Settling in

Raven Run Sanctuary
Originally uploaded by the gladdings

One of the gifts our move to Kentucky has brought us is to be living close to Rebecca's brother Jeremy and his family: aunt Erin and cousins Jed, Caleb & Andrew. We spent a delightful couple of hours this past Sunday hiking the trails at Raven Run sanctuary and sharing a picnic lunch. They joined us later that afternoon at the High Street House, where we met with our new community for the weekly gathering and to be welcomed with a potluck dinner. We continue to be deeply grateful to have been sent out with love by our Mercy Street family, and to be received with love by our Communality family - an uncommon experience and a profound privilege.

We have the living space of our new home sorted out, but the guest room is not quite ready to provide a comfortable welcome to anyone. Maggie asked us today why we had stopped unpacking boxes when we still had so many. Maggie spent 3 days at Kindergarten last week, but we really struggled with her being there for more than 7 hours each day. In looking for a pre-school for Seth we discovered the Lexington co-operative school, which has been here for more than 50 years, and which has a kindergarten that meets for 3 hours a day. We really enjoyed our visit, and so enrolled both M & S. School meets from 12-3 each day (Seth stays home on Fridays), and Rebecca and I will have the opportunity to spend several days a month volunteering in their classes - part of the co-operative nature of the school. We are very much looking forward to the opportunity of spending time with Maggie & Seth in their classroom this first year in Lexington - an opportunity we recognize may not present itself again.

The leadership of the community have been gracious in affording us the time to settle in to our new life here - we have our first meeting with Greg & Billy tomorrow morning, followed by a meeting with all the leadership (or as they like to say, "the people with responsibilities") on Monday. We are eager to begin to find a rhythm to life here, and to discover what our partnership in the missio dei will look like...

Lexington, Kentucky

We got internet service in our new home today, and so I thought I'd end the day with a brief update on our transition from Houston to Lexington.

Our last week in Houston was a blur - more details to take care of than we anticipated. But thanks to the exceedingly gracious hospitality of Bonnie & John McMillan we survived. One highlight of the last week was Seth finally gaining confidence in the swimming pool, thanks to Gigi's (Peggy Hennek) steadfast 'coaching'.

Our last night on the Street was overwhelming. We were showered with love by the community that we have had the privilege of belonging to for the last 7 years, and who are sending us out with their blessing and support to live and serve and "keep the main thing the main thing" here in Lexington. It was a bittersweet time, saying 'a dios' to so many people who we love, and who love us and who we have experienced much of God's grace with in the messiness of our common life over the years. People were so generous, kind and thoughtful with their words and gifts and we left deeply humbled by the evening, and deeply aware of how much we have been blessed during our sojourn "keeping it weird" at Mercy Street. There really aren't words right now.

We set out early Sunday morning for the 2 day drive North-East, which was relatively uneventful (at least compared to the same drive the week before in the U-Haul with Geoff). We arrived late Monday afternoon, and enjoyed the first of many meals with the Maddocks - mostly made with vegetables picked from their garden just beforehand. We have been slowly unpacking, making lists and taking care of the myriad details a move entails. We've enjoyed being pedestrians again, and went to our first pot luck tonight with some local food enthusiasts - cheese grits, ummmmm. We catch glimpses of what our life will become here, which offsets the chaos of our home, and weariness from lack of sleep and the sheer pace of the last few weeks.

Maggie and Seth have jumped into their new situation with both feet, and love spending hours and hours with Isaac and some of the other kids in the community. Rebecca and I are bone-tired, and decided yesterday that it feels like we're visiting on vacation - hanging out with friends, sharing meals, doing some fun things - rather than this being our new home. I imagine the reality of all that this transition means for us will sink in in the days and weeks to come.

We look forward to becoming much more intentional with the blog as this new season in the life of our family begins...

