New Life

I was walking around the yard this weekend and came across this little sprout.  It's hard to see, but it's a little dogwood tree growing out of what looks like a dead stump.  And its not just growing, it's blooming.  Who would have thought that new life could come from something that seemed dead? Who would have thought that something beautiful could come from something so ugly? 

Thank you Lord for the reminder that you can make something beautiful from something terrible.

Thank you for new life. 

Thank you for hope. 

Here's another view of the baby dogwood.  You can barely see it to the right of the tree.  

Here's another sign of spring.  This is one of the 27+ azalea bushes in our front yard.

We didn't even know what these were when we bought the house--or that they would have flowers.

Here's another picture of front porch decorations/birthday present.

The white container on the left is a candle holder with butterfly cutouts on the side for the light to shine through.    

Sittie hung these plates while she was here.  They were a wedding shower gift from a friend of my mom's who received them at her wedding shower.  They depict the life of George Washington and they are perfect for our colonial dining room.  You can also see our tea pots.  There is one from our day at the Cowboy museum given to Anna by our friend Mary Beth.  There are two from the tea party the girls had at Ms Kay's house.  The candles are from Anna's memorial service.

Sittie and Pop also hung this mirror in the entryway.  The plan is to have a verse stenciled on the opposite wall so that it is reflected in the mirror.

Finally, we spent many hours stripping the wallpaper in the hall bath.  We tried several paint samples.  Can you tell which one I liked the best?