Thanksgiving 2011

I'm grateful for a little girl who loves to dress herself . . . 10 times an hour.

I'm grateful for family time.
I'm grateful for cuddling and reading stories, all three of us, in a giant bed with overstuffed feather pillows. I'm grateful for warm weather that we can enjoy by riding year round.

I'm grateful for the unveiling that happens as you develop new friends . . . . the feeling of being safe and vulnerable at the same time. I'm grateful for faith, and I'm grateful for peace and comfort, which is a companion of faith.
I'm grateful for a loving God. I'm grateful for a loving husband.
This Thanksgiving the three of us in our little family spent the weekend in San Diego.

It was perfect.
I'm grateful for grace, family, and love. I'm grateful I get to have all three, every day, every week, without having to say goodbye.

Family Pictures 2011

sunshine in November

Confession. I hate the snow. I have only recently felt this way. I think it had to do with an entire winter that I was living without Brent, shoveling the walks by myself . . . braving the dark days and cold weather alone. I'm sure his phone calls from golf games on sunny greens didn't help. I think before that too there was an overall sense of participation with the snow. Skiing when you have kids is expensive and for whatever reason just never was our weekly ritual. But sun. Sun I love. Sun is Riverside in November. It's just beginning to cool off here to a perfect running temperature of 68 - 73 degrees. I LOVE IT. Sun is waking up early and riding, outside, without a coat on. Sun is running past people mowing their lawns. Sun is eating outside on our porch every night and practicing with the sliding door open so I can listen to the birds sing. It's just cool enough to put a perfect crispness in the air and give you a craving for apples. But it's not cold. I've fallen in love. Last week I flew to Salt Lake to run a rehearsal . . . only to be slapped in the face by a freezing snow storm. I had forgotten that it gets cold this time of year. I came home, retreating from the winter and determined to not take for granted my new found seasonal pattern. There are definitely pros and cons to living in our situation. Many of them I'm dying to outline because they are such gooooood stories. But. Alas. After some thought, I think it's probably not the best thing to tell stories about other people's grandma's and grandpa's. Even if they are great stories. So instead, here are some pictures to update you about our life in the sun: