Fall in its fullness.

 

The past few weeks have been full of fall joys: the sights of beautiful colors to soak in, scents of homemade cinnamon goodies fresh from the oven, the feel of a cool breeze on the face while warm sweaters and mittens are keeping you cozy, and the sounds of leaves crunching beneath your feet.

 

 

A few moments captured by my phone:

• A visit to Grandma and Grandpa's, complete with a walk admiring fall leaves and exploring an old barn, eating pizza and ice cream treats.
• Pumpkins bought from a coworker's little nieces to brighten the front porch and make my day.
• Homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch for a wonderful evening of Bible Study with a great group of friends.
• A 3 mile hike through the state park, then breathtaking views from the height of the fire tower.

 

 

Praise the Lord for His incredible display of glory this season and for His delight in bringing us such joy!

 

 

 

-Eliza

 

Oh Happy Day.

 

Fresh cut peonies from the garden.

 

A beautiful June Saturday spent with Grandma and Grandpa in the sunshine.

Oh Happy Day :)

 

 

"Teach me your way, O LORD,

and I will walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name."

Psalm 86:11 NIV

Intermission for Current Events

With lots of homework, painting the walls, ripping out carpet, living on beds in the middle of bare bedrooms and out of a closet in the living room (but that's for a later post), and other not-so-ordinary everyday happenings...we've been trying to keep up with the usual spring pace of life!

In the midst of all of this indoor activity, wondrously warm weather and little bits of spring are showing up!

This brave little flower has peeked out through the stones in our flower garden.

How beautiful!

~Eliza

Vacation {Part 5}

.the Sunset Cruise.

At Fisherman's Village we spontaneously decided to take in a sunset cruise on a river off of the Gulf. It was amazing!

(in the picture above: Dad and Katelyn are in front of our boat)

We were surprised with a visit from some dolphins who played alongside our boat.

Normally, they don't see dolphins on the sunset cruise, so it was extra special. The fact that only 2 other families were on the boat with us made it even easier to get so close to the dolphins that we could almost touch them! The louder you clap your hands, the higher they jump!

At one point, the captain announced that he would be playing some sunset music...let's just say we didn't expect what he put on, which made us laugh...it was great!

The crew was great and gave us candy canes! It seemed so funny to be eating candy canes, until we realized that Christmas was only a few days before...a fact we had obviously forgotten in the FL sunshine!

~Katelyn and Eliza

After the Rain

Everything seems so much brighter, greener, and newer after this long week of rain. As the sun began to set tonight, we went on a walk along the trail with Grandma...soaking in the warm rays of sunlight and spotting wildflowers left and right...wild roses, lilies, daisies...every once in a while, glimpsing a butterfly flutter by.

Walking in the bright and beautiful masterpiece of our amazing Creator is such a delight!

-

"May the glory of the LORD

endure forever;

may the LORD rejoice in his

works..."

Psalm 104:31

(We sure did stop to admire the many details of the flowers on our walk...and I sure did wish I had brought my camera...but I didn't! Instead, a picture of our blossoming garden at home will have to suffice ;)

~Eliza

Beauty

Our Creator places masterpieces in our lives that put us in awe of His glory!

Today I experienced this awe in the beauty around me...in the flowers, in the sunshine, and, yes, even in the bees!

There were TONS of bees in our garden! I tried to get a video to show just how many there were, but it didn't turn out that great. I'll post it anyway because it shows quite a few of them.

~Eliza

Itasca "Mini-Vacation"

I was telling my grandma yesterday about our family vacation that we squeezed in just 2 days before school started...she laughed and told me I should start planning one for next year so we have a little more time! ;)

Since we only had one day this summer where all 4 different schedules in this household were open long enough to go somewhere, we decided spur of the moment to take a short trip to Itasca State Park. It was soooo much fun to spend time together as a family relaxing and just enjoying God's incredible creation! When we arrived we decided to walk around for a bit and we came across the boat ride area. It sounded like a lot of fun, so we, again spur of the moment, decided to do it. :)

Mom and Dad

If you have really, really great eyesight you might be able to spy 2 bald eagles in this picture! :)

I think we saw 3 bald eagles and lots of loons.

After hearing all about the "Old Timer's Cabin" on our boat tour, we headed off on the bog walk to take a closer look at the HUGE logs that it is built with.

Finally, we went to go do what we had in mind to do in the first place...canoe on the lake!

Katelyn took a picture of me relaxing and tanning while Mom was on the lookout! ;)

(I paddled too...really, I did!)

The fun wasn't over yet---we weren't about to let this ONE day end so soon! ;) Next stop was an Italian Restaurant. DELICIOUS!

And that ends our wonderful vacation!

~Eliza

Lilies

With this hot weather, our lilies have finally bloomed!

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin..."

"...Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." Matthew 6:28,29

~Katelyn