Into the Woods

Last Monday we picked Eli up for our weekly rendezvous and, to our absolute delight, he came home with us the next day!  We had agreed that once Eli reached Two Harbors (the next town up the shore from Duluth) he would come home and finish the last 50 miles doing day-hikes instead of camping on the trail overnight.  By the time we met up with him on Monday, Eli had hiked 211 miles and lost over 10 pounds from 15 days on the trail.  I am incredibly proud of him to say the least!

Once Eli came home, he wasn't ready to leave again.  He spent three days with us, which was much needed by all.  Caleb has been confused the past few weeks, asking at least once a day, "Where'd Daddy go?" and not understanding when I explained that he's hiking.  Having Eli home for a few solid days created a sense of normalcy for us all.

But on Friday it was time to hit the trail again, so Eli took off and covered 16 miles during the day and came home again in the evening.  And the next day I had the privilege of joining him!  Eli's parents watched the boys so I could venture into the woods - and into the fall colors, which have exploded this past week - with my hiking husband.  It was amazing.  We only hiked 6 miles, but the colors were nothing short of majestic, and the weather was as lovely as could be, and the silence of the woods was invigorating!  And having the time and space to have a long, uninterrupted conversation was nothing short of majestic either.  We giddily talked about books and writing and storytelling - pretty much our favorite topic of conversation - and it was like the leaves were giddy with us and couldn't help but fall as they shook with excitement.  What a delight!

I also heard more about Eli's hiking experience.  I asked him what it was like to spend that much time alone because, even for an introvert, that's quite a bit of silence and solitude.  He admitted that it was strange to be alone so much and that he missed talking to people from time to time.  Once, when his campsite was within earshot of the road, he was surprised to realize that the sound of traffic was comforting because "it was nice to know that somebody was out there."  Spending such immense time alone, however, is what allowed him to process and debrief the last several years.  He said he couldn't have done that if he hadn't been alone.

So the woods and the silence were a good and necessary thing for Eli, but now he's ready to be home again.  He has roughly 25 miles left, which he'll do during a couple day-hikes this week, and then he can check this dream off his list!

I was thankful to experience a tiny portion of the Superior Hiking Trail with Eli and get a taste of his world these past two weeks.  It was glorious!

Peek-a-boo

I went to the Twin Cities last weekend to get some help with the boys while Eli continued hiking.  My in-laws were fabulous and graciously handled the boys so I could sleep in both days (even when the toddler woke up at 4:45 one morning and was raring to go).  We also celebrated my niece's first birthday and saw many of the Horn cousins.  It was a much-needed breather for this Mama and a lot of fun for the boys, a win-win!

I realized as we were driving home that I didn't take a single picture on my camera - an unusual occurrence.  I haven't taken many pictures in general since Eli went hiking.  I suppose every ounce of spare energy is put into maintaining my sanity and nothing else (and I don't always succeed at that either)!  I did, however, take one video on my new phone that encapsulates the joy of our baby boy.  He's a happy one, and he makes my heart happy too :)

Although I will never understand why peek-a-boo is such a joy to so many children, I'm glad such a simple thing causes so many smiles and giggles!

Little Boys and the Big Lake

My one stipulation before agreeing to let my husband take off and trek through the woods for a month was that we'd get to see him once a week.  So last Monday I took the boys to Grand Marais to see Eli.  He'd only been hiking for four days but had already covered 48 miles when we met him at the trailhead.  I might have cried when I saw him.  The four days he'd been gone might have been a bit brutal at home with the kids.  The baby might have started teething two teeth at once the day after Eli left and the toddler might have cranked up his toddler antics and given me a run for my money and neither little boy might have slept well for days on end.

In short, the first thing out of my mouth when I picked up Eli at the trailhead might have been, "You are never, ever, EVER allowed to do this ever again!"

But he's okay with that :)  Not only because he knows what a sacrifice it is for me to let him do this, but also because he misses us like crazy.  It's not easy being away from each other.  We are people who need a lot - and I mean, a lot - of time together to function well.  So although Eli's been loving the hike and processing life and meeting with God and reading The Silmarillion and simply feeling good overall, he misses us like crazy.  So seeing us pull into the parking lot to get him was the highlight of his week, even if his wife was a little crazy at the time :)

We enjoyed two days together, loving on our boys and enjoying time by Lake Superior.  We had the blessing of staying at the same house where we spent a month last year on Eli's rural rotation.  It sits on Lake Superior and was a perfect place to settle in for a couple days.  Our time together also offered Eli the chance to shower and resupply, and allowed me the chance to nap - a very, very important thing for this Mama :)

And Caleb had the chance to play by the lake, the Big Lake, the Lake that is Superior (as we like to say).  He threw more rocks into the water than we could count, and his shoes and pants were soaked before all was said and done.  He was a very happy boy :)  Kai joined us outside when his nap was done and he loved climbing the rocks and boulders down the shore.  And I had the joy of taking photos of these little boys by the big lake!

And just because I love to turn photos into black and white, I did.  I find something magical about black and white photos, especially if they're close-ups of little people.

