WE MADE IT!

My goodness....where to begin. It would take a book to write down all the thoughts, memories, emotions we've had over the past two weeks. And what a two weeks they've been. So fun to spend time with family, so hard to say goodbye to them and to precious friends in SC. It was also sad not to be able to see some other family members (the snow really threw a wrench in our Christmas plans - e.g. Reid's sister and family flipped the van trying to come down a mountain in Cruso - thankfully all are well!). We had an adventurous time ourselves leaving NC and crawling through the Gorge on I-40 - but we made it safely, spent the night in St. Louis and then Colby, Kansas. Contrary to popular opinion, our family was enthralled with Kansas - the plains are beautiful and Missouri was breathtaking in the snow! But words cannot express our thoughts when we caught our first glimpse of the Rockies and then watched them rise up over the high plains. It is beautiful here. This morning I was up early and looked out the window just at the break of dawn and everything looked like a black and white photograph. I hope to take a picture of it tomorrow if I can! :)

So we are beginning to settle in our new home across the field from Timberline. Here are some additional impressions impressions:

- The Rockies are quite different from the Appalachian mountains - not more or less beautiful - just different beautiful - with big/wide valleys and snow-capped peaks.
- We're definitely going to need some time to get used to the altitude...we feel pretty winded after climbing steps, and if you're carrying a box on top of that you really do have to sit down to catch your breath at this altitude.
- we saw our first moose wandering through the field on our way up to the lodge today- and were told that a baby moose wandered through our front yard the other day but we didn't see him/her! :)
- our landlord told us she found mountain lion tracks near the shed...that was a tad concerning but apparently pretty normal. We were encouraged not to wander around alone at dusk. :) Apparently a herd of coyotes also roams around here.
- I successfully baked my first cake at high altitude! :)
- We had our first experience getting stuck in a ditch but were immediately helped by some friends! We're enjoying getting to know ALL the staff at Timberline! What an awesome staff to work with and be family to each other!
- the kids have enjoyed getting to know the Timberline staff kids and eating supper with the guests. Students return tomorrow so we definitely look forward to getting to know them!

There is so much more we could write but I wanted to post an update of some kind. I don't even have pictures to add yet! :( But hope to remedy that soon!! Signing off for now!