Colorado

We took the world's fastest--and slowest--trip to Colorado for Buck's stepmom's memorial service. I say fastest, because it took place in fewer than five days. I say slowest, because we encountered "sit in your car and overheat traffic" on each of the four of those days we found ourselves in the car, accumulating more than 30 hours of over-the-road tripping. Oofta.

Since we're on the lowlights . . . Buck was sick most of the trip. He had a cough that was extra. I honestly think it was partially his psychosomatic system responding to stress. There was plenty of unknown about this trip--how would the family we haven't seen in a few years receive us? Communication has been limited, would we be welcomed, would this be awkward? Would his dad be upset that we were there?

It turns out, it was awkward, but we were welcomed with excitement by the extended family--we knew more names and had more connections than we expected to. Many of them had never met Buck, almost 50 years later. His dad did not recognize him, he was deep in his grieving. But he did light up when Buck told him who he was. We also told him he was going to be a great-grandpa soon. He asked if the baby was a boy or girl, and when he heard girl he got a huge grin and cheered a little cheer declaring, "Oh, I love little girls!!" Later he asked Buck to tell him about the young men our girls married. We assured him they are good guys and they take great care of Caelan and Gabby.

After that much conversation, he got real antsy and needed to go home. Too many people, too much going on, all well-wishers, but it was overwhelming to him. He had a quiet cowboy friend who appeared to be a volunteer caretaker. He drove him home from the family house where we enjoyed a meal together afterwards. I am still not clear whose house it was. I think Buck's sister said "Aunt Bubbles' house," but I'm not sure I heard her correctly.

Back at the memorial service, we were awestruck to hear Buck's stepbrother give his testimony. He talked about how he spent years angry at his parents, at himself, at his wife, and at the life he'd been given with all its hurts and heartaches. But God intervened five years ago, and he's been attending church, reading his Bible, and even Buck's dad noticed the dramatic before and after. "What changed?" he asked, and N got to tell him. What an answer to decades of prayer!! Buck and I both cried happy tears, mixed with all the sadness of saying goodbye to his stepmom and sister who were buried on that hardscrabble hill in the midst of mountains. A little historic cemetery marking their final resting place. N read the verses from Ecclesiastes about there being a season for everything, something his mom had liked hearing at another memorial. God's Word speaks to even the hardest, hurtingest hearts.

All in all, Buck and I were surprised by the amount of God's goodness that greeted us along the way. The "hotel" we stayed in housed a ministry outreach to launch young people into the world a bit more prepared for Christian adulthood, recognizing that not everyone is ready to go straight to college after high school. The pretty coffee shop and growing resort up the road also filled with God's greatness--from the views, to the worship music, to the verses printed on their business cards--it was good to have God show up in unexpected places.

Mountains above--at least it was a nice view when we got stuck for hours in yet another traffic jam. Okay and now I should back up . . . this post is as jumbled as my thoughts today.

Below is a picture of some flowers my coworkers sent me. They lasted for nearly two weeks before we took the trip to Colorado and back. It was a thoughtful gift.

On the way to and from the funeral, we stayed with Buck's aunt and uncle. We enjoyed their meals and went for a cruise on their boat. 

We talked with his cousins and we looked through crafting books from the 80s. I may update my profile picture to the one below ;)

We admired his aunt's sweet peas. I didn't know they grew this big and bushy each year--and when his uncle cuts them to the ground in the fall, they climb right back up again in the spring! These have been doing so almost as long as I've been alive (and much longer than the lady's outfit above was in fashion). Wow!

