Hello blogging world!  It's been awhile since I've found the time to sit down and write a bit.  May and June seemed to fly by with swimming lessons, baseball, and soccer.  I know it sounds like a lot.  And when I write it out like that I think to myself that we should cut back on activities.  But I also know that we have four wonderful kids, and even if each one of them has only one acitivity outside of the home, well, it can get to be alot.  In any case, May and June are always busy months.

Now July is here, summer is half way over, and we're on vacation.  Yeah!  We're really only the second day into it, but it's been fun.  We drove over 1500 miles to visit family.  That can be a long drive, but the kids did really well, even when we had to wait 6 hours for two tires part way through the trip.  Thank the Lord that we noticed the low tire before it went flat out in the middle of nowhere!  And in 1500 miles you know there has to be some road construction.  The beauty of it is that we drove right by Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  I've seen it from a distance before as we trekked across on the interstate, but never up close.  It's really quite awesome. 

In fact, the beauty all around me is amazing.  Today we were at my mother-in-law's hobby farm in northeast IA.  It is lush there.  Outside you can here the birds chirping all day long.  Butterflies flit across the gravel road in front of us.  The colors of the fields, trees, and flowers are breathtaking.  It's been a little over a year since we've been here and I've forgotten how lovely it is.  I know, there are no tall, impressive buildings or works of art that human hands have made here.  But standing out in the pasture this afternoon, watching my kids radiate excitement and joy at being here, I see an even more amazing sight - God's creation all around me.  No hands here can make what He has made.  I told my husband on the way back to town that I wanted to capture the beauty of the trees and fields behind the house with my camera.  But I couldn't.  The picture in no way represented the artistry that was before my eyes.  Only God can do that.   And He does it whereever we are.  Here are my favorites so far on this trip:  Devil's Tower, moonlight on Flathead Lake, summer at the farm.  All God's creations are good.  Today I'm reminded to look for the beauty in each one.