And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

"Gratitude is the sign of noble souls." Aesop

James came to stay with us for a few days and one day, he told me he needed some paper, so he could "write a letter to Santa." He specified it needed to be  "Really big paper!"  So, I got the old calendar and gave it to him with some washable markers and he, very seriously, wrote and wrote and wrote.  He worked at this for quite some time - probably about an hour . . . and had filled at least ten pages with his artwork.  When he was done, he was showing me all of his artwork and so I asked him what he was asking Santa for? 

He looked at me, a little perplexed and said, "I am not asking him for anything, Grandma, I am writing him a Thank you letter. I want to tell him Thank you for all my toys!"   Then he asked me to write that on the letter and to tell Santa that he hopes he can go fishing now! 
My heart was touched deeply and I am so grateful for this lovely child who taught me today how to look at life every single day ~ with gratitude and joy! I am supposed to mail this letter to Santa, but I love to look at it everyday.

Sunshine and Rain in St George

 We went down to the condo last week-end and arrived late Thursday night to find that someone had "hit and run" our living room wall . . . baseboard was off, the sheetrock was cracked and the window looked a little skeewampus . . .outside a couple of bricks were off the wall and laying on the ground.   

Since it was after midnight, we called the insurance company and the police the next morning and they both arrived within the hour.  We don't know what happened excactly or who did this, but our insurance company was reall great to work with.  They had workmen there within minutes and by 3:00 that afternoon, broken studs were repaired, the wall was pushed back into place, new sheetrock was up, perfataped and textured !

Priming, painting and re-bricking was to be finsihed at the first of the week.  Ray is such a great handy-man and do-it-yourself kind of man, that I thought, "Oh no, another project and he is so busy right now!"  But thank goodness for good insurance, because they took care of it and we were able to enjoy our week-end with Ray's brother, Brad and his wife Teresa.

Brad and Teresa just moved to Page a few months ago, so they are only a couple of hours away from St. George.  They drove over for the week-end and we so enjoyed their company!  We all went to Kohl's where Brad, Teresa and Ray all got Skecher's Shape Up shoes.  Ray really likes his and after watching the video of skinny super models working out,  he said, the next time you see him, he will be sporting a new  "six-pack!" (Wahoo!) Brad said that Ray got rooked, because he already has a "keg!"

Teresa and I hit the craft stores, while the guys went sight-seeing out near Tuacahn and Snow Canyon.  Teresa has inspired me to get busy and get scrapbooking once again . . . I am years behind! 

Happy Valentine's Day

"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am so grateful for my good man ~ Thank you Ray, for being a wonderful husband, companion and friend.