First week of school!

After 5 long months it was time to get back to school!
Whether they would admit it or not, these boys were ready to get back to learning and to a routine...
and of course to seeing their friends everyday.

11th grade & 8th grade

And due to having to wait for COVID test results to come in, John-Jefferson had to wait until Wednesday to start school.
So of course, I made them take another photo!


While it was an exhausting week - Hamp had a Varsity Golf tournament on Tuesday and John-Jefferson had to beat jet lag and catch up from missing the first 2 days of school - we made it in good form and were ready for the weekend!

Not wanting to waste a beautiful weekend day sitting at home, I suggested we go explore. So we headed out of town and ended up in Aspen for the day where we had lunch at 11,000 feet and hiked in the National Forest.



The boys were happy for a change of scenery... and between welcoming John-Jefferson and playing Varsity Golf and getting back into the school groove, they always make me proud at their willingness to take the plunge into new adventures!

Part of the family...

The suggestion was made last summer, in person by my dear friend. She asked if we would host her son for an exchange year in the United States! (she is French) My gut instinct was to immediately say Yes! but I took some time to think about it and discuss it with Hamp & Sam... it would be a big commitment and a life change for all of us. We decided it would be a wonderful opportunity for us as a family to share our lives and adventures with someone who is already special to our hearts.
So Friday night, we waited for John-Jefferson to arrive at Grand Junction airport and happily welcomed him into our home!


I can not imagine how stressful and bittersweet it would be to put your 16 year-old on an international flight alone, knowing you would not see them for 10 months! But my friend, as always was gracious and thoughtful about her post upon his departure from Paris:

"We strive to share our values and give roots to our children. They grow up and you reach the day when the courage enables you to offer the greatest gift of all: Wings to fly!

Our hearts are very heavy today but we are so proud of you, John-Jefferson.

After 8 very long months, an incredible journey with amazing people is about to start for you in Colorado. You become a citizen of a world which needs more care and understanding and you will be a great one."





So to John-Jefferson's family, I would like to say:
He is in good hands! I will love him like my own son and I will guard his heart and his mind carefully while he grows into the world citizen that you envision. He will have grand adventures with us and create memories and friendships that will last his lifetime. Congratulations, you have truly given your son very special and amazing gift.

And to Hamp & Sam, I would like to say:
Enjoy this experience. It is a gift for you, too. You will learn to open your heart and your mind and you will learn to share - your space, your friends, your community, your culture and your time. This lesson will help you grow into a more compassionate and generous adult. Besides, with John-Jefferson here I will want to make better meals and take us all on fun adventures so it's really better for you, too!

Summer fun

Our school starts Monday.
Always a bittersweet transition, this year is obviously a little weirder.

We are all excited to find a new routine and get back to learning... and hoping we can stay with in-person instruction for as long as safely possible. Academically it should be a good year for both boys. And athletically, Hamp has had the opportunity to play Varsity golf this fall... and we will wait and see if any other sports happen later in the year.

The hardest part of shifting seasonal gears will be letting go of our unstructured time that we have come to appreciate these last 5 months! We certainly made the most of living in NW Colorado during quarantine...  while we didn't travel as far & wide as we would have liked, we managed to do plenty of adventuring locally!

Paddleboarding


Horseback Riding


Hiking


Camping


Kayaking

... and mostly playing with this gal right here!

Sam's summer project

 

Sam has passed some time this summer learning how to bake & decorate really neat cakes.

His desserts have satisfied his need for creativity and everyone else's need for sugar!

He was encouraged to enter something in this year's county fair - so he decided to try out 2 different styles of cake (chocolate layer cake with oreo buttercream frosting and ombre vanilla cake with lavender drip and vanilla buttercream frosting) and low and behold.... he won! Since the ribbon acquisition there has been a little talk about starting his own cake-making business in town. Unless, of course his interests shift to whatever new passion he finds today and these photos will be all we have to remember how sweet our summer was!

Follow his account in Instagram for more of his creations: @cakesbysam25

Plan B

Last year the Hightowers began planning a bucket list trip of spending a week in Glacier National Park up in Montana... we rented a lake house, bought plane tickets, and started following GNP on Instagram!

When everything shifted, we pulled the plug (no one was comfortable putting the septuagenarians on a plane!) and starting thinking about a safer alternative.

Deciding to "meet in the middle", we traded Montana for Arkansas - a day's drive for everyone - and ended up having a wonderful week on Beaver Lake.

Not only did we find a spectacular house to rent on a moment's notice 

(views, hammocks, hot tub, views, lake toys for everyone, a game room, and oh the views!)

but the lake was perfect for all the cousins to paddle and play and swing and jump and swim and laugh.








Beaver Lake is kind of a hidden gem in NW Arkansas - most of the time we felt like we had it all to ourselves! One of the days we rented a pontoon boat to see more of the lake than our mere kayaks could afford us... BEST decision ever!!!

Room for everyone to relax and enjoy being on the lake... and power to make some great tubing waves.






So while Glacier will stay on our bucket list for another year, we can say our summer family lake vacation was definitely a success! 

better late than never!

Our plans were to celebrate Dado's 70th birthday in March with a Caribbean Cruise all together during spring break!

Well.... that did not happen for obvious reasons.

So as the COVID restrictions began to lift we started to think of how we could all get together safely... and figured the Colorado crew could drive across the desert to California and we could all hang out at the Etheridge Resort for a few days and pretend like it was St. Maarten!

We not only planned a lovely 70 years, 3 months and 13 days birthday party... but we socially distanced ourselves together for a day at the park, a day at the beach, and a day at the local fun park (fully masked and sanitized, of course!) racing go carts and playing virtual reality games. As always, the time with family filled my heart - feeling especially lucky to all be together and healthy these days. 

the making of an adventure dog

In the three weeks we have had Peace in our lives, she has been all over and had all kinds of experiences!
No doubt she will become a great adventure companion to us all...


She rode up (not on the 4-wheelers but in an OHV!) to the mountains and explored - and got dirty with her boys:

She went to Craig with Sam (to gymnastics!) and went hiking on the trails:

She goes nearly every day with her favorite hiking partners on the trails in town:


And she has been to the lake and is learning to like the water... we have hopes of making her a water dog and a kayak partner!

She has adapted so well to going to the parks and playing with other kids, dogs and people. The boys are still so smitten with her and fight over whose bed she sleeps on. She knows her family and loves to be home with the three of us... but is always up for whatever adventure we want to take her on!