Blossoms & Blessings

Buds are appearing on the hardwood trees.

Spring has sprung! Or has it? It feels like Summer has made its way into the usually cool, wet Spring season. We are enjoying every 70 degree, sunshine-y moment-- and trying to keep ourselves from thinking what July is going to feel like. (Seriously. It reached 82 degrees F today.... That's a normal mid-Summer temperature.)

We've gone to parks the last few weekends. How could we NOT enjoy the outdoors?

We are seeing fewer (large) wild animals, as they make their way back into the higher altitudes, but we are seeing an abundance of wild plants peeking out. Every season has its glories. For winter, it's the elk and moose and turkey. In Spring/Summer, it's the blossoms and sprouts and greenery. I love it all!

Here's a wild strawberry plant peeking through the forest floor.

Our family of three (four, if you count Titus) is currently in the process of buying our first home on a little sliver of God's Earth. So much has already been established on this beautiful spot we hope to call our home by the end of May, and we are grateful! But we are also dreaming and envisioning making it our homestead, developing it out to provide a sustainable, wholesome lifestyle for us.

This is the driveway of our almost-homestead, looking from the house.

We visit our almost-homestead nearly every weekend, going on hikes and discovering new places. Our sweet little one has had a personal discovery: She likes to walk independently. Thank you very much. She needs to be close to the ground so she can pick up sticks, rocks, grass, and play in the water. You understand, don't you? Oh goodness! She is tremendously precious!! I've caught some sweet moments as she comes into her personality.

Papa and daughter are sitting in Mama's favorite spot on the property.

Titus is next to a cistern full of water we found on one of our hikes.

I have been photographing the various wild edibles and medicinals I see. My hope is to: 1) take pictures of these same wild plants throughout the seasons, 2) gather some of the plants and preserve them (think tinctures, drying, etc), and 3) use them for various reasons. I would like to create a booklet with the photographs I take and the information I learn for our family and friends in this area. Finding a wild edible and medicinal booklet customized to your area can be difficult.

Here's our munchkin next to a dandelion plant: wild, edible, and medicinal!

Our adventures have been many with the snow melt and the warmer temperatures, but I know our adventures in this life are just beginning! I am so excited about what the Lord is doing in us, through us, and for us. I have a beautiful family, and we have a beautiful life. I am counting my blessings every day-- but I can never seem to count them all; they're like the stars in the night sky or the grains of sand on even the smallest beach. They are immeasurable.

Abigail loves the water, and a friend is helping her explore it.

The Lord is truly a good God who desires to give good gifts to His children. Do you know Him? Does He know you as His child?

Matthew 7:11 (KJV) says, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

Romans 8:28 (KJV) also says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Be blessed and know Him,

~Raquel

Written: April 19, 2016