Conquering King's Peak

While I remained in San Antonio with Chelsea, Thomas, and Knox, Bob flew out to Utah for a "man adventure", with Bobby, our son-in-law, Ben, and my youngest brother, Greg.  Bobby had mapped out a week-long backpacking trek along the Unita Highline Trail, which would take them to the top of the tallest mountain in Utah.  The elevation of King's Peak is 13,528 feet, and the four hikers reached it's summit on July 9, 2015.  The adventure began on the 5th, and what was supposed to be a 50 mile trek had them covering 80 miles of trails and returning quite worn out on the 11th.  I haven't heard all the details, but I know that Bob returned to San Antonio on July 13th with some pretty ugly puss-filled toenails and a sinus infection, and Greg was heard to say, "never again"!  Yet, the tormenting rain, mud, rocks and numberless overflowing streams, did not dampen their enthusiasm and joy at having conquered the majestic peak.  I think they all agreed it was a bit far to hike each day, and "next time" they would allow for more time to rest and enjoy their campsites along the way.  Here are some of their favorite photos of the adventure:

Meanwhile, Chelsea and I relaxed at home in San Antonio, and Thomas returned to his studies.  It was fun to get together for dinner one evening with the Thompsons, our friends from Bartlesville,   Debbie and Ron have built a beautiful home in the area and are lucky to have their daughter, Audrey and her family nearby!

Bob and I returned to The Woodlands for a couple of days, and then we flew back to Seoul on July 17th.  I have to mention that I conquered a few "peaks" of my own in July - though not the most scenic of sorts!  While in The Woodlands, I managed to take care of my yearly physical exams (yeah, pap, mammogram and all that fun stuff), have a root canal and crown placed on a tooth, and go in to the hospital for my first preventative colonoscopy.  I won't scare you with all the gory details, but let's just say I'm glad to be done with all of it and happy to report that I am quite healthy and well.  If that was not enough. I also decided to have Lasek surgery on both of my eyes upon returning to Korea.  I am still trying to recover from that - it's been a really slow process to regain some decent eyesight.  While my distance vision is 20/20, because I have extremely dry eyes, the sharpness and clarity of vision is still not there.  I'm being told it can take up to 6 months to really see optimal results.  While I am happy to do away with contact lenses and progressive lens glasses, I will still have to wear reading glasses.  It's been frustrating in many ways, but I think in the end I will be glad I did it.  You know me, I couldn't pass up a great bargain, and for Lasik or Lasek, Korea offers the most experienced doctors and best equipment and treatment plans you can get at such an amazing cost.

 Give us a month and Bob and I be ready to conquer another adventure!

Chelsea's School of Hard "Knox"

Our second daughter, Chelsea, had been anticipating becoming a "mom" for a long time.  She completed her fourth year of teaching elementary school with about a month to prepare for the arrival of her son due on June 29th..  The timing was good, because Thomas would have a few weeks' break from medical school to help them all adjust to life with baby. Bob and I scheduled a flight to San Antonio on June 22nd.

The last month or two, Chelsea had been diagnosed with high blood pressure now and then.  At one point in time, an associate doctor admitted her to the hospital over the weekend to monitor her condition.  So when her doctor saw her a few weeks later, and her blood pressure was again elevated, they decided it was time to bring this pregnancy to an end.  She was admitted to the hospital and they began the IV with medicines to induce labor.

Knox Thomas Bosen entered the world on June 19, 2015 at 4:53 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 21 3/4 in. long. But he certainly didn't come the easy way.  He was positioned sideways, causing Chelsea to endure a long and painful three hours of pushing to get him out.  He arrived with a misshaped, bruised, and blistered head, and Chelsea was left without feeling in one leg for several days after delivery.  They kept her in the hospital 3 more days until she could walk and regain strength in her arms (left weak after all the hard pushing) to be able to nurse the "little man" as they lovingly call him.

In general. good things don't come easily, and this was certainly the case with Knox.  But we are so happy to have grandbaby number seven here, healthy, strong, as as cute as can be.  He is truly our precious gift of gold!  Grandma and Grandpa sure love you!

The end of that week, Bob and I drove over to The Woodlands for a few days to take care of business, and I spent a little time with my friend, Millie.  The following week, we drove down to South Padre Island for a couple of days.  We didn't get enough beach time, but did some family business and got together with Tom and Mel and saw their beautiful new home and "craft cottage".

Back in San Antonio, we took a little outing to try our hand at "Top Golf", only to find the place packed with people willing to wait all day in line.  So a quick trip to Costco was all we managed.  Instead of golf, we had a blast playing the lawn game, Molkky, while Knox slept.

 

We removed an ugly Mulberry tree from the front yard, along with some untamed ornamental grass, planted a crepe myrtle, and did a little work around the house.

But most of the time, we just enjoyed Knox!

 

 Welcome to the Goodman Family, Knox!