I've been tagged, and so.....

OK, I'm quite new to blogging, so I'm not totally sure how all of this works, but apparently Ive been tagged. I'm supposed to copy these rules, then write eight things about myself. I'm not really such a very interesting person, but here goes anyway...

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (If you don’t have a blog, email me)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My eight things:
1. I love to read, probably more than doing anything else. I'd rather read than watch anything on TV. I'd even rather read than mop my kitchen floor.
2. I have been married for 34 years to my very best friend, and it just keeps getting better.
3. My husband and I have counted it a deep joy to raise our five wonderful children, and we are very excited to be grandparents some day.
4. I've been a substitute teacher for twelve years, and on my very first day subbing at our high school, a student fell out of the window (read: he went THROUGH the glass) onto the ground below. That's the short version of the story. No injuries, thankfully, and I'm still subbing........
5. OK, this is kind of a gross one. When I was little (about eight or so), our cat, who had been quite sick, disappeared. Several weeks later, I found the cat. He had crawled into a small space between some concrete blocks in our backyard fence, and he was lying very, very still, with only his tail sticking out. I was so excited to have finally found him that I pulled on his tail to get him out, and his tail came off in my hand. Apparently he'd been dead for quite a while. Talk about traumatic!!!
6. Libraries and book stores are among my favorite places (see #1).
7. I love to discover new quotes that strike a chord in my heart. One recent one is: "You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body." - C.S. Lewis
8. My favorite color is blue. My second-favorite color is blue. My third-favorite color is blue....
OK, that's all, folks! Most people I know who have blogs have already been tagged, so I won't tag anyone. Consider yourself spared! :-)

my prayer today

Thank you, Lord, for Your love, and for the way You accept me just as I am. I give You thanks for my children, who are such amazing blessings in my life. Thank You for my dear husband, whose faithful love over the past 34 years is so precious to me. Most of all, thank You, God, for the gift of Jesus. Your unconditional love stuns me.

You make me beautiful

You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful
~ Bethany Dillon

Can you stand a few more pictures???

My nephew Stefan and his wife Jen at the wedding/baby shower in Visalia. It was fun to meet Jen and celebrate their marriage and the upcoming birth of their little girl.
We stopped in Santa Barbara on our way home to see my mom and visit Hannah, who was spending the summer with her Grammy, and working at Ross. Mom/Grammy took Mark and me to the Natural History Museum to see the butterfly exhibit. It was so cool to have the little butterflies fly all around us. In the above picture, Mom is holding the visitor's guide to the exhibit.
Here are a few butterflies in the exhibit feasting on watermelon. So fun!

Yet a few more pics...

This is the Double Arch at Arches National Park -incredible!
This verse was on the wall at one of the older buildings at the Grand Canyon. It pretty much summed up our sentiments at seeing the wondrous view from both the North and South Rims.
This is about as close to the edge of the canyon that I would venture. It surprised us how many viewpoints had absolutely no guard rails - and the drop from the cliff exceeds 6,000 feet - YIKES!!!
This is taken at Weeping Rock, in Zion National Park. Mark and I ate our sack lunch looking at this view - not bad at all - and that applies to both the lunch and the view! :-)
In Visalia, we went to a wedding/baby shower for my nephew Stefan and his wife Jen. Here's Beka playing the "diapering the teddy bear" game, at which she excelled. Hmmm....

Finally, a few pictures from our trip...

Ben and Dave bought Mark a genuine Stetson hat for his birthday while we were in Aspen. Here he is at Kemo Sabe, the store where he got it.
Here we are at the job site where Ben is superintending the building of a huge home. See johnolsonbuilder.com, and look under the Getty house for more pictures of his project.
Dave at his office at John Olson builder. Mug of coffee in hand - looks busy to me!
One of the highlights of our time in Aspen was attending my niece's summer play, Annie. She did such a great job, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Way to go, Margot! :-)
Here is Mark at Bryce Canyon National Park. It is an amazing place - really cannot be described in words, or captured in photographs. You just have to see it for yourself.

Home.....

Dorothy said it best, "There's no place like home." We arrived home last night at around 8:30 p.m., having traveled 4,445 miles in 18 days. We thank God for safety in travel, for amazing sights seen, for family visited, and for each other. I'll post pictures soon.

Farewell for now...

Mark and I are leaving tomorrow for a two-week vacation. Our destinations include Aspen, Colorado; Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, in Utah; The Grand Canyon; Las Vegas; Visalia, California; Santa Barbara; Moraga; and then home on August 8th. It will be good to get away for a while together, and we are really excited to spend time with family at some of these various locations, as well as see for the first time some of the most beautiful sights our country has to offer. We will post pictures of our trip when we return. Jake has been helping me learn how to do the technical stuff - thanks, Jake! :-)