February Moments

Another month has flown by, I'm convinced time goes by more quickly the older we get. Once again it's time for me to put together my "moments" from the month before.

February is always a crazy busy month for us, mainly because it's our birthday month. We generally celebrate our birthdays together and this month it seemed like the celebrating went on for over a week.  (not complaining)

We took a little excursion to Richmond, believe it or not we had never been, and we couldn't have had a nicer time. We had planned on doing some museum touring, but honestly, the weather was so gorgeous, we didn't want to be inside. We found some outside activities, put the top down on a car we had use of, and went with Plan B. 

Weather here has been crazy, spring is about three weeks early for the plants and trees, Last weekend we had a couple of nights below freezing so we tried to protect by covering some of the more sensitive plants with plastic, not sure how successful we were.  This weekend is promising to be much the same. I guess it's not time to put the winter clothes away just yet. One day 80 degrees the next day 40 degrees, crazy!

February was a good month for us, family made us feel very loved and blessed.Lots of cards and adorable letters written by each grandchild. I loved it and will keep them forever. We been doing a lot of talking these last couple of weeks about the future, birthdays will do that and have had some discussions on the future and what it may or may not be. None of use really know do we? We are not promised tomorrow, how does this effect our livest and choices today

Coincidentally (not) I was reading Psalm 90 the other day, it echoed many of the things my husband and I had been talking about. There are so many verses in this Psalm that are resonating with me right now but I will leave you with the one that is directing my thoughts right now

Teach us to number our  days  that we may gain a heart of wisdom  Psalm 90:12

Without further ado, this was our month

June Memories

Our days have been so busy, that it's been hard to get back to my blog but I wanted to post my June memories, so here it is, better late than never, this is a glimpse of what our June was like.

 Our 41 Anniversary was this past June and we decided to take a long weekend to Charleston. It's a charming place to visit and there was  a music and arts festival going on called Spoleto while we were there Lots of music events going on in town as well as some art shows. It was an added little benefit we hadn't planned on.

Our garden really came alive in June. We have had quite a wet spring and it has really made our garden flourish this year, plus I didn't have to water as much. That's always a plus.

Our youngest son paid us a visit for a couple of weeks before he had to head off to his summer job. He helped do some organizing of the Mountain House items and joined in some cooking, including making a delicious carrot cake that we devoured in no  time. Thats one way to get our veggies. 

Of course I had to include some photos of my grands. They attended a Daughter Daddy dinner, and sent us some pictures of the girls all dressed up, they are getting too big, too fast.

It was a busy month and July is following suite. How does the time go by so quickly?? I'm afraid summer will be over before I know it. What kind of things have you been up to?

Cooking Class

When my sons were growing up cooking was more of a necessity than something I saw as fun. We were like every young family with schedules that were full with school, sports, work and managing a household. We cooked for fun during the holidays and I still remember the big batches of salsa we would all put up together in the summer, but most of the time, cooking was pretty basic. I had two sons and they were always hungry, meals were made to fill bellies and hopefully they were tasty too.

Now that we are Empty Nesters we have been able to experiment a bit with cooking and it's something we both enjoy doing. We both like trying new recipes and my husband has perfected some awesome Sourdough Bread which he makes on a biweekly basis. (from a start he received from our youngest son almost two years ago) Our youngest son also enjoys cooking and when he's visiting the kitchen can get a bit crowded with all of us cooking but it's a lot of fun. When he was home last he made a killer Carrot Cake. When I looked at the size of it I was sure we would never eat it all but that wasn't a problem, it was gone in a week.

We have always wanted to take a cooking class so when we went to Charleston we found one that had spots available so we signed up.The class turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip (and yes I learned a few things too) If you come to my house I now know how to make a quick dessert of seasonal fruit and puff pastry (special tip, use frozen puff pastry) We made a four course meal and ate as we cooked, it was a delightful evening, so much so, that we are looking to do it again, perhaps in our little city. So tell me, do you enjoy cooking? Have you ever taken a cooking class, did you enjoy it?

Southern Charm

We've done a lot of travel this year, mostly to the Mountain House to take care of business. But last week we decided to spend a couple of days away to celebrate our anniversary. It wasn't a milestone anniversary or anything, but I am thankful for every year that we are together, and we both felt that we needed to get away for a little bit, our destination city was Charleston.

