Well at least I got our July 4th in . . . August has been so busy and so I haven't finished up our July events! So here we go . . .
(CRY!!! I just wrote up everything and then added a new photo. But Blogger is being stupid and I can only add pictures on safari on my phone. I had to add my last calendar shot . . . and it deleted all my writings. I'm so over blogger . . . but not sure what to try. I'll have to start looking because I am hating it. End of rant.)
Dear Lucy,
Well another year has passed and your Sweet 16 and Golden Birthday came together! It was a little less exciting as we were pretty much just driving home from our Idaho trip . . . but you got to bring your best-friend Ruby to Idaho and we even had a little celebration up there - so hopefully you had a moment or two where you felt special and loved. Your years practically coincide exactly with the school year as your birthday is in the middle of August. So we basically just finished up your sophomore year in high school. Overall, I think it was a good year for you. Unfortunately, it probably didn’t end the way you were wanting or expecting when you and Patton broke up right before school was out. It was a bummer for all of us as we all enjoyed Patton, but I know it was especially sad and hard on you. You two had a great run and had great adventures together. But I have no doubt you’ll keep and make many more friends (girlfriends and boyfriends) and your adventures and love of life will continue.
You really enjoy school - at least the social aspect of it - that by the 2nd week of summer you were already wanting school to start again. While you could focus a little more attention to your classes and less on talking to your friends during those classes, you are a good student and your teachers all seem to like you.
You had another good season in gymnastics, even though you went through a few mental blocks - which are kind of new for you. You opted out of doing your back-handspring on the beam for meets, but still worked on them (whether you wanted to or not) at practice. You had a few other mental blocks on the floor . . . but were able to work through them. You had a BIG front pass and that was always fun to watch! You stayed solid on the beam as usual and ended up placing well at state on that event! The biggest change to gym will be this coming year . . . with Emmy gone. Sniff, sniff. But you have a lot of friends and always seem to make the most of things, so I am sure your love for gym - even without big sis - will continue and grow.
You and Emmy remained the best of frenemies once again this year. At times, things were a lot better. And at other times, things were a lot worse. Ha. But overall, you two were great friends and continued to love going on drives together especially. Emmy loves you so much - even though she can be so rough on you. She truly wants to just be one of your best friends. I hope you two can always be friends . . . and less enemies . . . as you both age and mature. You’re good for each other and actually compliment each other in a lot of ways. Maintain that relationship with all of your siblings, but particularly Emmy, these next few years as you all will be going through a lot of big changes in your lives! They all need your positive attitude and you need them. 🙂
You have a lot of friends, but just a couple of best-friends. And usually that’s the best! You’re very social and friendly and I think your schoolmates like you. You are a great leader/planner/organizer - especially for school dances. You take the role (and for the most part, like it) of organizing where pictures will be, you make the dinner reservations, etc. You aren’t afraid to make calls, send out texts, and more.
You got your first job ever at Pomona Brewery. You take the orders, do dishes, help with food prep, etc. And with tips, you end up making a lot of money ($25/hr!). I don’t think you have much leftover with all your spending . . . but hopefully you’ll learn how to save. We got you a well-used hand-me-down car from one of my friends - it came with a lot of miles, but it also came with a lower price-tag! So now you get to start paying that off and that’s always something that none of your siblings (excepting Miles) have been happy about ha. We make you pay 40% of your paycheck to us/your car loan. You won’t be able to work a whole lot during the school year, but I have no doubt you’ll pay it off by early next summer.
Anyways, lots of growing up for you this past year. You still seem mostly annoyed more than anything else at your parents, but we still love you and are proud of the good qualities you have and are excited to continue to watch you grow and develop into a lovely young woman. Love you Lucy!
Love,
mom
Our July 4th festivities started early with Ben's sister, Debbie, arriving at home to stay for a couple of days. It's always so great to have family come! Debbie came in the height of our smoke-filled skies, yet, ironically, we headed to the fire (Ouray) and got out of the smoke! But before that, we took Debbie (and our 3 dogs) on a tour of our neighborhood/downtown area. It was fun to show her our little area. We then headed to Ouray and just walked around Main St., visiting a few of the stores and purchasing a few things (we had to do our part to support Ouray as it had lost some revenue from the fire!). I think that evening we ate dinner at the restaurant where Lucy works and that was yummy and fun - and a first for all of us! I don't know exactly what we did later that night . . . ??
Early Saturday morning (July 4th), Debbie was up and getting ready to head out to Utah and Ben and I were up early to head out to our hike. I had wanted to hike Columbine Lake for a long time, but knew it would be hard. My hiking (and running, cycling, etc.) has plummeted in its speed and I knew Ben would be patient with me, so it was perfect for us to go and do together. We got to the trailhead (parking was insane - no actual lot, just finding a space on a very narrow, 4WD road . . . ) and started hiking by 8.
The first 2 miles are a gain of 2,000 - and it just about killed me! The first mile was tough, but the switchbacks helped. The second mile, and 1,000 feet, were pretty straight up the mountainside. I was stopping like every 2 minutes (maybe even every minute!). Ben was amazed (and not in a good way) at my diminished hiking abilities. I wanted to cry - and not from the pain of the hike but the sadness that I just had such a hard time. Woe was me. But we finally made it to the level spot and continued on for a couple more miles - more rolling miles and that was actually quite pleasant.
We made it to the lake and It. Was. Stunning. I loved it! Ben was impressed! We walked around to a nice spot on the lake and ate our lunch. We talked about jumping in - it was only slightly tempting to me and maybe strongly tempting to Ben. But the cool breeze settled those temptations . . . but not for some European couple that came over near us and asked if it would be okay if they skinny-dipped. Of course, we said. They were probably in their mid-60s and just stripped off everything unabashedly and enjoyed a minute or so in the beautiful, yet very cold, lake.
The hike down those last 2 miles were pretty painful as well. My quads were quaking. But it was all worth it - even the 5 days of soreness I endured afterwards, ha! Ben and I drove the 10 or so minutes into Silverton and had fun walking around the town and getting an ice cream cone. When we got home we basically just chilled the rest of the night. Lucy went to the local July 4th festivities in town with Ruby and Aubrey and Emmy went and hung out with Aidan.
Well now that July is almost over, it's time to catch up on June . . . (No doubt they will be all out of order and jumbled . . . Blogger isn't as user-friendly as it used to be . . . )
