Saturday Snapshot: Cute and Weird

CUTE: Bright eyed Kaia

WEIRD: Kojo the earless dog

Saturday Snapshot: Brothers

Terran and his brothers this past fall. Terran, Wes, and Arlin fell victim to No Shave November. Wade made a narrow escape from the whiskers.

Growing Memories

I was looking at my garden trying to decide where to start weeding (yes, I have so many weeds I need to pick a spot to start) this past week when I saw a little plant that is not a weed. It was a little watermelon plant tucked in among the onions growing quite happily. I was a little surprised at first, because we didn’t plant any watermelon this summer, but willing to accept the little guy. Then I started looking and watermelon plants were growing everywhere, under the tomato plants, next to the peppers, in the walk way, and with the weeds. How did this happen I wondered, looking around. We’ve never had a watermelon invasion before and I was stumped. Slowly it came back to me…a warm summer afternoon, people’s laughter, good natured teasing, and sweet juicy fruit.

My Mom and brother Ben came to stay at our house while Terran and I were on vacation in May and then stayed the next week with us. We had a lovely time with them and a watermelon seed spitting contest was part of the fun. We all lined up on the patio and spit the seeds into the garden as far as we could. None of us guessed that the seeds would germinate and grow into the baby plants that have claimed our garden as home.

These plants make me wonder what kind of seeds I plant in life. When the seeds I plant start to grow into plants and make themselves known do they bring a smile or frown? What kind of fruit do they bear? Sweet or tart?

Now these little watermelon plants probably won’t bear any physical fruit at all, because it’s late in the season, but they give me a smile every time I see them. Bringing me back the sweet memory of a time shared in laughter with family.

Naomi

Saturday Snapshot: Bird Nursery

Terran and I in May spent a week vacationing in New Mexico. It was a nice blend of camping and staying in hotels, giving us a bit of rustic and comfort.

One of the nights we stayed in a state camp ground that was a lovely surprise. We had SHOWERS, space to ourselves, and the cool desert night to aid us in sleep. What we hadn't counted on was the bird nursery right outside our tent. 4 am dawned with the screeches, squawks, and chirps that would have done a chicken farm proud. Unfortunately as the sky went from dark blue, to lighter hues of blue and pink our little winged alarm clocks only got louder declaring the day officially started.

After sleep's blurriness had left our eyes we watched the busy parents feed their never satisfied young. Flying back and forth from the nest in their effort to fill growing bellies. When the caffeine from morning coffee kicked in Terran and I agreed it was a wonderful start to the day.

Naomi

July 4th Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day weekend. Ours was brimming full with three BBQ's starting Friday evening and continuing over the weekend. We also made time for a 9 mile run/bike ride with friends, pie making, and a day to ourselves.

Turkey Flats, one of the most lovely spots we go during the summer. It stays cool and green the whole season making it perfect for a run and some biking this past weekend.

Resting after my run. While Terran and his biking buddies regal each other with their memorable trail moments. Turkey Flats is one of those trails that leaves you with plenty of stories.

Terran holding the new little girl of a friends at the family BBQ. We've known this little ones dad since he was a preteen and are feeling our age a seeing him as a husband and father.

Terran and I on a walk on "our day". I'm so glad after the fun and busy weekend that we set aside some time just for ourselves. Kojo and Kaia also enjoyed the time out playing in the water and wrestling for sticks.

Enjoying the moments,

Naomi

Saturday Snapshot

This is our nephew Kaiser on his 1st birthday. He had a pirate themed party and loved his chocolate treasure chest with goodies. Personally, I think that he is the treasure, a very sweet treasure.

I'm hoping to make this Saturday snapshot a regular thing. We shall see...I just like being out and living life too much to always take time to write about it. :)

An Opportune Moment

We have ribs about to go on the grill and potatoes roasting in the oven. Our house is fairly picked up (if the doorbell rang right now I wouldn't be scurrying to hide the mess) and homework is pretty much done. I don't think a better moment to write is going to come along in the next couple weeks.

The news on the bugs is we never saw a one on Kaia or in the house after my frantic cleaning. Thank goodness!!!!

