~ Things that make me smile ~

 The meadow is greening up.
The trees are beginning to leaf out and the last of the snow across the mountain tops is melting.
Spring is here! 
Warmer temperatures are here to stay for a few months and that makes me smile.

 Deer grazing on the foothills...

 and the elk are grazing in the pastures.

 The birds make me smile.
They have quite a routine down.
They hop onto the edge of the bird~feeder, knock the seed on the ground, then all their friends swoop onto the ground and feast on the fallen seed.

 Rogue rooster. Pheasant rooster out touring the neighborhood. 
Seemingly dancing through the green grass. 
Yep. 
Makes me smile!

 Pigweed makes me smile { the purple stuff is what I call pigweed. 
Purple weeds = Pigweed, and Yellow weeds = Spurge weed. 

It matters little if I have correctly identified the weeds, the fact that the weeds are growing is enough to make me smile. 
The color is beautiful in the meadow and I'm smiling to know that the growing season is here once again.

 The flower beds and borders are alive with color.

The skies are alive with color as well.

All is well. 
Spring has returned.
Flower are blooming, trees are leafing out, and the grass is growing. 
It makes me happy and makes me smile.

*Update on the house sale"
All is well on that front too.  So far everything is falling into place. 
We have begun to pack and sort the last of the items that need to be sorted through. 
My goodness, gracious, but we have accumulated a lot in 32 yrs.!!
Downsizing is a challenge, but the reward I think will be worth the efforts.

~Attitude of Gratitude:
 I have so many things to be grateful for...
Feeling grateful that our daughter~in~love and Grand are safe after a fender bender this last weekend. 
~Thankful for a husband that is my rock! 
Whenever I feel overwhelmed and unsure about my abilities to do things that are challenging, he reminds me of my strength and he gives me encouragement. He prays for me, and I am grateful for that.

~Goodness, gracious! Life clips along at a pretty quick speed! ~

How is it that time just seems to speed up, the older I get?? 

Before I know it, a day is gone, then a week, then a month, and so forth. 

I never had any intentions of being MIA from blogging so long, but then that time thingy happened, and before I knew it "poof", months had passed by.

Wonderful, amazing, miraculous life has been happening around here.

The above picture is from Waikiki, Hawaii. 

My darling husband and I just returned from a lovely and wonderful trip to Hawaii, to celebrate our 30th anniversary!!

Our amazing kids got together and surprised us with the trip! They paid for and arranged everything! The flights, hotel, excursions, etc... 

All we had to do, is pack a bag. 

We have been so incredibly blessed, and the blessings just keep coming. 

I feel truly humbled by the blessings that have been showered upon us.

A huge blessing is that we are going to be first time grandparents!!!!!!

Yep.. we finally get to join the grandparents club, after waiting for years.

Our darling daughter in law is due in July. This is an older picture, of course.
She is really good to update her pictures, but I don't have an instagram account, and that is how she usually does it.
We got the happy news about becoming grandparents on Christmas day.
The last present that was opened was one that our son gave me. It was a bag, and inside the bag wrapped up in tissue paper was a framed picture of a sonogram.
Instantly, I gasped then started to cry.
I blubberly gave the bag to my hubby, and jumped up and gave our daughter in law a hug.
By this time, she was crying too.
I told her that I had no idea why I was crying, but I suppose it was because I was so happy,
She told me that she didn't know why she was crying either, because she had known for a few weeks!!!
Those stinkers knew that they were expecting when they were here for Thanksgiving, and didn't utter a word.
Anyway... we are over the moon happy about being grandparents!

 Gender reveal party.
Our son and wife called after their checkup to see what the gender was. That was on a Wednesday, and they wouldn't tell us!
They wanted to drive down and have a gender reveal party with the whole family.
So that following Sunday, the whole family met, and we had my daughter in laws family on Skype, and she handed me the knife to cut the cake.
Of course laughter, and squeals of delight followed the cutting into to the cake to reveal that the baby is a boy!!
Just my daughter in law and I had been thinking that the baby would be a boy, everyone else in both families thought that the baby would be a girl.
Yay!!! We can hardly wait to meet this darling boy!!
Now... if they could just pick a name! I keep texting my ideas to then, but so far, none of my name ideas have been chosen.
Our son wants a name that is adventurous like : Indiana Jones, or John McClane... etc.
Naturally, our DIL vettos those names... **giggle**
So, if anyone has any awesome name suggestions, I'd love to hear them!!

 A few more pictures from our recent trip.
All of you that are still waiting for snow to melt and the weather to warm up,~~ you are welcome!