Before the funeral, Buck forgot his boots, so we went to Bomgaars to buy some. While there, I found some cute chicken shoes that don't feel like slippery skis when I'm walking down the hill from chicken chores. He also forgot his meds, so we went to the pharmacy in Costco. All that to say, somehow we missed the fact that in this same vicinity, there is now an In-n-Out Burger! Although it may have disappointed his aunt a little, we stopped for a pre-pizza night treat at our favorite fast food place--after our arduous, fasting drive back up to their town. Who knew our CA burgers and fries were creeping ever farther east? Mmmm, chocolate shakes :)

We drove home through a storm, and didn't stop to pick up Olive or visit the puppies--which turned out to be a good thing, because alllll of them were struggling with stomach upset. Even the newest batch of seven and their mama. It turns out this one goofball was plenty of canine greeting for us upon return. She really is sweet when she's flying solo :)

In conclusion, we decided it has been far too long since we've made a visit to the lake side of the family and we need to arrange a family reunion a.s.a.p. I put Buck's mom in charge of asking his aunt, though--I think we're still in trouble for stopping for shakes, lol ;)

Did *June* Know?

Did you know . . . this was going to be a wee little post that I forgot to finish for quite a long time? Yeah, me, too. I managed to attend a baseball game for my super cool nephew after a visit with my young mama friend in that same town. It was good to catch up with all the people! Even Mr. M's grandma was there, and I attempted to teach her how to capture photos from videos on her phone--because I'm techy like that ;)

Miss Olive's pups grew large and independent enough to be out on their own in the world (well, in the homes of puppy raisers, anyway :) So, she returned to us--verrrrry skinny from nursing. Daisy lost all the composure and maturity we thought she'd gained in the past few months and went right back into furry pterodactyl mode. Alas. I'm am now convinced she's meant to be an "only" dog--only we don't want to give up Olive, so we're waiting for a kid to get a house that also wants a dog. Their housewarming gift is all ready for delivery, lol :)

The above picture characterizes my current existence. The sheer amount of fur on every surface--including my tongue just from breathing in the air--recently has me nearly at my wits' end. I cut the fur, I brush the fur, I vacuum the fur 3, 6, 10x daily, but it's covering my clothes, my furniture, my shelves, my EVERYTHING. GAHHHHH. ok. 

Aww, look at the bat that flew across my moon and sunset picture . . .

. . . He's probably covered in dog fur, too. Just from flying by.

*May*be Just a Little Bit More

They are just too easy! Clearly I haven't been writing recently and now all the word puns are flowing like hot buns (well, maybe that wasn't so smooth). But here's a bit more May . . . the schoolyweds came home for a mini-vacay to WY (but, that's  . . . you got it!) and for the baby shower. Caelan decided she wanted to knock out two farmers markets during the short stay, as well. Turned out to be a great idea! She sold SO much product (that we basically spent most of our downtime in WY getting her prepped for the next one), saw lots of familiar faces (including the college crew, plus a new baby), and got surprised for real, for real, when Grandma J came walking up to see what she had on the table :)

We took a little trip to Hobby Lobby to choose yarn for more bags and for a baby blanket for Gabby--it turned out so, so sweet!

Many adventures took place during the flurry of a 10-day tour, but I've scooped most of those in other posts. A couple of nights, our house was packed with people in just about every nook and cranny--good thing they are mostly young and comfortable sleeping anywhere. G$'s buddy C slept on the flattened futon under his bunk bed, Sarah took the pullout couch upstairs, Brennen took the non-pullout couch downstairs, Grandma J was in Brennen's room, and the schoolyweds squeezed into the classroom on a first-time-inflated queen air mattress. What's that Caelan? Oh yeah, we need a bigger house ;)

We talked the schoolyweds into sticking around for breakfast on the day of their departure. And look who offered to help learn the family tradition! Grandma J was delighted to have Noah's help--because you'll see from the following pictures, she made a REALLY big batch of blina that day :)

Sarah got the blina tutorial from Brennen, so she is pretty official :) This visit was the first time she and Caelan met; she and Gabby have been becoming friends for awhile now. I love that they decided to go to brunch together after church, and then plant window-shopping. 

Right now, I'm 1. Glad that the sudden power outage didn't delete this post and 2. That G$ finally got his car hooked up and ready to tow back to the farm. It's been a long frustrating (I'm sure) evening for him. So, there may be a bit more midnight blogging forthcoming--but we'll see! I'm glad May is now (mostly) in the books. It was a busy, full month! Especially with that trip to Wyoming . . . :)

*May* I Catch You Up?

