This is the long week of my Western Trip. Since I leave tomorrow and will be without my girl for more than a week, the portrait is a little early.
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Monthly Archives: July 2014
the little things
The girl is a lot like me. We both notice little things that others may overlook. Here are some of our more obscure finds…
Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus)
Virgo Tiger Moth (Grammia virgo)
not sure what this is…
Ladybug pupae
Check out these mammatus clouds!
Always something amazing to spy with our little eyes!
Thinking of Others
Two years ago, the girl and I had “An Idea“. It was the year of her surgery and we had been blessed by so many people visiting and bringing her gifts that we wanted to do something similar for other children. That year, I was visiting a hospital in Uganda, and many people helped us take small toys and hats to the children there.
This year, I’m traveling to India. My student is working with an Emmanuel Hospital Association group that provides care for 125 families with children who have HIV/AIDS. I have an opportunity to show Christ’s love to these families. EHA would love for me to bring something to the children, and suggests small things that might go into an operation shoe box. I really don’t have a lot of extra room (I may be able to carry a second small suitcase). I was thinking that maybe some of you could help me collect toothbrushes, combs, small boxes of crayons, pencils, baby hats… really anything small that would show these families a little love. This would also be an encouragement to EHA. If you are interested in helping me with this project, please contact me via email or write a comment on this post, and I’ll be in touch with you.
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Another fun week! This girl loves rocks. Collecting them, climbing them…anything having to do with rocks results in a smile like this:
Here are a few extra photos from this week to supplement the portrait.
The rock collection:
Visiting Devil’s Tower:
Until next time!
Tell Me a Story
One of our favorite places to visit in Rapid City is storybook island. Storybook is a free children’s park that has play sets from many familiar children’s stories. The girl loves to go there to exercise her imagination (and muscles…she runs non-stop!). This year, we spent quite a bit of time in the 100 Acre Woods!
The girl also took a private train ride!
see her in the caboose?
I don’t know what story the snail comes from, but it’s always one of our favorites…We visit every year!
Just look at how much she has grown!
Last year (2013):
More later. We are off to make more stories!
Adventures in the Hills
I can’t believe that two weeks have gone by already. We have had so much fun! Everything is beautiful out here. It’s very green, and the wildflowers are tremendous.
The storms have been amazing and intense.
The sky is one of my favorite things about the West. Big and blue with awesome clouds….
…that become breathtaking sunsets…
…and if you’re really lucky, they are followed by a “super moon”.
When I’m not in class, we have enjoyed hiking:
Scrambling over some pretty amazing rocks:
Watching wildlife!
(see the burro’s nose in the corner of the window?)
It’s been a pretty cool summer so far, but on the warm days we have enjoyed playing in the water!
There are many more adventures to come, for sure!
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Enjoying the Hills! More of our adventures soon.
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Back to her old self!
Travels West
The girl, her Nonnie, the dog and I drove west on Friday. We had our Fourth of July picnic at Great River Bluffs State Park in Winona, Minnesota. It was a beautiful place to stretch our legs!
Yesterday we made great time driving across South Dakota. It was a beautiful day so we decided to make a detour to Badlands National Park.
We are happy to be here and are looking forward to many adventures.
Unremarkable
Most parents would be offended if someone called their child unremarkable, but I love that adjective! The girl’s MRI was unremarkable. No bleeding or obvious injury. We are very happy with those results. We are very happy that we get to go to South Dakota on Friday!
We spent the day at Lurie Children’s yesterday.
It was a very long day, but we did let the girl play with her leap pad (first time since the crash).
Donkey kept an eye on her to make sure she was ok.
The MRI schedule was an hour behind when we arrived and it was 3 hours behind by the time she went back.
We were finally on our way home by 8:00!
That long day was worth it! We now know that this unremarkable image…
(This actually her CT, not the MRI for anyone who can tell a difference)
…belongs to a pretty remarkable little girl!