 We stayed in a five star hotel that overlooked the ocean and Waikiki Yacht Club.
Boy, did we ever feel spoiled and la~te~da.
Our kids really spoiled us!
When we left Utah, it was snowy, snowy, and cold.
We had to wait for the plane to be de~iced, before the plane could take off.
You can imagine what a welcome sight blue water, palm trees, sand and sun were for us!

 Sunrise over North Shore.
We made it just in time one morning to see the sun rise over the ocean.
We collected a few pieces of beach glass, coral, and lava rock to take home with us.
I put all of our little 'treasures' on a blue colored glass dish in the living room. A constant reminder of a wonderful and lovely trip,

 The LDS Laie Hawaii temple.
We had wanted to attend a session of the temple while we were in Hawaii, but it wasn't open when we were over on that side of the island.
It sure is beautiful though!

 The view from one of our adventurous days.
Our kids arranged for us to go to Kualoa Ranch, and do a two hour ATV ride.
Kualoa Ranch is the setting for many movies and shows :Jurassic World, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, and 50 First Dates, Lost, & Hawaii Five-O..., just to name a few.
There are tons of activities to do there, and I would highly suggest a visit there if you go to Oahu.

 Too fun!

Looks impressive.
Made completely out of styrofoam.
Our tour guide looking at a rope that someone had placed on the skull.

 Sunset view from our room.
That view never got old, as you can imagine.
I have this pic as my current computer save screen.... sigh.... wish I had this view each and every day.

While we were on our trip, our youngest son got engaged!!
Goodness, gracious!!
We knew that these two were going to get engaged, but we thought it would be official once we got home from our trip, not while we were away.
He sent us a pic, and told us it was official.
They are so darling together, and I hope and pray that it all works out beautifully.

This is one of my favorite pics that they had taken.
Her dad took it, and I think it shows their cute personalities and how much fun they have together.
Her dad did an excellent job taking pictures, and I think he is planning on taking the wedding pictures as well.... yay!!

So, now y'all are up to speed, as much as possible at least, without having to read a novel...*giggle**.
This is a big year for me:
  * Our 30th Anniversary
  * Our first grandbaby
  * A wedding
  *Four family birthdays in July
  * Me turning 50, later on in the year.
I'll do my best to update this ol' blog more often, and to get around to visit and chat with everyone.
Enjoy this amazing day... 'cause it'll be gone for ya know it ** hee hee**.

Attitude of gratitude:
~Feeling so thankful for the birdsong outside. Seeing robins and hearing birdsong means that warmer weather is on the way.
~Feeling thankful for daffodils blossoming in the yard.
~Feeling so grateful that our youngest son is in fine health this morning, after a late night scare.
Second time that he's had a disabling panic attack. This time we managed to avoid and emergency room visit and the docs giving him nitro.
Seriously, hope and pray this boy finds out what is triggering these extreme anxiety attacks and is able to fix them.
~Feeling grateful for sweet friends that help out... no questions asked, just supportive and loving when we call at 10:30 at night and asked for help with Spencer.

Our view... trees are beginning to green up, as are the fields.

Last nights scene.
The sunset reflecting off the tops of the mountains. A fresh dusting of snow covers the tops of the mountains, but all that moisture sure helped everything green up even more.

~* Autumn Blessings *~

 There is no other time of the year I love more..... for me, Autumn is the finest season of all.
The crisp morning, and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, rain storms, and thunder.
A cup of cocoa while sitting next to the fireplace. The smell of woodsmoke in the air, cozy blankets to cuddle under.
Crispy~crunchy leaves to walk through, football games to cheer to, and warm bowls of soup.
The list goes on and on... all things wonderful about autumn.

 Slowly, I've been breaking out the autumn decor.
Little bits here and there, and most can stay out throughout the autumn season.
Gourds, and twinkle lights.
Chalkboard signs......

Faux berries, and candles.
A wee corn husk basket...

 More candles, and a flickering candlestick.

 The picture stays up year round.. a tribute to my favorite season, it depicts a harvest season in a small mountain village... quite like the area that we live in, actually.
Colors of gold, and yellows, and crimsons.

 In the kitchen, a large galvanized tray holds a 'blessings' platter, a small lantern, and a pitcher full of glorious green faux hydrangeas.

 On the range, a new pumpkin.; porcelain covered cast iron pot.
 I've wanted one like this for ever...... one day while perusing Wal Mart, I spied this lovely thing, and promptly bought it.
I think it will stay on the top of the range for many weeks to come. Of course I'll cook in it!
Thinking about chili, chicken and dumplings, cowboy casserole, beef and barley soup....etc..etc.

