Leap Year

I guess the last day of the shortest month is here! It did go fast and was very full.
The sun is shining this morning, but there is a light breeze making it pretty cold, but maybe it will warm up alittle. At least the snow is shrinking! I actually saw some green grass, some dirt and some rocks! Maybe spring is coming after all.
Gary is slowly getting better, still has a cough and has to use the nebulizer, but he is up and around and we went for a drive yesterday to get out of the house. So far I haven't gotten it and I intend for it to stay that way!
It's Saturday and I can't seem to lose the habit of it being the "Day to get ready for Sun-n-nday" so I need to start laundry and vacuum, and all that other stuff.
The good thing for the day is I will have Gage and Luke for part of the day while Jinger and the baby get some rest.

I'mmmm Back!

Haven't posted for awhile for lots of reasons but decided I needed to go ahead and do it today while I have a few minutes.

It was nice weather for a couple of days, sunny, fairly warm and the icicles fell off or melted so I could see out my north windows again. And then it has decided to blow like a hurricane every afternoon!! We had snow again today too, but not enough to stick.

I keep telling myself that spring will come, but I don't really believe it anymore.

Gary has been sick with the upper resp. flu stuff that is going around so bad here. He refused to go to the doctor, just used his nebulizer and slept alot for the last week. He had me pretty scared when his fever was high for a couple of days and he is still coughing like crazy, but he is still alive! Now Jinger and all 3 boys are sick too....yes, even the baby!!

My grandson wanted me to paint a dragon scene on his bedroom wall so I've been working on that for a couple of days. One to sketch it out on the wall in pencil and then today I painted it. He wanted some metallic paint so parts are kind of shiny, but he likes it. I still need to do the mountain background, etc., but I'll finish it up next week.

Then on the way home I saw these swans in the river and had to take a picture of them..so peaceful and graceful looking.

Now I'm going to go sit with my feet up and then fix dinner and watch CSI.

"Finding Joy Therein"

I heard the phrase "Find Joy Therein" the other day and I've been thinking about it a lot since. What does it mean? How can I find joy? What gives me joy?
Then I found the cartoon above and although I laughed at first, I realized that it really applies to the questions I had about joy!
Think I'm crazy? Yes, of course I am, crazy, goofy and loony too, but I do have my serious moments and serious thoughts occasionally.
Joy comes from many, many things. Last night Carl brought his little family over and I was filled with joy being able to hold their new baby and smell his sweet baby freshness. I felt joy in tickling and cuddling Luke and rubbing Gage's little feet.
Joy mingled with sadness looking at pictures of Damon's family on their website. Joy that their family does such fun things together and sadness that they live so far away.
There is joy in feeling that a prayer has been answered and feeling the touch of the Holy Spirit.
And as in the cartoon above, there is joy in finishing a job, reaching a goal and knowing that you did the best you could do.
We as human beings compare ourselves to others and feel like we either fall short or that we are better than them. We often feel we did the wrong thing or failed to prepare for the task ahead of us.
But if we just try, if we just keep working and if we have faith in our Father and in ourselves we can do it.
And then we feel joy.
What do you think???

Imprisoned By Snow and Ice

This is the view out our deck to the northwest. The snow is about 3-4 feet deep and level with the top section of the deck.

This is the view out our kitchen sink window looking north towards the swing set in the back yard.

This is the view to the north out my kitchen window by the dining table.

The sun did shine for about 15 minutes this afternoon. No wonder I read so many books in the winter.

Back to the Routine

Good morning!

We had snow again overnight and I was pretty bummed out when I got up to see fresh snow, but then I heard the snow blower going and I felt bad that I had slept in while Gary was already out working.

Anyway, now that the new baby business has settled down, and Jinger's mom is here to take care of her for this week, I am back on schedule with the exercise routine. Kyle is doing fine and brothers really love him!

Actually, I've stepped it up alittle.

I went up a level on the bike (using level 2 on the hill climbing setting) and doing intervels on the threadmill (slow & steady, then fast and hard) and I was surprised to know that I could actually do it. I can walk a full mile now and yes I do sweat and breathe hard, but it is good for me and I feel better all day afterwards.

I am down to 234 now, a 16 pound loss.

The down side is that I am finding more wrinkles on my face now because the fat isn't filling them in anymore!!

Guess I'll look like this pretty soon!

Must Be Tired

I must be really tired today. Can't seem to get up the energy to do much of anything.

It is still white everywhere you look and I just want to go somewhere warm and sunny and soak up the sun on a warm beach. I wouldn't even care if I got sunburned!!

Miracles

Each new baby born is of course a miracle!
So tiny and perfect with 10 fingers, 10 toes and everything else in perfect order.
But this tiny little brother, brought new testimonies of faith to his little family and extended family.
His mom felt that something was different last week when she went for her check-up. An ultrasound showed that the baby was breach...head up instead of down. She would probably need to have a C-section.
She asked for a blessing, and it was given and the words "This baby will be born healthy and strong" was a great comfort to all listening.
She was told that if she started into labor to come right away to the hospital so they could do the procedure. Another ultra-sound found the little guy had turned!! 1st miracle!!
So the next 23 hours went slowly, and painfully for mom. Finally dad felt the time was right and another blessing was given "Your body will release this baby to come into the world healthy and strong" and within the next 45 minutes and 3 pushes......Kyle Ryder Andreasen was here!
Some of you may not think these were miracles, but I do.
Miracles are all around us everyday, we just need to see God's hand in the things of beauty.
May God bless you with miracles today and everyday!

Update

Been babysitting Gage and Luke alot the past few days. Jinger found out the baby is upside down inside and she's been struggling with giving up natural child birth.
I feel bad for her, having to give in to the miracles of modern medicine when she wanted to do it by herself.
It has also been snowing alot and I wish there were some modern miracle to make it stop, but actually it is the miracle of cloud seeding that is making it snow so we will have enough water for the summers and all the crops.
I wish there was a miracle to be fit and healthy and skinny too, but when it comes right down to it... hard work and sacrifice are what works.
Seems like someone else is doing the planning for us and knows what is best for us and the world around us in the long run.
Ya think??

Tough Idaho Boys

These two tough guys can stand the cold!!

And they are not afraid to act goofy either!!
Sunny but only 32* outside today!!
Of course after we took these pictures they had to get their coats back on!!