tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87833492024-03-06T23:05:56.502-07:00Red GeraniumElizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comBlogger609125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-90090486892353102762019-12-09T00:01:00.000-07:002019-12-09T09:31:46.153-07:00Still<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="color: #454545;">Still, just about every time I climb into bed to fall asleep and snuggle up to her, or every morning when I feel her next to me, I pull her close, kiss her face, and say quietly, even as she’s sleeping, “I love you so much.” Claire was a baby when my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. During the brief 6.5 week window from diagnosis to death, my sister Sue commented that Claire was a little ray of sunshine for all of us in the midst of so much devastating sorrow. I thought of that tonight on her 7th birthday and it’s still true. This girl is a champion snuggler, a chocoholic, and her spice will surprise you. She’s genuinely funny and always has me laughing. She’s smart as a whip, energetic, happy, fiercely devoted, tender, and full of love. </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="color: #454545;">7 years later, she’s still lighting up our world. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="color: #454545;">Claire Elizabeth, I love you so. </span><span style="color: #454545; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">❤️</span></span></b></div>
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-79740271820048781772019-12-06T23:45:00.000-07:002019-12-06T23:46:11.373-07:00Growing Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 17px;"><b>I find myself wondering, when did this happen? And how did it happen? And I want to yell to the person driving the train STOP. STOP. RIGHT. NOW. But even that isn’t true because I want to see your life unfold and continue to marvel at the great gift that is you. And when I look at you, though time speeds forward, you are all the ages you’ve ever been to me. You are years and seasons and growth and pain and humility and joy. You are my tiny, tiny babes and my teenage sons in the same breath. You are every moment we’ve ever shared and this is a beautiful thing. </b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-59102948536867896862019-12-05T00:01:00.003-07:002022-12-04T12:29:39.516-07:00Christmas Advent Readings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 1: The Angel Gabriel Appears to Mary (Luke 1:26-38)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Elder L. Whitney Clayton: “Mary had been a young woman when the angel Gabriel appeared unto her. At first she had been ‘troubled’ by being called ‘highly favoured’ and ‘blessed … among women … and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.’ Gabriel reassured her that she had nothing to fear—the news he brought was good. She would ‘conceive in [her] womb … the Son of the Highest’ and ‘bring forth a son … [who] shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever.’</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">The angel explained but only briefly, affirming to her that ‘with God nothing [is] impossible.’</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Mary humbly responded that she would do what God asked, without demanding to know specifics and undoubtedly in spite of having countless questions about the implications for her life. She committed herself without exactly understanding why He was asking that of her or how things would work out. She accepted God’s word unconditionally and in advance,</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup> </sup></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">with little knowledge of what lay ahead. With simple trust in God, Mary said, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.’</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">When we decide to do ‘whatsoever [God] saith unto’ us, we earnestly commit to align our everyday behavior with God’s will. Such simple acts of faith as studying the scriptures daily, fasting regularly, and praying with real intent deepen our well of spiritual capacity to meet the demands of mortality. Over time, simple habits of belief lead to miraculous results. They transform our faith from a seedling into a dynamic power for good in our lives. Then, when challenges come our way, our rootedness in Christ provides steadfastness for our souls. God shores up our weaknesses, increases our joys, and causes ‘all things [to] work together for [our] good.’” (“Whatsoever He Saith unto You, Do It”, April 2017 General Conference)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Consider listening to “Gabriel’s Message” sung by King’s College Choir: </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">For text, visit <a href="https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/gabriels_message.htm"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/gabriels_message.htm</span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “A story is told that during the bombing of a city in World War II, a large statue of Jesus Christ was severely damaged. When the townspeople found the statue among the rubble, they mourned because it had been a beloved symbol of their faith and of God’s presence in their lives.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but its hands had been damaged so severely that they could not be restored. Some suggested that they hire a sculptor to make new hands, but others wanted to leave it as it was—a permanent reminder of the tragedy of war. Ultimately, the statue remained without hands. However, the people of the city added on the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign with these words: ‘You are my hands.’…There is a profound lesson in this story. When I think of the Savior, I often picture Him with hands outstretched, reaching out to comfort, heal, bless, and love. And He always talked <i>with,</i> never <i>down to,</i> people. He loved the humble and the meek and walked among them, ministering to them and offering hope and salvation.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">That is what He did during His mortal life; it is what He would be doing if He were living among us today; and it is what we should be doing as His disciples and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints….</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Christ did not just speak about love; He showed it each day of His life. He did not remove Himself from the crowd. Being amidst the people, Jesus reached out to the one. He rescued the lost. He didn’t just teach a class about reaching out in love and then delegate the actual work to others. He not only taught but also showed us how to ‘succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.’</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Christ knows how to minister to others perfectly. When the Savior stretches out His hands, those He touches are uplifted and become greater, stronger, and better people as a result.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">If we are His hands, should we not do the same?” (“You Are My Hands,” April 2010 General Conference)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Sarah Elizabeth Rowntree: “Remember Christ has no human body now upon the earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours, my brothers and sisters, are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion has to look upon the world, and yours are the lips with which His love has to speak.”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Mormon Message video titled <i>Lessons I Learned as a Boy</i>: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naqX9iYE0V0"><span style="color: #212225; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naqX9iYE0V0</span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 8: Love Your Enemies (3 Nephi 12:38-45)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 9: The Angel Tells Joseph to Marry Mary (Matthew 1:18-25)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 10: Forgive (3 Nephi 13:14-15)</b> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Mormon Message video titled <i>Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light</i>: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zwQ_7q-fU"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zwQ_7q-fU</span></a>). </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 11: Nephi Shown Christ’s Mission in the Tree of Life Vision (1 Nephi 11:12-33)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 13: Samuel Gives the Signs of Christ’s Birth in the Americas (Helaman 14:1-8)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 14: Cast the Beam Out of Your Own Eye (3 Nephi 14:1-5; John 8:1-11)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 15: The Nativity</b> <b>(Luke 2:1-20)</b> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Consider listening to King’s College Choir sing “The Infant King”: </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GpqnlFpEvg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GpqnlFpEvg</a></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">For text, visit <a href="https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/infant_king.htm"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/infant_king.htm</span></a>. I love how this carol reflects on what will come ahead, the full implications of the Savior’s birth.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Nativity videos put out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-library/video/2011-10-067-the-nativity?lang=eng">https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-library/video/2011-10-067-the-nativity?lang=eng</a></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXWoKi5x3lw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXWoKi5x3lw</a></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Our family also likes to watch this movie together each December: </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nativity-Story-Marty-Bowen/dp/B00FMVV35I/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+nativity+story+dvd&qid=1575523695&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/Nativity-Story-Marty-Bowen/dp/B00FMVV35I/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+nativity+story+dvd&qid=1575523695&sr=8-1</a></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 16: The Golden Rule (3 Nephi 14:12; John 13:15)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 17: “For Unto Us A Child Is Born” (Isaiah 9:2, 6-7)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Listen to “Carol of Joy”: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltdFKfJC1F8"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltdFKfJC1F8</span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">For text (so you can follow along!), visit <a href="https://danforrest.com/music-catalog/carol-of-joy"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://danforrest.com/music-catalog/carol-of-joy</span></a>. I love this one so much! </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 18: Love One Another (John 13:34-35)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Ann Madsen: “[Jesus] taught his apostles, ‘As I have loved you, love one another.’ It sounds so simple a thing until we consider the quality of his love and surely he would have us learn to love as he loves us. ‘This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you’ (John 15:12).</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">How does his love differ from ours or from what we call love? Sometimes we say or mean, ‘I will love you if . . .’ or ‘I love you because . . .’—both qualifiers. Christ shows us how to say, ‘I love and will love you in spite of . . .’ That is the quality of Christ's love. The scriptures give it a special name: charity. It is pure and tender. It is eternal, not pretended, totally sincere, without guile or artifice, not selective, no respecter of persons. Sometimes what we call love is demanding, dominating, or manipulative. But his is selfless; free of ego needs, facing outward, not inward; reaching always outward. If we love in this way, we avoid much disappointment, pain, despair, and we experience more true joy. Sometimes there are those around us whom we love less. We can learn to love them more. Christ loves everybody more. So can we.” (from a talk given at BYU Women’s Conference titled “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee”)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><i>*</i>Elder Marvin J. Ashton:<b> </b>“<i>Charity </i>is, perhaps, in many ways a misunderstood word. We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles to those in need, or sharing our excess with those who are less fortunate. But really, true charity is much, much more.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again….Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.” (“The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword,” April 1992 General Conference)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 19: Wise Men Come, Following a Star; Herod Asks Them to Return (Matthew 2:1-11)</b> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*As you consider the wise men coming and offering gifts to the Savior, reflect on Christina Rossetti’s poem “In the Bleak Midwinter”: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4</span></a>. (“What can I give Him?”)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">For text, visit <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53216/in-the-bleak-midwinter"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53216/in-the-bleak-midwinter</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 20: The Flight Into Egypt and Herod Slaying the Innocent (Matthew 2:13-18) </b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><b>*</b>Consider listening to the “Coventry Carol”: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFnM8pSsyUU"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFnM8pSsyUU</span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">For text, visit: <a href="https://www.carols.org.uk/ba11-coventry-carol.htm"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.carols.org.uk/ba11-coventry-carol.htm</span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 21: Return to Nazareth from Egypt, Baptism of Christ, Childhood and Growing Up Years (Matthew 2:19-23; Matthew 3:1-6, 13-17; Luke 2:40-52)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 22: The Sacrament, Atonement, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26-27; D&C 19:16-19; John 20)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Elder Neal A. Maxwell:<b> </b>“The more we study, pray, and ponder the awesome Atonement, the more we are willing to acknowledge that we are in His and the Father’s hands. Let us ponder, therefore, these…things. When the unimaginable burden began to weigh upon Christ, it confirmed His long-held and intellectually clear understanding as to what He must now do. His working through began, and Jesus declared: ‘Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.’ Then, whether in spiritual soliloquy or by way of instruction to those about Him, He observed, ‘But for this cause came I unto this hour.’ Later, in Gethsemane, the suffering Jesus began to be ‘sore amazed,’ or, in the Greek, ‘awestruck’ and ‘astonished.’ Imagine, Jehovah, the Creator of this and other worlds, ‘astonished’! Jesus knew cognitively what He must do, but not experientially. He had never personally known the exquisite and exacting process of an atonement before. Thus, when the agony came in its fulness, it was so much, much worse than even He with His unique intellect had ever imagined! No wonder an angel appeared to strengthen Him! The cumulative weight of all mortal sins—past, present, and future—pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic of the Atonement. The anguished Jesus not only pled with the Father that the hour and cup might pass from Him, but with this relevant citation. ‘And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.’ Had not Jesus, as Jehovah, said to Abraham, ‘Is any thing too hard for the Lord?’ Had not His angel told a perplexed Mary, ‘For with God nothing shall be impossible?’ Jesus’ request was not theater! In this extremity, did He, perchance, hope for a rescuing ram in the thicket? I do not know. His suffering—as it were, <i>enormity </i>multiplied by <i>infinity</i>—evoked His later soul-cry on the cross, and it was a cry of forsakenness. Even so, Jesus maintained this sublime submissiveness, as He had in Gethsemane: ‘Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ …The wondrous and glorious Atonement was the central act in all of human history. It was the hinge on which all else that finally matters turned. But it turned upon Jesus’ spiritual submissiveness! May we now, in our time and turn, be ‘willing to submit.’” (“Willing to Submit,” April 1985 General Conference)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Elder David A. Bednar: “Most of us know that when we do things wrong and need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives, the Savior has made it possible for us to become clean through His redeeming power. But do we also understand that the Atonement is for faithful men and women who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully? I wonder if we fail to fully acknowledge this strengthening aspect of the Atonement in our lives and mistakenly believe we must carry our load all alone—through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline and with our obviously limited capacities. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to the earth to die for us. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to enliven us—not only to guide but also to strengthen and heal us.…The Savior has suffered not just for our sins and iniquities—but also for our physical pains and anguish, our weaknesses and shortcomings, our fears and frustrations, our disappointments and discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and desperation, the injustices and inequities we experience, and the emotional distresses that beset us. There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first.” (“Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease,” April 2014 General Conference)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “We often speak of the Savior’s atonement---and rightly so!…But as ‘we talk of Christ, … rejoice in Christ, … preach of Christ, [and] prophesy of Christ’ at every opportunity, <i>we must never lose our sense of awe and profound gratitude for the eternal sacrifice of the Son of God</i>. <i>The Savior’s atonement cannot become commonplace in our teaching, in our conversation, or in our hearts.</i> It is sacred and holy, for it was through this ‘great and last sacrifice’ that Jesus the Christ brought ‘salvation to all those who shall believe on his name.’” (“The Gift of Grace,” April 2015 General Conference, emphasis added)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*President James E. Faust: “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?”</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: #147ea7; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">The Savior was speaking not just to the sorrowing Mary. He was also speaking to us—men, women, and children and all of mankind ever born or yet to be born, for the tears of sorrow, pain, or remorse are the common lot of mankind. The complexities of this life at times tend to be very dehumanizing and overwhelming. …Many who think that life is unfair do not see things within the larger vision of what the Savior did for us through the Atonement and the Resurrection. Each of us has at times agony, heartbreak, and despair when we must, like Job, reach deep down inside to the bedrock of our own faith. The depth of our belief in the Resurrection and the Atonement of the Savior will, I believe, determine the measure of courage and purpose with which we meet life’s challenges.” (from a talk titled “Woman, Why Weepest Thou?,” October 1996 General Conference)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 23: Repent & Preach the Gospel (3 Nephi 18:18-32; Mark 16:15; D&C 18:9-15)</b> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Pres. Russell M. Nelson: “Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Whether you are diligently moving along the covenant path, have slipped or stepped from the covenant path, or can’t even see the path from where you are now, I plead with you to repent. Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance—of doing and being a little better each day.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy—the joy of redemption in Him. When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ!” (“We Can Do Better and Be Better,” April 2019 General Conference)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*“Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.” (attributed to Francis of Assisi, but not verifiable)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 24: Feed My Sheep and Trust in the Savior (John 21:15-17)</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Additional resources: </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">*Elder Robert C. Gay: “One of my favorite scriptures is <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/john/4.4?lang=eng#p4"><span style="color: black; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">John 4:4</span></a>, which reads, ‘And he must needs go through Samaria.’ Why do I love that scripture? Because Jesus did not <i>need</i> to go to Samaria. The Jews of His day despised the Samaritans and traveled a road around Samaria. But Jesus chose to go there to declare before all the world for the first time that He was the promised Messiah. For this message, He chose not only an outcast group but also a woman—and not just any woman but a woman living in sin—someone considered at that time to be the least of the least. I believe Jesus did this so that each of us may always understand that His love is greater than our fears, our wounds, our addictions, our doubts, our temptations, our sins, our broken families, our depression and anxieties, our chronic illness, our poverty, our abuse, our despair, and our loneliness. He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy.” (“Taking Upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ,” October 2018 General Conference)</span></div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>December 25: God So Loved the World (John 3:16; John 11:25-26; 2 Nephi 2:8)</b></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b><br /></b></span></div></span></div>
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-70994080827788517962019-05-21T13:09:00.001-06:002019-05-21T13:09:55.668-06:00Hands<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Today while driving Claire to dance class, I found myself unexpectedly choked up in tears.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>She was holding my hand, and then started to feel my bones and look at my fingernails. She was pushing the skin together (“I’m making your skin have wrinkles, Mom.”). </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbmjsjHApgr0PYPakblQFqgX36dpyFmTBEGyssz5gsypo7WSYCKIRIYVZPzr376spylk8kZv-fbOp7TGyqagiI5454j0FfjvulNv-sQACdd71fNo4Swo9j6eIDDRfjScd71s/s1600/IMG_4281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbmjsjHApgr0PYPakblQFqgX36dpyFmTBEGyssz5gsypo7WSYCKIRIYVZPzr376spylk8kZv-fbOp7TGyqagiI5454j0FfjvulNv-sQACdd71fNo4Swo9j6eIDDRfjScd71s/s400/IMG_4281.JPG" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>I found myself thinking—and I told her about—how I used to play with my dad’s hands when I was a little girl. The veins in his hands would sometimes get big—like mine sometimes do—and I loved to sit by him and push them around, play with them. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>At the same time, Claire and I were listening to a song in the car by Lori McKenna that I love titled “You Won’t Even Know I’m Gone,” and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. It’s a song about a mother who’s preparing so that when she’s away, her children won’t notice her absence.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>“I pray that every prayer I pray will reach you, every wish I make will keep you safe and warm.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>And may God forgive the things I do that put one mile between me and you—</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>To thine own self be true, to thine own self be true.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>That is a prayer I hold for my children, and it’s probably dad’s prayer as he cheers us on from where he is.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>And it is in these little things that I find him—the smell of pie baking in my kitchen, the feel of dirt on my fingers as I plant geraniums, a particular hymn, the way I rock a baby, a favorite carol, a late night grocery store run. He is with me when I rake leaves and make apple butter in the fall, as I listen to conference, when I carefully place years of tradition on my Christmas tree. I could go on and on.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Dad, I <i>do</i> feel your absence.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>But you are also here every day and I love your hands and the ways they were used—your talents, your hugs, your time, your service—to bring so much love and goodness to my life and the lives of others.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>You are in us and through us and a part of us.</b></span></div>
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-30723669294180451772018-12-20T00:25:00.000-07:002018-12-20T00:25:41.653-07:00Achy Heart<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ralph died last week and was buried next to his bride.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every day, I look at his house across the street.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">It is the same, and it will never be the same.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_89tJOBfBqbiAWmfQeB-rmEXA6DaahcK4MZnw4cNbApJQf5m3UWGWFKF2rqcwYwC-MnQadswp1sj3D6veLIl7ChyphenhyphenF-3YJfygUsy7BwP1RkwlP5b-XtfWXMmbUEAZ33LjQWVQ/s1600/FullSizeRender+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_89tJOBfBqbiAWmfQeB-rmEXA6DaahcK4MZnw4cNbApJQf5m3UWGWFKF2rqcwYwC-MnQadswp1sj3D6veLIl7ChyphenhyphenF-3YJfygUsy7BwP1RkwlP5b-XtfWXMmbUEAZ33LjQWVQ/s320/FullSizeRender+10.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Ralph reading Stegner to me, in the car)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ralph's son, Ron, read a little verse by Edna St. Vincent Millay, one of Ralph's favorite poets, at the service. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you."</b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-56229549235153833592018-10-30T00:08:00.000-06:002018-12-20T00:28:45.129-07:00Car Talk<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Tonight I was thinking again about something Claire said to me last year when we were driving to dance class.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-9_ZJkQEgEm8WRCmq7pO-2LkY64pT7F8-8TLe6Y-YFlli8U1hueLlPoLcFv8C68I3y3u-Svxznm7bH16jYI6aqcOEyJKD-l9HASxprOw0DMnoNsmtxQcBIDD03NdYWtsv6M/s1600/IMG_8723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-9_ZJkQEgEm8WRCmq7pO-2LkY64pT7F8-8TLe6Y-YFlli8U1hueLlPoLcFv8C68I3y3u-Svxznm7bH16jYI6aqcOEyJKD-l9HASxprOw0DMnoNsmtxQcBIDD03NdYWtsv6M/s400/IMG_8723.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>We were listening to Drew Holcomb's song "Wild World," a favorite of mine.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And there's a lyric in the second verse that goes like this:</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>"Whether or not you pray, black or white, straight or gay,</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>You still deserve the love of your neighbor."</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Well. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>We're driving along and we come to that part of the song.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And as soon as those words are out, Claire, without skipping a beat, </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>said out loud, with emphasis:</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>"Of COURSE you do!"</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I love that she said those words, and I've thought about that little moment so many times.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I hope these four people in my care grow up to be good humans--people who treat others with kindness, respect, love, and compassion.</b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-3970428159201983042018-10-04T21:15:00.000-06:002018-10-04T21:29:42.510-06:00October 4th<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNOhWqP8tE9rH0zTCdQtXlIQw49A0SzvF0vI8pbRgn_Dgq0vjgq8cr8HViEr_MnkA6sADSgXK38o34qp_SGbnhPqMReFP6ksljqRnWsP6Ov6R23c9YH99c8Eek28CEM01uSns/s1600/IMG_1422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNOhWqP8tE9rH0zTCdQtXlIQw49A0SzvF0vI8pbRgn_Dgq0vjgq8cr8HViEr_MnkA6sADSgXK38o34qp_SGbnhPqMReFP6ksljqRnWsP6Ov6R23c9YH99c8Eek28CEM01uSns/s400/IMG_1422.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but cancer doesn’t ask your permission. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today marks 5 years since my sweet dad passed away. I miss him; I’ll always miss him. So many of the things I love were instilled in me by this man. Thank you, Dad, for pointing me toward good things, blessing me with your love and gifts, and making my life so much more beautiful, so much the fuller and richer. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After dropping my kids off at school this morning, I drove to the cemetery by myself and sat in front of the dark granite stone that marks your grave on this overcast, cool, rainy day. I listened to your arrangement of “Abide with Me” on the way. That hymn is inseparably connected to you in my mind, and its message comforted me again: “Change and decay in all around I see; O, Thou who changest not, abide with me.” </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The knowledge of loving heavenly Parents, an atonement, and a greater plan sustained me through losing you, and the difficult, unexpected turnings of events in my personal life in the months that followed. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I love you, Dad, and I’m thinking about you today. </span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-38770470677892823172018-09-22T00:05:00.003-06:002018-12-20T00:34:25.999-07:00Grieving and Gratitude<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Sometimes you want to write about something for a long time, but every time you try words fail you. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Such has been the case for me over the last while when I've tried to come up with the right words to talk about my </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">friendship</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> with my </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">neighbor</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">, Ralph.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>We’re 50 years apart, he and I, and the dearest of friends.</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4RLRlmtWik4gcnSw0pC7pp9G6wYZkea7-PC4NkSlb11gJGWIZ9OV8GbpMIpDMhTi1rgffqpJ3imJqor8_UfgdlbIb6ShE67lq2Ds78f-fIIVNoGCzCX3KwaPy0Dsc8Wn5RQ/s1600/IMG_0114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4RLRlmtWik4gcnSw0pC7pp9G6wYZkea7-PC4NkSlb11gJGWIZ9OV8GbpMIpDMhTi1rgffqpJ3imJqor8_UfgdlbIb6ShE67lq2Ds78f-fIIVNoGCzCX3KwaPy0Dsc8Wn5RQ/s320/IMG_0114.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He is dying of bone cancer, and I’ve been swimming in tears this last week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tears of sorrow, yes, but also tears of gratitude, for they reflect the richness of the friendship that exists between us.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wayRWWje6l0esmAn9I5qbP3XJO4Tvjj2E5b73E2irl6TdQUK8Zxpsxv_aSeqrdsHshOeog7cWg13gl702z9Yy1hfZsgJP8LLfLPpPpLDeEyU0x9EpfgAfcD1ofyqiuOlrGo/s1600/IMG_8093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wayRWWje6l0esmAn9I5qbP3XJO4Tvjj2E5b73E2irl6TdQUK8Zxpsxv_aSeqrdsHshOeog7cWg13gl702z9Yy1hfZsgJP8LLfLPpPpLDeEyU0x9EpfgAfcD1ofyqiuOlrGo/s400/IMG_8093.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As I said to him earlier this week: </span></div>
