Daylight Fades

We are blessed with a wonderful backdrop for photos right out our back door. We are also blessed by such beautiful sunsets. These are just a few of the many sunsets in our collection. I know Michael took this first picture, but since we often trade off on these photos, I can't say with complete certainty which of the others are mine.

Attempted breaking & entering

Hard at work...

Caught!

Showing off...

Back to work...

A decided that she wanted something out of N's room. In order to help protect N's things, we put on a doorknob cover. A discovered once that she could use a pencil to pop off the cover. This time the thing that gave was not the cover, but the pen...

Reading Level

Found this neat little thing on a friend of Laura's blog. (Laura is Michael's sister)

I'm not sure how this works, but I thought it was pretty cool for a high school grad! However, I think the reading level goes down with the more pictures I add...

Pictures

YAY!!! I have discovered that Michael has the same photo software on his computer that I have on mine! So I can post pictures again!!!

YIPPEE!!!

Rachel

Let me tell you about my sister...

She is 17 months younger than me and I picked on her mercilessly throughout our childhood. I have since apologized and I hope she has forgiven me. We took dance classes together and had Sunday School together every other year. I think she was known as "Julie's sister" until she was in middle school/ high school. In high school, on occasion, I was referred to as "Rachel's sister", but it was infrequent at best.

Rachel has since graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Chemistry. (she is the book smart one! I have other talents) She married and has 3 adorable boys who keep her busy. And they are adorable because they are my nephews & I can send them home.

Now, Rachel is starting a new adventure. She has become an Independant Silpada Designs Representative. If you are looking for Christmas gifts, I know where you can find some! You can go to http://www.mysilpada.com/sites/rachel.salazar and find some beautiful jewelry.

I love you Rachel and I wish you the best as you begin this new business!

Blessings abound

I was in Old Navy the other day because they had a really good clearance sale. I figured I'd look for some nice pants that I could wear to church since I only have one pair of nice pants. I didn't find any that I felt comfortable enough in to justify spending almost $20 on them.

Tonight, a woman in our church came to me and told me that she had been praying that God would show her someone about her size that she could give a couple of bags of clothes to. Apparently, as she was praying, I walked into the sanctuary and she knew that she needed to give me the clothes.

I thought she was talking about maybe a couple of WalMart bags or a couple of paper bags. Instead, she brought 2 trash bags over to our truck. You know, those BIG, black trash bags. The 33+ gallon trash bags. I was speechless. (and yes Mom, I did say thank you!)

All I could think was "Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!"

As I sorted through the bags, many of the items were way too big for me. (YAY!!) But then, I came across some items that looked as though they might fit. Of course I tried them on and modeled them for Michael because he is sometimes my best judgement on how something looks.

I now have 2 new, dressy shirts and 3 new skirts. Just what I needed for this winter as I work on losing weight.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Arrrgh!

The screen on my computer is toast! Done. Dead. You name it.

My laptop was, fortunately, closed when it slid off the dining table a couple of days ago. When we picked it up and turned it on, there were all sorts of pretty colors and patterns, however, nothing I could really use.

So, until I get the computer looked at, I am using Michael's computer. Which I don't really know how to use all that well, since, ya know, it isn't mine.

Of course, I may just get the cable to hook it up to our TV. That would save the expense of repairs or a new laptop. The one Michael's looked at after this happened was about $1600. But it did have an 18.4 inch screen. Since he wanted me to have a bigger screen for my pictures, I figured that the cable would be the most cost effective option. After all, we have a 42 inch screen on our TV. That should be big enough, right?

PAIL Remembrance Day

October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. A day set aside by our federal government to remember the babies who are lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, and as an infant.



If you know of someone who has lost a baby, give them an extra thought, hug, or prayer on October 15th. You acknowledging their loss could just make their day.

Overheard...

"I've got a light saber"

"But I need a gun."

"Use my Transformer."

"The bad guys are here."

"Shoot them."

[photos added]


Did I have boys or girls??

Photo Challenge # 3

I realized that I had not posted my photo challenge during the last 2 weeks. Our challenge was signs or walls.

I liked the marker floating out in the water as we made our way toward either Ocracoke Island or Cape Hatteras. Not your typical sign, but yet still something that points us on our way. It makes me think of the signs that God places in our lives. The markers that tell us we are on the right path. How many times do we (I) ignore those signs?


As stated in a previous post, a Nova that "runs good" makes me laugh!

Ironic

So, Michael's mom & my mom talked and they decided that my blogging was much more important than Michael playing XBOX.

After Michael's parents headed back home, I got on the computer to do some blogging and Michael started up the XBOX. I had barely finished checking email when a window pops up to tell me that one or more networks were detected near my computer. Did I want to connect?

Ummm.....of course I want to connect! So, after a few days of our wireless internet connection disappearing moments after the XBOX is turned on, Michael finally figured out what was going on.

The few days that I put up with it, I got pretty frustrated. After all, here I am trying to upload pictures and update my readers. Not to mention that a friend of mine is going through an extremely difficult situation and I was trying to stay updated with her. (think life & death literally!)

However, I have just connected to OUR internet connection, not someone else's, AND the XBOX was still on!

YAY for Michael!!!

And by the way, Larissa & Peter could use all the prayers they can get. Thanks!

Nova

Nova (no va) in Spanish (loosely translated) means that it won't work. Seeing a Nova that "runs good" just made me laugh.

The view from the top

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was our last stop on Thursday before the hotel and dinner. For a total of $14, Michael, N & Martha were allowed to climb to the top of the lighthouse. Because of my knees and 256 or 257 steep steps, I chose to remain on the ground. So, the following pictures were taken by Michael from the lighthouse.

This house was the assistant keeper's cottage. I think I liked this one better.
I'm not sure what Michael was looking at, but it is a beautiful view.
Probably my favorite. We got to the lighthouse at 3:45 in the afternoon. The shadow is incredible. I didn't notice it from the ground, but Michael got this wonderful picture.

Clouds and ducks

We looked outside one evening to see this beautiful sky. In the intrest of being totally honest, I am not sure if I actually took this picture. Michael & I both took pictures that night.
This one is definitely mine. Michael was at work. :)
Once again, possibly mine. Possibly Michael's...
The fighting ducks. There were several across the street from the Ocracoke Lighthouse. These two males just started fighting. The female in the picture paced back and forth as they fought.
These two just ignored the others as they fought.

Girls

At the park. I wore a long sleeve shirt and A had on a dress. What I had not counted on was the wind. 30+ mph blowing across water is COLD!!! So, the sweet girl got a jacket and I shivered. Fortunately, my camera has an anti-vibration feature...



Michael's parents came for a visit this past week. On Thursday we took a ferry ride to Ocracoke Island. N was busy working on her journal of the trip. Outside the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.
Our hotel had this great tree in the front. The tree branch was almost parallel to the ground and the chair under the branch was just the right height to climb into the tree. So, I did what any good Mommy would do. I grabbed the girls & put them in the tree. Then I took pictures. At least this time I didn't have to worry about ripping A's dress...

Happy Happy Birthday!!

Happy birthday to my sweet SIL, Shery & to Michael's mom, Martha!