Bringing a Little Light into the World

 Today as I sit  in my study and give thanks for all of the wonderful blessings I have in life, I look up and see this.

After Craig and I redesigned this space and added the things we both wanted, I find it is one of my favorite places to be in my home.  I can sit and compose at the computer and look out the window to see the wonderful seasons of the year.   After 8 years, the trees are starting to mature a bit and I can actually see them from  the window.  Funny how I took this for granted until I moved to a new neighborhood where the only landscaping to speak of was fresh piles of dirt.

The best part of this room is the big comfy chair I can lounge around in.  I can wrap up in the blanket and read a passage from my Heavenly Father.  I can sit and look out the window and wonder about all the great things the day holds, or I can just close my eyes and relax while my cat nestles himself in my lap.  Whatever I choose to do I find a sense of peace and solitude that makes my heart happy!

 On this fine December morning, I hope you find time to celebrate a comfortable place in your home where you can give thanks for all the great things in your life, too!

Christmas Fun

                    

During the month of December we enjoy trying to find a variety of things to entertain ourselves and keep us in the holiday spirit.  This year, we ventured over to the base of the Garden of the Gods and toured the Rock Ledge Ranch for their holiday festival.

 

While it was a chilly night, we had a great time.  Nana decided to join us this year and the kids really enjoyed this.

Next up was a visit to Denver to see the lights at the Botanical Garden.  We have never been here before and Ema requested that while it was beautiful to see the Christmas lights, she would like to return when the plants are in full bloom  I think we can make that happen!

A new version of the Pointsettia

Of course it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't go and visit GG!  My 92 year old grandmother moved into the nursing home just over 2 years ago when her Dementia got pretty severe.  Every time we go to visit it never ceases to amaze us what great spirits she is in!  Not too mention what things will come to mind during our conversations.  Of course anything that happened recently is long gone, but the memories that come forth from her past always put a smile on our faces.  Here she is fashioning a new Christmas sweater and a new pair of her favorite white Reebok shoes!

We still have two days before Christmas arrives and I am sure many more wonderful memories will be made.  This year, Craig actually has Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off.  In all of our years together, this has never occurred.  No official plans have been made, but looking forward to whatever the days hold in store for us!

We are Taking the Plunge

After many months of consideration, several visits to look at a variety of properties, and a few "odd coincidences," we have decided to take the plunge and try selling our house.  We signed all the paperwork last night [via the world wide web and a touchy mouse], and today our realtor came by to take the photos.  The sign goes in the yard tomorrow.  While it is a little bittersweet, since we really love our home, it is also something we feel like God is calling for us to do.  Whether we sell or not, we are confident that we are walking the journey He has planned for us.   It never ceases to amaze me how just when I think I have everything figured out, He goes and shakes it up a bit!   I just can't help but chuckle when I sit back and really take in all the wonderful things God has done in our lives.  Sometimes I can even feel the tears of joy welling up inside. 

Of course we have no plan for where we will live if our house does sell.  But we can rest assuredly knowing that our Father knows exactly how it will turn out.  It may be a little nerve racking, but one of my favorite verses was brought to my attention this morning--Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Lean onto him and not your own understanding and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5,6

His word is always a place I can turn and find peace, because I know his plans are for good and not for evil to bring us a future and a hope.  Jeremiah 29:11

May you find much peace and joy in your life as you decide to take a plunge yourself--whatever your plunge may be!

A Good Morning Prayer to All who Read this Blog

No matter what the day hold's for you, 

my prayer is that you are blessed beyond measure.

That you are  happy with what you have.

And most importantly, that your faith drives your day.

As I so often say to my children before sending them on their way-

"God loves you and so do I. Make it a Jesus filled day!"

It is a wonderful world that we live in and we have every opportunity to make it even better by putting a smile on our face and saying thank you for all of God's great gifts.

J

'O Christmas Tree'

I woke up yesterday morning in a funk.  I knew it was the day for us to trek to the mountains of  Colorado to cut our Christmas tree.  This is a day that our family looks forward to every year. It's a tradition we have be doing since Emaleigh was just a month old.  But this morning, I woke up not wanting to go.  Instead I went down and wrapped a few presents.  Read a great story. Made scrambled eggs and biscuits & gravy for the family.  Cleaned the kitchen.  Vacuumed the family room.  Folded a load of  laundry.  Made the bed.  Took a shower.  And, of course,  avoided the idea of getting ready  to make the trip.

