Family Treasures......

time to reflect on more treasures...those thousands of gifts God brings.......

.............reflecting on mom-daughter dates......and time spent together...just being......

.....from out of the womb she broke free...a wriggling mass of baby fat.....and oh....
.....how lean and long she is in her pre-teen state.....all legs...those ballerina, on pointe legs doing  arabesques and battement degages to rond de jambs and sautes........and.....

........it's in the watching of this twirling little girl that I begin to see the woman she is becoming.....so kind, compassionate, diligent, honest, persistent....and I thank the Father for this gift......this creation......

.......the slumbering child in daddy's place on the bed.......a special treat while he's away......

......the tousled hair and warm, sweet breath......breathing over me as we lay curled up in quilts in the cold, night-air blowing gentle breezes in the bedroom........

the wonderment of a little girl almost a teen......the longing to stop time.....and the missing of her sister......and wondering why time is so elusive......so fast.....the longing to hold on just a little longer....

Claire, age 12,
in English Garden
at Hammond Castle
Gloucester, MA

....mother-daughter dates to places far from home.......reveling in a different culture....shopping, eating, doing life......teaching about a simpler life-style....

....treasuring some family time with aunt and uncle we don't often see......

my sister Hope and her husband Donny
(Claire's aunt and uncle from Central NY)

Claire with Uncle Donny
Summer 2010

.....remembering when I was a little girl, having fun on my Uncle Cliff's boat.....

.....treasuring that my little girl has had fun on her Uncle Donny's boat....

all these gifts from God called family........just one day out of a weekend....but....

family time....so precious...and important....

Thank You, God!