2023 in review

In January, Mom celebrated 80 years young, first with Aunt Ginni then in Italy with us!

In February, we experienced a unique cultural aspect of skiing in Italy.

In March (almost), all three girls competed at the European Forces Swim League Championships in the Netherlands, Gwen venturing one of her first dives off the block.

April found us meandering through a local cave that just a bike ride from our house through the Italian foothills.

Cave Coglieron

Our friend Ciely introduced us to a new adventure, the Spartan Race, which we discovered in Slovenia in May and which enabled us to raise money for Compassion International. See that ski hill in the background? Donna’s race started up that!

Zoe clears the first obstacle.

Having wanted to go for many years, we finally checked Rome off the list, rolling the Appian Way and doing some other more standard tourist activities.

Colosseum

June found us on a 4-day hike in the Dolomites with another family of three daughters, sleeping at rifugios, hiking about 6 miles each day and even mixing in some via ferrata.

July offered more via ferrata, triathlons and camp where we even got to visit with Aunt Ginni.

The Donnerkogel in Austria

The kayak portion of the Cedarbook Annual Canoe Race

August had us in stocks in Williamsburg, VA at the Kohout family reunion.

By September, the girls were settling in their new schools in Colorado Springs, hiking the peaks and running their hearts out.

Garden of the Gods

The aspens outside of Crested Butte

Both Zoe and Matti excelled on their school cross country teams.

October started the snow, though hiking still happened is November between storms.

Pikes Peak from the top of Blodgett Peak

Thus the sun rises on our home in Colorado Springs where Rich / Sandi / Slick works at NORAD / NORTHCOM on Peterson Space Force Base, Donna shuttles girls to school activities and extra-curriculars, and we all support a local church plant in whatever ways God permits.

Hope you had a meaningful Thanksgiving and we wish you a wonderful Christmas season. Please contact us for our new address, if desired. And thank you again for walking this journey with us.

 

Douglass Update – Jun 2023

Clearly God is at work in A’s life as she continues to learn and memorize and absorb both info and experiences of God’s faithfulness, ranging from provision of a friend in her new location to quality family time during her travels. And in O’s life, I see God clearly as stories of school and co-workers unfold with direct and demonstrative answers to prayer. I love being in God’s audience!

Many thanks, too, to those who not only prayed for our fundraising via the obstacle-focused Spartan Race, but who also participated in the effort. Together with the girls’ donations, God brought $589 to this cause, which we destined for the following items through Compassion International: chickens, goats, vegetable seeds and the education on how to manage each; sewing workshops, Bibles and textbooks; emergency food for malnourished children; and help with the Global Food Crisis. We much appreciate your prayers and generosity!

Much prayer also went into our trip to Rome, in part due to my misgivings about it. After four days in the eternal city, we returned home, healthy and happy. Lighter one wallet, but filled with memories, and thankful for God’s protection. Ristorante dei Musei – a cultural and personal experience that’s worth a trip to Rome!!

For months we’ve asked for prayer for clear direction. While we still petition for “clear,” we believe we have some direction and begin to move that way even while seeking solid confirmation.

Just a normal view out of an Austrian hotel, right?

Token picture in the colosseum. Yes, Zoe is taller than Mommy now, by a good bit!

 

Surmounting Obstacles

On 21 May, all four of us Douglass girls will embark on a Spartan Race, an obstacle course-type race. We’ll be taking on voluntary obstacles in this race to assist others in surmounting the unavoidable obstacles the result from poverty.

According to Matti, “People in poverty face obstacles, so we are taking on obstacles to take obstacles from them.”

Can you spare $10 offer hope to those with far more challenging obstacles that we’ll ever know? More info and join us here.

 

Douglass Update – May 2023

Biking home from school I let the older girls go ahead while I rolled with Gwen. She wanted to play “hide the little man” so we added the restriction that we had to be able to see his hiding place. Otherwise, she likes the “virtual” version and hides him in South America or Germany. But she can’t answer our geography questions and thus he remains lost. On the last round, she hid him inside her shirt. Then she started wiggling as she rode – he was tickling her! Amazing the power of the mind!

Moving to the next child up, we shared Matti’s eleventh birthday cake filled with ice cream. It didn’t rate much for looks, but it definitely was an experience to eat, thanks to Matti’s always-fresh ideas.

While the wait for God’s direction continues (and we wonder if that IS His direction!), He’s brought a few opportunities into our lives to serve and minister to others. Donna’s Bible studies for a camp in WA are nearing completion, though we’d covet your prayers that the apparent opposition would stop until they are fully done. And that Slick would survive being a soccer mom while Donna is lost in Bible studies and lesson plans!

Recently a gal shared with us how inspired she is to see another gal’s biblical knowledge just exploding as she moves through the Navigators’ Topical Scripture Memory program. So fun to see God work in such ways!

And to see some of His handwork in a narrow canyon where we hiked a boardwalk beneath the hanging green. The park celebrates the caves of mined rock cut by man, but the park’s best part was formed by God!

Please share your burdens for prayer with us. We’d love to help carry that load, and to hear how God’s been working in your neck of the woods.

