So Awesome!

 

a few words below I wrote down early this morning reflecting on our hike that I read to the crew after breakfast.... 

Family —

this is our one‑room schoolhouse,

where we learn how to love.

Here we learn to say, “please, sorry, and thank you.”

Here we practice patience,

gratitude, service, compassion, gentleness,

with a side of wit and whimsy every now and then.

 

We laugh together,

make awards both to poke fun and affirm gifts.

We proclaim “so awesome!”

at the beauty around us together.

We dance in the kitchen.

We see each other’s true colors,

and keep turning toward one another.

We learn to extend forgiveness more freely.

We have a place to receive grace upon grace —

a place where love keeps teaching us,

even on the hard days.

 

Jason — thank you for being so easy to say sorry to.

Thank you for modeling non‑defensive communication.

Thank you for making me laugh like few others do,

and for loving me so well for over three decades.

Your steadiness is a gift I hope to never take for granted.

 

Taylor — thank you for the way you have grown leaps and bounds

these last few years — gaining confidence and resilience,

learning patience and true kindness.

You walk in a room and know what needs to be done.

Thank you for the phone calls and the connections you cultivate.

I marvel at the ease with which you model letting go

and how that teaches me to live and love more freely.

 

Anna — thank you for embodying God’s gaze to me —

“behold the one beholding me and smiling.”

Your depth and arms open wide to the world are such gifts.

You teach me how to see with wonder again and again.

 

I am so grateful that God gave me each one of you.

Thank you for being the key people who teach me how to love.

May this one‑room schoolhouse be the place

where love keeps finding us.

So awesome! 

Bomber Traverse- Day 3 (Bomber Hut back to the Reed LakesTrailhead)

 

a swing at the coolest little hut in Alaska - we love Bomber Hut! 

too bright for a selfie! 

wreckage from a bomber jet that crashed in 1957: 

Visit Alaska's Bomber Glacier, the Site of a 1950s Superfortress Crash | Discovery

and down we go with way too many boulders to hike over! 

Type 2 (or 3) family fun crossing this never-ending rock field! 

OMG- we just did that!

                                                                                                                                                     

Taylor pointing to a bridge that we were SO grateful for

all done! 

Bomber Traverse- Day 2 (Snowbird Hut to Bomber Hut)

 This day perhaps was the MOST beautiful day we've ever experienced as a family--- SO AWESOME!

unbelievable bouldering across these snow covered fields 

Taylor the ever amazing river guide who just stepped in the freezing cold water without question to help me across. Anna probably could have done it on her own, but Taylor was already wet so she got a hand. 

serious bushwacking with a smile 

yes- Taylor is practically skipping through the trails as he was on a mountain high with the beauty of the red heather, the green tundra, the blue skies 

the Bomber hut is in sight! 

yes- we all did a cold plunge! crazy Huffs... 

some hot sauce left at the hut for fellow travelers 

note the label: a great cooking ingredient for sauces, soups, and stews. 

Also strips waxed floors and removes driveway grease stains. Enjoy!