Counting Our Blessings

This is what we could see right outside our window on Tuesday. There have been seven fires in different areas around the state in the last week. In fact, my own brother’s family and two of my nieces were evacuated from their homes when the flames came too close to their neighborhood across the lake.

But this new one–sheesh. How eerie is it to be able to see the red glow from the flames, in the smoke.

The next day, we could see this brave guy flying back and forth, back and forth–from the lake…

into the smoke. Our church leaders asked us all to please pray for the firefighters to be safe and to please, please, pray for rain.

Believe me–we prayed. In the middle of one of Miss Chompy’s prayer she said, “And bless the firefighters to be safe. Mom what’s a firefighter?” Pretty cute.

Then, this morning we woke up to a huge rushing sound in the yard. I sat up in bed at first, thinking it was the wind tearing through the rose bushes and rattling my windows.

I thought, Oh no, please–not wind.  But looking out the window, I saw–it wasn’t the wind…

it was RAIN! Funny, even after all the prayers, it still surprised me to see it. In fact, I had to wonder for a minute if it really, truly was rain clouds…

or just more smoke.

Our fiery mountain was all clouds and steam by afternoon. I can only guess about the other, farther away fires…but we’re hoping they’re out too.

Isn’t Heavenly Father clever?

Just when we’re so-so tired of all that heat and ash and think we can’t stand it any longer…

He sends us the rain!

“So the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one…”

Happily Ever After

It’s such an odd thing to wake up one day and find that my sweet little daughter…

is just not so little anymore. In fact, she’d transformed into a real, live fairy princess.

On this lovely day of her wedding to her sweetheart…

I hope you’ll forgive the obvious gaps and puckers in my photography. Oh, I did my best to capture so much that was wonderful about the day~

the beautiful decorations and pictures…

our sweet “babies” playing follow the leader…

patient, loving daughters…

a hardworking sister–who made the cake, btw…

and the dearest…

of eternal friends.

I couldn’t help but remember when Jillian was the little girl in the flowery, yellow dress–

being reminded over and over to keep those tiny fingers off Grampa’s pretty wedding cake.

But while I busied myself with snapping shots of as much of the day as I could…

there came a time when I had to pause and just watch for a moment or two…

or I would have missed my baby girl turning into a beautiful, grown-up lady…

right before my eyes.

And truly, no one should ever miss the chance to have a fairy princess take their breath away.

Be happy my darlings in your wonderful new life together. Happy honeymoon.

We love you.

{ These Little Ones }

“Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughter of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that he was a parent before you were parents and that he has not relinquished his parental right or interest in these little ones.”

~Gordon B. Hinckley

Things I Love~

right this minute.

A little Magoo in Sunday duds. It’s almost as good as a guy in a kilt.

No, really.

A teeny, tiny bird cage on a chain with the door wide open–of course. Just the way all bird cages should be.

Getting all those sixty-five billion invitations organized and ready to ship out. Jillian and her orderly spreadsheets keep us all on track.

Parsley gone wild in the grow box from last year. I trimmed it back but it came bolting forward again with a vengeance. Which is fine by me.

The pretty little garden, such as it is, from the back door. So, so sweet.

Oh, look. It’s that handsome boy again.

How’d that picture get in here?

:}

What about you? What are you loving these days? Tell me in the comments and I’ll add them to our “Things to be grateful for” rotator list at the bottom right hand corner.
OK?