Day 133.  Today I had lunch by myself so I went to the park and sat at one of the picnic tables.  The park was pretty empty of people, but there were a lot of birds.  I sat there listening to the birds making racket and finding which ones were making which noise.  Then I realized I was being watched as well.  He sat on that branch and kept an eye on me.  He knew every time I moved.  I began to think of him as the park sentinel, keeping an eye on everything under his charge.  He was doing a good job.  When I approached to take his picture, he didn't budge.  He just kept watching me.  I wonder what he thought of my camera lens staring back at him.  He never left his post, he just kept watching.  It doesn't matter where I go, there is always someone watching over me.  "For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know, he watches me."

Day 132.  Life is easier if you think of it as a journey and not a predicament.  Life is a journey that God has set us on and every event is another step in that journey.  Some steps are rocky and others are easily marked, but every step leads to the next.  So, I just keep on stepping because I know that God has a plan for my journey.  He promised that His plans are not to harm me but to prosper me and give me hope and a future.  What a great journey.

Day 131.  Maggie is such a good sport.  She will do just about anything for me to take a picture.  Even crawl under the Christmas tree.  She is such a pretty young lady, inside and out.  On another note, I found out this week that my sister and her family are in a tv commercial.  Then last night I was watching tv and there they were.  So, I watched the same show tonight to see if they would show it again and they did, twice.  How cool is that?  I think it is very cool.  It is a cleartalk wireless commercial and it comes on during the Jimmy Kimmel show.  I recorded it tonight so I can show Stacy and the kids.  Way to go Mitchells, you guys rock.

Day 130.  One more decoration to show, just because.  I got this little tree for Stacy several years ago.  It is a lot like one at her grandparent's house that she grew up with.  It's a cool little tree that is lit by a single bulb in the base and has little light shaped pegs that fit into the holes and the light shines through them.  Stacy loved putting the pegs in every Christmas.  It was such a neat memory for her that I looked for one of these trees for our house.  Target started carrying them and I surprised her with it.  I don't know if they still have them or not, but, this one is helping our kids make memories.  They are very careful with it and love to set it up, so, the tradition comes full circle.  

Day 129.  It really hasn't been cold yet but it will get there.  When I was little I didn't want snow at Christmas because we usually got a toy that had to go outside, and it wasn't a sled, plus we would get too loud to stay inside.  The older I get, the more I appreciate my parents.  I don't like cold weather but I do like snow, so, if it is going to get cold then I think it should snow.  The weather doesn't care what I think.  It will do what it does and I will adjust and live with it, and be happy to be alive.  

Day 128.  Today I wanted to show off some of Stacy's handiwork. All of our stockings are handmade and stitched by her.  They are counted cross stitch patterns.  Mine wasn't too bad, but look on down at Annie's, the entire front is covered with stitches.  It took her several years to complete all of them.  It was pretty funny looking over the years when some of them were done and others weren't so we used plane stockings, and had some stitched and some not.  They all served their purpose so it was ok, it just looked kind of funny.  She started working on a tree skirt several years ago, but stopped to complete the stockings, and we have a quilted tree skirt, anyway.  Maybe someday she will work on it again, but it's ok if she doesn't, I like the quilted one.  So, we have personalized ornaments and stockings, and we have a collection of Nativity scenes,( see day 18).  I guess we have our own Christmas traditions that we are passing down to our kids.  When the kids grow up and have their own families they will start their own traditions.  I'm still not sure if Stacy and I will allow them to take their ornaments and stockings.  I will cross that bridge when I get to it. 

Day 127.  Thanksgiving is over and now we look toward Christmas.  We put up our tree today, and it looks pretty good.  We don't put tinsil or garland on it anymore, just our ornaments.  Every year we each get to pick out a new ornament.  They are dated and our name is written on it.  That makes the ornaments to special to cover up.  We are at the point that if we put garland on the tree it will cover up ornaments and no one wants theirs covered.  So, we leave it off.  It makes the tree look bare until you notice how many ornaments are really there.  I used to make the family wait for a week or two after Thanksgiving to put the tree up.  Then we would leave it up until after New Years.  Now, because the kids do a lot of the work, we put it up sooner and it comes down before New Years.  I like it better this way.  I love Christmas and the lights and all, but I also love when the house gets back to normal, and we can get back to a routine.  Honestly I never thought I would say that, but I have grown accustomed to having a routine.  Not for me, but the kids do better on a routine.  When they do better, I do better.  Yep, it's all for the kids.

