1. I used to wait so impatiently, but now am more mindful
2. Getting to know airports- each has its own personality
3. Ava doing so well in multiple planes
4. My husband helping SO much
5. Friendly strangers
6. The moisture in the air back home
7. Ava getting to see “east coast grandma”
8. Our house
9. Ava crawling around, laughing and happy
10. This moment

Had a great day with 6 month old twins today. Grateful they are sharing life with me. Also grateful for the following:
1. Finally came up with an analogy (which makes sense to me) regarding why it is usually not a good idea to look for advice or answers to major “issues” from close family members. People like Mom and Dad, or siblings, etc… A trusted advisor once told me this “stop going to your parents for answers or advice on these issues” they won’t give you the best answers. Let’s say I decided to write a book, and once it was completed, I wanted someone to review it and give feedback. If I gave it to Mom or Dad or Brother or Sister, I would get feedback which lacked objectivity. Whereas if I gave it to t close and trusted friend, I may get feedback I do not want to hear, but feedback I need to hear. While all family dynamics are different, I think finding solutions to our major life issues (or getting objective review of our books!) is best found outside the family unit. And I am not saying to hide our problems from our families, just that they are best suited to provide support and no so much solutions. For this insight, I am grateful.

• Today..last day of a pleasant summer
• Hearing the 6:00 a.m. plane taking off as we do each morning…
• …but today it had our loving family aboard
• Missing them already and the baby..her voice..her expressions
• A surprise!…
• …like finding an abundant basket on Easter Sunday!
• Being absolutely energized by family visits
• Grateful for our family all coming together
• Enjoying reading an out-of-state newspaper
• “It’s not what we gather but what we scatter that tells what kind of life we have lived.”

Very Grateful for~

God’s gentleness with me
A nice audience
Lots of hugs!
The growing feeling of security
growing assurance that it is ok to say “no”
Judy’s inclusive spirit
a smallish writing job and the efficiency of the project manager
Garrett’s advice that it is ok
getting up and getting on the treadmill before I remember something to do
a positive phone interview

Lenses can help you look — but it’s stillness that helps you see. ~Ann Voskamp

1. My boy came home today, after six days with my parents

2. Getting a giant hug <3

3. Leaves starting to change

4. Cooking healthy meals

5. Forgiveness

6. Sharing

7. Growing

8. Choices

9. Reading on the front porch

10. Being organized…I am not quite organized, but I am getting better. :)

1. My aunt Vera
2. My aunt Cathy
3. Healing conversations
4. A herd of antelope by the road
5. Deer in town, and it’s normal
6. Loving being around positive people
7. Using different language to talk about the same thing
8. Happy exhaustion
9. Family
10. Gpa’s always getting Ava to smile
11. Gma’s sweet way with the baby
12. All the hard work she put in to making our trip wonderful
13. The big sky
14. Teething rings, specially picked out by gpa
15. This beautiful moment

• Family
• Love!
• Ahh…Huge Hugs in person!
• Baby we can only describe in heartbeats
• How a baby is so alert and curious and everything in the world around is new
• Baby pictures of mom, daughter, granddaughter all looking the same
• Fun on the carousel
• Multi-colored ribbons
• Stopping the car and waiting for mama duck and her five little ones to cross the road
• Stopping again for a bear crossing the road
• “A Nighttime Trip to Planet Nuf”   Mayra Porrata & Crystal Pirri

1. God

2. Pharmacies

3. conveniently located

4. Talking it out

5. Being willing to admit mistakes and apologize

6. (“Apologize! Pull out his eyes! Apologize!”) Not.

7.Talking to Renee and learning remarkable things about her

8. The poster I saw with the man in the lab coat, the words read “Everyone you meet knows something you don’t.  Talk to them.”

9. Electricity

10. Erica’s article directed at librarians, though her remarks about self-pacing and attention apply widely

1. God’s unfailing love for me

 2. All the miracles that God has manifested in my life

3.  God’s unending faithfulness

4. The unfailing Power of Prayer

5. Always having enough to eat

1. Plans to wake up a sleeping baby (!!!) in a few hours to see the Milky Way
2. White Sulphur Springs, Montana
3. The hot springs pool, which is heaven
4. Taking a walk to the bridge with my little girl, like my parents used to do with me
5. The friendly horses that came up to the fence
6. A cafe in the middle of cowboy country that served veggie burgers!
7. The way EVERYONE waves
8. Ava liked the water and even splashed a bit
9. Seeing the castle on the hill
10. Now now now now now