With a rare exception here and there, every week I join with other bloggers to participate in an exercise in thankfulness. By reflecting on what we are grateful for, we don't ignore challenges we might be facing, but the difficulties of life are put in their proper perspective. We welcome new participants! Feel free to visit the Ten Things of Thankful blog and join us.
Remember my last post, when I said that John and I are empty-nesters now? Well, that doesn't mean we are actually lonely! This past week, we had the good fortune to spend time with our youngest son, as well as my sister and some of her family.
Join me for a re-cap, and look for the implied gratitude:
Youngest son came and stayed with us for most of last week. He drove from Washington state for the wedding of a friend, but he had time for us, too. We visited Moon's Rare Books and actually got to hold a little book that belonged to George Washington! We went to BYU's Museum of Art to see the M.C. Escher exhibit and the Tiffany glass display. We went to the house we are moving into so our son could see all the projects that have been completed since last December. We hiked the trails behind the house and enjoyed terrific views. We watched the latest Avengers movie. We discovered a yummy sushi restaurant. We played games, laughed, and talked until midnight.
My sister, her husband, and their youngest child came to Utah for their oldest child's college graduation. Though their trip was short, and they had other family members and friends to see, we were able to squeeze in a dinner with them. As we did last time she visited, we were so busy talking that we forgot to snap a photo, but I promise, the visit happened!
The weather this past week was all over the place. We had a dusting of snow on Monday, but Tuesday was warmer, sunny and beautiful. Wednesday it poured rain. The rest of the week dried up, and warmed up during the daytime.
Saturday morning, John and I woke up before dawn, so we could run the Provo City Half Marathon. We parked in downtown Provo, then took one of the race buses to a campground up the canyon, where the starting line was located. The air was quite nippy, but the race organizers had built fires in the campground fire pits, and racers huddled closely around the fires as we waited for the 7:00 start time to come. When the gun went off, we were ready, and we enjoyed a pleasant, mostly downhill run. This was our second half-marathon. Although I enjoyed it, and will probably run more half-marathons in the future, I don't have any desire to run a full marathon. John, on the other hand, came home and promptly signed up for a marathon. I'm content to just cheer him on for that race.
Though I didn't actually "count my many blessing" nor "name them one by one", I am filled with a feeling of gratitude, and am sure that there were at least 10 things in this week's post.
What are you thankful for this week?
Remember my last post, when I said that John and I are empty-nesters now? Well, that doesn't mean we are actually lonely! This past week, we had the good fortune to spend time with our youngest son, as well as my sister and some of her family.
Join me for a re-cap, and look for the implied gratitude:
Youngest son came and stayed with us for most of last week. He drove from Washington state for the wedding of a friend, but he had time for us, too. We visited Moon's Rare Books and actually got to hold a little book that belonged to George Washington! We went to BYU's Museum of Art to see the M.C. Escher exhibit and the Tiffany glass display. We went to the house we are moving into so our son could see all the projects that have been completed since last December. We hiked the trails behind the house and enjoyed terrific views. We watched the latest Avengers movie. We discovered a yummy sushi restaurant. We played games, laughed, and talked until midnight.
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| Photo: John and red-headed (and red-bearded) son stand on either side of me as we take a selfie from a mountainous trail. Utah Valley and Utah Lake are behind us in the distance. |
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| Photo: The view of Utah Valley and Utah Lake from the Grove Creek Trail. On either side of the photo in the foreground, rocky mountains with shrubby vegetation taper to the middle of the photo in a "v" shape, forming the canyon. |
The weather this past week was all over the place. We had a dusting of snow on Monday, but Tuesday was warmer, sunny and beautiful. Wednesday it poured rain. The rest of the week dried up, and warmed up during the daytime.
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| Photo: Two photos of the same scene: a round patio table and four purple chairs sit in a backyard. The yard blends into the shrubby brush of the mountain behind the yard. The photo on the left almost appears to be in black and white, due to a dusting of snow, with the purple of the chairs and some brown dirt the only color. The photo of the right shows no snow, a bright blue sky, green grass and sage green shrubs, as well as the purple chairs. |
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| Photo: John and I stand in front of a run13.com backdrop after finishing our half-marathon. We have our finisher medals around our necks, and I'm holding a sign that says, "I can't wait to BLOG about this #Run13 #MakingItHappen" (There were several signs to choose from, and when I saw that one, I knew I needed to hold it!) |
What are you thankful for this week?
LOL, I love the last photo! How wonderful to see so many visiting family members this week.
ReplyDeleteThe sign tickled me, too. :-)
DeleteI am so impressed at what movers and shakers you have become! May you be rewarded with strength and good health!
ReplyDeleteI love empty nesting. Adult children are a joy and tremendous blessing. The time as a couple is a reward for a job well done. Love it!
Thank you. I think that there are joys to be found in each stage of life.
Deleteimpressed how you spend your time as a couple when children are grown up. i too have a teenage boy who is 16 now.
ReplyDeleteEven when our kids were young, my husband and I always had a weekly date night. Sometimes that just meant playing a board game after the kids went to bed, but we wanted to make sure that when we reached this empty-nest time, we wouldn't seem like strangers.
DeleteEnjoy the time with your son. Kids grow up so fast!
A half (heck, a quarter marathon) causes me to sit and think, 'how? how does one get their cardiovascular system into such condition?'
ReplyDeleteVery cool.
The variety from day to day is surely an enjoyable part of being in Utah.
I don't know if my cardiovascular system is so great, or if my mind is just so weird--who in their right mind would think, "Let me get up at 4 a.m. to go up a cold canyon and run 13.1 miles!"?
DeleteWow! Well, anyone running a marathon certainly needs a cheer leader. You will be great one. Good for you both for completing the half marathon.
ReplyDeleteThat is an impressive beard. It sounds like you had a lot of fun experiences this week.
I'm glad you took those photos just one day apart of the table and chairs. What a difference a day makes.