New Years Day 2011

They ran in the door... dropped their shoes and helmets at the entrance.

(they'd ridden their bikes all the way here, and were now ready for blackeyed peas and cornbread... typical New Year's day fare)

We'd originally thought that we'd have the whole group here, but due to the sicknesses that ran rampant throughout the area from Mesquite, to Lubbock and everywhere in between, we kept our celebratory group to a minimum. (Although Wibbie and Moosey did finish the 44 Farms AIing just in time for lunch:)

Dance steps were learned easily and in turn....

and still our little Cochins are offering an egg a day. So fun to find the little treasures in the straw nests...

Troy and I stayed up till the midnight hour for the first time in years....

Troy was watching a movie that at first I thought... (OMGoodness... what horrible images to bring in the New Year) but then I remembered the one part I saw before making my way to bed.

It was a guy's movie... absolutely bloody and warrioresque... 300....

the part I remember was this...

Xerxes was brought up to Leonisis (was that his name??) in all the finery a great Persian king would be expected to have...

The encounter on the screen was stunning... huge spectacular beautiful king meets, scarred, muscled and confident Greek warrior.... The king tells the warrior that he should bow and then they could become partners since the Greeks were going to die anyway at the hand of the Persian army... L says... "don't think I'll bow...and btw... I have warriors who fight side by side with me... you, have SLAVES who are commanded to fight... THAT is why we are beating your 1000's with only 300."... not exactly that, but you get the idea.

Slave or Warrior... the difference is stunning when it comes to battle.

In a time when the BATTLES are begging for our involvement,

could this have been specifically placed at the front of our year?

That was what brought in the New Year here at might house....

Then that morning... on my porch right by my door...

many many many goldfinches right by the door! lovely

Cody had a new lamb

and I got a word about my plans...

"Don't be so set in your plans that they cannot be changed in an instant

at the impulse of the KING."

yes LORD... You alone make the plans...

may I always be flexible to Your touch and ready for Your move!

Last Days of 2010... warm sunshine, shadows, and immunities

Shadows....

You cannot have a shadow without a greater reality to cast it.

Father may we seek to know what the sweeter, greater truth is behind each shadow we see.

As 2010 closes... may we know that we know that we know!

May we DIG for the truth beyond what our eyes perceive into what our heart and spirit alone can understand.

May we take the narrow road and climb to the places that You have prepared for us since before the foundations of the world...

May we know the trustworthy companions You allow in our lives to be the ones we lock arms with so that NOTHING gets through on our "watch". Ones that know who we are and who call out the best in us even when we lose sight. Father show us our "compadres" on the journey!

Keep our eyes focused on the things YOU have prepared and not what the world is screaming for us to prepare. Keep us tuned to Your frequency so that we have oil in our lamps and are ready for the return of our bridegroom.

Father as the fevers that have ravaged so many these days and are creating immunities to the "bugs" of the world.... let us come through any testing You've allowed so that we are immune to the calls and wiles that the world sets before us. Let us be true to the call that You've placed on our lives, and let us CALL OUT the truth from the high mountain on which YOUR HOUSE is established. You alone are GOD, and we are the sheep of Your pastures. You are the good shepherd and we trust You will help us hear Your voice as You lead us the places that You have already prepared for the days ahead.

Thank You Father for Your house.... Thank You LORD for your provision...

Thank You Savior for your gift of LIFE.

Christmas Day 2010

Fancy Nancy,

Running clothes,

Nerf guns,

ice makers,

Carhartt coats,

non-electric drill,

camera and wings.....

and oh yes... lest we forget.....

Kinect!!! yes, it was Poppy's, but guess what it did???

made us the most popular place in town!

.... Christmas breakfast was french toast as always, and a new item...

the first two eggs from our little Cochin Bantams.... KG collected and cooked them!

... "got His angels watchin over me... everywhere I go!!!"

and thank you my love for the beautiful golden wings from my sweet friend Susan's shop!

I love how you love me!

Thank You Father for Your great gift of Family.... it brings me more joy than I could ever have imagined 35 years ago when Troy and I started on this journey.... and my first Christmas gift of a little yorkie named Holly Noel.

You've been so good to us LORD.... Thank You for Your greatest gift of Your Son!

Christmas Eve at Nana and Pops 2010

No words are really needed.... The pictures say it all... the gracious hostess and the gentle host.

There's nothing quite like Christmas Eve at Nana and Pop's.

Lord may we always know from where all things good come...

and some of the best that You've ever given to me, Your child,

is my mom and dad....

Father, thank You for putting me in the home of these two who have loved me and all the rest of us in such generous and tender ways...

