The Great Salt Lake

Although we have visited Salt Like City before, we had never been to this eerily beautiful place. It's very quiet and still. It almost feels like what you might imagine the surface of the moon to be like.

Yet all around it is surrounded by mountains. There's even an island mountain in the middle of the 33 foot deep lake called, Antelope Island. This is where I took these photos from. We learned several interesting facts while visiting: it is a bird sanctuary for thousands of birds, only brine shrimp live in the lake and there is no outlet for the water.

Here's our rag-tag group of visitors. This is just the beginning of many more Thompson/Mallott family adventures.

After not being around any friends (except Bennett) for over 2 weeks, Chloe was in heaven getting to spend quality friend time with Esther and Lucy.

Bennett and Isaac both share a love of basketball and kind-heartedness.

Here I am sporting my Junior Ranger button that Chloe gave me after attending a "Let's Learn About Snakes" session at the visitor center. I learned that although there are many poisonous snakes in Utah, including the rattlesnake, not one rattlesnake resides on Antelope Island for reasons unknown to scientists (see...I was paying attention).

These two! Wes has a special affinity for Chuck. Really....who doesn't have a special affinity for Chuck?!

The First Hike

It is the end of our first week in Fort Collins. Bennett is wondering when we're going to do something "fun". Like moving across the country and unpacking all your belongings into a new townhouse isn't "fun" enough. However, the kids had done great with all the recent upheaval and all the packing and unpacking. We all needed a little fun. A nice hike in the foothills of our new mountains should be just the thing. So we set off for Horsetooth Mountain around 8:30am armed with hiking backpacks, sunscreen, and water. Just not enough air.

As we were driving to the park we saw some idiots walking up the street towards the park we were headed to. We mocked them, "Duh! You're supposed to hike on the trails people; not the street." Obviously, they didn't know as much as we did about hiking. Then five minutes later we pull into the park to park and are told there are no more open spots. "But," said the park ranger, "you can park a mile back down the hill and walk back up here."  Ohhhh....those people we just saw weren't idiots, they were fellow poor souls who got shoved to the 'bad' parking lot down the hill. Nobody wants to hike up a street on a hill a mile before actually starting their "real" hike. We were doomed from the start.

Here we are rounding our first bend on the real hike. We were already exhausted. We just climbed up a mountain, dodging dangerous cars on a bendy road and depleted half our water supply and even more of our oxygen reserves. Therefore, we chose to hike the "easy" path. There was no way we were going to hike for 4+ hours in this 90 degree heat on a moderate-hard path on our first weekend in Colorado. Those just aren't realistic goals people. 

Although the "easy" path was beautiful, it was not "easy". We were huffing and puffing and exerting mucho amounts of energy, sweat, and oxygen. We eventually came to a fork in the road. We could chose to go up farther to see the Horsetooth Falls from a higher elevation or go back down into the gully and see the Falls face on. This was a very hard decision for our weary and oxygen deprived brains. Going up meant more climbing and our legs were already cramping and throbbing. Going down meant we would have to climb up again and there was no way anyone was voting for that. So we decided that just hearing the Falls was enough for us. We've seen Niagara already...all falls are pretty much the same, right?! 

I think I have a picture of Chuck standing like this from every hike we've ever taken. This is his pose. Normally it also involves being on the edge of a large boulder, cliff or mountainside preferably with a terrifying drop-off just inches from his feet. 

And to top off our first adventure in Fort Collins, I hiked with a migraine the entire time. It was hard - very hard. But I wasn't about to take away everyone's fun. Granted, none of us could move the rest of the day. We laid on the sofa, the floor, the bed...anywhere...we just had to lay. We paid for that "easy" hike the rest of the day. But hey, we had fun!

A Week Later

We got all moved into our temporary housing. We found a beautiful, new apartment complex that offered a townhouse option. We got it set up and boxes emptied within two days.

Chloe colored her hair teal.

Bennett already got injured. He took an elbow to his

 eye during basketball practice at the high school.

