Eli's First House

Well here it is! My
little boy has purchased his first home and we are all
very excited and proud of his accomplishments.
They are so excited and it is just the perfect fit for them. I even love the front door. So many new experiences await them as they begin these years together. I expect a wedding in the near future. Seems like we did it the other way around but they have a plan and I'm not interfering. All of us will gather here in the mountains for Thanksgiving. Wanted to include a picture of what this fabulous Fall looked like from my porch. I replaced my Spring photo with a Fall to give you an idea of how much the view changes. The colors were truly stunning. I think it was the best in a long time. The cool air is slowly creeping in. Turned up the heat last night and got out the big down comforters for the beds. Hope to be out of here before the second snowfall. The first is always magical but after that I'm ready to roll. Who knows maybe this Christmas we will all be making a trip to Pittsburgh. In our crazy family you never know what's around the corner. Chow

NOVEMBER DAZE

Been so very slack with my blog. Seems like there are always things to do and I get my writing fix in the mornings with my journal. That is one area that I am faithful in and am trying to do the same with this blog but it's slow going. So many things behind me now. Meetings, dinners, appointments get together's that were on the calender and were causing me stress are all done with. Hate to look at it that way but I operate better when the calender is clear and I can do as I please. Not very often!!! Yesterday was my beautiful son Josh's birthday. He is the ripe old age of 33 and told me this morning that he would rather be counting backward, as I'm sure we all would. Wish I could be there in sunny Florida to give him a big hug and to wish him well on this important day. He was the beginning of my walk with the Lord. A severely colicky baby that literally drove me to my knees asking God for mercy before I threw him out the window!! Instead God lovingly reached down and touched my heart with His love and patience and showed me that there was so much more to life than my discomfort in the moment. I was truly born again and have never been the same since. Even though there are and always will be rocky times, life just keeps getting better and better. So thank you Josh for being the spark that lit the fire that was smoldering in me all those years. Also not to forget Ben's big #20 on the 6th of Nov. The above photos were from a very simple but loving family dinner we had for him last week. His big surprise was an effects pedal for his guitar. He is taking his music to new levels and we are all anxiously looking forward to hearing some serious jamming over the holiday. Both Josh and Ben have written some new songs and are excited to play them for us. This year is going to be a bit different in that the men are cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Jill and I will be leaving early TK morning to pick up Bethany from the airport. It's a two hour drive so four hours total for the trip. Works well for me. The girls will be on clean up and look forward to what my talented chefs in the family come up with. Anticipation is high!!!