Hallowe'en

Here are some photos taken by my friend Jeannie at Veterans' Park in Boerne. It was a nice afternoon getting to know Jeannie and Amelia.

Feel free to weigh in here if you want. I need some advisors on this issue.

I am in a muddle about Hallowe'en. For some reason, it's long my favorite holiday. As a Christian, I've been conflicted about that for some time. The Hallowe'en of my youth was very innocent. We had a fall carnival in the old rock gym at my elementary school, the pumpkins were happy, the cartoon specials were sweet... only slightly suspenseful.

Growing up in Texas, fall was the first taste of relief from hot, hot summer and Hallowe'en coincided with the first evenings of 40-50 degree temps. Of course, candy, dressing up and seeing friends and neighbors is always fun for kids. As I got older, the history behind the holiday fascinated me. Like every holiday we celebrate today, it has some pagan roots.

I was never introduced to horror movies, ghouls or evil spirits... the scarier side of Hallowe'en, so it never occurred to me that it might not be the best of celebrations until I was much older. Now that I have a tiny son to think about, I really don't know how I'll present it to him. Thankfully, he's too young for it to be a real worry at this point. If you have an opinion, I'd like to hear it. I may not agree... but it will probably help me decide how to discuss the holiday with my son in the future. For now, we'll enjoy the fall leaves, cooler temps, pumpkins and "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown..." and I'll still take the liberty of saying "Happy Hallowe'en!"

Back to "Normal"?

Boerne MOPS Meeting #2 happened today. I have to admit, I really, REALLY, REALLY didn't want to go. I didn't feel much like I fit at the September meeting... not because I was made to feel left out. The ladies there were VERY friendly and helpful. I just feel so old and backward compared to the moms there. I'm not stylish... I don't really like to shop that much... and I like to be comfortable. I have two-tone hair because I'm trying to grow off the fake and let the natural silver highlights take over.

I determined this past weekend that I would, in fact, be attending, if only for Jonathan's sake. It's not about me after all. Jonathan spends the majority of his time with me, playing with me or playing alone, depending on how busy I am each day. I get sick of me. I can't imagine how the poor baby manages with only a couple of mornings in the week to interact with little people his own age. So I prayed. HARD. I am an introvert who tries very hard to be an extrovert. It's exhausting. I love people and I come by that naturally. I'm very interested in the details of people's lives, but I'm not the gal that runs up and introduces herself to other folks. I need serious alone time to recharge.

I tiptoed in, purposefully a little late today so I wouldn't have to think of things to talk about, and found that we had a couple of new moms at the table with us. I'd had very little sleep the last couple of nights and we had company yesterday afternoon, so I was exhausted and not in the mood to pretend to be "Jackie the Extrovert."

At one point, the whole room was asked to pull out their cell phones to play a game. Only two of us pulled out "antique" phones. That other person happened to be sitting right next to me. I told her I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to play this game. She laughed... she wouldn't either. Neither of us had smart phones, neither of us text, neither of us are on Facebook, we both follow Dave Ramsey principles and we're right about the same age. I believe God sat us next to each other. We hit it off immediately. So, maybe I'll have a kindred spirit there at the pumpkin patch play date Thursday... and if she can't show, at least I'll know I have a kindred spirit out there... and I have her number!

Back to vacation pictures...

I have to back up a little bit for this post and revisit our first leg of the trip. Here are all my favorite guys lined up in one room (with the exception of Uncle Jeremy, Uncle Aaron and Uncle Josh)... the room of a gigantic RV that is! Bop drives RVs to dealerships throughout the country and he happened to be driving this one through Amarillo the day we arrived. Pretty great picture of all four of them... wouldn't you say? We stopped through Amarillo to stay the night with my parents before we headed on up to CO. So - we met up. I'm so glad we did! Jonathan had a great time with both Grandpas that weekend.

Pappa Jack, Jonathan and Bop in Amarillo

Two of a kind

Here we are in front of our cabin on the last day of our stay.