I wasn't going to try it . . . but the title just won't let me go. And wait until you see the one I've got cooking for June ;)

In summary, in May . . . Brennen left for Washington. It was a cross-country adventure with his buddy, C. They slept in the car, golfed across Montana, and made it to their destination three days later. Unfortunately that was the most fun part of the adventure. Brennen did not like the job at all, for personal reasons for moral compass reasons for Spirit-prompted reasons. Many were the texts and calls that connected us across the miles. I think it was 10 days after arrival, he had a one-way plane ticket back (thanks to the kindness of his bro-in-law who said, "Just come home.") A few days later, his buddy packed up the rest of their belongings and drove back home, too. The abrupt return meant Brennen arrived back the same day our schoolyweds did, but they didn't know, so it was a surprise! Well, almost. Buck sort of gave it away :) B got to join us on our trek to WY . . . but that's a tale for another time.

Chase also helped B get hooked up with a job right away. Pretty cool that they are working together! Still part-time for Brennen, but he's applied at several places hoping to get a second job to help reset his finances. It's fun seeing their pics together at the "office." :)

Speaking of road trips, my lil bro and I took one, too! Not quite as far as Washington, just back to the homeland to celebrate our lil cousin's high school graduation. I liked that her decor was book and library card themed! I liked the breakfast muffins that her Aunt L made, and we all got to eat. And I liked getting to chat with my bro for like five hours. Good times!

This update is far from chronological, but did all take place for the most part (I think) in the month of May . . . I continue catching you up? :)

I recall, in the distant past, a project post that accumulated several of the spring sprucing things we've been working on about the Manor. We've painted outdoor projects, run out of paint, bought new paint hoping that we could continue to do so locally, but it is the WRONG color paint, but we put it on anyway as a basecoat, then Buck went on the journey to buy the right color of paint, but then it got hot outside and we got busy, so the paint remains a non-matchy, but very cheerful shade of bright blue. Oh, and Buck put a new roof over the watering part of the chicken coop, hoping to give the girls some shade. We were gifted an extra set of shingles from our neighbors' recent roof repair--and were only slightly concerned when the roofing company stopped by to pick them up again . . . they didn't make us peel them off our run roof :) Buck added a water feature to the middle, but I don't know that the chickens like the swinging vine action--despite the ridiculous expense of buying the replacement bucket, the chickens don't seem to use it much anymore. Idk, they've got to be getting liquid from somewhere! And now . . . photo dump of this (bulky) paragraph:

Oh yeah! Buck slipped with the chainsaw and had to go to the ER for stitches, well, walk-in clinic. I started the wound clean-up process and quickly recognized we were beyond my "almost a doctor" skill level. He was nearly totally healed up before the WY trip, which was his goal, but that trip is another story for another time.

Those last two photos were out of order, but I'm on a roll, so I'm not going back to fix them--speaking of rolls, we found ourselves with lots of rolls of wallpaper to put up in the former classroom, current fitness room, office, and sometimes guest room! After my attempt to mix my own touch-up paint samples . . . ahem . . . didn't exactly match up (you can hardly tell, right? :) Caelan started the papering process for me with Noah's assistance. A few weeks later, we finished it up . . . after the WY trip, but that's a story for, well, you know.

Okay, the last picture is from July--Buck put up the posters I framed from the mystery boxes we used to order. Our classroom theme stalled out on national parks, and I'm still a fan! Don't they look cute? And isn't the name of my adorable plant (that keeps growing!!! and matches the new wallpaper perfectly) NOT cute. Spiders, worts, cobwebs? Triple ew! But it sure is pretty :) Oh--more pretty flowers from May . . . lilacs bush exploded with blooms! Pink peonies even drew a Daisy in for a sniff. Purple irises caught a puff of cottonwood.

Hmmm, I have people pictures and tidbits to add, but this is already pretty lengthy. Oh, I just thought of a good title for July!