I Love Having Friend Time

The girls have some wonderful friends that come over often.
I just love them all!

                                                 Erika puts her friends to work! LOL

                                                        And I'm thankful for my dearest friend!
                                                                         My Mike. :)

Happy Feet

My favorite feet. :)

 Relaxing

 Playing

Resting in Erika's room

 Resting in my room

 Working

 International

Expressive

French

Exercising

Silly

Sleepy

Family Time and Fall

It has been a really nice week.  The temperatures are finally down and we have had cool, crisp fall mornings. 

WELCOME FALL!

This week we had a special young man visiting with us.  He was a really good helper in the shoppe and on his last day, he and I worked hard to get the chicken coop cleaned out and some rocks picked up from around our flag pole.
What  a pleasure to work with him!

We finished off our week with a delightful Spades game with Erika, her friend Donato and PD and Mike and I.  Sarah went camping with Friends.  PD REALLY caught on to spades quickly. He helped by being Erika's extra partner so he could learn the game. :)

And when we were all deliriously tired, this is how the game ended. LOL

Decorating

I decided to make collage of photos over the couch.  I really like it. :)

Some Old Photos

I found these old photos of me when I was much younger. :) 

 At 13, on the left.

 At 19, pregnant with my first baby.

 At 17, with my cousin and gramma.

 At 17 with my sister and gramma.

High school graduation.

Embracing Life Changes

For years, I used to look from the back porch at the place where we have our family business.  Mike has provided for raising our family through his dedicated work as a small business owner and mechanical technician.



While he was out here working, I was in the house, teaching children.  FOR YEARS!
And now, the last couple of years, I have been transitioning out to our family business to work in the office. I USED to see the shoppe from this angle.

  Now, I see the HOUSE from THIS angle. :)  It has truly taken me more than a couple of years to not long to be in the house.  Transitioning from home maker, and mother, to office manager has been harder than I expected it to be.  A part of me wants to be the best office manager ever, and a piece of my heart is still in the home we built together.

The memories of busy little girls running everywhere, running out to the shoppe to tell Daddy what they learned in school, or to take him his lunch are precious to my heart.  And it is a joy to see the children doing so well....

So HERE is my new abode. 

I still run in and make lunch and bring it back out.  And now that I'm in my 60's, I sneak in a nap after lunch.  But my heart is here, with Mike now.  It is getting easier as time goes on.  I'm thankful for my partner in life and love to be able to be by his side.
(he's carving our initials on a tree at the top of the Sandia Mountains in NM)

I'm sure that most of the time, my "wonder secretarial" skills are more like, "I wonder what I'm doing."

But he is patient and when he isn't too busy, comes in and helps me catch up. 

He also gives me a long leash to explore, which sometimes doesn't result in the right conclusion, and I have to start over.  He is helping me brave it through learning how to find information and when I get frustrated, he lets me work through it, without rescuing me.  Sometimes I appreciate that and sometimes I don't!  Just being honest.

So, I guess I had better get back to work! Today besides estimates and bill paying, I'm working on TAXES!  Oh.My.Word.
This photo captures my excitement:  LOL


Back to work..... :)

Visits

One of the funnest parts of our week is when the college group comes over and invades the house.
They have bible study at our house and then hang out and talk.  They are a WONDERFUL group of young people whom I am priviledged to know.
This group of kids come from all walks of life.  Some kids have attended church their entire lives, some have not.  But they all share a love for each other and a desire to learn more of God's word.
And, they get to eat.  :)

So this is what it looks like AFTER .....

The Front Porch

We have lived a lot of life on our front porch.  I love that when we have family gatherings, no matter the weather, we can all go out there and just hang out and talk, or play games, watch the kids and just have a wonderful time.

Mike and Erika started a project last summer and it turned out wonderfully, I think. :)  It is so nice to just walk out the front door and straight down to the bbq and the tables.  It is also a lovely place for new flowers.

My Dabba

I have written about my Dabba many times.  This November 2nd, she would have been 99.

I was not able to see her again.  I wanted to so badly, but she was just too far away. We did however talk on the phone now and then. 

Dabba was one of the most important, influential people in my life. She taught me so much about love and acceptance, strength and humility.  She possessed an inner strength like nobody I have ever met.  And she was witty and funny. 

EVERYBODY needs a Dabba in their lives.

She got her name from our nephew Sean, who was the very first grand child. He couldn't say gramma and called her Dabba.  And that was her name forever! Even if she went to another country, which she did many times... those she met knew her as Dabba.  :)

One of the special things that happened a couple of years ago, was that our sons, all made a trek to visit her, knowing that at 97, she didn't have much more time.
The other reason they were going was to forgive their bio dad.  He lived not too far away from her and was being cared for by his brother and his wife.

I am SO PLEASED that our guys took the time with our nephew to go and visit her and to visit him.

It was not long after, that the boys bio father passed away from a chemo treatment gone bad.

What a blessing that it was for them to be able to visit both together on a special guy trek, and to have some closure for past events in their lives.

There is a great photo of them all sitting playing spades together and their bio father watching intently from his chair. 

If you didn't know already, Mike adopted the guys when they were little, about 28 years ago.
So technically all 8 of our kiddos were adopted. :)

I miss my Dabba and think of her all the time.  What a blessing she was and continues to be.