Cousins

Cousins - Colorado 2009
Originally uploaded by the gladdings

The good news is I (Sean) woke up feeling much better this morning, and have been able to get out and enjoy our last day with the Martin clan. We spent several hours at a beautiful stream-side park in Frisco, and finally managed to take a photo of all 7 cousins. We've enjoyed morning visits from a velvet-clad buck - this morning I was sitting in the hot tub at about 7:30 when he strolled by just a few feet away. Maggie and Seth are enjoying the diverse wildlife we're encountering - the deer is their favourite. Tomorrow we say goodbye to the Martin clan, and drive back to Crested Butte to overnight with Sean's friends, the Hegstroms. Then on Sunday it's a 5 hour drive to Durango, Colorado for the last week of our vacation - staying with friends from Mercy Street.

Our dusk visitor

Fox - dusk visitor in Silverthorne
Originally uploaded by the gladdings

Most nights we've spotted this fox, but last night he/she(?) decided to come hang out by the hot tub for awhile. She came up to the back door at one point, so our guess is people have fed her in the past.
We're having a great time hanging out - enjoying the weather with more hiking and biking, and a visit to a kids pool with water slides that was a smash hit with the kiddos.
Sean is still sick - was diagnosed with "walking pneumonia" yesterday - we're hoping the Z-Pack kicks in soon!

Silverthorne, CO - on the trail

Colorado 2009 - on the trail
Originally uploaded by the gladdings

We made it over the Continental Divide on Saturday and arrived safely in Silverthorne for a week with Rebecca's family, after enjoying the 4th of July parade in Crested Butte. As of today, Seth is in great health, Maggie seems to be over conjunctivitis, Rebecca is slightly improved, and I am feeling somewhat less lousy, but now have conjunctivitis. But it's another beautiful place to be sick in!
The seven cousins are having a blast getting reacquainted, and today we took a leisurely 4 hour, 3.3 mile hike along Lake Lilypad trail overlooking Frisco. Another stunning day - a highlight was watching a beaver swim around the lake while we ate lunch. Maggie and Seth were stars - a long hike with no complaints or requests for rides.
The house we're all staying in is a tad more luxurious than we're accustomed to! We look out over the mountains, and can step out the back door and into the woods - or the hot tub, which is Maggie and Seth's new favourtite thing. Sean and Jeremy were soaking in it last night and watched a fox slink past just a few feet away.
The kids seem rested now, but Rebecca and I have little left in reserve. It's good to be with family.

Colorado trip '09

I was having trouble uploading from Flickr

Crested Butte '09
Originally uploaded by the gladdings

- now it is working. See below for more on our trip!

Crested Butte '09

We're a week into our Colorado trip, and enjoying the gracious gift our friends Todd and Angela gave us of a week in their place in Crested Butte. We pulled out of Houston last Thursday (102 degrees) and have woken up here to about 40 degrees each morning. We spent Thursday night with Uncle Dave, Aunt Sharla and Stella in Arlington, then drove through Texas, just getting into New Mexico Friday night. We arrived in Crested Butte late Saturday afternoon, with just over 1100 miles on the trip odometer.Crested Butte is absolutely stunning. We spent Sunday and Monday hiking and biking and walking Elk Street, enjoying Fat Tire Bike Week. CB is a very bike-friendly, if not bike-based culture. We enjoyed a fantastic pizza at the Brick Oven Monday night, and were beginning to settle into vacation mode after a stressful last few months. Tuesday morning saw Sean and Seth feeling lousy, and we ended up at the CB medical clinic yesterday - Seth with an ear infection, Sean with some kind of upper respiratory virus, and Rebecca with her ongoing cough/cold. So, we've pretty much laid low for 3 days - although, if you're going to be sick, we can think of worse places to be sick in! But we hear the trails calling, and it's hard not to be able to explore more of the area.We're driving into Gunnison this afternoon to get out of the house and pick up a few things, and will hopefully check out "Colorado's best coffee and chai" at Camp4 Coffee.The scenery truly is breath-taking, and the weather deliciously cool in the morning and evening. We've added some new bird species (including a golden eagle roadside on the way here). Check out the photos on Flickr.We're hoping to kick the bugs ahead of Saturday, when we head up to the Breckenridge area to spend a week with Rebecca's family.