Re: Today's Blessing

I was blessed with another winged visitor to my yard today. A Northern Flicker. He wasn't there long...just long enough to drink from out pond fountain and then he was gone.

I just happened to be sitting by the window that is next to our pond and I saw him arrive. I am wondering if he's the same one I saw eating berries, hanging from our vines yesterday. It was too dark and too late when I saw him then, he was gone in a flash...just like today.

I haven't been feeling too well lately, so I suppose God's been bringing me the birds to photograph. I just haven't been feeling up to going into the field and also we've been busy with Christmas events. Thank you, Lord, for another close encounter. What a blessing it has been to have these little winged creatures visit me.

"The 12 Days of Christmas"

Straight No Chaser is an awesome acappella group of 10 guys and they are fabulous! I heard their rendition of the "12 Days of Christmas" on TV and had to google them.

Their album is now on my Christmas list...is it too late? Anyway, here's the link to their homepage. All three songs on there are great, but I especially love their 12 Days. They arranged it themselves.

Their Africa song sure takes me back, too. What a blend and fresh sound they have. I could listen to them all day long! I bet you'll like them, too.

"Cake"

This is the funniest comedy bit about cake I've ever seen. I laughed so hard I was crying and my stomach hurt. I haven't laughed that hard in SO LONG! I know some of you need a good laugh, so watch this. *Warning: If you think cra_ is a bad word, he uses it twice. Other than that, it's totallly clean. Also, don't read the comments on the Youtube site as they are not screened for bad language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Im9Le9Vy2o

"Deck the Halls?"

Today our house is adorned with outdoor Christmas lights for the first time since 2000. My mother in law and my father both died in 2001 and my husband has not wanted to do the lights on the house since then. I can't say I blame him. Working myself into the Christmas spirit has been difficult for me as well since our loved ones have passed, but I just love the lights. Well, today our oldest daughter decided to put up the outdoor lights herself. She asked her dad to help her and he agreed. I'm so happy that he finally has done this again. It may seem like a small thing, but I think it represents something much larger. It may be that he's letting go of something or moving on from something. Or, I could be wrong and it may be as simple as continuing to be the great dad that he is by helping his daughter accomplish something she wanted to do.

I took photos of them as they put up the lights. It did my heart good to see them up on the two- story roof, working together to accomplish a goal. My husband is never more sexy or manly to me, than when he's engaging our children and doing things with and for them. Good job today, honey! I'm proud of you!

We also put on the Christmas music, drank homemade egg nog and put up our Christmas tree. There aren't any ornaments on it, yet, just lights and garland, but it already looks so pretty.
That's part of what's special about Christmas. The times that we stop doing the normal mundane things and take time out to decorate the house in a different way, make or bake something you don't eat or drink year-round, or buy something you wouldn't usually buy.

Tomorrow we will go to an annual event. It's the Family Christmas Concert that we go to every year. Come rain, snow, sleet or hail we always attend this concert at our university. It always marks the beginning of the Christmas season for us as we normally don't have any Christmas decorations up at this point in December. It is just a fun evening. Mom sings in the choir and when the concert is over we traditionally go to IHOP for a bite to eat and to talk about the concert. It's not the same as when dad was here, but then...nothing is. We still have a nice time.

Boise, Idaho-Architectural Landmark

Paul took me shooting this morning. It was supposed to rain a lot today, but weather is often great for photography when bad for most other things. Anyway, I shot this porch in downtown Boise. It's circa 1896. The house is a Boise Architectural Landmark. There's still a hitching post and step out front. Maybe I'll post a couple more photos of it. I will be adding them to my website, though.

"Boise Feis by the River"

"Sarah & Amy, ready to compete at the 2008 Boise Feis by the River"

This past weekend, our girls competed in a feis, also known as an Irish Dance Competition, and pronounced like "fesh". Feisanna are always an exciting, but exhausting time. Dancers come from all over to compete.