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<b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How does one adequately express appreciation for a friendship that has meant so much?</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>You can’t; all you can do is take a stab at it.</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZYaOHjeJF2t2eysSt7PPqpplGU17HVAhaALJyf0P9-sofbghCILL9NmnhIGyiMlsBelGCh1TN0vAXp2Gvemkr-rH5kr6sYK8qIsjJIm3Q8_d384bQiCijb8J2X30zroxZRk/s1600/IMG_9127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZYaOHjeJF2t2eysSt7PPqpplGU17HVAhaALJyf0P9-sofbghCILL9NmnhIGyiMlsBelGCh1TN0vAXp2Gvemkr-rH5kr6sYK8qIsjJIm3Q8_d384bQiCijb8J2X30zroxZRk/s400/IMG_9127.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This man has been a beloved grandpa to my kids and like another father to me. We have laughed hard together, cried together, sworn together, shared calories together, gone to church together, talked about life and death and love and gardening and faith and poetry and books and ideas and our families. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We've had a lot of good times.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMA-XUoJRLIkk2-OnH-PJukXOU151-QLAcKKMmywfurqibJJiIpfXCUzCw7KGAZflKezvQfI3bpdnCbbRPUh6NFhagfDbzwQJIJYgGDzpWiKZO2Z0eDLyxg3-A_eai118WSRA/s1600/IMG_6413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="796" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMA-XUoJRLIkk2-OnH-PJukXOU151-QLAcKKMmywfurqibJJiIpfXCUzCw7KGAZflKezvQfI3bpdnCbbRPUh6NFhagfDbzwQJIJYgGDzpWiKZO2Z0eDLyxg3-A_eai118WSRA/s320/IMG_6413.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He has taught me so much by his example.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He has encouraged, listened, blessed, understood, taught, cared, taken the time for, loved, and served me and my kids again and again and again in the most kind and thoughtful ways.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">appreciate</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> him more than I can say and I will dearly miss him.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How do you tell somebody what a difference they’ve made in your life?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7Jy1QKHS72O6Vi4Mn0S0BTSKNzHPftFPygUx8rGHPMzd2N8sIqXaQiICYzVIeuPYibxGA5UoJFoxOmuV5RSl0w1KQDvbZa3I8IwJ-j-xAFXondnr1ydweqx7yAxRzG9Mcrk/s1600/IMG_2317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="649" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7Jy1QKHS72O6Vi4Mn0S0BTSKNzHPftFPygUx8rGHPMzd2N8sIqXaQiICYzVIeuPYibxGA5UoJFoxOmuV5RSl0w1KQDvbZa3I8IwJ-j-xAFXondnr1ydweqx7yAxRzG9Mcrk/s320/IMG_2317.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once in a while God blesses you with a friendship that forever changes you.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Dear Ralph, I love you so.</b></span></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-43619310836435728942018-08-29T14:29:00.001-06:002018-08-29T14:29:56.050-06:00August 29<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;">Mornings and evenings the last few days have been </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">glorious</span><span style="color: #134f5c;">. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>I can feel fall in the air and </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>it's waking me up.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>This morning, work was me on the deck with some pebble ice, a little George Strait in the background (just listen to "I Just Want to Dance With You" and try not to do the salsa, and here's a shout out to "You Don't Know What You're Missing"), my computer in my lap, and a breeze in the trees.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Then I went for a run and soaked up </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>some sunshine. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgReCM8BfqUglatmQn0guWpSuJrXj1PBbUghTb3RZV-Bpyvh8cbunTFMKhdL6p6E1NHAIqcEFuqc7SO2tv0guDXPahuvCcTPQhtnT77iUiIzp6PE8LWrbl0_RONCPH7XWl6TJw/s1600/IMG_0452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgReCM8BfqUglatmQn0guWpSuJrXj1PBbUghTb3RZV-Bpyvh8cbunTFMKhdL6p6E1NHAIqcEFuqc7SO2tv0guDXPahuvCcTPQhtnT77iUiIzp6PE8LWrbl0_RONCPH7XWl6TJw/s400/IMG_0452.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Hashtag simple pleasures.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Hashtag feeling oh so grateful. </b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-75586659240551982722018-08-19T02:08:00.000-06:002018-08-19T17:32:24.626-06:00Our Gifts Don't Have to Be Perfect<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've just spent a chunk of time reading some blog posts from 2011. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My gosh, it makes me miss my own life!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjWKUqcHvacU1npLj1QTqK6YN0QC4ULf3QrlMat1JXEeCfDaVSc0b1-9U4WQYoS9_1Yvb45kCV9gsIYypViAZ12bp_WN850zVKazwnocCxkuzxe9MvbzTYiLPw5eC8fAPFG4/s1600/IMG_2510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjWKUqcHvacU1npLj1QTqK6YN0QC4ULf3QrlMat1JXEeCfDaVSc0b1-9U4WQYoS9_1Yvb45kCV9gsIYypViAZ12bp_WN850zVKazwnocCxkuzxe9MvbzTYiLPw5eC8fAPFG4/s400/IMG_2510.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> I've been walking down memory lane (as I lie in my bed) </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and realizing, again, how much I love what I do every day.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLu01DEf2suafaz4HR39cghlYI4iiTTvCHAfu1a4H3gKJqHb08_hRUqOoToa5swWHvG9Eoay02quluaScq5NcX_Ov3I_NApNJxKlTm8M3IqY1QUlGQL7qaVFpIyI5AD1OHXI0/s1600/IMG_2398.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLu01DEf2suafaz4HR39cghlYI4iiTTvCHAfu1a4H3gKJqHb08_hRUqOoToa5swWHvG9Eoay02quluaScq5NcX_Ov3I_NApNJxKlTm8M3IqY1QUlGQL7qaVFpIyI5AD1OHXI0/s400/IMG_2398.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today, though, my life feels 1000% times more busy than it did then.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't spend lazy mornings writing letters with the kids </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQatqT6yF45bSxTTw8E3ekdtMVxKit0PHrteU8ooBzVukWj36oZE9YSveue21YAsTecoY8ONohLLk4qj80Y9y6H7qmH5ZQHBDtIs_AuLhSTOeWL2KDfPVvPVrIOh8DIX1GQQY/s1600/IMG_2385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQatqT6yF45bSxTTw8E3ekdtMVxKit0PHrteU8ooBzVukWj36oZE9YSveue21YAsTecoY8ONohLLk4qj80Y9y6H7qmH5ZQHBDtIs_AuLhSTOeWL2KDfPVvPVrIOh8DIX1GQQY/s400/IMG_2385.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or admiring pirate ships in the neighborhood on morning walks </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in October. My boys aren't 5 anymore; they're turning 12 and will </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">be ordained deacons next month. (Insert: What. Is. Happening?)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPt5z0Hgtaxjs41Nx57kdT5iZWEZHxoO490L5ihpl_qLudqHwOc74faRu601coDNC6LectB0hag1csISygdm7xxD9ci6lR9pdSYlrOLVZ1Kx1fg70kL2nJdPlKATKd9x9r75g/s1600/P6120914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPt5z0Hgtaxjs41Nx57kdT5iZWEZHxoO490L5ihpl_qLudqHwOc74faRu601coDNC6LectB0hag1csISygdm7xxD9ci6lR9pdSYlrOLVZ1Kx1fg70kL2nJdPlKATKd9x9r75g/s400/P6120914.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm sending my baby to kindergarten this year. </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">She's ready and confident and happy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I work now, for pay, something I didn't have on the plate years ago.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Life has gotten busier as the kids have gotten bigger, </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">which seems ironic, right? I mean...they actually become more </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">independent than they were in younger years. Shouldn't I have </span><i style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">more </i><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">time, not less?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm totally aware that these four hearts are growing up fast.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Just tonight, I was shutting down lights and checking locks and realizing </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that my boys probably have 7 more Christmases at home, including this year.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've said it before, but I'll say it again:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I would do this thing again, in a heartbeat. Being a mother has been the greatest </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">privilege of my life.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was watching a friend's Instagram story yesterday afternoon and thinking </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">what a beautiful childhood she and her husband are giving to their two small </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">children (3 and 1). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I messaged her and told her.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm going to quote the conversation at this point, because I want to share </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">something I've learned in my mothering journey. But it's actually really </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">something I have learned over the last few years of my life--in the wake of </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">losing my father to cancer, having my husband leave, going through a divorce, </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">trying to pick up the pieces, accepting huge changes, beginning the journey </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of being a single mother, starting a job, and?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Just. trying. to. juggle. everything. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These years have been exhausting--in basically every way. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But honestly? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They have also been the deepest and most beautiful years of my spiritual </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">life to this point.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have known intense sorrow and grief and self-criticism and pain, but I've </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">also known shocking joy. I have felt incredible happiness and relief and hope </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and forgiveness and light and God's love in astounding measures. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I love my life! And I wouldn't trade the experiences in to have my former self.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But, I digress.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, I complimented my friend. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And she responded: "Thank you so much for saying that, that's so kind. It's getting </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">harder as they get older (in a different way)."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I responded: "I think what matters is that they have your heart. And your </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">attention. There was a time for me, a few years ago, when I had an important </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">realization that brought a lot of peace, and it was this: My gifts were imperfect. </span><i style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">I </i><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">was imperfect. Mothering was staring me in the face and it was so much bigger </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">than what I had anticipated. And I knew that what I had to give wouldn't always </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">measure up. I knew I'd fall apart, become the worst version of myself sometimes, </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and that I wouldn't always be happy with my performance. Those days are hard. </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I still don't like those days. And honestly, as my kids have gotten bigger, so have </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the questions and challenges. But, here's the thing. I remember having this realization, </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">though I don't remember how it happened. But one day I asked myself this </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">question: "Do you love them with everything you have? Are they the most important </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">thing? Do they have your whole heart?" And suddenly I felt such peace because </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">there was no confusion there. It was an immediate, "YES! SO MUCH YES!" And </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">it was like I realized that was enough. The spirit taught me something important</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">then. Despite the difficulty and challenges and questions and my obvious imperfections,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">it was okay. They have my whole heart and they know that I love being their mother.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And you know what? I hope that, one day, they see <i>Elizabeth</i>, not just their mom. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They see me as a person trying to figure it out, and maybe that will help them when </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">they're trying to figure it out too. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The other part is that I trust in the atonement so much more to make up the gaps where </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">my trying falls short. So, I guess in the end, that's why I say I think it's all about love. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yours, and His. I truly trust that, and know that our gifts don't have to be perfect."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm sharing that because I hang my hat on those two thoughts. And because maybe it will help </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">someone else who struggles when they feel they don't measure up, in any capacity; when they're staring down the barrel of their lives wishing they were better than they are, or that they'd done </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">things differently, or made different choices, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">or been more (fill in the blank).</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think life becomes bigger than we anticipated, and the questions and challenges</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and heartache do too. But, at least for me, that has been the price of learning and authenticity </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and growth and JOY.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><strike>Our lives are</strike> My life is messy and gloriously imperfect and I've come to love it that way.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUefxxCgaqb8bpo4GaypbymeS9WfuzU21nYDFtN3zJz1kqtqEv3CNsm2Q5FBI2iONQg1J0SocRjFwvSyo65-g2ZbRgqJOINqBK1FrAS_xmxfKwuHFZwHTCAcJ2CX5ynLALs-g/s1600/IMG_0383-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUefxxCgaqb8bpo4GaypbymeS9WfuzU21nYDFtN3zJz1kqtqEv3CNsm2Q5FBI2iONQg1J0SocRjFwvSyo65-g2ZbRgqJOINqBK1FrAS_xmxfKwuHFZwHTCAcJ2CX5ynLALs-g/s400/IMG_0383-2.jpg" width="280" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm so glad I get to make mistakes and learn! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And so thankful for beauty and grace and joy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I absolutely trust God's love for me and for you as we're figuring things out.</span></div>
