Spring Break pictures: Easter

The pictures resume.

I had several pictures of Easter, but so did Em, and then we exchanged pictures and now I don't remember which are mine and which are hers. And she posted some on the GOFR. So, I'll just post a few from that day. It was awesome. We shared a feast (that seemed relatively easy to prepare).

The happy couple. We were SO enjoying ourselves!

Cute sisters.

What Jackson actually looked like ALL of Easter Sunday (post-church, thank you).

A happy momma with her screaming baby.

You can see his head is read from yelling.

Finally, look at how TALL she is?

I don't even know what to DO with that.

Spring Break pictures: Sedona to Flagstaff and Back

We made a quick trip through Sedona to Flagstaff to the Formans' favorite Mexican restaurant. Mmm, good. And also, beautiful drive. I took my Dramamine so that I wouldn't get car sick, but let me tell you, I still did. Franz was gracious enough to tone down the fiesty switchbacks as we neared Flag, otherwise, I might have lost my delicious Toffee shake from Wendy's.

We were in a convertible, which made the Sedona mountains even BETTER than when I'd seen them before. It was insane! Kyle got some great shots because of it. Maddie and I froze in the back seat because of it. But I'd say it was worth it.

The driver.

The tween and me.

She had her iPod and was into her music most of the trip.

It was too loud and windy to converse.

But I was so glad to share the back seat with her!

Coming up on Sedona.

First glimpse.

Sedona.

The mountains of Flagstaff!

Spring Break pictures: The Wildlife Zoo

The infamous day of the 3 P's, Kyle, Maddie, and I had a terrific time at the Zoo. Here are a few of the shots we liked best.

Maddie and Kyle got on the sky lift.

I kept my motion-sick self on the ground.

We were all happy.

The view from the lift.

A very cool perspective.

They had many insane looking creatures.

Like the white alligator

(two of them actually, in separate habitats, in separate exhibits).

The hairy wart hog. Gross.

Somebody needs a hair cut.

The snoozing crocodile. Outside of the baby animal house.

Kind of weird to see cute baby porcupines and tiny wart hogs,

and exit to find a giant crocodile.

A pacing jaguar. He was hungry.

We did get to be around the snakes at feeding time.

And, Grandma, I know you hate snakes, even the thought of them,

but it was REALLY cool. Their reaction time is lightning fast!

Sweet little turtle family outside the baby animal house.

Hungry camel, eating his alfalfa.

This brilliant peacock was trying to find his female amidst all the people chaos.

What's crazy is that little girl in pink behind him,

she actually snuck up behind and touched him.

I promise you, I'd never do that to a fully displayed male peacock. SCARY!

The petting zoo was a favorite for Maddie, I think.

And my absolute favorite in the cage was this baby llama.

One little girl couldn't stop following it around to pet it,

because it was SO soft.

A happy, and very tired, group at the end of our day.

Kissed by the sun and entertained by the animals!

Spring Break pictures: The Hike

A couple of times on our break, we went for a splendid hike that begins about 2 blocks from the Formans' front door. It's got mountains, saguaros, lizards, strange and scary black beetles, a bee hive in a cliff side, all kinds of flowers, and even some water (see below).

The coolest cactus we could find.

The ridge line.

The water behind the dam.

Kyle, atop a mountain, the highest one, I think.

He said it was very windy.

I declined the offer to climb it with him, as I was really tired at that point.

On the side away from the city. This would be the North side.

Beautiful view of Lake Pleasant Parkway.

Here is the suburbia side. The first home you see across the street is the Forman home.

Looking straight down, this is how high we were at one point.

Gave me vertigo.

Me, in all my hiking glory. And suburbia behind.

I love this desert!

A parting shot. This land is gorgeous!

Spring Break

It was lovely. The weather couldn't have been more perfect -- clear, wide blue skies every day. The one day that had suggested a chance of rain turned out just as amazing as the days before and those after. We had great company, too, in the form of great hosts. I had plenty of time to get my baby fix for the year (although with three new babies in our immediate family, I feel we'll have plenty more time this year for baby fixes). Jackson seemed to warm up to me pretty quickly and although he's a hefty 12 lbs., I loved holding him, too. He is such a sweet baby. The girls are a riot, as usual, but because of an unfortunate stomach bug that Katie got just before Easter, Kyle and I actually had significant alone-time with Maddie. I kept trying to remember life as a 7-year-old and I really can't. I'm always so impressed with her perception and sympathy and reasoning. I'm not sure I was that mentally developed at age seven.

