Big Picture Friday

3 Generations

I didn't take this photo, but I love it. Mom was adopted as a baby, so this documents the longest known link of her genetic chain.

It's a beautiful chain, isn't it?

God is so good.

Look Who Moved Into the Neighborhood

We arrived home from church today and were unloading when Malinda suddenly yelled out, "Bear!" It's the 4th time we've seen him this summer, but the 1st time we have had the camera handy to capture him. As he ambled up the driveway we realized Cassia was still in the van! I stepped out on the porch and called to Cassia to stay put while he made his way to our yard. I continued to snap his photo while he ate a few mouthfuls of grass and then he wandered off into the woods... He was totally uninhibited by my presence. Cute as he is, I think he is going to be seeing the Montana Fish and Game department and maybe Yellowstone Park in the near future. Cassia made it inside a few moments later.

Big Picture Friday

What does September look like in your world?

An Acceptable Time

"There's a theory which I take seriously... that we live until we do whatever we're meant to do."
~Madeleine L'Engle

I am late in posting this. It seems that one of the favorite authors of my younger self died the same day as my friend, Larry Brice. Madeleine L'Engle. She was 88. If you haven't read
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door or
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
it is the perfect time of year to begin. You'll love them, I promise.

A New Era Begins

We have been homeschooling now for 16 years! (Wow! Do I ever feel old saying that!) It never fails that with the onset of each new school year we change something that irritated me about the previous year. You would think that after all this time we would just fall into place and never miss a beat... HA! I wish!
This year we have a nice, sturdy table. Odd thing to bring up? It wouldn't seem odd if you had been in our school room all the previous years and heard the kids griping about the others not saying when they were going to erase, or when they were going to get up because they table wiggled and messed them up. It had gotten to the point where I would have one do their work at the coffee table and the other at the table. The problem with that was that I had to be in 2 places at once and/or running back and forth between them, or they weren't getting their work done because I wasn't there to crack the whip. With the coming of the gloriously solid worksurface, we all do school together in one place, at one time, with no interruptions!! Yay, God!
We've only done 2 days so far, but it is going well and our Jr year of highschool is going smoother than it would have at the squeaky, rickety, wiggly table of the past!
For those interested, this years subjects include:
*Forensic Science
*Social Studies -
~Role of Family in Culture
~Current Events
~God & Government Book #1
*Language Arts -
~Proofreading & Grammar
~Journalism
~Essay Writing
~Advertising (which also falls into some SS)
~Novels and Poetry -
>Cantebury Tales, Chaucer
>Paradise Lost, Milton
>Pilgrims Progress, Bunyan
>The Abbott, SW Scott
>The Black Arrow, Stevenson
>Crippled Splendor, Ivan John
>The Man Who Was Thursday, Chesterton
>Many More
~Vocabulary
*Math -
~Advanced Algebra
~Geometry when AA is finished
*Geography
*US History Cont...
*Music (instrumental, vocal, and therory)
*Art
*PE
(Not all of these are everyday. We finish one and begin another or they are once or twice a week..)

With a Heart Bowed Low

Our dear, dear friend,Larry, passed away this morning.
I know he was ready to go be with Jesus, I know he is sitting with him now.

But I was not ready to let him go.

He was 52.

12 years ago, he and his wife struggled through a life threatening

pregnancy to bring a daughter into the world.

They survived and so did the baby. They won that battle.

Last November, Larry was diagnosed with inoperable liver and colon cancer, stage 4. This was a battle they wouldn't win.
My heart is heavy, the tears won't stop.

I wish I could communicate with passion just how much this man meant to me; to us.

Tears and pain are clouding everything.

At James ' 25th birthday
1992

Doug, Kent, Larry, James

Please, please, please pray for Shirley (his wife) and Madison (his daughter), for Grace Harvest Church, and for us as we all walk through this valley of shadow that has come at the loss of this husband, father, pastor, and friend.

This is a video I made for Pastor Larry for his 50th birthday as a surprise. It isn't the "Final" version that I presented, but it is the only one I have, so I'm presenting it here as a memorial.

Thanks Mom & Dad!

I'm so thankful for James' parents. They bless us in so many ways with their love and care. This past week we had vacation ~ at their house! They are down visiting their newest grandchild, and Anna and Shaun of course. They allowed us to infiltrate their home while they were away so we could get away too. We missed them being there with us, but their generosity gave us a week to relax, unwind, and be at peace. We played pickleball, and bocce. We went out in the boat, and watched the sun go down on the lake. We watched a couple movies and popped popcorn. Friends came over to BBq with us, and we went to see friends and eat with them. Having to say goodbye again was the only thing that made the time bittersweet.
Mom and Dad, we can't wait for you to visit so we can have our time of blessing you in our own small way. We love you.
Thanks also to everyone who prayed for us. The van did great, we didn't overspend, our hearts are full and blessed.
Photos below !!

vacation 07

The Master Suite!

