Egg-Straordinary Talent!

Have you heard that you can balance eggs on end

on the first day of fall? We've done it before and it turns out I am

pretty good at it. Just another talent to add to my resume,

I guess. Daniel and I thought we'd try it again today.

As you can see, I managed to get one upright...

Daniel was a little more challenged so he resorted to

using a little salt to help keep his egg upright.

I managed to get three in a row before Daniel started

banging on the counters and sent them rolling.

The leaves are changing here and fall is definitely in the air.

Welcome, Autumn!

Sigh... My Heart Belongs To Paris.

What seems like a million years ago, my daughters and I were wandering the streets of Paris. I had remembered reading about a well-known bookstore, called Shakespeare & Company when I was perusing the guidebooks back in the states. After we settled in our apartment on our first day, we went out for a walk in the evening to look for this bookstore. Imagine our surprise to find it just a couple minute's walk away. To make our visit even more memorable, they were celebrating an anniversary and had free wine and a lovely French woman singing beautiful songs (in French, of course).

If you knew me, you'd know I can no more pass a shelf full of books without stopping to browse than, say, my daughter walking past a shoe store, heh heh... So, here I am, browsing books on a lovely summer evening almost three months ago. A little slice of heaven on earth. We ended up visiting more than once as we came to know our sweet Parisian neighborhood.

I can hardly believe that I was ever afraid to go to Paris. It all seems silly now, but I was. Maybe afraid isn't the right word. Intimidated might be better. I'm grateful that we were able to safely and successfully navigate the streets of a large city where we don't speak the language. It's given me a lot more confidence to be willing to step out of my comfort zone and push myself to try new and unfamiliar things.

So, what are you afraid of doing that you just keep putting off? The biggest thing is to just get going. Don't be held captive by fear. Take baby steps, get moving and see where the Lord leads you! You may find yourself blessed beyond your wildest dreams!

I Wish I Could Say "Happy Birthday, Sam!"

Leah, Samantha & Emily

This is a photo from Brenda (Mike's sister) & Tony's wedding in 1999. The girls were flower girls and Sam was Brenda's personal attendant.

The girls on Fathers Day.

You can see by the expressions on my girls' faces just how much they adored their cousin.

Today is my niece Samantha's birthday. She would have been 23. We lost her in a devastating car accident in July of 2004 and life hasn't been the same since.

Even though she's been gone for over seven years, we think about and speak of her quite frequently in our family. She was the best big cousin to all my children. She would faithfully take them under her wing and play with them at every family gathering. I'm sure at times it was boring and their incessant desire to be with her probably got old but she never complained. She was always loving and kind to them and they adored her! Actually, adored might be an understatement. Worshipped is more like it.

My oldest daughter just said to me the other day, "When I get married, after asking Leah (her sister) to be a bridesmaid, the next person I would have wanted would have been Sam."

We know our loss cannot compare to Mark and Teresa's, but we miss her and grieve all the same.

We love and miss you Sam, but we know we'll see you again someday.