Monthly Archives: December 2017

Merry Christmas 2017

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Manger Scene

 

Manger Scene in a Snow Globe

 

Snowman Plates

 

Snowman(s) and Christmas Tree

 

A Welcoming Front Door

Before the Holiday Season is over for 2017 I wanted to post a few pictures.  We had a very quiet Christmas Eve and Day!  It was peaceful and relaxing.  Got walks in and hot tub time with music and candles and a slivered moon.  It snowed off and on and at one point the sun was shining while big huge flakes were coming down.  We reflected on our blessings and prayed for continued blessing on our whole family.  We also prayed that our eyes would be open even wider to the many blessings we take for granted.  Yeah, we all face hard times but putting God in the middle of each one can only help give hope where there is no hope, and watching for the blessings in the trial gives it purpose for our good!

The following are pictures I have taken recently!  I hope you enjoy them.

The Old Homestead

Still able to wear boots, but soon snowshoes will be necessary!

 

Tall Pointy Pine Tree near my office in McCall

 

Captured from a window in my office in McCall. A storm is coming over the lake.

 

Purple, Sparkling Water

 

Reflected Clouds in River

 

Frosty Pine Trees on Other Side of the Fence

 

Mountain Majesty Across the River

 

As we head into the New Year 2018 I pray that it will be a wonderful year for us all.  Peace, joy, patience, goodness….  Hey, I guess I am speaking the Fruit of the Spirit into our lives!  Yes and Amen!!!!

Kimmy

Frost a Plenty!!!

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We have been experiencing good ole frost.  Not much snow to speak of but the frost is beautiful!

Frosty Branch

Frosty Weed

Frosty Weed 2

Frosty Grass

Gloaming Frost

I took this picture real quick thinking it was an eagle, later as I was looking at it I am pretty sure it’s just a black bird.

Eagle in Flight (or maybe just some blackbird) Still interesting.

My walking companions seem to wonder why I am constantly stopping and bending over something or looking at something really close but they are fine with waiting until I am done.

Patient Dogs (Luke sometimes just waits until I am done taking pictures.)

Some pictures speak peace or closure, either closure of the day or closure of the growing season when all leaves have fallen and the ground starts to have its winter blanket.

Frosty Gloaming Picnic

This next quote is out of the book The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani, page 422:

“It seemed to Ciro that so much of life was about not holding on, but letting go and in so doing, the beauty of the past and the happiness he felt then came full circle like a band of gold.  The night sky, the cemetery, the memory of places past and the people who had been there to bear witness, provided all the constancy his heart required.  This is what it means to be part of a family.”

I am thankful for my family, the close and the extended.  We are there for each other through the good and the hard, the sweet and the bitter, the complicated and the simple.  We may not alway be able to fix each other’s problems but we can listen to a loved ones troubles and help them share the burden.  At times, when the unexplainable or the unwanted, or unacceptable things happen, we can lessen the pain. We can also lift one another up and double the joy when we share the blessings and the successes.  They are not always easy, impossible to be perfect, but family relations bring so much into our lives. At this time of year may you find yourself surrounded by loved ones – even if it’s on social media!!!

Almost Christmas!

Kimmy

 

 

 

Oh to Long to be Holy

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River Reflecting the Sun.

Words to live by:

“If you feel the call of the Spirit, then be holy with all your soul, with all your heart, and with all your strength.  If, however, because of human weakness, you cannot be holy, then be perfect with all your soul, with all your heart, and with all your strength.

But if you cannot be perfect because of the vanity of your life, then be good with all your soul . . . .  Yet, if you cannot be good because of the trickery of the evil one, then be wise with all your soul . . .

If, in the end, you can neither be holy, nor perfect, nor good, nor wise because of the weight of your sins, then carry this weight before God and surrender your life to His divine mercy.

If you do this, without bitterness, with all humility, and with a joyous spirit due to the tenderness of a God who loves the sinful and ungrateful, then you will begin to feel what it is to be wise, you will learn what it is to be good, and you will slowly aspire to be perfect, and finally you will long to be holy.”

RUTHLESS TRUST, by Brennan Manning, Page 126

SOOOOOO  GOOOOOD!  If only . . . .   So many times I feel I fall so short of my potential, ability, purpose and plan.  But a daily laying down of my burdens helps to get me back to the start line if nothing else.  All things are possible ….   right?! …..

No River Running in Winter (In the summer the river forks there and goes around to make an island.)

Frost on Snow.

Sun on frosty snow

 

Can you find the hunting dog?

 

Now can you find him?

Happy December!