Changes

Autumn brings many changes to our homes and our gardens.  Heat needs to be turned on.  Cozy blankets and quilts need to be put back on our beds.  Sweaters hang on the door knobs.  The sunlight in our garden cast longer shadows.  Colorful leaves tumble to the ground.  Flowers react to the cooler temperatures and less daylight.  Beautiful Autumn brings us back into home for tasty soups and stews.  It's my favorite time of the year! 

The maple in our backyard is changing to a vibrant yellow.  Can you spot the mourning dove in the maple?  Soon the leaves will be falling to the ground and then they will be gathered for compost as they change.

  This mushroom cluster is changing as it turns this mulched tree back to the earth.

Even Samuel's pumpkin is changing daily.

But the biggest changes are our grands since we returned from our six weeks in England.  Our grands have grown so much since we last visited them.  We couldn't believe how much taller they have grown.  Can you see the youngest trying to appear taller?  It's no revelation that children grow quickly. 

Autumn will bring more changes.  Be sure to enjoy them all! ♥

  

Our Golden Celebration

♪ Pure Imagination ♪

Hello dear friends.  It's been a while since we've visited.  I hope you are enjoying a lovely Autumn where you live.  Grayden and I have been celebrating our 50th anniversary.  It's hard to believe we have been married that long, but we have been blessed with many years together.  I've shared before that I married on my eighteenth birthday!  The odds of an eighteen year old staying married for 50 years is slim.  So I feel extra blessed to have married a wonderful man to share my life with.  Marriage is a two way street that takes love and respect for one another to work.  No marriage is a bed of roses all the time, but with God's help we have grown to overcome the obstacles that life handed us.

We decided to celebrate in a big way for this special anniversary.  You know how much we love England.  Our last visit there was magical and we wanted to return.  So we started planning our adventure again.  Part of the fun was spent planning many months ahead for our daily schedule.  After discussing where we wanted to visit, Grayden spent hours on spreadsheets detailing each of the four weeks we would be in England.

On the train to NYC

On September 7th, Samuel took us to the train station so we could begin our journey back to England.  The train took us to Penn Station in New York city.  We then took a taxi to Brooklyn where we boarded the Queen Mary 2 for our voyage to Southampton.

I always get a big lump in my throat when I view the Statue of Liberty.  There she stood proudly greeting us from our stateroom!

It was a beautiful day to sail away from the New York Harbor.

Over the next few weeks/ or years I'll be sharing the four weeks we spent in England and Scotland.

I'm sorry I was unable to share about our trip before now.  I do appreciate the concerns many of you have shared with me about where we were.  I really should have a least said I was taking a break so you wouldn't worry.  It's quite amazing how close I feel to my friends here.  Thank you all for reading my little blog about my life.