To Claire Marie

Beloved friend, one time flower girl, sister of my heart, and all around rockin' chick, we sure wish we still lived near you. You would be Sophie's most beloved babysitter and confidant (think you could handle hearing butterfly, butterfly, butterfly over and over again?) We miss you and your family so much. Not a week goes by that we don't think of you and pray for you and wonder in amazement over the fact that you must be 17 or 18 now. Say it isn't so! Maybe we will try to visit you over the holidays. xxo

Sophie Goes Camping

It wasn't her first trip to the Rocky Mountains, but this time she roughed it in a tent with bears roaming nearby. Okay, there weren't any bears, but we did see a rattlesnake, and our friend Eric swears he saw a moose. We pitched tent a little south of Breckenridge--or maybe it was west, frankly, I have no idea--but as soon as we got there, Carl discovered that his hiking boots has disintegrated from disuse. Literally, the soles fell off. He found a fishing hook in the dirt around our campfire, a bit of string from his camping kit, and knit the soles of his boots back onto the leather. We feel he deserves a badge, so if any of you former Eagle Scouts have a "knows how to sew boots back together" badge, send it our way.

This backpack looks cool but hurts like heck!

At Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs and where we saw the rattlesnake being prodded with a stick by a German tourist. Or maybe he was Swedish. Frankly, I have no idea.

Poor Casey and Eric had to do all the heavy lifting, while Sophie sat around doing this: