Flower Garden

.....that's what our neighbor calls our balcony! She loves "our flower garden". We do, too! We spend a lot of time on it early in the morning and in the evenings, and it is my "office" during the day.

The view out of our kitchen window.

The view we enjoy while sitting on our balcony.

Balcony visitors. Our hummingbird usually stops by several times a day.

Sandee's Job......

I am very thankful for my job. I am the coordinator for ACSI's student sponsorship program. I get to work from home which is wonderful. I also work part-time, which is another blessing. And best of all, even though it is indirect interaction, I get to work with students from different countries around the world. I have to proof-read and "approve" all letters between students and their sponsors, so I get to "meet" them in a roundabout sort of way, and I get to see updated photos of their beautiful faces!
Sadly, ACSI is phasing out of this program, and that is the part of my work that is not very much fun (i.e. I get to phase it out). When a student that someone is sponsoring leaves the program because they graduate from high school (or they leave for another reason), and when that sponsor tells me that they would like to have a new student, I don't like having to tell them that we have no new student to assign to them. Yesterday I spoke with a school administrator from Missouri who requested six new students for his school to sponsor. I was so sorry that I had none to give to him (but thankfully I am able to offer these sponsors a great alternative - the option of connecting with another organization that also sponsors kids so that they can go to school).

My job involves a lot of time spent on the computer and a considerable amount of letter writing, updating student and sponsor files, connecting with overseas schools who have students in the sponsorship program, and making contact with sponsors. Interestingly, a lot of the sponsorship comes from schools in the U.S. and Canada. There are several schools where every class (grade) sponsors a student! What a great idea, don't you agree, to get your whole school passionate about reaching out and getting actively involved?

Beautiful children who are getting a quality education thanks to committed sponsors who care about them.

My office. I do almost all of my work in the shade of our little balcony! I suppose that with fall approaching it won't be too long before I have to move indoors.

Guess what's for supper?!

Tim's first time to bake bread since moving to Colorado. It turned out perfect! And....the house smells so good right now!




Guess what we had for supper? It was amazing!

Seven Bridges

This morning we hiked a trail just outside of Colorado Springs called Seven Bridges.

We drove between 3 and 4 miles on gravel road before reaching the trail head. It felt a little like we were out in the wilderness!

We drove through several narrow tunnels - definitely one way traffic only!



Beautiful ponderosa pines.



Most of the trail followed a creek that we traversed seven times over seven small bridges.

I don't think we'll ever stop saying "Wow!" God's creation is breathtaking no matter where you live!

Colorado Clouds

These "cloud" pictures were taken over the last 12 months since moving to Colorado Springs. The skies can change very quickly here because of the mountains, and we get some amazing storms.


















We enjoy viewing beautiful skies in Colorado, but I still believe there is nothing quite as breathtaking as clouds on the prairies (i.e. Saskatchewan)!