Beautiful sky

Both of these pictures were taken in antioch over the past month. Pretty awesome, or so i thought anyway...

happy leap day

Well, so much for keeping up with blogging.

i thought i'd catch up on a few simple pleasures i've enjoyed since my last post...

on martin luther king day, cayson had a performance with a combined choir made up of show choir and divine voices members. it was at antioch high school, with their "music masters" choir performing too. it was a nice community event, although there weren't many people there. but, along with a few local dignitaries, cayson had his own "fan club" there. it just so happened that both his aunt jeralee and uncle lance and aunt melinda and uncle lex were in town to visit grandma and grandpa renshaw, and they decided to come hear cayson perform. he had a solo part in a medley they sang of "we shall overcome"/"lean on me" and he sounded awesome! doesn't he look sweet in his african garb? i was very touched that they would make the trek out to antioch to support cayson. we ditched out a little early from the program and had a nice lunch at tao san jin, compliments of uncle lance. a nice way to spend a monday afternoon, commemorating the life of martin luther king and hanging with some extended family that we don't often get to see.

saturday hike

i enjoyed a nice little hike with loel on saturday, on a trail near contra loma. felt good to get some exercise and take in the beautiful surroundings, (although it was really windy, which is not my favorite thing.)

Speed

pleasure of the day: beating mckenzie jane in two out of three games of speed... she usually beats me. also, cayson has been playing his guitar ALL afternoon and a good part of the evening. i have been enjoying it, except he's been playing the SAME song over and over in his obsession with perfecting it, and i told him i officially can't listen to that song one more time today. (new jason mraz song.) i also told him i will surely miss him when he's gone away to college next year.

Strolling through downtown Walnut Creek

I took a detour home from work today and went to Walnut Creek. While strolling by some of my favorite stores to "window shop" at, I found myself enjoying the simple pleasure of stepping on some fallen leaves, feeling and hearing them crunch beneath my feet. It was a pleasant afternoon, wandering through Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, looking for after-Christmas super bargains. I didn't spend a dime, but enjoyed the stroll.

What matters most

I've been talking about starting a blog for awhile now; not that i expect to have anybody reading it, but for my own benefit. so, with mckenzie's help with the technology for the layout of the blog, on this first day of 2012, i begin my humble attempt at recording what i find to be "life's simple pleasures"... i may or may not be consistent in posting. i guess time will tell if i will enjoy blogging or if i will decide that it isn't all it's cracked up to be.

i chose this picture for my first post, as the Christmas season comes to an end. tomorrow we will take down our tree, and with it, will put away the rest of the Christmas decorations placed throughout the house. this nativity set is precious to me because it was a gift to me from my mom in the early years of my married life. she made it in a ceramics class that she took one year (possibly through the relief society?) each year as i take it out again, i think about her lovingly working on this project as a gift for me, and i cherish it just a little more. it has been 6 years since my mom's last Christmas with us before she died. i miss her dearly, but more than ever when Christmas time rolls around. she was so much a part of all of our traditions of Christmas.

it was my mom and dad who gave me a firm foundation to build on, of knowing and understanding what really matters most in life. and it just so happens that those are "the small and simple things" (see quote at the top of this blog.) it is my goal to celebrate and look for these simple pleasures as i go through each day in the new year ahead.

p.s. another thing to note in the picture is the tree full of angels behind the nativity. since i have a december birthday, i have received these sweet angel ornaments as a birthday gift from a dear childhood friend, for over 20 years now. it is a reminder to me of the blessing of friends and how they help to brighten our days and lighten our loads, year after year.