Great Experiences

Lots happened this week...it was a great week. We started our summer school off by going fishing. It was a great fishing day...didn't catch any fish but that wasn't important.
Don't you just love our very own "Annie Oakley". Love her drive to be the best shooter in the world.
Flowers...I love flowers! My very compassionate and caring son has been working various jobs around our little community and at one job he took flowers for pay...doesn't that just melt your heart - it did mine!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and we hope to catch you up next Friday. Hugs to all!

A great spring day...Catching cows, chasing chickens, and a view from our table

Here is our "big" guy helping me with breakfast. Isn't this view gorgeous...this is what I see everyday - I'm so blessed to be in the mountains - I love it!

Our daughter is a natural at ropin' cows...we'll she doesn't actually twirl the rope and throw it...our cows are to tame that she just gets some grass and they come a runnin' and then she ropes them up.

Some Fun...A King and Queen...Sight Seeing....

So here are som pictures, not in any particular order...our new little calf, some fun pictures of the family.
The crowns were made for mother's day...my wonderful husband made me a Mother's Day "card/crown" for him to wear....he made a ruby on the front and underneath it wrote "my wife"...meaning I'm the ruby in his crown...I'm a very blessed woman indeed!

We also went on a walk for my husbands birthday...so he could sport his new binoculars. We were able to see a few screech owls in their nest not too far from our house...love living in the mountians!

Something fun we did was go canoeing. This small group of young adults, who offer canoe trips to various groups and such were having a "free canoe trip/lunch" fundraiser...what a grand day. We all decided that owning a canoe would be a great thing. It was very relaxing.

Spring Break - Finally

We decided to give our children a one-day Spring break...no comments please! Anyway this day was perfect...we enjoyed pizza, playing and ending at a quaint little coffee shop, which I adore!

If you look closely at the picture above, with the blocks and all the girls, you'll notice our little guy. The girls were from a college in Utah and here for a softball tournament. He decided that they needed him in their picture, so without us noticing, he strolled off and started posing with them...I noticed some of the girls were pointing and laughing so naturally I had to turn around to see what was making them laugh so much, and say "ohhhh, and wait I want in the picture with him, etc.,...and there before my eyes was our guy enjoying every moment!

I also did some shopping...wonder who that bag is for?????????? Teeee-heeee.......

We ended our perfect day by stopping by and seeing some good friends of ours....loved every minute with them.

Happy Spring Ya'all!!!!

Long walk...nice reward!

Okay so I normally would not share this picture of myself with anyone(it's awful and I just got back from a long walk/trott..and that shirt I'm wearing - ugh so ugly...maybe it is time to invest in another walking outfit - but on the other hand I can't be missed)...but I had too! Just look at that young man's grin - what a treasure he is!

On one of my long walks I was rewarded with this bull moose "paddle". Isn't this amazing? So I picked this up with one special 14 year old in mind...our oldest son. He has been doing some very responsible things lately and he has been working a few hours a week at a local farmers....and loving it! I'm so proud of him and was so happy to be able to bless him with this find as he blesses me in so many ways.

Thank you for stopping by - have a delightful weekend~!

Country Church and Country Girl Birthday

Below are three pictures of our little church. We meet on Friday nights and worship, have a meal and then read the word and worship and pray for one another. We really like this little church. The heart of the people who attend are so beautiful. They want the Lord's will and His hand to be in this little place, to take His gospel to the community.

This building is over 100 years old and has such character. There is no bathroom and so we use a motor home just around the corner...talk about "country".

I took these pictures for a curious friend who will get such joy out of seeing them...enjoy my dear friend!

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Here is our princess and her special day...all pink! We ordered here a special cowgirl boot cake -which she loved. Her big brother purchased her the cute cowgirl baseball hat with his own hard earned money.

Special time with Blackie.

Spring???????

