Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Still Here!


I am embarrassed by how long it has taken me to write. Jokingly, I was going to start this blog by stating that we are just leaving Washington, D.C.! So glad that isn't the case. We actually arrived home in the wee hours of the morning on June 10th. We drove straight through from Colorado Springs to our quaint little home in the Central Valley of California. It was a long twenty hour drive. But, between our Nation's Capitol and the Golden State were many friends and family to visit. The garden in the picture above is tilled by my former brother-in-law. We stopped for a few days in Nebraska to visit Eric's sister and her family. Of course, where we went so did the weather. Our first night there we were informed that it was tornado weather. Hail the size of golf balls was predicted. I thought it was humorous to see how everyone just went about their daily lives even with dark clouds looming.
Daisy with her cousin after a softball game.
After the softball game we took a detour home and picked up a dozen ice cream sundaes from McDonalds. Love this picture!
We left Nebraska and headed to Colorado Springs to visit with our dear friends at the Castle Rock OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church). Boo with the Roach girls....sweet friends.
So, we left on June 9th at 6am and arrived at our home on June 10th at 2am. It was quite the drive with lots of rain. Seriously, I have never seen so much rain as I did the almost six weeks we were on the road.
June 10th is the birthday of a very special guy in my life. He is one of Lisa's sons. So, after a few hours of sleep we headed over to the Kjeldgaard's home and made a surprise visit for the birthday boy. It was so nice to be home...at least for the moment.
That weekend was spent helping at the Riverbend Ranch Carnival for Charity and enjoying the company of new friends. It was a busy weekend that took us into another busy week.
Miss M and I flew back to Colorado to enjoy the Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) conference in Denver. There were many friends to visit with from far and near. Miss M is with one of Stacy McDonald's daughters.
On Friday I took time away from the conference to meet up with friends from my high school days. Michelle was one of my closest friends during my Senior year. She now lives in the Denver area and so we met for lunch. It was great to catch up and find out what we are doing now.
Wendy, another sweet friend from high school, met me for coffee and some shopping. Along the way we got caught in a downpour. I am not kidding when I say it looked like the heavens opened up and God just decided to drop gallons of water onto the earth. We were drenched in this picture that was taken by a Pottery Barn employee.
The main reason that I flew back to Colorado was to speak at a tea given by a dear friend. Stacy McDonald and I were both asked to speak on joy. She spoke on joy in motherhood. I spoke on joy in suffering. My title was "Joy in the Mourning".
I will post what I wrote in a few days. In the meantime, I thought I would share a couple of photos of the beautiful tea that these ladies hosted.
There were quite a few ladies that volunteered to host a table. A part of that responsibility was to set the table for eight. There were some very creative women among us!
Despite the stomach bug that I came down with the night before, I think my speaking went well. I had a lot of people praying for me...the prayers and the charcoal that a friend gave me made all the difference. Yes, I said charcoal! It was amazing how fast it worked to curb the urge to...well, you get what I mean.
Tonya, the blonde in white on the left, is the dear friend who put the tea together. Along with the help of Trish, who is standing between Tonya and me, they created a very relaxing atmosphere for the 100+ ladies in attendance.
All the ladies in this group photo are a part of a Yahoo group that Stacy (standing in front of me) started many years ago. It is always quite fun to meet up with other Patriarch Wives and this time we had quite a few of us in one room.

I flew home and enjoyed a wonderful few days with a close friend and family. Then, I was off on yet another adventure that I will share with you in the next few days.
But, for now, know that I am back to blogging on a regular basis because I am back home for a nice long chunk of time.
~Heather

3 comments:

Jessica McDonald said...

Lovely pictures! :)It was great to see y'all in CO! Living far away is so very annoying.

*hugs to all*

Love, Jess

Emily said...

Can you please tell me what type of flowers those are in your 4th picture.. the purple ones? I have a closeup photo that I shot in Tennessee of that same type of flower, and for the life of me I cannot figure out what they're called!! :) Googling "little purple flowers" didn't help much ;)

godlover said...

As always your blog is worth the read. You are such a busy family. I don't know how you do it all. I certainly couldn't. I lack the energy. What a wonderful tea and the tables were so beautiful. Take care friend.