Are you serious????

I can't tell you how much that I enjoy going to visit our kids and friends. I can barely sleep the night before we leave with anticipation of spending time with them. I really don't care WHAT we do, I'm just glad that we have the time together.

So when I woke up at "dark thirty" this morning and spent the next 12 hours in and out of the bathroom being sick, I wondered why couldn't this happen when I was at home? So far, I have already missed visiting with our dear friend, Edna, and we postponed our visit with Anvita, Vivek and their new baby girl until tomorrow.

Hopefully the tea and toast stay down and I will good as new tomorrow.

Gaining a heart of wisdom

At the beginning of every year, I set goals; physical, professional and personal goals. Not too many that I cannot really commit to them but far enough "out there" that I really need to work on them. The top of my "goal list" for 2009 was to spend some intentional time in "The Word" so that I could really get to know God....not just about Him but who He really is. I actually wrote down the prayer of my heart on January 1, 2009, Psalm 90:12, "Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom". My goal this year was to become more a woman of wisdom, prayer, and to experience joy in all circumstances. In fact, I made another notation in my bible regarding this passage on June 9, "We must have a right view of eternity to know the real value of time".

Several months later, when I was visiting Jordan, I picked up a book on her living room coffee table, "Holy Habits". I began reading it and thought that I would enjoy doing the study in the book. So I asked Jordan if I could borrow it. The study has been wonderful...in fact, Mimi states in her first chapter that her lifetime goals are to know God and to become a woman of worship, prayer, wisdom, peace and contentment. Coincidence???? I think not!



To make a long story short, I actually contacted Mimi Wilson (the author) as she is living in Denver and asked if she could speak at a Women's Retreat for our church in September. She agreed and that retreat was last weekend. I purchased another "Holy Habits" book at the retreat to give to Jordan. As I was looking at the back cover yesterday, I was brought to tears.....at the top of the book she wrote Psalm 90:12 as her inspiration for writing her book, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." I have been reading Holy Habits for months and I never read the back cover.

I LOVE how God works...when we are truly seeking Him and at just the right time, He brings people and circumstances into our lives so that we can KNOW Him!

August in photos

Funny how there doesn't seem to be much and then...boom...a whole bunch happens all at once. The first event was when all the family got together for the guys fishing trip to Willis and girl time in Buena Vista. Then was Mark and my trip to Minnesota for Mark and Kelly to watch the PGA Championship just a couple of miles from Tracy's and Kelly's house. We fit in A LOT of activities while we were there!!! And then, back to Colorado to prepare for our church's participation in a citywide project; "Extreme Community Makeover". Throw in Mark's birthday and the month of August came and went very quickly! (PS, I know that some of these pictures are on the girls blogs, but I think they warrant being seen again).

Buena Vista July 30 - August 4


Girl time (plus Burke) at the nursery in Buena Vista


Lita with the girls


Lita with Burke

Great grandpa Jim, Lita, and Keadryn in BV


Auntie Keje and Sayla at the Continental Divide


Kirstin with Burke in BV


Auntie Trish and Kead picking raspberries


Jordan and the girls riding the gondola up Monarch pass


On top of Monarch Pass


Gold Rush Days in BV


And...the boys at Willis: Drew, Patrick, Sean, Adam G., Tom, AJ (Mark was taking the photo).

Minnesota August 8-17


PGA Championship-Hazeltine-Chaska, MN


The Minneapolis Zoo-Stephanie, Jerri, me, Todd and Tracy


Tracy feeding the giraffe


Winning on a long shot at the horse races with Robin


One of many meals with family...this is lunch with Uncle Fran, Tracy and Laura.


The Minnesota Twins vs the Cleveland Indians: Tracy, Kelly, Kristie, Matt and me.

Extreme Community Makeover August 2009


Fixing a fence (Mark's project).


Mark and Hunter are making room for more trash at "Command Center". This was my post.


