little discoveries

Late Spring this year,

we journeyed up north to visit

my parents.

My parents recently bought an acreage on the edge of town

and the previous owner left lots of beautiful

landscaping.

While Mom and I were out weeding

her flowers one of the days,

I was startled to pull back some of the flowers

and find a small ball of fur

that sat really, really still...

hoping we wouldn't see it!

With a little coordination between Mom and me,

we caught a baby bunny!

My blessings were THRILLED!

We put him in a bucket

with a little grass so that he wouldn't

get away! 

"Mommy, can't we keep him and take him home?!

We'll take good care of him.

Besides, we already named him Peter."

However, as our weeding continued,

we discovered

another baby bunny!

This time, J and A were

going to get a friend for Peter...

They looked and chased

for quite a while,

but that baby bunny was

really quick

and got away.

After a few hours and

a few pleadings,

we let Peter go

so he could find his friend.

*****************************************************************

Lord,

The excitement these two blessings

have for life and adventure

is really amazing to watch!

You have created them

with a way of always

keeping themselves

busy and never

sitting and expecting to

be entertained.

The joy they have for life

is contagious!

Watching them

interact with the world

around them

always

turns my heart

straight to You...

Thank you, Lord!

"God makes all things

beautiful in

His time."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

"The Lord will fulfill

His prupose for me;

Your love, O Lord, endures forever..."

Psalm 138:8

"I praise You

because I am fearfully

and wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful,

I know that full well."

Psalm 139:14

Victoria Springs

Our destination this morning

--Victoria Springs--

a state park

within 30 minutes

from our home

Boys LOVE adventure

and a challenge...

fishing fits right in!

putting worms on the hooks

This morning was great!

(especially for us moms who stayed in the shade!)



the first catch of the morning

not our bobbers...:)

J. reeling in A.'s catch!

A. LOVES to fish!

The design on this fish is just amazing
and reminds me of the Lord's
incredible creativity in creation!

We even caught some moss!

throwing stones off the bridge

J's favorite part of the morning

 was catching his first fish.

A's favorite part of the morning

 was going fishing!

My favorite part of the morning

was visiting with a dear friend.

*******************************************************************

Lord,

Thank you for fellowship

with so many dear people!

Spending time out in

Your creation was amazing

and so relaxing!

day trip to Stapleton, NE

Yesterday, we took a day trip to a cozy town in Nebraska...Stapleton.  Have you heard of it?  It is nestled into the corn fields along Hwy 83 about 30 miles north of North Platte.  We spent the day with some precious people, my dearest's parents and the two sweet girls my mom (by God's gifting) watches.

Our itinerary for the morning was planned by those sweet girls :)  First, we stopped by the grocery store to enjoy a delicious smoothie (Monica--my dear mil-- had an iced tea and I had an iced coffee...yummy!).  Then we were off to shop!  There is something just wonderful about a few stores that welcome a customer with open arms and where the owners visit with you, asking very relevant questions about one's life.  I highly recommend stopping at Frey's General Store, the Stapleton Enterprise, and Heavenly Creations!  They all have great customer service :) 

We also stopped at the park and the post office before heading back to the house.  What a lovely day, M and K!!  You are GREAT travel guides :D

My blessings after we played at the park...
a water fountain helped to cool them off!

my favorite boys in the whole world

 My guys loved the twisty slide, the swings, the merry-go-round, and the teeter-totters...but they sure had fun on this swinging gate!  I had never seen one before, but Monica said that my dearest loved to play on that, too when he was little :)  There's not too many play grounds left that mommy and daddy played on that their children can also play on, too!  How fun!  :)

Hang on, A!

J pushing A

They just had a blast!

I wonder if I could install one in my yard...hmmm :)

J can get the gate going really fast!

Hang on!

We were also introduced to the tree that changed my family's life.  This is no ordinary tree...10 years ago, my dear m-i-l was in a parade, when the horse pulling her wagon was startled, sending her flying through the air and landing near this tree.  God protected her and has given her an incredible ministry.  Because of that life-event, she now travels around the USA welcoming veterans home.  God is using her to touch the lives of so many people!  **Check out Veteran's Music Ministry on Facebook.

Getting the mail in Stapleton and many other small towns is different from how we get our mail.  Instead of having mail delivered to the home, everyone in town has a mailbox at the post office. 

"Hello in there!"

We LOVED our day trip!

**************************************************************************

Lord,

Thank you for Bob and Monica

 and M and K!

We love them dearly

and treasure time that we

can spend with them

in their cozy town

nestled in

corn fields :)

work at it with all your heart!

diligence

earnest

hardworking

dutiful

careful

persevering

That would be this boy of mine!

Yesterday,

we were at the pool

with a couple of my blessings' friends.

My youngest blessing

 had been left in

the 4 foot

to play by himself

while the three of them

were playing at the diving boards.

Blessing--"Mommy,

can't you make them come

and play with me?"

Me--"No, honey...they can go off the

diving boards for a while."

Blessing--"Well,

then I want to go off the

diving boards!"

Me--"That's fine,

 but you'll need to go talk to the

pool manager."

Blessing--"Can you come with me?

I'm scared."

We found out in talking with her that

he would have to pass the deep water test.

He had to swim from the

13 foot to the 7 foot...

using the American crawl stroke

there AND back.

AND

he would have

to tread water for

2 minutes...

(Mind you, he had just passed level 2 lessons last week...)

He eagerly nodded his head

that he wanted to do it!

So off he jumped...

He swam...

and swam...

and swam...

and swam some more!

He made it from one

end to the other!

Then he began the second

part of the test...

treading water for

 two minutes...

HE DID IT!!!

He was BEAMING
when he first jumped off!

He jumped...

and jumped...

and jumped!

He and brother
even went off
at the same time!

With diligence,
there is GREAT reward!

The clouds in the sky were just amazing!
J is jumping off the high dive :)

**************************************************

Lord,

Thank You

for the character of these

blessings that You

continue to grow

to maturity!

What an awesome

experience

to see this son of mine

desire so strongly

something that he

was able to do

with some hard work!

Use his enthusiasm

for life

as he

grows in stature

and wisdom

in You!

You have good

plans for him!

"The plans of the diligent

lead to profit."

Proverbs 21:5