Day 126.  Before lunch yesterday, we were outside playing with the dogs.  Brody loves Dugan, and Dugan loves him, too.  We were commenting on how long Brody's tongue is, and there it was.  By the way, Brody is the dog.  I couldn't see if any of the pictures I took were in focus or not.  Today I got new glasses and I get to look at all the pictures I took.  I thought this picture was great.  So, here I am catching up on my blog, wearing my new glasses.  Merry Christmas to me.  Actually, that's all I want this year.  To be able to see my family up close and in focus.

Day 125.  What a gorgeous day.  Thanksgiving day and it's 74 degrees outside.  After a great lunch most every one needs a walk.  Usually I help Stacy with the dishes while the others take a walk.  This year Matthew agreed to help with the dishes and I went on the walk.  What a great bunch to walk with.  We had five dogs along with us too.  The best part is that after the walk we go back, the dishes are done, and we get to go home and take a nap.  Because, after the nap, the Christmas shopping begins.  Well, at least for some.

Day 124.  If you remember back at day 100 I lost my glasses.  I got out my old pair and have been using them sense.  Today as we were shopping my glasses weren't fitting right so I was adjusting them and they broke.  Now I can't see to read, or blog.  All of my life I haven't needed glasses at all, until about 4 years ago.  Now it seems that I depend on them everyday, and what may not seem like a big change in my eyesight really affects the way I see and feel.  I am writing this a few days late because I couldn't see to do it, but, I will catch up to that.  All my life I have heard that you don't know what you have until it's gone.  If you don't understand that, just wait.  There are some things I pray that I never have to find out what it's like to be without. 

Day 123.  I can't believe these trees are still changing.  When so many trees are already bare these are still holding on.  It won't be too long now until they are red and then finally they will lose their leaves also.  When every thing seems to be dormant and lifeless there is still life waiting to spring up.  It' like the resurrection.  Just when the world thought that Jesus was dead, God raised him up to life.  Hold on, spring is coming.

Day 122.  I can't believe it is almost Christmas.  It is not Thanksgiving yet but the city has already lighted/lit up the street decorations.  Tomorrow night is supposed to be the official time to light them up.  Most of the decorations are candy canes or bells or trees, but their are two toy soldiers.  One on the east end of town and one on the west end.  This one is at our street, the east side of town.  Last year the light crew messed up and put him on the other side of the street.  We were pretty upset, and Annie was afraid that we wouldn't know where our street was.  This year they got it right.  It's nice to know that he will be standing guard once again where we sill see him every night.  

Day 121.  We had our Thanksgiving lunch at church today, and it was good.  The food was good, and the fellowship was great.  Then, we went to the community service tonight.  It was a great day and I'm going to leave it at that.

Day 120.  Saturday is a good day, a busy day.  At the end of the day I look back and realize I don't have a picture.  I had plans for one, but it didn't pan out.  I guess from now on I should really have a back up plan.  I take pictures that I think will be pretty good only to get them on the computer and find out they are out of focus or just plain blurry.  Needless to say, somedays are very frustrating.  Then you find that you took a really great picture, so you keep going.  This isn't that shot.  But, it was fun.

Day 119.  Yeah, we did it finally.  We made popcorn balls tonight.  They are so addictive.  I probably won't go to sleep for a while.  We use an old recipe that Stacy's Mimi passed down.  It uses white Karo syrup and butter and vanilla.   I don't know why we only make them around Halloween and Thanksgiving, except that it is for my own good.  Making popcorn balls has become a fall tradition for our family, and one I look forward to and hope will keep going.  Some traditions die because they are no longer relative to the family and some traditions continue because they bring the family closer together.  This one definitely brings us closer.  

Day 118.  The twins were both inducted into the Junior National Honor Society tonight.  It was pretty cool.  There are over 350 students in the eighth grade at their school and tonight there was 57 inducted.  That's pretty good I think.  They are in a good class.  I love that.  We have prayed for this all of their lives and God has been so gracious.  They will have good friends for life now and that is priceless.

Day 117.  A couple of years ago, I got into some carving classes at the local art center.  The goal was to get good enough to carve on a walking stick.  The instructor was pretty good and made it look easy.  I finished two faces before my schedule wouldn't allow me to keep attending.  It was a lot of fun and I met some good people.  I didn't have the right tools so I had to borrow some, and that's not fun.  Anyway, it's seems to be getting harder to find things to take pictures of.  I really need to get out to the park or someplace besides home or the church.  But that is where I am everyday, home and the church.  These last couple of days I haven't been motivated to take a picture, but, Stacy won't let me quit.  I am glad for that, because I do want to finish this project.  Only 248 days to go.

