high winds + snow= crafting

There has been so much to write about and things that have caught my mind and heart but I have not sat down long enough to put it down in words. We still have no internet. My fault. I don't want to use my minutes so I have been waiting till I am in the office. I then get to the office and either forget the number to call at home or just plain forget that was the purpose of my walk over. Soon enough we will have internet and I will be able to blog much more!

We got our first real snow early on Sunday morning or through the night really. It was one of those nights where I was up 10 times and tossing and turning struggling for sleep. One of my trips to the bathroom I peaked out the window and saw that it was snowing. The color outside was fantastic, pinkish tint painted the clouds with an innocence blanketing our beautiful acreage. It was wonderful. It made my sleepless night worth it.

I looked at the clock it was barely 5am. I looked at Bryce for any glimpse that he might be awake and he was very handsome but very still and asleep. I sat there trying my best to remain motionless and wait for him to wake up. At last he rolled my way and I whispered "Hey, you awake?" He barely said yes but that gave me a chance to tell him about all the snow outside. He was definitely still very tired. So I kept laying there hoping he would get up soon.

At almost 6am he started moving around and acting like he would be getting up soon so I jumped out of bed and told him I just had to go outside to see the snow. It was still pitch black but very special outside. It was quite, pure, and cold. I went back in and we both spent the next hour reading etc. As soon as there was enough light out we put all sorts of clothes on and went on a hike in the snow.

We looked for animal tracks and signs of beavers. I love how the snow clearly reveals what has been walking around, where they are going, and where they have been. You can't really hide stuff. As we were walking Bryce mentioned how we have always had great first snow of the season days. I knew exactly what he was talking about! Even though I am not a huge fan of the cold there is something about the first snow that brings this inner kid inside of me out and this urge to clothe up and go on an adventure with the one I love.

Bryce and I have now had 5 first snow of the season days together. I remember in detail every one of them. They have always been special to both of us. In fact, a couple of my favorite pictures of us are from our first time together in the early winter of 2006.

Well, that may have been a little boring to read but here are a few pictures. It was pretty dark outside so they didn't turn out to good. We definitely don't take as many as we used to. But we have many unforgettable memories stored away in our hearts.

All our lakes were actually frozen until the snow storm.

All those dots on us is from the snow.

.

Where art thou O' Martin?

My last real blog was about O’ Martin. I want to share how he came to be.

Something my friends I have made in the last few years don’t know about me is music used to be a BIG part of what I did and where my heart was near. Everywhere God sent me, music was there. It was not only there but it was the main tool of being the hands and feet of Christ. I played in coffee houses, churches, for youth groups, all over Texas, in the schools and prisons of Africa, and on the front porch of the Terrace in Yosemite. What landed me in Yosemite was the need of a worship leader for The Gathering where the following year I met my husband.

Music...writing songs...it has just always been this special communication between God and I. It is so intimate. So beautiful and extravagant. It is this unique language where no words even have to be exchanged in order to feel close and understood. When I think of praying and how I talk to my Father, I picture myself, in the bathroom, where the acoustics are outstanding, sitting on the toilet with music and journals scattered all over the ground, a smile on my face, my guitar every so often banging the wall or sink that I am way to close to because the bathroom never seems big enough, and Him just kind of dancing there with me...tapping His foot, humming the words...perhaps even playing a small drum.

Fact: 95 percent of my original songs were written in the bathroom.

Let me get a little more to the point. In 2001, I spent the summer working with a youth group in Washington State. A week after I came home I was back with the youth I normally work with. The band and I went back to a room to pray right before we started. When we came out and started to get on the stage, I went to grab my guitar on my stand and it had been replaced with O’ Martin. There was a card in the strings and two post it notes that said “Heard you needed a guitar -God”. Needless to say I lost it on stage. I could hard play and sing I was so touched and overwhelmed by love. The youth had saved up their money all summer to surprise me with that guitar. It was quite something.

2 days after my Martin blog, my guitar was stolen from the new house. There was mostly construction items in the house sine we hadn’t moved in yet. He/She/They were able to take off with a nail gun, my guitar, and everything my case had in it. The reason I wanted my guitar at the new place was The Kid can hear now and because it just sounds so awesome in a half empty house. I was getting excited about playing again and the same day it got stolen we talked to a friend and college professor about starting up a gathering with the college students at Montreat. It was an ironic week.

