Simple Pleasures

I remember when our little family first moved to Colorado. Kenny and I had a 4 year-old, a 2 year-old, and an almost 1 year-old.  The move was exciting in every way.  We were here to help plant a new church, we were on an adventure in a new place, and were on our own. And yet many days I found myself wishing for home.  One particularly home-sick day, the boys and I were awakened by a strange sound.  Well, yes, there are always strange sounds when you have little boys, but this was even stranger.  I went to the window and yelled for the boys to come quickly.  Outside the back of our home were 3 or 4 amazingly cheerful hot-air balloons, slowly making their way through the Colorado sky.  We found such pleasure in that morning, I'll always remember it.
And this morning, almost 14 years later, Kenny asked me to take Danny to work, and as the 2 of us were pulling out of our cul-de-sac, we were surprised to look up and see a couple of absolutely gorgeous hot-air balloons floating through a cloudless blue morning sky.  What a perk to our morning!
On my way home, I thought of all I had to do today (no surprise there).  And then I thought of my Emma, who was resting on the couch.  A smile crept across my face as I thought...And after I pulled into the driveway, I ran into the house and grabbed Emma (the only one awake), and off we went to chase the balloons.

Time Alone with Mom or Dad is Rare in this Family!

When we got home from our outing, it was time to make peach jam!  I had bought 50 pounds of peaches last week, and today had to be the day!

Box #1 of 2

Ellie, Ready to Add the Pectin

Ready to Freeze!

Smooey Couldn't Wait to Try it!

Natty just kept licking the jam off his bread and spreading more on.  And yes, they did have a healthy lunch beforehand.