a year in passing...

more than a year has passed..

I have felt silenced..

quieted.

overwhelmed.

I simply couldn't come on here, 

and write..

My words felt so heavy.

Too heavy.

Yet life,

in all it's heaviness,

has still been filled with these moments of joy,

and people I LOVE,

and memories I cherish,

and giggles,

and I thought I would take a moment this day…

to reflect.

Because as HARD as this year has been,

with many challenges,

it's been a year of many victories!

MANY joys,

many long lovely walks.

many funny videos

and terrific emails from friends far and wide.

bonding over the internet

much like bonding over a letter was long ago..

days at the lake

in the big big city..

a mixture of disgust,

because,

YES

that is trash in the water floating..

and joy

at the beautiful sunset,

the beautiful waters,

the wonders of a great day

with family..

bliss, and magic in the eyes of my Buddy,

oh the joys of a 10 year old boy,

NO words at how I adore this lad.

romantic sneak away dinner 

at a sidewalk cafe

after an evening appointment

with doctor in the city..

cupcake decorating with cousins

sprinkles are really the BEST!

there are NEVER too many Sprinkles!

Kindergarten began for Little Man..

it was the year of many wonderful beginnings..

silly days with siblings..

memories

and Sass at CS's 19th Birthday

naptime on the porch

a few more weeks of 16...

JUST a few

isn't she lovely..

she's my joy

cousin time

what JOY and Bliss..

I can NOT express enough how FUN 

every day is when these girlies come to 

Blessings Farm to play...

Cousin memories

walking the trails

the house.. shaping up

every so slowly...

and the year had trips..

many many trips in to the city…

train rides

and 

can you SEE the sheer joy

in his sweet face!

he LOVES the train ride

and there she is..

always watching...

and the flowers bloomed at the farm

and the city was full of beauty too..

it's trails lovely

just..

different..

it's towering giants

taller than my mighty oaks...

there were boat rides this year..

Architecture tours

it was a year of extremes..

in every sense of the word…

in our personal life..

and in the world at large...

There were fun teen nights

and precious intimate moments with precious friends

and precious family..

there were homemade dance floors with doodling on them..

and weddings

chances to serve others..

and feed others..

and moments of PURE silliness..

in the midst of our hardest days, we found opportunities

to visit Legoland with our homeschool group

and BE very creative..

we visited the Orchestra

and even were blessed to see 

Captain America!

and cousins 

and friends...

and on rare occasions..

we got back to the blissful dreamy place that this blog is named for

Blessings Farm

and we strolled the trails

and crunched the leaves..

and breathed in deeply…

listening to the pileated woodpecker…

and the scurrying of the squirrels...

walking quietly

in our beautiful sun soaked woods...

enjoying one another greatly...

we enjoyed

the Little's…

a Captain America

and 

Shadow…

when Halloween rolled around..

they were very very fun to be with...

we enjoyed the dog 

who enjoyed the trails…

we enjoyed the back porch

and every day that was good,

for not every day was good,

when this is so,

you drink them in all the more

sipping them slowly,

soaking in the aroma,

appreciating them in the light

as they come to you…

good days,

are so lovely

and precious,

one ought truly...

enjoy every bit of them..

taste them

and chew them slowly…

distinguishing the flavor of them fully..

good days…

can come in all sorts of colors…

grays and golds,

not just blue's and yellow's

they help you focus in on things that.. matter

like the seeds for next year...

the folds of the past year..

the scope of it all.. the big picture…

I can honestly say

it's been a really challenging year..

but I feel my relationships with the people I love

are richer,

more honest more real…

more down to earth..

I love my tribe...

with their sass

and wit

they are a pack of … something kind of wonderful..

dancing on the porch..

flowers in the garden

hunting for dinosaurs

dance lessons from the Princess...

Cousin Time is the best time

cats included...

the garden had high hopes..

you can note the high..

and the hopes..

I won't share the let down..

I will only hope again for next year..

The porch was the best part of the spring, summer and fall..

It was danced upon,

dined upon

laughed upon

and cried upon,

it's the best room in the house...

art was created there

by the Shibori Artist herself

these are examples of burp cloths

and baby clothing

for a wonderful baby shower..

that was filled with people we LOVE

beautiful ladies

ladies we adore

and don't really get to see enough of...

ladies with stories to tell,

ladies older,

and ladies younger...

ladies that matter so much to me,

who smile all so beautifully

it was yet another lovely day...

a baby on the way...

speaking of babies…

this posy of three

tried to stop me.

and looked all

hard core 

and tuff

standing in the middle of the road

cute little baby 

I am SO scared of you..

brownie making

in the Blessings Farm kitchen..

seems to require

some Lickin'

kitty kitty… 

looking for mice..

and 

the bug hunters...

the lake..

the babies

that are not babies any more..

Precious time with Nana

because Memories must be captured

and kept

and made record of…

our loved ones while they are here,

and their smiles and hugs are with us

we must make note,

and enjoy them

because tomorrow,

the lily pads will grow again..

and eventually the barn will fall down..

but CS will never look quite so young again..

in his O so cool lifeguard do...

and Little Man looks

oH so little

hanging out with his last remaining grand parent..

we enjoy our Nana so very much..

she's a delight..

We were blessed to spend time with my aunts and uncles too..

I so enjoy seeing my father's siblings..

there are no words..

These were the people of my childhood..

My memories are made of their voices

their laughter

their music

their song..

and this…

this is the next generation..

so lovely

so strong

light

joy

strength

laughter

forever family

because through it all…

we must find those moments..

to grab one another,

and say,

HAY!!!!

I love you..

and we do..

we've been doing a LOT of that..

we are all VERY busy..

but..

we DO do that..

we listen 

and play together

try to find time

to just connect together..

and be silly

incredibly silly

but there is no age thing for us..

maybe for others.. 

but maybe that's why they aren't in these photo's.

maybe…

they'll be in NEXT year's photo's

we have all the time for those who want our love…

we have no time for 

anything else..

we are a family going through …

some real stuff…

and we got baby cousins to kiss and cuddle as OFTEN as we 

can POSSIBLY get our arms around them..

and we have got chickens

oodles of chickens

beautiful

bold chickens...

and a Papa… 

leading the way..

there is NO room for drama that is self created ..

there is just real life happening

and a lot of it pretty GREAT

pretty AMAZING

in between the really hard stuff… 

but that is just life? right?

sort of rugged

raw

and SO beautiful