I was in shock the day I realized it was gone. I had no idea what to do or think. All my music including my originals were in the case. It was just gone...and there wasn’t a thing I could do to change it. Lot’s of emotions. Every time I started to cry I couldn’t breath. I still have trouble breathing out of my nose so crying just couldn’t be an option.

As much as I loved my guitar and though it has much sentimental value to me, I really just wanted my words and journals back. I knew they wouldn’t mean anything to the person who took it. It was all a bummer to say the least. I couldn’t sleep a couple of nights after it happened. I kept thinking of the different things that were in those journal or in my case.

Now it is a praying and waiting game. If it turns up at any pawn shop in the US our detective will know the very next day. O’ Martin has a serial number and so there is a chance we can retrieve it that way. My prayer is that this person opens up some of the music and journals and just reads out of curiosity. God’s word does not go without void and so I never know how this could be turned to something beautiful.

The enemy come to steal, kill, and destroy, but my Father comes so that we may have life to the fullest. We have seen the enemy do some serious work this year, but we will not give up as with one with no hope. We are no longer hopeless or desperate. We have abundant life and so many good fruits from our Father.

Round two on this coming soon.

love Jesus,

love chocolate pie,

love life,

spesh

No Internet

I have been wanting to do some good post for over a week now. I have lots to share, pictures and updates, etc. However, once again, it will not happen right now. We are in our new house now but we have no internet until we find the time to figure out how exactly America gets that in their households. This is something we have never done before. Watch out!

The house is not really finish but we are getting there. It is a crazy week with Thanksgiving here and still not a finished kitchen. Hard to make pies, but Bryce is determined to do whatever it takes to make the chocolate goodness happen!!

We have so much to be thankful for! I hope you all enjoy family and or friends this week. We will update life and such soon.

Much love...

Soon

I can't believe it has been over a week since I have posted. I am sorry to say this won't be long! We have been trying so hard to move into the new house. We tried 3 different times this week, but something keeps happening like the small flooding in the kitchen this morning. Yep. Water is once again turned off in that house which is what we are waiting for to move in.

On the up side, I have learned a lot this week working alongside our friend and co-worker Jon. Jon is the one who keeps up with our amazing organic farm and the animals. He also does a ton of maintenance and other things around camp that keep it running. I am hoping that tomorrow goes a little smoother than the rest of this week has. This one day project has now turned into a week.

We have had some other things happen this week as well but I will save that for next time. Sorry for a boring post with no pictures.

O' Martin

There are a handful or so sounds that may my heart happy, my mind pause, and my soul sing for joy. I love the hearing the sounds of hundreds of South African voices, singing as one, to One, with everything in them. It is just beautiful. It has this way of capturing my heart and turning my insides out. I don't know if there is a more powerful and just awestruck sound as water. It can be the raging river your hiking next to or a small (or big) waterfall crashing itself down into the rocks feeding into the valley floor.

The cry of a newborn. It is so pure, simple, and innocent. It is life and breath and God-made. My husbands prayers. Not so much us just praying together though I do love it too. I remember many times where I have fallen asleep before Bryce and woken up to his voice. He is about to go to sleep himself, but he is laying there whispering to God praying for his beloved, his lover, his wife. I will always treasure those moments I wake up to hear his heart.

There are probably a few other sounds that capture me in one way or another. The last one I want to share, is the sound of my guitar in an almost empty room, with wood or even tile floors. I can play almost anything in there and make it sound like the best thing that has come out on the radio in the last 3 decades. It is just beautiful. Not only does it sound great, but it is just fun. I could sit there and jam and mess around with chords and notes for probably hours!

For this reason or that, the guitar is one thing that has not really been part of me since I have been married. I am hoping this will change in this new house and with the space we will have there. Music has always been a big way I connect and spend time with God. It is this pure time of praise and worship. It is this time He speaks to my heart and uses my hands to write and play and it is amazing.

O' Martin...you will be played much.

Nameless

I had a dream last night that we had a boy and he was VERY early. I was glad he was early because the last few days I feel like I have grown and my stomach may pop if it keeps doing this! Neither one of our parents knew we had him because we didn't have a name for him yet. I couldn't call my mom and say, "It's a boy, but he doesn't have a name yet."

Well, he already talked even though he was tiny and early. Not unusual though. Many of my dreams of our baby they talk right away. We were so busy we didn't have time to even discuss names so he was still 'The Kid'.

Before I knew it he was big probably like 9 or 10 years old. He was a night owl! I was trying to tell him how I used to be able to feel him in my belly all hours of the night but hardly during the daytime. He was like, " I know mom, you've already told me this."

