Milestones

Well, we all survived our first "prom" experience. Actually, it came off rather blessedly, I think. Son had a super good time, and looked quite dashing in the formal duds (again, no paternal prejudice--honest). We rented a black tux jacket with tails and a psychedelic stained-glass patterned cummerbund with matching bow-tie from a costume shop, very inexpensively, that he wore with black pants and shirt. His date also looked very charming in a sparkly yellow/gold-ish gown, coordinating nicely with the lovely wrist-corsage of yellow and peach carnations that a florist friend put together for us at a bargain price. We took photos of them and the friends that they rode with before they left--both formal ones and silly ones, with all four of them engaged in a sword battle. Fun. After the prom, they all came back to our house, to have some ice cream and wind down for a bit. We parents certainly delighted in getting to visit with them all and be a part of their evening too. We feel blessed that it was a simple and fun event for them without involving a lot of drama, emotion, or $. Now, we have one positive prom experience under our parental belts, so hopefully when the lovely daughter's turn rolls around, it will also be just a simple and relatively stressless occasion.

This past week also marked 19 years of wedded blissfulness for the lovely bride and I. To celebrate that, I took Friday off from school since beautiful bride wasn't scheduled to work, and we spent a marvelous day together. It was a sunny day --thank you, God-- so we decided being outdoors was a good plan. Purchased some tasty pastries from a bakery downtown (a coconut, almond, apricot scone and an apple oatmeal bar) and ate a breakfast picnic soaking up sunshine and admiring the breathtaking mountain scenery from a dock on a beautiful lake in the nearby national park. When the sun appeared it was going to be obscured behind a cloud for an extended period of time, we decided to continue our adventures. We stopped to buy delicious deli sandwiches from a country convenience store en route and ended up at a different nearby scenic lake eating our picnic lunch. After finishing the flavorful sandwiches, we reclined back on the gravel bar for quite awhile, simply basking in the beauty and the glorious sun on our faces. Had to force ourselves to continue on in time to retrieve son after school to take him to tennis practice. We did make it right on time. Wow! Abundance of scenic beauty, glorious sunshine, and my gloriously beautiful bride--what a blessed day!

After church on Sunday, we drove up to my parents' to help celebrate another family milestone, my Mom's 72nd birthday. Her birthday was Friday, but the weekend worked better for all the family to get together. Of course, there was plenty of tasty vittles: tacos, spaghetti, salads, chips & dip, and desserts. My precious ladies had baked an apple pie and a coconut cream pie to bring to the festivities. (Both were superbly delicious!) Plenty of family (24 in attendance, I think) to connect with too. Good to see some folks we hadn't seen for months, and have a bit of a visit--even if only brief. Lovely bride and I did manage to get in a bit of stroll in the fresh air; just walked on the road as it was too wet and slushy to try venturing on the trails through the woods, or down by the crick. Did enjoy watching the baby calves in the pasture for a bit as we wandered by. Still revel in delight and marvel at baby animals--even after 45 years of witnessing God's sweet miracles every spring.

So, even though it was snowing and sleeting and blowing again this morning, there are signs of spring in our lives. Actually, much of our snow has melted in the past few days--amazing how rapidly it can disappear! And, it is a blessing seeing God's careful handiwork displayed in our lives --through all our milestones and in the precious everyday. Praying spring sunshine seasons your life with plenty of miracles and marvels this week. Blessings, friends!