Family Retreat

We went on a family retreat last weekend up in the mountains of beautiful Colorado. The drive up there was gorgeous, and it was refreshing to spend some time surrounded by the peace and quiet of nature. We didn't even have cell phone coverage or Internet access.

Driving up

Our mornings were spent in sessions, learning how to grow in our Christian faith and apply it to our lives in marriage, parenting, and reaching out to others. Our afternoons were free, allowing the kids to go out on boats on the lake or to catch minnows and crawdads along the shore. Timo also took the opportunity to practice fly fishing, while I seized the opportunity to nap one afternoon.

K on a paddle boat with a friend

Timo with the boys on a paddle boat

The lake

One of the mornings, we ate breakfast by the river. It was rather chilly, but A slept snugly in my Boba. As for the other kids, it is always nice when you don't have to worry about spilling on the floor.

The smiling picture

The silly picture

H sharing his blueberries with S

H by the river

Our morning view by the river

More of our morning view

The last full afternoon, we packed lunches for a picnic at a destination of our choosing. We opted for lunch by a waterfall about a half hour away. It was a short hike after the drive, but it was easy enough for all but the youngest of our group to manage. In all fairness, she isn't doing any hiking these days.

The waterfall. It was about 70 feet high.

Our attempt at a family photo

Another family photo. A wasn't very happy at this point.

After we left the waterfall, we stopped at a reservoir for another photo op.

The kids

Wait! We have five kids, not four.

Another family photo

The weekend was great. I came away from it with a lot of good information, and I think the kids enjoyed themselves and learned a lot, too. I hope to make it up there again sometime.

Blueberries for Salley

My mom came to visit us for a few days, so I decided to take her and the kids blueberry picking. Timo took S so I did not have to chase him through the blueberry fields, which was a huge blessing. It was a hot day, but we slapped on the sunscreen and headed out.

When we arrived at the field, we were surprised at how prolific the blueberries were. I had been resigned to the fact that we would not be able to pick that much since the berries are so small, but the sheer quantity available allowed us to pick quite a few in a relatively short amount of time. K was my berry-picking machine. She took my large bucket about 15 minutes into picking in exchange for her smaller one. We ended up with a little more than 11 pounds of blueberries, some of which we made into jam and muffins. I froze some as well, and I am looking forward to having those available for a while.

My mom had gone along to be a good sport, but she told me she enjoyed herself. So did I. I love picking my own produce and eating it as fresh as I can. I also have enjoyed learning to make different kinds of jam. This was an opportunity to do both, and I am blessed to live where we can participate in these activities.