We stayed at an Airbnb again and had the most charming hostess. This is our third experience with Airbnb and have had good experiences each time. I think the key with finding a good Airbnb is to read the listing and the reviews and find one that best matches your lifestyle needs. We like centrally located places and prefer homes over apartments. It's a great option for couples. Our hostess would have coffee with us each morning before she headed off to work, and would give us suggestions on what to see or do, then we would be on our own.

We spent our days exploring the city, riding the bikes to Sunrise Park and trying out some yummy places to eat. It ended up being a pretty low key getaway and exactly what was needed. We came home refreshed, (not knowing we even needed to be refreshed) and a new appreciation for each other.

In case you were wondering we celebrated 41 years, I'm not sure where all the time has gone, but it has gone by pretty quickly. Like all marriages there have been good times and bad times, lots of laughter and plenty of tears. I'm thankful for this guy but mostly for the Lord who has been the foundation of our marriage, the Rock we have turned to time and again while navigating this journey.

Mixing a Little Pleasure With Business

Since my Mother In Law passed away we've been busy weeding through the process of taking care of the business that you have to do when a loved one passes away. This has all been new for us and complicated because we live so far away. We had to make another trip to the Mountain Home last week and thought it would be nice to break the trip up by stopping in Washington DC for a day to see the Cherry Blossoms.

Catching the Blossoms at their "Peak" can be tricky, the timing of the bloom depends on the weather. We were locked into certain dates because we were meeting my youngest son on his break, but since our weather had been warm all week I thought we had a good chance of catching some blooms. Turns out we were just a couple days early for the "Peak" blooms but it was pretty none the less.

Our biggest challenge was the weather, we left home with temps in the 70's.  The day we went to see the Cherry Blossoms was cold and rainy. (temps were hovering in the low 40's) The rain held off till late morning so I was able to get some nice photos, and cold wet weather tends to keep the crowds away, which can be seen as a plus, especially when your trying to take photos.

Sweet Husband was done with the sightseeing a lot sooner than I was and retreated to the warmth of the museum to wait patiently for his very distracted wife. I was following but kept finding things I wanted to photograph.

We walked to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, where we were able to dry out, get warm and fill our bellies. Homemade guacamole, chips, and fish and chicken tacos made for a tasty lunch.

That Sunday we headed out to the Mountain House, all rested and refreshed, which was nice because we had a lot of work ahead of (and much more still to do) Did I mention that it snowed on the way? Three trips to the Mountain House this year and it has snowed each time we have visited. We have had to drive in some pretty bad weather this year and the Lord has protected us each time. I am thankful for the traveling mercies he has given us on these trips and for the Grace Moments, like our little excursion to see the Cherry Blossoms

Happy Spring!

  

Visiting Our Grands

One would think from this post that we spent Thanksgiving with our Grands, not so, this visit happened over a month ago, I'm just behind in posting, priorities you know!

Our trip out west was a short one, but we filled it with as many memories as possible. I learned that my son and DIL do not live out on the Frontier at all, but the Prairie, so I guess I will have to rename them my "Prairie Family". The Landscape was a lot different then I was used to, and it's usually pretty cold, but the weather was mild so we were able to spend a good bit of time outside. I heard the temperatures dropped the week after we left, I was thankful we missed it.

Other random things I was thankful for were that we were able to make this trip at all, (it was questionable with everything going on with Sweet Lady) that we caught each and every flight (three coming, three going back) that our luggage made it on all flights, and that everyone stayed healthy so we could enjoy the trip.

My DIL made sure our schedule was full, there was a day at the park, a day at the museum, another day we explored a Pumpkin Patch and on the last day we went to the zoo. In the evenings we taught the children some games (they had never played Mille Bornes before) which resulted in lots of laughter and giggles. My son took his dad into work, (which my husband thoroughly enjoyed) and we got to see a high school football game and watch my granddaughter cheer. Thank you dear DIL for making us feel so welcome and for thinking of fun things to do while we were there, it couldn't have been a sweeter visit ( I'm already thinking about when we can see them again! ) The photos included in this post are just some of the memories we had from our visit. Warning!!!! Lots of photos, because there were so many good memories!!

October Moments

October was quite the month for us. We were kept busy by things planned and unplanned. The two big events that were planned were a trip to see our Grands and surgery for Sweet Lady. Add a trip to the mountains to pick apples and another unplanned surgery for Sweet Lady and you have one hectic month.