Day 116.  This is actually from Saturday.  Dugan played in the All Region Band and they did so great.  He is also pretty good at tennis, and getting better.  I hope all my kids realize that they can do anything if they really try, and I love watching them try.  Dugan wasn't sure he wanted to try out for the All Region Band.  He had some good encouragment that helped him decide.  When it was over he was so glad he did.  Life is to full of regrets over things we didn't do.  I'm glad this experience will never be a regret for him.  And next year will be even better.

Day 115.  The next time I move, if there is a next time, I will have a check list for things to look out for.  One of those things is to see what kind of trees are in the yard.  Almost all trees make a mess in the fall with leaves and in the spring with blossoms.  But, we have sticks in our yard all year round.  The very large globe willow is constantly dropping them.  Most are small, but there is quite a few that are pretty large. So, quiet often we go pick them up, especially after a windy day.  Saturday was very windy and the yard was full of branches.  Maggie helped me pick them up and take them off.  I wonder if Jesus gets as tired of cleaning me up as I do cleaning up those sticks.  I'm glad his patience is great.

Day 114.  It is Veterans Day.  We had a great service this morning honoring our veterans and encouraging patriotism.  The uniforms we displayed were from guys that go or have gone to our church.  It was very cool to see the different style uniform from different wars.  There was a time, about 30 years ago, that I felt that the veterans hospital was only a place for soldiers to go to die.  The one time I went there was not a good experience.  I have been back several times since and wow what a change.  It is an up to date facility and they take very good care of our service men and women.  I am so pleased to be able to say that.  Because, our veterans deserve the best. 

Day 113.  I know that the dust bowl days were worse than this, but I didn't experience those days.  I did experience this, today.  The dirt gets in your mouth and eyes, nothing can keep it out.  I opened the door and I could feel the dirt blowing in.  I was afraid that if I took a picture no one would be able to tell what it was.  So, I waited for a vehicle to either drive out of it or into it.  Now you can see it.  What you can't see is the building and the windmills that are just past where the truck is.  They are completely blocked out by the dirt.  If we don't get rain soon, and a lot of it, the dust bowl won't be such a distant memory,  Lord we need rain, not a sprinkle, not a rain that comes fast and hard and leaves the same way.  We need a ground soaking, lake filling, aquifer replenishing, rain.  Could you send it very soon, thank you.

Day 112.  My girls.  Annie is not really scared, she is trying to keep her eyes open from the flash.  She has the hardest time with that.  I know that everybody says this but my girls ARE the best.  If I told you about them as individuals this post would be so long no one would read it.  So I'll try to keep it short. They all have the same quirky sense of humor, that I love, and an over developed sense of loyalty, that I depend on, and a desperate need to follow the rules.  They all have strong personalities that make them awesome friends, and great leaders.  But, to me they are My Girls, and I love them so much.

Day 111.  Tonight I was at a place where I got to see the sunset.  Usually I only get to see it rise.  There I was out with the family and I looked up and there was this really cool sunset.  I got up and went to get a better perspective.  Stacy told me later that Annie asked her where I was going, and she replied, "he has his camera and he saw something, that's what he does."  I had to laugh, because it's true.  There isn't to many times that we go somewhere and I don't have my camera with me.  If I'm not taking my camera I make sure that Stacy has her small one in her purse, just in case.  I am realizing more and more every day that it is very easy to overlook so many of God's blessings in my life.  From the colors in the sunset to the beauty and uniqueness in our family.  We are so blessed.  I may not catch all of them, probably not most, but I want to be sure and find as many as possible.  I will never run out of things to praise God for. 

Day 110.  Went to watch a JV football game tonight.  The little boy here is not yet two.  He really likes Dugan, almost as much as he likes his own big brother.  His brother was playing in the game so he was content to sit in Dugan's lap.  When Dugan was small he would somehow find the one person in a room who had had a bad day or was struggling with life, and he would go to that person and just sit beside them.  Of course they would start talking to him and by the time we left Dugan would have somehow managed to make the person laugh and feel better.  He still has that gift, but being a teenager, he doesn't use it so much anymore.  It is hard for a young man to have so much compassion and empathy for others and yet still be considered masculine.  But, he does it well. 

