Easter weekend

Spring weather has arrived in Meeker - aka cold winds, sun, rain, hail, snow? all in an afternoon! - and spring sports are in full swing. Hamp is participating in Middle School track and trying to balance that with Little League baseball. Sam is either at gymnastics, piano lesson, or art class and loving every minute of it! That leaves me running between all of the above... but I'm not sure I would have it any other way. As long as I can squeeze in a good hike with Gabe every other day or so I am pretty happy.

Last weekend was packed with all the fun - after Sam's art class we all (even Gabe!) went to the park for Hamp's baseball game under the lights! Then the weekend found us enjoying an opener track meet at home and baseball games in Grand Junction - both days under blue skies and requiring both sunscreen and a sweatshirt!?

   

It wasn't until Sunday morning that we finally were able to relax and celebrate Spring for real! The Easter bunny actually paid our house a visit and hid our little plastic eggs, filling them with treats. I felt such a relief that even Hamp, at 13 was still a willing and excited participant in the egg hunt. Whether he was doing it for his brother's sake or mine, or just happy to get chocolate for breakfast, it made for such a fun and sweet morning. We even dyed eggs and staying in pajamas all morning... 

 

... and when we later got dressed for dinner, we tried (well, I tried) to take a nice, family holiday photo. 

  

I swear these two really did look very handsome!

Spring break

Another amazing week in Mexico... all sand, sun, shore, sea, shells, shrimp and sunsets. (no sunburns!)

 

I could get used to these sunsets....

... and being with these people all the time!

Such a great, relaxing week - I wasn't quite ready to leave.
Until next time!

my favorite season

As long as there is snow we are trying to play in it!

2 of our favorite ways are:

1) snowshoeing up the Marvine trail (road!) with friends to the winter yurt

And while gloriously clear sunny days are the best to hike in, this year we finally got to go on a night hike during February's full moon! SO cool....

 

 

 

2) ski days at Sunlight Mountain!!!

And while gloriously clear sunny days are the best to ski in, we had a few days this month where Sunlight did not live up to its name.

 

 

Of course, the very best part of ski Sundays is skiing with friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family

For a long weekend we were able to get away to Southern California to visit family - including the newest member of the Etheridge clan:

Jenavieve Marie
(born February 8th)

It was so good to all be together. We only had three days... but it was just enough to spend a day at my brother's home playing games and visiting and hugging on my nephews and new niece!

 

 

 

 

And it was just enough to spend a day watching the four boys have a grand time at Legoland, building and laughing and riding rollercoasters!

 

 

 

 

And it was just enough to spend a whole day digging in the sand, jumping (cold) waves, playing on the beach and relaxing in the sun!

 

 

 

Most importantly, it was barely enough to spend time as a family.
And while our extended family is precious and fulfilling, it was pretty special to have a brief moment where my original family had time for a sunset selfie!

 

Three long days went by quickly, but we savored every moment cuddling sweet, new Jena; hugging and playing with cousins and Aunt & Uncle and grandparents; good, long conversations that simply don't happen over the phone; and for me, morning coffee & crossword in the San Diego sunshine!

 

Celebrating Hamp

We finally got a day to fulfill Hamp's birthday wish = a day at The Barn at Woodward in Copper Mountain. He had been talking about this indoor skate park and training center for months, but I still had no idea what to expect. Well wasn't I pleasantly surprised at just how awesome this place was indeed! I was also impressed with how excellently these four boys shredded the whole park!
(picked up a little lingo as the chaperone... shred = skate well)

 

Even better than the "shredding" was the fun that we all had that day - and everyday with Hamp in our lives. Now that he is officially a teenager, I try to respect his burgeoning maturity and allow him to be his true self. It's an incredibly blurry and wild space for us both - him as a 13-year old boy and me as his mother! But we are figuring out how to grow together and I am learning to love our relationship. He is still not much of a talker (definitely doesn't take after his father on that one!) but when he does I try to really listen. He still loves sports and skiing and friends and being outside - but as his time with Playmobil and Legos wanes, I find his time spent on the Xbox or on Instagram or Youtube fills the void. He has become particularly adept at binge-watching on Netflix! But when he's not 'on a screen' he is still funny and clever and sweet. And a little silly: