Go. Be. Do.

Enjoyed watching the sun rise into the sky while leaving Florida this morning.   I am reminded me that in saying hello to one thing, I must also, in turn, say goodbye to another at the same time.   Thinking of this in terms of places and things, it's so much easier than with people.  I always think and believe that I have pep talked myself into being "ready" to say goodbye.  Practice it; go over how I think it could or should go in my head, and still fall apart in the end. I am not a fan of goodbyes.  Life happens and people change.  Some things just do not happen the way I think it should some times.   2 Corinthians 5:17 even speaks of the going and coming of things... Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. 2012 has been a year to find peace with and enjoy being free from things that have held me back or tied up my time previously.  A year to freely give over to God treasur

Vero Beach, FL

Picture = 1000 words

Late on the posting, but there is a great excuse for it! :)

Untitled , a photo by JanetRose531 on Flickr. Notice our elevation...

Looking over posts that remain in draft form, I have had a chance to remember some moments and events that have brought words to mind.  However, for some reason they never came together in a post this year.  A quote, a thought, a verse, a few sentences...just random things floating around in this mind of mine. 1/9...A few days ago, I purchased my ticket to Alaska.  It ceases to amaze me that the excitement is new each and every year.  If there were an "excited-o-meter", it may just read a little higher each year, too. :)  Just typing these words, butterflies flutter.   There are so many God moments each and every year...before, during, and after...my mission trip to Alaska.  He is why I went the first time.  He is why I go back. 1/16...getting lost...The law was lost in the temple (Josiah's guy found it again).  Jesus was left in the temple during a religious time.  Can I or do I lose sight of God in church? 1/22...it's the small things...1 Kings 19:11-13  The

Merry Christmas! The boys woke up around 6 and the Christmas morning activity began a few minutes later.  It is such fun to watch them enjoy the moments of discovering what is under the festive paper and bows!  Here they are about to open their stocking stuffers after the under the tree presents were already opened, hence the hats.  Well, I had an epic camera failure this morning...all the photos I took with my camera were not there when I downloaded them to my laptop.  Apparently we had a memory card issue.  Thankfully, I had also taken a few with my phone.  I am also thankful it was captured on our video camera.  But, there is still a little disappointment and lack of trust in my camera now...hopefully, it was an isolated case.  Everyone is enjoying their presents now and breakfast is being cooked up.  It has been a great beginning to our Christmas Day!

Unwrapping a present from Grandma and Grandpa Roth... A trampoline! Bring on the bouncing...better brace myself for what may follow... :)

Presents were dropped off today for our extended family Christmas tomorrow.  Boys have taken on the responsibility of guarding the presents through the night hours.  It's not in the picture, but Tim even has his policeman's hat beside him.  Love these boys!

All was calm...

It's the first day of winter, but the only snowflakes found here are of the crafted variety...

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...so we are enjoying the first fire of the season.

good while it lasted , a photo by JanetRose531 on Flickr. Any guesses as to what is missing from this scene? There should be an amazing shot of the Eiffel Tower displayed on the background of my laptop. There should be icons and shortcuts that surround that photo. Sad to say that the laptop is a goner. No longer is the sound of quiet beeps and whirs heard when the power button pressed. One day I will remove the shell of a once well used computer from my teacher's desk...but until then, I am thankful for my Dell laptop that was a present last Christmas because this one lasted an entire year longer than the computer dude thought it would. Goodbye, HP...it was a good 6 years!

Live mistletoe, in fact, growing in one of our trees. I'm going to miss this next Christmas.  Hopefully we will find some mistletoe at our new property, too!

Tim's 9th Birthday Breakfast... He has been a joy all 9 years!  Love my Baby...and am so proud of the little man he's growing into these days.

My boys are held a little closer and tighter...finding joy in each moment!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s One and Only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”    John 3:16-21

This is what came in the prettiest bag at our SS class Christmas party... As for the rest of the evening's activities and gifts, we are all under a "what happens at the party, stays at the party" agreement.

For our church dinner last evening I made Rice Krispies treats  ornaments.  I saw how cute they were on Pinterest and just wanted to make the ordinary a little less ordinary and a lot more Christmas-y. Fortunately, we had a few leftover, so I snapped a photo of them for today's entry. Now, for some reason, they look cuter in the photo than in person. I made smaller ornaments than the Pinterest post, getting 23-24 ornaments from the normal Rice Krispies Treats recipe.  Since mine were smaller I chose to use miniature marshmallows as the ornament hanger thingamajig.  I also used green and red (red bulb is not visible in this shot) food coloring in the marshmallow goo before adding the crispy rice cereal. They weren't hard to make, but very time consuming.  And, I did not like how firm the treats were in the end.  Too hard for my liking...I like gooey, stretchy treats.  By my third batch, the ones without food coloring, I had a better end result.  I do not think the food

The "free" pecans are costing me a lot of time...I might have them all shelled out by next November when the next crop is ready.  {smile}

The boys did not want to take down their Easter bunnies in the classroom, so we dressed them up for Christmas.

In a drought, a rainy day is very welcome.

Our Christmas Tree...in bokeh prettiness.

My bff knows me and my love of all things family, Christmas, and penguins.  Her gift last Christmas combined them all...♥!

Untitled , a photo by JanetRose531 on Flickr. The windows are going in! So exciting!

We had a busy day with school, science project, piano practice, and our business Christmas party.  I snapped this photo of the boys after we arrived home tonight.  Their eyes look so sleepy...mine do, too, but you just can't see them.

Packaged up some of the cookies I have been baking the past two days...so yummy!

Maybe a fun house mirror image.  I like the concept of the photo, though.  We'll have to try it using a glass ornament one day.  It was fun and we had a lot of laughs as we saw the results. Memory made. Mission accomplished.

It was a great afternoon for a little backyard football!  Love these boys!

The boys have been wanting a tree for their room for a couple of years now.  They found one that they liked last month, but decided they would wait to buy it until December.  I surprised them and purchased their tree for them over the weekend.  They had fun setting it up this today after church.  I walked in and found the tree complete with a "star" on top. Loved Tim's creative thinking and Alex's cooperative spirit to agree to his brother's choice of tree toppers. The other two Angry Birds friends that Tim has are also on the tree as "ornaments".  So cute!

Blue sky, sunshine, and 70+ degrees...a great first day of December! December Photo Project

I have been going through my "drafts" posts tonight and have found this gem written on December 22, 2009... "I need a silent night, a holy night, to hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise. I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here, to end this crazy day with a silent night." from "A Silent Night" by Amy Grant December 21st, 2009...when the "shortest" day of the year became the longest. Scott had his heart surgery yesterday. We were at the hospital at 5:30 for pre-op...thinking surgery would start around 6:30 or 7:00 am. And, possibly it would have had there not been an emergency around 4 am which not only took the operating room, but also Dr. Chen, Scott's surgeon. Poor Scott, who hadn't eaten since before midnight, finally went back for pre-op a little after 12 noon and surgery started after 2pm. His surgery ended around 11:30 pm. It became rather comical during each update call during surgery when I