View from our cabin windows

Pappa Jack and Jonathan on the trip back home

Sleepyheads

We planned some time in Amarillo on the last leg of our vacation, and took a drive into Palo Duro Canyon with Grammy and Pappa Jack. Here are the proud grandparents with their little guy.

Allens at Palo Duro Canyon

So we're trying to get back to normal around here... whatever that is. Tis the season for food pantry donations, Christmas shoeboxes, trying to figure out Hallowe'en costumes and all that. I love this time of year. MOPS today, Bible Study tomorrow, a little guy that really needs more nap time, but, since we got back from CO, will only sleep for 45 minutes in his crib at a time. Argh. Thankfully he's not pulling that at night. From the sound of things, we may be sacking out in the recliner with Winnie the Pooh playing in the background in just a few minutes.

I'd decided to be much more intentional about learning time with Jonathan and have devised a schedule and toy/ playpen rotation that we're starting this week. The speaking session lined up exactly today at MOPS. I love it when that happens! The speaker provided a great a framework to go on. It's amazing how much more settled he seems and how happy he is when he can predict what's coming next in the day.

We live in a well-ordered creation and I believe the Creator crafted us with a desire for structure. If you're anything like me, a desire for adventure and impetuosity can rule a day more easily than a schedule... but going from controlled chaos to order and structure in our house has made a huge difference for him and me. Obviously, I've never needed to be more disciplined with my time than right now. I'm much more productive these days and spend a lot more quality time with Jonathan.

If you're the praying type, say a prayer for us in our next adventure... getting rid of the pacifier for good! Ha Ha! Hope this finds you all well! Hopefully we'll have pumpkin patch, Sea World and zoo pictures to share soon! Love from Boerne, Texas...

Old Friends

On one of our jaunts up to the old railroad grade, I mentioned to Jason that some of the trees along the path were like old friends. I know them. I'm anxious to see them again. If you look closely, you'll see lovers' initials carved into the trunk of this tree. I wonder if any of those couples are still together... if any of them revisit this spot and think about a time, long ago, when they walked the same trail, hand in hand.

Once this guy got beyond the initial altitude sickness, he was wide open for the rest of our visit. This picture was taken at another city park in the newest part of Buena Vista right next to our lunch stop. We generally try a new pizza joint when we travel. This one had opened not long before our visit.

Eddyline Restaurant & Brewery

Pretty good!

In case you're in the area, Moonlight Pizza and Amica's in Salida are super too.

As promised by the Deer Valley office staff, Maddie found our cabin every night for the rest of our stay.

That evening, she stayed so long, and it was so cold out, I was tempted to bring her in and let her stay all night. Since I didn't want to run the risk of having to sleep on the couch, I left her outside, and she eventually found her way back home.

This is what we woke to the next morning. Never have I seen the mountains in so many moods within the space of one week. I hopped out the back door and took lots of pictures of the clouds hovering in the chalk cliffs behind the ranch. It was a spectacular sight.

Here are some of the trees we revisit every year. These are particularly stunning because of the color variation in their leaves. You can see the clouds in the valley. It was much colder that morning and by the end of the day there was snow in the peaks... one of the things I'd hoped we'd see by the end of the week.

Jonathan frolicking in an aspen grove

Trying to get a good family picture

We finally made it up the valley to the aspen groves closer to the end of the week. One of my favorite things to do there is lay under a canopy of aspens and just stare. We had the wild man to chase after this year, so that didn't happen, but I'm so glad he got to experience it.

...back at the Buena Vista City Park (Byoona Vista or Byoonie to the locals). Jonathan's just spotted a family with a dog. If I remember correctly, here we captured a very loud "HEY!" We had chocolate/ vanilla twist cones at K's just after our visit to the park.

Another fuzzy friend

Wide Open

Another thing we've learned to love about Deer Valley... the Sand Box! Jonathan loves dirt, sand, rocks, sticks and leaves. Lovin' the dirt... ALL BOY.

This was our last full day at Deer Valley. It had turned much colder and those clouds you saw in the previous pictures just got more numerous and dense. This picture was taken after a delicious meal at the lodge. Sue invited us to eat lunch with the family and off-season staff. It was fantastic...and I didn't have to cook!

