52 Hike Challenge ~ Hike 21: Return to Silver Falls

[Hike #20 was a beautifully sunny afternoon with my four kids at Talking Waters on April 19th. This was our second “hike” of the year there. Next time I’ll have to snap a few pictures. I always post at least one picture of every hike on Instagram in “real time” if you want to follow along there.]

On April 20th I returned to Silver Creek Falls. This time I brought family and friends and we had no snow. [grin] Holly and I added Char, Monet, and Jake to our crew. Plus Ivy, Levi, Leif, and Lola.

Luke, Monet, and Jake had mock trial that morning (Char, Holly, Ivy, and I were there all morning observing), so it was a long day! We hiked the same 4+ mile loop with 7 waterfalls that I hiked back in February.

On our hikes lately, we’ve noticed so many new blooms. It’s fun to see the new life sprouting as the season changes.

The kid crew:

52 Hike Challenge ~ Hike 19: Return to Shellburg

[Hike #18 was a return to Peavy Section 36 Trail with Holly, Ivy, Leif, and Lola on the gorgeous day of April 3rd.]

On April 9th, Holly and I returned to Shellburg Falls. This time we brought Shannon and her girls, Rilla and Sweden, so we had all three sisters and all our kids (minus Ilex and Drake, who no longer live at home).

We had 66 degree weather, and the hike was delightful.

Ivy and Leif love getting wet. Can you see them at the base of the falls in the picture below?

Easter 2018

[Yes, Easter was almost a month ago, but I’m slaying the perfectionist-procrastinator demon today and just posting anyway.]

We had a lovely, low-key Easter celebration with my family. We had a bunch of things going on just before and just after, so it was a simple dinner. This year we also enjoyed the company of my best friend, Char, and her family. It was barely warm enough for a walk after dinner, but we got out there and enjoyed the fresh air.

The three girls are getting so big! I love their cousinship (it’s a mix between friendship and sibling rivalry—ha!).

Karstens Family ~ 2017

I ran over to Holly’s house to snap some pictures of their family while Drake was home for Christmas. Can you believe Holly and Casey have been married for 25 years? They look so young and lovely. Well, at least Holly does. [grin] She seems to get better with age. Totally unfair.

I’m having a hard time picking a favorite.

Casey is still working as a machinist and playing guitar. Holly is tutoring a Classical Conversations Challenge A class this year. Ilex has half a year left of dental hygiene school. Drake and Jess were married in March. She is currently living here while Drake finishes his time in Chicago. She’ll be joining him in San Diego in February, then they move to a Naval base in Washington in late spring. Ivy is in Holly’s Challenge A class this year.

Time flies.

Christmas 2017

My dear family. I adore them. We had the whole crew as always (including Drake and his wife, Jess) for Christmas. Olive and Little Ben are missing in the above picture, but they stopped by later in the afternoon.

We had breakfast and stockings at home (as usual) before heading to my parents’ house just down the road. We opened gifts there (we always take turns opening one at a time), and Mom had stockings for all of us.

Mom also knitted scarves for all the ladies. (Now Olive had arrived, but Sweden was napping.)

Then dinner. Shannon outdid herself on the tablescape. It was whimsical and so very lovely.

Forest animals. Felt teepees, wigwams, and toadstools. Ferns and branches. Little camp trailers and vintage cars carrying Christmas trees on their roofs. Beeswax candles.

So cheery. (The ceiling was covered in white lights and paper snowflakes.)

Bright laughter, good company, delicious food.

And then our traditional after-dinner walk. It had been a beautiful day of sunshine, and we hit the chill of sunset.

The three little girls above.

The complete Karstens family below. So nice to have Drake home from Chicago. He moves to San Diego (and Jess will join him there) in February for more schooling before landing at the Naval base in Washington in the late spring. We’re so glad they will be less than a day’s drive away.

Sweden, the doll of the family.

Rilla and Sweden

Aren’t they getting big?

And one more of Sweden from our after Thanksgiving dinner walk:

Green Friday Fishing

After a few hours of sunshine at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area, we wandered over to Timber Linn park where my husband was fishing. [I do not know what has possessed him, but he is fishing-obsessed at the moment.] It was such a gorgeous day, and this particular spot is exceedingly convenient. The pond has recently been stocked with huge rainbow trout, and Russ has been catching consistently this past week.

Shannon took advantage of the fact that Russ had all the equipment out, and she brought Rilla and Sweden to catch their first fish. It isn’t a deep pond. Two lifeguards were present. No mud. Extra adults to watch children. The girls were already dirty. Sweden took a nap in the car. Sunshine. Parking right at the pond (which is only a few miles from our house). A guy willing to gut the fish. Easy peasy.

They may be a little spoiled because we ended up with eleven gorgeous trout. As Russ said, “Girls, this isn’t called fishing. It’s called catching.”

The Greatness of Small Things ~ Green Friday

Hours and hours of sunshine for our traditional Green Friday!

Holly, Ilex, and Ivy
Shannon, Rilla, and Sweden
Heidi, Levi, Luke, Leif, and Lola

I was thrilled that Ilex was able to take a break from her studies and join us.

“A man can do worse than be poor. He can miss altogether the sight of the greatness of small things.” [Supper of the Lamb]

"Life is so much more than occasions, and its grand ordinariness must never go unsavored.”

“Only miracle is plain; it is the ordinary that groans with the unutterable weight of glory.”

“Come then; leap upon these mountains, skip upon these hills and heights of earth. The road to Heaven does not run from the world but through it.”

 

“[The world] is a gorgeous old place, full of clownish graces and beautiful drolleries, and it has enough textures, tastes, and smells to keep us intrigued for more time than we have.”

“Man’s real work is to look at the things of the world and to love them for what they are. That is, after all, what God does, and man was not made in God’s image for nothing.”

“For leisure is a receptive attitude of mind, a contemplative attitude, and it is not only the occasion but also the capacity for steeping oneself in the whole of creation.” [Leisure: The Basis of Culture]