ago today that was about a little girl named Emily who was about to turn 16 months old? Her mother and father had just been told the unthinkable, their precious daughter had cancer. More specifically a cancerous tumor the size of a baseball growing at the base of her brain. "A tumor that looked so menacing on the radiology report that when Emily’s doctor first saw it, he retreated into a back room and wept for the little girl he wasn’t certain he could help."
I've followed Emily's story on Care Pages since the beginning. I even donated money and wrote Emily's name down on a luminary that year when I participated in Relay for Life through the American Cancer Society.
It's been a long tough year for Emily and her family. A year in which Emily courageously fought for her life all the while touching the hearts of those far and wide; family, friends and even strangers. It was with great sadness that I read today that Emily lost her battle with cancer.
Emily's breathing tube was removed and she "peacefully and beautifully, in the arms of her mom and dad, surrounded by loving and admiring family and friends, calmly passed."
I'm participating in the Relay for Life in just a few short weeks and will again be writing Emily's name down on a luminary in her memory. A year just doesn't seem long enough when you lose someone you love.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Jackass Bloopers
The weather this winter; make that spring, here on the front range has been nothing short of beautiful. We've had nary a bit of snow and nothing but reoccurring days of sunshine and warm temperatures instead. It's no surprise that we take advantage of the days that we can and get out and about to enjoy it. Let's take Saturday for instance. The high was 70 degrees. We made use of our day and headed West into the mountains to take a drive along Eleven Mile Canyon*.
We made a quick pit stop at a General Store before heading into the canyon and as we were departing a cat greeted us with meow after meow. It rubbed up against Keven Jr. waiting for attention and Isaac chased it around the porch until we could convince him to just get in the car already. Then Isaac started in with the questions asking over and over and over again if we could take this poor little kitty home. No, I told him. I told him no again, and again. And then finally I just explained to him that I was allergic to cats (which I am) and that we'd never be able to have a cat for a pet for that reason. We talked about how it was a possibility that Keven Jr. was allergic too. And so guess what Isaac retorted with? Isaac isn't allergic to cats, he's allergic to bears and mountain lions - oh yes he is. Oh he's funny that child of mine.
The road that we followed eventually led us to Eleven Mile Reservoir, which gave us plenty of opportunity to get out and enjoy the scenery. We've been here several times before but as always, it's always a spectacular sight. There were actually some people ice fishing, which I thought was pretty risky considering the reservoir was partially frozen over.
After we hung out along the shoreline for a little bit we got back into the car and started driving again. We followed along the reservoir and at one point we drove into an 'open range'. We quickly spotted a group of cows......and donkeys. A photo opportunity that I could not pass up.
I had Keven stop the car so I could get out and photograph them from a distance.
Before I knew it I had six curious donkeys making their way towards me so I started to head for the car. And then they stopped dead in their tracks. When I thought it was 'safe', I got back out of the car and took a few more photos all the while Keven kept egging me on to try and pet one. But instead I convinced him to do it.
As soon as Keven touched it's head, it sort of jerked away and Keven retreated for the car as did I. We made our way to the passenger side of the car and low and behold the damn donkey followed us but got distracted when he discovered that the drivers side window of the car was WIDE OPEN. So he did what any curious donkey would do - he took a peek inside.
At this point I was sitting in the passenger seat. The kids were observing (sort of freaking out but not really scared/freaking out) from the backseat and Keven was still outside the car. We could not get the donkey to move. I thought that if I rolled the window up some that he'd back his head out, but no. He just got more comfortable.
After laughing our butts off for what seemed like 20 minutes at this donkey with his head comfortably perched INSIDE our car, and really not knowing what to do (they really are THAT STUBBORN) he finally realized that we had nothing to offer and moved his head out just far enough that I got the window rolled up. I hopped into the drivers seat and slowly drove away as Keven walked down the road thinking that by doing so it would be enough of a distraction to make the donkeys leave, but no. They just continued to stand there in the middle of the road making an obstacle course out of the path for other approaching motorists.
Then we spotted some Pronghorn Antelope making their way across the prairie.
Isaac chimed in from the backseat 'Cantaloupe! Cantaloupe! anytime he thought he spotted some out his backseat window. We even got lucky and saw a huge jackrabbit darting left, then right, then left again as our car approached. He did manage to stop for just a second or two before hauling off across the landscape and eventually becoming camouflaged in the brown ground around him. These are the reasons why I love living in Colorado. The wildlife is amazing.
Our last stop put as at the frozen banks of the reservoir where we were in awe of the ice that had formed as the frothy water slapped up against the shore.
While standing alongside the waters edge you could hear the ice shifting and creaking with the flow of the liquid water beneath. It was sort of creepy, but in a cool way. I could have stood there forever and just soaked it all in; the water, the clouds.....just amazing to look at.
It really is pretty even if the grass is dry and brown.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Here’s to you and yours,
And to mine and ours,
And if mine and ours ever come
Across you and yours,
I hope you and yours will do
As much for mine and ours,
As mine and ours have done
For you and yours!
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2009
I sucked at February
And so far March hasn't been that much better. And the sad part about it all? We haven't really been that busy, I just haven't had the desire to blog much. I'm not the only one though, so that makes me feel somewhat better. It's something in the air.
So, with that said. Here are some highlights of things that I could have blogged about in February, but I didn't.
Isaac got his hair cut. Oh, but yes, I blogged about that monumental event. And my word, that was January. Get with the program already..
Okay, so I told you guys about our first experience with taking the boys roller skating. What I didn't mention was what we did after we went roller skating. We headed over to Garden of the Gods with a bunch of our friends, ate a picnic lunch and hiked a trail to the Siamese Twins rock formation. Because the weather this winter has been super mild, to the point that I'd call it phenomenal, it's no shock that we've been trying to soak it up as much as we can. I'm counting down the minutes though until the next snow fall...
While we were eating our lunch a nice couple hitched their horses up to a fence and enjoyed a picnic lunch themselves. They also let us pet their companions and even let a few of the eager kids take a short ride.
Meet General:
And Julie:
After our lunch was consumed we set off for the trail and started our hike.
I took this photo as we were approaching the rock formation. It's from the side so you don't get the full effect of it, and why it's called Siamese Twins.
Once you get up close and view it from the front however, it all makes sense.
Quite a work of nature isn't it? We climbed up onto the rock and checked things out. This was the view from the hole, facing west.
This is probably by far one of the most popular 'views' in Colorado Springs. You see this specific image all over the place, magazines, newspapers, etc. It's majestic, isn't it? We capped off the day by heading into Manitou Springs for ice cream then promptly headed home and crashed. It was a LONG day. Other notable things about February? We went to the Cripple Creek Ice Festival, visited the Pikes Peak Heritage Center, my Mom and Dad got a puppy and Keven Jr. got his eyes checked per the recommendation of our pediatrician and was soon after fitted for glasses.
Yes, more photos.
Oh. And one more thing. We pulled the kids out of their daycare that we've been going to for over six years. But that's a totally different post.
Till next time....
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Sunday, March 01, 2009
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