Cave-In

As we enter into summer we wanted to do something fun and memorable for the children. They have worked hard this school year under some not so "roomy" circumstances. They've been through a lot of emotions and heartache but have learned to praise our Lord through it all. They've watched their parents go through some emotional roller coasters as well - it's been an interesting year to say the least - we made it! Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support....the Lord is good and worthy to be praised in all circumstances. Habakkuk 3:17-18 is a verse we have been thinking on throughout the school year and it is clearly what we are learning! "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the stalls and no cattle in the stalls, YET, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior" - Now we still have food and a garden and milk girls providing us with plenty but most of you know what we have endured and what we have lost...and if we as a people of God can grasp this, rejoicing in all things, then we will not be shaken or moved. Oh, Lord that we truly would stand and rejoice in you!

So getting to the pictures...we decided to start our summer break on an adventure! That is my theme for summer "Adventure"...I've got so many ideas running around for summer and hope they all come to pass so I can blog about them...anyway our first summer adventure - cave hunting!

What a fantastic adventure this was. The caves were very interesting and the experience was unforgettable! So the caves were more of a "shelter dug out" from "millions of years" of erosion, water etc..., of course we know that it is a world wide flood that created these magnificent caves which native Indians would use for shelter as they gathered the sage and hunted for wild game in preparation for the winter months ahead....Enjoy the pictures!

Here we stopped at Dry Falls lookout as we were headed home...more proof of a world wide flood or ice age as they claim on the information boards....amazing that so many deny the truth...deny His creation that they so much enjoy!

A pic-nic and fun at Soap Lake. This lake is so neat as it really does look like soap on the edge from the mineral deposits.

Getting so big isn't he!

Good Ole' American Round-Up

This has to be the highlight of us living here...our friends whose boys are part of the round-up crew invited us to come watch the spring round-up! What a fantastic insight into the American Cowboy way of ranching. We were fascinated at the skill this took.

My husband, myself and our oldest son were invited to join in the round-up - we all have a greater respect for those who have been doing this for years.


Yep that's our boy holding down a calf to be branded, castrated and given shots...had to hold on tight!
The boys, one in a white plaid and the other in a darker plaid, are friends of ours - they are gems in our eyes and we really enjoy being around these young men.

No you're not seeing double...that's our son at the rear and yes that's his mom at the front....it was exhilarating to be able to actually hold a calf down...makes me want to learn more about ranching....so much more!

Here our son is with the young man and young gal that have been doing this round-up for many years and they are the ones that encouraged both myself and our son to get in there and help...glad they did!

Watching on the sidelines...look at those great pink boots from the Lord...a good friend of ours found them at the Goodwill in perfect condition!

Thank you to our friend for the thoughtful gift for our daughter who had been saving to purchase pink cowgirl boots!

I really enjoyed watching the cowboys and cowgirls rope up the calves - it was beautiful to me...wish I could do it...maybe someday you'll see me out there roping!

Pretty in Pink.....

Thank you to the Tacoma family for thinking of us and including us in the Spring Round-Up. It was a fantastic day.

Hope you enjoyed a bit of good ole American history...an American art!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! We had a wonderful day filled with surprise flowers from my husband to our brunch being paid for by gentleman at another table...He said to me "Your family was such a blessing to be around and your children are so well behaved that it really blessed me and I wanted to bless you so Happy Mother's Day". I cried at the kindness of this man. May the Lord's face shine brightly on him.

Now for a Mother's Day Tradition...we have ever since we became parents gone to get either flowers or some other plant that needed planting...this year we planted three flats of strawberries down in the berry patch that my husband is working on. You can see we had a delightful time.

As you can see our cows came down to the patch to see what we were up to...don't worry there is a six foot deer fence around the patch. The first picture is of our "boss" cow, Ruthie, looking for handouts...our very own Northwest Trek...

I trust the Lord showered each of you with a memorial day. Happy Mother's Day and thank you for stopping by!

Weekly Update

Here is our princess...in her very first garden. She staked and laid the string - just like daddy taught her to do! She has squash, strawberries and flowers planted. This was probably the beginning of always having a garden...forever more!

Just look at that great grin.

44 years young...a fun and relaxed day was spent to celebrate this great man's birthday.

He's passionate about the truth of God's word, gardening, farming and his family...

Happy Birthday to you!

Not a very good picture...but we made Bulldog Cupcakes...as one day my husband thinks he is going to own a pair of English Bulldogs...Max and Daisy! Humph! I'm not so sure about the idea.

A Treasure for Our Knight

So here is our "knight" with his treasure. He is always the first one done with school and outside to discover bugs and hopefully something really "cool". Well today was the day that he found a real treasure...this blue tailed lizard! That bright blue was striking - the pictures do not do it justice!
Our Creator is so full of imagination and awe - how can we not acknowledge Him in all we see and experience...

A Few Firsts

A few of our spring firsts!

Here are the farm boys getting the tractor and harrower ready to plant our first planting of grass/oat hay. I even heard that our "knight" was able to drive the tractor while my husband stood on the harrower to help move the seed along...not too safe and I was glad I didn't see that stunt!

A first horse ride for our oldest young man. He is riding Hondo....a huge horse of almost 17 hands...massive but gentle guy!

First time for mom to adorn the "extra-large" bee suit and help with the bees. Here we are looking for eggs so we can force a split and gain a few more hives.

We did loose two hives over the winter but our other two hives are 50,000 strong. They were really buzzing around...amazing enough we didn't get stung.

Aren't chickens funny...they were so curious if we had "snacks" for them.

Sping is Here...Maybe

We woke up to this "spring" morning to snow falling...Happy Spring! It snowed most of the morning and then the sun melted it all away.

Love the fashion? Our maiden has been saving her money that she gets every week for helping milk the cows...she wrote a list of her needs and wants and this pink cowgirl hat was the first on the list! She was so happy to find that the store that had it was having....A SALE! She wears this with everything!

Next on her list is pink cowgirl boots then the horse of course!

Bubbles - I love bubbles....there is something nostalgic about them.

Look at this lovely house...wish it were mine! It reminds us of a huge doll house. I want to say that this house is well over 100 years old. I love driving by this place and thinking of what life must have been like in this house...wouldn't it be fun to restore....maybe the Lord has it in His plans for us...just maybe...or maybe we could build one just like it! Places like this fascinate me.

Thank you for stopping by...Happy Spring ya all!

A week in the mountains...

Farmer boy gets a chance to drive through the woods on this Artic Cat "toy". What fun that was for him!

Here is our calf...all grown up now! Duchess is getting ready to be de-horned by this local "cowboy". It took all of 30 seconds, a large heavy duty wrench and a horrific amount of blood that I decided not to share...If you really want to see the gory pictures I'll e-mail them separately to you...

SPRING IS IN THE AIR...And with spring comes an overwhelming feeling of needing to be outside...not inside doing bookwork! So today we did our weekly spelling tests looked up the different types of evergreens and headed out for an hour and half hike into the mountains...it was marvelous! A great find were the bones - which the children thought were fascinating! I think the favorite thing about this hike was the huge rock formation we came upon. It was a great hike, a perfect way to get the "spring fever" bug tamed!

Here Farmer Boy and Little Man are standing between two different evergreens that are prolific here...Hemlocks and Pines.

See the curved trunk at the bottom.

Happy Spring to you...thanks for stopping by!

My Life on a Taffy Pull: Job-As in the book of the Bible

This is a wonderful post and I just had to share - be encouraged...
My Life on a Taffy Pull: Job-As in the book of the Bible