Gavin's friend Colin already came out to visit for 2 days. 

They explored every square inch of downtown Fort Collins. 

Chuck has set up his office and is hard at work.

And I've already taken one sunset picture.

I'd say things are 'normal' around here.

See You Later...Not Goodbye

Over the horizon, around the bend

A glimpse of the future, a peak at the end

One chapter is over, a new one begins

No more "what ifs" or "might have beens"

Adventure awaits, we're excited to start

 The old always holding a place in our heart.

It can often be scary starting anew 

Sometimes fear takes a hold of you

Causing doubt to play its sound bite:

"What if nothing works out right?"

"What if I can't make any new friends?"

"What if we're wrong, what then?"

Fear of failure, risk and sorrow

Do not lead to happy tomorrows.

Having a dream and following your heart

Means taking a risk & making a new start

Living a life of no regrets

Doesn't mean there will be no upsets

But those you will learn to take in stride

As you understand the joy of how to abide

With what ever circumstances come your way

The excitement of life is in each new day.

Oh, the things we learned and how we grew
Minnesota we owe you our gratitude
For friends we made and people we met
These are the things we will never forget
For six long years we were more than blessed
With neighbors who were the very best
And family who lived close by
Leaving them behind makes us cry.

The journey of life is full of unknowns

How we react is the choice we must own

Excitement or fear; joy or sorrow

Shapes our attitude and all our tomorrows

I choose thankfulness for this adventure anew

And getting to share it with my favorite people, too

I'll take any path with them by my side

Living life fully with arms open wide

To new opportunities, adventures, and sights

I'm embracing life with all of my might!

Summer Solstice

It's safe to say that the longest day of the year is probably one of our most favorite. And we like to celebrate it by staying outside as late as possible. So this past June 20th we headed out to our favorite lake to spend some quality time outdoors. We took a blanket, snacks (even though we had just finished dinner), the volleyball and my camera. All the important things for a night of fun.

We played monkey in the middle with the volleyball and got really sweaty running all over tarnation.

We played sand volleyball.

We (by that I mean Chloe) did handstands in the warm water.

We captured the sunset well after 9pm.

And we took a selfie to commemorate our love of ringing in our favorite season of the year.

"I Think We Should Touch More"

...says the one who sits as close as possible to me every chance she gets.

...says the sweet girl who was glued to my hip the entire first two years of her life.

...says the daughter who holds my hand walking from one room of the house to another, through the store, down the street, in the car. There is never a time when we aren't holding hands.

...says the one who sits on my lap even if there are open seats available.

...says the girl who cuddles me on the sofa every time we sit down.

...says the sweet girl as she shares my pillow while we lay on the floor in front of the fireplace keeping warm.

Touch is definitely one of Chloe's love languages. I love it. It is not mine, but I am learning. I am actually quite averse to touching for whatever reason - showing affection that way does not come naturally to me. I don't hug people "just because." But my sweet girl (and her Daddy) do. I've learned how to reciprocate and see it as love and not smothering. What a gift they've given me. (Bennett too - he has hugged me as soon as he's waken up every single day of his life, even now).

I am so thankful for the gift of 'touching more' that she gives me. Unadulterated love and affection. I pray I never take it for granted, appreciate it every chance I get, and hope it continues until we're both old and gray. 

Gavin's Graduation

This day was always so far in the future. It was so far away it was fuzzy, blurry, dream-like - definitely not a reality that would be imminently upon us. And yet it was and is and did. It snuck up like all things do, under the guise of "time". We were so busy living, doing the mundane things you do with kids: grocery shopping, playing cards, swimming, vacationing, hiking, carpooling to practices, disciplining, cleaning, laughing, going to parent/teacher conferences. And then one day, we woke up and our boy was a senior. And we were happy.

He is so ready to go out into this world alone. I have every confidence in him. But I don't have confidence in myself to enter a future without him. Not that we won't ever be together, just not in the same way. And that's ok. It's ok to be sad, happy, worried, and excited all at the same time. Learning to live within the paradox of those emotions is what growth looks like. It's what change looks like. And that's a good thing! Not an easy thing. Most likely a very hard thing. But still a good thing.

