All things come to an end

Our summer break is over. So very sad. Clint has started back to school and the girls and I are getting into our school-time grove. We had a great summer filled with all sorts of fun. Here is a recap of our weekend away for our 5th:

Clint "Let's climb zowie tower in Rockie Mountain National Park, it will be so fun."
Alisa "OK, sounds good. Remember I haven't been on a multi pitch climb in about 2 years."

So, off we go. A weekend away.

We drop the kids off at my sisters and head to the park. Traffic was insane and we ended up hiking in 5 miles, carrying all of our stuff, mostly in the dark (really, it was super fun). After finding a place to sleep (in the middle of a snow field on a large boulder) we eat some dinner and try to get some sleep under the stars and this amazing moon that was about as bright as the sun.
Wake up. Eat some pop-tarts. Hike over to the tower. Start to climb said tower. Go up about 5 pitches where I experience some exposure fright. I'm wanting to go down, Clint isn't saying that he'll take me. I understand this to mean that I can't go down. I tell Clint I think I'm tired and done. He climbs on, I follow. He finds repel anchors. I rejoice, until I see repel anchors... a little scary! Descent ends up being epic!!!! Getting down takes about as long as climbing the dang thing. I'm in my climbing shoes (which are killing me) and Clint is thankful that I am beyond cursing him and laughing at our lack of water/food and the mere fact that I want to fall over and die! Finally we get down. Fill up water bottles from river and add "kill all the yucky stuff" tablets. Then we start hiking out. Yes, I said hiking out. 5 miles, with a 40 lbs pack on (alisa's, Clint's' was 70 lbs). We commence in asking everyone we pass what time it is until the alloted 40 mins has passed and we can drink water without getting sick. When this time reaches we want to jump up and down but settle for sitting on rocks to drink some...ahhhh water!


Crazy fun!!! We then spend the rest of the weekend in a cute little cabin on a river hanging out, hiking, sleeping and playing. It was super great to be together.

We did a lot of other fun stuff this summer and are both sad to see it go. Now it's time to look forward to playing in the snow.

Oh, and the girls are great. Addie is crawling and pulling up on things. She can even eat food on her own. Good times.

Our House In The Middle of the Street...the details

Here are the exciting details of our new house...purchased just in time for the Great International Recession and resulting World War. A little scary. Fear-mongering aside, we have a super-cool little dwelling, and here are some pics of it, with comments from the artist:

Your tour guide, Brianna

We have a tree swing. Cool.

The lovely and picturesque east side of our house. Our room is the upper south window; the girls' is the upper north. The living room is below our room, and the kitchen is below the girls' room. (The tour guide is looking for her cue card).

The technology nook,
the Remarkable Bookcase, aka "Lazarus" (yes, there's a story to that),
the hall to the back door and storage shed
the girls' room

For some reason, I really like our mailbox. We have all these incredible flowers and stuff all along our fence.

front flower garden

and that's about it. In regards to the absences of Bree's partner in crime (Addison), she's inside, either learning to crawl, or eating something she shouldn't.

Feel free to drop by the place and see it for real. We'd love to have you!

Happy 4th!

We spent our 4th up in the mountains playing. It was wonderful! We had a great time trail running, hiking, biking, going to a concert and watching fireworks over Lake Dillon. We got to see a beaver, mountain goats and a moose. Dang, our back yard is pretty!

chickens and things

Well, we're still here. It's been nuts around the Locks house. Bri and I have been sick, Addie is getting teeth, Clint is busy with Rock Lead School, we had a house party, we had to get ready for the house party, we've painted every wall in our house, the girls and I made a trip to Spring Field to visit my grandma, and we have tried to find some time to sit on our front porch and drink some wine.

Our feelings on all of this craziness? Fun, tired, excited, tired, wanting to give the girls rum so the whining will stop, tired, thankful...

Summer is here with tree swinging, hiking, gardens, playing outside and enjoying the mountains. Oh, and our summers now include feeding the 23 chickens that live across the street (Bri just adores them). Yes, we do live in the middle of old town and chickens are allowed. They are a hit with all of Bri's friends, and truth be told, with our friends too.

