Dear family,
August started absolutely blissful since we had two weeks at Tober all by ourselves. 
I can't even express how healing it was for the soul. Elias was able to take quite a bit of time off work and we enjoyed every minute of it. The slower pace, the freedom of activities, the creativity, the beauty of nature; it was all delicious.
Summer lead us through family exercises each morning.
I took the kids fishing one day and we caught way too many fish considering Smith was the only one willing to touch them. We tried to release them into the Tober pond but I don't think any survived the journey.
My absolute favorite thing was our family sleepover on the garage porch. The sky was clear and it was absolutely breathtaking. There were so many shooting stars. I was mesmerized! Then I realized that the stars are on display every night, I just live in a place where they can't be seen.
We had a delightful day hosting our Colorado cousins (Meghan and Nikki and their kids). They are such great friends.
As we prepared Tober for winter, we also learned of a bear in the area. One morning Elias and I woke up to a sound around 5am. Elias jumped out of bed and the next thing I heard was a strange, deep voice yelling, "Yooouuuu get outta here! Now git!" It turns out that a very large black bear had broken through the window screen and had been snacking all night. He broke through the kitchen screen and ate all our food within a six food radius. He then broke through the laundry room screen and took all three trash bags one at a time to take 100 yards away and unpack and eat to his delight.
The experience triggered a new level of protector in Elias. As instructed by the park ranger, he made these large unwelcome mats to put by the windows. He also drenched the outside of the cabin in ammonia, installed motion lights, kept the inside lights on, bought bear horns and bear spray and stayed up almost all of the last three nights to protect the family. I felt like the Swiss Family Robinson preparing for the pirates to come back. The bear was wise to never get too close again before we left.
For my birthday we rented a boat and enjoyed the day at Cherry Creek Reservoir. It was absolutely dreamy; especially because CO schools were already in session and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
I'm proud to say that we summited another 14er. Despite Rose throwing up after the first mile, Boyd hiking ahead and summiting Torres before coming back to us; despite elevation sickness, tired bodies, and a hail storm, we made it to the summit of Grey's Peak. There is not denying things got a little ugly and the view from the top was nothing but fog, but we did it. It was all smiles on the way home. We went to Beau Joe's Pizza to celebrate.
We enjoyed a few more days of crafts. Boyd made signs for the ATV trails, Smith made an airplane and I tried embroidery for the first time.
We then drove home. We have gotten really good at the drive and it only takes us two days.
We were able to squeeze in a few more adventures with our last week before school started. We painted Smith's room and the girls' room. We hiked across the Hudson with some friends and I enjoyed a picnic at the bay with friends.
We had our back-to-school celebration and everyone chose a word for the year. Elias-positive energy, Brittany-inspired, Summer-positive, Boyd-active, Smith-hard-working, Joy-trustworthy, Rose-kind.
We enjoyed two-on-ones and back-to-school father's blessings.
It's good to settle back into a routine, especially with our bees and chickens that bring so much joy.
Brittany et al.
