Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Feeling loved

Last time we went to Crested Butte, all Marty and I looked forward to were some very long rides with "the boys." (Ever since Brian and Scott wonderfully married Julie and Holley respectively and ventured on to their own lives - "the boys" means our horses ... Toby and Beau.)

Marty and I talked about heading toward The Castles; a meandering ride through aspens and meadows up through the Ruggeds Wilderness into mountains that look like ... castles. Or the beautiful ride through Oh Be Joyful; a wonderful valley trail that we took an overnight pack ride with our favorite boys ten years ago. It is fun to look up each valley side and spot elk herds and bears.

But alas, it was not meant to be. Poor Beau (Marty's spunky quarterhorse) had pulled a tendon and the vet put a bandage on his leg, prescribed medicine with instructions; no riding for the week.

Not to worry, there were other things to do, but this gave me a chance to e-mail Abby. I took a picture, of Beau and his bandage and my Toby watching protectively, with my cell phone and emailed her the dilemma of Beau and all the details about the vet visit. And not to leave Grant out, I asked her to explain to Grant what was going on. She thought that particularly funny. (Maybe Grant did too)


It is so fun to converse with Abby - With a 3 year old, I can be simple and direct. She loves everything I say and responds so enthusiastically.

So here is her response and a picture she took herself:


NAnna,
I took a picture of my horsey. And it has a wristband. And I hope you like
it. don't you like it? its my own pictures. I took the picture of him. I
didn't ever ever hurt him. He just fell down, I think. but, he's ok now.
But he still has a wrist band because he's still hurt. Well. Its hard to
put on, but I don't think I can, so mommy can help me.

The wristband is from the dentist.i went to the dentist for the first time
today. no cavities. Well, nanna....its still hurts the horse, but its ok,
but it still hurts. He can't stand up yet because... sometimes he can stand
up but sometimes he doesn't . he's ok now. But when he sleeps he's not
ok......

Nanna, well, it just really hurts, but I'm well. Im just a little bit sad,
but I'm not crying. But it just hurts. Our house looks pretty and we picked
up the things what we're going to the lake, I don't think we're going today,
but we're going to tomorrow. I miss you cause you're in Colorado.

Nanna, the horse is sometimes I take it off because it doesn't hurt, but
really I can't hold him. He likes me to hold him, but the doctor says I
can't. well now that's everything to say.
I love you.
Pops, I miss you pops. That's all the things what I wanted to say. No.
yes.

Love,
abby

Faithfully (kind of) transcribed by mommy.


It is so nice when someone shares my feelings!


Here is my favorite Abby video ... feel loved.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Travel Buddies

Half the fun of a journey is in the planning. It is the anticipation of new places and new people and all the details ... I love it. With our passion for travel, it has been wonderful to have friends to share the journey. Marty and I love our times with Jeff & Terri, whether it is a weekend hangout or halfway around the world, we just travel well together.

We all wanted to travel a loop from Seattle, up through Vancouver Island, back down the far west coast of Washington, Mt. Olympus, Mount St. Helens, Mt. Rainier. Beautiful part of the US. When I was in Uganda, the final details of the plans for a long awaited trip to the northwest came together - thank you, Marty, Jeff and Terri.

Here are the hightlights. First stop Seattle and Pike's Market.



From Anacortes, we took a 3 hour ferry trip to Vancouver Island.




Lunch at the famous Empress hotel and then we had fun touring Hatley Castle (set of X-Men movies) and the beautiful gardens



After a few days, we took another ferry to Port Angeles - on the far west coast of Washington and found a lovely house on the shore. Lots of beach to explore.


This part of Washington is a rain forest ... not exactly tropical, but lots of moss and tall trees.


Our last minute "splurge" was a helicopter ride up the valley to Mount St. Helen's (still active) volcano. Definitely worth the trip. And to "justify" the extra, we found a cheap place for the night ... it was clean!





Then on to Mt. Rainer for some hiking, picnics and the traditional nightly game of Spades. I'm sure the girls always won.




And then back to Seattle and home ... flying right over Mount St. Helens and Mt. Rainer.


We are thankful for Jeff & Terri as well as other close friends that we share our journey with.

For the entire slide show, watch this:
(Or double click on picture and view as an album)