1st night's sunset on the lake!

Paul boys are famous for their breakfasts!

Studying. Even on vacation.
Keep goin' down!

Vaca 07 continued

Tuna melts for lunch.

Friends gathering for fun and laughter.

Pickleball!

Sun sinking low ~ @ Connely Park.
few more below

Vaca 07 continued

Grammy hurt her back so we set up a salon in her home to do her nails for her!

Our neighbor of 13 years, Lorraine.

Bocce @ Connely Park

Boat ride off into the sunset. Goin' Home.
The End

Vacation - Time to Getaway!

We are off to relax for a week! I didn't realize I was so ready for a vacation until the plans solidified and it was all a "GO!" We'll begin our school year when we return. There is a ton of stuff going on in Sept., so this is going to be the calm before the storm! We're looking forward to seeing friends and family, and being hugged and laughing, & having some real heat and summer weather. Please be praying for us. Our van isn't in Primo shape, and we are on a tight, tight budget. We'll be driving around 18 - 20 hours, with 3 teenagers (who love eachother, blessing or blessings!) and Cricket of course.

Doug, if you are reading this, Cricket can't wait to see you!

I may post while we are away. If I even think about a computer in that time!

While I Yet Have Breath...

I was an introspective kid. I don't know that it was on purpose, but having few to zero friends put me in a place where I spent a lot of time thinking. Once I became a Christian, God began to invade those times and they became all the sweeter, but less about me. When I was about 11 or 12, after a particularly hard day of school, I came home and grabbed a notebook and pen and started writing a list. At first I just wrote, then as I sat there the Holy Spirit whispered to me and I wrote His ideas down too. The list was one of "things I would like to do or see while I yet had breath in me." I began it because I wanted a purpose to life beyond what I was experiencing. Over the years I have expanded it, but I committed to never remove anything from it because I wanted it to remain a catalog of God Sized possibilities and not within my limitations.
I was thinking of how wonderful it feels to be an Auntie, when I realized it was another thing to check off the list of "While I yet have breath"...
I thought I'd share the entire thing with you. It is in no particular order. I didn't # them on purpose as I didn't want one to seem more important than another... Prepare yourself! You may be surprised at a few...

Things to Do / See While I Yet Have Breath In Me

· Fall deeply, helplessly, and unconditionally in love with someone who returns the sentiments and marry him. X (11/26/1988)
· Be an amazing friend who has amazing friends.
· Teach someone to read. X (1991, 1994, 2000)
· Ride horses on the seashore.
· Give birth, breastfeed, and raise loving children. X (1989, 1991, 1993)
· Be someone others respect deeply but do not fear.
· Be rescued.
· Memorize a book of the Bible.
· Be hugged by my Dad for no apparent reason & hear him say, “I love you.” For the same reason. X (11/22/06 - he died later that week unexpectedly)
· Bathe in a claw foot tub with tons of bubbles. X (11/26/2000 Anacortes, WA)
· Learn to tell the truth, in love, tempered with grace.
· Take a vacation with no time limits and stop whenever and wherever I wish. Have picnics, explore, photograph everything of interest…
· Make my own jewelry.
· Work in a soup kitchen for a holiday.
· Talk in an foreign accent for an entire day, some place where no one knows me.
· Sit on a jury.
· Milk a goat.
· Meet at least 2 people I do not know, whom I admire deeply.
· Attend a Broadway Musical or a Ballet on Broadway.
· Swim with Dolphins.
· Ride a camel in Africa.
· Send a message in a bottle in the Atlantic Ocean.
· Pet a Harbor Seal Pup.
· Learn to speak a foreign language fluently.
· Learn Sign language well.
· Be covered in butterflies.
· Visit 5 of the 7 continents. (N. America, Asia...)
· Be someone’s mentor.
· Learn to really dance. All styles (except western).
· Write a novel and have it published.
· See the Smithsonian and the rest of DC.
· Watch a lunar eclipse. X (3/3/07 another one happens on the 28th of this month!)
· Write my will.
· Experience weightlessness.
· Kayak with Killer Whales.
· Hold my grandchildren, and see them laugh.
· Walk through history in the original 13 colonies.
· See the Northern Lights.
· Ride in a hot air balloon.
· Design and grow my own secret garden.
· Watch a lightning storm at sea.
· Visit the birth places of my ancestors.
· Own one classic, classy evening dress.
· Volunteer at an AIDS clinic in Africa.
· Buy a home near a stream or pond with a big porch & have a “revolving door” for friends, family, and needy.
· Learn to sing so others at least don’t mind listening.
· Spend Christmas in the Alps in a chateau by a fire with the one I love and wrapped in Cashmere.
· Have our family portrait painted.
· Throw a huge party where everyone who has ever been dear to us is invited and attends.
· Watch the sun come up on the ocean embraced by someone who loves me.
· Tour countries by bicycle for a year.

