Author Archives: Ellen

Loved With Everlasting Love ~ Hymn

I Am His, and He Is Mine

Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Gracious Spirit from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so!
O this full and perfect peace!
O this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.

Heav’n above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green!
Something lives in every hue
Christless eyes have never seen;
Birds with gladder songs o’erflow,
Flowers with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.

Things that once were wild alarms
Cannot now disturb my rest;
Closed in everlasting arms,
Pillowed on the loving breast.
O to lie forever here,
Doubt and care and self resign,
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His, and He is mine.
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His, and He is mine.

His forever, only His;
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heav’n and earth may fade and flee,
Firstborn light in gloom decline;
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.

Words: George W. Robinson, 1876.

The Fourth of July

God Bless America

“While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free.
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer:

God bless America, land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home.”

Hope you all have a safe and sane fourth of July!

Lumberjack Take Two!

For the summer lumberjack redo party the sleeves were cut off the flannel shirts. Jaymison Joshua turned one on April 16th right in the middle of COVID-19’s isolation restrictions. On Sunday since the family were all together in Colville a party redo was scheduled for JJ. We had Addy’s on the day before. For Addy’s party we were served lunch and for JJ’s party we were served brunch.

Jaymison warms up slowly to people he doesn’t see often so Katie and Andrew had their work cut out for them to win him over.

Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo have been able to travel more and spend enough time with Jaymison so he is more comfortable with them.

Granny Great, Mommy, JJ, and Granny, four generations on Jamie’s side of the family.

Great Uncle Scott and Aunt Rhonda have not been able to be around enough for JJ to be on his best behavior with them. We called in the stabilizer…mommy for the next photo.

Baba and Gramps enjoy seeing our little lumberjack as much as possible. It’s been so good to live in the same town!

Jaymison loves music, singing and dancing so he was very engaged and moving back and forth while we all sang Happy Birthday to him!

For Jaymison’s re-do party his parents served brunch with pancakes, waffles, bacon, little smokies, and his Granny and Addy made a pull apart Monkey Bread for his birthday cake.

Jaymison loves anything with long handles like brooms and mops so Gramps and Baba bought him some garden tools and he’s enjoyed them.

While he wasn’t using them this boat crew used them to row row row their boat and we all joined in with a round in song. Fun!

The boat crew could pretend while JJ used his gifts elsewhere.

Jaymison Joshua and Joshua enjoying chillin on the porch swing.

It was such a full weekend enjoying these celebrations and time with loved ones.

We have a 4th of July event with Jamie’s family that we are looking forward to. What are your plans for the 4th?

 

Daniel the Tiger, Take 2

Be forewarned that there is a photo overload in this post. Not apologizing just forewarning.

This time around Addy’s aunties and uncles could attend her party redo!

And we could all be close and personal with hugs galore.

Addy helped to decorate her second birthday cake. I think she helped with her first cake, too.

Addy’s re-do party landed on Dan and Jamie’s 5th Anniversary, June 27th, 2020.

Addy’s friend was able to attend her party re-do. The party was in Addy’s front yard which looks like a park.

Addy’s Granny and Granny Great made this 4 generation party great!

Addy is surrounded by those who love her and those she loves, too, like…

…Great Uncle Scott and Rhonda.

Little brother had a blast as long as he was in the arms of those he knows best.

Expressions galore…

For the most part there was good social distancing.

After a while more chairs were moved to shady spots.

We remembered the party game after all the guests left.

Our daughter in law was very creative with all the Daniel the Tiger party accessories. The Daniel the Tiger Trolley has given Addy and Jaymison lots of great creative play opportunities.

Lots of good Daniel the Tiger themed food for us to enjoy.

All in all our birthday girl was happy and pleased with all the festivities before, during and after her party.

We all were so happy to finally be together for the proper celebration of your 3rd birthday dear Addyson May! You are loved by so many and cared for in wonderful ways by your mommy, daddy, brother and family. Baba and Gramps love you dearly.

This was one full Saturday and our Sunday would be the re-do of Jaymison’s 1st birthday. It was a party animal weekend. Next up will be the photo overload of our Lumberjack Jaymison’s party part 2!

Best-Laid-Plans Hodgepodge

Dear and me at a courtyard on the campus of Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin) in Oxford England. (July of 2014)

The phrase the best-laid plans is a translation of a Scottish proverb that was first published in 1786.

The best-laid plans refers to something that has gone awry, something that has not turned out as well as one had hoped. The expression the best-laid plans carries the connotation that one should not expect for things to always turn out to plan. Like many proverbs, the best-laid plans is usually quoted by itself, though it is not the full proverb. The full proverb is, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. This is a passage from the poem To a Mouse, written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1786. The verse was translated into English, the original Scottish quotation is: The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley, / An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, / For promised joy. Note that best-laid plans is spelled with a hyphen, as best-laid functions as an adjective before a noun. Laid is sometimes misspelled as layed, though layed is not a word. Laid is is the past tense and past participle tense of lay.

