Ringin' In the New Year @ the ER

Happy New Year! Just when we were feeling relieved to be done with 2009 (good riddance was our sentiments last night upon reflecting on the past year) New Years Day had a fun little ER run in store for us. This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but you get the idea.

The kids and I were meeting Jared for lunch and while walking into the restaurant Evie slipped on the wet floor and did a crazy twirl and her lip and the door jam connected for a big old split lip. It looked so deep that we decided to take her to the ER just in case so when she is 18 and the SCAR MARK is still visible we aren't kicking ourselves for not going.

All was well though and no stitches needed. Evie, being a girl, perked up at the idea of a bracelet from the hospital. We were helped by a nurse practitioner from our church and so that was great and always good to see a familiar face when we are in those sorts of situations.

I will say...we called it - Evie was our first one to the ER for an accident, not Leyton. We're 0-1 for actual stitches or breaks, so we'll see who does that first.

Praise God it was so minor and she is well, all to often it seems like life comes down to the millimeter.

The Setting Sun

I've made a special effort this summer to catch as many sunsets as I can and I am loving it. Who takes the time to watch God's sun set on the horizon at night? I'll answer that question...me! We cannot see Mt. Rainier from our deck, but one of the little 'bumps' on our horizon is the peak of Rainier, so I like to pretend I watch the sun set on Rainier!

Here is one of the sunsets from our deck that was rockin' my world this week. Our God is amazing folks. No question. Here is a very familiar passage, Isaiah 45:5-7 to remind me/us that our Father in heaven is greater and bigger than we can even hope to imagine. The sun rises and sets to declare to us that He is God and to call us back to Him and remind us our need for Him. Crazy stuff.

⁵ I am the LORD, and there is no other;

apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

though you have not acknowledged me,

⁶ so that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting

men may know there is none besides me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

⁷ I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the LORD, do all these things.

What's This Two Day Weekend Stuff?

As some of you know, my hubby recently resigned from his position at our church. After wrestling for several years with some doctrinal issues, he came under some convictions that forced him to part ways with our church several months ago. Through all of this Jared decided he was ready for a break from leading worship and has found a new job (praise and glory to God in this economy), and we actually go to church as a family now! It's crazy! For the first time in nearly nine years I now travel to church in a car with my husband and for the first time our kids get to worship on the Sabbath with their dad!

Another perk...we get a two day weekend! So, here are some pictures of our most recent THREE day weekend excursion into the beautiful South Cascades over Independence Day.

Leavenworth

Here are a couple pictures from our trip to Leavenworth for our annual elder retreat.  It was an amazing time of spiritual encouragement and refreshment.  Good stuff.  God is so gracious and giving, Jared and I really were needing some encouragement and this was perfect!   Another bonus was that the Christmas lights were still up on all the businesses and they are so beautiful, so that was an added treat!   

Soup & Snow Chunks

It's winter and as you can see we are eating a lot of hot soup at our house.  The kids are getting pretty crafty with how they manage to get every last drop! 

Going.

Going.

Gone.

Here is a picture out our front door yesterday.  I was some of the most beautiful snow...falling perfect and HUGE.  As we watched the snow falling, Jared said, "there are snow flakes, and then there are snow chunks."  Well said hubby.  
 

Fall in the Pac-Northwest

It's officially fall/autumn in our neck of the woods, and we are loving it!  We are also officially friends with the orchardist behind our property and got to 'glean' the trees behind our fence (golden delicious...ymmm).  It's been great!  Lots of applesauce and apple crisp at our house.  We also got to mooch two boxes of pears from a orchard that wasn't getting harvested this year.  It's been a fun fall so far!  

Here are some pictures of our harvesting and a fall family outing for our church at a pumpkin patch last Sunday.  

Leyton and Jared gleaning...going back to the days of Ruth

Apples from our neighbors orchard!

Evie at the pumpkin patch in her fancy fall outfit from Grandma.

Sun Valley Church Family Outing @ the Pumpkin Patch

Evie's pumpkin of choice

Our sweet kids having a blast!

Camping in the Cascade Mts.

A couple weeks ago we went camping with our friends, the Carlson's. They have kids the same age as our kids, so the kids did great together! They knew about this great spot, about 45 mins from Yakima, gotta love living in the great northwest! We froze our tails off though...it got down to freezing at night and we didn't have good sleeping bags for all of us. Clearly, we need to invest in more outdoor equipment now that we have kids to camp with! Goodness sakes.

Trip to Idaho and Home Again

Recap of our last two weeks. Went to Idaho and hung out on the farm with my parents...came home...my parents came up and spent two days with us on a trip they took for their 40th Anniversary. Harvested a bounty from our garden...went to the parade for the Hop Festival and got tons of candy.

Leyton & Grandpa feeding

Evie eating dog food.

Our first 'harvest' this year from our garden!

Grandma & Grandpa stopping by on their anniversary trip.

Hop Festival Parade

Hannah & Aiden showing Leyton how to get CANDY!

Old hop harvester.

Pickin' Blueberries

Just ran across these pics from our little family outing picking blueberries here in the Yakster in the middle of July. Our kids were literally pulling handfuls of blueberries off the bushes and shoving them in their mouths. Good times.