 A beautiful metal pumpkin sits front and center on the buffet in the dining area of the kitchen.
A small bunch of faux bittersweet tumbles out of a grapevine basket.

 On the windowsill, little acorns...... found on a morning walk recently.
The 'Fresh Eggs' sign is a recent yard sale purchase, and sits next to a brown spatter ware pitcher, also a yard sale find.

 In the living room, on the blanket hutch a small bowl of 'ancient' coins, and two aged brass candlesticks.
The candlesticks and the coins were a recent purchase, found at a thrift store in Santa Fe.
They always will be a warm memory of a great trip with my sweet husband.

While I can't authenticate the age of the coins that I was told are 'ancient', I still love their patina and their shape, and they are certainly a topic of conversation.

 The last of the flowers fill a few vases around the house.
Lovely colors of gold and pinks and salmon.

Little birds flock to the last of the sunflowers and enjoy the last of the warm days.
*my sweet husband took this picture.

 Another picture that my sweetheart took.
What a sweet little bird.

 One more picture that my hubby took.... I do love this one, so much. I love that little bird perched on a dry sunflower. A perfect Autumn photo.

 Deer in the meadow.... grazing.
I love to see the deer, but I am dreading when they move into the yard and start munching on our plants.

The elk, higher in the meadow.
The elk are in the rut now, and bugling can be heard at all times of the day, and sometimes at night.
The elk farmer has already trimmed their antlers so that they don't hurt each other.

 The time to be happy is now.... absolutely!
Autumn is an especially happy time for me.
Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful time of year.
So, have you tried the "Pumpkin Spice" Lindt truffles?
Or the Pumpkin Butter that you can buy at Trader Joes?

~Attitude of gratitude
~Grateful for good health.
~Grateful for a wonderful husband and great kids!
~Feeling thankful that the lawns have dried out from last weeks storms and I can get the mowing done. I have always enjoyed mowing the lawns, and I'm grateful that I have the good health that allows me to do it.

~ Sweet Summer things ~

 Hello friends.
This has been a sweet summer!
In the meadow, the elk are grazing.
Look at those huge antlers on them this year!
Just a few days ago, I could hear a few of the elk bugling.  It is amazing to hear them bugle !
In a few weeks, the rut will begin, and then we will hear plenty more elk bugles.

 Our youngest son, Spencer, bought a small lathe {second hand}.
He's always loved working with his hands, and he wants to make pens, birdhouses, boxes, and bowls etc..
{He got that from my dad! My dad used to turn the most beautiful projects on his lathes.}
So Spencer turned on the lathe and grabbed a piece of left~ over fence post and turned a rustic candle holder.  It was difficult wood to work with. It was a piece of pressure treated and stained pine. Not the best wood for turning.

 Still, I LOVE the finished project!
I think this little rustic candle holder is the sweetest thing.
Spencer was going to throw it away!  He really didn't like the way that it turned out.
I on the other hand, think it's wonderful, and I am happy to have it!

 All the sweet sunflowers.
They are growing madly, and happily blossoming.
Out of the 10 varieties that we planted, about 7 different varieties have blossomed so far.
That's pretty good!

 Isn't it sweet when sunflowers just begin to open?!
The petals unfurl one at a time.

 The red variety is stunning!
I hope that they keep on blossoming, so I can have a big ole vase full of them.

 This one is a 'new to us' variety.
It was supposed to be purple.
It kind~of is, I suppose.
Although, it really is more of a burgundy color.
In the entire seed packet that was planted, only about 3 seeds germinated.  So, we'll save some seeds this year to plant next spring, but I think we need to plan on a low germination rate for this variety.

 I even love the sunflowers after the petals have withered, and all that is left is the seed head.
They are still beautiful to me.

I found this picture on Pinterest.
Such a cute way to display those sunflower seed heads, and very Fall~ish too.

Wishing you a sweet summer week.

~ Attitude of gratitude
~ Feeling grateful for the box of hot chocolate mix stuck in the back of the pantry.
It was down right nippy this morning! Just 51 degrees. We slept with the windows open, and I woke up chilled. That cup of hot cocoa really hit the spot.
~ Feeling so grateful that our daughter got a promotion with her company.
~ Feeling grateful for projects, and lists of projects. I look forward to each new morning and being able to work on something creative, or doing a bit of canning, etc..
   What a blessing life is!!