8 Months Old and Growing…

Time flies when you are growing! Jaymison is now 8 months old.

We all love to see his smile. What’s even more fun is to hear him laugh at his sister’s antics. Belly laughs!

This past weekend is was time for our kids to hunt down their Christmas Tree. Sledding and snow and cutting down a tree were all firsts for JJ.

The little family trudged out on their 20 acres to find the right tree for 2019.

Addy got right in there to help her daddy cut it down.

Back up the hill to the house for Addy’s new favorite drink…

Hot “toe toe”

He doesn’t seem too sure about this white stuff.

Sister will help him enjoy the snow! Next year he’ll want to pull the sled.

Do you have any snow in your neck of the woods? Looks like we are going to get some more snow on Thursday and then on Friday and the weekend temps are going up so we will have a lot of slush. Tomorrow will be a good day to stay in and finish up my wrapping.

Today we bought our Christmas Rib Roast on a good sale at $6.97 a pound! The butcher cut us a nice center section and trimmed it and cut the ribs away and then tied them all back on for good roasting. We’re set for the meat and we bought some other things for our traditional Christmas dinner. Lots of hams and turkeys were being purchased while we were at the store.

Come Lord Jesus, Come…

We wait with expectation in this season of Advent.

I was happy to put all the Fall decor away. Today I pulled out all the Christmas bins and am starting slowly to put things up here and there. The Christmas Carol music is on the piano.

Addy loves to help whenever and wherever she can.

On Sunday the guys offered to watch Addy and JJ while the girls got in a couple hours of Christmas shopping without them tagging along. When we came out of North40 snow had begun to fall.

JJ survived well without his mommy close by and even had a wee nap.

We said our goodbyes to Josh and Laura and then Addy and JJ went home for their afternoon naps.

Have you started decorating for Christmas? Are you sending cards this year?

God’s Artwork

I’m thankful for the beauty all around me. One morning this last week when I went out for a drive into town the Camry caught my attention.  The detail of the ice on the car was like beautiful artwork or carvings.

This Saturday morning we are already at 31 degrees but they are predicting a snow flurry this morning. Sunday and Monday are the warmest days this coming week but just above freezing. The rest of the week is at freezing and below. Hope our travelers do not have any problems coming over the Cascade mountain range.

We freshened up some rooms in our country bungalow and I’ll share some of those changes next week.

I’m itching to decorate for Christmas but I’ll hold off till after Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have a tip for you. I needed to send off some Thanksgiving cards to loved ones and popped into the Dollar Tree in Colville. Don’t forget that they have a nice variety of cards all the time and some are even 2 for a $1.00. That beats the $3.99 and up you have to pay elsewhere these days. Your welcome.

I’m attaching a few photos here just to keep up with family doings. Our grands are still enjoying time on the other side of the mountains at Uncle Josh and Auntie Lolo’s house. They are coming back home on Monday.

JJ is pulling himself up and standing and he’s so proud of himself.

Hi mommy, I can see you better from here.

New adventures await. Never a dull moment for his parents and sister! Soon he’ll be chasing Addy around.

Thank you, Auntie Lolo, for all these great photos you text us!

Aunts and Uncles

In this Thanksgiving focused season I’m thankful for aunts and uncles who love to spend time with their niece and nephew.

Last Saturday a trip to the Bellevue Children’s Museum included all Addy and Jaymison’s Uncles and Aunties. (Not counting Great Uncles and Aunties)

Uncle Josh sticking his head in and…

Jaymison enjoyed watching for a while…

Thank you dear Lord for Uncles and Aunties and Mommies and Daddies. Thank you that our grandchildren have so much love, nurturing, modeling, teaching and guidance in their upbringing. May they all know (our grands and our kids) that God loves them and cares for them. Thank you God that first and foremost you have shown us your love by giving us a Savior who died for our sins, Jesus Christ your son. Thank you that we can have forgiveness of our sins because of His sacrifice for us on the cross. And because of this sacrifice we have hope of new life in Him and with you when our sins are forgiven and we live in obedience to your living Word. Thank you God almighty in Jesus name I pray…

1 John 4: 7-12:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another; God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

1 Peter 1: 22-25:

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Thanks Be to God…

I’m so thankful to God for giving us the joy of grandchildren. What fun it is to enjoy seeing them grow. Our earnest prayer is that God will call them and save them. That they will understand their need to confess their sins and be born again into God’s family. Oh how I love them…

Thank you to Laura for capturing this moment. Oh how I love you, too.