· Become an Auntie X (8 / 10/ 2007!!! to Connor)
· Fly a plane.
· Take serious art classes.
· Be a “mama” to hundreds of orphans.
· Go white water rafting.
· Be kissed so passionately I get dizzy.
· Have photos published.
· Experience a spa day ~ a total pamper and primp.
· See the Cirque de Soile`.
· Ride a motorcycle. X (beginning in 2002 - 2005, Honda Nighthawk 750)
· Make love in a sleeper car on a traveling train.
· See my children marry someone who loves unconditionally, passionately, and deeply and have the wedding they dream of.
· Help build a house.
· Become knowledgeable and passionate about a cause.
· Live somewhere without TV / Internet / Telephone / Cell Phone for a year, where there is a tight community of people. (almost like early America)
· Photograph: A birth, a wedding X (10/3/03; 11/13/04; 5/5/05; 8/4/07; ), a funeral.
· Speak at a large conference.
· Wander through: sleepy New England villages; and the fallen leaves, flea markets, ancient ruins, coffee shops, sandy beaches, museums, gardens, vineyards and attics of the Grecian Isles, Scotland, Ireland, Giverny, Tuscany, Madeira, Maine, and Prince Edward Island.

Lately I've added:

• 
  
  Be a child of God, not a day laborer.


• 
  
  Give more support and encouragement than criticism and correction.


• 
  
  Do one thing that scares the hell out of you.


• 
  
  Get organized.

I'd love to see a list of things you want to do /see while you are here, with the time God has given you.

Mommy, Daddy and Connor

More photos of the most adorable 5 day old boy on the planet!!!

I'm An Auntie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the first time in my whole life I am an aunt. And, lucky me, it happens to be to the cutest baby boy on the planet! Connor. James' little sister, Anna, and her husband, Shaun had their first son on August 10th. This is Grama holding him. Since it has been 14 years since she held a newborn grandchild, you can imagine her joy!! We won't get to meet Connor until Oct. when they come home from California for a visit. It is killing me. I'm on pins and needles for Oct to arrive.

Rejoice with me! I'm an Auntie ~ Finally!!!

Amber and Eric

Friends got married this past weekend!! Aren't they the cutest?
I'm still tryin to get the hang of wedding photography.
There's more below.

Wedding Attempts

Pastor Man is 40!

Still smokin' hot!!

Mmmm Mmmm Mmmmm!

UPDATE & NEW PICTURES: Asking for prayer...

I have been devoloping a rash for about a week that has gradually crept over my entire body. My left ankle is by far the worst looking, but it is the rest of me that itches non-stop. I'm on Benadryl and Steroid cream, but the Dr. is at a loss to what has caused it or if this will even get rid of it. To be honest, I'm discouraged and sad. I know God isn't "picking" on me, but things like this always happen at the worst times. Please pray that this goes away quickly and never returns, even if we never figure out why it came. Thank you!
(Forgive the stubbly leg... I can't exactly shave right now)
We've pretty much determined that this is a case of poison ivy. Although I don't remember being anywhere that I could have come in contact with it, I am told that if the Urushiol oil is on an animal whom you pet or if it is on you clothes and then you touch it it will cause an outbreak. It takes 1 NANOGRAM to cause a rash! 1/4 oz could cause a rash on every person in the world!
I'm feeling a bit better and my ankle is clearing, but the rest of the rash is still itchy and covering 9/10 of me. Please keep praying, I would love to get on with life!

Of Daughters and Sisters

Minda. I have always loved that name. It means "gentle one" which doesn't exactly fit our girl. She is gentle, but she is more merriment, and chatter. I sometimes wonder what the feminine form of Isaac (laughter) is. Naming her "Laughter" would have pegged her. Children flock to both of my girls, but for different reasons. Cassia is beautiful and sweet. She talks to the little ones quietly and they are at ease and comfortable with her. Minda plays games, tickles them, talks in silly voices, and laughter is constant. Both have pint sized fan clubs. Anything under 3 feet seem to adore them! As a mom, I can't explain the pride I have in these 2 daughters of mine.
One of the greatest blessings is their love for eachother. They are dearest friends as well as sisters. Cassia took Minda out for a birthday shoot. Minda had just bought a vintage dress for $5 at a sale and was twirling and flitting. (who says 14 can't be fanciful?) They stayed the night with eachother, bought sweets for eachother, and were given up to jollification for the better portion of the evening.
God has been so gracious and merciful to us as parents. In spite of all our faults, shortcomings, and sins, He has kept them at the center of His palm and He has their hearts. Thank you, Jesus!

Photos below

birthday shoot