Contrast between the man-made on the left and God-made on the right, with Slick and the girls in the middle, behind the blue frame.

Looking back the way we came.

 

Douglass Update – Apr 2023

Seventeen years! On April Fools’ Day, the day we skied powder at Keystone, CO and began the return trip to Italy, we drove down out of the Rockies past Evergreen, CO where those 17 years of marriage began. I still remember meeting a couple back then who’d been married that long and thinking that was forever. It turns out that it goes pretty fast! And appears to be accelerating. Anyone else experienced that?

With the end of the “everyone swimming” season of our lives, we’ve begun to diversify into triathlon, karate, dance, band and gymnastics. All of that means that while the Douglass chauffeurs have become far busier than they prefer, the girls are beginning to flourish in their unique giftings.

It seems that the one thing they still all share is the gifting of skiing – really fast when they want. Once again we enjoyed the blessing of a week in Colorado with true friends: the kind of friends who even come ski with us on cold, windy days (that’s true friendship for those who live in mountain towns)! But the best part of all that was an answer to decades of prayer: seeing one of those friends move from knowing about God to the beginnings of knowing God.

For a variety of reasons, however, we still don’t sense we are where God would have us and would love your company in prayer that we’d perceive His direction, here or elsewhere. Let us know how we can return the favor!

Icicles at 90 degrees. Now how did that happen, the girls asked.

Skiing Keystone, looking at Breck a few ridges back, with Uncle Bob.

 

Douglass Update – Mar 2023

February has been as up and down as a day of skiing, of which it has included a few. One terminated in two sled runs – two-mile long, slick, winding path DOWN through a forest? It’s about as wild and crazy as you’d imagine – like skiing but with severely limited maneuverability and no brakes but your own appendages! Of course we loved it and laughed our sides sore (not to mention the other bruises)!

Earlier that day we’d skied down the 5.3mile slope from the top of Lagazuoi (near Cortina D’Ampezzo, home of the 1956 and 2026 winter Olympics) to the horses that pull skiers to the next town when the run becomes a flat road. And that same day terminated with a beautiful sunset view of the Dolomites. What a day!

But back to day-to-day life… We reminded ourselves often that “our battle is not against flesh and blood” and that “we do not wage war as the world does.” Thus when requested, just before the year’s biggest championship meet and with clear consciences, we simply stepped down from the swim team in accordance with the board’s desire. While we fear that the tangle of twisted truth told about us only discredits Jesus, we continue to pray that God would somehow be glorified in this mess.

Thankfully, the girls were still permitted to swim at the championships and did quite well, besting nearly all of their previous times. Gwen ventured her first-ever real dive off a block in a meet. Zoe beat 30 seconds for her 50 meter freestyle, which has been a goal for some time (and of course she beat Mommy’s time in the coaches’ relay!). And Matti won a medal or ribbon in every event she swam – the most of anyone on the team. But best of all, we enjoyed just being together a family, without the demands of volunteering and leadership. Praise God for that!

Looking forward, we’d still appreciate God’s clear guidance for our next steps, both here in the near term with where our family should be involved and in the longer term with where He’d have us live and serve in the future. What burdens weigh on your mind that we might help carry before the throne of Grace? We’d love to share that load with you.

Dolomite sunset

Slow ski jouring. Two-horse power ski touring, really. Gwen’s the little one with the white helmet. Zoe is her chaperone. Matti and Donna are in the back.

 

Douglass Update – Feb 2023

Mom made the journey from NJ to Italy as a 79-year-old and returned as a newly minted octogenarian, as 14-year-old Zoe so kindly pointed out. We couldn’t match the homemade ice cream cake Donna’s sister Ginni treated Mom to, but she said she enjoyed her first-ever horse cake made of brownie and dark chocolate cookie batter baked together. We figured the chocolate would make up for all other flaws in the cake. So thankful to celebrate with her!

Mom had arrived just in time to fly to Naples with us for our last regular swim meet of the season and some sightseeing, which turned out to include Mt Vesuvius covered with more snow than one native had seen in his lifetime.

While snow in the nearby mountains continues to bring enjoyment, we also feel significant struggles. A pinched nerve in Donna’s back has her entire leg partly numb and weak. And the powers that be on the swim team seem to be set on disgracing us personally. While God has clearly worked at times, we hate the feeling that, because we are “church people,” the church and God Himself seem to be getting a bad rap due to the lies that are circulating.

God can redeem anything – just look at yourself and us! Would you pray with us that He would redeem this and be glorified somehow in this mess? And that we would know how to navigate, both each moment and in the big decisions that face us regarding our future? And maybe that Donna’s back would resolve its issues? So many things!

Please let us know how we might have the honor of sharing the load of your joys and struggles as well.

The simple joy of sledding! Matti’s figured out how to avoid a face full of snow, but Zoe loves it – lol!

The girls walk with Mom down memory lane. Thank you to those of you who know Mom and contributed pictures and words to this book!

 

Douglass Update – Jan 2023

Happy New Year!!

Orange. Definitely orange. If you ever ski the Sellaronda in the Italian Dolomites, go in the orange direction. And don’t miss the Marmalada option!

