Category Archives: Birthday

Trusses and Thanksgiving

On Friday November 29th, Josh and Laura arrived to our country bungalow just before 1pm. Katie and Andrew had arrived on Thursday afternoon driving from the Coast. After we all had a hot bowl of Dear’s famous Tomato Rice Soup with Granny Great’s rolls we headed out to man our winches to lift the center trusses. It was very cold. This building is going to be Dear’s Shop. A place for our larger equipment and Dear’s truck and other projects.

4 people cranking to cadence set by another one of us. Slowly but surely the trusses gained height. The three of us gals took turns with our crank.

We raised the trusses up to about 10 inches shy of reaching the notches where they would rest and had to call it a day. The trusses were secured with blocks of wood and chains and and straps and we came inside to get warmed up and have a thrown together meal of pasta, ravioli, and steamed broccoli. We would wait until Saturday to do the final raising.

Saturday morning after a hot bowl of oatmeal we headed out again to lift the trusses the final 10 inches. At this point Katie noticed some fraying of one of the cables.  We halted and the guys put their heads together to fix the problem.

New cable was added and we manned our stations again to continue lifting but then…

…disaster! We didn’t notice that the cable on this side had frayed and after a fatal crank it snapped and the truss came crashing down landing on one of the splash boards. Thankfully the cable just swiped Joshua’s arm and no one was hurt. Now heads would have to come together again for a solution. The girls went inside for intervals to start work on our post Thanksgiving meal.

To lighten the mood we did a little jump roping. We did a lot of praying and asked God to give the guys a solution that would work for the trusses to be raised and secured. We also called on some prayer warriors to pray along with us. The girls went inside again for more Thanksgiving meal preparations.

We introduced Addy to the art of putting marshmallows on top of the buttered and brown sugared yams.

JJ enjoyed watching. Jamie took Addy and JJ home for their naps and would return later in the day for our Thanksgiving meal.

Did I mention it was really cold?

After hours and a double winch/cable solution from a different angle it looked like we were just about there.

The girls watched and prayed.

Hallelujah! One last adjustment and all went into place in the notches and it was now time to secure each end to the posts. That would take a while so the girls went inside to continue on our meal and get warmed up singing praises to God all the way into the house and for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Laura and Katie headed to Super 1 for some Brussels Sprouts and bacon to add to our meal and were happy for that short distraction after all the stress of the day.

The turkey came out brown and beautiful. Our meal together was one filled with more thanksgiving that you can imagine. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, candied yams, Brussels Sprouts with bacon, and Granny Great’s rolls. While Addy and JJ napped Jamie made a dairy free pumpkin pie to add to her apple pie for our dessert.

Before we ate our pie we were also grateful to be able to celebrate Laura’s upcoming birthday with a special gift from all of us. She adds so much care and love to our family and we are all thankful to God for her. Happy birthday dear Laura. You are precious to us.

This was a very long post but it represents two very long days of labor in freezing temperatures. There was joy, disaster, grief, perseverance and then ecstatic praise and relief for a final good result. We are so grateful for the help from Josh, Andrew and the girls. Gramps couldn’t have done it without us all pitching in together.

We were sad that Dan, Addy and JJ’s dad, had to miss out on this two day adventure.

Thanksgiving decor is all put away and I’m slowly bringing out the Christmas decor. Josh and Laura left on Sunday and Katie and Andrew left on Monday.

Birthday Fun on Saturday…

When Herb and Anneliese arrived to our camp on Saturday morning we all greeted Anneliese with Happy Birthday to You in song. It was a good beginning to a very full day. The day was full of food, fellowship, music, playing, shopping, more food, and it was all capped off with so much laughter that many of us were in tears, happy tears!

Dear made his famous Swedish pancakes on Saturday for breakfast and the pancakes, smoky links, fruit, sour cream and real maple syrup hit the spot.

Our Colville kids arrived late morning to meet our campers and Addy and Lovella delighted us with beautiful piano music, well mostly Lovella. We enjoyed singing some hymns and Sunday School songs that Lovella played from heart and from hymnals and other sheet music we had on hand. Glorious! Addy was very comfortable with each of the girls and invited them to play with her in “her room”. We hope she realizes that the room is JJ’s, too.

The guys enjoyed peppering our son Dan about his work. There are always tales to tell. Bev captured the following photos of me and Addy. Thank you, Bev.

