Evening Glow

A twilight walk around our home of 27+ years...

In the twilight of life, 

Time passes like a dream...

Through laughter and tears

Love has been our central theme

In life's evening glow, 

Time keeps ticking away...

Moments that are precious

Sink behind the golden rays

Everything is changing

One second at a time

Lessons we are learning

Life isn't perfect rhyme

Nothing stays the same

Even memories fade away

Winds carry them on whispers

Into a distant day

Twilight's magic sparkles

The earth's in amber glow

Love is what's eternal

Timeless in the soul 

Written by Elizabeth Van Cleve

Halloween Morning Magic

We are preparing for a mystical night of Harry Potter magic in our Halloween themed Hogwarts School for Witches and Wizzardry! EEK!!!

Pumpkin Carving fun!

Meet Moaning Myrtle- a permanent ghostly resident of Hogwarts

Out neighbors have little ghosts like this one floating about their front yard

More to come...

A Quiet Saturday Morning

A much needed California rain is here. With my husband being off work today, I decided to turn this lazy Saturday morning into restful one of soul rejuvenation and a little feminine pampering. Being able to sleep in is a luxury in itself. After spending time in reading from the Bible, quiet meditation, reflective spiritual journaling and visiting with my family, I retired to the bathroom to enjoy a luxurious bath, soaking in a lavender scented bath salts. I lit a candle and sank into the quiet morning, feeling grateful for the treasured friendships God has provided me, and how much more special this was knowing these lavender bath paraphernalia  were a gift from one of those special friends.

It's so still and quiet now. I gave my daughter the other bath soak and she is now enjoying a luxury bath. Later we will put cleansing masks on our faces and paint our nails as the fire crackles in the hearth. Dad is polishing a candle lamp stand, patiently waiting for a turn on the computer. :)

Happy Birthday at Six Flags

For my birthday this year I wanted to do something FUN and with my family. Originally I had planned on going to the snow to go tubing, but we are experiencing a drought here in California and so I decided to go to Six Flags and ride roller coasters. I must say, it was quite and experience. Its been years since I have ridden on roller coasters. My son-in-law took me on the fastest most intense roller coaster the park had to break me in~ Super Man. Good thing it was a quick ride.

The weather was beautiful. Since we went on a weekday, the park was not overly crowded. A most magical moment for me was petting some stingrays. A stingray seems like an unlikely creature to ever feel a bit of magic with, but at this bath there was about seven to ten rays swimming around in a shallow lukewarm pool that was open to the public to pet them. They felt a little soft and slimy. But what became magical was the way they all began to gather around me. I asked the overseer if they liked the attention and he said that stingrays have demonstrated an attraction for human attention. They would swim over to me and flip there flippers up the side of the pool towards me as if they were trying to illicit more of my attention. It was really cute. They reminded me of dolphins in their personalities.

My daughter and I bought each other a necklace. She picked out the turtle and I picked the blue dolphin.

Riding roller coasters, petting stingrays, spending time with my family, it was all a wonderful way to begin a new year!