Good Things....

Feast of St. Patrick

"I arise today

Through the strength of heaven:

Light of sun, 

Radiance of moon,

Splendor of fire,

Speed of lightning

Swiftness of wind,

Depth of sea,

Stability of earth,

Firmness of rock.

I arise today

Through God's strength to pilot me:

God's might to uphold me, 

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me,

God's hand to guard me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's host to save me

From snares of devils,

From temptation of vices,

From everyone who wishes me ill

Afar and anear

Alone and in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils:

Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul;

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of Pagandom,

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, 

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today through a mighty strength,

The invocation of the Trinity:

Through belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of Creation."

~St. Patrick's Breastplate 

Exciting Things, Part lll

Two weeks ago (tomorrow) my Knight and I (and Little Lady) were on our way to Arizona.

A very good friend (from the Wyoming college days) was getting married, and we decided (~a tad on the side of last minute;) to attend. 

We got in late Friday night, and the wedding took place Saturday afternoon.

It poured rain all day (~the first rain they had had since last fall!), but after the wedding the clouds broke, the sun came out.........and I simply cannot describe to you the beautiful colors! The picture above does not do it justice. It didn't seem real. And just in time for wedding pictures! God is so good. 

Arizona is beautiful.

I was in awe.

I couldn't get enough of the mountains and the cacti.

After Mass on Sunday, we spent the afternoon and evening with some other dear friends.

(~Also from Wyoming college days! What a coincidence!:)

It was so lovely. They have such a beautiful family.

And then on Monday, we drove four hours to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

My friends, all the words and pictures in the world, could never do it justice.

(If you have ever been there, you understand, right?)

The brain reels at the vastness....

......the dizzying heights.......

......the sheer beauty......

I felt like I was in a daze.

It just didn't seem possible.

But it is.

On our way to the Watchtower, to get a view of the sunset over the canyon, we were held up by a herd of elk! It was my very first time to see them in person, and it was something for a first time! 

They were so close, I almost could have touched one by reaching out the window!

It was really pretty funny! They were in no way intimidated by all the vehicles, but just calmly went about their business, foraging and what-not.

But, back to the Grand Canyon.....

........just knowing that for all its immensity, it is just the tiniest reflection of God's majesty...

I think that is what is most awe~inspiring of all.

It brought on a great longing...

...a great yearning...

for Him. 

We were, unfortunately, a bit late to enter the little gift shop.

It looked so charming.

Perhaps next time.

And early the next morning, we flew back home.

Dear Arizona, I hope we can visit you again!

Exciting Things, Part ll

Just a few days after we had our fireplace insert installed, Miss Posy got to go on a special date with her daddy.

Now, when a little girl of seven gets to have her daddy all to herself for an evening, and gets to dress up on top of it..........well, there certainly isn't anything more exciting than that, is there?!

It's just the whole waiting for him to get home, after the hair has been all curled and the pretty dress donned, that might become a bit tedious.

But Miss Posy kept herself busy, and whiled away the time with the piano...

...and gazing out the window.

My sweet, sweet, girl.....

Exciting Things ~Part I

Yes! Very exciting things, that I have been meaning to post about for the past month!!

Life has been crazy........but in a good way;)

Anyway.....

......first things first!

You all probably remember our lovely-closed-off-thus-non-operational-fireplace, right?

Well, early one morning last month, I had it stripped of all ornament, moved everything out of the room that I could, and covered everything else that I couldn't with sheets.

Shortly afterwards, a very kind man and his son-in-law came and began to open the chimney!

When they took off the boards that closed it off on the bottom end, they found themselves staring at jumbled bricks. My Knight was very worried that the chimney may have started to collapse. However, it was discovered (after they had removed five five-gallon bucket loads of bricks) that when whomever had cut the chimney off at the top and roofed over it, they had simply thrown all the bricks down inside the chimney itself! Nice.)

One of the men joked that Santa Claus really could fit down this chimney.......it is that big!

Pretty dirty work.......

.....especially when they had to bust through the fire brick, and found they had to remove about three five-gallon buckets worth of soot!

But how we do love our stove!!

We have been whiling away these frigid days in our cozy living room, and at least one child seems to always be sitting in front of it reading a book, or playing with matchbox cars.

I grew up with a wood burning stove, and so it is just the perfect finishing touch to our old farm house, in my mind! At least one of the chimneys is getting some use! It just didn't seem right before!

So, there you are for now.

More exciting things to follow....

...eventually:)