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-24153100746511761702018-07-25T15:13:00.002-06:002018-07-25T15:13:27.509-06:00Unexpected Gifts<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I was laying in my bed on Saturday morning when I found these selfies on my phone. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I started to scroll through them and found myself laughing out loud.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8T_0D9nLMy6ZokGYQjV5ibSfqZXceXBgwuCndcxZzVqoyzPTe2i74_474ypxk6krYRHg2K6kKaeoG06C8cYl5pY0HGEVcfSGWcVpePHfu9fjVFVgi3q1SazLezFLovqugSg/s1600/IMG_9647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8T_0D9nLMy6ZokGYQjV5ibSfqZXceXBgwuCndcxZzVqoyzPTe2i74_474ypxk6krYRHg2K6kKaeoG06C8cYl5pY0HGEVcfSGWcVpePHfu9fjVFVgi3q1SazLezFLovqugSg/s400/IMG_9647.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTSujKv6-37I0DPYpSFi4r-pj5iRAYle0JeeclnsSwNuCUhjkUmZctAGK7UfMEXoOCG46hQ27IfVVCLgAd1aXAX3CAwcaEpgvTJHaqjGAOmQOg7II2pM8Q3OGB1PYoHnBDDQ/s1600/IMG_9649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTSujKv6-37I0DPYpSFi4r-pj5iRAYle0JeeclnsSwNuCUhjkUmZctAGK7UfMEXoOCG46hQ27IfVVCLgAd1aXAX3CAwcaEpgvTJHaqjGAOmQOg7II2pM8Q3OGB1PYoHnBDDQ/s400/IMG_9649.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Especially at this one:</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCM-jpY2F_1OF0Wq97q7DMdYSfV8uut6klzAXK12k7sqG749j45MhNuVOdrHXClMuEhNjDIdGbjYFtr-prqymb1a_M3WY8DoAyilH_wa11VAVU3_Njj7KvmadwNcO-nmGZFDg/s1600/IMG_9650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCM-jpY2F_1OF0Wq97q7DMdYSfV8uut6klzAXK12k7sqG749j45MhNuVOdrHXClMuEhNjDIdGbjYFtr-prqymb1a_M3WY8DoAyilH_wa11VAVU3_Njj7KvmadwNcO-nmGZFDg/s400/IMG_9650.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Oh, Claire.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I love you so very much.</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-55503987219590644582018-07-16T23:23:00.002-06:002018-07-17T00:46:02.503-06:00Monday Confession<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Last night I was standing in the kitchen at midnight eating ice cream and peanut butter, an indulgence I rarely allow myself these days. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>While standing there, I found myself thinking about how we sometimes talk about heaven being a place with mansions God has prepared and streets paved in gold.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And my confession is that I've never wanted that; those descriptors have never appealed to me.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Truth is, I think I'd feel out of place there.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Do you want to know what heaven is, to me?</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBm_kOXOAx3UDIYw5HLIvKBab-ANYHs5ohgFQoRxjLIqnbGilI90S4mR1AV4QvHnKpODqnu7P_RWpVeQ8rq2LWoFTGjMXfSTxnOOJ-Q2mW42fgCWOX2UC2c4DbDtN-Qsu3f8/s1600/IMG_9171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBm_kOXOAx3UDIYw5HLIvKBab-ANYHs5ohgFQoRxjLIqnbGilI90S4mR1AV4QvHnKpODqnu7P_RWpVeQ8rq2LWoFTGjMXfSTxnOOJ-Q2mW42fgCWOX2UC2c4DbDtN-Qsu3f8/s400/IMG_9171.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Long walks in fall, when the trees are golden everywhere.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Passages from books that make me laugh and cry.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Being with the people I love most in this world.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Christmas carols.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Staring at the sky late at night.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Laughing so hard it hurts.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The comfort of familiarity and the smell of lilacs.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The peace, security, love, and steadiness of God; He is the truest friend, and an unfailing one.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Birth and death and the tangible holiness and sacred love that accompany these times of transition.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Delicious food. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Big trees and evening light.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Morning birds.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Warm homes.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Mountain solace.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Meaningful friendships and connections with other people.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The journey and profound privilege of being a mother.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The sound and smell of wind, especially at night when it's cooler and you want to go out to walk in it.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Music</b></span><b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">.</b></div>
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<b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Reading with my kids.</b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>A really good run, when my body feels strong and light.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Curling up by the fire on my front room floor while watching thick snow fall outside.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Babies and love and growth and learning.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Letters and traditions and candles in the dark.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Holiday smells and hymns and happy memories and the gifts others bring to the table.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>My joy is found in so many simple things like these.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">And I can't help but hope that there's a version of heaven up there for someone like me.</span> </b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-39885308534193218722018-05-01T11:16:00.002-06:002018-05-01T11:16:21.962-06:00Morning<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>I'm sitting out on the deck this morning in the sunshine.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7unx19dQUnEplX9iC8mggtRiZvpweTsGrfUxrZMxnoS7hxRQ5Uqlm1OVP339sHs3dZ9XG-U49SacaTd6dJ4ITPrZa4_FigoiTyntIh-V7g0nJcFS8u1VeP1Ydbz3USKgzXZI/s1600/IMG_8338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7unx19dQUnEplX9iC8mggtRiZvpweTsGrfUxrZMxnoS7hxRQ5Uqlm1OVP339sHs3dZ9XG-U49SacaTd6dJ4ITPrZa4_FigoiTyntIh-V7g0nJcFS8u1VeP1Ydbz3USKgzXZI/s400/IMG_8338.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #741b47;">There's a light breeze. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The trees are leafing out. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm listening to the birds.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The sunshine is on my face.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My front yard is exploding with tulips and cherry tree blossoms.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKu8dM-2pVCr9SRBlZaZy-eBw66weoR31Rm94BNxgVebHURzIz7gVFCIdqWhKu6Ef141jVvP0GU-THmE1SwXlkf7id5CRCLPHNhnyrRsl5B_fa8FYHcRn4K6SrZABAFx2B0Y/s1600/IMG_8332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKu8dM-2pVCr9SRBlZaZy-eBw66weoR31Rm94BNxgVebHURzIz7gVFCIdqWhKu6Ef141jVvP0GU-THmE1SwXlkf7id5CRCLPHNhnyrRsl5B_fa8FYHcRn4K6SrZABAFx2B0Y/s400/IMG_8332.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #741b47;">I feel quiet peace, and love, and gratitude.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Thank you, God, for my life; for every last experience that has made it what it is.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm grateful for the reality of things beyond what I can see,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">grateful for the journey and finding my way,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">and grateful for all the beauty that brings meaning to my life.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm grateful for the good, the hard, the sad, and the beautiful. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It's all part of the same thing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Last night I read this poem for the first time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Kindness</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">(by Naomi Shihab Nye)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Before you know what kindness really is</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">you must lose things,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">feel the future dissolve in a moment</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">like salt in a weakened broth.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What you held in your hand,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">what you counted and carefully saved,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">all this must go so you know</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">how desolate the landscape can be</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">between the regions of kindness.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">How you ride and ride</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">thinking the bus will never stop,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">the passengers eating maize and chicken</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">will stare out the window forever.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">lies dead by the side of the road.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">You must see how this could be you,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">how he too was someone</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">who journeyed through the night with plans</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">and the simple breath that kept him alive.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">You must wake up with sorrow.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">You must speak to it till your voice</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">catches the thread of all sorrows</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">and you see the size of the cloth.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">only kindness that ties your shoes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">only kindness that raises its head</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">from the crowd of the world to say</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It is I you have been looking for,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">and then goes with you everywhere</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">like a shadow or a friend.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Xdf9cXrR6xssby-EcCZ5e78qmKUHMYs24CZd30sxNrHCDkEcWi-XRm4unHsQDMB8ytYUlV9ihyphenhyphensitt8seV5i-aGp-i9ncQVlvcKLYpQCiqXtiMDE9z13U9cvkS4YZsAML_U/s1600/IMG_8253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Xdf9cXrR6xssby-EcCZ5e78qmKUHMYs24CZd30sxNrHCDkEcWi-XRm4unHsQDMB8ytYUlV9ihyphenhyphensitt8seV5i-aGp-i9ncQVlvcKLYpQCiqXtiMDE9z13U9cvkS4YZsAML_U/s400/IMG_8253.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Too lovely not to share.</span></b></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-15897216067716303192018-04-08T15:27:00.002-06:002018-05-10T12:19:41.985-06:00The Two Great Commandments<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Spring has arrived, and I’m gonna try and articulate a thought that has been marinating in my head for several weeks. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTk1UWKnK_1AROlo1BojEZ6FPIVwIokcrkQ3AfkIPTPzjsMokyh23hkmXyxYewyPmrCIFQtsMy0iy3k7Cdspj2YIKj0XaTTxnLdBCxvrFbJyAXnZq7gM8loiUOJ-aEasuqqfA/s1600/IMG_7914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTk1UWKnK_1AROlo1BojEZ6FPIVwIokcrkQ3AfkIPTPzjsMokyh23hkmXyxYewyPmrCIFQtsMy0iy3k7Cdspj2YIKj0XaTTxnLdBCxvrFbJyAXnZq7gM8loiUOJ-aEasuqqfA/s400/IMG_7914.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>As a preface, let me say this: I’m a very active Latter-day Saint: church goer, temple attender, tithe payer, the whole 9 yards. I visit teach, I fast, and I serve in my callings. I LOVE my faith. And I love the organization of the church, for so many reasons.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>That being said, I had two conversations back in February that are still with me. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>One was at a wedding, and the other was in the living room of a friend in the middle of the night.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I said something in both interactions that I’ve continued to think about, and I want to more fully express the thought here.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>It goes like this:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>At the end of my life, I don’t want to be evaluated by how many times I was in church, or whether I attended stake conference, or if General Conference was a priority in my life.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I don’t want somebody to look at my "stat sheet" and, if they see “good marks,” conclude that I must have been a good person. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">I find that completely offensive.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The Savior taught that everything hangs on two things: whether I love God, and if I love my neighbor.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I’m not saying that covenants and commandments aren’t important; Christ taught those too, and covenants, commandments, and prophets have made all the difference in my life. But as I think about my own spirituality, the piercing questions I ask myself come from pondering those two great commandments. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZhgakOECtjIYIxGGW6GlP7LU73eeR_FrUfPmAu8qOdqFxxLwHcl9JP6Rvp7fEyn4S7jMwBAvz7uwmWAZK_BAWx4wQK1OeyQXMMj5C-wFCLXVNFtAOD1my15BdSHUkpirQns/s1600/IMG_7913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZhgakOECtjIYIxGGW6GlP7LU73eeR_FrUfPmAu8qOdqFxxLwHcl9JP6Rvp7fEyn4S7jMwBAvz7uwmWAZK_BAWx4wQK1OeyQXMMj5C-wFCLXVNFtAOD1my15BdSHUkpirQns/s400/IMG_7913.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Today, for example, I’m much more concerned about if I’m an ass in my interactions with other people, and if I'm actually looking out for my neighbor. Do I genuinely mourn with someone who is mourning? Have I learned to apologize when I make mistakes or hurt someone else? Do I care about another person’s feelings and perspective as much as my own? Do I try to elevate myself or focus on the contributions of others? Is my life about <i>me</i>, or is it about service? Do I practice honesty and live with integrity? Am I genuine in my interactions with other people? What are my motivations? Do I freely extend love, forgiveness, and compassion to others, recognizing that I desperately need those same things? Do I feed my ego, or do I live with humility?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;">These are the things I think about.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;">Questions like these expose how much I lack, and increasingly fill me with deeper gratitude for the Savior.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Christ’s example gives me one towering, upward-climbing ideal after another, and I am eternally grateful for the staggering gift of His atonement. He always inspires me to examine myself, start over, choose love and kindness, apologize, serve, humble myself, forgive, prioritize, recognize my own faults, and keep trying. His virtues are astonishing, demanding, and beautiful. But here's the thing:</b></span></div>
