Peaceful Winter Morning...

What a peaceful morning I've had.  Harold and the four older boys plus Jared left around 6:30.  Harold had an elders' meeting at church, then all of the men and men-in-training from church are going to get together for what we call "Mountain Men's Breakfast".  They have that every month. 

As I was seeing Harold and the boys out the door, I noticed it was beginning to snow.  I went back to my bedroom to decide whether I was going to go back to sleep or start the day.  I got to pick because the rest of the kids who were here--Lena, MaKenzie, and Matthew--would still sleep for a few hours.  I couldn't sleep (I know--unusual for me, right?), so I sat and leisurely enjoyed a couple of magazines I'd been wanting to read.  I took my shower and headed for the kitchen.  I couldn't believe what I saw as I looked out my kitchen window...SNOW!  Beautiful snow, about an inch of it already--it had only been an hour or so!

What I don't think you can see in the picture above is the sweet little cabin that is at the foot of the hill.  When I look out my window in the winter (because the tree leaves are off--otherwise I can't see the cabin) as I'm in the kitchen washing dishes is this little lodge-vacation-like scene.  I can pretend I'm in Gatlinburg while I wash my dishes!  I love it!

And here is the driveway.  I guess going into town will have to wait.  That's okay, 'cause what's here is WAY better than what I'll find in town.  So many sweet little treasures.

Like these little mittens that my boys used to wear.  I couldn't bear to throw them away, so the year when I discovered nobody would be able to wear them, I hung them on our Christmas tree.  They've been there every year since.  I love them!  The paper chain is at least a few years old.  It's getting a little fragile in places.

And look at that sweet little handprint on that mitten!  That was made about 10 years ago!  And the little reindeer below?  His face is a traced shoe print from when Cody was two (also 10 years ago now) and his antlers are my sweet boy's two-year-old handprints.  Right in back of the right antlers/hand you can see a little red sweater ornament with a white snowflake on it.  That was given to me by Sharon Grant one year in the Christmas cards she sent out.  The little rainbow colored star at the bottom right corner was an impromptu decoration Cody made one year and just hung on the tree with no prompting.   That was about 4 years ago I guess. 

So, this peaceful winter morning, I think I'll just enjoy the quiet (well, relatively quiet anyway--there are still 3 children here after all!) and admire the snow from the warmth of my little house.