Breathing a Big Sigh of Relief.......

I love Christmas.....really, it is one of my favorite times of the year.  & I love to try & make it special for my family.

But, can I also say, I am so happy that all the decorations are put away, & the calmness of January routine is setting in. 

We are also getting back to more normal "fare."

And the Celebration Continues!

Due to my own negligence, a family tradition we have had for several years had to be postponed for a week or so.

We have a stocking from Guatemala that is filled each year w/ gifts from our kids' birth country. 

Since we moved, I have pretty much updated all our address info-except for w/ Amazon, apparently.  And, wouldn't you know......the stuff I ordered came from 3 different shippers-all to our old address.

So, tonight (almost 2 weeks late), we opened our "Guatemala Stocking."

Merry Christmas, again.  :)

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So excited to find a way to post from my phone-WITH PICS!

There has always been errors when I've tried to post w/ pics if I just went to the Blogger website

Novel concept-try using an app!  Yeah, it works!

(pics taken at my brother's wedding last month)

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testing once again...

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.2

Testing Windows Live Writer

Not sure how I will like this…..

Jumping On the "One Thousand Gifts" Bandwagon......

A blessing in my heart......children playing peacefully together.

Skiing.......A Picture of Life

One perk to being a Colorado resident......the 5th Grade Ski Free Pass.  Ana is in 5th Grade this year, so we signed her up. 

Monday, I took the girls up to Monarch Mountain, with both my sisters & all their local cousins.

Poling my way through the chute-for the first "load" on a chair lift.  In this case, for the first time in FIVE years.  (the last time was a week or so before I left on Ruthie's Pick-Up trip).

Yep, I was scared.  The thing I hate most about skiing is the "unload" at the top of the mountain. (the only injuries I ever remember getting have to do w/ the stupid chair lift!  Including the one where the snowboarder I was riding up w/ TOOK ME OUT dis-embarking.  Knocked the wind out of me, & bruised my ribs for a month!  But, I digress....)

I knew it was coming.....I could see the top of the lift.  I rode up w/ my oldest nephew-just recently turned 13-& not afraid of anything.

"I can do this.  I can do this. I can do this. I have done it before.  It's like riding a bike-you never forget, right?" (the conversation I had w/ myself went something along these lines.)

Tips up.

Move to the edge of your chair.

Take a deep breath.

Skis sliding across the ground directly under my chair. 

& just at the right moment.....

Stand up....& just glide.

(I screamed like a girl-but, that's ok, because I am one, ha!  ha!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am naturally afraid to try new things.  Ana is petrified of them.  Ruth?  Not one IOTA of fear. 

There has to be a BIG payoff for me to risk:

1.  Injury

2.  Pain

3.  Exhaustion

But, I have risked theses things in my life, as well as on the skislope, & I'm glad I did.  There's nothing quite as exhilerating as standing at the top of the mountain, knowing I'm getting ready for the ride of my life!

Loving others is a risk.

Starting college was a risk. 

Having biological children is a risk.

Adopting is a risk.

I guess that's part of why I thrill to ski.  It scares me to death, but very little is so rewarding-at least not in the physical world.









Our favorite run of the day-& yes, as you have probably guessed, I am soley a "Green Run" kind of girl.



Our fearless wonder!

(in case you are wondering, Ana had so much fun-after conquering her fear,

 I could never catch her for a picture by herself! 

All of us at the top of our favorite run-"Rookie," highlighted in the top picture.