Wordless Wednesday

 

Tip for Tuesday

We've made it to April!  We are all thinking about the joy of Spring arriving, warmer weather, flowers...  
But what about Christmas?  I really don't want to be thinking too much on that yet, but there is something I do all year around to prepare for Christmas.

This tote is always in our storage area in the basement.  But, it's not used for regular storage.

I keep Christmas gifts inside it.  Whenever we are in a fun store, traveling, or I see big sales, I check for possible gifts. I do stockings for our kids and grandkids.  If you have to do them all at once around Christmas, it's hard to find things and can be expensive.  This way I can get good deals and often find things that are not standard stocking stuffers.
I keep a little notebook in the tote and write what I get and who it's for so I can keep track.

So, that's my tip for today - keep your eyes open for gifts all year long and you'll be thankful you did it when the Christmas season comes around.

Butterflies are Blooming

Last week, Bob and I went to Frederik Meijer Garden and Sculpture Park.  Our daughter and SIL gave us a membership again this year and it's so nice to be able to enjoy different events they have going on, even when the garden section is under snow.
Every year they have a butterfly show in the 5 story, 15,000 square foot conservatory.  It's the largest tropical butterfly exhibit in the United States. There are over 60 species of butterflies exhibited from Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

As I mentioned, this is also a sculpture park, and you can see different sculptures as you drive in, outside in the gardens and inside as well.
This one is set outside the building and is a fun one.  You can see different faces on it, depending on the angle you are looking at it from.

Here's the conservatory from the outside.

As we walked to the conservatory, we came across this cute little sculpture.

Then we saw these cool cacti.

As soon as we entered the conservatory, we started seeing butterflies.

Can you see those spots of brilliant blue?  Those are our favorite butterflies; the Common Morpho from South America. They are so beautiful!

Here's a spot where the cocoons hang and you can see some butterflies hatching.

 

We enjoyed seeing some beautiful flowers in the conservatory too, even though the butterflies were the main draw this time.

When you leave the conservatory, you have to go through an air lock and check to be sure no butterflies are sneaking out on your clothes or bags.
This glass sculpture in on the ceiling in the cafe is by Dale Chihuly who is known for his blown glass sculpture.

I had this yummy sandwich and salad at the cafe.  Then it was time to head home.

We had a great time and both of us remarked about the beauty God has given us in His creation; from the mountains, canyons, trees, to the tiny things like flowers and butterflies of all colors!

Butterflies also remind us that just like the butterfly is completely changed when it emerges from the cocoon, we are also changed when we accept Christ!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"    2 Cor. 5:17