Yesterday, before my mother takes off on her little road trip, we took a drive into the Indian Peaks wilderness, a spectacular area northwest of Denver that we have, somehow in all these years, still not explored completely.

 I love this picture because this is such a typical and familiar image of my mother, leaning on a fence with a camera in her hands, and horses somewhere nearby.

 Horses that came to say hello.

 I love the smell of a horse's breath, like warm grass. 

The yellow schoolhouse is a startling contrast in that empty valley.

 Trainspotting.

 Daddyspotting.

 Mum and I came around a corner to be suprised by these two jokers...aha!

 Mike took this picture - isn't it sweet? Somehow captures all the joy we were taking in around us.

 Q picked a wild daisy for me.

 Always the explorer.

 So beautiful, every inch.

 Waving to the train as it heads for the tunnel that goes through the mountain. The conductor blew his whistle for Q.

 Hard to post right now, since I am caught between work, Q's recovery process, and my mum's biannual visit from New York, but suffice to say that Q's recovery has been sporadic. While she returned to the land-of-the-living a great deal more quickly than most, her tendency to overdo it (coupled with her chronic inability to just "rest") has definitely made for some rough patches on the road to complete recovery. When her systems fail, they fail hard and fast, but she rallies again just as quickly. 

Here she is in a wan moment, making a giraffe puzzle that a friend sent her. Brilliant puzzle btw, and she was able to put it together "all by" based on the instruction sheet.

 Very proud of her giraffe, a couple of wonky legs notwithstanding!

 So although the bulk of the recovery has gone far more quickly than any of us expected, we are still dealing with the "aftershocks", and she definitely has had (and still is having) her really difficult moments. She still occasionally feels weak, wobby, nauseous, achy, or in various forms of pain...poor kid!

 Fortunately, on day six after surgery, her beloved LaoLao showed up to help her through the rest of the recovery. And oh, how she loves her LaoLao. It has been no end of comfort to her to have LaoLao here through her difficult moments.

This was a down-time, and we have also had up-times. We have had wades in cool mountains streams, and long bike rides in the early autumn sun. We have had picnics and movies and board games and icecream, and plenty of laughs. It hasn't been all good, but it hasn't been all bad. We look forward to less stressful times...but then, so does the rest of the world at this point in time. All in all, we have it pretty good, and we are thankful for that. We have eachother.

My husband made this little video of Q wearing illustrated dresses and tops from my shop. Hope you enjoy!

 Day 4 after surgery: 

Much less swelling in the face (though still some). 

Feeling much more like herself.

 Smelling (and eating) chocolate mint from our garden.

Aaaahhhhhhhh...life is good.

 This keroppi diorama was inspired by the new keroppi sent to Q by Di.

 Many thanks Di! As you can see, it was a big hit ;)

 I love this picture.

 These were taken just before the surgery, as you can see by the face.

 This was day two after surgery, her most difficult day. She was not feeling at all well, and was occupying herself with a little light cup stacking.

 Day three, and she's a whole new person. Opening birthday presents with Grandma.

 And cracking open geodes that were a part of my post-surgery gift arsenal for her.

 Let's just say the geodes were a big hit and I have a feeling there will be a lot more geodes in our future.

 Little geologist at work.

At the playground. Pretty much, after our last surgery, I realized that I was never going to keep her still, stop her from running, jumping and tumbling. So this time I didn't even try. It is a little hair-raising to watch her going full-tilt with the tubes and stitches still in her nose and in her throat, but...what can you do. This is who she is. 

And I have to say, her recovery has been nothing short of miraculous. These last photos are from yesterday afternoon, and today she looks even ten times better. Most of the swelling is gone and her episodes of pain are growing shorter by the day. She is such a trooper. 

As for her voice - we really didn't know what to expect. We have heard such varying stories about how soon children learn to start using the new configuration in their mouth to form sounds. But we have been absolutely amazed. Even now, before the surgery has healed, she is flexing her new voice and pronouncing new words every day. It's very exciting. This is one of those times when you just have to shake your head in wonder at medical science. Our surgeon is kind of a genius. 

Oh, and did I mention? No breathing problems. 

Amazing. 

Oh, and I cannot say enough by way of THANKS to all the wonderful people who have sent cards, paintings, drawings, gifts and letters to our beloved Q. They have been pouring through the mail slot on a daily basis. We are just overwhelmed by the love, thought and creativity that has come our way. 

I have thanks to send to John L (whose box of treasures from the Oregon coast was just amazing!), Colleen G who sent pirate ships and butterfly stickers, Elsa who sent the most exquisite paintings of flower beds and paper boats from Lausane, Nicole and Emerson who sent those beautiful flowers, Michele B, whose clothes are as always just exquisite, and YanYan who has started our fall wardrobe off on a very chic note, Sarah in Northern CA who sent beautiful sea dragons, Lorraine and Piper, Poppy, Alex and Izzie  our cousins who sent many pictures of London, Jannie and Ava in San Francisco who sent pressed flowers, Michele, Chuck, Ben and Jenna, Diane, and so very many more that I can never hope to catch up on our thank-yous!!