~BRINGING ESSIE HOME~

It has been a LONG ten days for the little Robertson family, full of scary medical tests and diagnoses, but finally they were able to bring this beautiful little girl home. 

Welcome home Essie, may angles watch over you while you and mommie sleep!

(I Borrowed a couple of pictures from Essie's Grandma Shauna...They are the really good ones)!

~BARNS~

 

I love old barns! There is just something about them that somehow floods me with childhood memories that are warm, honest and peaceful. Barns are seldom beautiful leaning more toward the practical and functional.  Our barns held our livelihood.  The animals, the machines, the harvested crops and often times, the presence of my dad working on his current project. Now that I am older and have children of my own I realize that it was really my dads version of the "Man Cave".  A place for him to go where it was usually quiet, semi-warm and always  held many hours of work to be done.

So many of my hours were spent down at the barn.  I lived about 5 miles away from my nearest friend so to say that the barns and I were very well acquainted would be a big understatement. Some of my very best friends lived in those barns.  Our horses, the cows, the baby sheep, pigs, chickens and mice.  I think that is where I learned to love babies. Baby horses, cows, sheep, pigs and even chickens and mice.  Yes, mice!  I remember helping many a mommy mouse raise her little litter! Now, as I think back,  I wonder if I washed my hands or how how many times I was exposed to the Haunta Virus.  There is nothing quite as strong as a farm girls immune system!

I have no barn where I live today and my children grew up without one. But, the barns stood for a long time on the farm and my kids took advantage of the opportunity to explore each time they visited their grandparents. They will never hold the same memories as I do for them but, they have missed them now that they are gone. I have too!

Appreciation for what we had will always give us an enlightened  appreciation for what we have. I have learned that life can be pretty dark and somewhat frightening at times but, we always seem to make it through. It may be because somewhere deep down inside all of us there is a little bit of "farm girl", one that knows that there is not a mountain too high nor a road too long that can not be conquered with faith, love for our Savior and perhaps an exposure to a viruses or two  that will build our spiritual and physical immune systems. 

To my new grand daughter Essie, your journey has just begun!

~THIS AND THAT~

 Bokeh

 Gold and Red!

 My old Glass Candles

 Jingle Stars

I haven't put up the tree in the front living room for the last couple of years because quite frankly, it made me tired to just think about it! This year I am not sure if I have more energy or if I'm just getting a little more crazy ( quite sure it is the fact the the trees are now "pre-lit and I do not have to spend HOURS stringing light on.  I HATE putting on lights).

I put everything up early this year and honestly I have enjoyed the decorations so much more. It may become something I do every year.  All my shopping is done and the gifts are wrapped and under the tree. I have never been this prepared! I have even taken some time to play with my camera again. That is huge.  I have been working so much lately that I have forgotten how to have a little fun and enjoy life a bit.  It is nice to get back to relaxing and enjoying.  I like what I do but it takes me away from the people that I love spending time with.  Steve had surgery on Friday ridding himself FINALLY of 8 very large gallstones.  I would post a picture but the kids said that it was "gross mom".  He is doing great but, I wish I could be home taking care of him a little more.  I'm sure that he is fine with me going to work.  I make him do things that he really doesn't want to do right now like: 

Test his blood sugar

Take his medicine

EAT

Use his incentive spirometer

Walk, walk, walk

Ice, ice, ice

Rest

Start over again...  

Enjoy this day for me, cause my day will SUCK! ( I'm doing Lipo all day. Hahaha!)

Sorry bad joke :)

~DECEMBER~

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

I love this time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. What a wonderful spirit the world holds during the month of December. I have spent way too many months being just a little  bit too "Grinchy" and sometimes I think that I relate way to well with that naughty greenish imp that hates everything and everybody then, along comes December with it's magic. The snow starts to fall and nobody seems to be depressed over it. In fact,  most everyone would love it to snow up until Christmas...Then most want it to abruptly stop.  Most everyone is patient with the crowded streets and stores. There are even those who you will find with a smile on their face if you look. Then soon you find yourself smiling too!  December is contagious.  I have never met anyone who doesn't like December.  So, let it's magic work for me this season. Let me be the first to smile, the first to lend a helping hand. Say hello to someone I don't know. Give a stranger in need a few dollars without wondering what he will do with it. Thank my neighbors for putting up with me for all these years and, do as many things with the ones I love as time will allow me to do but, most importantly, gather my family around when ever possible and show them how very much they mean to me. 

So many things to celebrate. Thank you to that little boy in a manger who has given December it's 

MAGIC. May I use it to do what he would do in December and every other month of the year.