Day 109.  Early in our marriage we made a trip over to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  While we were walking around just looking in the shops and having a nice time, I found a little bowl.  It was about the size of a cereal bowl.  It was made by a Navajo Indian lady who was well known for her pottery.  The store wanted over $300.00 for that little bowl.  I turned redneck on the shop owner and told her that I could make a bowl like that out of the mud in my back yard.  Actually, I just told Stacy that, and then we left the store pretty quick.  Just shopping around we found out that the Navajo Indian art was more popular and also more well known, so it was expensive.  But, if you could find some Arapaho Indian art pieces it wasn't too bad.  Guess who made this vase.  Yes, it is by an Arapaho artist.  I bought it for about fifteen dollars.  I like it just as much if not more than that little bowl.  I understand that the worth of an item depends largely on who made it.  What I don't understand is who sets these prices.  I should be worth a fortune, because I was made by a master craftsman.  As a matter of fact, He is still perfecting his work in me.  But, who of us was not created by the same craftsman.  God does not make mistakes and He values each of us enough to pay the ultimate price to make sure we can be with him forever.

Day 108.  I really like this little band of ponies out on the plains.  They are actually starting to pose for me.  I have to stop on the side of the highway and get out to take their picture but I think it is worth it.  The cars and trucks passing by don't seem to mind, they don't even slow down.  It is amazing how much of life just passes us by.  "Stop and smell the roses", "Wake up and smell the coffee".  We want to slow down and experience the small but important things in life, but, there is too  much going on.  If I slow down I can't get everything done.  There is more to life than just getting things done.  When we lived in Alabama the people there described it as being in the middle of the road all day.  Sometimes you do need to slow down and enjoy the journey.  We used to tease my brother that he never tasted any of his food.  He just swallowed it so fast that he couldn't even tell what it was.  So, I take the time to get off the road every once in a while and let the world pass on by.  When I get to the end of my life I want to be able to look back and say, "Man, that was good." 

Day 107.  This picture was actually taken in March of 2011.  But it is one of my favorites that I have ever taken.  On Sundays I don't always have time to take a picture, so I picked this one instead.  The fog was so thick that day, that the turbines just appeared up in the air.  I know some people don't like the fog.  They think it is creepy.  I, however, love the fog.  I think it is so cool how things just come out of nowhere.  Miracles just appearing.  Yes, I like the fog. 

Day 106.  It's hard to see how this year is affecting me if I don't have any pictures of me.  So, here I am again.  It is Saturday and man what a day it has been.  But it is almost over now and has turned out to be a pretty good day.  We started with tennis and Stacy and the kids went to a Junior Bible Quiz meet and I had a funeral, and then prayer at the church tonight.  In between all of this we even managed to watch a little college football.  You see, daylight savings time ends tonight.  Every year I think I will get an extra hour of sleep but what usually happens is, there is so much to do that I get to bed an hour later.  Not fair.  Maybe I'll make it this year.  There is usually some one that forgets to change their clock and shows up an hour early for church.  Which means they are on time.  I wonder who it will be this year.  I better go check mine.

Day 105.  Tonight was the last home game for the high school football team, this year.  So the Jr. high band got to march at halftime with the high school band.  They did a great job.  You would think that with two kids out there I would be able to get a better picture,but there was always so much activity going on that I didn't.  Dugan has had a busy week.  Thursday he tried out for the all region band.  He has been very nervous about this all week.  He did very good, he made 1st chair in the concert band for French Horns.  I am very proud of him.  Tomorrow we have tennis and then next week is the all region concert, so he has a lot of work ahead of him.  Meanwhile, Maggie got to play the snare tonight standing between two high school guys.  She had such a big grin on her face.  I was watching though.  Life seemed tough but was so much easier when they were babies.  Some days I really miss that time.  I got to control everything about them and now I have to let them start spreading their wings.  They are growing into wonderful young adults.   

Day 104.  Well all the other trees around have already changed and these little oaks across the street are just now starting.  Pretty soon they will be brilliantly red.  Maybe it is the unseasonably warm weather we have been having that has made them hold on to their green.  I know that winter is on it's way, but I will enjoy the warm while I can.  I have been dreading the cold this year.  I really have never liked to be cold, but could tolerate it ok.  I would much rather be hot.  It just seems worse this year to me.  The cold will come soon enough so I guess I might as well get ready for it.