Bear, Goats and Scenery....

We recently took a weekend road trip. It was nice to get away for a few days and simply enjoy the beauty that our Creator has fashioned for us to see! On Saturday, while parked down at a creek at the base of a rather steep hill, we spotted 2 mountain goats grazing calmly. My husband and his brother, wanting a closer look at the goats, decided to hike up the hill and come down on them, hoping for some nice pictures! What the boys didn't realize was how steep the hill was nor how rough the terrain was! But they made it up there safely and as you can see by the pics below, they were able to get a good fairly close up one of the goat =) The other thing the boys didn't know was that a black bear also wanted a closer look at the mountain goat! =) So on the way back down the hill, they "ran into" a small black bear and were able to take pictures of that too! From about 5 yards away! As the boys were descending, my husband exclaims rather excitedly "we have a cliff in our front and a bear on our tracks" LOL!! But they were able to get down safe and sound and we were all happy and on our way back to the town again! =)

Pics of a beautiful flower that my husband took time to take, knowing that I would enjoy it!! =)

 Isn't this a neat shot?

 The mountain goat...

 This is a pic of the terrain they were hiking through, just to give you an idea.... looks rough, doesn't it? I was wanting to go along on the hike too but the more I thought about it, the more I figured I better stay back and look out for the little one growing inside me =) And after my husband returned from the hike and was seated in the car, he said it was a good thing I didn't go due to the rough terrain.

 Ok, there REALLY is a black bear in the photo... see him on the ridge line near the center of the pic? I can't blame the boys for not wanting to get closer...

 There he is again...

More House Pictures...

Ok folks, I thought that I was about done with house pictures but it looks like I was wrong!! I keep finding them on my thumbdrives... =) It is fun to look back and see the progess! And be reminded of how hard we all worked to transform this house into a home! =) Enjoy the pictures and be sure to keep checking back for more... Next time I hope to post some pics of the dirt work that was done!

New windows!!!

 The beginning of the shower...

 Painting the trim around the inside door...

The beginning of the bathroom sink... and, no the bathroom walls are not this green color. =)

 Kitchen cupboards...

"Never despise meager beginnings"

More kitchen cupboards... it is looking more like a kitchen but then look at all those tools!!!! LOL! =)

A new quote...

"Choose thy love, love thy choice."

My husband and I have been married for over a year now and we are still living on cloud nine as they say! =) The Lord has richly blessed us in bringing us together. I never would have dreamt that someday I would marry such a perfect and upright man!

 I am glad that the Lord led me to "choose" Daniel and am so thankful that I can live the rest of my life loving "my" choice! All glory must be given to Jesus for He is the One who led us together and chose us for each other in such an amazing way!

 Loving "my" choice is not hard... he is such a kind, wonderful, handsome, caring, sweet, thoughtful, Godly, upright, steady... man and I am honored to be his wife. I Pray that I can be the wife that he deserves!

 "My" choice is such a hard worker, so diligently providing for the needs of his family and often going on short amounts of sleep to do it and yet never a word of complaint!

"My" choice treats me like a queen!!!

 Two hearts, one love. I had never known such love before and I still get those butterflies in my stomach when my handsome choice looks at me! How wonderful to be linking hands throughout life with this God given man!

Under the arch, we said "I do" and we haven't regreted it. We thank the Lord each day for each other and for the love that He has chosen for us!

 I LOVE "my" choice!!!! And the love grows deeper every day, though I didn't know that was possible!! =)

..."What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" Matt.19:6

For the little one!!!

Over time, I have accumulated baby fabric for such a time as this! So getting busy, I cut out some stuff for later sewing...

Making a baby swaddler and nursing bib...

 ADORABLE overalls...you can't really see the fabric very well but it is farm animals. Can't you just picture a cute little tyke in these? =)

 The pattern for the overalls I am using is the one in the bottom right hand corner.

SO CUTE!!

 More overalls... this time in choo choo train fabric...

 Much needed burp rags!! When my husband saw all the burp rags I was making, he said "wow, you sure are execting the baby to spit up alot" =) LOL!!! I hope that the baby doesn't but most babies do and I aim to be prepared!!! =) LOL!! =)

 All cut out and ready to sew... receiving blankets, burp rags, overalls... =)

 And of course, as with any project, there are scraps!!

Now for time to sew it all up! =) Can't wait to cuddle my little one in these sweet fabrics!! =)

Something New...

