Tom and Michelle

June 2009

6/6: Cooper had his first real sleepover with Katie and Bridget where Mom and Dad actually weren't there. He had a good time and was very tired when he got home.

6/6: Fletcher was confused when Cooper didn't come home with us from Aunt Julie's (he slept over). I put him in the car and then he started calling for Cooper "Boopah" and looking for him. He missed him and looked for him when he woke up the next morning too.

6/7: Cooper experienced his first tornado while he was at Aunt Julie's house. It came about a 1/2 mile from their house. Aunt Julie said he was calm through it and said they should think of happy things and do something fun.

6/11: Cooper and Fletcher were bouncing balls around in the kitchen on the wood floors. Dad came downstairs and Fletcher turned to him and yelled "It's so cool!" Cooper started laughing and said "That's so cute!"

Fletcher really enjoyed his bowl of mint chip ice cream!

Cooper finished first grade this month. Playing at his end-of-school field day.

Fletcher and Mary. Mary is the little sister of one of Cooper's classmates. She loves Fletcher!

Cooper is spending more time with Fletcher and will read to him sometimes.

Roughhousing in Santa Fe

The Plaza in Santa Fe, NM

The Loretto Chapel is near the Plaza and contains the Miraculous Stairway. Here's a description of the stairway from the Loretto Chapel website:

"When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.

The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support.Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction."

Miraculous Stairway. There is not a central column supporting the stairway. Also, the original stairway did not have the railings.

We left Santa Fe and traveled to Alamosa, CO via Taos, NM. The next day we visited Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. The elevation of the park is about 7,500 to 8,000 feet. The dunes themselves are about 750 feet high. They are the tallest dunes in North America. Adjacent to the dunes are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains which contain a couple peaks over 14,000 feet high in the immediate area.

During the Spring Medano Creek forms at the base of the dunes. The snow melts in the mountains and runs along the base of the dunes for a short while before disappearing in the sand. The creek was not flowing very well this time but still had some flow.

This photo gives a good sense of scale of the dunes. Cooper and Fletcher are in the forefront of the shot. The little dots at the top of the dunes are people. We walked about two-thirds of the way up (carrying Fletcher).