He Makes All Things New

After getting our last snowstorm just two weeks ago, spring is finally in full force here in lovely Colorado! Last night I had a couple of piano students cancel, and I felt so blessed to have an extra hour to just sit on our back patio, enjoy the soft spring breeze, and watch Juliet (mighty defender that she is!) chase a mother robin out of our yard. The poor mommy couldn't deliver her worm to her small babies, snug in their nest on our patio. After about 15 minutes, I finally intervened, but it was pretty cute while it lasted!

Juliet is such a good dog. Springtime Juliet seems a lot happier than wintertime Juliet! She loves the outdoors. :-)







And she and Ryley are the best of buds. :-) Ryley loves snuggling and petting her puppy while she reads!





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With springtime comes sundresses. Back in March, my aunt Coleen spent several hours with Ryley, introducing her to the joys of sewing...











The dresses have been such a blessing, and Coleen is so talented! Every outfit has been absolutely adorable, but this is one of my favorites!



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With springtime comes baseball, and we were blessed to be hooked up with free tickets to a Colorado Rockies game! It was a last-minute thing, and it was rainy and cold, and we got soaked through and through, but it was an experience we won't forget!



We finally convinced Ryley to eat a hotdog! This is a major event in our lives. :-) And you know what? She loved it.



Plus, we may never have as good of seats again....front row of the club level! Going to a Rockies game had been on our list of family activities/experiences to splurge on this summer, so the fact that we were blessed with these tickets was just wonderful!!!



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With springtime comes 1st grade field trips to the Denver Zoo. Ryan (much more of a zoo person than I) served as a chaperone of four little 6-year-old girls! So cute....



He had a bit of a challenge when one of the girls dropped her sunglasses in the kangaroo pen, and the little girl cried and cried! But he tracked down the zookeepers and saved the day!



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With springtime comes yard work and unpleasant discoveries. Look at this thing! It's the sixth snake we've found in our yard in three years. Ryan hacked it to death with hoes and shovels. He's our hero!





Ryley was very concerned that we don't use these grill tongs ever again. :-) My husband is so handsome, especially when he is protecting his family!!



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This springtime, I have decided not to plant a vegetable garden. I am taking a year off. I've always planted way more than I can handle, and I think sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth...especially with the hail we've been having. Hail and weeds stress me out during this season of my life, and I think a garden needs to be fun and enjoyable and rewarding. It was my grandma's suggestion to take a break, and I am heeding her advice! She always knows best about such things. ;-)

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With springtime comes the end of favorite shows. Like LOST. I love LOST, and I loved the way it ended. It was beautiful storytelling, certainly worth the six years of my life that I followed along. Now that I know how it ends, I want to start over and watch it all again! Maybe someday. I know it sounds silly, but it was so inspirational to me spiritually. The story was beautiful, and I began to think, "How much more beautiful is the story and truth of Jesus?" What a lovely thing to ponder.

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With springtime comes the promise of the fall. The promise of football. We found out yesterday that we've risen to the top of the Denver Broncos season ticket waiting list. You know what's funny? We added our names to the waiting list the same month that LOST premiered, in September 2004. Back then, we had no money, but we believed that by the time we got to the top of the list, we would be able to afford it. :-) Well, we're a little better off (praise God!), but not a lot! Ha! They're really not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but $20 can be the world to you when you don't have anything, right? We have two weeks to figure this out. Otherwise, it will be another 7-10 years before our names resurface. Knowing Ryan and his love for the Broncos, I am certain that he will figure it out!! One way or another.

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All in all, it seems that springtime has finally arrived. God is good, He is faithful, and He takes care of all the many small details within our lives. If He cares so much about the details and little things, how much more then is He taking care of the things that really matter? As I watched Juliet chase that robin, I just reveled in the glory of nature and how our Father sees to it that even the baby robins are fed. My rose bushes bloom without a touch from me, and the bright pink blossoms remind me that it's a new season, and He's doing new things in each of us. What a beautiful story our Heavenly Father has woven together for us to take part in...one of love, one of provision, and one of ultimate renewal.

He indeed makes all things new.