This year for Easter, I decided to try something new; I made hot cross buns! It was alot of fun and I was pleased with the way that they turned out! =) I think it's going to have to be something I do next year too! =)

 There is nothing quite like the smell of warm, homemade rolls/bread fresh from the oven!

 And because I believe that they need more frosting than just the cross, I covered these in frosting and then frosted the crosses on top in a different color. (all credit for the brilliant idea goes to my DH) =)

The Incomparable Christ

He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became man that we might become the sons of God. He came from Heaven, where the rivers never freeze, winds never blow, frosts never chill the air, flowers never fade. They never phone for a doctor for there no one is ever sick. No undertakers and no graveyards for on one ever dies - no one is ever buried.

He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, reared in obscurity; only once crossed the boundary of the land of His childhood. He had no wealth nor influence and had neither training nor formal education. His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential.

In infancy He startled a king; in boyhood He puzzled the doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charges for His services. He never wrote a book, yet not all the libraries of the country could hold all the books that could be written about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme of more songs than all the song writers combined. He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has. He never practiced psychiatry, and yet He has healed more broken hearts than the doctors have broken bodies. He never marshaled any army, drafted any soldier, for fired a gun, yet no leader ever made more volunteers, who have under His orders, made more rebels stack arms or surrender without a shot being fired.

He is the Star of astronomy. The Rock of geology, the Lion and the Lamb of zoology, the harmonizer of all discords and the healer of all diseases. Great men have come and gone, yet He lives on.

 Herod could not kill Him, Satan could not seduce Him, Death could not destroy Him, the grave could not hold Him.

He aid aside His purple robe for a peasant's gown. He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor. How poor? Ask Mary! Ask the Wise Men! He slept in another's manger. He cruised the lake in another's boat. He rode on another man's ass. He was buried in another man's tomb. All failed but He never. The ever Perfect One- he is the Chief among ten thousand. He is altogether lovely.

He is the CHRIST- the Son of the LIVING GOD.

HE IS OUR SAVIOR!!!

(The Incomparable Christ by Samuel Porter Jones)

Booksale!!!

My husband and I recently went to a library booksale...we both LOVE reading and seized the opportunity to grab some books at a decent price! We had SO much fun walking down each table and grabbing armloads of books!!! =) Now for some bookshelves.... LOL!! =) I must admit, maybe we did this backwards, got the books before the shelves...LOL!! =)

Louis L'Amour... (not intended for the younger crowd) We both love this author's books and once we start a book, there is not much hope of it being set down! =)

Now for some Romantic Fiction...

 This looked like a helpful book... I love gardening! Can't wait till the snow is gone off my garden spot! =)

 My dear husband's find at the booksale...

 More Romantic Fiction...with some Historical in there too...Corrie Ten Boom's "The Hiding Place" and Eric Liddell's story! Can't wait to read those!! (BTW, don't ask me why that Louis L'Amour book is in this pile...it snuck in! =))

 More good books for the soul... Just finished reading the "Kansas Brides" It was a good book...4 stories in one novel, I really appreciated how Christ centered it was!

 This one is for the little one on the way... if you haven't read it, you need to! It is hilarious!!!

 Some "how-to" books...

More of my hubby's finds...

 I have never read this book before but have heard good things about it and since it was only $1.00...how can you resist?

 Couldn't leave this one sitting on the table... =)

 And of course...the book that each household must have!! So happy to get it for .50 cents!!

Now, that Winter is pretty much over and Spring has sprung, when am I going to find time to read? Hmmm....=) There is ALWAYS time to read!!! =) LOL!!

Before... Part 3

More pictures of the house and more still to come!!! =) Stay tuned... This may be the last "before" post...possibly just "after" posts now... Keep an eye and prepare to be amazed!!! LOL!! =)

Painting materials...

 The color for the Master Bedroom wall and some of the trim. I love this Colonial Red color!

 No, I didn't leave the wall this color! I was hoping for a beige color to go with the colonial red but every time I looked at this, I thought of split pea soup so back to Wal*Mart it went and we happily returned with a much nicer color. (pictures soon to come, hopefully! =))

 Applying the red....

 The back wall of the bedroom...

 This is the Front Room (as we call it) But soon to be the Baby's room! =) I painted this a mint shake color but the photo just doesn't do the color justice!

Outside of the house before the siding was installed!

 The front of the house... Looks so much better!!! =)

 And of course, with any construction project, there is going to be trash...and LOTS of it...this is only the begininning of things to come! LOL!