He kind of had this negativeness about him and this attitude about him that I just hated to see. So we decided to move to africa and get him away from this 'place' wherever that was.

The End

Little of This and That

I actually have a lot that I would love to share. Some are too long for now and others need to be chewed on a little more before writing. We have been hard at it this week on the Farmhouse so may be I will start there.

This house is over a 100 years old or so we have been told. It is right off the lake and kind of on the edge of camps property. The backyard has beautiful mountainous views and place is FULL of character. Most of the character I hated at first, but now as I pour hours into it I have found I really love some of the wacky things about this place. I really think somewhere in all this cleaning, painting, and creating God is speaking to me parallel with what I am doing. Make sense? It is going to be quite something when my heart sees and hears it and His time is right.

So back to the Farmhouse. It has 2 bedrooms and a bath upstairs and one bedroom and bath downstairs. No real closets because it's old and they just didn't do that back then. The room we have picked to live in is the biggest thing we have ever stayed in. I am pretty sure it is almost the same size as the place we live in now! (and that's just one room) I am, well, a clean person, so this much house means I think we are going to try and become a shoes off in the house family. I am hoping that keeps it a little cleaner and more manageable. I will let you know how that goes.

We are on to our last room, not including some detail work that still needs to be done in a few places. It is the most overwhelming room of all...the kitchen. You will see in the pics the disaster. This whole house has been a mess. Just cleaning the thing would have taken me at least 3 weeks I think to do a fairly good job. There are cracks so big in some place you can stick your fingers in them and part of your hand. Caulking could be a full time gig on this place!

The wall are crooked, some of the door frames have been eaten by the house, the windows are original (or at least they seem to be) which means they are old, and it just has these funny things about it. We tried moving a desk upstairs in what will be our craft room. It was then we found out the frame at the top of the stairs actually more like a trapezoid shape not a rectangle. The desk would not make it up. We really don't know now what will!! I just love all those weird things now. They drove me nuts at first, but man what great character!

All that said, here is the room I have been working on all week. It is the living room. I wish I had a handy before picture, but some of you know what it was. Can you believe it can look this nice?? Also, the color is actually baguette, but it looks a little off in the pics. Oh well, trust me, it looks awesome!

Good night!

The next two are of the kitchen...the next big thing!

Rough Weekend

I was prepared for a life changer. I knew when we decided to start a family it would be a big one. I knew it would be one of the most selfless endeavors of our lives and we were as prepared as you could be. I knew there would be hard times, I knew there would be love and pain. I knew we would come against some obstacles as parents that where we would be tried and our faith tested. I heard there would be sleepless night and rest would come when all the kids were out of the house...possibly. Can you ever really be prepared and ready for this sort of thing?

What no one really told me about, was that the sleepless nights, start now, not when The Kid is born. I was not prepared for that.

I can go so many nights with little sleep before I have just had enough and melt down a little. This hasn't been quite what I had in mind for our fall here in Black Mountain. I was hoping to do our scouting for work while we were still kidless and the weather was nice. I wanted to map out the trails on our mountain and sew my little heart out. I was hoping to use our kitchen a lot more than we do now and many other things. After another sleepless night, friday was the start of a "poor me" weekend. I became well aware that the only thing I do now is work on this house. I even dream about it sometimes which drives me absolutely crazy! I can't sew or so all these other things because I am consumed on finishing this project and moving on with life. I am the kind of person who has to have a clean house in order to be creative. It is just how I do things. Well, this house isn't clean and that's no lie!

All that said, it hit me on this third day of pouting that I must get over it. For women especially, we can dwell and dwell on things in our head and it becomes extremely unhealthy. The enemy come to steal, kill and destroy everything including our joy. I have loved being pregnant and having this tiny human being grow inside of my body. What a gift from the Lord! I will not let the devil come and steal the many blessings in front of me. Instead, I will let some things go and start fresh.

Tomorrow is the start of a new month. Not only that, but it falls on a Monday. It may seem like a small thing to most, but the last time that happened was in March. March is the month that really turned our life in a good direction. A lot happened that month, good and bad. I started reading and journaling everyday. Bryce's brother Warren died and his grandfather Papa Tom. We had our 3rd anniversary and ran a 50 mile trail race to celebrate. We had a lot of good conversations about God, His will, hearing Him, etc. We decided it was time to start a family and both heard that from God in 2 different ways.

