Mountains. Family. Hiking. Eating, and more Eating.

It's Monday.

David, Little Girl and I leave for Colorado for vacation in just 3 short days. My parents take a trip to Estes Park every year and whoever of us children can come along for the ride, well, that just makes it that much more fun! A few years ago was our first trip with all of us going (all together) as adults and it was so much fun. Little did we know after we arrived back home from our trip of being footloose and fancy free singletons (without any kiddos yet), that our precious Little Girl would come into our lives only a month later.

Oh how our lives changed in that one month! Wow! (well, let's just be honest. It was really 2 weeks, because that is all the notice we had to becoming parents. We had a book and blanket to our name as we waited for that phone call telling us we had a child to call our very own!)

It was a fun trip that year in Colorado, but I am really looking forward to this one.

Little Girl is almost 3 and she has 4 big boy cousins ranging in ages from 4 to 11. We are all going to be there, together, having fun just camping in our tents, eating smores by the fire, hiking up in the mountains, going horseback riding, wearing the kids out so they will want to go to bed at 8:30 and we crazy adults can stay up and tell stories and laugh well into the night! (Ah, well, we can pray - right?)

I am ready for a vacation.

Moving. Living in a tiny apartment. Having most of my stuff in storage. Saying goodbye to friends. Trying to find all the energy I have to develop new friendships, encouraging Little Girl to enjoy her new church and also find her new friendships. Etc. Etc. - all of this makes me tired.

All of this makes me ready to see my family and just relax. I can't wait to enjoy nature, enjoy Starbucks in the mountains, eat our yummy trail mix that we make and watch our children run around and play with each other and just "be".

I feel like I need to just "be" with the Lord right now. I am obsessing. I am anxious. I am, at times, concerned at how to make this very new town my new home. But the Lord knows. He cares about me and knows me better than I know myself. Sometimes when all the things around us are uncomfortable and unfamiliar and make us feel lonely and out of sorts - this is when God feels the closest. He's not crazy. He knows that this is how he can often get our attention and draw us back into him.

So, I pray today, that I will take this time of difficulty, and turn my eyes upward where they belong anyway, and that I will feel the peace and presence of my God who loves me the most.

We already did a trial run with a new tent in our bedroom tonight. Little Girl jumped around inside and told us she could see the stars. Watching her get so excited about something she doesn't even understand yet is pretty cute. She has never seen a mountain before, and I think she will just plain love it.

You can keep the beach, the sunbathing and the tropical vacation spots this year - I'll take me some mountains in Colorado!

Yep. That sure sounds good to me.