Obvious thankfulness

The rest of my Thankful(s)....

Thanksgiving morning I posted about the not-so-obvious things I'm thankful for, so after a weekend of family and celebration I thought I'd share some of the photo's of more blessings. 

If you missed my 1st post the link for that is below.

https://jackie000.blogspot.com/2018/11/give-thanks-for-not-so-obvious.html

I'm so thankful for my family. 

I do the Turkey and mashed potatoes the day before, especially with a large group.

Thats what crock pots are for, right?

The main table

We had 15 family members this year.

It isn't Thanksgiving without some pie eating.

Our Carson is loving himself some pumpkin pie.

My Birthday fell on the day after Thanksgiving this year 

so we all went our for a birthday dinner Friday night.

Our son Brice and his family came and stayed with us until Saturday afternoon.

the cousins were able to have some quality playtime over the weekend.

My 2 sweet grand girls

All 4 of them  <3 p="">

 Saturday morning, this guy LOVES his ahh-pa (grandpa)

 Lew was "helping" me make scrambled eggs.

It's always so quite when the kids leave, too quiet!

 We sit and relax and reminisce about out grandkids and kids!

We are thankful for our 3 grown children out son-in-love and Daughter-in-love, 

and those beautiful amazing grandkids...... That's just obvious thankfulness.

Hanging on to the single digits.....

Happy Birthday to a very special girl

Because of her....

... at the young age of 48

 I received the title "GRANDMA"

... my "Jojo" as I so fondly call her.

9 looks good on you sweet girl!

This is one of my favorite photo's of Audrey. 

I took it last summer in the woods near our cabin.

This little one is growing up fast... too fast
I see a beautiful sweet soul, a little girl with a lot of energy. 

A mind that is thinking, and a heart that is loving.

What a blessing it has been to be so close to you, to be so involved in your life.

Love our special dates to Caribou.

I pray for you every morning!

God is watching over you sweet girl, I know because I asked Him to.

I look forward to watching you grow into the person God intends for you to be,

You are often in my thoughts, and always in my heart, 

I love you Jojo.  ~ Grandma

Be~Still~My~Heart

It is what it is....

Minnesota Winters....thoughts?

I think the first thing that comes to mind for most is.... "TOO LONG". 

At least that's what I hear in conversations around me.  

Since it is officially Spring, I will give those who dislike winter the benefit of the doubt.

BUT... I must set the record straight.

I keep hearing that we have had 6 month of winter and people are "sick of it".

Well to set the record straight, this was the picture of "winter" in November....

This was November 27th, the high for the day was 60 degrees. 

I dont think we can count November (at least this season) as a month of winter.

Therefore, December-January-February-March and 4 days of April have involved snow and cold.

 That's 1/3 of the year folks, NOT 6 months like I hear some saying. 

Now that I've got that off my chest, I will sympathize with those who have "had enough"!

Yes.... it is Spring and when we think of spring we think of flowers, more time outdoors 

warmer temperatures and putting in the garden. 

Be patient my friends for without winter first, there would be no spring. 

Here's my take on winter.

I love it....probably my second favorite season behind fall.

It slows me down, I am able to rest, enjoy peace & quiet and simple beauty is all around me.

The cold is invigorating, it's fresh and cleanses my senses.

I like sweaters, and jeans, but no socks....no socks.

I like to walk in the winter, I love road trips in the winter, the contrast is vivid and 

everything looks like high-definition to the naked eye.

No filter, no editing tickery... just plain old winter-contrast

I went for a drive this morning as I usually do after a big snowfall. I drive slow, 

I notice things around me, I appreciate the beauty of winter and country mixed together

A winter barn almost blends in with the snow

 Our official measuring spot,  almost 7 inches here in NW Rochester.

 My backyard, I love the snow weighted branches of our pine trees.

It would be hard to convince someone who's not from Minnesota that this is April.

Fear not those are heavy burdened...... 

the 50's are coming next week.... Spring IS on it's way  :)

If only I had a robotic arm extension...

How many of you have those kitchen cabinets with the 

corner cupboards that go so far back that you would have to have a 4 foot arm

 to reach to the things you need in the back?

P.S. "Lazy Susan's" are not the answer here, yes those are helpful but they are not without their own problems. Things fall off them, way in the back, so your still unable to reach back there, and you aren't able to utilize the full space of the cabinet.

The Blue arrow above shows the depth of the cabinet. 

This angle shows the back side of the cabinet, the breakfast nook.

Another view from the front side of the cabinet. That opening is also a problem, hard to tell here but it is very narrow,  throughout the years I had to send my kids in to get what I needed.