At the end of February when I realized March 1st fell on a Monday, I knew it was time to make some healthy changes in life. Bryce and I have always had a good marriage, but since that month, it has been a more than great marriage. I say all this as a reminder to myself that this is happening again tomorrow. A new month on a new week. It is a reminder to be intentional. God is good and has good plans for us.

This was a long one, hope that was okay. Oh, and I didn't proof read so ignore errors:)

This is just something fun to look at, our niece

Behind

I am posting this to say that I will seriously do a post tomorrow. Sorry I have not kept up very good this week with my blog a day month!! Life happens. Danger says he wants to happen to life not the other way around. He's doing good about that. I am a little behind:)

Zephaniah

"At that time I will gather you;

at that time I will bring you home.

I will give you honor and praise

among all the peoples of the earth when I restore

your fortunes before your very eyes."

says the Lord.

Zephaniah 3:20

Carrot

Today is Monday. Our weekend seemed way too short. It was one of those days where we were just so tired of painting and working on this house. Bryce spent the morning in the office where he was able to do some much needed office work. We have enjoyed working on the Farmhouse, but there are so many things more "Rangers" related work we would love to be doing right now. I am weary of two dirty houses and ready to just focus on one.

I watched the kid kick and push around my stomach this morning. I put my hand on it as if I was reaching out to grab the kids hand. So close to my touch yet months away! The kid is the size of a carrot this week, 10 1/2 inches long, and weighs 3/4's a pound.

Did 4 loads of laundry today. I was impressed I must say. Now we have clothes hanging all over the house trying to dry and this not so dry climate. It sure smells good though.

We had nothing to eat for dinner around this house but we did have the ingredients for homemade pancakes. Yummm. Thank you mom!

This would be my pancakes. Plain with Aunt Jemima Butter Lite...my favorite!

This would be Dangers. Smothered in peanut butter first then good

ol' Aunt Jemima. The first time I made pancakes for him I wouldn't

let him put peanut butter on them. He needed to try the original first to get the

awesome taste.

Adventure

We had a great hike yesterday! We started hiking around 8:00am and summited Mt. Mitchell around 5:15. We started at the Greybeard Trailhead. Went to the top of Greybeard Mountain, back down, back up to Rocky Knob, back down a little, then back up to Mitchell. What a day! I am pretty sure the Kid loved it. Great friends, beautiful weather and colors, and memories that will last. Follow me in some pictures.

This is one of the views. I think we are on Greybeard on this one.

There were 8 of us and this was the top of G-beard.

This was a rocky face part you had to hike up to get to

the top of Rocky Knob. We had lunch there once we got to the top.

Once you hit the Blue Ridge Parkway, you had to walk the road

for about 1/2 mile or so. Seemed like forever for some reason.

Once you got back on trail, we were in Mt. Mitchell

State Park for 3 hours before reaching the top. Last mile was so

steep, but not as steep as I remember it being the summer of 09'.

my babe

The whole gang on top of the tower on top of the Mt. Yes, I know.

You can drive to the top of this thing!! Not a huge fan of that, but thankful

for the ride down:)

Wilbon, Sean, Kelly, Morgan, Katie, Heath, Danger, Spesh

Afterwards, we got picked up by our wonderful friend Stevie and went out to dinner at Chilli's. We were all pooped to say the least. We wanted mexican food but it was a 45 minute wait so Chilli's sounded like a quicker fix at the time. Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Spesh is for Italian

Tomorrow we are going for a big hike with some friends. For those of you familiar with the area we are starting out at Montreat College on the Greybeard Trailhead and ending on the top of Mt. Mitchell the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River. If you are from out west, it really isn't that high. It's about 6500ft roughly. We are guessing it is about 15 miles which normally wouldn't seem that much to me, but things are different. Though we go on daily walks and hikes around camp, these will be much longer!

Tonight for dinner I made an awesome homemade whole wheat italian pizza. Here are the pizza toppings, in no specific order:

green pepper

yellow pepper

orange pepper

green pepper

sautéed onions

turkey pepperoni's

crushed garlic cloves

cheddar cheese

mozzarella cheese

red sauce

Sounds awesome right. Not to mention the crust which is homemade was a whole wheat italian recipe. It was delicious. Wish I could have eaten more but I just got full fast. Must have been those mouth watering toppings. You won't hear from me tomorrow because we will be getting back late. We are trying yet another church out this Sunday. We are looking forward to it though. Have a great weekend and see you on Sunday!

Danger was hard at the books this evening while I was getting dinner ready.

the goods...