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<b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">His central characteristic is love. </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And at the end of the day, that's what it comes down to for me. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>At the end, I hope my life story reveals a simple woman who tried to LIVE what she believed, even though she was <strike>sometimes</strike> (frequently) an ass and she constantly fell short.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfLG2eHS95WHS0S0x10MVE0ig60DEX5SSx_HN7_anDtOKiB3rGGEpzDQgcdU4FA5VOWF4kdtHAkaM71lP9vivrPqGqvnLIc3GrDWM9UNPPSpJ3ExKZuwb9sjg7RDvfXnJ0oU/s1600/IMG_5893.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfLG2eHS95WHS0S0x10MVE0ig60DEX5SSx_HN7_anDtOKiB3rGGEpzDQgcdU4FA5VOWF4kdtHAkaM71lP9vivrPqGqvnLIc3GrDWM9UNPPSpJ3ExKZuwb9sjg7RDvfXnJ0oU/s400/IMG_5893.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>But even in the falling short,</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>she trusted in God's grace and found joy.</b></span></div>
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-80700553851260453072018-02-15T00:09:00.000-07:002018-02-15T00:09:11.057-07:00Love Day Selfies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">The festive table,</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHXFxiBbE2qeQ0_wxw007PrfEOzWClSKD2UdcXDN4IiY-J0i_1GSPJNZVJsqX-X6onHik2OV-pBs-xEG5EYHd3lUgDywpeo_S1UWV-PVkXzFajCrPWPLTveu0zw0gqbZqu2Y/s1600/IMG_7177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHXFxiBbE2qeQ0_wxw007PrfEOzWClSKD2UdcXDN4IiY-J0i_1GSPJNZVJsqX-X6onHik2OV-pBs-xEG5EYHd3lUgDywpeo_S1UWV-PVkXzFajCrPWPLTveu0zw0gqbZqu2Y/s400/IMG_7177.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">balloons, table scatter,</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZRz7YbbBjdoq1-UHW5A_-jJ-QuBei5BzgheFq7dPmsuY0Fko1S05sIwPpb7f9iKzvLTCSpW3yaWiIADZCymzyxueBPl0Ha9j1-3nQ-ecYpC5c8jA2XNPi5RK91yXbKd76zI/s1600/IMG_7180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZRz7YbbBjdoq1-UHW5A_-jJ-QuBei5BzgheFq7dPmsuY0Fko1S05sIwPpb7f9iKzvLTCSpW3yaWiIADZCymzyxueBPl0Ha9j1-3nQ-ecYpC5c8jA2XNPi5RK91yXbKd76zI/s400/IMG_7180.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">and yummy food was good and all, </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXf8z8V9FgKtfjgORKaLsDui2dX9OQIe0-SYHfG3kbUPq0ny4xvGXrArg1GuoR4CFN-q1pB0poKz3KtT7ebh3G6iZdX9WCikeO4CVJdlcEKE1-26D2W4_EVj8aaRvasgLePrs/s1600/IMG_7181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXf8z8V9FgKtfjgORKaLsDui2dX9OQIe0-SYHfG3kbUPq0ny4xvGXrArg1GuoR4CFN-q1pB0poKz3KtT7ebh3G6iZdX9WCikeO4CVJdlcEKE1-26D2W4_EVj8aaRvasgLePrs/s400/IMG_7181.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">but when I remember Love Day this year, </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">it's gonna be all about </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">these</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"> family selfies</span><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"> tonight.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguijwB4I2kbA6h2audQMq5b7NA3Ltj0bDYtE1le69dw_S3BN5_Ajfmcm75QBs8PbpOEWlaasSxJK_qp7mQXBG-ghZPhT9XCh-VrApDuDF32TwpOuJ5C12fesNhjPSSXZkFMME/s1600/IMG_7210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguijwB4I2kbA6h2audQMq5b7NA3Ltj0bDYtE1le69dw_S3BN5_Ajfmcm75QBs8PbpOEWlaasSxJK_qp7mQXBG-ghZPhT9XCh-VrApDuDF32TwpOuJ5C12fesNhjPSSXZkFMME/s400/IMG_7210.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">Every time I look at Isaiah in this next one, he looks like #grannytown.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">And it cracks me right up.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">(The same time that Benj is playing thug life. They kill me.)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9NFpca6vrBDDoVONY8qGak8Ctn1ihJePZhvGYgqN8JPaV-lkG3CxdLMER8_W8TWOZ7GkXK6uzl-1y30D9lYbw5neo3ITxsuc9a6QJLHRMifEJbE9xaUlfCT9vTjy_xZQRl0/s1600/IMG_7207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9NFpca6vrBDDoVONY8qGak8Ctn1ihJePZhvGYgqN8JPaV-lkG3CxdLMER8_W8TWOZ7GkXK6uzl-1y30D9lYbw5neo3ITxsuc9a6QJLHRMifEJbE9xaUlfCT9vTjy_xZQRl0/s400/IMG_7207.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">#stilllaughing</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">And in this last one, everyone's pretending they're in a romantic kiss.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2aVSy-5WiIW0x4yu9472gnNnAtj6avxpMBApk6HC20z1Q_lFDsI4moeg_6x1iDwkrqY7kaNE1XvvR6OscCbGe2j1i3r9MTjE56sgok7oc_mviOdxwLiHy-6YhyfRLpxO780/s1600/IMG_7212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2aVSy-5WiIW0x4yu9472gnNnAtj6avxpMBApk6HC20z1Q_lFDsI4moeg_6x1iDwkrqY7kaNE1XvvR6OscCbGe2j1i3r9MTjE56sgok7oc_mviOdxwLiHy-6YhyfRLpxO780/s400/IMG_7212.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">Benj even has the arms going. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">Oh boy.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">This throwback of Mia from Valentine's dinner 5 years ago goes right along with this theme, so I thought I'd share it again. (It's one of my faves.)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUW-Ih6CW_7oXsRXIBuJCzgh-eswSPoGEXTZDK02lOfUJ2DcfFJFZ1C-LKEY1isQu7djbc3vM4FT7wZOq01SC7GNooiLSr-esoYYZOUSPqLeZO1Yf1ssCKNlJv_XCL1ihj10/s1600/IMG_7202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUW-Ih6CW_7oXsRXIBuJCzgh-eswSPoGEXTZDK02lOfUJ2DcfFJFZ1C-LKEY1isQu7djbc3vM4FT7wZOq01SC7GNooiLSr-esoYYZOUSPqLeZO1Yf1ssCKNlJv_XCL1ihj10/s400/IMG_7202.jpg" width="252" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">I think Audrey Hepburn had it right when she said this:</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">"The best thing to hold onto </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">in life is each other."</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">#always</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">#happyvalentinesday</span></b></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-59010316145016120442018-01-18T12:34:00.002-07:002018-01-18T12:43:49.336-07:00Letter Writing on Thursday<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Last weekend the kids and I drove to Southern Utah to spend a couple of days at a friend's parents' ranch.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBTcPfpi2cAM0uiCQM22PuXNBz4PQlW_yN8jf4hjg45MEZDWJYOCMkxY_ELshF09GisouU_GmdB68dCjRxjuCq35bFlpeRlZ3W4dC-a3YU-2l8HVh5Vp7gomMNZvx_YLq8_s/s1600/IMG_6597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBTcPfpi2cAM0uiCQM22PuXNBz4PQlW_yN8jf4hjg45MEZDWJYOCMkxY_ELshF09GisouU_GmdB68dCjRxjuCq35bFlpeRlZ3W4dC-a3YU-2l8HVh5Vp7gomMNZvx_YLq8_s/s400/IMG_6597.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Can I just say how much I love that wide open, rugged landscape? I felt so happy and light as we drove along.</b></span><b style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;"> </b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b>I've got the West in my blood and bones.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b>(I also heart this picture of Mia.)</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And every time I travel with these peeps, I'm amazed at how easy they are.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqsj95xt34C5-KI05rzdBnm-S7InWPEM7PyLJaSWb3_h4Tzs5d97U9eq2QEyOeJhQwQYWKnac5OEfZTcVjxJAoHIevB8jdpcHUcULVZnJNf8DFA5u98-ATAMtjBXMNOspexA0/s1600/IMG_6588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqsj95xt34C5-KI05rzdBnm-S7InWPEM7PyLJaSWb3_h4Tzs5d97U9eq2QEyOeJhQwQYWKnac5OEfZTcVjxJAoHIevB8jdpcHUcULVZnJNf8DFA5u98-ATAMtjBXMNOspexA0/s400/IMG_6588.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>They read, sometimes we listen to audio books, we talk, listen to music, and sometimes we dance.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>They are the best travelers.</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>While there, we rode 4-wheelers,</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBc_rW3YgYt5fJezg9JO70LFUeLVozGrJZb9Y1zqFVS1oGAWK_Rs8y6u1soN1Nw_qudKV7An_cvn6SPSbR8Zm2C3Ix73Dv_SIdQ85jjZxRwcGa4Zxt1LWt6-DphqLDaAICZs/s1600/IMG_6616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBc_rW3YgYt5fJezg9JO70LFUeLVozGrJZb9Y1zqFVS1oGAWK_Rs8y6u1soN1Nw_qudKV7An_cvn6SPSbR8Zm2C3Ix73Dv_SIdQ85jjZxRwcGa4Zxt1LWt6-DphqLDaAICZs/s400/IMG_6616.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_bbkKn0lxSRV_TDQC_iv8gwbcJcJqDhOhQjUhnh6f_EIhYncQ7Ii_VKvyIFoI0MayYR39B45YkbYftzUqig4z6w9UYQpuL1f72CbzjdQdWEBaLgSfPvKcHqLQd3ZzNPw68M/s1600/IMG_6644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_bbkKn0lxSRV_TDQC_iv8gwbcJcJqDhOhQjUhnh6f_EIhYncQ7Ii_VKvyIFoI0MayYR39B45YkbYftzUqig4z6w9UYQpuL1f72CbzjdQdWEBaLgSfPvKcHqLQd3ZzNPw68M/s400/IMG_6644.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>the kids got to help feed the cows,</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBALHpJcOJvXnE4CgXnticsAkr-lxvYC9NkBfMBQfF0SWp4GyBHyJIKHoAZkueGKa2_RQQZI4tYXubCBpBp_qGGfv4fDAmP_6rdgOZmfem5LG4PjJjNk4NYyWO5x46Xqqqcs/s1600/IMG_6632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBALHpJcOJvXnE4CgXnticsAkr-lxvYC9NkBfMBQfF0SWp4GyBHyJIKHoAZkueGKa2_RQQZI4tYXubCBpBp_qGGfv4fDAmP_6rdgOZmfem5LG4PjJjNk4NYyWO5x46Xqqqcs/s400/IMG_6632.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbfH2bUjk2cR1cDs2zVBLBlqvDEjIz3FATnYImtrpGC0ksRMRrX0MyLRmhAYGPj_xDaqd54lWs8NmtLqaGay631BLlayzPN2nv_8P5iPGvbwfN3AmdbAEsAVHo1-EVWrRTaM/s1600/IMG_6646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbfH2bUjk2cR1cDs2zVBLBlqvDEjIz3FATnYImtrpGC0ksRMRrX0MyLRmhAYGPj_xDaqd54lWs8NmtLqaGay631BLlayzPN2nv_8P5iPGvbwfN3AmdbAEsAVHo1-EVWrRTaM/s400/IMG_6646.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>and despite the fact that Lisa's mom has cancer and her hair just started falling out, she loved on all these kids and taught mine how to ride the 4-wheelers on their own.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6lNI5Ie814bSJT1ygidXyCMxZyKqk3hapLZU7y-Wj-_wkFq6P0XLgQvrZCXLEy_8fKVIpLVL1M2ZRQUQSIBdSvO9GoapEaqyv7ch-ET-BSr7Pn62rAduf_TcoFf35kc3bUKQ/s1600/IMG_6658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6lNI5Ie814bSJT1ygidXyCMxZyKqk3hapLZU7y-Wj-_wkFq6P0XLgQvrZCXLEy_8fKVIpLVL1M2ZRQUQSIBdSvO9GoapEaqyv7ch-ET-BSr7Pn62rAduf_TcoFf35kc3bUKQ/s400/IMG_6658.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Coop shot a little bird when the boys were out on the 4-wheeler by themselves. He and Benj pulled off the wings and feathers, cut it open, salvaged the meat, grilled it up, and ate it.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBGSOkIv5eGWzHNtkXCSdL7LspGm3u74mOWyA-zV9-ZRwKb06TX4CYngA8ECTsj40xhnQbjT9rSK9sofKZHC8K4zG0vY41dPLST9Dc8-XzHGIBW3hPqlY4EI_5Vbd_uXrY44/s1600/IMG_6677.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBGSOkIv5eGWzHNtkXCSdL7LspGm3u74mOWyA-zV9-ZRwKb06TX4CYngA8ECTsj40xhnQbjT9rSK9sofKZHC8K4zG0vY41dPLST9Dc8-XzHGIBW3hPqlY4EI_5Vbd_uXrY44/s400/IMG_6677.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHInnSn5fjo-RQ959FQxW1bm9Kj3J4d-9QuEXRNomUiMokvKgzcgUMwG6cb9I69Ua0b4tfZnvfXjyFD9g50i1z07kaF-MxT0ny_oI7y7g75PVM6MbJgIqSxv4VOPzwvlu8Axo/s1600/IMG_6700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHInnSn5fjo-RQ959FQxW1bm9Kj3J4d-9QuEXRNomUiMokvKgzcgUMwG6cb9I69Ua0b4tfZnvfXjyFD9g50i1z07kaF-MxT0ny_oI7y7g75PVM6MbJgIqSxv4VOPzwvlu8Axo/s400/IMG_6700.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b> (Claire wanted to try it too.)</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4EslJsVJZD2fnQCjJHrsEFPcRTJhVcg9wpCuHkN5uC52EjotWEIZvRuy0CwSL86ER9QYVH9rU1ZLlVbF1zSA898YKlsq9Ni7e3LiQQ3Z16WS_FeXA69Zu05n78zc5j2LtuA/s1600/IMG_6708.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4EslJsVJZD2fnQCjJHrsEFPcRTJhVcg9wpCuHkN5uC52EjotWEIZvRuy0CwSL86ER9QYVH9rU1ZLlVbF1zSA898YKlsq9Ni7e3LiQQ3Z16WS_FeXA69Zu05n78zc5j2LtuA/s400/IMG_6708.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<b style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I want the kids to write thank you notes to send to Lisa's parents, so after Claire and I ate breakfast this morning, we worked together on hers. (I write the letters on one paper, and she copies them on her own.)</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsf47yrsL7d7HJcN_jSY_-td326UVuVsXwxuLTKq0pGWn0iSxpKcboV-RaFjMSHGy4VIHBHE6oQd7XDaLBsElcExKbg15nR0pWF8gULQFzVbn5bhVFClspObLbxsmt1HYoXGE/s1600/IMG_6760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsf47yrsL7d7HJcN_jSY_-td326UVuVsXwxuLTKq0pGWn0iSxpKcboV-RaFjMSHGy4VIHBHE6oQd7XDaLBsElcExKbg15nR0pWF8gULQFzVbn5bhVFClspObLbxsmt1HYoXGE/s400/IMG_6760.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I've said this before, but </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">I'm not sure there's anything I love more than learning-to-write-your-letters handwriting.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>(See <a href="https://redgeranium.blogspot.com/2012/04/birthday-wishes.html">this post</a> and <a href="https://redgeranium.blogspot.com/2012/06/learning.html">this post</a> and <a href="https://redgeranium.blogspot.com/2012/03/journaling.html">this post</a>, for example.) </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I love her little tongue poking out in concentration, and the amaryllis on the table (see that little green spear just beginning to emerge from one of them!).