You Don't See That Every Day

There was a time when having something going on every night of the week made me so excited, and by the weekend I was ready for more fun. That time has passed. We have had something going on every night for the past 11 days straight, along with the daily events and fun things thrown in there to keep my homeschool kids from rising up and firing me. Last weekend we went to Seattle for the day to see my niece married to a great guy. It was fun to show the two younger girls who went with us, the sites of Seattle, even though those sights were found due to a couple of missed turns. Earlier in the week my sisters and I took the two youngsters to a Nativity 'festival'. We visited a place that had a large room/gym (?) full of Nativity scenes. It was like they could read my mind. I love Nativities, and am slowly gathering my own collection of them. But this collection from all over the world was just ... well it made me happy! These pictures are just a few of what we saw. The du...

It seems like it was just Thanksgiving Day ... but now it's almost Christmas?! We've been going non-stop since turkey day .... The boy had his 19th birthday ... pretty low key this year. Welcome to being an adult, where birthdays aren't always a big deal.  We also had some fun company at our house. The niece and her new husband came for the weekend with their dad in tow. We really enjoyed getting to know the newest member of the family .... He fits in perfectly with this crazy bunch. We also had what we hope is a new tradition -- gingerbread house making. We recruited an honorary family member to be on our team too. Such a fun event at church! Swim has begun in earnest. The Girl Who Swims has had her first meet, and to me, she looks fast! She will have a couple of meets a week until February. I'm sure glad we have stadium chairs to ease our sitting and watching times. This past weekend we got our tree at the same tree farm we've been visiting for year...

Dear Brother, We missed you here at Thanksgiving holiday. The family, minus 1, got up and out to the park in the morning, ready to run. The weather was amazing. I had been praying for "no rain" on this morning, and with grateful hearts, we were able to run/walk the 5k without a rain drop. It started pouring just as we were heading back to the cars to go home. The girls really impressed me at this run. The youngest ran almost the entire thing. She did the walk/run sequence but more running than walking. The neighbors were there and their son motivated her by just being in front of him .She wanted to pass him and finish before he did. So, I stayed with her the whole 3.1. Once she passed him she would walk a little and as soon as she heard him coming, she would take off running. Our older girls made me proud. The Girl who Swims had caught a cold ((hmm, perhaps her earlier weekend travels contributed to his. more on that later)) but she walked the entire 5k with The Mr. T...

Dear God, Thank you. Thank You for a week of unscheduled time, for time off of school, and time at home. Thank You for the ways You bring us rest when we need it. Thank You for bringing our girl home safely from California. I know, I worried needlessly, but thank You for seeing me through it. Thank You for cell phones so I could hear her voice each night she was gone, and texts at various times. Thank You for the fun she had at her first time at Disneyland. Thank You for the terrific swim team she gets to be a part of and the great coaches that take such care of our kids. Thank You for the safe driving this last week as our girl started swim practices at 530 each morning, which meant being up early and driving to the pool before most people are even awake. Thank You for hearing the prayers for her to be alert and awake each morning when she drives. Thank You for the choir that my other girl gets to be involved with. She loves to sing and is so excited to be 'first soprano...

Dear Mom, We made it. 11 days. Oregon to Idaho to Utah to Wyoming to Colorado to Montana to Idaho to Washington to Oregon. Over 3000 miles. Our first two days were just driving, hours and hours of driving. There wasn't a lot of "amazing" sights to see but the different terrain was interesting. The endless miles of road construction were not a lot of fun, but being able to drive 70 mph, or 80 in some places, made up for that. We pulled into outskirts of Denver late Friday. The Boy had taken a flight there and arrived a couple of hours earlier. So he and the uncle, aunt and cousins went to dinner. They were nice enough to bring back some ice cream to the hotel for all of us. I was so wiped out from 2 days of travel that I just stayed in watching "Fixer Upper with Little K," while the others went swimming. On Saturday the 'fun' times began. We went up to Red Rocks Amphitheater and took in some touristy action. The theater was pretty incredible. The...

I never imagined I would be here yesterday:  But I was, flying! Up over the mountains and into the neighboring state. love how the prop is shown; not what I could see with my eye  My awesome father in-law offered to take me to my husband so I could 'rescue' him. My poor guy - he had been sick all night in the hotel room, with a very painful stomach. Almost a repeat of what had happened last month. He made it to the hospital, and with that my planning went into action. I found a ride to the airport to meet my f.i.l. I found relatives to stay with my kids (who are all sick) and someone to pick up the Boy from school. Anything else I didn't deal with - so if you sent me an email or phone call about something else, I will eventually get to it... just not yet. I had to take the photos with my phone. I kicked myself (mentally kick kick kick) for not taking my camera. Seeing Mt Hood up close and personal from a little airplane was so amazing! I loved flying! We had a fe...