To the mountains! (Specifically, the aspens.) That was my birthday wish. So Amber, Koen, John, and I headed for the highground. And while we didn’t find the gorgeous groves I was hoping for, we did stumble upon this sweet spot alongside a rushing mountain creek.

Who could resist skinnydipping on a summer afternoon in a remote mountain lake at 10,000 ft. or so? Not us! (Well, Amber could.)

Skinnydipping aside, our primary purpose of traveling to this gorgeous locale was to visit with our dear friend Pieter on his birthday. And, Koen got plenty of time with his pal, Mateo. They love banging sticks.

Venturing deeper into the aspen forest…

We drove out to the far Northeastern corner of California, for a rare family reunion on Amber’s Dad’s side of the family tree. Koen and I both came down with nasty belly bugs, and due to my incapacitation, this is the only photo I captured (depicting the first meeting of Koen and his cousin Trinity).

…when we spend a day at 7,522 feet above sea level. Loads of sunshine, and not much oxygen, at Estes Park, Colorado.

Koen, Amber, and I headed up to the mountains with “Uncle” John and Shira. We circumnavigated the entirety of Brainard Lake, and Koen did most of it on foot!

Jeremiah John and his sidekick, Jeremiah Koen, trekking through the wilds of Colorado.

“Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life.”

- John Muir

For those of you who haven’t yet heard the news…Amber is pregnant! The baby is expected to arrive in November or December.

My joy is beyond the domain of words.

My two loves in a sunny glade.