So it was good and needed to see Eli mid-hike.  And it was good to play with our boys by the lake.  It filled up our tanks before we had to say goodbye again.  We dropped him off at the trailhead on Wednesday and he's been hiking ever since.  We'll see him again tomorrow and stay at a resort for a night and let him shower and resupply and revel in our boys again.  

We've always known that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but we're being reminded of that again.  It's hard to be apart, but it makes the time together especially sweet.

So hike on, Eli.  Our boys are eager to see you again soon, and eager to hear in the future how you took this time to nurture your soul and please the heart of God.  Hike on.

The Hike

Eli started hiking yesterday.  We've been talking about The Hike for a long time.  It's been his dream to hike the Superior Hiking Trail someday, and yesterday marked the start of that dream.

Although the trail runs an official 296 miles between Duluth and the Canadian border, Eli didn't start quite at Canada and won't be hiking all the way to its southern end.  But he will be hiking well over 200 miles in total, which is a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of gorgeous scenery to take in, and a lot of fresh air to breathe.  

While his feet will be covering 10-12 miles a day, his mind will be relaxing.  While his body will be carrying the weight of his pack, his soul will be resting and rejuvenating.

After laboring long and hard for the past three years, this is Eli's chance to reset after residency.  I'm so thankful he has the chance to do this, and so thankful he has the will to do it in the first place.  I love and admire and respect my husband for going into the woods like this and for choosing to be alone and with God for such an extended time.  I'm thankful and proud that our children have a father who is setting the example of taking the time necessary to seek and pursue God in such a meaningful way.  He is wise enough to take the time to reset, and wise enough to do it in a place and manner that matches the way God made him.

May God bless him and keep him this month as Eli hikes his way toward home again.  May he "come further up, come further in" as he gets a taste of heaven here on earth.

"I have come home at last!  This is my real country!  I belong here.  This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.  The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.  Bree-hee-hee!  Come further up, come further in!"

~ Jewel, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle

Big Sky Country

Montana is beautiful.  There's no other way to say it.  We spent last week in that glorious place with some of our closest friends and we were blessed beyond measure!

Our Small Group from Chicago (which we were involved with during all four years of med school) has gotten together once a year ever since and this year we upped the ante on our usual weekend reunion and spent an entire week in Big Sky, Montana.  One of the guy's parents built a gorgeous log home there, literally at the top of a mountain, and they graciously invited our group to enjoy the place for our reunion this year.  Here was our view from the deck:

And here's the house.  There's also a guesthouse, and all six families (with eight kids between us now) were able to squeeze in.

The weather was fairly cooperative so in between corralling kids and catching naps here and there, we went hiking, rode ATVs through the mountains, visited Yellowstone, sat in the hot tub, roasted marshmallows, worshipped Jesus with the kids singing and dancing all around us (and roaring too, because apparently that's what Caleb thinks constitutes worship, which was awesome), and fellowshipped and prayed with each other every night.  In short, it was refreshing and rejuvenating and definitely worth the loss of sleep that happened all week.

And I took lots of pictures.  Lots and lots.  I took these nature photos on our hike, and I took about a jillion photos of all the kids.  They are too cute to not be followed around with a camera everywhere!

And we drove to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful.  We walked around the geyser and waited to see her erupt.  But that's all we did because both our boys fell asleep approximately 30 seconds after getting back in the car.  Caleb missed seeing the buffalo on the ride home, which was a bummer because he became rather acquainted with the buffalo head in the log house and said hello to it multiple times a day and said goodnight to it every night :)

And the kids played and played.  In fact, the majority of our time was spent watching them play together.  They're at various ages and stages, and it was fun to see them interact and learn from each other too.

Caleb and Kai romped around as if they were at home :)  We love seeing these boys be boys no matter where we are!

One afternoon all the moms went boating by ourselves.  Let me repeat that: by ourselves.  No kids!  Not a single baby in sight!  It was wonderful!  We had a great time on the lake and did a little shopping at the ski resort afterwards.  I adore these women!

Of course, in order to go anywhere by ourselves, the mamas had to leave all the kiddos with the daddies.  This is how we found them when we pulled into the driveway.  They weren't desperate for us to return at all :)  In all fairness, we did let the guys go whitewater rafting the next afternoon.

There were literally two times the entire week that every man, woman, and child were in the same place.  That's the way it goes with little ones running and crawling around.  This was one of those rare times, when everyone was eating dinner on the deck.  We snapped a photo because we knew the moment would last about a minute (and it did).

The adults loved hanging out at night.  Montana isn't called Big Sky Country for nothing.  We marveled at the scenery around us when we put the kids to sleep and had a chance to breathe.  One evening we watched a female moose in the next valley and another night we watched a thunderstorm pass through the mountains.  It was incredible!

On our last night together we attempted to get a picture of all the kids, knowing it was crazy to even try.  Here's the attempt.  They're all there, and two babies are crying, but that's all we could ask for :)

What's more, we got a second picture of everyone!  Not too shabby either!  Twelve adults and eight kids in one crazy shot.  This is how we'll remember our week in Montana, with these people we love and adore, and with the summer sky starting to fade over the mountains.

And then we hauled our boys home across three states and 15 hours in the car.  But we survived the road trip back and are thankful for the adventure we had from start to end.  Praise be to God for such deep and meaningful friendships as these and for such a time of refreshment and encouragement!