Life is Good!

Missouri is in bloom!  I don't have a picture of it.  But just imagine . . . after a long winter, it is great to see all of the new green growth and the blossoms on the trees and hear the birds chirping.  It just amazes me to see all of the trees growing “wild” along the highways that are in bloom.  It really is beautiful!

We feel like we are home now.  I think it always takes a while to settle in and start to feel that things around you are familiar and that you are home.  It is such a nice feeling when you feel at home.  But I don’t ever want to forget what it feels like to be the “new” person and I want to continue to reach out to others and help them feel at “home”.

Home is really when you are with the ones you love. So pieces of myself are spread all over the country—Idaho, Utah, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Florida, Missouri.  It is wonderful to have friends and family in many places.  I just wish we could all get together more often!

We’re enjoying Missouri and all that it has to offer.

We had our first company come and visit the beginning of November.  Holly and her girls stayed for a couple days on their way through from Florida to their new home in California.  It was SOOOO wonderful to hug them and spend time with them.  I was very much in need of a friend fix at that time!

Devyn was our first family to visit us in November for Thanksgiving!  It was fun to show him our new locale and to have him here for the holiday.  We went shopping for his wedding suit and enjoyed doing that with him.

In December, some friends invited us to attend Handel’s Messiah at the Kauffman Center performed by the Kansas City Symphony and the Independence Messiah Choir.  It was amazing and uplifting and a wonderful start to our Christmas season.

And then we got to take a trip to Utah for our nephew’s wedding and reception.  It was also our chance to see Devyn before Christmas and give him his Christmas presents.  It was such fun to see our families and spend some time with them.  I had told my sister-in-law Janel that the trip was our Christmas.  She was so sweet and decorated her guest room with a little Christmas tree and a wreath and she had a little present for us so we could have a Christmas.  It really touched our hearts!  Thanks!

During this trip, Stephen taught Mom how to do neck and back massages.  Dad sure did appreciate the practice time!

Christmas Day 2013 was just Stephen and I.  It was kind of different but still fun.  We LOVED hearing from our missionary and getting to see him.  We had Heather and Anthony (who were in Virginia), Devyn and Miranda (who were in Washington), Derek (in Colorado) and us (in Missouri) all talking together.  Our family was spread out over 4 time zones that day!  It was wonderful to have the technology that we could all see each other via webcam and “be together” for a short time that day.  And then we were invited to some friends’ home for Christmas dinner.  It was so very nice to get together with friends and enjoy a delicious dinner and good company.

Stephen and I took a day trip to Hamilton, MO and Jamesport, MO.  We stopped in at a quilt shop in Hamilton and took pictures to make my sister jealous.  Jamesport is an Amish town (check out the horse and buggy sign!).  We enjoyed lunch at a restaurant there and wandering through a candle shop and a furniture store.  We drove by a couple of Church sites but decided to go back when it was warmer outside.

I got to visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  It is just awesome!  If you come to KC, you've got to go there.  It’s free!  And just a world class museum!  I saw ancient Egyptian art, I explored the Renaissance, I stood in awe in front of a real Van Gogh painting and I sat on a bench and soaked in a Claude Monet painting that filled the wall.

We wandered around the historic City Market Farmer’s market.  We've visited the American Jazz Museum and heard the sounds and evolution of jazz in Kansas City.

April was a special month for us.  Our friends Kenny and Trish came to the Kansas City temple to be sealed to each other.  Kris and Karen drove from Utah to attend the event and they spent the night at our home.  More company!  Yay!!  It was wonderful to be together with our friends on their special day!  It really was a special time.

But, mostly, we've just been living life.  We've been working on health and wellness with exercise and good food choices.  Stephen has been enjoying his employment.  We've been doing yard work and projects since spring has arrived.  We've planted trees and flowers and bulbs and shrubs and we've dug and mulched and made garden bed boxes.  Stephen has stained the deck and helped a neighbor build his playset.  I worked on the decor of our bedroom.

We feed the missionaries about once a week.  Hopefully, someone is feeding our missionary, too!

We've had game nights and movie nights and hosted some activities for the ward.

Life is good!  You know, I had a pair of “Life is Good” socks once.  I think I need to get another pair.  They are so comfy!