What a year this 2012 has been! 

 We hope each of you has had the opportunity to enter His gates with thanksgiving and that tragedy has been far from your home even as we grieve for the homes struck so senselessly these past weeks!

 As the storm clouds rolled over our hillside, we remember the storms that crashed onto our friends in the Northeastern parts of our states. Sandy was a demon wreaking havoc and chaos. Nothing restrained her fury. We continue our prayers for these "neighbors" as we approach Christmas here in the Gap.

 2012 brought elections and we had the JOY of hosting some of the National, State and Local candidates. We know it is only God Who raises up leaders and it is our responsibility to "render to Ceasar what is his and to GOD what is HIS!"

 We love it when our guests sign our book, AND when they leave us such sweet notes of confirmation for our GateWay homes!

 Pampas grasses..... hummm what do I say.... I always called them POMPAS.... somehow there is just something that fits here.... Fiscal cliff???? What in the world???  Regardless... I love the pampas this year!

 Finally... as we embark on a new year 2013, we here in the gap are praying that we all keep in our hearts the fact that there is only ONE GOD and He is not us! whew.... aren't we all glad of that!

 Yes.... let's enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with song... 

May you know the blessings of Truth, Health, Peace and Joy!

and

May we see the circumstances of the world as they really are! Through the eyes and perspective of the ONE WHO CREATED ALL THINGS!

Western Heritage/graduation/Mother's Day Weekend

The annual University graduations, Western Heritage,
and Mother's Day weekend
was supposed to be lovely weather....
But on that Saturday the winds blew in some storms.
Our guests were still able to host bunches of family members to a picnic on the hillside.
We were told that the sandbox was a real hit with the under 10 set:)
Glad you guys liked it... ours do too!
Of course... as soon as the weekend concluded... the weather of spring returned to the somewhat sultry pretty days of May.
Ebear says HOWDY to all you guests and "yall come back now... ya hear?"
(maybe next time there will be no car in a ditch for the back hoe to remove:)

Anniversary #34 at 1 bedroom, Connells and Grovers, Eli's #3... Thunderstorms and fox mommys

May 17th weekend.... stormy weather! Yeah we'll take the rain!

Eli Connell turns 3 and his grandparents are our guests in the 2 bedroom....

sorry you had to move the party, but not sorry for the reason!!!
the rains MAY fill some of our tanks!

Sunday morning May 17th was a rain washed morning as Troy and I celebrate 34 years!
THIS ANNIVERSARY is one I will remember!
The GATEWAY looks gorgeous from the porch of the 1 bedroom....
You will not be disappointed at the view that may have the typical West Texas Mesquites,
but will remind one of the not so typical views for our area! LOVELY!

We saw a beautiful RED FOX this weekend...
clearly she is a momma with kits!
She ran from behind the 2 bedroom (unafraid of us!) up into the hills east of the cottages!
I wonder when she'll bring the babies up for us to see?

I think she's coming to the water bowls I am placing beside the porches for the birds to bathe.

I do wish some of these wild kitties would decide to migrate up the hills to the cottages....
They are great mousers, but totally untouchable!
Just the way I like a barn cat!

MAYBE YOU WILL BE ONE OF THE ONES TO SEE THE FOX BABIES???

WE WILL SURELY TRY TO GET A PICTURE!

Mother's Day, Western Heritage, and Graduating Universities.... all this weekend!

Happy Mother's Day Y'all!!!

These beauties are right outside the back bedroom of the 2 bedroom cottage...

don't know how long the weather will hold so they will continue to blossom, but these are

spectacular... just for today I think!
Our guests this week arrived to 105 degree heat!

Thank the LORD for the cool breezes on our porches!

Then, just like Texas, the weather changed bringing a high of 69 for the Saturday of
Western Heritage weekend!

Our entire crew attended again to a sell out crowd!

Yeah for the Clydesdales of Budweiser! Amazingly lovely animals and great Ranch rodeo folks!

We feel so blessed by the miracles we see everyday and even more thankful

for eyes that can see them.... Spring... Yes, we love it here at the GateWay!

I told our new friends from Houston... "we don't do much advertising, but we've found that

the ones who've been led to our cottages are EXACTLY ones that were meant to be there!"
Sure enough, that was the case with this sweet family who'd just enjoyed a daughter's wedding,

and now, through a variety of circumstances engaged our place for a graduation weekend.
I've gotta tell you,
I knew from the moment I saw them... "yep... I'm gonna like 'em"
A hug and a smile later, we were talking Young Life and Bible Study Fellowship...

Just wanna say "thank You Paula.... I am a word person, and I truly appreciated your 'word gift' left on our refrigerator white board! It spoke to me this morning, Mother's day, of not only being who we are called to be, but of ACCEPTING that calling with joy!"

We love all our guests... and this is yet another new friendship led our way by way of the

GateWay!