advent

"The people living in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."

Matthew 4:16

away

five of my most favorite people

Where did November go? Can it really be December already?

We've been away for awhile--a very long while, in fact.

We left home October 22 and returned just this week.

Here's what we've been up to:

A 17 hour drive down to Northern California (my husband drove straight through!)
A week spent here in Grass Valley
A visit with family in Los Angeles
A shopping day at the American Girl Store
A trip to Disneyland
A camping trip in the Grand Canyon
A visit with family in Mesa, Arizona
A visit with family in Tucson, Arizona
A beautiful drive up the California Coast on Highway 1--we saw the sun set as we drove!
A visit with family in the Bay Area
A tour of the Jelly Belly Factory
A visit with family in Northern California where we celebrated my girls' 5th birthday, Thanksgiving and my husband's birthday
A chance to hear my big brother preach at his church
A visit with family in Portland, Oregon
A crazy drive home in the snow--with no chains and no snow tires (they were back home, of course)

Whew! Now back to reality.

I've been scurrying about trying to organize my life.

Tonight as I prepared dinner, I put on my apron for the first time since I've been home and as I tied its strings, I sighed and felt a huge weight of stress lift.
It's a little piece of home that brought comfort right away.