</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXy7jz15x7OvTuuUIQ04JywVrXv7DGE33Bp1MPnHVVVkr7SA2AQMOuLjQfI0WMiMIxwfgB9D2OvKPW_eJR5vJL5oeTHxLwRVTzrMoDqXgwp-EU0NEGA0PdzXbLp13W-xoKQLQ/s1600/IMG_6764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXy7jz15x7OvTuuUIQ04JywVrXv7DGE33Bp1MPnHVVVkr7SA2AQMOuLjQfI0WMiMIxwfgB9D2OvKPW_eJR5vJL5oeTHxLwRVTzrMoDqXgwp-EU0NEGA0PdzXbLp13W-xoKQLQ/s400/IMG_6764.jpg" width="300" /></a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhseSX4nJ59PlLWMMWkHonnKgxJ62bKTiVE3W2-mCviYcH3yi3gC7jg2bRB4OrjRg25zb3h5FW_eefiGi2teIp88ngsohlpxxcLLv_cz-lIvTj-kAZfYt3bJe2lSSwxNFKV9NM/s1600/IMG_6765.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhseSX4nJ59PlLWMMWkHonnKgxJ62bKTiVE3W2-mCviYcH3yi3gC7jg2bRB4OrjRg25zb3h5FW_eefiGi2teIp88ngsohlpxxcLLv_cz-lIvTj-kAZfYt3bJe2lSSwxNFKV9NM/s400/IMG_6765.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b> </b></span><b style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">After the note was done, we did her first reading lesson.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>(I've taught all my people how to read, and I'm not about to miss out with this one--even if she does decide to do public school for kindergarten this year.)</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Then we listened to some tunes, danced the "Boot Scoot N' Boogy" together in the front room, and I cleaned up the kitchen.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>She's watching <i>The Nutcracker </i>now<i> </i>(her request--we have a DVD of it by the San Francisco Ballet), I'm sitting beside her on my bed about to plug in to work, and I've got meat thawing on the counter for meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I love these simple, quiet, ordinary moments of day-to-day life.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>They are special.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Have I told you how much I love being a mom and how I wouldn't miss it for the world?</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi397WlDdPHZLP7HaK6UJxHpYjDkFGTK3mLtb6SRE6VNsfxNS7Gc1CV2M1QCrBKqfZ4uehAo4zjEjPCDwu8HPrjdX562UJSpp7Qm3kbpYSHzn_kFsCUePA_bML0yfwPLfATwaw/s1600/IMG_6761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi397WlDdPHZLP7HaK6UJxHpYjDkFGTK3mLtb6SRE6VNsfxNS7Gc1CV2M1QCrBKqfZ4uehAo4zjEjPCDwu8HPrjdX562UJSpp7Qm3kbpYSHzn_kFsCUePA_bML0yfwPLfATwaw/s400/IMG_6761.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>#truth</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>So far, this Thursday is giving me alllllllllll the good vibes.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Happy Thursday to you too--whoever you are, and wherever you are.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>xoxo</b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-13824728932856639342018-01-10T17:41:00.001-07:002018-01-10T17:41:25.998-07:00Topknot<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">While driving Claire home from dance class today, the combo of this girl plus topknot was </span><span style="color: magenta;">killing</span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> me. </span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1S2KzyOjKmgXLn-xSlP_kyK6fEhecyca7MZuuiEuy9bS1OiGeAU3E4JO_eKiK0T_8qyVhI5WFNsfI45mUMfDwd3EAGhitY7uFqsvWSiOZhw_LKepYLLiTHQ_AcK8_bdQwvpE/s1600/IMG_6569.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1S2KzyOjKmgXLn-xSlP_kyK6fEhecyca7MZuuiEuy9bS1OiGeAU3E4JO_eKiK0T_8qyVhI5WFNsfI45mUMfDwd3EAGhitY7uFqsvWSiOZhw_LKepYLLiTHQ_AcK8_bdQwvpE/s400/IMG_6569.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><b> <span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We were listening to Meghan Trainor’s “Better When I’m Dancin’”, a song we both like these days. There’s a lyric in the song that says “I don’t know about you, but I feel better when I’m dancin.” Frequently when Claire hears that line she’ll look at me and say,</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>“I actually do, Mom.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Mmm hmm. Me too.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>True words, those.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrmuvKS7hE-N7Xhl67dMDx70dlC5XENnQnOrMMY9ZYThzgY-rGKm5HmZ74XUHSJw1re0IbQdXLY1wQoMLk45fc6JHQmN2bufZjDNpmL1-AGbuQG1ieeTug2KToaaVDMyc-U4/s1600/IMG_6573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrmuvKS7hE-N7Xhl67dMDx70dlC5XENnQnOrMMY9ZYThzgY-rGKm5HmZ74XUHSJw1re0IbQdXLY1wQoMLk45fc6JHQmN2bufZjDNpmL1-AGbuQG1ieeTug2KToaaVDMyc-U4/s400/IMG_6573.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><b><span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">Sheesh. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><b><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">I am loving watching her grow up.</span></b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-3395879005055693962018-01-08T11:40:00.000-07:002018-01-08T11:40:00.645-07:00These Boys & Me<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Some of the happiest (for me, anyway) photos in my phone </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XA4zwpLOwNVmtFsR34qD0kWZMk1cqsSSwnYci4yAAry0s8evYtt64_T-1dkMoSj3cB4ZoqNYfZFJUqfD5dAXxwzuCmHchgAkioMbB-t5hyFe1wcIJFHYn8HDVriNcIU6CCI/s1600/IMG_6369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XA4zwpLOwNVmtFsR34qD0kWZMk1cqsSSwnYci4yAAry0s8evYtt64_T-1dkMoSj3cB4ZoqNYfZFJUqfD5dAXxwzuCmHchgAkioMbB-t5hyFe1wcIJFHYn8HDVriNcIU6CCI/s400/IMG_6369.jpg" width="400" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">from the past couple of weeks come from New Year's Eve.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">We'd eaten burgers</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07u0X_SDc1Y-afZ5LBlLqHscxyCjcP0htibBh-6bFoI2hLBIiXUukKlit97K8-j-AUOW56VG1LWm6Se3HO5LySO47LuuOFopbpxtFRRM9Ny5xDRl1OECTpFYFlC-0XtapRhM/s1600/IMG_6307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07u0X_SDc1Y-afZ5LBlLqHscxyCjcP0htibBh-6bFoI2hLBIiXUukKlit97K8-j-AUOW56VG1LWm6Se3HO5LySO47LuuOFopbpxtFRRM9Ny5xDRl1OECTpFYFlC-0XtapRhM/s400/IMG_6307.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">(hello pepper jelly, BBQ sauce, ketchup, mayo, mustard, pickles, avocado, broiled meat with salt and pepper, cheese -- just give me alllllllll the condiments),</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTG7Yiru6zfX7RJ0pSZkvQz-nkzlil_LE6Xz1ca2btUWl0Vi8gXDkD1UDfkOcL37I6S-WJ9BTHVKHUIzyja2ORP4Rv7ZJXEYICXNlxUwMeSmixx8ZwB4VMgPiqqfOAHYJiTcw/s1600/IMG_6331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTG7Yiru6zfX7RJ0pSZkvQz-nkzlil_LE6Xz1ca2btUWl0Vi8gXDkD1UDfkOcL37I6S-WJ9BTHVKHUIzyja2ORP4Rv7ZJXEYICXNlxUwMeSmixx8ZwB4VMgPiqqfOAHYJiTcw/s400/IMG_6331.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhABDgeCUkAq3W3fb4nTBbsg4DrV5Mk903-E6LL7i8g9qG1tldaX45W2xyK5WZnP3SpMsDe_Y_g4B4N4dEi3pYw0Fr0ujImRybFY9MFHMWYM2q-7TLY4vtOHCYAf4QrtN7mg78/s1600/IMG_6350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhABDgeCUkAq3W3fb4nTBbsg4DrV5Mk903-E6LL7i8g9qG1tldaX45W2xyK5WZnP3SpMsDe_Y_g4B4N4dEi3pYw0Fr0ujImRybFY9MFHMWYM2q-7TLY4vtOHCYAf4QrtN7mg78/s400/IMG_6350.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> and Isaiah and I were sitting at the kitchen table putting together a 3-D puzzle of a German castle.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Benji was hanging out with us too, </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">snapping photos, </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">and making smack comments that made us laugh.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I love Isaiah's amused expression above (I don't know what I'm saying to him) and these two photos where he's laughing really hard.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7uC1ZyjU1-3EoGpwxPEk0pp3-25gn0lEpqJkoRXj2KtWIqW5wP2u3iLZc8blHRz4wDhxYVxxC7UHOCMeyPaFFK8CUYccnKt1WwJoDmu0k4fUUjSPWg4r71zKaPUfx2K5U7rc/s1600/IMG_6401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7uC1ZyjU1-3EoGpwxPEk0pp3-25gn0lEpqJkoRXj2KtWIqW5wP2u3iLZc8blHRz4wDhxYVxxC7UHOCMeyPaFFK8CUYccnKt1WwJoDmu0k4fUUjSPWg4r71zKaPUfx2K5U7rc/s400/IMG_6401.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdSaqj4vqeghOnJiqNpeWnFga9a8GBOLSukUD6KZxoibXVdYp4kkgUBPx4dQ25fW2lgprz9foWh64x9YLnvk17kNnbPf5CAqzPKtVFqqGsvb9AKEhewGPTZx34Qgx1Dr9vpk/s1600/IMG_6402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdSaqj4vqeghOnJiqNpeWnFga9a8GBOLSukUD6KZxoibXVdYp4kkgUBPx4dQ25fW2lgprz9foWh64x9YLnvk17kNnbPf5CAqzPKtVFqqGsvb9AKEhewGPTZx34Qgx1Dr9vpk/s400/IMG_6402.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">We were working independently and together, and sometimes I called upon his brain to figure something out because I was lost.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">#smartypants</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJu8BwCG6Ud6raebhrozHCovP7hrLd97WrjTpGRwYVPQkEneQ-GXtXdcul6Weht-TlzRc8nXIJeayNdhi6FaXZZO6A1a7ajAAHF2gfsfLLPZEO_vSqrPuliCWuslPOTF5trY/s1600/IMG_6399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJu8BwCG6Ud6raebhrozHCovP7hrLd97WrjTpGRwYVPQkEneQ-GXtXdcul6Weht-TlzRc8nXIJeayNdhi6FaXZZO6A1a7ajAAHF2gfsfLLPZEO_vSqrPuliCWuslPOTF5trY/s400/IMG_6399.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">As I've looked at these photos since, I've laughed out loud and smiled.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJ2l8Req0yeVUp5qh20qiTLVA7zr7HmYyoi07X_BdhVxu98XsJU5YHYUIX_bvR56aDU7OXvGrvWHGh42U2qtOcFgvXigQkle31CBiOG_gtaGaDU87bnHcFuuqDSOrntan-Es/s1600/IMG_6330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJ2l8Req0yeVUp5qh20qiTLVA7zr7HmYyoi07X_BdhVxu98XsJU5YHYUIX_bvR56aDU7OXvGrvWHGh42U2qtOcFgvXigQkle31CBiOG_gtaGaDU87bnHcFuuqDSOrntan-Es/s400/IMG_6330.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I love moments like these where things get goofy with my boys.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxR0H-PxBmN-DeZ6G-Tq7V7ucN5vI4sIKLyNdpAMoYVRF85OF0vXzsU-Ky1lVXi-9GFX7EgsIq08NB3M_WM8JTvuPZI4QSaMj6sCgDWThOTBNSQcBOZYkJw-GRQgDmNVIwFlI/s1600/IMG_6329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxR0H-PxBmN-DeZ6G-Tq7V7ucN5vI4sIKLyNdpAMoYVRF85OF0vXzsU-Ky1lVXi-9GFX7EgsIq08NB3M_WM8JTvuPZI4QSaMj6sCgDWThOTBNSQcBOZYkJw-GRQgDmNVIwFlI/s400/IMG_6329.jpg" width="300" /></span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">And that's all.</span></b></div>
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-9647138805016706192017-12-31T23:51:00.000-07:002017-12-31T23:57:25.705-07:00At the End of the Year<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>It's December 31st and fireworks are going off outside as I write.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-DxmpW-wuzJi4OsZ-Y9rXsPaWRzpL_tPsNCyGhFqMJSgE_zPl_mXVG9ZYOVkG5bDTc-qn8SG7GmPirV-yg8dhneKEio_-O5HrUL4NtrpPYWz97qVzUrtbUkafu6wLbaG5XnQ/s1600/IMG_6406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-DxmpW-wuzJi4OsZ-Y9rXsPaWRzpL_tPsNCyGhFqMJSgE_zPl_mXVG9ZYOVkG5bDTc-qn8SG7GmPirV-yg8dhneKEio_-O5HrUL4NtrpPYWz97qVzUrtbUkafu6wLbaG5XnQ/s400/IMG_6406.jpg" width="223" /></b></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Just a week ago tonight, I was watching snow falling magically outside the front window, late on Christmas Eve. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBhvKF-Vao5Sll551ixxkXMv2KtIdi7gQT_l1rFRBPEWzj87oSPGW6aVIeSXnhdYRFStjUYJMlSSSPPF_scQeGjRTTBt6zdeQmfT93478GrMmEHbHEzxUPea-boJdHNlH7_Ik/s1600/IMG_6180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBhvKF-Vao5Sll551ixxkXMv2KtIdi7gQT_l1rFRBPEWzj87oSPGW6aVIeSXnhdYRFStjUYJMlSSSPPF_scQeGjRTTBt6zdeQmfT93478GrMmEHbHEzxUPea-boJdHNlH7_Ik/s400/IMG_6180.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The kids were asleep and the house was peaceful. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioU-RS-CmaXtWUab4_4DKsu6aXu7wLkSYOYi2lqCrNoftEoS5WdeQvIXvaijqC6xiur5GV2VhBSX7f-WXjPe1cl_MVtI5XhdbeWfiJal_BrXHQBnecOLmsXtP0yrA3p0g5VgQ/s1600/IMG_6171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioU-RS-CmaXtWUab4_4DKsu6aXu7wLkSYOYi2lqCrNoftEoS5WdeQvIXvaijqC6xiur5GV2VhBSX7f-WXjPe1cl_MVtI5XhdbeWfiJal_BrXHQBnecOLmsXtP0yrA3p0g5VgQ/s400/IMG_6171.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I went out after midnight and stood in it for a few minutes, just listening and watching.</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I'd been awake early that morning making orange rolls.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi820wEGUSQLbYgoXcE2YqKxRqx1nMwWNqVCRPjHXAkEQ7Qqyyla-rsuNuLW83ISNj1Q2HvX5xX7LuJ3Kax6DqLnFXpdis5ayUL8mH7Cs26IzzHEngkrUrQJTxan_qw4jYy3fI/s1600/IMG_6181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi820wEGUSQLbYgoXcE2YqKxRqx1nMwWNqVCRPjHXAkEQ7Qqyyla-rsuNuLW83ISNj1Q2HvX5xX7LuJ3Kax6DqLnFXpdis5ayUL8mH7Cs26IzzHEngkrUrQJTxan_qw4jYy3fI/s400/IMG_6181.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Ralph brought me over almond extract and lemon juice before 8 a.m.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Mia and Isaiah came upstairs, the tree was aglow, and <a href="http://redgeranium.blogspot.com/2014/11/on-chickens-and-breakfasting.html">Russian tea (recipe here)</a> was simmering on the stove.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>It smelled like Christmas and we all listened, expectantly, for that first lone voice singing the first verse of</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>"Once in Royal David's City" as part of the <a href="http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/events/chapel-services/nine-lessons.html"><i>Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols</i> from King's (info about the service here)</a>. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>At that moment, Christmas begins at our house.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The Rudolphs came for breakfast, and Kurt, Heidi, Goldie, and Moses.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>My brother Brian and I had Christmas fettuccine later for dinner.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The kitchen smelled festive on the 23rd as well.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzldH_koceKl5NGAqGX1TGdDwXE-G9mKtakBBckNj8RniQ_cQmU1R3jsdd-hyGAQ4d4f2ALXvn1VRn9wBo088SdrDHKbIRjhi1HXRiS4nUtoNyuIgN8p7aaooiEECGmAuHcKI/s1600/IMG_6084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzldH_koceKl5NGAqGX1TGdDwXE-G9mKtakBBckNj8RniQ_cQmU1R3jsdd-hyGAQ4d4f2ALXvn1VRn9wBo088SdrDHKbIRjhi1HXRiS4nUtoNyuIgN8p7aaooiEECGmAuHcKI/s400/IMG_6084.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Mia and I were rolling out gingerbread dough, cutting out the pieces for the kids' houses, and the </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UQO8CQX_DZdANx68ad4wu51JGVKJvQrbq51RbveD1MsMgDq82gvLIJxcKKxGiKCCR6FbtKEcIJwmtpmKX-KduOy7oHTUWMkEwNjGH8UxPUHcU7dvuypd3v9xKalSWw5wUGo/s1600/IMG_6093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UQO8CQX_DZdANx68ad4wu51JGVKJvQrbq51RbveD1MsMgDq82gvLIJxcKKxGiKCCR6FbtKEcIJwmtpmKX-KduOy7oHTUWMkEwNjGH8UxPUHcU7dvuypd3v9xKalSWw5wUGo/s400/IMG_6093.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>house was tight and warm and filled with the smell of ginger and cinnamon and cloves. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>It made me happy.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxDM8HoaKJOzYownc6W_oQ4Asc6HVrq0xIegy4z9OQiWEao1SiLqBB4FsL9n3DNsH3BnxWzsrT0XQ2i2gUK_lpU6vu89YbAxftBIDFTHL5Tk-7A-r2tVzYou00bUbbn7hD_8/s1600/IMG_6139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxDM8HoaKJOzYownc6W_oQ4Asc6HVrq0xIegy4z9OQiWEao1SiLqBB4FsL9n3DNsH3BnxWzsrT0XQ2i2gUK_lpU6vu89YbAxftBIDFTHL5Tk-7A-r2tVzYou00bUbbn7hD_8/s400/IMG_6139.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMad3hzAv9PU4XSIbCecdih8AbV79PdqaYsP9vzRiGsAHyr8qfTnC2iH_52Mo-1PpUHtEV1h1GcKPJU2e5SUNnUdWB8kc8utwvIZctncO0I4RA_Qf3pUuC0uGLEhuwczTg3i8/s1600/IMG_6146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMad3hzAv9PU4XSIbCecdih8AbV79PdqaYsP9vzRiGsAHyr8qfTnC2iH_52Mo-1PpUHtEV1h1GcKPJU2e5SUNnUdWB8kc8utwvIZctncO0I4RA_Qf3pUuC0uGLEhuwczTg3i8/s400/IMG_6146.