January 31, 2018

Jed's homeschool class is on Wednesdays, from 7:30 to 2:00.

It's a pretty good distance from our house, so we leave about 6:45.

When I heard there was to be a trifecta of astronomical wonders at 6:30 Wednesday morning,

I was so excited - I don't think I could have dragged Jed out of the house that early on a regular school day.  :)

The moon was to be in the north-northwest sky in our part of the world,

so we drove to the top of the mountain near us to get a clear view of the moon behind it.

We were so disappointed when we couldn't see it - the moon was to set around 7:00 am, 

and apparently it was already below the mountains to the west of where we were.

However, as a consolation prize, I took a few pictures of the valley that is Golden.

They're kind of dark - if you click on each picture, it will enlarge.

It was pretty amazing to see the sky change so quickly, just during the time it took to get down the mountain.

The first picture was taken from the top,

and this one and the next were taken about midway down.
The two mesas are South Table Mountain on the right, and North Table Mountain on the left.
Golden lies between the mountain we were on, Lookout Mountain, and the two mesas (and in between).
Denver in on the other side of South Table Mountain, where the more intense light is.

This picture was taken near the bottom of Lookout Mountain...

the sky was starting to turn orange by this time, 

and it was time for us to be about our day.

January 29, 2018

Jed's homeschool class had a science fair this month.  

I gave some artistic advice but he did the experiment and put the board together himself.  

He was pretty proud of himself.  :)

So. Much. Work. to do in school.

January 26, 2018

A dear friend from North Carolina sent me this set of bowls for Christmas - 

how cool is it that they are personalized??!  

 The set included this 9" x 13" pan as well.

I can't wait till the next potluck at church!  :)

This shirt is one of Jed's favorite Christmas gifts ever.  :)

January 24, 2018

Tracy's sister sent us this pottery ornament for Christmas.  

It was made by her pastor's son-in-law, who is a potter in Seagrove, 

a little town about 10 miles south of Asheboro, 

the area where she and the rest of Tracy's family live.  

The heart is situated right over that part of the state, 

the part I lived in for nearly 20 years and where Brad grew up.  

A little piece of my heart is there too.

January 21, 2018

After an early snow of several inches on October 9, we've had precious little snow, just dustings.

We got another dusting on Martin Luther King's birthday last week,

but I was starting with an illness similar to the flu and wasn't able to enjoy it one bit.

I'm not back to normal, but I'm much better than I was, and I'm very thankful for that.

Especially since we got a pretty good snow today finally!

We've all been so sick (Tracy was even diagnosed with pneumonia this week)
that we hadn't even had our Christmas celebration here at home.

Today seemed like the perfect time, with snow falling outside.

Yes, our Christmas tree is still up.  :)

That's what happens when you've been sick since December 23.

After opening gifts, Jed headed out into the wilds to shovel and dig his dad's car out.

January 3, 2018

 Headed home. 
The first leg of our flight leaving Norfolk.

Sunset over northern Virginia.

 Washington DC, our connection.

 Our flight from Washington home was in a 787 - it was huge!

January 1, 2018

We had yet another Christmas celebration with my parents back at the ranch. 

December 31, 2017

December 30, 2017

We hit the road to Charlotte yesterday to see the grands.  

Had our Christmas celebration with them this morning, and it was grand.  :)

I tried to make a gingerbread house with the kids but the icing wouldn't stick and the house kept collapsing.  

My honors-studio-art son took over and did a spectacular job, but his roof kept sliding off.  :)

My mom had made stuffing and sweet potato souffle for our Christmas dinner ahead of time and we brought it with us.  The stuffing took a really long time to cook and it was getting late, so when it was finally ready I put the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes and popped them in the oven to melt, but even that didn't happen quickly so I asked my daughter-in-law to turn the oven to broil.  I checked on them just a couple of minutes later and they were on fire.  Literally.  I screamed and immediately ran from the room, ala George Castanza, but with a better motive - I held the door closed so the kids couldn't come into the kitchen from the playroom upstairs.  It was a madhouse.  Thankfully my daughter-in-law has a good sense of humor.  We scraped the marshmallows off, put on another batch and posed for pictures.  :)

They survived, thanks to my quick thinking!

December 27, 2017

My dad's sister passed away a few days before Christmas, so we headed to Richmond today for her funeral.  

So thankful we were here for that.  

The sun setting over the James River on the way home was really nice. 

December 25, 2017

On our way to Virginia to see my parents for Christmas!  

This is what eastern Colorado looks like - why??  

What are these different colored squares?

Norfolk, Virginia at twilight from the air.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, linking the mainland to the Eastern Shore.  

I didn't remember there were two tunnels until I saw them from above.  

Or rather, didn't see them.  :)

The plan was to celebrate Christmas a little later in the week, 

so it was Eastern Carolina bbq sandwiches for Christmas dinner today.  :)

December 21, 2017

Jed found these sweet little bird tracks in the snow as he was shoveling.

December 14, 2017

 Jed chose a science fair project that involved fire...of course.

Magnesium is a really interesting combustible.

December 8, 2017

I took Jed and a couple of his friends to an escape room in Golden this evening 

to celebrate his birthday (rather belatedly), 

since we were in North Carolina during his actual birthday.

It was so funny to watch them...they were sure they would escape within 10 minutes.  

The confidence of 14 year old boys knows no bounds!   

Even when they didn't manage to escape at all, it wasn't their fault.  :)

December 7, 2017

Jed getting the leaves raked up.  

He was smiling because he thought he was almost done.  :)

November 29, 2017

 Another sunrise, this time before Jed's class.

 

It was interesting how the camera captured the colors differently when I zoomed in.

November 26, 2017

Catching the sunrise this morning.