Major count down for the last day of school this semester has begun around here. I have two weeks of classes left and then two final days and I'm finished for the summer. To say I am ready is an understatement. I am VERY, VERY ready to be on my own time again. I don't have a bunch of classes, but our life is a little busier this semester and hasn't had a good flow. Signs of summer break coming... a summer reading list under my math book, a couple races on the calender to train for, a vacation the end of May, and a garden tilled and waiting for more then just spinach and lettuce to be planted.

Times like this when I'm waiting for the end of something and to finish well is going to take time and work. I always think of Paul writing about running the good race. So much of the race is how we finish when we're tired and the end is almost in sight. I want to be a good runner whether in school or running some other race in life.

Sorry to go all serious. I guess it reflects my mindset right now.

Counting the days,

Naomi

PLAN B

I had not planned on waiting so long before I posted and was all geared up to share stories and pictures, but my plan A fell to the wayside. I got sick, had a couple big tests, and then left for a visit with my family. Now here I am a couple weeks later with the last days of my Spring break slipping away under piles of laundry and baths for the dogs.

I know….sounds like lame reasons for not writing more, but we have a time sensitive issue. Kaia when hiking this past week got into some bugs and now has bites. At least we think they are bites and being myself, this means that ALL the bedding must be washed (even though the dogs are not allowed on the beds or furniture), the dogs bathed, and every bit of carpet vacuumed. The thought of bugs in my house is awful to me and the thought of bugs on my cute little dogs is almost as horrifying. I am on the WAR path and no insect shall prevail!




Wish me luck,

Naomi

A New Beginning

After months of silence I have decided that I needed a blog face lift and a fresh start. This cloudy, snowy day while Russia beats the Czech Republic in Olympic Ice Hockey is as good a time as any. So here I am to see if there are any readers left and if there aren't to share anyway, because I feel the need to send my voice into cyberspace.

I'm going to post this so I can admire my new look with a current post on it,

Naomi

Remembering....

I started this blog four years ago today, tough I'm not always consistent about blogging I'm still here. I remember my first post as if it was yesterday and being very emotional about it, as it was and still is close to my heart. I find today that its emotion and heart is still real, I still have the same emotions and thankfulness. Though, now it not only includes my brother who has served two tours in Iraq, but also my sister who is serving there now.

"I have spent more time thinking about Veterans Day today than I ever have before. I've always been grateful to the men and women that have fought for this country, cried during war films, and read books telling of their daring deeds. But today as my brother is on a plane heading for Iraq, I'm humbled by those that would count the cost and go to a foreign country to fight for my freedom. Because of them I can each day get up and lead my life as I feel led not having to fear for my safety or fear a government that tries to dictate what I believe or where I put my faith. What I see today is a little red head boy that I've played with and fought with all my life on a gray army plane going to continue the fight for me, just like he did when we were little and the neighborhood bully (yes, every neighborhood has a bully) would try to pick on us. Because of him, I feel like I have come to a better understanding of this day. It's no longer a date set aside for faceless soldiers fighting wars I don't remember, because my soldier has a face and this war I will remember." November 11, 2004

Thank you Jon, I love you!

Thank you, Salome (and Kaitlyn for not having your Mommy around all these months) I love you both.

Thank you also Daddy for serving so many years in the Air Force and setting a wonderful example of what is to love ones country.

Naomi

Where is your Muse hiding?

Today at church my Pastor commented that my Muse must have left me, because I haven't posted in so long. It's true that it has been a VERY long time, but like I told my pastor I have had homework. My Muse has been busy helping me to write an essay on the effects of Cholera in the cells of the gut and the body. Not very nice I can promise you and will spare you all the grisly details. While I have stuffed my head full of the organelles of the cell and their functions, read and re-read about electrons, protons, and neutrons, always marveling at the incredible way that God created our body; it's been there.

As I struggle with variables, factors, polynomials it teases me with word pictures, dancing around me with words while I work. It won't let my mind rest only on numbers, but pesters me about all the stories that are waiting to be written. Then we wrestle with me coming out the winner as the alarm buzzes at a 5:40 am and I'm out the door by 7 am with my book bag. Leaving my Muse to watch from the window as I drive down the road to the place called Higher Learning.