The guys jumped in their car and the girls jumped in our car and we headed to downtown Colville to do some shopping. The girls enjoyed the end of the Farmer’s market and a few other shops on Main street before we headed home for appies. The guys ended up in Kettle Falls and enjoyed a “snack” at Backyard BBQ before they headed back to our campsite.

Harv and Bev made their famous Coconut Prawns for our Saturday dinner appetizer and Lovella added her mango salsa.

 

Forgot to take a photo of all the goodies we had for dinner. Marinated Chicken thighs off the Traeger along with an amazing rice, bean and veggie salad that Anneliese, the birthday girl, made. Lovella made scalloped potatoes and Judy made coleslaw. Judy also made a beautiful Raspberry Ripple cake for dessert.

We sang again to the birthday girl and then the laughter started. Terry got us going with hilarious stories recounting the day and other stories from days gone by, some real and some fictitious.  Pretty soon we were drying the laughter tears from our eyes.

Laughter is good medicine and we had an amazing jolt of that medicine this night. I’ll never forget it.

So happy that Anneliese’s birthday was filled with the best kind of fellowship and laughter!

Here we go into the last week of August. Are you ready for September?

All Work and No Play…

…makes Jack a Dull Boy.

We gave a lot of good energy to our back acres on Friday and Saturday morning. I am so happy to have learned about the tarp trick for gathering and moving weeds and brush!

We found new places for some of our wall art that we brought from our home in Kenmore.

As the saying applies…we are all decked out.

Birds have been flying hard into our slider and practically knock themselves unconscious. Dear helped revive one with a warm cloth as it shivered.

On Friday evening we played with Addy while her folks went out on a date.

Don’t worry they had a nice dinner before they headed to Wal-Mart.

While we were playing on the east side of the state our Coast kids were out celebrating our favorite son-in-law’s 30th birthday! They went out for German food and Axe throwing.

Looks like they played bocce ball, too.

The Birthday boy deserves one photo all by himself. He landed both those axes in the center circle, throwing them both at the same time!

The Eastsiders sent a selfie wishing Andrew a happy birthday on the Coast.

We are thinking of forming a singing group called Crowns and Axes.

This celebration on the Coast made my heart sing.

Katie, Laura, and Josh fly in Monday night to be here for BBB’s birth. Andrew will drive over on Thursday to welcome BBB. Time will tell on what or when I’ll be posting next.

In other news: Our pastor is stranded in Dallas trying to get home from Florida where he was doing some teaching. His connecting flight was cancelled and he didn’t make it home Saturday as planned. Now we hear he might not be able to get a flight until Tuesday. The weather has been the problem. Two of our Deacons had to step in last minute and deliver a message this morning for Palm Sunday. They did a good job encouraging us to spend some time this Holy week in thought and preparation for our Easter Celebration.

Are you doing anything in preparation for Easter?

One of my readings by Spurgeon hit the mark with my heart…Even in the Face of Mockery…

O Jesus, “despised and rejected by men,” how could You die for men who treated You so badly? Here is amazing love, love divine, love beyond degree. We despised You in our pre-converted days, and even since our new birth we have given the world a place in our hearts, and yet You bled to heal our wounds and died to give us life. O that we could set You on a glorious high throne in all men’s hearts! We would ring out Your praises over land and sea until men would universally adore you just as they once unanimously rejected You.

Linking up with Angie for Mosaic Monday.

The Presents

She wanted to put on these camo shoes as soon as she pulled them out of the bag.

It was fun to witness her delight when she pulled out the gifts.

And that’s a wrap! I’m out of here.

High fives!

There were presents for BBB (Baby Boy Bayles) to open, too. He’ll make his appearance soon and we’re looking forward to holding him and to hear what name is picked for him.

Another fun thing our Daughter in law planned for the party was handing out bubble wrap for people to pop!

The baby and baby stroller were a huge hit!

We traveled and arrived safely to the western side of the Cascade Mountain Range. Thank you to everyone who prayed for a safe journey. We have some catch up time planned with friends and family. Hope all is well with all of you and hope the last weekend of March is like a lamb instead of a lion!

So Much Love

My second post from Addy’s Bubble Birthday Party sharing all the love this little one is blessed with.

Psalm 86:15 (ESV)~

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

John 13:34 (ESV)~

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 

1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)~

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Happy Day to all of you! I will be slow in getting around as we are traveling to spend time on the “Coast” with our Western Washington kids and friends.