And now here are the Hodgepodge Questions on this first day of July!

1. Are you currently making plans of any kind? What kind? 

Currently I am making plans for getting things ready for some summer visitors arriving next week. 

What emotions are associated with the planning process? 

Excitement to be able to share our new environs with some loved ones who haven’t visited with us in our Country Bungalow before.

Tell us about one plan you had to cancel due to the current situation which shall remain nameless. Ha!

We had to cancel our trip to England scheduled for the middle of September. We are very pleased with the cancellation policy of Airbnb. They refunded us our money within an hour. We still need to call British Airways and try to get our money back for our flights. That was a big chunk of change and we hope to have good dealings with the airlines. As you can imagine they are swamped with phone calls. We were going to stay in Oxford. We are disappointed for sure. 

2. Last time you saw stars, either literally or figuratively?

Our country bungalow is in a part of town where there are no street lights and very few lights shine from neighboring properties so star gazing is something we can do most nights when we don’t have cloud cover. It really is amazing to see so many stars and to be able to pick out constellations.

3. Blueberries yay or nay? Blueberry pie, blueberry muffins, blueberry yogurt, blueberries by the handful…what’s your pleasure?

Yes to blueberries. I like them fresh picked by the handful. I also enjoy them thrown into a bowl of cereal/granola.

4. swim against the tide, swimming upstream, in the swim, sink or swim, makes your head swim…choose one of the ‘swim’ idioms listed and tell us how/why you relate?

In the current climate of our country I’m definitely swimming against the loudest tide. I know there is a quiet tide that I’d fit in with but it is being drowned out by all the angry noise.

5. Sum up your June in a single sentence.

A glorious time in June for family to be all together again.

Be happy in your mask! 

Start them young!

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

One of my favorites to quote in good times and bad times, C. H. Spurgeon:

“Visit good books but live in the Bible”

“Let us not fear the enemy until he actually comes, and then let us trust in the Lord.”

“Lord, help us in such a way that we may see that thou thyself art working. May we magnify thee in our inmost souls. Make all around us to see how good and great a God thou art.”

Thank you to Joyce for coming up with the Hodgepodge questions!

Douglas and Grant County

I’m sneaking in the last photos of our road trip home from “the Coast” on June 15th. After we crossed the Cascade Mountain range we traveled on Highway 28 from Wenatchee eastward to Spokane and then north on highway 395 home.

Douglas county has 23 dams and Grant County has 75 dams! Our county, Stevens, has 42 dams.

Ephrata, Washington is the county seat for Grant County. It is located in the Columbia Basin area.

After Ephrata we had lots of rain and the driving privileges were passed on to me so no more photos. The road was similar to this view until we reached Davenport where we connected back to Highway 2 and on to I-90 in Spokane where we reached Highway 395 north to our home. We had a few stops in Spokane before we drove the last 70 miles home.

I’ll add this next photo here on this post, too.

On Saturday our Colville kids celebrated their 5th Anniversary! We hope to be able to do some proper babysitting for them so they can go out on their own soon! Those two toddlers are demanding of all of their time!

Back to the present, on Monday we worked on our acres mowing and weed wacking before the next showers roll through. After Wednesday Hodgepodge I’ll be posting the rest of our family party weekend. We are having many birds and other critters visiting our acres. I was able to catch a mama deer with a sweet baby fawn walking on our property when they alerted our motion detector light in the back acres. I happened to be looking out at the right time just before I went to bed. No photos.

I know this is an old story but our internet connection is never great and sometimes it is worse. I haven’t been able to visit because of that but please know that as soon as I can I will check on you all and see what you’ve been up to. Because we spent most of Saturday and Sunday at Dan and Jamie’s, I was able to upload lots of photos from the parties using their internet when Jaymison was not demanding my attention.

Here we are at the last day of June! Hoping for lots of good news in July!!

Catching My Breath…

We’ve enjoyed some nonstop fun since Friday afternoon and I’ll need to catch my breath before I can share all the activity. So good to have our little family reunited for the first time since Christmas.

(Not in any particular order for this post)

Seeing Auntie Katie and Uncle Andrew for the first time in 6 months.

Enjoying a Baba and JJ tradition of singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat with hand motions.

Three generations.

We had a mix of weather this weekend, cloudy, wet, bright, dark, sunny, showers, thunder, warm, and dry. So far we are lower in Yellow Jacket and Wasp swarms and higher in mosquitoes.

Hopefully I can come around and see what you’ve been up to soon.

Who Is On The Lord’s Side? ~ Hymn

 

Who is on the Lord’s Side?

Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will serve the King?
Who will be His helpers, other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world’s side? Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord’s side? Who for Him will go?
By Thy call of mercy, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Not for weight of glory, nor for crown and palm,
Enter we the army, raise the warrior psalm;
But for love that claimeth lives for whom He died:
He whom Jesus nameth must be on His side.
By Thy love constraining, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Jesus, Thou hast bought us, not with gold or gem,
But with Thine own life blood, for Thy diadem;
With Thy blessing filling each who comes to Thee,
Thou hast made us willing, Thou hast made us free.
By Thy grand redemption, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Fierce may be the conflict, strong may be the foe,
But the King’s own army none can overthrow;
’Round His standard ranging, victory is secure,
For His truth unchanging makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Chosen to be soldiers, in an alien land,
Chosen, called, and faithful, for our Captain’s band,
In the service royal, let us not grow cold;
Let us be right loyal, noble, true and bold.
Master, Thou wilt keep us, by Thy grace divine,
Always on the Lord’s side—Savior, always Thine!

Words: Francis R. Havergal, 1877.

On the Road Home

On Monday June 15th we chose to drive home from Bothell on Highway 2 to Wenatchee then switching to a smaller Highway 28 for the central part of Washington state. This route was more desolate than taking 2. We had more rain driving home but not a driving rain so that was nice. Going over Steven’s Pass we enjoyed views of the Wenatchee River. We left our kids’ home early, just after six a.m.

Such power in that water.

We stopped in Leavenworth at the Starbucks to get a cup of coffee and because of COVID-19 their bathrooms were closed. We got our snack and a cup of coffee and continued on to the little town of Cashmere (home of Aplets and Cotlets Liberty Orchards). We stopped at the city’s 9-11 Memorial and I’ll share those photos come September.

One more post will be coming full of photos of time on Highway 28 before we reconnected to highway 2 in Davenport, Washington.

The state of Washington as of today (Friday June 26th) is imposing mandatory face mask wearing in public spaces for the whole state. Sigh…

But…be encouraged!

Remain Unshaken

. . . In order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Hebrews 12:27

We have many things in our possession at the present moment that can be shaken, and it is not good for a Christian to rely upon them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet we have certain “things that cannot be shaken,” and I invite you this evening to think of them—that if the things that can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken and that will remain. Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation.

You are standing at the foot of Christ’s cross, trusting alone in the merit of His precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in Him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are a child of God this evening. God is your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. Even if by loss you are brought to poverty and stripped bare, you can still say, “He is still my Father. In my Father’s house are many rooms; therefore I will not be troubled.” You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He who is God and man loves you with all the strength of His affectionate nature—nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may dwindle and wander from the field, but it does not matter to the man who can sing, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His.” Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose.

Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not like little children cast down by what happens to us in this poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel’s land, our hope is fixed in heaven, and therefore, calm as the summer’s ocean, we will see the wreck of everything earthborn and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation.

C.H. Spurgeon

Highway 2 ~ Grant and Douglas County

On our road trip to the Coast on June 12th from Lincoln County we moved into Grant for a few miles before heading into Douglas County.

I think this is Banks Lake.

Douglas General Store

Historic Douglas Church is getting a new front porch.

Douglas

Douglas is one of the oldest towns in the county. The town was platted in 1886 and entered the race for the county seat. In 1891 the general store burned down and it was by luck the fire didn’t destroy the whole town. 

The Great Northern Railway laid track across southern Douglas County in 1893. The line went through Douglas rather than Waterville, spurring growth in Douglas and prompting Waterville residents to build a five-mile branch line to connect with the Great Northern at Douglas.

Today Douglas is a small community on Highway 2.

Historic Douglas Church

The Douglas Church was dedicated in 1915 as St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and served the Douglas Community for some 53 years. It was closed in 1968 when the Waterville and Douglas Lutheran Congregations united in a newly built church in Waterville. 

The Douglas Church building remained unused and neglected until it was purchased by the Douglas Community Historical Association, in 2006. The non-profit initiated a complete restoration of the church building and it is currently used for weddings, family reunions and community events.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Waterville

After Waterville we are heading downhill toward the Columbia River.

When we cross the Columbia River we enter into Chelan County and start our climb over the Cascade Mountain Range through Stevens Pass. I’ll share our views on our return trip from Chelan County, Douglas and Grant counties.

I came across this quote by Samuel Davies, 1755, from Grace Gems on The Justice of God and the Sins of our country. The language is 1755 but the conditions seem to be 2020.

“O my country, is not your wickedness great and your iniquities infinite? Where is there a more sinful spot to be found upon our guilty globe? Pass over the land , take a survey of the inhabitants, inspect into their conduct–And what do you see? What do you hear?

You see the gigantic forms of vice bedding defiance to the God of heaven- while true religion and virtue are forced to retire to avoid public contempt and insult.”

We had an amazing summer storm pass over our property yesterday afternoon. We were able to determine all the low spots on your property with mini rivers springing up. The rain came down so heavy for a period that our gutters just overflowed instead of directing the water to the downspouts. I won’t have to water for a few days…maybe even a week since we have more rain in the forecast for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday!

How’s the beginning of summer in your neck of the woods? We are experiencing some internet difficulty this morning. Google and Gmail are not loading or sending so I won’t be able to visit anyone till things get corrected.