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Later in the afternoon we put them together before snuggling up to watch "The Family Stone".</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8eFu7SZnx5tkbqaZTGYynXFlmIt9vx5qQwgeQ-4IK9uG3BASpBw-Qmslp8QAmVI3ThcguQGM4FIP1TknQpeDyyjspWEaFzoqOTXyJCB-izKzA0cELmfNMaw2z9SQ7Nj-IQWE/s1600/IMG_6149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8eFu7SZnx5tkbqaZTGYynXFlmIt9vx5qQwgeQ-4IK9uG3BASpBw-Qmslp8QAmVI3ThcguQGM4FIP1TknQpeDyyjspWEaFzoqOTXyJCB-izKzA0cELmfNMaw2z9SQ7Nj-IQWE/s400/IMG_6149.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>That night, the decorating went down once Claire and the boys came home.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL06GcB3NjLymwJQmjxgQwUGNpSGojE7hPhL9yZK10hJbul1fnjWgQNozUxsfazF3LA5DzdJqrO9OuvSmnZdfHwM08q8F8AycI-6Klq_BggPJTBFEX6CjjNX6doycdNYiIUWA/s1600/IMG_6134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL06GcB3NjLymwJQmjxgQwUGNpSGojE7hPhL9yZK10hJbul1fnjWgQNozUxsfazF3LA5DzdJqrO9OuvSmnZdfHwM08q8F8AycI-6Klq_BggPJTBFEX6CjjNX6doycdNYiIUWA/s400/IMG_6134.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And on Christmas morning? </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>The world was white outside and it was beautiful. The kids opened stockings and presents, we listened to carols,</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I put on my new pajamas from my sister and made roll dough again and kept putting logs on the fire.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>You could hear the sound of a snowblower and we looked outside to see our neighbor plowing the front walks and our driveway too. Bless him.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>We gathered with my family later in the day, like we always do on Christmas: delicious food, the best company, cracking up and playing games and eating pie.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And then, in just a minute, it's all over and here</b></span><b style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> we are:</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">it's the night before the new year.</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>In the morning I'll be taking the ornaments off the branches, putting stuff back up in the attic, and preparing New Year's dinner so we can start the year off with bubbly and sparklers.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx25ld7k_AiGQO4EqQ_WM5JQ4wp209EBlrtGSR6t7OcPivvpclrP0TMk1j-Ojwp72vgcXketLWTBE5oiSEOmNv63Aa481jQkd_bqIqLgmbsva2dGM7OEC7-ZO5mDGGahOHD7U/s1600/IMG_5916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx25ld7k_AiGQO4EqQ_WM5JQ4wp209EBlrtGSR6t7OcPivvpclrP0TMk1j-Ojwp72vgcXketLWTBE5oiSEOmNv63Aa481jQkd_bqIqLgmbsva2dGM7OEC7-ZO5mDGGahOHD7U/s400/IMG_5916.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>In the last few minutes of this year, I'm going to savor the lights on my Christmas tree one more time and then have the kids get ready to run outside at twelve to bang on pots and pans and shout "Happy New Year!" into the dark sky.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>2017 was good to us.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>I hope she was good to you too.</b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-24357620832202705652017-12-28T12:12:00.000-07:002017-12-28T15:32:12.765-07:00Lazy<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>I'm quite enjoying these post-Christmas days.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwQf-bKgUhbJXd-d0HM33l6QJPS-zyti_HCn5gJ403HDuNHMu08tw5_NEl2TcCi-W-dxsrind73SEYOc5lbQ9_UIpgJdzfDqcjQMGZYSX_WgV1k55Y-7Jt6OC_HakFbqYpCc/s1600/IMG_5925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwQf-bKgUhbJXd-d0HM33l6QJPS-zyti_HCn5gJ403HDuNHMu08tw5_NEl2TcCi-W-dxsrind73SEYOc5lbQ9_UIpgJdzfDqcjQMGZYSX_WgV1k55Y-7Jt6OC_HakFbqYpCc/s400/IMG_5925.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<b style="color: #e06666; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I've been sleeping in until 10:30ish, eating Lucky Charms and chocolate. </b></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I've spent a lot of time snuggled in my covers.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>It feels amazing...cuz, let me tell you:</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>December felt like a completely exhausting whirlwind.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Beautiful (which I'm going to post about), but I was bone-tired too.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>In fact, here's something from a little ways into December, on a Saturday night when I was feeling completely worn out. I was on my bed and wrote out what I'd done over the previous two days: </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>"Woke up on Friday. House was cold. Texted furnace guy friend. Made pancake birthday breakfast for Claire and Russian tea. Fed everybody. Did Mia’s hair. Made her a lunch. Dropped everybody off. Came home. Read to Claire. Cleaned up the kitchen. Furnace guy came. Got Claire ready. Dropped her off to school. Hurried home. Worked. Picked up Claire. Came home. Made birthday cake. Made her birthday dinner. Cleaned up. Showered and got ready. Plugged in to work again. Picked up the older kids. Came home. Made frosting. Frosted the cake. Made salad. Served dinner to everybody. Cleaned up (made the boys help this time). Served up cake and ice cream to everybody. Boys and Claire left with Scott. Cleaned up. Made sugar cookie dough for Claire’s friend party the next day. Found birthday bingo template cards for Claire’s party. Printed them off. Cut them out. Traced and cut out trees for the birthday bags. Got ornament gifts ready. Long talk with Mia. Went for a run with Mia. Came home, took a hot shower, read my scriptures, went to bed. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Woke up. Headache, still from yesterday. Made toast and took medicine. Took a shower. Realized I was three hours behind on work. Worked. Got ready. Drove to IKEA to get one of Isaiah’s Christmas presents and pick up Grayson and Bella. Stopped at Walmart on the way home for small cookie cutters. Came home. Baked cookies. Cleaned everything up. Made frosting, two different colors. Managed a birthday party for seven girls: decorating cookies, serving up cake and ice cream, playing bingo. Cleaned everything up. Went to Walmart for Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas shopping. Stopped at Papa Murphy’s on the way home to get pizza for the kids and at the grocery store to get roast and potatoes for tomorrow (Sunday dinner). Came home and put pizza in the oven. Found lights out on the tree. Cleaned up again. Got dinner for everyone and turned on a movie. Unloaded the car. Hid purchases from Walmart. Got a text from the primary reminding me that Mia had a talk tomorrow. We’ve talked about it but it needs to be written down for her. Still have to work for a while and get 6 kids to bed and fix the lights on the tree. Totally exhausted."</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I read that list after I wrote it down and thought, "No wonder I'm tired."</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>So yeah...that's kind of a peek into how December-until-Christmas felt. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And you know what? I never fixed the lights. If you’ve been to my house at Christmas time, you know that I load my tree with lights…so, actually, when I moved some strands around, you really couldn’t see the small sections of a couple of strands that had gone out and I couldn’t bring myself to even dive into that project. Who gives?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>So, the point is?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>These lazy lazies are deliciously luxurious. </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>At 12:30 yesterday, I was in my bed in my pajamas (gift from Becca), working. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSSAbp1Cc33pEPiKIrO7x9S3xczqlQZLB0PnSrSY32PvRwvHGD_-PfwKrCz-Is8SubHC6wfxZCZGKL4XW0M5_7219v0NJLGRCusxRLRR4C44cmiCF_ONYKE9WgACgmhSK50Y/s1600/IMG_6219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSSAbp1Cc33pEPiKIrO7x9S3xczqlQZLB0PnSrSY32PvRwvHGD_-PfwKrCz-Is8SubHC6wfxZCZGKL4XW0M5_7219v0NJLGRCusxRLRR4C44cmiCF_ONYKE9WgACgmhSK50Y/s400/IMG_6219.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Isaiah was on the iPad next to my bed playing a game.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPu1TQPqlixkIzUz1oI0V02r0AVge-ECYcbRTjuR1S-urR4bV_aZGCk-ELiuvQ15Cx6WXJUnGnyAbYR50TnRxDMRca95FSEbLW0L5xM3atKKTu2sgxcCel4Tk1df2UziGBQDs/s1600/IMG_6223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPu1TQPqlixkIzUz1oI0V02r0AVge-ECYcbRTjuR1S-urR4bV_aZGCk-ELiuvQ15Cx6WXJUnGnyAbYR50TnRxDMRca95FSEbLW0L5xM3atKKTu2sgxcCel4Tk1df2UziGBQDs/s400/IMG_6223.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<b style="color: #e06666; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Benj was flying his lego Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle, one of the sets he got for Christmas (he is in love). </b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTi7jAXJKtjiAZTTfAqwmSR8z05iveruPXvIsBsLrQuLgVkcYmNPEQNpUHSai0iDvo7HCH_CkglWFDaSCLp40dpWMRWBrbks6o-qDZUPTvlKzUokBY0jwIGKhyphenhyphenQhdn1oqz6xo/s1600/IMG_6225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTi7jAXJKtjiAZTTfAqwmSR8z05iveruPXvIsBsLrQuLgVkcYmNPEQNpUHSai0iDvo7HCH_CkglWFDaSCLp40dpWMRWBrbks6o-qDZUPTvlKzUokBY0jwIGKhyphenhyphenQhdn1oqz6xo/s400/IMG_6225.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<b style="color: #e06666; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The girls were quietly playing in their room with Christmas stuff. </b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-zddBP6qZroD-H3-ovQo6hDB1DZbnrtO34eAwPLJJNRAKJT9sUBttifKbonyy-SAIiaq5utR-g8o-LSvIEYJII-Ncg2KbenFbm7Qx74npVLttIz-GuQgv6NVEuMsH37uSHc/s1600/IMG_6236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-zddBP6qZroD-H3-ovQo6hDB1DZbnrtO34eAwPLJJNRAKJT9sUBttifKbonyy-SAIiaq5utR-g8o-LSvIEYJII-Ncg2KbenFbm7Qx74npVLttIz-GuQgv6NVEuMsH37uSHc/s400/IMG_6236.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<b style="color: #e06666; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sometime after 4:00, I changed out of my pajamas just long enough to go for a run in my new workout leggings Christa gave me for Christmas (love!). </b></div>
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<b style="color: #e06666; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">When I got home, I made taco soup and put my pajamas back on.</b><br />
<b style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">And I slipped my feet into these cozy slippers Becca knitted for me. (Love! They keep my feet so, so warm.)</b></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>We went downstairs with our food and watched </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>"The Man from Snowy River." </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I haven't seen that movie in years, and I loved it again.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>We read together afterward while the kids ate ice cream. At one point, I looked over and Benj had his rubber band gun in one hand, shooting at something far ahead in the distance, while galloping crazy fast and controlling the reins with his other hand (all at the front window, of course). </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>("Man from Snowy River" must have brought it on.) </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_eh2p8A4Z4LFEQzeDAx_AZeEklfzBeDmQlrmv9Zz_YlNgGbHJyOJIXAyTUUj9VT_9JzMADYqj9__AlvV5qLmWE1ZUUZDuPwjo1C33wGV06wSmJDx_4VzsC_x0CXTwDrGFyPs/s1600/IMG_6256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_eh2p8A4Z4LFEQzeDAx_AZeEklfzBeDmQlrmv9Zz_YlNgGbHJyOJIXAyTUUj9VT_9JzMADYqj9__AlvV5qLmWE1ZUUZDuPwjo1C33wGV06wSmJDx_4VzsC_x0CXTwDrGFyPs/s400/IMG_6256.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>(I love that he still goes away in his imagination like that.)</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Today is shaping up to be similar.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Basically, if you need me in the next few days, I'll just be here.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-large;"><b>In my pajamas.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>(I'm not planning on changing.)</b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-2828640277282790712017-12-26T14:19:00.002-07:002017-12-26T20:29:55.786-07:00Christmas Blessing<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm going to blog about the holiday at our house, but haven't gotten that far yet.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Late last night, at the end of a full Christmas Day, I scooped up this little person from off the boys' floor (she'd fallen asleep there while we were reading <u>The Penderwicks on Gardam Street</u>). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I carried her into my room and laid her down on my bed where she always sleeps. And then I got in bed, pulled that peacefully-sleeping-bundle into my arms, and just held her for a few minutes. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8eMuK6beDOqog-dBTEzxpUpxsrCdcTZA77RLlSpNRypI3A9yDJY95jjVKfhah-WeegwY0Ld-DEVqwSAD2-T4jYvXmdUump1-g0rHN-GW5zLDb6xnDjiJj3vHppl-DhwLHsE/s1600/IMG_6204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8eMuK6beDOqog-dBTEzxpUpxsrCdcTZA77RLlSpNRypI3A9yDJY95jjVKfhah-WeegwY0Ld-DEVqwSAD2-T4jYvXmdUump1-g0rHN-GW5zLDb6xnDjiJj3vHppl-DhwLHsE/s400/IMG_6204.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was quiet and I felt peace and gratitude. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had only been lying there a second or two when I thought, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"This. This moment of the whole day." </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And my next thought flowed to God:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">"Thank you. Thank you for this."</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">xoxo</span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-79914133269237423472017-12-18T11:21:00.000-07:002017-12-18T11:21:11.355-07:00A Brave Woman<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>A couple of weeks ago at 1:12 a.m., I was sitting in my front room by the Christmas tree and sent a quick note to my mother who lives halfway around the world. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfT8X79v7j7etx4mtR6V4QiX9bd68DvXrV9AMml0zIBW4_vijOmZ0XMdiNufr23fVRWTeA9DOvXy2Oto2_fAc87MwmcEKbxRwDmQByIpxUHorkrgj-SWiWAzNC8Vo3ySm1-s/s1600/FullSizeRender+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfT8X79v7j7etx4mtR6V4QiX9bd68DvXrV9AMml0zIBW4_vijOmZ0XMdiNufr23fVRWTeA9DOvXy2Oto2_fAc87MwmcEKbxRwDmQByIpxUHorkrgj-SWiWAzNC8Vo3ySm1-s/s400/FullSizeRender+3.jpg" width="340" /></b></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>I was thinking about what I've learned from her, mostly as I've watched how she has lived her life. </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>My mom's a brave and strong woman, and she has been through a lot. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_ldoalKzIlC6Ch1nqFtKp4rJ7LR8ateYbUh9uvJRVm0vYfXo5va9YTws4CFq5TtRAgrtLzxKmqqd31-rCNjvL-rN6Z5RhIUbSoAvCjc9YUbRGjTXcI1KcV-YUoyK71o5f1k/s1600/FullSizeRender+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_ldoalKzIlC6Ch1nqFtKp4rJ7LR8ateYbUh9uvJRVm0vYfXo5va9YTws4CFq5TtRAgrtLzxKmqqd31-rCNjvL-rN6Z5RhIUbSoAvCjc9YUbRGjTXcI1KcV-YUoyK71o5f1k/s400/FullSizeRender+10.