Update

Above is a picture of Eric's Christmas Tree stands in use at the Christmas Tree Lot.  We stopped by the lot after church a week or so ago.  It was thrilling to see.  He finally finished his paperwork and his binder was approved just yesterday.  This afternoon he has his Scout Master conference.  Slowly, but surely all is coming together.  In telling one of my girlfriends at church I started to well up with tears of joy.  I am so proud of my son.

Eagle Project

My oldest son, Eric, completed his Eagle project this past weekend.  We are so proud of him.  For his project he redesigned and built new Christmas tree stands for the Optimist Club's yearly Christmas tree lot.  He has a few more things to do before he actually gets his Eagle Scout rank.  There is not much time left as his birthday is coming up in December so please say a prayer for him.  Here below are some pictures from the project.

Project day was held at our church in the basement.  In this picture Eric is speaking to the crew.

 The crew broke down some of the old stands to harvest certain pieces to reuse in the new stands.

Here the crew is working on nearly finished pieces to the new Christmas tree stands.

The project was not without a bit of fun.  Here Eric's best friend demonstrates some dance moves.

Its Cold Outside

Well, our nice warm weather has faded away and in came the cold.  Dead leaves litter the yard and the wind picks them up and carries them.  Everything has turned golden brown, yellow and gray.  Since the leaves are no longer on the tree in our front yard more light floods into the house.  When snow is on the ground it really gets bright.  Below are some pictures of recent snows.

 This was taken during our last snow, looking down the street in front of our house.

 This one I took of the moon rising in the east.  It was such a blessing to sit in my living room and look out and see the lovely full moon through the bare branches of the tree.

 This is a snow that came in October.  Love the autumn leaves against the blue sky and white mountains.

This was taken in the morning.  The sunrise cast a pink glow on the snow.


The Lord has me busy in ways I never expected.  These days I am learning more about the heart of our Lord.  I have learned that what He sees as very precious is people.  He loves them so much.  And there are so many hurting people, some of these people are in our churches.  I have come to see that there is a very necessary need for encouragement.

The other thing that I have been trying to practice is blessing rather than cursing.  I am practicing this while I am out driving.  I was watching something on Christian TV and it really made an impact on me.  The Lord is pleased when we are loving as He is.  So if someone cuts me off on the road, etc., I ask God to bless that person.  When I do I please my Father in Heaven.  On top of that I am opening a door for the Lord to work.  It is pretty awesome that something so small on our part can move mountains.

Autumn Break

Raising two teenage boys has been a challenge, but Mark and I are making it through.  Every now and then we need to take a break.  Most of the snow has melted away, so I thought it was a good opportunity for Mark and I to sneak in some couple time.  We went to Starbucks and right next door was a small park.  We sat on a wood bench and watched a muskrat swim across the small lake and then he took a turn and swam right in front of us.  As we gazed at the lake enjoying our alone time I snapped this picture below.  Just love the reflection on the water.

Next snow storm is due to hit on Wednesday (same day as last week).  With Brandon's help we were able to cut down the broken branch on the tree in the backyard.  It was a pretty daring task, but the guys got it done.  Then they got on the roof and cleaned out the gutters.  We also have our sprinkler system winterized, so we are ready for the snow.

Snow

It snowed this week on Wednesday.  Since the autumn leaves were still on the trees, many branches were weighed down.  We went in our backyard and shook the snow off the branches we could reach.  We are blessed that only one branch broke out of the 3 big trees in our backyard.

Wednesday night we went to a potluck in honor of one of our pastors.  October is pastor appreciation month at our church.  It was great to be able to show our love and support.

It has been two months that we have lived in our new house.  I am slowly adjusting to the sounds of the house and the neighborhood.  How the light comes through the windows at different seasons and times of day.  Where to shop and then how the store is arranged so I can find everything I need.  Where I get my gas, etc.  Right now, I miss Golden.  I miss the small town feel as opposed to living in Lakewood where it is more big city.  As Eric told me, "Mom, you have to give it more time."  He's right.

Speaking of Eric, he is going for his Eagle Scout award.  It has been a bit of a challenge as he has less than two months to get it all done.  We are down to the wire.  It has me frazzled, but I am mostly letting his Dad manage it.  He doesn't need panic stricken Mom on his case.  Eek!  I will just be waiting in the wings for when he needs me.

Otherwise, I have been busy visiting with friends, going to Bible study, meeting with another woman to pray for our children, etc.  Oh, hubby got a new cell phone supplied by the company he works for since he got a promotion.  So with the extra money toward our cell phone budget he bought me one of those new android phones.  It seems in my old age I hate change, but I am learning this new phone.  Maybe I can be a hip Grandma after all.  ;-)  (BTW the picture above was taken with my new phone.  I even emailed to myself so I could post it on my blog.)

Autumn

We have all been so busy.  Both boys are on the Ultimate Frisbee team, so 3 days a week I am driving the freeway.  Then throw in having been sick, company, Mark's 11-day business trip, etc.  Well, I lost my momentum.  I have been trying to catch up and keep up.  Even so, I have realized that I need some "me" time, to refresh.  One day after dropping the boys off at practice, I went to my favorite park to do my annual Autumn walk through the park.  The colors are not as spectacular this year, but still was able to get some pretty shots.  Enjoy!

 This is a shot of the autumn colors in Golden, where I drop the boys off for practice.

 Here is a shot of Crown Hill Park.

 Here is a little bird I spotted down by the lake.  Don't know what kind it is, but I love birds.

 Here is a pretty shot of the nature center in the park.

Always love this path through the thick grove of trees.

Trying to Adjust

Do you ever have those times where you feel that life is in fast forward?  Well, I've been in one of those times.  Finally, I feel like life is slowing down, but I have to switch gears.  Sometimes we can get addicted to going fast.  Have you noticed that?  Okay, so here I am trying to slow down.  I know I really need it.  Why?  Well, I feel I really need time to connect with my new home.  In being busy I haven't really allowed that.  Lately, I've been feeling disconnected.  I keep thinking about how I felt at my Little Blue Cottage.  It felt like home, a haven from the nasty world.  So far Big Yellow Cottage doesn't feel that way for me.

My in-laws came for a visit.  They loved Big Yellow Cottage and felt immediately at home here.  I was so glad that they came, their visit helped me feel more at home here.  Having friends over has helped make it feel more homey also.  One of my girlfriends came over and she helped me decorate the "red" room in preparation for the arrival of my in-laws.  Here below are some recent pictures of the Big Yellow Cottage.

 Autumn is beginning to show its color.

 Took this one while sitting on the sofa in our living room.

 An Autumn sunset from our backyard.

 This is our master bedroom.

 This is the front entryway.

 This is the kitchen and laundry.

 The master bathroom.

And here is the "red" room.