Together......what a blessing :)

Christmas was extra special at our house this year. It was the first time since 2006 that we were all together on Christmas day in our house! Truly a gift :)

I hope your Christmas was blessed and that Christ made His presence known in a special way.

There are lots of pictures in this post but wanted to share a bit of our week with you...........

Here are little peeks of Christmas decorating at our house:

A sweet picture of DJ & Dani before Christmas Eve service:

Sunday afternoon we went sledding up in the Snowbasin area about 20 minutes from the house. There was no sun at all but it was good sledding! It was fun to just spend some time together :)

I hope you're making some wonderful memories during whatever Christmas break you have!

God has been so faithful to us this year...especially in the moments when it's hard to keep persevering and remain content knowing He alone has everything under control.

Blessings to you and yours in 2011!

In Him We See Light

Last week I headed over to Beus Pond with the girls to take Danielle's school picture. We got there at a magical time........the sun was starting to go down and there was a golden hushed atmosphere.

My heart was in awe and I wanted to share with you :)

"For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light."

~Psalm 36:9

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS :)

Snapshots of Autumn

Leaf clean up week has arrived at our house!! The trees along our street are beautiful but they require a week or two of constant cleanup every fall.......

DJ and the girls cleaned up the side yard Friday

Our tree lined street is so nice to come home to in the fall!

The leaves dance as they fall to the ground


The very word autumn brings a sense of warmth, coziness, soft lamps, crackling fires, flickering candles and the tantalizing smells of cinnamon and pumpkin :)


I thought I'd share with you a couple spots in our house that have a touch of autumn. I guess my love of autumn shows up in the living room the most with lots of yellow and touches of cabin red! 

I've never regretted painting the living room yellow. It's like a warm hug!

I'm glad I took alot of pictures when we lived in Sicily. We love having reminders of our time there.



I love this shelf ....I won it when I was selling At Home America a couple of years ago and I almost got rid of it. I'm SO glad I didn't!



These chairs are often occupied with one of the kids reading

Thanksgiving is only a month away.......it's time to plan the menu and keep an ear out for people who might otherwise be alone on that special day.

Take a minute today to make note of 5 things you are blessed with in your life :)

Autumn in Utah

The drive up to Tony Grove Lake in Logan Canyon

Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year!! The blue sky like only fall can bring, crisp mornings and warm afternoons, colors that warm your soul, the smells that speak warmth and comfort like baked apples, cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin, cloves and nutmeg.

I love to be outdoors and enjoy any chance to head for the mountains!!

A little over a week ago I spent the day with my friends Laura and Deanna. We left at 8am and drove up to Ogden Valley. We took the Avon Road out of Liberty, which took us to Cache Valley.
What an amazing road. It takes you through ruggedly, beautiful country!

We dropped Laura off in Logan then headed up into Logan Canyon. Our destination for the day was Tony Grove Lake. 7 miles up from the main road. The elevation of the lake is 8100 feet! Always worth the drive :)

We ate lunch by the lake and soaked in the view! There were two chipmunks who weren't a bit shy and even tried crawling up our legs as we sat at the table!! No, we didn't feed them but obviously someone has!

I sure hope you have beautiful fall scenery to soak up wherever you are :)

Rustic - Avon Rd.

So pretty - Avon Rd.



This tree  is very striking - Avon Rd.



Fall colors reaching up - Avon Rd.

Blanket of maple leaves - Avon Rd.



Symphony of fading color - Tony Grove



View from our picnic table......I could have sat there all day!  - Tony Grove



Curious chipmunk...not shy at all! - Tony Grove



Pretty contrast - Tony Grove

What a cute little guy  - Tony Grove

A relaxing place to spend some time - Tony Grove

Beautiful Retreat

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to go on a womens retreat with my friend Laura and her church. It was a wonderful 3 days filled with laughter, powerful prayer time, beautiful scenery and contemplating what legacy God is calling me to leave with my life. I'm looking forward to sharing more about this weekend in future posts but for now I wanted to post a couple pictures from the weekend :)

The retreat was held in the Sun Valley area of Idaho. The retreat camp was in a pretty canyon filled with evergreens and a small river.

I love woodpiles! They evoke a sense of nesting and comfort to me :)



This was the  cabin that most of our group stayed in. Wouldn't it be beautiful painted cabin red with window boxes and a nice wood door?



A rustic bell tower outside the cabins





We spent a few hours in Haley, ID on Saturday afternoon.
I love the weathered building and red vines!

  


Every small town needs an old red truck :)



Bell tower to the Episcopal church

Episcopal church



I love this building....I was in a hurry so didn't go look to see if it was a church, old school building or maybe community center




I'm not sure what this building is either but it caught my eye.......Red is such a wonderful color :)





So peaceful







Bubbling Water




More Bubbling




I love how the water looks in this picture



Looking down the road from the camp

Fall colors :) The dead tree adds alot of texture.

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful autumn wherever you are!