It's a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood

I was just thinking about how blessed I have been. I have a wonderful husband, two beautiful daughters, the best two sons-in-law in the world, and a the most beautiful granddaughter ever (as is evidenced by the picture). Besides that I have a wonderful extended family and a church family that truly brings joy to my life. God is Good. While thinking of my blessings, I also think about things that are weighing on my heart right now. I have a good friend who is battling cancer. Friends who have lost jobs. Friends who are going through personal struggles. These things are hard to understand, but I still know that God is in control and that He can work it out, if we allow Him to do so.
My prayer for each of you is that you put God first in your life and see how the blessings pile up.

On a lighter note.... The weather here has warmed up a bit. Hopefully the groundhog does whatever he does to show that Spring is close at hand. One way or the other, it should be warm by May!!!

Inauguration Day 2009

Well, we have a new President. I did not vote for Mr. Obama, but I will support him. I believe that the presidency is larger than one man and our country us much too important to be divisive. The important things to me in a president are morality and a clear vision for our country. We are truly the greatest nation on earth and we need to conduct ourselves as such. I do not mean by this that we "lord it over" the rest of the word, but that we should lead by example. We must live up to the ideals of our founding fathers. They had a great vision for their new country and I believe that, in many ways, we have been letting them down for a long time.



Whether or not you voted for our new president, I would like to challenge you to rise to the occasion we have to move forward. Get involved in your community. Volunteer. Stand up for the oppressed. Determine to leave this world a better place than what you found it. Live a legacy.



Starting today, let us not be a nation of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Let us be a nation of Americans and to proudly stand for what is right and just, and may God bless us in our effort

Birds of Prey

I love birds of prey. I love to watch a hawk or an eagle in flight. This one was perched on a stump in my back yard a few weeks ago. He just sat there as I took pictures through my sliding glass door. They turned out pretty well.

A few years ago, when we lived in Dillon, Montana, I was driving home when I saw a Kestrel in the middle of the road. As I passed by, it didn't fly off, so I knew something was wrong. I turned around and went back to see if I could help it. It scuttered off into the borrow pit and I really had to look hard to see it. It was quite camouflaged. I was able to gently pick it up and take it home. I put it in a box with a towel and gave it some water. Now what was I to do? I had a wild hawk in my house. I made a few calls and finally found the Raptor Conservancy in Bozeman, Montana, who cares for injured birds of prey. I called them and told them what I had. They sent someone (113 miles) to pick up the bird. They told me that the kestrel was a young female. I was glad to have been able to help it, but I was also sad to see it go.

The bird had no broken bones - thank goodness - but it was bruised. The conservancy kept the bird for two weeks for rehabilitation. When it was healthy enough to be released, they were very generous to come back and release it in my back yard. It was so cool to see it fly again.

This experience was very meaningful to me, seeing as how I do love to watch them fly!!! Next time you see an eagle or hawk in flight, thank God for the experience.

Greetings to all,

I have now learned how to down-load pictures. Here is our family. What a good lookin' group!

It has turned cold and windy again here in Montana. It is winter, after all. Hopefully the bitter cold temperatures are behind us now. I know winter is far from over, but I don't like the frigid temperatures.

There isn't much going on here. We are enjoying our Christmas presents. Bruce is trying to figure out his "ship in a bottle" and I am improving my brain health with the Brain Age game on my Nintendo DS. I'm not as old as I thought I was!!

A group of women from church are getting together tonight to talk about The Shack by William Paul Young. It is a very interesting book with an interesting perspective on God. I don't necessarily agree with all it has to say, but it is thought-provoking. I recommend it as a good read.

Since we are on the subject of books, I would like to list a few of my favorite authors.

Francine Rivers
William Bernhardt
Patricia Cornwell
James Patterson
John Grisham
Michael Connelly
Nevada Barr
Catherine Coulter
Sandra Brown
Michael Palmer
John Connolly
Iris Johanson
Ridley Pearson

I tend to read an author until I have read everything they have in print to date. Some are very slow to publish. It has been said that everyone has a novel in them. Not so with me. I don't pretend to have any writing ability. So, because I cannot write, I read.

I hope this finds you all well and happy. God bless.

Well, here it is, 2009. I have been dragged into the 21st Century kicking and screaming. My daughters have influenced me to begin a blog. I don't promise to write every day, but I think it's a fun way to keep in touch with family and friends.

For my first blog, I will talk about our wonderful time with our family over the holidays. Our daughters Shyla & Alyson, and their husbands, Clay & Jim, came to visit for Christmas in Montana. We were also blessed with our granddaughter, Lily (9 months old). We had a wonderful week of games, baby-watching, skiing, and playing with our filthy lucre from Santa.

Bruce and I have bee truly blessed this past year. We moved to Billings, Montana, in March and love it. We have many church friends here and feel right at home. We both have obtained good jobs and are flourishing.

We hope that your holidays were bright and that God will bless you in the new year.

Maybe someday I will learn how to post pictures!!!!!