It's a Glorious Day!

My heart is rejoicing this morning.  The last two weeks have been non-stop sun-up to sun-down and beyond days of working to get the lodge up and running:  ordering, shopping, laundering, painting, cleaning, fixing, staging, stocking.
Last night our first guests arrived;  a senior high group from a church in Peoria, filling this place and the lodge next door.  There is laughter and conversation filling the place.  The piano is being played.   Our place is the "guys" and next door houses the girls.  This morning the coffee station is buzzing, The kids are back and forth visiting, playing in the snow, gathering for games.
Yes!  This is what we dreamed and planned and worked for, bathed in prayer and the Lord's blessing. To God be the glory!

Feeding the Flock

We bought some seed for the bird house and the word is out!  There's quite the pecking order going on.  Four blue mountain jays I call the beautiful bullies.  They swoop in and all the little finches fly up into the trees, waiting for their turn.  Yesterday I saw several big crows at the feeder.  There's one brave little finch who sits on a lower branch and hops down to grab some seed on the perimeter until one of the bullies notices and shoos him back up.  I find myself admiring the courage, and perseverance and rooting for him.  Then I wonder if his bird brain is all there or if he's undergoing some bird club initiation.  I prefer to think of him as going against the flock, quietly standing up to the bullies, not following the pecking order.

A Little Shopping

A full load from a few of our favorite stores.

Tarp, rope, duct tape...its' secure.

Oh, and the bungee cords.

Great View

Highlight of Jim's day was this sight of about 20 elk from the top of a mountain he climbed.  After last week's snow storm, it has been beautiful weather.  We've been busy painting, repairing, cleaning and organizing all the supplies of new sheets, blankets, towels, sundries, etc.  We are now a week away from our first group coming to rent the lodge for a retreat!

Welcome 2015

We began the new year with a beautiful blanket of snow.  No swinging today, but Jim did a bit of shoveling and helping lodgers in cabins get vehicles unburied.  Some were off to go sledding or skiing, while next door some little ones were delighting in making snow angels and taking a first taste of snow.
I enjoyed the morning with the sun streaming in our picture window with a cup of coffee and devotional.  We have two weeks to prepare for our first guests at the lodge....painting, cleaning carpets, outfitting rooms with new linens, towels, kitchen supplies, and moving furniture into place after wood floors in common area are deemed finished.  But, for today, I am going to enjoy my daughter and join her outside making a snowman!

Goodbye 2014!

The end of 2014 was a whirlwind for us.  Lauren got home from college for winter break to be whirled into packing up her room, helping with the garage sale, a friend's wedding, and saying goodbye to her childhood home.  With the help of some of the best friends anyone could ask for, the moving truck was packed on December 20 in Phoenix and unpacked the 21st in Greer.  We have been up and down the mountain numerous times to return the moving truck, purchase lodge and personal supplies, celebrate Christmas in Tucson with our family, and last trip on Dec. 29 to sign away and close on our Phoenix home of 25 years.
In our new home, we are in the midst of boxes of personal belongings and supplies for the lodge rooms all permeated with the smell of the finish on the new wood floors.  Everyday is a victory as we find looked for items in some box!
We celebrated the end of the year with a delicious dinner at Molly Butler's while the snow falling outside was blanketing the roadway and vehicles.
We thank God for the trials and triumphs of the year and we look forward to all He will do in our lives in the next.  To God be the Glory!