Still here,

Naomi

Don't Give Up

I am going to blog again! Keep checking, because I will return soon. Summer is always a struggle for me. We get so busy living and I don't write about the things that we have been doing or are doing. It's a time when I don't want to just write about life, but want to be out there living life. Hope that makes sense..:)

Getting ready for a come back,

Naomi

Life Is A Gift

" Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

Matthew 6:26

Meeting Kaiser Simon

Last Monday we drove to Montrose to meet our newest nephew, Mark and Tamara's little one. We have been waiting and waiting to meet Kaiser and he was worth waiting for. Such a precious treasure.

Meeting Uncle Terran ( i love this picture)

Melting Auntie's heart (look at his red hair)

A sweet little bundle

Waving bye bye

Naomi

The Constant Gardener

I look around in the garden I live in at all the other rose bushes beautiful and full of blooms of life. All so similar yet so unique, each carefully tended by the Gardener. I look at my own bush, bursting full of color and beauty, then I see a grafted branch and I waver, questioning it's need and the scars it's going to leave. I don't see this graft on many other bushes, yet the Gardener is carefully tending this spot on me. He coaxes life into this intruding branch that is so different from all the others. I see buds on it that look to hold a different color from all the blooms on my bush. I struggle within asking should I allow the sap of my life to continue in this area or should I cut it off, allowing it to wither. Then the Gardener comes applying balm to the tender spots of the graft, promising it will all be okay, that He knows the beauty that those tiny buds hold. To cut them off from life giving sap would destroy some of the greatest beauty on my bush. Though those flowers will burst into color with some pain and heartache it will be good, not just good , but the best that He has.
I look to the bush next to me, so closely entwined with mine that there are no longer two bushes, but one and wonder at the pain and joy this graft will bring him. The Gardner gently works the ground around the roots and asks for trust that though these buds will be so different from others, and looked upon at times as lacking or not quite right, they will the most fragrant.
How can the plant tell the Gardener “No”? When He knows what each bud holds, the weather that is coming, and sees the whole garden, not just the few bushes I do. How can I struggle against the Creator when He has promised “ All things work together for the good of those that love Him”? No, I must embrace the graft, even though I don't understand it and all that it may mean. Take the pain and joy it will bring and give Him the glory.

Naomi

Star Crossed Lovers

All morning I've been watching this little sparrow and robin together. At first I thought that the sparrow was following the robin for the worms the robin would catch and maybe drop. Talking to my neighbor she told me that they have had a little romance going on all last week. After she told me that I saw the whole relationship with new eyes. Take a peak and see what I mean. (You might want to enlarge the pictures to see more details.)

"I'll take care of you, Sweet Wings and find a worm."

"Yep, you and me togther, that's the way its got to be."

"I will follow you wherever you may go."

Enjoying a Spring Romance,

Naomi

Disarray and Life In Between Part 1

This post is going to be a little bit of catching up,

which is something I could do on lots and

lots of stuff. Thank you for all the well-wishes on

my history test. It went really, really well. I am

now studying for my last test and then SUMMER

BREAK. Yipee!!!!



One morning while we were in the middle of our first big melt (not that we get that much snow, but this year it all stuck around until the middle to end of January) I was in the shower thinking about my first real day of class when I felt IT. A drip of icy cold water fell on my head. I looked up and our ceiling was leaking cold, cold water on me.



When I rushed to call Terran, who was having a vacation weekend working with his dad logging,

a gush of water flowed from our office ceiling on to our printer.

This was the untimely beginning of our disarray and the fun that followed. We called someone after the weekend was over to come out and look at our house, scheduling them to fix it a few weeks later.

We couldn't use our office or our bathroom in the time that followed. I never knew how spoiled I was having a bathroom in our bedroom until it wasn't there. An en suite has become the standard for any house that we own.

Our office was completely empty for the time that followed, delaying taxes, and everything else that one uses an office for. One good thing is that I file in piles of paper and those were quite easy to transport to a different room.

Thankfully all things must come to an end and our house work ended on a beautiful, sunny day in March the middle of at the end of my spring break.