I'm reminded of a blessing by David Steindl Rast that captures this feeling perfectly for me. It goes like this:

Source of all blessings, you bless us with change - in the seasons of the year, from snow to 

greening, flowering, fruiting, and harvest.  In the seasons of life, from childhood to youth, full ripeness, and sagging. All living things keep changing. May I welcome change as a sacred opportunity to grow and savor in each unrepeatable moment's fleetingness what is beyond change.

The actual graduation ceremony was amazing. The day couldn't have turned out more perfect. The weather was warm with a gentle breeze. All the people who loved him were present and celebrating with him. We had so much family that we took up two rows of bleachers! It was awesome. The speeches were memorable and the sunset - perfect. What more could you ask for? 

I only choked up twice - once when the students were walking into the stadium. I don't know why that got me, but it did. You can see Gavin in this picture. It looks like he's looking right at the camera. He has a white NHS collar on. (Unfortunately, we didn't get any other pictures with the collar because we refused to pay an extra $25 for that privilege. But we know. He graduated in the top 10% of his class with a 4.09. ) The other moment came when a special needs boy crossed the platform to receive his diploma and the whole graduating class of 420 kids cheered for him. I just love that! 

I thought I would be sadder. I thought I would cry. But I was too happy to be sad. I couldn't stop smiling. I was thrilled for him. The tears will come. Thankfully, just not today.

Dandi

This is Dandi - Dan and Andi. Isn't that an adorable moniker?! Andi is my cousin, the third amongst her 4 siblings. She and Dan are high school sweet hearts. This was a precious wedding and one I am so thankful to have been able to be at. 

Chloe and I flew to Connecticut for the weekend to celebrate this special event with Andi. It was such a fun time together. I especially love that we are the same shoe size and we can switch shoes when one of us is having a problem walking in heels. (That would be me. Chloe actually helped me out by letting me wear her wedges. I kept literally walking out of my heels.)

 I am 18 years older than Andi. I did the math while I was there. She was only 5 at my wedding. Wow - time literally flies.

This is at the Hartford Golf Club where the reception was held. It was the perfect day. The setting couldn't have been more beautiful.

Young love - so precious to see. 

Chloe and Kelley dancing the conga line. Chloe was very uncomfortable on the dance floor - so Kelley dragged her out there and tried to teach her some moves. She was exactly what Chloe needed. Kelley is Andi's oldest sister.

All the cousins - minus Jack. I so wish Jack could have been in this picture with us, but we couldn't find him. He was a maniac on the dance floor - so fun to watch! I only wish I could have captured it on video. Boy, does he have some moves!

Distinguished Scholar

Gavin and 30 other seniors were honored with a special banquet at the high school last week. It was to celebrate all seniors who achieved a 4.0 grade average and had taken at least 3 college classes while in high school. The neat thing about the way the event was planned was that the students were actually honoring the teacher that had made the most impact in their lives. 

Gavin invited Mrs. Boeckman, his AP European History teacher. He is also a teaching assistant for her this year. He has always loved history, but the way she taught made him love it even more. It was so inspiring to listen as each of the students stood gave a short speech about their teacher. I so appreciated that even though this was a banquet to honor the achievements of these amazingly smart kids, they wanted the kids to see that they are where they are because they had help from people (teachers) who genuinely cared and passed along their passion to these kids along the way. It was a circle of honor and mutual respect. What a beautiful lesson for these accomplished kids to see - you are where you are because of your hard work, yes - but also because others helped you along the way and you must always remember to stop and appreciate those people in your lives.

Even though we were super proud of Gavin, all we really wanted to do was rush out of the banquet because we knew Rob Bell, our favorite author, was at a book signing in downtown Minneapolis and we wanted to be there so bad! The banquet ended at 7. The book signing started at 7. We zoomed downtown and arrived around 45 minutes late. Apparently, he was still taking questions from the crowd when we arrived. We were so far back that we couldn't even see him, but we enjoyed listening. Then the time came for the actual book signing part. Being at the back of the crowd was in our favor because we were practically first in the book signing line.

