Big Wildlife Day

This Memorial Day will be a memorable one but not for the regular reason.  This was a BIG wildlife day at our house.  Even though our house is nestled up against the mountains we usually do not see much wildlife in our yard.  It is probably because we have dogs and the children tend to make noise too.   BUT, today was a big change.  This morning in the trees right across the street sat a very large bald eagle.  Of course, it flew away before I got outside with the camera.  Maybe that had to do with children running in yelling, “MOM,  A BALD EAGLE!”

I did manage to get a couple of photos of our afternoon visitors though.  A mama moose and her two little babies running right past our backyard.

My Spring Garden

I thought I would share part of my spring garden with you. We spent some time yesterday planting. Our house is beginning to brighten up for the summer! They are not the best photos but the flowers are beautiful!

My birch bark planter.

Some ferns in front of the house.

Another birch bark planter, I LOVE these planters!

My Mother’s Day gift.

Just something pretty I picked up at the greenhouse yesterday.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Big beautiful snow! I love it when we get a big dumping of snow! I am one of those crazy people who loves the snow! Along with it being beautiful and FUN, I find it to be such a great reminder of what the Lord has done for me!

Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

With this in mind as we come to celebrate the first coming of our Savior looking forward to his return, here are some photos of our white, white snow! Enjoy!

The deck railing–two feet of snow…..

Tree covered in snow, look at the tree trunk to see how deep it is.

Children on a pile, notice the newspaper mailbox.

Inside the beginnings of our fort.

My Best Friend

My best friend is having a birthday! Isn’t he a handsome guy? He is the best guy you could EVER meet. There are so many adjectives that I could use to describe him but let me just say…… He is a godly man, my best friend, and I am so glad that I married him!!!!! Happy Birthday my love!!

The Latest Remodel

Many months ago we started on a remodel of our office area.  We took quite a bit of time on the office and it has been slow getting the photos on here but I have finally decided to do just that.  We were going to add built in book shelves but we decided the money could be better spent else where for now.  We opted to just put book shelves in the room.  It was a difference of about $1700 so I think it was a good choice!!!  That is a lot of money to save.  Maybe someday in the future we will add built ins after all of the other projects have been tackled!

Here are the BEFORE photos:

Entering the Office

Breaking into the alcove/closet area

ugly light

Nasty floor & walls

Now for the AFTER photos:

Entering the Office

bookshelves

Alcove/closet--a bit messy--eventually we will have a desk under the lights

New wood floor

Pretty Light

Sooooo, what do you think?  Improved??????

Family Devotions

I found a great article on family devotions. I want to share a snippet with you in order to entice you to read the entire article. It is well worth your time! You might want to leave a comment over there but please head back here when your finished reading the article and let me know your thoughts!

Teach These Words Diligently

A father may be committed to Christ himself and see that his wife and children are fully committed and therefore think a regular family devotion time is unnecessary. Some fathers see these instructions in Deuteronomy 6:6-7:

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”

…and rightly conclude that this is a lifestyle and therefore setting aside a family devotion time is unnecessary. I agree that if someone is teaching each child throughout the day, it may be unnecessary to come together for a dedicated time of formal teaching. But surely such a family would relish the opportunity to come together and sing praise to God, to lift their voice to Him in prayer, and to joyfully list for all family members the wonderful things the Lord had done that day. Such a family would delight in a dedicated time of reading scripture and prayer, making daily family devotion a necessity driven by their shared joy.

If your family is like most I know, you can only fulfill the command to “diligently teach” if you diligently dedicate time each day for a regular family devotion. The key is diligence – family devotion cannot be a simple convenience or of a low priority that is easily displaced by other trivial activities.

Finish the article over on Every Good Path.