You see, this is the first year that our dog, Aspen will not be taking the trip with us.  She loved going to the mountains and trekking through the snow to find that perfect tree.  Actually, I am sure she didn't give a hoot about the tree.  She just loved any excuse for getting in the car and driving an hour to be able to run for hours!

I knew I had to snap out of my funk, and so I did.  But I must admit she was on my mind the entire day.  On the way up I looked for all the cars with dogs...surprisingly,  not too many.

And then the hunt began.  Fortunately, the kids decided they wanted a short needle tree this year.  That meant we wouldn't have to go to the place we usually go where my freshest memories of her are.

Our first stop brought many wonderful finds.  Since the weather in Colorado has been very mild this fall, there wasn't much snow to speak of.  But we did see this:

Fresh scrapings from a deer rubbing the velvet off his antlers--

A bird's home nestled in the trees--

a patch of what appears will be a lovely tree farm one day--

and two kids with giant walking sticks!

However, we had yet to find that perfect tree.  So we continued to make our way a little further. We had spotted a twofer close to our car, but we weren't convinced that was the one.  What's a twofer you ask?  Oh...that's a tree that has two branches that are fighting it out to see who will win.  It has just one base trunk but two shoots.

Since we weren't convinced this was the one we decided to head a little further down the mountain.  "How about this one?"  Craig would ask this question at least a dozen times.  And then we happened upon this.

It looked to be the perfect Christmas tree.  We got a little closer and measured it out to see if it would fit.  And then I noticed something.  This small little pine tree was nestled amongst a slew of giant aspen trees.  The tears welled up in my eyes as I thought of my beloved dog.  Here sits this lovely tree protected by a grove of aspens.  It was such a spectacular site. 

We decided to save this tree and walk just a little further.  That is when we came upon this:

A frozen stream that you could hear the water rushing underneath it's solid top layer.

This was one of the most amazing days of tree hunting we have had in years.  Could it be that my poor attitude was just what I needed to open my eyes to all of God's glory?   Well, whatever it was, I am thankful that I was awake!

So I know what you are wondering.  Which tree did we select?  Well, we started our climb back up the mountain and when we got to the aspen grove, we decided it was better to leave that beauty nestled among the trees.  Just as we were nearing the halfway point to the top we were greeted by two playful three year olds!  I wish I would have taken a picture for you to see them.  There were darling.  One was a German short-haired pointer (by the way, this is the type of dog Craig grew up with) and the other was a beautiful Chocolate Lab!  I couldn't believe it.  Yes,  the tears welled up again!

After we returned to the car to catch our breath, we decided to take one last look at the twofer.  It was then that we new this was the tree for us.  After a bit of sawing, a lunch at McDonald's, a stop at Tweeds to buy a new ornament and get a few good decorating ideas, and a little decorating of our own here is what we ended up with:

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us.
They are green when summer days are bright;
They are green when winter snow is white.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us!

Horsing Around

Emaleigh's in love...

With the horses that is!

A few months ago we found this great ranch that offers kids the opportunity to learn about the care and keeping of horses.  The ranch is only available to her on Saturday's, since she is in school the other times it is open.  Therefore, she is going between 1 and  2 times per month.  She just loves it.  For her birthday, she got her own helmet, and now she is asked for a grooming kit.  We don't even own a horse and she wants all the things you need to take care of them.

What's next?  A ranch of our own??

A New Season

It has officially arrived.  I have been thinking about this day since the arrival of our daughter over 11 years ago.  The day when our children would venture off to the wilderness with their dad to go on the annual hunt!  It's Hunting Season!

I can't quite believe how fast it went.  It's not like I have been obsessing about the idea, but it has crossed the mind a time or four!

When the idea of Craig not being able to go this year because he would be alone came up at the dinner table one night, Caleb piped up and said I'll go.  He isn't old enough to hunt yet, but he was super excited to tag along for the ride!

And what a ride it was.  He had a great time and talked about his adventure for weeks on end.  In fact, it still comes when something jogs his memory.

 

Heritage Day

For Emaleigh's final project in her World Languages class she had to bring in food from her country of origin.  She had selected Germany since her Grandma Mann is German.  Her teacher told her should could not bring in German potato salad or German chocolate cake.  Uh, what's up with that?  Now we actually had to do some research to find out what was available.  So a surfing we did go--internet surfing that is!

After a few minutes we found a great recipe for soft pretzels.  Normally it calls for lye, but this recipe didn't and it only took about 45 minutes from start to finish!

We had a great time making them 

and eating them!

That Thingamajig looks like a Whatchamacallit!

Last night, the Mann family did one of those crazy things we do!

We had a taste test between the Whatchamacallit and the Thingamajig--both produced by the Hershey candy company.  Craig and I were out the other night when we came across this new candy bar called the Thingamajig.  We just had to see what all the hype was about.  The two were very similar on the outside--smothered in creamy milk chocolate. The Whatchamacallit had white crisped cereal and caramel, while the Thingamajig had cocoa crisped cereal and peanut butter on the inside. 

And the VERDICT is--

Grown-ups: Whatchamacallit!

Kids: Thingamajig!


Actually they were both pretty yucky!  But given that we had to choose between the two that was our result.  Of course we would all rather have a traditional candy bar like a Snickers or a Milky Way, but that wouldn't have been quite as fun!

Ema Learns to Sew

For Christmas last year, Emaleigh recieved a sewing machine.  We decided the best 1st project would be a pair of jammie bottoms.  She bought the material with her hard earned babysitting money!  She even picked out a t-shirt to match.

After getting the legs assembled it looked like they may be a bit large!

Fortunately, with a little adjusting, some elastic, and hemming the legs, everything turned out great!  She was so proud of her accomplishment and couldn't wait to wear them to bed last night!

Tubing

This weekend we finally got the tube repaired and took it out on the lake for the day.  Everyone had a great time--including Grandpa Mann!

The highlight of the day was when Craig had to go diving for his fishing pole that dropped into the lake.  It was quite hilarious to see a grown man diving into the water to save his beloved pole!

Caleb enjoying a little relaxation before hitting the waves!

Chef Caleb

Caleb was overjoyed when Grandma asked him to help her frost the brownies on Sunday!  We think he enjoyed frosting his face more than the cake!

Go Rockies!

 This weekend we ventured to Denver to enjoy a Colorado Rockies game with our good friends the DeZeeuw's!

  

 

The seats were good, but  the heat was a bit unbearable.  Sweat was coming from unmentionable places!

The kids had a blast hanging out at the game...even though it felt like we were melting in the 90+ degree temperatures.  I think they enjoyed the ice cold lemonade and the snow cones more than anything else!

Guess What Emaleigh's Doing?!

Today, we took Emaleigh to a youth ranch out east of town where she got to take a horse back riding lesson. The ranch offers many opportunities for taking care of and learning about horses. She was so excited and can't wait to go back again!

First Day of School

Another year has begun. It is so hard to believe that I have been back to teaching for four years, and Caleb is now in 4th grade. Where does the time go?!



Caleb with Mrs. Shanklin


What is more unbelievable is that Emaleigh is now a middle schooler. Craig and I dropped her off the first day and let our baby go. She is officially a big kid now. Just typing this brings tears to my eyes. It seems like just moments ago I was pregnant with her and opening a new school. Fast forward 11 years and she is venturing to her own school--one that I have very little contact with--except for the fact that I teach her principals son! Upon meeting Mr. Ter Horst that first day back we put each others fears aside knowing that we are taking care of each others first borns!



Emaleigh in a sea of 6th graders!

Another Day on the Lake

Today we ventured to the Pueblo Resevoir with Grandpa Mann. While there were a few mishaps along the way--the tube had a leak, the bimimi top ripped while driving down the interstate and the crank on the trailer broke upon arriving back home---the day was filled with much fun and laughter! We found a fantastic cove that Grandpa ventured into and spent the day swimming and fishing. The kids--both small and big--caught many a fish. So many in fact that most of them had to be thrown back. It was one of the lazy days on the lake that make you appreciate all of God's goodness!

A Day Trip

Today we ventured to Georgetown, CO to cool off from the 95 degree temps we have been having this week. We invited Nana to come along and cool off. It was a great trip filled will sightseeing, shopping, playing in the park and of course, ice cream!