Kyle and I got two great hikes in during our stay, both on the mountain just behind the Forman's home (the trail starts about 3 blocks away). The first trip, we climbed the first peak we could find. It was really difficult and we encountered a bee hive in a small cavern on the side of the mountain. Hundreds of bees. Luckily, we were a distance enough away to stay safe. It was mating season for some sort of nasty beetle with a red thorax and head. They were everywhere, but only at a certain elevation, which was interesting. The second trip we decided to do the entire WestWing Loop trail, which circled the mountain near ground level on the south side, and then climbed to several scenic overlooks. That hike lasted 2 and 1/2 hours, and it was very windy which helped cool us off.

Here is a list of other really fun things we did:

• Fire pit and roasting marshmallows on our first Sunday evening in town.
  
• Barnes & Noble / PetCo with the girls and Jackson.
• Movies with Em & Franz nearly every night after the kids were in bed.
• Kyle and I played tennis on two beautiful mornings at a nearby park -- our first tennis matches of the season!
  
• The Wildlife Zoo (just Kyle and Maddie and me).
• Convertible trip a la Franz with Maddie and Kyle and me through Sedona (which Kyle had never seen) and up to Flagstaff, where we had dinner at the beloved Casa Bonita Mexican restaurant.
• Easter church service and a wonderfully relaxing day, full with Easter egg hunting and a scrumtrulescent feast of ham, cheesy potatoes, broiled & herbed asparagus and green beans, delectable rolls, and two kinds of pie.

Maddie is always so creative and there were two very small, but fantastic things she did for us while we were there. Upon our arrival, as we unpacked in the guest room, I found a tiny vase of our great-grandmother's that had four beautiful, tiny flowers in it. The desert was aBLOOM because of the recent rain -- everywhere was green, purple, orange, red, yellow, white, and pink. The fuchsia bougainvilleas were full and crawling every wall you could see in the neighborhoods. So, Maddie had chosen a few of these flowers to welcome us. It was precious!

The second thing took place under my nose and I didn't even realize it until days later. After school on Monday, Maddie was very busy cutting and coloring and glittering. I didn't pay any attention to it, but the morning we left, she brought down two little egg-shaped pieces of paper that were bedazzled in various glittery designs, with messages on the inside, specific to the person she was giving each to. I'm constantly amazed at her thoughtfulness and creativity.

The vacation was so relaxing, despite the fast-paced life of the Formans. It was fantastic to get away from here, to rest, to play, to hike and have sunshine every waking moment, and to be with family. I'll have some pictures up here shortly; there just hasn't been time yet for laundry or picture-sorting!

Upon returning, I've noticed that everyone on campus is smiling, has some color in their cheeks, and seems to have reversed the bad attitudes from stress that accompanied the weeks prior to break. It's nice to have the hope of Spring and Summer, shortly thereafter!

Celebrating life

This week has been, well, emotional. On one hand, it is finally Spring, and for me that is cause for joy, an intensely happy emotion. We're leaving on vacation in a few days for a long break. A much-needed one, and we're heading to a sunny, warm climate, which brings even greater joy.

On the other hand, though, I'm plagued by grief and unanswerable questions. A very beautiful, courageous, and outstanding woman, mother, friend, and wife passed away last Friday. She was intricately connected to my family in multiple ways, even to the place where I currently work. What I'm saying is her influence is far-reaching, as is the weight of her death.

Her journey was wrought with pain and suffering these last four years, and so it is merciful that her body is now fully restored; she is whole and free in heaven with Jesus. No one will deny the graciousness of that. She was courageous in the face of debilitating illness, and her gorgeous smile and sparkling eyes lasted when other body functions were lost. But this loss is so great for this community, for any and all who knew her. She was what I would call, somewhat cornily but nonetheless wholeheartedly, a faith warrior, a total servant.

Attending the Celebration of Life services for her today, I walked away with a very hard question, one that I don't know can be answered by a person. It's not as simple as Why? because I know that question is never the right one to ask. The answer there will always be because we live in a fallen and imperfect world.