Silver Linings....

1. The men that worked on the house were careful of our things and not one cuss word the whole two weeks.

2. Terran was able to come home and break up the ice that was melting into our house. I have to add to this one, that I was able to get back off the roof by myself when I was trying to fix things on my own. A very BIG deal!

3. Our neighbors through their $10,000 worth of water damage were able to give us the name of a good company.

4. That we had a savings account to pay for this, because our insurance wouldn't have covered it, since it was in two different areas of the house.

5. That our water damage wasn't $10,000 worth.

6. A couple spots looked better after they were through, than when the orginal work was done.

Loving my bathroom,

Naomi

What Have You Been Up To?

Lots and lots of things seem to be begging for attention right now and I would have a list as long as my arm if I were to answer my own question. I actually think the list would be longer than my arm, because it's not very long.

I am slowly working on a little life update, but have not finished it. I have had feelings of great shame when I think how long it's been since I've posted, especially since my Pastor told me to get busy and post. I decided to just do it and post.

The above photo shows what has been taking up a lot of my time the last little while and a great majority of it this last week. I have a history essay exam on Friday and have my work cut out for me. My last essay was on Ancient Greece and it was alive for me, thus it stayed in my memory for the test. This time it's on the Roman Republic, Roman Empire, and early Europe and I'm struggling. I don't know why, but it's not alive for me the way Greece was and it's taking a lot of extra effort to pound all the places and people into my mind. One consolation is that I LOVE this class and think in the end with a lot of mental elbow grease it'll come out ok.

Hitting the books again,

Naomi

A Life of Thankfulness and Love

When the new year was upon us I decided I wanted this year to be one of conscious thankfulness. So often we miss little things and some big things to be thankful for, especially when life is busy or difficult. I didn't know the challenges that were coming when I decided this and the last little while has been a bit difficult. I have had to make a real conscious effort to be thankful in some moments.

I thought today as we celebrate love and our loved ones that I would share some of the things I have to be thankful in my life.

My husband, this man adds a great dimension of joy to my life

My nieces and nephews, who are very sweet.

Can't forget the wonderful four legged buddies that add a lot of laughter and cuteness to the days.

Lord, let me breathe deeply of the life You have given. May all the lovely blessings you have given me allow me to see Your love a little more clearly. I also ask that the trials and hard days teach me to rest in Your steadfast shelter. Let me not become blind to what You are teaching and desiring to do in the hard palces. Thank you for Your everlasting faithfulness. I am so grateful that You called me out of the darkeness by name.

Naomi

Hunting

Both Terran and I have always had some kind of hunting in our lives. For me it was trying to explain beaver carcasses in our garage to my friends from my Dad trapping during my early years, and watching him skin grouse from shooting trips later on.
Terran had a completely different experience. His Dad was a hunting guide during Terran's early years with his Mom cooking for the camp. Later on he would walk out his back door to get deer on their property, and enjoyed long trips with his Dad for sheep and elk.
During our second year of marriage we went on our first hunting trip together. It was cold, long, and successful with us getting a cow elk our last day, since then we have gone some years and not others. Some successful and others not depending on the time of year and our hunting luck. This past fall was a successful trip.

This is my view on most of our trips (quite a good one of you ask me). I follow the Master Hunter carrying our supplies and trying to staunch the flow of the 20,000 plus words I speak on a daily basis as a woman. Yep, hunting is hard work for a girl!!

After walking quite a while we see wild life. Not what we are after, but wild life all the same. Look closely, it's hard to spot.

We keep looking, being diligent to walk miles and miles over the three days it took us this season to find the elk we were looking for.

WARNING - WARNING - WARNING

If you are hemophobic, doraphobic, belong to PETA, marched to save the whales, wear a t-shirt claiming the spotted owl is your cousin, or cried when Bambi's mom was killed please do not scroll down.

After our fruitless days of hunting we finally got a cow elk and worked together to get her skinned and ready to go to the butchers.

After moving all 322 lbs of our cow in only two trips using our special sled we were ready to eat.

Elk it's what's for dinner.

Proud to wear orange,

Naomi