God's Beauty

I have been a resident of Arizona for nearly 11 months now....and I am still amazed at how beautiful and magnificent the mountains here can be. It's like God just relishes the opportunity to paint them a different color each day....each minute even. Today was cloudy with promises and teases of rain. The skies were thick with rolling clouds....but mostly they just rolled on by. But as the sun set this evening...it was awesome. The mountains turn pink nearly every night and it is always beautiful and always short. The majesty of the color change only lasts a few brief minutes. But tonight....tonight was amazing. Tonight the sky was full of dark rolling clouds just hanging suspended over the tops of the mountain. And then the sun started to set and the mountains turned the DEEPEST shade of red....at first even being a deep, bright orange shade. I pointed it out to Jackie and we both exclaimed how pretty and different it was tonight. Then I stepped outside to call in the boys to dinner and I was struck speechless with the beauty I beheld before me. The orange was deepening to red...a fiery, deep, gorgeous red and then rising up into purple sky. It was hard to tell where the mountain stopped and the sky started. It was breathtaking. Jackie popped outside right about that time and all I could do was point. The scene had the same effect on her and the two of us, along with Jackie's neighbor just stood outside there on the corner, drinking in the most beautiful and amazing sight that I have ever seen. God painted one incredible and beautiful picture for us tonight. It was a treat to be sure and a vision I will treasure till my dying day. These mountains are magic. They are beautiful and sometimes I think they are just speaking to me. I see God's hand when I look at them...and I am humbled by the strength and artistry of my God. It is wonderful to have such beauty right here before me each and every day. A great priviledge to live here among it all. Life is good here in the desert....so very beautiful and so very good.

Time Marches On

The more time goes by, the happier I find myself here in Arizona. I am reminded daily of how fortunate I am to have ended up here in this amazing part of the country. I have been so richly blessed with an amazing group of friends...special, special ladies who hold such a near and dear place in my heart. I feel like I belong with them...that I am a part of a group. My phone rings again and I have lots of opportunities for coffee dates and play dates and lunches and camping trips and ladies weekends away. I just love it here and I love the people God has placed in my life. My friend Mary dropped by tonight. I had picked up her mail for her while she was out of town...she had forgotten to stop it and called from her trip and asked if I would mind. She just lives a minute up the road from me, so it was absolutely no problem. Not a big deal at all. I was thrilled to do it for them. She came by this evening to pick it up and brought me the most beautiful little candle. A thank you for picking up our mail gesture. I couldn't believe it. My heart was just gushing. It was just so sweet of her to think of me on her trip and to pick out something just for me....well, I will treasure it always. Grabbing her mail was no big deal at all...And she certainly did not need to do that. But it touched my heart deeply and as I sit here hours later, I still have a big smile on my face. Mary has quickly become one of my very most favorite people in this great state. We just seem to click. She is a very, very real person. She laughs easily and cries openly and hugs quickly. She is one of the strongest people I have ever met and faces life's challenges with such grace. It has been an honor to know her and I am thankful each day that God placed her in my life. Knowing her has just been a blessing and a treat.

We are all great here in the desert right now. The upcoming weekend holds a typically packed schedule with both boys having ball games in the morning....two different places of course. We haven't made it to church in a month as we have been out of town and doing various things. But I think we are going to plan to attend this weekend and get some things done in the yard as well. The weather has cooled down significantly and it is quite nice to spend time outside again. The kids go back to school on Monday and I head off to get the car in for it's first scheduled maintenance check up. Hooray! Busy, busy! Mom and Dad come to visit in two weeks. The kids are very excited. They get in on Halloween night. Will be here for a week. Oh....Max made the honor roll at school...all that worry! Ben had amazingly good grades as well. I just hope they can keep it up. Seems like they expect so much from these little guys this year. Must they grow up SO fast? Sometimes I just want them to stay little and sweet just a while longer. Instead they are growing so fast and learning so much and being handed so much responsibility. It is hard to believe the changes I see before me almost daily. Children are such a treasure. And they just don't stay little for long! Life is very good for us here in the desert!

