We are winding down to our final few days so naturally, it has caused us all to stop, reflect and remember all the things we love about living here.
There have been tears already (on my part anyway) and a sense of sadness amongst the rest as we look around at all we have to leave.
The peace and quiet.
The freedom our girls have to roam.
People stopping by to talk, or just live life with us.
Evening walks in the meadow.
The peace and quiet.
The meals up at Ranch.
Meeting with the interns every Sunday evening.
The beauty of the sun coming up over the Wet Mountains.
Jeff walking to and from work.
Did I mention the peace and quiet?
It is a bit conflicting, really, because on one hand we are very present and very much appreciating our final days here - and at the same time, there is an excitiment and anticipation at what is ahead.
So many unkowns about our life in Golden, and yet,
there is a quiet confidnece that we are moving in the right direction.
But back to the title of this post...
a few of my favorite things.
Below our pictures that capture things I love about our life here.
Things that we will never be able to duplicate but that have made our 5 year stop here memorable.
This was the backdrop to our commute to town.
No billboards, just cows.
The mighty metropolis of Westcliffe, our town.
You could run all your errands in 7 minutes.
Custer County k-12 school.
Picking my girls up from the bus stop at the end of Little Horn Road.
Our community church. Dave, our pastor and friend and his spunky wife Joann.
They have taught us much about loyalty, simplicity and loving people well.
Our backyard....
...our front yard
Pancake breakfasts with our neighbors in the woods, just because.
Slowing down for Amish buggies.
Seriously.
Riding our ATV on the Rainbow Trail...
...or through the creeks.
Playing baseball in our driveway...
...heading out our back door to climb the Peak
...camp waterslides
...watching my girls hike together
...the cows
...driving up Horn Road in the fall
...sledding in the meadow
...pushing the girls in this swing
...the summer wildflowers
...the winter hot tub family chats.
...climbing mountains together.
The list could go on and on.
But I will stop here.
The point is, it has been a really awesome 5 years.
Living simply as a family,
loving those who have come in and out of our home
and learning more about what it means to live in community ---
all great things for which we are thankful.
Please pray for us as we venture into a bit of the unknown.
We have a loose idea of what life in Golden will look like,
but there is a lot that is fuzzy.
Mostly, we want to be available to people,
to keep our home and hearts open,
and to see what God does with that.
Thanks for journeying with us...
Warmly,
Leslie and the gang