More recently It's become a frustration of mine so I talked to Rick about opening up the back side so 

things would be easy to get at.... I'm not getting any younger, 

and contorting my body into this crevasse is not fun.

This is a project that I would consider "out of sight, out of mind"...

at least for Rick who never has to get into this cabinet.

So a couple of gentle reminders last week and he was all over it.

 Cutting the hole in the back side is NOT as easy as it looks, but this guy can do anything.

The opening is done....and I'm excited

Doors are up and staining in progress.

My husband is the best! I shouldn't be surprised at what this guy can do. 

It's perfect and looks like it's always been this way. I was like a giddy housewife putting thing back in the cupboards, rearranging the heavy and most awkward things in the front (or should I say back)  :)

P.S. My guy did our flooring too! 

 Love my new cupboard, but I love my sweet husband more. 

Another example of the love he has for me.

LOVE is a verb 

 The finished "Look" 

On a side note I might add.... My guy also cleaned up all the dust he created on the upper level of the house. He also knows that one of my worst torments in life is dust, so he took care of it. 

Love is a verb

Sometimes you just want be random.

No specific theme to this blog post

I was just looking at photo's from the last few weeks and decided to share a couple.

Gavin playin' a tune while little Lewin stops in his tracks to dance.

Carson chatting with my sister while watching

 his 2nd cousin Jensen play volleyball .

Great-Grandpa Hemmer brings our the accordions and hands them to the little ones.

Step one: hand placement  :)

We don't get to see our cabin in the winter.

A few weeks ago friend (and up north neighbor) Ric sent this photo taken with his new drone.

Now we can see our cabin in the winter, thanks Ric!

These kids love their Grandpa! 

He's just so fun.

Coffee date and games with this precious one!

Love spending time with the grands

Someones daddy took his daughter ice fishing

My son is such an awesome dad!

My Heart

Life is good

Another year.... How will your 2018 look?

I think of the New Year as a new book with empty pages

 A book of the year to come, my life, and my dreams, my energy!

As I begin to compose the story of 2018 I think about things I hope to accomplish,

 who do I need to hug, and spend more time with?

My heart says I need to be more intentional with my free time, 

spend more time with those I love and enjoy more time with friends and family. 

 These are some of the ones who are very near and dear to my heart....my family

As I have gotten older I have realized that taking advise from those who are 

older and wiser with more life experience is so important! 

Why is it that we have to become older and wiser ourselves before we realize this?
Busted....yep I'm guilty. 

 Is it pride, is it that Know-it-all attitude we have in our 30's and 40's when we seem to heed the advice of strangers who write books on certain topics or write articles on social media. Yes books and article can be helpful and any information on a topic can be good, but...

why not ask the very people who love us and have had the life experiences before us, and possess knowledge in so many areas of life.

This weekend I loved the many conversations my oldest boy had with his dad.

 I couldn't help noticing how they hung out together, and covered many topics from 

family, to jobs, to finances to woodworking and design, I love my sons inquisitive nature and

 how attentive he is to his dad's advice and thoughts. 

When you hear a young adult exclaim something as if it's the first time it's ever been heard.... 

guess what, It's usually old news to those who have lived life a bit longer. 

So why not sit down with someone a little older and wiser, and ask their advice.

Advice doesn't mean that's what you have to go with, after all God gave us a mind, 

so use it with a little help from the aged and wise.

 I know as I get older that's exactly what I'm intending on doing.  

I'm not "old" yet, but I'm just starting to feel like I could maybe be the wiser one

 with some things that might be worth hearing.

The older and wise may not be with us forever......

A friend of mine died this week. 

Sherry lost her husband at a very young age with 3 small children. 

She never remarried and raised 3 wonderful kids by herself. 

She worked hard, she was strong, courageous and brave. 

She was 12 years my senior and I loved talking with her, she was caring, loving and generous!

 I miss her big smile, kind words and sweet sweet demeanor! 

She taught my kids about Jesus as their Sunday school teacher, she invited our family over at Christmas time so share a meal and create memories for our families. 

She beat cancer twice, but the third time was too much for her body to fight, and she went home the day after Christmas to be with her Lord and to be reunited with her husband.

I'm so thankful for her faith and her example of living her life like Jesus intended.

I miss you my friend!

How will your 2018 look, will you be more intentional with those you love.

I hope to be kinder, more positive, compassion, considerate, selfless, loving and maybe even a bit wiser  :)

Happy New Year to all my Family and friends,

May God bless you in this new year to come!