~A LITTLE REBEL IN ALL OF US~

I colored outside the lines today, just a little bit...I didn't  like it. I'm a guilt ridden rule follower. I always have been and I always will be. I like it that way I suppose. I feel safe, comfortable and  usually have nothing to apologize for. It's a good way to live a life. Tends to be a little boring but, it has kept me alive for the last 57 years! I'm not going to say that I haven't had my heart dropping experiences but, where many would find the most dangerous way of getting through them I will find the safest. Follow the rules and make sure I have every opportunity of survival.  Sounds rather dull doesn't it, in fact, if you are even still reading this I am impressed!  I suppose that I am not the only one like me out there. Those of us that don't have to be in control of everything but absolutely have to be in control of ourselves.  That is why stepping out of that proverbial "box" is so hard for me, it means that I may lose that control and ultimately have to face some sort of embarrassment or heaven forbid inexperience!

So, when someone says to me "just let go" I tend to think NO," just hang on" because even though it may be harder it's familiar, it's habit, it's unpretentious and it feels like home, and I happen to feel like being in the familiar is far better than landing upside down in the unfamiliar...embarrassed and inexperienced!!!

So far the proverbial rug hasn't been pulled out from under me and the things that I have learned I am thinking will help me (or possibly have already helped me) step from box to box without really even noticing it. I hope so because, I would sure hate to see and heaven forbid have anyone else witness what a Joey Caldwell "melt down" would look like. I wont "let go"  I choose to "hold on" to everything I have with all the love and life that I have and if I decide to color outside the lines again it will only be because I know that it won't hurt me or anyone else...I'm SUCH a rebel!

Sometimes, I just want to color outside the lines!

~ROZZY~

Rozzy spent the night with us on Friday so she was here for the big snow storm.  She couldn't wait to get outside and touch the snow.  I taught her how it tasted and now she wants a snowball to eat every time she is outside.  She calls the snow "bubbles". Funny how a two year old perceives things. 

No worries Cambria, I showed her the difference between "clean" snow and "dirty" snow.

Hahaha!

~MORE PLEASE~

This is what I woke to yesterday morning! You can bet I snatched my camera and headed outside as soon as it was light enough to take pictures.  

I am always in such awe of how the this world can turn from a warm colorful place to a cold, quiet black and white over night.  

To me, it is such a calming experience to be outside after a storm. The air is crisp and fresh and everything is silent, peaceful and soft.

What an amazing place I have the privilege to be a part of. I pray for those who don't have the blessings in their lives that I do, and thank my Father in Heaven for allowing me to not only see my blessings but to feel them!

 

~HALLOWEEN~

 

These are just a few of the Trick or Treaters that showed up at our house. 

It was a fun night full of sugar coated energy and extremely tired adults! Lisa was the only ADULT to get dressed up and what a custom!!  She looks like she should have been cast for 

Breaking Dawn II.

Steve sort of,  (SORT of), got into the festivities a little himself...Dawning a horrible, ugly mask, he proceeded to  scared the little ones to death!  Men...

Hope you had a great Halloween and that now you can concentrate on the rest of the holiday season. It looks to be a busy one for the Caldwell family.  

Bring it on!

~HOW I LOVE THIS TRAIL~

The leaves are almost gone from the trees on the trail that I run.  I wait all year for these few short weeks to be able to run in such a  beautiful place.  This past summer an Eagle Scout group put benches in at different points on this trail.  I have yet to sit on one but, I thought that the leaves were too pretty to pass up today.  All three colors just sitting there waiting I guess for me to take their picture!

I hate to say it but, I wish that this weather would stick around for a little while longer.  I know that as soon as the wind blows ALL of the leaves will be gone and it will be a long winter, spring and summer before they return.

Okay, these pictures are not so good, I took them with my phone but, if you want you can come with me tomorrow and see for yourself just how gorgeous they really are before they are gone again for another year.

(Yes, that is the Carin that I built. It has been nearly a month and no one has destroyed it yet).

~SMILE, YOUR ON JOEY'S CAMERA~

This little fellow was hiding, well, I should say that he was holding very still...When I started to edit this picture, I found him! Nice to get little surprises!

~SEPTEMBER AFTERNOONS~

It was Stake Conference today so we had the whole afternoon to enjoy.  We are usually in meetings until about 4:30 on Sundays so this was a rare occasion to take advantage of an invitation from Garett and Lisa to get out and see FALL!!!

We loaded everyone into Lisa car, including Wrath and headed to Sundance.  How I love Sundance. Have I ever mentioned that before?  It is just as beautiful in the Spring, Summer and Fall as it is in the WINTER!!!

Here are just a few  of the pictures that I took...I think I had a total of 91 in the two short hours we were gone.  I LOVE digital!

 Charly had to "push" her jogger...Fortunately she grew tired of that pretty fast!

 Gar and Charly by the waterfall

 Charly standing in the water which was COLD!

 Not much water coming over the top but, still pretty!

 Yes!  These are some of my favorite ski slopes!!

 I love aspen :)

 Gar, Lis and Charly

 Couldn't resist. 

 Steve and Wrath.

 Looking down on Aspen Grove.

 We made it!

 The leaves looked different depending on which way the light hit them.

My favorite...the "watermelon bust".