First camping trip of the year...

There is still snow on the mountains but the lower elevations are finally turning green!

This early in the season we practically had the campground to ourselves except for this mare and her foal. They were very curious...

...and very friendly!

The girls were thrilled!

"Can I help you with that, mister?"

Saturday was a lovely day for a hike.

Enjoying the "placid view."

It's a "flirting bench"!
That's what the kids called it, so of course we had to take advantage of it!

View from the highway on our way home.

Coming Soon... Our Courtship Story

Awhile back Farrah posted about how she and her husband met. I loved hearing their "love story" but somehow I've never quite had the courage to post ours. Maybe because I think it is probably only romantic to us... and just kind mundane to the rest of the world. Recently I agreed to participate in a monthly "Marriage Monday" meme hosted at Chrysalis on the first Monday of the month... and I'll be sharing our "courtship story" this coming Monday. Anybody else care to join me? Come on! Be brave! If I can do it, you can do it! The instructions are:

Our topic this Monday will be, "The Crazy Way We Met." Here's your opportunity to share the dramatic (or dull!) opening moments of your dating relationship. Remember, the details of your story may be ancient history to you, but to us—it's news!

Please tell your story any way you want. You could even create a photo essay, or a song or poem. The idea is to reflect on how God moved to bring the two of you together to share the greatest adventure of your lives: marriage.

Please Bring a Friend (See? She told me to invite YOU!)

Feel free to copy any part of this announcement and post it on your blog. The more participants we have at Chrysalis, the merrier! (Head on over to http://chrysaliscom.blogspot.com/ to link up with other Marriage Monday participants.)

40 Photo Challenge

I'm participating in the debut of Pensieve's "40 Photo Challenge" meme. The idea is to write a response to a photo she posts each week in 40 words or less... I loved this week's picture, so I took her up on the challenge... Here's my response in the form of a cinquain (2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 words):

Welcome spring!
Fling open the windows!
Breathe deeply of the fragrant air!
Embrace with delight the treasures of the season!
Springtime joy!

Vintage Thingy Thursday

Remember the story of David's missing pajamas a few weeks ago? I knew they were packed away somewhere, but I had no idea where. Well, I came across them last week while I was unpacking yet another box from the garage and I knew you would want to see them! I decided to put them on David and in the process remembered why he now wears his bright green knit vest instead of his pajamas. The fabric of the pajamas is very fragile by this time. You probably can't see it in the pictures, but there is a torn place on the front of the shirt... and the elastic in the waist is shot. So I took David's picture, then re-dressed him in his green vest and hung the pajamas on my clothesline in the kitchen. I think they are just adorable! And since I never had any little boys, I particularly treasure these little remnants of my husband's childhood.

Thursday Thirteen - Edition #25 - "M"

Continuing with my alphabet theme, here are 13 things in my life that start with the letter M:

1. Margaret, Marsha, Marvin,Mathew, Megan, Melinda, Melissa, Melody, Missy. Nieces and nephews. (Some of those are actually great-nieces.)
   
2. Marriage. Mine is perfect. Hey, if I think it's perfect... and my husband thinks it's perfect... then it must be perfect, right? (We didn't say that we are perfect... just that our marriage is!) In any case, we have something special!
   
3. Matrix. My car. A cute little blue Toyota.
4. Memories. I love to make memories... and preserve them.
   
5. Mexico. I've been there once. Just across the border from Yuma, Arizona. Just long enough to say I have been there!
   
6. Missouri. Where I got married... 22+ years ago!
   
7. Mixed breed. Our sweet doggy is a mix of beagle, blue heeler, and border collie. We love the combination!
8. Monk. One of the few current television series I enjoy. It is part comedy/part detective show, which makes it fun to watch.
   
9. Montgomery, L.M. One of my favorite authors. If you don't know what she wrote, you just must not be a "kindred spirit! LOL!
10. Mother. I admire mine so much. I want to be just like her when I grow up!
    
11. Mountains. I love being able to see the mountains from all 4 directions!
12. Museums. I've always enjoyed visiting museums. So many interesting things to see and learn!
13. Mystery. I was a big fan of juvenile mystery series when I was growing up: Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, The Three Investigators...