Here's some more of that snow I wished for. This is St. Elmo... an old mining/ ghost town up the valley. It snowed only very lightly down at the ranch.

This might be a good place to put in a plug for Deer Valley. Jason worked there several summers and one fall. We all love it, and when it comes time to decide where we want to go for vacation, we consider some other places, but the draw to Deer Valley is just too great. We know it, we know the family and we can't seem to get enough of it. I can't wait to go back.

I'll post one more installment in a few days. There are a few more pictures to share!

Wishes Granted

This pretty much sums up the way we were all feeling when we finally made it to Colorado on Sunday. Jason and I began having real doubts about the wisdom of spending a week at high altitude with our 15 month old, almost from the moment we arrived. The first night, none of us slept much, and, as you can imagine, we expected to pack up and head back to Texas by day two...

... but that didn't happen.

We love Colorado. Jason and I practically fell in love with each other over our mutual love for the state. We particularly love Colorado in the fall. There's no way to describe an aspen tree at the peak of its fall glory. Aspens glow at this time of year. I'm sure there's some scientist out there who could identify the chemical within an aspen leaf that makes it seem to radiate with a light all its own. I don't want to meet that scientist. I want the mystery preserved. There's something otherworldly about an aspen, particularly in autumn.

Deer Valley Corral

Tired, but energized by the crisp fall air and the overwhelming beauty surrounding us, we quickly rallied. Day two was a great success!

All boy... a drinking straw sword attack. Sigh.

Jonathan and Daddy at the city park in Buena Vista, CO

If you've never experienced "Mr. Friendly" in action, here's a little preview for you.

This is the initial "Hi!", spoken louder and louder until the person it's intended for actually responds, or ducks out of sight as quickly as possible.

Today our newest friend was an elderly lady leaving the park restrooms. If you're a lucky new acquaintance, Jonathan might have something to offer you...

...a stick... a hand full of rocks... a half-chewed piece of toast... a pacifier.

Today it was a leaf.

In front of the park is K's... an Allen family tradition that we had to introduce to our newest family member. We ate bacon burgers and fries (Thankfully they serve Dr. Pepper, so Mamma was able to survive the rest of the day.). We returned later in the week for ice cream. That's K's in the background behind Jonathan.

Jonathan and Daddy building the first fire in the cabin

Jonathan made friends with one of the ranch dogs... Maddie. He LOVED her, and she tolerated him. This is Franci helping Jonathan feed Maddie a biscuit.

Dog Slobber!

Shortly after these pictures were taken, Maddie threw up all over the office, probably because Jonathan fed her approximately 10 biscuits. The delight on his face every time Maddie ate from his hand was priceless. He was so sweet with her and she was extremely patient and gentle with him. We love Maddie! Ruff!

Franci and Bev are the sweetest ladies you'd ever want to meet. We spend a lot of time every year just standing in the office catching up with them. Jonathan dove into Franci's arms and hugged her hard close to the end of our stay. He now has a friend for life.

Jonathan and Bev

Another picture from the office

Morning walk to the old railroad grade

Tuckered Out

The Wishes Granted...

A wonderful, relaxing time with Jonathan and Jason without the intrusion of preconceived notions, telephones, internet or TV. Evening hours reading by the fire with hot tea waiting on the end table. An amazing panoramic view of aspen-studded mountains from the cabin armchairs.

Fantastic pizza.

Golden aspens.

Snow-capped peaks.

Delighted eyes.

"I am concerned with a certain way of looking at life, which was created in me by fairy tales, but has since been ratified by mere facts."

~G.K. Chesterton

I thought of this (one of my favorite quotes) the morning we drove away from the ranch. I wonder if Heaven will look like central Colorado in the fall? Oh - how I hope it does!

I suppose I should warn you...

We took well over 500 pictures on this trip. This is the first installment in three posts. I'll try to hit the highlights and weed out the superfluous pictures. Bop, when you get a chance, send me those pictures of you and Jonathan from when we met up in Amarillo, so I can add in that part of the story!