The Tulip Poplar

On one of the many hikes up the mountain behind our house you can find these beautiful sections of Tulip Poplar trees. This particular shot is one of my favorite places for these trees. These Tulip Poplar aren't actually in the Poplar family they belong in the Magnolia family. They can grow 80-120 feet high and the trunk is any where between 2-5 feet in diameter. In the spring they produce this beautiful flower. It is bright yellow, with a splash of orange in the inside along with some bright green mixed with it. The T. Poplar and the White Pine are the largest trees in the eastern forest.

These trees are also known as kind of an ideal lumber. They drop their branches and focus there energy upward. They grow very straight and solid and it has been told that the Indians would use these trees to make canoes. They are just a beautiful piece of lumber.

There you go friends. The Tulip Poplar. I feel this is a great picture showing their stature. Oh, and their leaves are awesome! They look like some sort of cartoon cat type of face. Enjoy!

The Kid

We decided on the way home tonight, that this little person, he/she growing inside of me will be called 'The Kid' until party time. When I say he people think I know or I am having some sort of an intuition or something. We have been calling it the Kid since we have been feeling movement. For example, "Oh the Kid is kicking." "Just felt the Kid". Get the picture? So there you go. Introducing the Kid. We like it much better than Baby Ball. Ha! Still makes me laugh.

These are pictures from our walk this morning around camp.

What a great time we had!

Half Way

Today was officially the halfway mark of pregnancy. We are pretty stoked about that:) We picked out some new floors for one of the bedrooms and one of the bathrooms for the Farmhouse. Found some really good deals on them too, bonus. Did some more painting and caulking and of course of tons more to do! If you are ever bored, come on by and grab a brush or broom! Good day though. 1 more day closer to setting up our craft room at the new house. Then I will be able to get my sew on which I am way over do for. Bryce starts another class tomorrow night. Now 3 of the 4 days of school he has a week he will be gone from lunch till 9:30. Not to excited about that. I am not much on evening to begin with. Must get this sewing room going fast!!!

Here is a random picture that was actually taken over a month ago but it is this creature that we have seen on our house a few times. The first time we saw him it was evening and I opened the front door and he came on in. Bryce tried to capture him and it screamed! NO joke, screamed! We don't have a clue what he is, but I have seen him a couple of times since then. Not in awhile though. See you tomorrow!

Fiddle Away

We went to a great fiddling contest this weekend. Anyone could enter, all ages and levels and it was awesome. There were two contest in one: Traditional Appalachian Folk and Nontraditional Appalachian Folk music. It started with a 6 year old playing 'Mary had a Little Lamb'. It was pretty cute. It quickly moved on to some pretty amazing artist. I have always loved string instruments and I think if I had to pick a new one right now it would have to be the fiddle. I have always loved the Cello, but the fiddle seems like a much more practical instrument to play. Mainly for its size and for living in the Appalachian Mountains.

Our home is becoming home once again. It is peaceful outside, stars and moon are bright, and the air is much warmer than usual for this time in the evening. I am looking forward to camp cleaning out and getting back to working on the Farmhouse.

On other news, tomorrow is our halfway mark in this whole 40 week pregnancy thing we got going on. The baby is now (of course this is an estimation I give every week) the size of a banana. We like bananas:) 10 1/2 inches long from head to feet! WOW! I also read I will start gaining a pound a week roughly. That sounds exciting! Oh, and I got the best night sleep last night. I haven't slept that good and hard since the beginning of June. I still woke up twice to pee, but that was it! No tossing and turning. I could breath through my nose which I haven't been able to do for some time now. It was awesome. It made today very vibrant! Good night to all!

This is Addair who is 14 and friends of ours here at camp.

She won the Nontraditional Style. She is incredibly talented.

Actually, the whole family is.

This is who won the Traditional Style.

This was the 6 year old. Too cute!

Bonus Saturday

Tonight I was swaying to the music with my husband. I had butterflies in my stomach and that feeling that I just could't get close enough to him...no matter how much I tried or how we held hands and rested our faces against each others. I knew and have known this is the man I want to spend the rest of my days with. Not because he WAS the most handsome man out there or the stars were just so pretty laid in the background of the music, but I have so much respect, love, and admiration for this man I get to call my beloved. I hope I always have those moments of excitement when I hold his hand or when we puts his hand on my back to direct me. I will always strive to have these moments where he is more than just my roommate but someone who I will only love more as the days pass by. I am a blessed woman.