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b> Dear Mom,</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>I meant to email you this morning and then things got going with my day and I didn't get to it. I'm emailing now, late, before I go to bed. All I have to say is this:</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>I love you.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>And I appreciate you. </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Your life and example continue to shape how I look at the world, and I'm grateful for the ways that you inspire me:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSuQTcuKnHQD8CQsjxPjlhdeMKsm5gku0tt8k_sFA6PgRizxlTNYKPte7OQtJQFSrGkG0ueh9Ep5IY2BHtAS94gTnDLX4Fs7AJ21cG2MOFWDRNOvES_nPEJO3uT4E7HhgDNlg/s1600/IMG_1721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1600" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSuQTcuKnHQD8CQsjxPjlhdeMKsm5gku0tt8k_sFA6PgRizxlTNYKPte7OQtJQFSrGkG0ueh9Ep5IY2BHtAS94gTnDLX4Fs7AJ21cG2MOFWDRNOvES_nPEJO3uT4E7HhgDNlg/s400/IMG_1721.jpg" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>To take steps into the dark,</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>to examine your questions, </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>to be authentic, honest, and vulnerable, </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>to do the hard thing, </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>to not make fun of another's weakness,</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_p6f6iX0nEA55RkqjfLeNkYY2vW0BDZd2DH11xO-xhInYKrAX_hO8Q9_7g4Srz4sx0Jsft0il4elQEAI153kKDE_VSgofDriJzx0C5EOx8Tq-p8JGeJXB34r0trkTs8BE10o/s1600/IMG_1166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_p6f6iX0nEA55RkqjfLeNkYY2vW0BDZd2DH11xO-xhInYKrAX_hO8Q9_7g4Srz4sx0Jsft0il4elQEAI153kKDE_VSgofDriJzx0C5EOx8Tq-p8JGeJXB34r0trkTs8BE10o/s400/IMG_1166.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>to love learning, </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>to live in simplicity while acknowledging, </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>in the same breath, </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>gratitude and abundance;</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>these things and more.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>xoxo</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>E</b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-37980306071510171502017-10-28T01:30:00.000-06:002017-10-28T01:32:23.347-06:00Rhyming<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">Claire and I got home from dropping the kids off to school on Thursday morning.</span> </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>We ate oatmeal together at the kitchen table, and then went outside to retrieve a couple of onions and some carrots from the garden that is almost over.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eW7v8QnZe8UccCOLMQUawtog4YPgX_24CkoxcKpUTF6EKaft1gb3newc3tWje1UM7AZH1on9KcrbEC8poD_Yp_GBZu7Sz91hXY1Lc08R52wnUHUPGDCKq7SoaBWj2Y3s3_0/s1600/IMG_5156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eW7v8QnZe8UccCOLMQUawtog4YPgX_24CkoxcKpUTF6EKaft1gb3newc3tWje1UM7AZH1on9KcrbEC8poD_Yp_GBZu7Sz91hXY1Lc08R52wnUHUPGDCKq7SoaBWj2Y3s3_0/s400/IMG_5156.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Came inside, chopped them up with celery, garlic, and red bell pepper, and then threw it all in the crockpot with split peas, water, spices, and chicken bouillon.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I made artisan bread dough and stuck it on the table to rise, and then cleaned up the kitchen.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Then Little Miss and I went into another room and began sorting clothes, a project I HATE.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Let me say this: hate is a strong word, but I am totally intentional here.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>When I think of tasks I <i>don't</i> like, this ranks right up there.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>When you have to pull down clothes, decide what you're keeping, what you're discarding, what's going to DI, and then clean out drawers to make room for the next size/season of clothes, get them washed, put them away, etc.?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Excuse my French, but it's a pain in the butt.</b></span></div>
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<b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Flat. out. tedious.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>(Ugh and eye roll.) </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>What's a girl to do, though?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>It had to be done.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>So, there we were. I'm dumping out bags and sorting, Claire is oohing and ahhing over various articles and trying stuff on.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>At one point she put on a shirt, and I think it might have been made out of wool.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>(And here's where I insert that they've clearly been discussing rhyming in preschool and Claire is absolutely taking it to heart. I heard about it one day after I'd picked her up and we were driving home, and another time she ran into the laundry room to inform me that sandwich and witch rhyme. </b></span><b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indeed.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>So, clearly, it's on the brain. Hers, that is.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>She's trying words on for size.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And now, back to sorting.)</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>She puts on a shirt.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">And I hear her say, kind of muttering to herself, completely oblivious to the expletive: </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-large;"><b>"Well this shirt is</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: orange;">itchy bitchy</span><span style="color: #a64d79;">."</span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And you know what?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I started to quietly laugh and didn't say a word.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>And I'm still laughing.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Childhood is beautiful.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdhx_seiKycaQIUuczH4BxaAJ6y8CnnEUCeoj23ahWYsc6pwDkLFLlmmgSHENuDPXlClqRwJ3V22f-uNodfsGhx5y8XOfZxF_fRMaB7-HxI21cLDI0CGxsPuEkBb6xW4_lAA/s1600/IMG_5152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdhx_seiKycaQIUuczH4BxaAJ6y8CnnEUCeoj23ahWYsc6pwDkLFLlmmgSHENuDPXlClqRwJ3V22f-uNodfsGhx5y8XOfZxF_fRMaB7-HxI21cLDI0CGxsPuEkBb6xW4_lAA/s400/IMG_5152.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-large;"><b>#ohmygoshiloveher</b></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-63236483026599683052017-10-22T13:44:00.000-06:002017-10-22T13:44:23.124-06:00Thank you<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>I hiked high up into the mountains yesterday seeking solitude, clarity, and peace. </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31uWMSO-oVHc8wL35ooOSH294ztVjfrZItJw43HDPB7ByaXngkuwYn5Cg5hZF9VdDiQ8eIkWM_LGnk-DYyTv9tW6q0C99uj6kqtRtq-n36F5d9tChMrNyh4-2eoaTCboRQS4/s1600/IMG_4911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31uWMSO-oVHc8wL35ooOSH294ztVjfrZItJw43HDPB7ByaXngkuwYn5Cg5hZF9VdDiQ8eIkWM_LGnk-DYyTv9tW6q0C99uj6kqtRtq-n36F5d9tChMrNyh4-2eoaTCboRQS4/s400/IMG_4911.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><b>The air was crisp, I met several deer, walked through a continuous, sweeping graveyard of leaves, </b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-dJwwwn8U6Kq1iGqWfZDLHU_R89aI8eJzAusLWe4_0_aQ7k84Ygx0UyjvXINuqeHV88Su3b7RaJ-2k46mB570Cu7C3XnPonwBI3L0IoTTm9gFWpXiFNdQdxiIrwjLnQLpY68/s1600/IMG_4941.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-dJwwwn8U6Kq1iGqWfZDLHU_R89aI8eJzAusLWe4_0_aQ7k84Ygx0UyjvXINuqeHV88Su3b7RaJ-2k46mB570Cu7C3XnPonwBI3L0IoTTm9gFWpXiFNdQdxiIrwjLnQLpY68/s400/IMG_4941.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> thought about life, and death, and love,</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCsT5x444LyR_ZSk4DNr_8wNwXhgweKERCEQ1fgXyhjz-8Vqi_QjunqwQmZEU3zfxbfAxWNbeqmw-70ecC7fjoOJdhVPOyldUrVLpBUqk3gQEn_3zIZYbqMrOcmTijEh2iII/s1600/IMG_4936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCsT5x444LyR_ZSk4DNr_8wNwXhgweKERCEQ1fgXyhjz-8Vqi_QjunqwQmZEU3zfxbfAxWNbeqmw-70ecC7fjoOJdhVPOyldUrVLpBUqk3gQEn_3zIZYbqMrOcmTijEh2iII/s400/IMG_4936.jpg" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><b>and my fingers swelled and stung with cold all the way down as the sun set and I was in the shadow of towering canyon walls. </b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUFkP5h2QVJT82xZI3RxGdA4KKGLeqxknaiLnqPb1BF04_46T01VedVa_FFnIr1KKxPbAoctClUS0qIta0PNRJiKbiQxOoGhs2qB8S3htUtgt36PqsNzUq7-JQbVg9IC_5BQ/s1600/IMG_4944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUFkP5h2QVJT82xZI3RxGdA4KKGLeqxknaiLnqPb1BF04_46T01VedVa_FFnIr1KKxPbAoctClUS0qIta0PNRJiKbiQxOoGhs2qB8S3htUtgt36PqsNzUq7-JQbVg9IC_5BQ/s400/IMG_4944.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> Thank you, God, for this stunningly beautiful earth, </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1xkOxKfiIXDxu3PaZngUpNDi9wEi4ycV8l6HrZdMTLYQk0b7cX5cBi3Ib-0r4NIDJ-vdIIxDZJK8GWABC_YHjStastMepdTjo_n8kZOQjtaFUQRnIaFDDGF3ziNPQW301BY/s1600/IMG_4938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1xkOxKfiIXDxu3PaZngUpNDi9wEi4ycV8l6HrZdMTLYQk0b7cX5cBi3Ib-0r4NIDJ-vdIIxDZJK8GWABC_YHjStastMepdTjo_n8kZOQjtaFUQRnIaFDDGF3ziNPQW301BY/s400/IMG_4938.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><b>for creating quiet, holy spaces for me, and for the work, joy, struggle, beauty, pain, and questions that are part of living. </b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbETXtLu-9S6uXrGtRi6gQzex5CKs7_85NubRyzJtVF9-dPK4co4WM7qnKAwHnw8JIVILzr9ToZiBgxSdhLIPir026KS5Bnlxc1kVIgNl422Qm0FjTiDCJf3W_fQ4-GhVdo4/s1600/IMG_4951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbETXtLu-9S6uXrGtRi6gQzex5CKs7_85NubRyzJtVF9-dPK4co4WM7qnKAwHnw8JIVILzr9ToZiBgxSdhLIPir026KS5Bnlxc1kVIgNl422Qm0FjTiDCJf3W_fQ4-GhVdo4/s400/IMG_4951.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Thank you for filling my life with meaning, and for letting me have the experience of trying to figure things out--however clumsily I do so.</b></span> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFkNmKBMZwW7TAZBFBFCPFB2llVyCJnfFxc49q5IGPjZcXMoFZ7QjC73GZtB_F_vtRImsCWr7DuuNqXpdI9OY8d5_hMdmVIk8Pdm_g1G5DmLnpzG7M_o9xgvXPl3VjfFLfNc/s1600/IMG_4953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFkNmKBMZwW7TAZBFBFCPFB2llVyCJnfFxc49q5IGPjZcXMoFZ7QjC73GZtB_F_vtRImsCWr7DuuNqXpdI9OY8d5_hMdmVIk8Pdm_g1G5DmLnpzG7M_o9xgvXPl3VjfFLfNc/s400/IMG_4953.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><b>And thank you for hope and faith, those two lights that always remind me to look higher and believe, trust in the greater story, and watch as things unfold. </b></span></span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783349.post-41219724723362615112017-10-16T23:40:00.001-06:002019-02-17T21:12:10.196-07:0020 Times<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When Claire and I got home from dropping off the kids at school this morning, we were still in our pajamas. We wrapped ourselves in blankets on the couch to read for a while. Claire picked up the first book she wanted to read and said that she love-love-love-love-love-love-loves it. (She said “love” so many times.) </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0zrcxFp_emGeLQHaYhfEh0uJDs6WEq5msqkpBIQS-eTlQDieoH_Now3eiuzuNnq1SKBy3txmU5HXelkfj4Et45kCsy-lWijX9z6bHucCyCkDwk2HZkGSd580C4kU74cpXG0/s1600/IMG_4602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0zrcxFp_emGeLQHaYhfEh0uJDs6WEq5msqkpBIQS-eTlQDieoH_Now3eiuzuNnq1SKBy3txmU5HXelkfj4Et45kCsy-lWijX9z6bHucCyCkDwk2HZkGSd580C4kU74cpXG0/s400/IMG_4602.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And then, I guess to summarize, she said:</span></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>“I love it 20 times.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Which brings me to this: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">October is back again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are leaves on the streets and the smell of autumn is here: crisp and changing, brown and earthy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The tops of the tomatoes are dead with frost and it’s time to pull everything out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The mornings and evenings are crisp, sometimes downright cold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I’m looking forward to making a batch of apple butter on the stove, filling my house with the scent of cinnamon and cloves. </span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6hBTZFYQu-U9V6n0RZbu3ZxL5CmAmaIQr69LlanrHXWJDk-LFYmlNzIVmXcEiUfwHyKShIKxgIjC8SfHViVsS9asI5YbM3G1oRLlhodUV-7Y5qF_G-8I_pbZHUg7TqbsakU/s1600/IMG_4598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I bought spring bulbs to put in the ground so we can enjoy a bunch of beautiful happiness in six months when tulips carpet my small flower bed in front.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We’ve started burning fires, and there’s a sparkly spider and little witch hat on the mantle to show some October spirit. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That’s all fine and good, and I love it all. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But when I’m outside these days, I can’t stop staring. You’d think I have never seen golden trees before. But they are my absolute favorite. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQVmfoy7OvmRdgXr0liwhrZgTGaODkuzMeNK0-hLQGyDcdylf6VPp8oZUPsmlUf_uaQIv_BJviNMJq-0CFEsvD-HbXI1yTxcTAOx7hlkNhR7KuXW159HKNvB4s8ucf8Cot04/s1600/IMG_4598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQVmfoy7OvmRdgXr0liwhrZgTGaODkuzMeNK0-hLQGyDcdylf6VPp8oZUPsmlUf_uaQIv_BJviNMJq-0CFEsvD-HbXI1yTxcTAOx7hlkNhR7KuXW159HKNvB4s8ucf8Cot04/s400/IMG_4598.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And every time and every day, I am—figuratively, and often literally—stopped in my tracks. Over and over...and over.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQVmfoy7OvmRdgXr0liwhrZgTGaODkuzMeNK0-hLQGyDcdylf6VPp8oZUPsmlUf_uaQIv_BJviNMJq-0CFEsvD-HbXI1yTxcTAOx7hlkNhR7KuXW159HKNvB4s8ucf8Cot04/s1600/IMG_4598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was cool on Saturday when I woke up, and a bit breezy outside. I put my shoes on and went running. I saw sunlight filtering through a tree close to my house that never can decide, every year, if her leaves should be yellow or red. So she is both, and beautiful. And when the morning sun catches her, she is something to behold. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Seeing her lit my heart right up. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Life! Joy! Light!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I know that this autumn will be over in just a minute.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But here’s the thing:</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;">I love it 20 times.</span></b></div>
</span>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470683692371535117noreply@blogger.com