Painting a house (Kirstin's project was taking photos with Burke).


Tearing down a shed (Adam Gentry's project).


About 80 of us participated in the 10 projects!

Whew....I spent last week recovering!

Family time

It seems to come all at once, in spurts.....time with immediate and extended family.

Kirstin and Jordan have posted wonderful pictures of our time in Buena Vista...just clink on their blog links to the right to view them (theremkes and The glorious Middle). I can't even begin to take great pictures like they do!

Mark and I are in Minnesota visiting my family. We are enjoying this time so much. We are coming and going like crazy and the schedule is full. But we know that there will be extended periods of time that we won' see each other and we can rest later.

I have been thinking and praying a lot about our family lately. How important we are to each other, how we love each other, how we feel so comfortable with each other that we see the "best" and "worst" of each person. How God has placed others in all of our lives that has made us better people and how to be flexible and to make accommodations as our family grows. I am so grateful for the time, effort, energy and commitment that everyone takes to maintain and enrich our relationships.

I found some quotes about families..some are funny, some are profound but all are worth sharing. Enjoy!!!

*Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts. ~Author Unknown
*If you don't believe in ghosts, you've never been to a family reunion. ~Ashleigh Brilliant
*When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. ~Joyce Brothers
*In some families, please is described as the magic word. In our house, however, it was sorry. ~Margaret Laurence
*You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu
*When our relatives are at home, we have to think of all their good points or it would be impossible to endure them. ~George Bernard Shaw
*Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted. ~Paul Pearshall
*The great advantage of living in a large family is that early lesson of life's essential unfairness. ~Nancy Mitford
*Family life is a bit like a runny peach pie - not perfect but who's complaining? ~Robert Brault
*The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you.~Kendall Hailey
*The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us to become our best while looking our worst. ~Marge Kennedy
*Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family. ~Anthony Brandt
*Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future. ~Gail Lumet Buckley
*I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford

Packin' with the llamas

Mark and I had a GREAT time backpacking up to Lost Lake with Melissa, Tom, McKenzie, Jaden, Zac and Jeff. Melissa admits that she really did not think that anyone would catch fish(for those of you who know me well, I read instead of fished) but the rest of them caught quite and few, of which 8 were kept. We hiked, ate fish, roasted and toasted marshmallows and s'mores and enjoyed just sitting around the campfire and visiting. ALSO, we didn't get the torrential rains that have been occurring almost every afternoon in Colorado for the past several weeks!!! Mark and Tom discussed and planned the guys upcoming Willis trip and I had a blast hanging out with the kids! It has been way too long since we have backpacked up in the high country and it was well worth the trip!

girlfriends are the best therapy!!!

Two days of pure bliss with these lovely ladies. They traveled to Denver for a "girls getaway" and did we ever have fun! It was jammed packed with talking...., drinking tea, walking, visiting with our kids who live in the Denver area, more walking, shopping, movies, more talking...., restaurants, touring Celestial Seasonings in Boulder, and then, before we knew it, they were headed home to Farmington. But before they left, we decided that we need to do this at least a couple times a year. It was just what the doctor ordered for my "home-sickness" for friends!!!

Thanks, Janet and Jill! I love you both!

Seeing the "ephants"

I'm so glad that I have a membership to the Denver Zoo, especially when there is "taking kids" involved. Marcia was here for Dad's 80th birthday weekend and she "offered" to help me take the three little ones to the zoo before she left.

We loaded all three kids in the "zoo wagon" and headed straight for the "ephants" as Keadryn calls them. Both Kead and Burke are intrigued by them (with the monkeys and larakeets close behind as their favorites). We had just enough time to see all three, including feeding the larakeets nectar and taking an up close and personal photo with an "ephant" when it started to rain. We didn't feel at all bad about leaving...the kids had had enough and it was a great visit! (and no ...the ephant isn't real but is sure looks like it, doesn't it?)