The Gulley

First off, I do apologize for no post yesterday. I am hoping all these wonderful pictures will make up for it. It was 9:30pm when we got home last night and we had quite the full day. Needless to say, went straight to bed.

We spent half the day Friday doing some Farmhouse work, which I haven't gone into much detail about. This Fall our project for work has been fixing up this old house on camp. The A-Team which we oversee, typically lives there and we turn the place into a commercial kitchen where we pack out all our camping type food from. Make sense? Then we had to fight our way through the crowds of people to make sure everything was set for the climbing wall. The wall is open all weekend during LEAF along with the waterfront. We got it all set and on our way home noticed the Gulley Washer going absolutely crazy in all the wind! The Gulley is this huge awesome slide that goes into the lake. We had really bad winds yesterday and it was becoming extremely dangerous because metal pieces from the Gulley were breaking right off of it. Not good when there are 1-2,000 people walking around camp.

Something had to be done and of course Danger was right on it. Nick Patton was his accomplice and many others along the way. We thought we could just tie this slide down, but one good wind ripped the rope right from the guys hands and took the eyebolt right out of the wooden raft it was tied off on. Ouch, rope burn hurts. When we knew just tying it down would't stop the hazard, we decided it had to come off. This is not an easy quick process. I took some pictures along the way to document the events. You will see them in a second.

Then we went to a contra dancing beginners class. Contra is kind of this partnered folk dance/line dancing thing. It's pretty awesome and extremely popular in our area. LEAF is known for their contra dancing. Bryce and I and many others friends went contra dancing yesterday evening and I must say, we didn't do too bad! The only thing bad was all the spinning involved and we are kind of an easily motion sicked kind a family. It was great though and we really like watching the really good people dancing.

Then we had some dinner and went to go watch the Honey Cutters play. They were pretty good, but we were feeling pretty wind blown and tired from the day so we went home afterwards and went to bed. What a great day! I get really irritated on these weekends and feel claustrophobic from everything going on, but it has been so nice to have so many great friends in town. They have made the weekend worth the crowd and the invasion.

Here is a lot of pictures. I will explain some of them. We have been enjoying today also. More music, people watching, fiddle contest, and much more. Have a great weekend!

This bottom one was an accident, but I really liked it.

This is of the Gulley getting blown around!

Extremely dangerous!

Bryce and Nick on the raft trying to tie down the bottom of the slide.

Now the slide is coming down and it took a big crew to take it

off the cables.

Waterfront taking it easy because only a few have been

crazy enough to swim in this cold water!

This is Corrie:) We are about to fold part of the Gulley

up so we can store it away for the winter.

White Chicken Chilli

All day LEAF has left me stressed with all the people and the added things to do on my list with them being here. However, tonight having a good friend Hannah make us a delicious dinner and then having neighbors and friends pop by for a visit made it oh so much more delightful. It was a short time of forgetting the crowd and the claustrophobic feeling I get on these weekends and enjoying community, friendships, and good warm food (and cold ice cream). I am so grateful to have a life full of great loving family and friends.

This Chili was amazing and also came with special recipe chocolate chip cookies. They were heaven in your mouth.

Me, Mark, Corrie on the right, and Hannah in front.

After Work Adventure

My heart has been longing to be out in the woods enjoying this fall weather and colors before the wind blows and shakes them all off. This is always my season of awe and wonder. At times, I am looking up at the mountains and the beauty it is wrapped in and I about run myself off the road on my bike. Lord help the squirrels not get run over! I want to pull out a comfy chair, blop it right next to the 'tree', bring my blanket, and just stare at such handy work. I really could go on and on about this season. Oh that we would long to be still with our Father and praise His might works because He is most worthy of praise!

After work today, Bryce and I went on a very short hike up our mountain. We were trying to beat the rain, but we were craving to be outside. Here is a short telling of our hike.

We got up the first hill out from our house and came across one

of my favorite spots. I love this tree bent over the trail!

Bryce took the camera so he could snap a shot of me. He told me to

hang onto the tree bent across the trail. He helped me up

and then it took part of my finger off. Wow, such a little

thing but it sure hurt.

I managed to survive so we continued on our way. We got

up next to the first shelter out of 5 that are up on our mountain.

The colors are so awesome!

I must say, it was early evening and overcast so the

pictures just don't do it justice at all! Even the perfect shooting

conditions couldn't display properly what is all looks like as a whole.

Then it started to really rain so we took shelter for a little while to

let it pass over.

Once it passed we went back down the mountain using a different trail

and back to our house for some pasta dinner. What

a great day we had!