Here are some fun pictures for you to enjoy! First we have found a tree covered in ladybugs. My older son took this wonderful picture of the ladybugs. However, we are all wondering if they made it or not as just a few days latter we experienced freezing rain.
Second, my littlest is tippin his hat and sayin "Howdy Ma'am" - I love it! I think little boys look so cute in cowboy hats, wranglers and denim shirts...so cute!
Lastly we have a new friend...I'll call her "Molly". Can you tell what it is that we did? Isn't it funny! We were laughing so much it hurt.

Not So Little Things....

Over the past year there have been many things we have missed but not until the Lord opened this door did I realize just how much we missed them.

I almost cried when I saw my youngest just relaxing on the couch watching the snow fall...we had school to do, lunch to clean up, laundry, boxes to unpack....busy, busy, busy...but my little guy was captured by something others might consider little or insignificant....being still.

I learned a whole lot in this moment. I was reminded of the scripture where the Lord says, "Be Still and Know That I am God"....it has been a long time since I was "still" in spirit and in physical, but at that moment I realized the Lord has given me a tremendous gift - a place to "be still and know that the Lord is God"!

The second picture is of my boys playing video game.

A Picture Update....

Here are some pictures of our 14 year old birthday pie (wanted you to see the counters...blue!!!!!!! What is a girl to do with blue????? I'm going to do a french cafe look in the kitchen), also wanted to share our new place with you...don't worry more to come this is just a glimpse into our new adventure!

Banana Split Pie - what a treat! If you want the recipe let me know. It is easy and fun to serve!
Like I said in my last post, we are still living up in the mountains, surrounded by beauty that I can see out every window...what a joy!

Happy New Year

Our Lord is the only one who can make all things new...that is the whole message of the gospel...to make all things new.

In light of "making things new" I thought I'd share what the Lord has been doing in our lives.

As most of you know we have been living in a "box", but what most of you don't know is what the "box" really was. It was not a little RV as most of you have thought, it was a remodeled storage container - the kind you see stacked at shipyards. There were no windows, only a front door. It had windows, but that was it. My husband did put in carpet and flooring, walls, a propane stove for cooking, counter with sink for a kitchen and a shower and toilet. There was a wood stove for warmth. He also built fold-up bunk beds for the children. It was not comfortable, but it was warm and dry and feed....needless to say it has been a very tough year! Someday I will write a book about our experience - bet it will be a best seller!

After many hopeless days there began to be a light at the end of the tunnel....the Lord provided a miracle for us and filled a need for another couple through us.

A few months ago we heard of a couple who needed renters and someone to work as an Ad Rep as well as cover phones and do office work for their paper, The Huckleberry Press. We meet with them several times and worked out some details and received some training all the while the light getting brighter as we proceeded.

Dave is working on commission only and I cover the phones on Monday's only. The process of us replacing unemployment for Dave will take a while but at least we have a chance to get back on our own feet again.

The best part of all is that we were able to move into the rental over Christmas weekend. We moved in the snow and ice - crazy but we did it. We don't have all of our things as the roads around here are terrible, you know "country roads". We will get the other things when things began to thaw.

We are now living on 10 acres, 3bd/2bath and large shop, corral fencing, garden spot, fruit trees, and surrounded by the mountains and forest....our view is spectacular.

So not only did the Lord give us a way to get off of unemployment, he provided a home as well. We are ever grateful and praising the Lord for his goodness to our family.

I think we have learned a tremendous amount over the past year, we have experienced the bottom of depression when we thought all hope was lost, it has been very difficult. We look at this experience as "refiners fire".

To all of you who walked with us, prayed for us, held us close to your hearts we hope you see your prayer for our family has been answered in an amazing way - thank you for your faithfulness when ours was wavering, thank you for loving us when we were unlovable, thank you for standing and holding us when we could no longer stand and really needed to be held! We cherish you and appreciate all you have done for us.

The journey is not over, and there are more hurdles to overcome but at least we will be more comfortable and live life again...instead of "camping".

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

For some reason I can't upload pictures of our "box", our Christmas, and our gift from the Lord...our new start and new place!

Pictures to come soon!