As Christians, we often hear people say when a beloved Christian passes away that God will use the witness of their life and death, perhaps, to His glory. As I listened to the wonderful memories of this fun-loving lady, I kept coming back to this thought and subsequent question:

Her life was such a living ministry to those around her. As one of her friends said, "To know her, was to love her;" it was impossible for it to be otherwise. How, then, can God be glorified more in her death than He was in her life?

I find that so hard to imagine, as her life was filled to brimming over with her love and devotion to Jesus, and thus to others. I know it is so hard to see outside of this pain, but how could more good come from this?

I long, as many do, to see what God will make from this tragedy. I truly long for His glory to be shown, for people to be drawn to them because of Jan's life. I want to see that, perhaps to saysee, good has come. That seems pretty selfish. But then, most of our feelings and emotions are selfish right now. We don't wish her back in the state that she left. That would be cruel and unjust. But we miss her. We loved her company, her sense of humor; we were loved by her through her love of Christ. And that, my friend, is no small love.

The words shared at the services today were beautiful, recalling her tremendous character in every facet. I found myself drawn to an illustration her husband shared...an image he's been considering amidst his pain, one he longs to understand fully, though as yet, he does not. If life, more specifically suffering, is a tapestry, a work of art, quite often the parts we see of it in daily life are the reverse side. The part that looks like tangled threads, knots, and chaos. It's not pleasing to the eye; it's almost unpleasant. But what if we could see the other side, the true picture, the beautiful work of art that has been made. Would we approach these trials, this suffering, this confusing life of pain, differently? What would that image tell us about God, about ourselves and who we are in His plan?

This may all be quite incomprehensible. I'm still processing. Watching friends and family grieve for someone is hard, and because I live far away, today was my first time being able to process it all with others. Knowing that children, in the twenties, have lost a mother is heart-wrenching. When they are friends, it's devastating. But we do have hope, and Jan's wish would be, as her husband said, that people come to know Jesus through this, that people seek after Him and devote their lives to Him because of all of her incredible testimony and courage in hardship.

That is our hope.

March 18th, and reading

Yesterday was my one-month anniversary from eye surgery. I can't believe it's only been a month.

I feel like my vision is really good, but I still have trouble focusing at times. I'm not sure if it's related to something or not, or if it's some astigmatism that will need corrective eye wear. It's not really enough distortion to slow me down, but it can be irritating. Like if someone asks me a question that requires me to read something far away and no matter how much I squint at it, I cannot make out the word(s). I do have quite a few floaters, too, which make focusing a bit difficult as well. I'm not sure what to do about that. There isn't a cure for floaters, although I read yesterday that they tend to dissipate after a while. I can only hope, right?

It hasn't kept me from reading books either, although I find the transition from reading text in front of me to focusing further away takes longer than I remember it did prior to the surgery. I think I've read three books in the last two weeks, which has been wonderful, as I hadn't read a book from late December through early March. The latest one, I finished last night: Cry, the Beloved Country. I had a feeling that I'd read it before, but when I reached the end, I knew I hadn't. It's such a beautiful story of love, redemption, hope, and mercy, even while dealing with death, corruption, hate, and segregation. I may put it on my list of favorite books. Paton is an excellent story-weaver, and upon reading the introduction which included a little bit of a speech he gave about the book, I can see his heart for South Africa and Africa as a whole throughout the novel. It is heart-breaking and yet hopeful.

I keep a running tab on all books that I've read, probably since 2006 or 2007. The latest additions (and near future ones, as well) are from a list of 40 classic novels that I found online. While I had read a sixteen already, I've added three in the last two weeks. The Catcher in the Rye (which I did not enjoy), The Call of the Wild (which I loved), and Cry, the Beloved Country. Next up I have Zora Neale Hurston's classic Their Eyes Were Watching God. A friend of mine did her senior English paper on this book, and I've wanted to read it since (that's 5 years, folks). I think I'll start today.

You'll remember, if you followed my post-surgery updates, that I had a scare with rubbing my eye only a week after the procedure. Well, I did it again last night, only I didn't freak out this time. It just irritated me that I did it. I've had no issue with this since I quit wearing the goggles to bed about a week ago. I don't know if I was subconsciously commemorating the anniversary of my surgery or what. But I think I'll be okay this time.

Next week I have my one-month appointment. Hoping for great news.