Happy Holidays To All

We have had a full and exciting Fall and are enjoying relaxing times during our Winter Break! It has been a while since I last had the time and energy to sit down and post so I will do a bit of catching up with you all. School has gone well for both the children and is keeping them extra busy this year. The house has been filled with many teens this Fall which is always nice. We so enjoy spending time listening to them as they laugh and dream and just have fun. We were reminded just how precious life is when a dear friend of the childrens' was in a car accident. We are happy his voice and smiles still fill our house and that everybody is doing well. Band competition once again filled our lives this first semester and it was fun to make new friends through this season as we spent most weekends traveling all over with the group. It is amazing to see the time and energy these young people and the parent volunteers put into this organization. It is even more amazing to see how dedicated the directors are to the students as well as the school. What a great experience for all those involved! The weather has been odd for us as well as for most. We seem to have a different type of weather each week, so we shall not get bored!!! We are enjoying the sights of Winter as the area blooms into color with so many bright annuals filling the gardens all around the community. Winter is a time for the poppies, snap dragons, pansies and other bright annuals to fill the scenery. This is nice to see as most of our December and January are filled with rain and fog. This is our rainy season and the brightness of the flowers makes it a cozy experience settled into the foggy mornings as I travel to school to drop off the children and then onto work. Sprinkled between these days of fog and rain are the days when the weather warms and the sun shines across the mountains which were magically filled with snow behind the curtains of fog. I love to spend my mornings in the gardens with my coffee, walking and examining each plant or flower as the peacefullness of the day begins. I am continually amazed by the neverending bloom of flowers. My jade tree is covered with thousands of pink stars blooming all over it and was recently visited by an early morning hummingbird as I sat watching in complete awe. I would hope to never trade these early morning walks. I anxiously await the smell and bllom of the Freesias that are sending up shoots and have tripled in size since last winter! The Calla Lily seems close to bloom as do the slow but steady Bird of Paradise which we check daily! We have been greatly blessed by many, many lemons over the last few weeks while Brit has been suffering through a cough. What a true blessing it is to walk out back and be able to pick these bright fruit right from the tree as I need them. The smell and taste are a wake up call of all the senses! I am happy to report that our oranges are almost ripe and this sweet little tree that is but three feet tall at it's highest has saved us four special treats which we will share soon. Many of you may recall our excitement at finding a plant named the Kangaroo Paw. One of them has begun to throw up the first of I hope many shoots! These plants were a true crowd pleaser of the entire neighborhood! This year has once again been a true blessing. Through all the laughs, sadness, visitors, trips, and explorations, we have been truely blessed by our new home, our friends across this entire world, and our family this year. I leave with you some shots of our last sveral months and I wish for you each love and light to walk with you through this coming year! May you all be as truely blessed in your lives as we have been by you and your families! Happy Holidays~