Gavin really wanted his picture taken with him. The rest of us were standing on the opposite side of the counter from Rob with the book open. I think I got to say like 5 words to him. Gavin was going back behind the counter to get his picture taken with him. When all of the sudden the helper who was taking the picture herded all of us behind the counter. Everything happened so fast, we didn't realize what was happening. Poor Gavin barely made it in the picture. He was rather salty about the whole incident. The whole fam sort of photo bombed his special moment. 

We had so much we wanted to say to him and thank him. But we were being rushed out by his assistant. I guess the 100s of other people all wanted the same thing and there is only so much time in a day. But it was the perfect ending to a wonderful and memorable evening.

This vs Next

Let me tell you a little story about driving with Bennett: it's hard. The end.

Actually, he's quite a good driver. But he has a little problem with the words: 'this' vs. 'next'.

As in, "Bennett, please take the next left."

"This one?"

"No, the next one."

"Which one is that???" (panic setting in)

"It's the next one after this one."

And around and around we go. Over and over. Isn't that the definition of insanity?

As always, Brian Regan has a perfect skit to capture this madness: This is my real life people!

Prom 2017

How did this....

morph into this.....?

seemingly overnight? And now, as it rightly should be, someone else steps in and stands by his side.

Morgan, a sweet girl from Gavin's Mock Trial team (she asked him to prom). Two future engineers. Two friends, enjoying a fun night out together. 

They were part of this larger group of friends going out to dinner at Doolittles and over to Target Field for a night to remember. Somehow, Gavin found himself in a group with the Prom King - a fun person to hang around on this special night.

Their awesome Principal, Jason Berg, was at prom with his senior class tweeting live videos and pictures from the event. I was actually SHOCKED to see my boy, who does not dance (at least in my presence) actually dancing in this video. So happy for him!

Serenity and Sun

As I walked down this stairs yesterday morning, I was greeted with streamers and a beautiful homemade "mom" sign. My heart was already full with love, now it was beginning to brim over. I thought Chuck had made it, since I went to bed before him the previous night. Come to find out, Chloe set her alarm to get up at 3am to do all this for me, bless her heart. She wanted to surprise me. That she did.

Homemade cards, signs, gifts, ideas are my very favorite. They mean more to me than bought items (although, I also appreciate items that cost money). I had to beg Chloe not to make me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day. I don't understand why this is a 'thing'. But I know that her and her daddy love to make breakfast in bed. And I'm not a huge fan of eating in bed. This is the first time I have been able to make this request without her breaking down into tears. Success.

After beholding love made with streamers in my kitchen, I decided to spend time laying outside in the hammock until everyone else got up. Peaceful doesn't even begin to describe how it felt to lay out here for an hour with only the sounds of birdsong to accompany me. 

There was the slightest breeze and every so often these wind chimes with gently sway making the most angelic sound. Did I mention how perfect it was outside. The sun, the unseasonably warm weather, the serenity, the gentle sounds of nature. My overwhelmed heart was bursting with love. I couldn't imagine this day getting any better.

And yet it did. We spent it, yet again, in Stillwater, one of my favorite places in Minnesota. We've spent at least 3 Mother's Days here over the past 6 years. This place just draws me in. Maybe it's the adorable Main Street; or maybe our favorite burger joint - Leo's. Maybe it's the magnificent views of the St. Croix River or the San Fransisco vibe you get from being in a town built into cliffs. Maybe it was the Stillwater Stairs written with kind and encouraging words.

Not only are the views amazing but the smell! Oh my goodness! Those lilacs are intoxicating! Their aroma makes you smile even if you don't want to. They are such a happy flower. Their fragrance wafts through the air sprinkling it with happiness this time of year. 

The best part was the sign my 15 year old son bought for me (see, I do like bought gifts). I'm the luckiest mom and wife....so thankful for this life.