247. So thankful for the delight of a warm cup of tea. It feels like such a delight, sitting here with my hands cupped around a beautiful piece of china with sweet little pink roses. The comfort of tea as the air has turned more crisp. The sweetness of an accompanying cookie. I feel like such a grown-up. My memory unlocks sweet thoughts of times spent sitting with my Oma in Holland, sitting at her tablecloth-lined table, sipping tea while looking out at her garden.

248. Thankful for the beauty we get to behold as we look out our living room window, watching the leaves of our liquid amber tree change colors. The tree has been aglow in the morning sunlight….bright orange, beautiful red….love it! Steve and I each have been taking so many pictures along the way. The kids and I have taken notice it is the only deciduous tree on our block. Oh how I wish we lived in a place where all the trees were changing colors and losing their leaves- that would be magical! But so thankful for this one tree on our block that reminds me of the season. 

249. So thankful that Jacob and Natalie so thoroughly enjoy books!!! This was after a return from the library: they started reading their books in the car, continued reading as they walked into the house and then just plopped on the couch and kept reading for quite some time. Love it how they wanted to be near each other and yet were each in their own world of literature. 

250. So thankful to be married to a man who knows how to build a gate. Our gate was needing to be replaced, so he just went to Home Depot and within a couple of days…..presto…..a new gate! I sooooo admire his ability to estimate how much wood he needed and the know-how to get this job done. 

251. Thankful that these kiddos are able and willing to sit quiet as mice through a 2-hour symphony. Love, love, love being with hundreds upon hundreds of people sitting in a beautiful concert hall getting to hear every note played by an incredible orchestra. Oh the joy. I can’t exactly describe it……but something happens to me physiologically when certain beautiful notes are played or sung…..it’s like an electric feeling that zips down the line of some of my nerves…..when these absolutely perfectly played notes meet my ear….I wonder if my kiddos feel that too. Last night was a beautiful night. (Royce Hall, UCLA)