Amy has been recovering from a foot injury while trying to keep up her stamina by carefully bouncing on our trampoline for an aerobic period of time each day and also stretching to stay nice and limber. So, after several weeks of this, but not really dancing much at all, it came time for the feis. This is an all day event and we thought she'd have time in between each of her dances to elevate, massage and ice her foot. Well, it didn't really go as planned and after six dances in a row, she was in tears and wasn't sure she could even do a skip because of the pain. Her last dance was her trophy dance and it was a soft shoe dance. It's harder on her foot to dance in her soft shoes. (aka: gillies) I told her not to worry about it, if it hurt too much, just bow to the judge and move back in line. Well, she made it through the dance and received a fifth place trophy.

This award was in memory of Stephany Wood Perfect, an Irish Dancer that was killed in a car accident not too long ago. Quite special. Below is her receiving the award with the other competitors and who I believe is Stephany's mother. (long story, but I didn't hear the announcement. Got the picture, though!)

This was Sarah's first time competing in a feis, so she was a little nervous. Not as nervous as her mother, however. LOL I always tend to be nervous enough for both of them. Below is a picture of her, ready to begin her first dance. She looked up and saw me and smiled. Good girl!

Both of the girls danced beautifully, and more importantly had fun and did their best! We are so proud of them both. It is always nice to bring home medals, and they did, but it's more important to have a fun experience and know that there's only so much you can control. Our girls weren't wearing the flashy dresses that can cause dancers to get the judge's attention, and feel more like a "winner" or a "better dancer". We told them they need to be stronger mentally and to dance with even better technique to get the judges attention. They will have those dresses as they progress through the higher levels, but for this feis, they had their mental solo dresses on. I believe they grew a little more in character from this experience and that's always a great thing. Their friends were very encouraging and supportive and I hope we were as supportive to them. We had a great time and we're so very proud of our young ladies!

*Click on photos to see larger*

"A Year of Courting"

8/14/08

"A Year of Courting"

It was one year ago today, that Paul and I took Amy and David to Moxie Java to discuss them getting together as a courting couple. This year has gone by so fast. It has been a pleasure to get to know David and to see how he and Amy weather good and bad times together. They've encountered a wide variety of everyday life experiences in the past year and they have had time to see each other at their best and even at their worst. They have done a good job of encouraging each other and bearing one another's burdens. They have sought advice from us and others as they've faced concerns and problems.

Overall, we are impressed with David. He's had some adult decisions to make this year and has done so in spite of not being thrilled about some of them. He has done the right things for his future and in light of what God's been telling him even though it wasn't easy. He's dealt with life decisions like whether or not to go to college and a possible change in direction as far as career. We've seen him work hard and play hard. He's been very respectful of Amy, as well as the rest of our family. He's learning to joke as we do and as a result, we now must learn to recognize it so we don't think he's being disrespectful. He's always kind to our younger daughter, too, even in her bad moments, and that says a lot about his character.

We've seen how happy he makes Amy and that is a good feeling, as a parent. Amy has really come a long way in the past year and continues to mature. She's had quite a turn around in the past year and a half or two, from wanting to be a career woman as a movie director, to wanting to be a wife and homeschooling mother. We've watched as she has struggled to yield her will to match God's. She knew He was changing her mind set about several things, but didn't like it at first, but I've been impressed with the fact that she does have a heart for God and wants to please Him with her life.

We've had several opportunities to spend time with and get to know David's family as well, and that has been a lot of fun, too. Amy now goes to David's house once a week to spend more time getting to know his family. This is a very important part of a courting relationship; spending enough time with the other's family that you see them at their best and worst. A decision must be made by both the male and female as to whether or not the other's family is one to which they want to become a part.

We are all learning together and that's part of the fun. I've had several people inquire about courting and request the Courting Principles that we came up with. This is new territory for us as parents and there have been times that we haven't had an answer to a question regarding courting. We've had to assess opportunities or situations and make decisions on a case by case basis, since we've never done this before. I am sure, as humans, we have made some mistakes during this last year, but we have tried to make decisions based on what we believed was right after careful prayer and discussion.

I don't know what the future holds, but it seems that David and Amy are very well suited for each other. I do know they both have some more maturing to do before getting to the point where they are ready to be engaged or married, but they are doing it right and following God's will. For that reason, I know that it will all work out for the good.