What language am I speaking? Italy ski language. The Sellaronda is an alpine ski route that rings the Sella Peaks in northern Italy, connecting lifts and ski runs through four resorts and their associated towns. Short spurs from the loop offer incredible views of the surrounding Alps and the chance to ski Marmalada. Ski Marmalada?? How can you ski on marmalade?! The better question may be, why is a glacier was named after jelly (if you’re an English speaker)! But ski across its icy toes – that we did.

Reflecting on the past year and looking ahead, we return to how thankful we are for friends like you who meet with us at the Throne of Grace, atop of which sits our unspeakably awesome, powerful, loving yet gentle King, before whom we, too, will one day fall to our knees in awe at His majesty and splendor, face to the ground, unworthy to even gaze on His greatness. Thank you that even now, you meet with us there in spirit, despite the miles that may separate our “earth suits.”

From this King this month, we continue to ask for resolution with another family in our little body of believers (our pastor is quite patient) as well as clear guidance for our own direction. Thank you for echoing these requests with us and please let us know how we may do the same for you!

May your 2023 begin well, with a renewed sense of our Lord’s forgiving grace, loving hugs and approving smiles, in whatever form those take in your life.

On the “advanced” trail down from the best view above Alta Badia Ski Resort. Zoe has her arm raised closest to the camera. The other two girls and Rich / Slick are the dots further down the hill.

Venice, across from Piazza San Marco, with its tower, basilica and Doge’s Palace.

View more pictures from Aviano and travels!

 

Douglass Update – Dec 2022

Of everything in our lives (aside from family itself), house guests top our list! So November was a great month, with a visit from Grandparents Douglass, a brief stop-over by our camp friend “Sage” and the continued company of Ciely our honorary oldest daughter. Are you next? We’d love to have you here at the foot of the Alps, one hour north of Venice!

On the swim front, the girls enjoyed the Spooky Splash Meet on Halloween weekend and on Thanksgiving weekend, bested many of their long-distance times at the European Forces Swim League’s Long Distance Championship (events ranging from 400m to 1500m). Matti even had one podium finish with a 5th place in her 800m swim. Zoe dropped the better part of a minute in her 1500m swim – that’s a whole mile!! Gwen? She was a great coach’s helper and enjoyed paddling around in the warm-up pool.

Back home as we enjoyed Thanksgiving with friends and a game of Catan, we were blessed to be able to share our plenty through Compassion International’s fund for unsponsored children, joining countless donors in stepping into the gap where food is scarce as a result of a perfect storm: the war in Ukraine (a leading food producer for Africa), economic depression in the wake of Covid, severe weather, etc. We’d love for you to join us in this, if God so moves in your heart.

Moving into the Christmas season, we pray that each of y’all will enjoy the warmth of family and friends, which point forward to the Family of God with whom we’ll one day celebrate eternity – all because of Jesus, whose birth we celebrate now.

Thank you for your partnership in petition – our request for resolution within our church continues – and let us know how we can walk with you in this way as well.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A hike to the “Eagle’s Nest,” the building in the background, the place Hitler had built outside of Berchtesgaden, Germany. Yes, that is snow…

 

Douglass Update – Nov 2022

Sliding her carabiner with her, Matti stepped carefully along a narrow ledge, chattering all the while. Inch-thick metal cables run through fat metal anchors hammered into the cliff wall protected us from any long falls that might happen as we hiked these trails from the WWI era. From broad and barely sloped to almost vertical, from beautiful vistas to lightless tunnels, this via ferrata adventure across from Tre Cime (Drei Zinnen, Three Peaks) in the Italian Dolomites thrilled most of us, and our friend Ciely who’s visiting for a couple months.

Those are the amazing moments that punctuate everyday life at the foot of the Alps, where God has been graciously answering your prayers for restoration of our hearts and healing of our marriage in the wake of so many moves. Though we are not finished moving (we don’t think!) and still ask that you’d join us in requesting patience in the waiting and wisdom in the deciding, we’re thankful for God’s obvious work this past month.

We thank Him also for two passionate women who’ve asked Donna to disciple them. In a world filled with trouble and wrong, the growing light of Jesus in these gals provides huge encouragement. Please pray that God would reveal Himself and His truth to them as they study, and become even more their teacher, guide and constant companion.

Our friend Ciely who graduated last spring from WY Catholic College has folded into the family between her own jaunts to spartan races in Malta and Sparta, Greece. Our girls love listening to her read (especially Gollum’s voice in Lord of the Rings!), harvesting chestnuts and bouncing on the trampoline with her, and all the other things siblings do. She is a true blessing to us and to others whose children she’s also watched.

Even among so many wonderful things, the railroad tracks of life continue. Running alongside all these and the joy of Rich’s parents visiting, we still feel daily the pang of a family who continue to refuse reconciliation but whose lives are intertwined with ours through both church and swimming. Please pray for God’s hand in a resolution that glorifies Him. And let us know how we may sharpen the aim of the prayer arrows we shoot on your behalf as well.

Ciely stages an attack at an entrance to the tunnels

Evening in the Dolomites