For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies

Remember when I said I was going to print more photos this year? Well, I'm just getting on that. And while poking around the internets on Wednesday, I realized you could upload THOUSANDS of photos to Flickr using their new Camera Roll. This is good news. My photo library has about 25,000 photos. So I needed some serious help in the uploading department.

It's taken a few days, for a few hours at a time to upload half of my library. But it is a really smooth process using their uploader. Flickr's website, however, is a bit slow and has a few more bugs. But, this Camera Roll is in beta testing, so it's bound to have some issues.

But, enough about software.



What struck me while going through all of these photos (all 12,000 plus) was the vitality of in each frame. They are infused with a sense of wonder, hope and curiosity.



The beauty of the earth, the glory of the skies. Of missing teeth and snow days, of porch sitting and creative awe.

The color and vibrance of daily living.

These are the things that make our days. The fabric that our memories are stitched on.

So now, more than ever, I want to unlock these memories from the box that is my computer and make them come alive again with our storytelling, paper them on our walls, write down who we were in those moments and write about who we became because of them.



I want to earmark how we felt, what we ate, who we sat with and how we loved each other while we made these precious memories.

And I will sing while I'm doing it, because you can hear that song too, right?

For the beauty of each hour
   Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
   Sun and moon and stars of light:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
This our Hymn of Grateful praise.

Favorite photos of 2014

I am planning on going through all of my photos this year and getting some printed and turned into books. With all of the photos that I've taken, I have almost none up at my house. And there are so many that I love, I should have started this years ago. But, there is no time like the present-- I guess this is my traditional new years resolution. Print more photos. So here are a few of them that made me laugh or gave me warm fuzzies while I was going through them!

Lamby has shown up in almost all of our photos!

These two have grown up since the first time we were all toghether. 

And these two who have such a sweet friendship!

These cub scouts and their crazy antics!

A frozen lake with our beloved Bon-bon.

Exploring creativity from new angles.

Winter hikes on warmer days!

Summer road trips!

Lamby in a Yoda costume!

The weekend before we opened the coffee shop. 

Quiet mornings. 

Write down who you are...

This may just look like our cozy little coffee station. A home for our electric Hario pot, cone coffee dripper, hand thrown mugs and Old Factory Coffee Beans. And it is, it does a fine job, but if you look closer, you'll see something that is much more important.

The chalkboard above tells more of our story than this little nook of heaven ever could. When we started our Family Meetings last year, it was out of near desperation to draw the four of us back together. We put out a big piece of poster board and we wrote down things we needed to remember on a daily basis-- we wrote down our rituals for living.

We chose things we wanted to be about. We chose guiding themes for what was important. We talked about or values. Then we wrote them down and put them up so we would be held accountable, by each other and by every person who steps foot in our house.

I encourage you to take time to find out who your family is and write down your values. It guides us toward who we should be every day.

Weekending

This weekend was the most wonderful mix of relaxing and hard work. Good conversations and great coffee. And of course, Halloween candy!

We started the weekend off super pumped for Trick or Treating. The kids jumped off the bus ready to get into their costumes. We drove over to pick up milk for the shop, they had to be in full regalia. They wanted to trick or treat by themselves but only made it a few houses away from us, but they loved the idea of being on their own. We ended the night with take out and the Great Pumpkin with our favorite friends.

On Saturday Eric woke up super early and worked at the shop and I took my regular afternoon shift.  

It gave me plenty of time to hang out with the kids and reinstate our ritual Sketchbook Saturday Morning. The kids reveled in their jammies: painting, playing, reading and hanging around. It was thrilling-- it had been a long time since we'd taken an at home day. We finished the day off together, snuggled up on the couch watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 

Today, we woke up early and enjoyed our extra hour. We went off to church and spent the afternoon having great conversations with the Room for All community at the shop. What a joy to be exploring inclusive community and becoming a safe place for ALL.

I hope you had a lovely weekend as well! Did you do anything fun?