Our weekend in Idaho....

This past weekend we went to Idaho to see Alyson, Jim & Lily. We had a great time. Alyson's birthday is next week so we wanted to be able to celebrate with her and her family. For her birthday, she and I had our toesies done.



We spent most of Friday just enjoying a day at home, playing with Lily. Here she is trying to sit on her balloon.



On Saturday we went to Spokane to walk around the Riverside Park and take Alyson to dinner for her birthday.

Here are Bruce and Lily looking at the ducks.



At Riverside Park, there was a carousel. I took Lily on it. At first they tried to have me put her on a horse that was two feet over my head. Didn't work well. We ended up sitting on the bench. She was a little petrified at first, but soon absolutely loved the ride. She got to wave at Mommy, Daddy & Geezer everytime we passed them.



Right by the carousel, there was this strange, trash-eating, mechanical goat. I thought Lily would be scared of it, but she loved feeding it the leaves.



Another thing Lily liked was riding on Geezer's shoulders.



The park also boasts the world's largest Radio Flyer Wagon. Actually, it is a slide. Lily loves slides, so Alyson took her down several time.



Lily LOVES her Daddy!!! I really like this picture of them together.



Lily loved to bring me books to read to her. She loves her Gramby, or GaGa, as she would say, and I love her.



And last, but not least, its bath time. She loves her bath!!! What a goofy kid!



We had a great time in Idaho. My only wish is that we could see them more often.

We're off to see the granddaughter....

Bruce and I are headed to see Lily this weekend. While we're there, we'll visit with Jim and Alyson as well.....

In all seriousness though, next week is Alyson's birthday. She will be 27, which is totally impossible since I am only 29 myself. We are excited to be able to spend a little time with them. Alyson and Jim have grown into wonderful adults and they are great friends, terrific parents, and strong Christians. We are so proud of both of them!!!




And now my quote of the day concerning family...

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
Jane Howard, "Families"

Ladies' Retreat 2009...

This past weekend was the annual Ladies' Retreat at Yellowstone Bible Camp. I wasn't sure I was going until the last minute, but am SO glad I went. Not only did the ladies from Livingston do a tremendous job, the speaker was wonderful.

Here's a picture of the fire pit and lodge at camp.




Latayne Scott, of New Mexico, spoke on the comfort we find in the resurrection. Latayne is a noted author and a wonderful speaker, but I also found her to be extremely personable and fun.

There were 10 ladies from our congregation who attended and 90 ladies in all. The weather was absolutely perfect. Not a cloud in the sky for two days!!! If you ever have an opportunity to spend time in retreat with christian women, DO IT!!! You will be blessed beyond measure.

Proud parents...

Bruce and I are now the proud parents of a 29-year-old, bouncing lawyer!!! Shyla found out yesterday that she passed the bar exam. Yeah for her!!! I had no doubt that she would pass, but I know she was nervous.

Here is a picture of her at her law school graduation in May.



Congratulations Shyla!!! We love you and are proud of you!!

Miracles abound...

On January 29th I wrote concerning a friend of mine who had been diagnosed with cancer. She had surgery and was only given a 10% chance of survival with treatment. She opted to forgo treatment and rely on God's grace. I called her about a week ago to check on her again, because I knew that she was supposed to see her doctor again in July. What she told me inspired me - she is completely cancer free. God is truly good!!!

This is a big "miracle", but there are small miracles we encounter every day and often don't acknowledge them as such. (ie. an addict getting off drugs, a family surviving a tragedy intact, etc.)

I want to challenge each of you to look for the miracles every day and praise God for the blessings He has given us.

Here's the quote for the day:

Sometimes it seems like God is difficult to find and impossibly far away. We get so caught up in our small daily duties and irritations that they become the only things that we can focus on. What we forget is that God's love and beauty are all around us, every day, if only we would take the time to look up and see them.
Matthias, Correction Weblog, 11-01-03

Firsts...

This past weekend I went to Oklahoma to spend some time with Shyla. It is the first time we have spent an entire weekend without the guys. We had a great time. When I arrived on Friday, my sister & brother-in-law picked me up at the airport. That evening we had dinner with three of my sisters and two brothers-in-law. It is always good to spend time with family. On Saturday we went to Shyla & Clay's godson's first birthday party. It was a good time. After that we did peidcures - my FIRST!!





Shyla and I also went to a couple of movies. If you haven't seen Julie & Julia yet, go see it!!! It is laugh out loud funny!! We also went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Shy had seen it, but I had not. It was wonderful.

After worship on Sunday, we ate lunch then went golfing. It was hot, but not too bad. We had a great time.

I also got to spend time with old friends. (I will write more about this on another blog.)

What this weekend showed me is that I need to spend more one-on-one time with both my daughters. They are wonderful women and I am blessed to have them as my children!!!

Whatever Happened to Summer????

I keep hearing about global warming, but it seems to have passed us by here in Montana this summer. We have had the wackiest weather ever. It is supposed to get up to only 60 degrees today (the normal being in the 80-90 range), and it is raining. This feels more like March or April. We were going to float the river today, but not in this weather. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of super hot weather, but I do like it to be summer when it is August.

On another note, Bruce will be headed to Canada this Friday to go fishing with our son-in-law Clay. He has spent the morning preparing his waders, etc. I think they will have a blast. I, on the other hand, am flying to OK on Friday to spend a few days with Shyla. She has completed the bar and we can have a long weekend of fun and relaxation. I can hardly wait!!!

Since the blog today was mostly about family, and since our fair is in town, I will end with this quote...

If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty.'
Jeff Foxworthy