They still teach me so much about where to place my foot next.

Lord Thank You for HOME!

Hand made presents, mentors teaching apprentices, and Poppy's fingernails:)

This downsized Christmas of 2010 included many hand made presents:)

Like sleep pants for brothers

And coasters for mom and Dad....

KG shows EE how to make the pretty gifts mixing the "concrete" in Tahtee's sink:-O

Frogs has been especially fun for all the family... trading, breeding and racing...TS decides to make sure no one sees exactly what he will be doing with his particular set of the hoppers:)

I love it that I see Em passing on the skill that I remember passing on to her and El...

Fun to watch the generations begin once again and to think...

someday KG may be teaching one how to sew just like her mommy teaches her.

How much fun can a Poppy be?

Not much more than this one....

on our girl day, ALL the nail polishes are out beside the fireplace, and in walks Poppy.

Both girls look at each other and say...

"you can take it off as soon as we finish... PLEASE POPPY, let us paint your fingernails?"

What a good grandad.... when they were finished, I think there was an extra

1/4 inch of polish on each thumb nail, not to mention special glitter and coat after coat of

shiny varnish.... "How much fun"?????

Just enough to put huge smiles on his 2 pretty granddaughter's faces

as they perused their work:))))))

12/21/10 Word, Water, Lunar Eclipse, Angels and Crowns, for EYES that WANT to SEE!

There is "bread" for the children.... Bread that some might not recognize or see as "bread", but it is there!

Just like the river that flows beneath this dry dusty soil.... There is water here boys, can you feel it?

"It makes the stick feel heavy Mr. Sam"

"I think it is here... is it here?"

"yes boys, you do feel it"... and look

do you see how the river flows and crosses itself in this spot?"

You do have the "eyes" to see and feel what others might miss.

We woke up early on this cold December morning... right after midnight came a sight that had not happened since the Pilgrims were here in America...

a Full Lunar eclipse...

Why did it bring tears rolling down my cheeks?

I think it is because as I watched the light of the moon disappear in the shadow of the earth, I realized again that

There are boundaries beyond these small perimeters of our world... boundaries set by the hands of the Ancient of Days... things set in motion that carry the mark of the Designer's Hands and pour into my life as a once in my lifetime event like this one tonight.

I'm more secure knowing that there is ONE WHO set the stars in the sky

and knows every hair on my head.

There is One WHO I have no way of understanding no matter how I try.

There is ONE WHO is like no other, and that ONE SEES ME.

Then the next morning... I get a "postcard" from the One Who created the Heavens and the Earth... He placed a golden cherub in the morning skies over this sweet valley we call home.

He gives His angels charge over us.... He said so, and that's what He does.

May I always recognize the reminders He lovingly puts into my days,

AND my nights...

Reminders that it is He Who is in control and makes the plans....

just like He has from the beginning.

Thank YOU LORD for letting have glimpses of You and sparkles of Your glory....

You are a good Father.... I like the way You do things!

Warm December days, ropings, Peacocks, Rasberries in the Spring

Again I get the 2 little ones all by myself!! Digging at the prayer chapel is almost as fun as a real sand pile in a real sandbox. We gathered rocks along our walk and when we got to the chapel, both EE and TS put their rocks into the hands with prayers for the ones they thought of when they collected the rock. EE was reminded by TS, that she was not tall and needed a rock to stand on to reach the hands:)

I'm glad to know that no matter how tall we are, we can "reach the Hands" of the One to Whom we offer our praise and our requests.

Cowboy church at Moro had a benefit roping this crisp but sunny December weekend. It was fun to watch Moosey on Scooter. He was cautioned that he would be riding on TS's horse and that he better be careful. and WIN!!!

I remember days of horses and brown trucks with these two.

Soon it will be 12 years, or is it 13? I cannot believe the time passes so fast.

I do believe I will be having blackberries and raspberries on these pretty vines beside the greenhouse. That is, unless the guineas and peacocks decide to spy them before I do:)

Troy got me 2 peacocks last month... and due to circumstances beyond my control (they were about to break their necks trying to get out of the pen... so I released them)..

they are the gypsies of the Lemons Gap creek that runs in front of the old Doran homesite.

HA.... and to think.... we are finding evidence of their elusive behavior even back at the prayer chapel tank. They are indeed NOT going to go into a cage EVER again.

Maybe Troy should have found out a bit more about the two besides that their seller was desperately in need of Christmas cash, and he found a guy with a wife who'd love to have her own peacocks.....

Next time a bit more research will possibly allow these guys to stay close enough to see more than their footprints:)