Saturday, April 25, 2015

Life’s Little Adventures….

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Recently some of our children went to Moab, Utah for a fun get-away weekend.  The beautiful red arches and unique desert plants made a scenic backdrop for a fun adventure of hiking, climbing, and enjoying nature’s miraculous wonders.

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While some of the grand kids were free to explore and climb, others needed a little more guidance and control.

(I used to hate to see kids in harnesses, but I’ve since learned how helpful they can be.  Besides- wearing a backpack is kind of a cool thing.  Right?)

 

This earth really is stunning!

 

It’s been a crazy week here (you might call it a wild adventure). 


We’ve been testing at school.

Our daughter had surgery.

A friend had a miscarriage.

Ken’s dad is struggling to adjust to his new assisted living apartment.

A brother-in-law lost his brother (much too early).

There have been plumbing problems.

AND SO ON.

Sometimes life is just plain hard.

Don’t you wish you could control which adventures you got to have?

Since we really don’t have any choice in the challenges that come our way, isn’t it nice that people offer support to each other?

 

I’ve seen a lot of love- from shared dinners- to flowers- to offers of babysitting.

(While I was taking dinner to my friend, someone else brought in a lovely meal to our daughter’s family.  Caring seems to go full circle.)

This journey of life is much better if we look beyond our own problems and help each other.

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Thank you to all of you for the thoughtful things you do!

I’m going to try and be more aware of ways I can help others, too.

JoAnn

P.S.  Thank you for letting me share your photos, Liz!

P.P.S.  Prayers go out to the people of Taiwan and Nepal, with devastating earthquakes.

 

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Spring time… (except for that one snowy day)

After a very mild winter, we have experienced a lovely Spring.

The blossoms really delivered.

They were stunning.

 

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Even from inside the house, the view was delightful.

(I don’t have good luck with window shots-too much light for my camera.)

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And then it snowed.

First we had 60 mile an hour winds, followed by black rain from all the dust (wish I’d taken a picture of the dirty cars in the parking lot at school-sort of looked like the jeeps you see after an off-road event through the mud).  Then the snow started as we headed home from work.  It snowed about six inches here.  It looked like the snow storm we had wished for back in December.  

It was quite beautiful.

Thankfully, it all melted the next day.

The new Spring weather called out for a little door wreath.

(My Saturday haircut just happened to be a few blocks away from Hobby Lobby.)

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It has been nice being able to work in the yard and being outside.

 

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Don’t you love Spring?

JoAnn