God gifts

The gorgeous blue of the Colorado sky.

Books.  

Access to an unlimited supply of them.

And that I can read them.

Maps.

Just love maps.

God gifts

I'm thankful for the cleanup.  

Maybe that sounds strange, 

but I find something satisfying about cleaning up after a big meal with friends.

I'm thankful for my aprons. 

I have several favorites and I love tying one on and making a mess with food.

I'm thankful for these old boots.

They are warm and cozy and even though they are very old, they're great for shoveling snow.

God gifts

I'm going to continue my gifts list with the thought I ended on yesterday...  

'things' that remind me of people in my life I am thankful for and the heritage they passed on to me.

My grandmother gave me this quilt on my 25th anniversary.  

It had a note attached to it that said her mother had given it to her on her 25th anniversary along with the date of that anniversary.  

I stared at the note for a few minutes before it sank in exactly what it said.  

The date of my grandparents 25th anniversary was the DAY my husband was born.  

Wow.  Weird. 

But to me, this quilt represents generations of marriages, strong and loving that have passed before in my family, my parents, grandparents and great grandparents.  

An unusual and precious thing in this day and time. 

It's just an old wooden box.  

Actually it's a tool box.

It belonged to my great grandfather, 

Marion Francis, 

who lived off and on with us over the years as I was growing up.  

As a kid I just thought of him as an old man.  

Now I wish I could go back and have a good long conversation with him and ask him all the

 'what was it like?' questions.  

My memories are of him sitting in his old leather lazy boy reading from his warn Bible.  

I remember how he used to pronounce Isaiah "Isaiher".  

Miss him.

I named my daughter after him, Lydia Francis.

My dad had given me Grandpa's old tool box many years ago and I passed it to his namesake.  

She uses it to hold fat quarters for quilting.  

I think he would like that.

Quilting runs in my husband's family.  

The reason Lydia has boxes of fat quarters is because her Granny began teaching her to quilt when she was about nine years old.  

Today she is an amazing quilter. 

Her Granny, my mother in law, is a master quilter.  

I don't think she makes a quilt that doesn't win a blue ribbon.  

But this is not a blue ribbon quilt.  

It's a well loved quilt. 

 It was made by my husband's Granny, his mother's mother.  

The lady who started the quilting dynasty.  

(Well, I'm not sure that's true, it might go farther back than my knowledge.)

  

But the important thing here is, this is a loved quilt.  

Granny made it for my husband when he was a little boy.  

It has been well loved.  

I have to hide it from him when he isn't feeling well 

or he'll pull it out of it's special storage spot and use it.  

Which of course is just sweet. 

Granny was a wonderful person.  

She raised eleven children.  

Gave birth to twelve and lost one as a child.  

Her family are some of my favorite people in the world.  

Just good folks.  

She passed on a heritage that is rarely seen today.  

And I am so blessed and thankful that it continues through my children.  

Today, I am thankful for a full, strong and inspiring heritage.

God gifts

Soft and cozy fibers, both spun and unspun...

my fireplace... even if it is gas, maybe especially because it's gas!

First, I love the texture, color and feel of this tea kettle as I pour tea from it.

Second, it makes an excellent cup of tea.

Third and maybe most important, 

it was a gift from a special friend and I think of her every time I use it.



I'm just getting started on a gratitude list.

I recently read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Vosdamp.
When writing about her journey to a life of gratitude she writes...
"But in this counting gifts, to one thousand, more, I discovered that slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life."

I know so far I am only scratching the surface.
I look forward to seeing what is on my list days, weeks and months from now.

Just a little Lent ranting

I grew up in a small southern baptist church and never even heard of 

observing Lent as a child.

Over the years as we've moved around I've met more and more friends who do.

What confuses me is the talk.  

How often when a friend has 'given up' something for Lent they are so quick to tell about it.

If you are giving up something as a sacrifice to bring you closer to God doesn't it seem odd to announce it as often as you can to as many people as you can?

Isn't that a little like the guy in the synagogue praying just to be seen?  

Good for you, celebrate Lent, but don't tell me about it.

And don't get me started on giving up 

diet Coke and Ice Cream.  

Only in America is that a 'sacrifice'.

(insert eye roll)

Just my thoughts.

God gifts

The view I wake to in the morning...

Sleepy puppy snuggles...

Delicious and unusual flavors...

2011 at our house

We had a great weekend at Steamboat Springs with friends.

On the slopes at Steamboat.

Our first historic hotel visit, The Broadmore in Colorado Springs.

We got a camper top for the truck and took a back roads road trip on the Goldbelt Byway.

Lydia and I walked in the Bolder Boulder to raise money for Living Water International to dig wells in Haiti.

We took a road trip to Alabama for a family weeding.

And on the way home went by Texas to visit with more family.

Lydia and I visited The Peck House, the oldest hotel in Colorado.

We took a picture of Lydia on the stairs which she dubbed a 

'Nancy Drew pose' and a new tradition was started.

The Stanley was not near as creepy as Stephen King had lead me to believe.

And another Nancy Drew pose.  

(If you've read the books you'll get it)

Greg's sister Jill and her daughter Celia came to visit.

And my Dad came to visit.

I got a new backpacking tent and had some nice trips out in the mountains.

Lydia and I backpacked two sections of The Colorado Trail with our friend Carolyn and her niece Amy.

In the fall Lydia and I took a backroads trip to McClure pass in search of great fall colors.

While at McClure pass we stayed at another historic hotel, The Redstone Inn, one of my favorites.

And... again.

I worked with a fantastic team of ladies to plan a women's retreat for our church. 

The retreat was a huge success!

I was so happy to get to see Lydia playing on a worship team again.

Greg and I took the train from Denver to Glennwood Springs.  

The scenery was incredible!

We stayed at the historic Hotel Colorado.

As soon as the resorts opened my family were on their boards.  

This is at Echo Mt. where Caleb instructs.

In October, one more family wedding.  This time we were all able to go together!

For Thanksgiving we rented a townhouse in Breckenridge.  The kids spent the week on the slopes while the pups and I explored the trails.

Blessings, count 'em

I've been going through a rough patch lately, 

well, more like a void or living in limbo.  

We've dubbed this time 

'The Lost Months'. 

 I was recently reminded to count my blessings. 

 I thought that would be a nice change from wondering what happens next.

  

So, here goes...

One of my favorite blessings.

I know, not cool Mom.  I don't care.

We were married for seven years before he came into our lives.  

A lot a prayer and a lot of tears were shed before God blessed us with him.

Right from the start it was clear he was going to be an adventure to raise.

He was going to be just like his Dad.  Which isn't a bad thing.  

It just requires a lot of energy.

And a lot of trusting God along the way.

We have some amazing memories.

He's become an awesome young man, seeking God with his life.

And of course, still seeking adventure... still his Dad's son.

He wanted to spend his summer in New Zealand teaching snowboarding... which he is very good at!

Instead he's spending the summer in Thailand working with a missions organization.  

I'm so excited for his next great adventure and proud of his choices.

Yep, he's one of my greatest blessing!