July



July started with a memorial for our lovely Aunt Sunnie. Cindy and I attended to offer support to our dear cousins who have lost three siblings and their mom in four years.

We went for a walk around our childhood neighborhood.




Melinda had a baby shower in Omaha and one in Madison.




Katie's freckles came out to play.



August was a quiet month....



With a visit to Minocqua....







And even a surprise haircut for Emma!



The arrival of Asher Max on August 31, 2010 was spectacular! He was alert and gorgeous from the first moment we saw him.



September was a hard month.




So much joy in my life made me very sad that Sue wasn't going to experience all of this joy in her own life.
I struggled very much.

I needed wisdom and clarity and I needed to hear the truth. I needed to re-accept the belief that our time on earth is not the end. I will never forget what my friend Linda shared with me.

She said, "Heaven is as prosperous as a soul gets."

My heart sighed an amen.



It's all there in the heart-felt comments.

My Sept 15 post




Matthew was finally willing to be in a picture...with his little baby. This is perhaps my favorite image of the year.




I started my life of living healthfully in Sept. too.
This may account for the depression.



And switched from four Diet Dr. Peppers a day to one blessed Iced Grande Nonfat Chai.




Life marched on....
I practiced with my 85mm lens a lot in the fall....and I finally got the hang of it and liked it very much.




We visited the farmers market with Cindy. She visited a lot this year. It made me very happy.



I cooked a lot of new, nummy things and tried to keep my spirits up.

A happy spoon helps.




My relationship with Emma grew in a beautiful way this fall. She has a beautiful heart for God and a willingness to serve and put others first.




Going to Omaha again and visiting a pumpkin patch.
While hot and overpriced....I got lots of pretty pictures....


November was stinky. As I look back at my flickr stream of November I can't find much to share.
Until Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was great fun and so was the 5K. (Well. Walking in the 5K was not fun. The idea of the 5K is fun. Finishing the 5K is fun. But the walking in the 5K. Ugh.



We used up all of Cindy's toilet paper and then came home.





Winter and December arrived simutaneously.




Christmas came and so did all of our children....




and grandchildren....




But the love, the love, the love
It was not the cheapest kind
It was rich as, rich as, rich as ,rich as, rich as
Any you could ever find.

~Greg Brown






So long 2010. You made my head spin.

How can we possibly live in world with so much pain and delight?

I suppose we do it because it is what we are called to do.
It is our trek on this earth. This beautiful, exciting, lovable, temporary earth.

We are called to learn God's truth and pass it on.

We do it with gentle and generous spirits.
We do it with forgiveness and compassion.
We do it with love.






Encourage one another,
Donna