We are heading to Spokane early today for a day of shopping at our big box and other stores that we do not have in Colville. I’m hoping to find some Christmas gifts and stocking gifts. Dear needs some things for the shop that we will pick up at the Home Depot.

I haven’t had the time to share till now that I hit my first deer on Friday of last week. It was better than it could have been since the deer decided to turn and I didn’t hit her head on but grazed her on the driver’s side of my car. My brakes worked exceptionally well and my airbags did not deploy. Praise the Lord. I hit her on our road about halfway to our home. She was able to run off into the woods. I’m so thankful that my first encounter was one that ended so well. We are seriously considering some deer guards (brush and grille guards) to put on our car. You know you live in the country when you consider these accessories to your car!

All the Love

 

A week ago Sunday after we enjoyed the Sounders championship game Josh and Laura invited our dear friends over for dinner. Addy had so much fun with her friends. They enjoyed dress up and other games during the evening. We all ate together and Addy was sad when her friends had to go home. Some of my bloggy friends had the privilege of praying for David Daniel because of his very early birth and for all the complications along the way. He is such a sweet boy and we continue to pray for God’s touch on his life and for his whole family.

Hope you’ve all had a good weekend.

Hello November

Our phones were chiming all Halloween Eve with photos of nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews all dressed up for the night. We got to see our Pirate family in person when they came to our door for their treats. Addy was eager to share her treasure with us, too. She and Great Aunt Vera had fun with the bouncy balls in the hall. She wanted to take Auntie Vera home with her. Too cute. Our Bothell and Lynnwood kids got creative with their costumes, too. Josh was Bob Ross and Laura was his happy accident. So clever! Katie and Andrew went back to the fifties for their inspiration. Still waiting to hear how many kids came to the door. But here we go on to November!

Look at how cute our little parrot’s costume was. Jamie created it for JJ.

Bouncy balls in the hall with Great Auntie Vera.

 

November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.”
–  Elizabeth Coatsworth

Happy November everyone. Today we are heading across the line into Canada to the town of Trail for some Persian food.

Family Colors

Early on Tuesday Laura started a text with our family members asking us to show our Sounders Colors. We texted her back our shots of support and she made the collage. When it comes to sports we are a Sounders Soccer Family. And right now David (Sounders) beat Goliath (LAFC) 3-1 on their home field. Our boys are going to the MLS Cup Final on November 10th against either Atlanta or Toronto. Those two teams play each other tomorrow night. It was fun sending texts back and forth during the game. It will be a while before I can fall asleep now…

…So I’ll add some fun things that more people can relate to in this post.

Speaking of colors Jamie and the kids were able to enjoy some color and leaves before the weather turned on us.

How cute are they covered in leaves!? Maple Trees are the best for an abundance of leaves. This was how the day was going before we had that freak snowfall on Monday the 28th of October. All the snow is gone and temps are still cold but we are on a slight warming trend.

Fresh apples off the tree before the bear eats them all. Yep, our kids have had a bear visiting their property. Hopefully he’ll go find a place to hibernate soon.

Do you have any wild animals that visit your property?

Six Months

While we were in California Jaymison Joshua reached his 6 month landmark.

He was able to enjoy some slimy solid food for the first time and despite the look on his face he thoroughly enjoyed it. He has graduated to the high chair which means Addy will now enjoy a booster seat at the table.

He’s also reached that 6 month classic separation anxiety stage when he can’t see his mommy. Crawling is beginning and life at our kids’ home will be getting more exciting with each new skilled learned.

We had some beautiful sunset views on our way to Kettle Falls on Friday evening. A blustery storm blew through earlier in the afternoon leaving us with these great clouds.

Hope the last weekend in October is a good one for you all.