Friends

I marvel at how my mighty God answers prayers so perfectly. It was not too terribly long ago when I was feeling rather displaced and lonely in this new state we are calling home now. Even though I have a lovely home here, and our children go to a wonderful school and are making friends, somehow, I have just felt so lonely. I have truly missed my life in Florida and mostly, my friends. I missed having someone to pick up the phone and just say HI to. There was noone here like that. Not that I had not met some really nice people....I have. But I had not really met anyone that I clicked with so to say. And as a result I just felt quite lost and quite alone and quite miserable. I had quite a pitty party for myself, really. And then, as I so often do when I just don't know what else to do...I prayed. I prayed fervently and whole heartedly for friends. I wanted someone to call up and say howdy to and someone to have coffee with and someone to laugh with and complain about husbands to. So I prayed for it with all my heart...that God would just send me a couple of friends. And would you believe...within days...they were there. Friends just started coming out of the woodwork. We started getting invitations to play and invitations for coffee and invitations to just hang out and go camping and all sorts of things. And I stood back the other day and surveyed this amazing group of women that God has placed in my life. There is a third grade teacher (Max's teacher from last year) who is kind and sweet and has a child just like mine, and there is an engineer, turned mom who has spent the last year watching her 9 year old daughter battle cancer, an amazing woman to be sure. Then there is my friend who was so excited about the article on nuclear fusion that she cut it out and keeps it in her purse. I have an ex-hippy turned pastry chef turned single mom in the corporate world friend. I have a friend who makes me beautiful baubles and is so sweet and down to earth and real you can't help but love her and her faith is just beautiful. And I just met another fantastic lady and though I don't know why....somehow I just know that she and I will be fast friends. Yes...God is so good. And as I stand back and survey these wonderful gifts, I can't wait to see what God is going to do with them and how we will be used in each other's lives. Each one of these ladies thus far has been like a beacon in the darkness for me. They have each already touched my life and filled needs for me like I never imagined. I think of them daily and I am just excited to see how our relationships will grow. I am so thankful for these ladies...each so different and yet, not so much so. I am thankful for a loving God that hears me and knows my needs and provides for me in such loving ways. I know that each of these women was handpicked for me. I cherish each and every one of their amazing selves. They have much to teach me, I know. And I am so excited about the journey and paths our lives will cross over the next few years. Thank you God for prayers heard....and answered. Life is good in the desert.

This was some of the scenery in the area we were camping...the red rock was so amazing...beautiful country here in Arizona! 

This was taken from our campsite....it was SOOOO beautiful here at Cave Springs. 

Chris and Tonya enjoy the view and the rest along the hiking trail. 

Outdoor Adventures

My family went camping this past weekend. We had the time of our lives. We were originally heading for Dead Horse Ranch State Park which is about 3 hours to 3 1/2 hours north of us. However, once we arrived there we found the place to be a bit disappointing. There was NO shade whatsoever and the scenery left a lot to be desired. So we struck out for destinations unknown at that point to see what we might find. We ended up between Sedona and Flagstaff at Cave Springs in the Coconino National Forest and it was SOOOO beautiful! It was paradise there. The scenery was breathtaking and the temperature was DREAMY!!!! We actually FROZE the first night as we had prepared for weather about 15 degrees warmer (at our original destination). However, after that first night we made a quick run to the Flagstaff Target and bought some long undies and we were in business, all warm and cozy and happy again. We enjoyed hot sausages and fried eggs with cheese danish for breakfast Saturday morning and then headed off for a rather difficult and definitely vertical hike! We climbed forever it seemed and the scenery was breathtaking. But Clara is weighing in several pounds heavier this year than she was last year and the hike was rather challenging....even if you were NOT carrying Clara. So we never made it up to the top....but I think we were probably close. But we had had enough and the boys were really tired. So we headed home and showered up (that was PURE HEAVEN!!!) and started slow roasting a pork loin for dinner. After that we shared hot roasted marshmallows and the heat of the fire before 3 kids were begging to go to bed. That is the greatest thing about camping. The kids are just exhausted from all the fresh air and playing all day. Once the little darlings were all tucked in Chris and I put our feet up by the fire and cozied up a bit. We got real sleepy REAL quick, so Chris headed out for the restroom while I stayed and watched the fire. While he was away I kind of gazed at the fire and got lost in it for a good few minutes. Then out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed a quick movement quite close to my chair and it was then that I realized that I had a SKUNK right at my feet and under my chair! YIKES! I sat very still and was not really worried about him. I knew that if I stayed still and quiet I would not have too much trouble. But right about that time that I became aware of mister skunk, Chris came stomping back from the restroom. I was trying to quietly and calmly get his attention so that he would kindly not startle the creature under my chair and get me sprayed with lovely eau d'skunk....he was heading my way quickly. But I did manage to call it to his attention and he was kind enough to get the lantern on for me and identify the location of our little visitor, who had moved by that time juswt behind my chair. AFter he moved just a bit more I was able to slowly move away and join Chris across the camp AWAY from the smelly little critter. That was my first up close and personal encounter with a skunk. I've never seen one before that wasn't roadkill. So that was kind of cool. The rest of our trip was great. We were much warmer the second night and all seemed to sleep a little better. We took our time getting home and are looking forward to our camping trip coming up this next weekend! Wish us luck! Life is good here in the desert!