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.