Sweet Lady is out of the hospital and recovering but she is not able to go back to her home yet. It has been difficult for her and us but I have seen God's hand in so many aspects of this journey. She ended up staying in the hospital a bit longer than expected, physically she was ready to go sooner, but there was paperwork that needed done that kept her longer. The bonus in that little delay was, that it gave her more time to heal in the hospital setting and us peace of mind in making the decision on whether or not to travel to see our Grands.

I don't know what the days ahead hold concerning her care and recovery but, I will trust that God has got this, he was not surprised by this event. I heard an analogy in a sermon the other days that perfectly describes me. I wish I could remember who exactly said this but he was talking about how we all want a floodlight to see what's ahead of us, but most of the time God's gives us a lantern. Can you identify? He has given me grace for each day and the challenges that have been a part of that day. I trust he will continue to do that.

That was the hard part of our month but there was so much good. We were able to go to Charlottesville to pick apples, spend a couple afternoons in Williamsburg and make that long awaited trip to the Great Plains to see the Grands....The feet in above photo belong to my teenage Grand. There will be more photos of that visit in another post.

Well I've gone on long enough, here are some photos of our October Moments.

August Moments

Life has been busy around these parts, so blogging had to be put on the back burner while we attended to the stuff of life.

We started the month on the road, visiting family after both father and MIL were hospitalized. It was a whirlwind trip, three states in four days, nice to be able to connect with family but not under the most ideal circumstances in which to do so.

I wish I could say things were back to as they were before, but that's not quite the case, but both are home now, which is good, and we are taking one day at a time.

The Lord has reminded me often these last few weeks, that he directs our steps, that we are in this circumstance by his providence. That he is always doing a work and that I need to look at each circumstance that I encounter through eternal eyes and respond accordingly. It has been and continues to be a process.

We were also able to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary this past month. Our anniversary was officially in June but the Grands were here and they will always trump any kind of travel plans.
We spent a week in Asheville (where most of photos below were taken) and enjoyed exploring the Gardens, The Blue Ridge Parkway and Biltmore House not to mention the outstanding restaurants that are located in Asheville (lots of farm to table type of fare)

To make the trip a little interesting we stayed in an Airbnb. With an Airbnb people list spaces in their home for others to rent out by the day. Kind of like a Bed and Breakfast but much less formal. Every listing is different, and offers different amenities. We stayed with three other guests(we each had our own rooms) in this lovely old Victorian Home with a very interesting host. This is not for everyone, your going to be sharing some of the common spaces,  but we are pretty laid back and social so it worked beautifully for us. We enjoyed it so much we are going to try another Airbnb space when we go pick apples this fall....did I mention it's pretty economical too.

So that's our month in a nutshell, lots of changes and some celebrating. My husband and I have felt that we have entered a new season in our lives, it will be interesting to see what's ahead. One thing that has not changed though is our faithful God, he is the same today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow. That is a comfort in all the unknowns of our lives, don't you agree?

July Moments

Our month started with a trip to a small town in Pennsylvania to attend a wedding. Spending the 4th of July in a small town turned out to be more fun than we had expected. We watched fireworks from the bleachers at the local high school, watched children run and play on the football field and listened to music played by a local band, it reminded me of the 4th of July celebrations I used to go to when I was growing up.

July was filled with the simple pleasures that summer has to offer. We ate our dinners outside under a mosquito proof net when the weather permitted. We lingered after dinner at the table and watched the birds at the feeders and listened to all the summer sounds. The hammock has also been getting a good workout, I find it's a wonderful place to read or simply watch the birds at the feeders and daydream.

We still Face Time with the grands and love that we are able to be part of the small things, like loose teeth. We also had an opportunity to go on a  video tour of Shanghai when young son was traveling, it was beyond cool. Some of advantages to technology are being able to see loved ones that are far away, I am thankful for that.

Our garden is in full swing (flowers) and we are continuing with our weekly CSA, right now we are getting plenty of  tomatoes, corn, peppers and squash.

Our month ended much like it began, with traveling. My MIL and father were both hospitalized within days of each other, it required traveling to two states in four days. MIL is now back home and doing well, my father is doing better and hoping to be home soon as well. It was nice to have had some quiet down time in the middle of the month before life got hectic again. The Lord's provision don't you think?  Here's a glimpse of our July