My Life Really IS Amazing!

 I haven't written for a long time. We've tried to cram in as much fun as possible.  Since I wrote the last time, we went to Lake Powell with our friends.  Here's a few pictures. 

Mat took this picture the morning after we got there.  We
anchored in a cave for the night, the water in the morning is
smooth as glass which makes picture taking perfect!

This really was a dream come true for me.  From what
 I'd been told about Lake Powell, I knew it would be
beautiful and amazing!  But I didn't know it would be like this!
I've never in my life done anything like it!

Us with the Barkers and the Inkleys at Rainbow Bridge

Does it get more dreamy than this?

I told Mat all I wanted for my birthday was to visit friends I don't see often (which is pretty much ALL of them right now!)  He wanted to throw me a big party, make a big deal of it. I did just turn 50, but Nah, I just need my people.  So my goal is to visit as many friends as I can in the next few weeks and months. 

Last week, I took an impromptu trip up to Washington to see my friend Belinda and her daughter Sophie.  I took McKinley with me because our girls are buddies. We met the Howes family when we went to Sedona, AZ for a retreat with Little Pink Houses of Hope where we all became instant friends. She was house / animal sitting in her friends cabin in Cusick, Washington for a friend of hers.  The cabin was beautiful, the kids were happy feeding the mama pig and 9 piglets, jumping on the trampoline and riding around the property on a go-cart. Me and Belinda sat around for hours at a time on the porch, watching the hummingbird frenzy at the feeders, and talking about everything under the sun. 

Belinda insisted on attaching my kayak to hers so
she could drag me the last stretch.  I protested, 
because "I'm fine!"  She said, "Kim, are you going 
to be a blessing killer?"  Well, if you put it that way,
Belinda!  She paddled me all the way to the take out.

After I left Belinda, I stopped in Coeur d' Alene to see my two cousins, Ruth
and Catherine. I haven't seen them in years, so that was a great thing!  One
of Ruths daughters, Miriam, liked me immediately and didn't want me to leave.
She's so sweet!  Ruth gave a jar of huckleberries to share with my family. YUM!

Mat told me after I got home Saturday that he had one more present for me, he'd been planning it for 8 months. I thought, "Oh dang.  He has planned a big party!" Well, I found an envelope tonight with the sweetest card and message.

How dang cool is my guy?!  It's not what I expected at all, but I'm thrilled to have a little stash that I can hand out to people in need at Christmas!!!  I've always wanted to be a Secret Santa!  The funny thing is, I was doing the same thing.  Starting in January, I thought it would be cool if I could save $100 a month from our grocery budget and surprise him in December with at least $1000 to go toward Christmas.  But then we had a bad grocery month early in the year, so I used it to bail out the budget. HE WAS DOING THE SAME THING ALL ALONG!  Seriously, this is the best birthday I've ever had.  💞

We may be done with long haul travel this year, but I have big plans for next year (assuming we're safe to travel)!  I kinda like this "make the most of the time you have left" thing. We've been able to do some amazing things with our family the last couple years! It's amazing what a little change in perspective can do for you. Friends, don't take one day for granted! Make sure your people know you love them!

Scans are next week, so look for that in the near future.  Love you all!