Life at My House

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Life at my house isn't super pretty.  It IS a construction zone.

We're constructing a deck.

And cleaning up after the tree fell on our house.

And thanking God no one, and really nothing, was hurt.

We're celebrating birthdays and enjoying good food.

And overlooking pretty much all minor messes.

As in more minor than torn off decks and fallen trees.  All of those.

I still kinda love this tree.

But its days are numbered.

Thank you to Becky and friends at The Creativity Project for helping me remember 

that even after a vacation, even when it's not pretty, there really is no place like home!

What do you find endearing about the place you call home?

Coming Down from the Mountaintop

I had an old Amy Grant song from WAY back in college playing through my mind during our vacation:

I'd love to live on a mountaintop

fellowshipping with the Lord

I'd love to stand on a mountaintop

'cause I love to feel my spirit soar

But I've got to come down from that mountaintop

to the people in the valley below

or they'll never know that they can go

to the mountain of the Lord.

It's been fun to savor our vacation, but it's time to come back to real life.
There are lots of good things here too.
Today I'm wrapping it up with a few more glimpses of the spectacular beauty of Colorado,
beginning with Garden of the Gods.

Balanced Rock

Kissing Camels

Off to the left this Amish couple had just biked all the way up that hill.  Wow!

They deserved to be left in the photo.

Nearby in Manitou Springs, cut out of the same red rock, are the Anasazi cliff dwellings.

I am fascinated by the resourcefulness of people

as they live within the means supplied by their surroundings.

Our God is a great provider who gives us everything we need.

Including ingenuity.

I love places like this that remind me of that.

I think if we are in tune with Him

we actually can have some of that mountaintop experience

all the time.

Last stop, Royal Gorge,

home of sheer rock walls towering above the Arkansas River.

We took the aerial tram across.

Have I mentioned I am afraid of heights?

I think I've come a pretty long way.  

One of my children inherited a little bit of that, and since I don't want it to be a handicap,

I try to go out of my way to overcome it myself.

It works in enclosed places and also places with high railings.

Just don't ask me to stand on a ledge.  Not. Happening.

When we reached the other side, we discovered that time had stood still for a century or more.

There was a little feud going on

and the sheriff called Ben up to help settle it.

When it was time to head back toward home, 

the kids raced across the bridge to see who could find our state flag first,

and with that, it seemed fitting that we should get on the road.

So long Colorado!  Your gracious hospitality was a gift to us!

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;

I will sing of you among the peoples.

For great is your love, higher than the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,

and let your glory be over all the earth."

Psalm 108:3-5

The rest of the series:

En Route

Estes Park (and Jellystone Campgrounds)

Rocky Mountain National Park

Dreams Come True  (Horseback riding in the mountains!)

Summer in Winter Park (Alpine slide, human maze, adventures galore!)

Colorado Springs (U.S. Air Force Academy, Olympic Training Center)

The Rockies (baseball, that is)