Gotta love it!

Clint will be posting pictures of the house soon.

Crazy times

Well, we have moved...still living out of some boxes and on a daily basis wonder, "where is...". The new house is good, the neighborhood eclectic and the tree swing a fav. I'll post more on moving and all that good stuff soon.
However, I thought some of you might want to see the girls. These are a few pictures I took playing out in our old yard in the hammock. Fun times!

Our House In The Middle of the Street...

Well, take a look. Here it is--the new family fort/base camp/favorite restaurant/trail head/decompression tank...all those things and more. The new House of Locks. Check it out:

211 E Chester, Lafayette, CO, 80026

Pretty exciting, huh? After renting for, well, forever, the Locks Clan has decided unanimously to become home owners. It's partly an equity issue (we want some), but mostly our hand was forced into the decision. (Many of you will remember the earlier tragic post recounting the fateful phone conversation I had with our landlord, Chuck?). All in all, it's for the best, I suppose, and I won't use time here talking about how broken-hearted we are to have to leave our current neighborhood and its amazing community. (See earlier blog entries for that).

The house is actually quite cool. It's a bit larger than our current rental, is mostly solar powered, has lots of storage, and nice little yard with a place for a small garden for Alisa. It was built in 2002, so it's not that old. We probably won't have to replace the timing belt or clutch for a while. It even has an "it'll do" kind of coffee shop a couple of blocks away for Saturday morning 'family pajama breakfasts' or for those times of obligatory peace and quiet for grading papers or writing letters.

One potential drawback is that there are a large number (hard to count accurately, as they move around a lot) of chickens across the street. This could be a good or bad thing, depending on how we spin it. But that's true about much of life, poultry-based or not. It's all in how you look at it, right-side up, or backwards and sideways. That said, we're excited about our new hacienda, and hope you will visit soon. And in case you're wondering: we move on the 27th and, yes, we need help and, yes, we'll reward you with various grillables and beer for your altruistic efforts.

Love to all,
Clint, reporting for The Locks Clan

Update

I know, lame title. What can I say, a lot is going on here so "Update" it is.

I am home from Africa. It was an amazing trip. I traveled with a group of 12 Compassion sponsors to Ghana and Burkina Faso (both in West Africa) and photographed the sponsors meeting their sponsor children. This alone is a emotional ride.

I witnessed families with 8 children living off the father making $4 a month. The "snow" of Burkina Faso (aka Red Dirt) seemed to consume everything. I learned how to carry babies on my back "Africa" style with great fabric and all. Addison is in for some fun. The church parking lots in Burkina look like motor scooter sale lots. I witnessed women with babies on their backs, stacks of items on their heads and small children in front of them riding scooters. All while looking beautiful in traditional dresses. Most of all I discovered West Africa, for me, was as much about the visual as it was the sound. Groups of mothers would meet us at the projects singing and dancing for us. In Ghana, songs were prayers and started all of our days. The local dialects lend themselves to deep penetrating voices and choir like songs lifted up.

Poverty seemed endless but Hope was steady and sure. And with this Hope poverty can have an end. Now that I'm home I keep thinking of 2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

I missed my family. I am glad to be home. I am thankful for the opportunity to experience a different culture and gain a little different perspective.

If you're interested in finding out more about Compassion International go to the link below. I was once again amazed with the organization.

www.compassion.com

On to other things. We have been sick. We, meaning the girls and I. Clint seems to be made of steel and can not be bothered to get sick. We are also looking for a place to put our things and cook and sleep and play and live. You know, a house. It makes our hearts sad to think we might have to leave Boulder so we are praying for a miracle. We would love to stay close to where we live now. Oh the joys of going into large amounts of debt to own dust. Fun times.

The girls are good and growing and Bri is as funny as always. Last night when a babysitter was here she was singing like a rock star in bed (this in normal for her), when the sitter hears her call out "I'm having a concert!". Of course she is. Maybe we should all try having a concert in bed tonight. I think I'll borrow some animals from Bri to be my audience.