Documenting the state of the yard in early July. Starting in the back acreage.
Isaiah 55: 10-11
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and return not thither but water the earth
making it bring forth and sprout, giving it seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
The last of the Clematis vines to bloom. This one is the most delicate of the three. A light purple.
This is the largest of the Clematis’ with the deepest color.
These two photos are the front planters.
I’ll have to take some closeups on some new blooms popping up and hope some bloggers might be able to identify them for me.
Hope things are blooming nicely in your corner of the world.
Our little grandson is blooming nicely, too.
JJ turned 3 months yesterday and he has discovered his thumb. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to get it into his mouth and he gets very frustrated. He survives the noises his older sister creates and can sleep through those.
The greenhouse is on it’s way to our son and daughter-in-law’s. Now we have a hole in the yard to deal with. I’ll show the before and after photos in a later post.
Who knew Gramps and Baba’s hallway would afford so much fun. Addy is hiding here for hide and seek.
You know if you cover your eyes no one can see you.
I bought 3 beanies from Walmart for clearance at 50 cents each and they were donned all weekend with the tags still on them.
Baba has a basket of slippers for guests and Addy chose these hedgehog slippers to wear. Just a bit too big.
A sweet sleeping grandson while the rest of the gang played cards. Baba got to sit close by and guard him.
Auntie Katie and Addy running “super fast” at the park.
Beside our human visitors we had a Doe, a deer, a female deer, pop in for a visit.
The Greenhouse has been dismantled and our kids in Colville are going to add it to their garden. So happy to find a good home for it where we know it will be well used. Our daughter in law is a fabulous gardener.
We captured this sunset as we left our kids home on Saturday night. We later learned that the dramatic layers were because of a wildfire on the Colville Reservation. Smoke has a way of adding drama to a sunset.
We’ve had an interesting summer so far with thunder storms and cooler temps. We are not complaining. I was able to mow the lawns today before the thunder storms rolled through. We are talking about doing some day trips into the part of Canada just North of us and investigating our area of Northeastern Washington before Dear receives the materials to build his new shop. Once the shop project starts it will be hard for me to divert him. No big trips planned for this summer.
At a certain point in trying to get the perfect shot Addy says, “I’m done”.
We had a small and quiet gathering giving our travelers who were on the road for 6 hours time to recuperate from the drive over the mountains and up the river. We enjoyed ribs, pulled pork, beans and broccoli salad for our meal. Addy played with Auntie Katie and with Gramps and Baba and it was fun to hear her giggles of delight. It doesn’t get dark here in the northeast end of Washington until 10:00pm. Shortly after 8 the group headed out back to light some sparklers. Baba held JJ and watched from inside.
Things got a bit smoky.
Concentration is important so you don’t get burned.
Addy shared her sparklers with Auntie Katie.
It was a safe and sane 4th of July.
We all hit the sack early and soon heard the fun that other revilers were having in the area. Because we live in very close proximity to Reservations it’s easy to buy illegal fireworks that have blasts that will shake the ground.
Today we are starting off slow and planning on enjoying Gramps’ Swedish Pancakes for brunch and then see what the day holds.
Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July celebrating our country and all we can enjoy in freedom. Our celebration will be small and quiet this year. No fireworks since we are in a high fire danger time right now. I’m sharing my greetings for the fourth early. We’ll be all caught up in getting ready for Katie and Andrew to arrive tomorrow for a few days and we will be preparing our barbecue meal for them and Dan, Jamie, Addy and JJ. As usual with all the fun happening I’ll be behind in visiting and posting.
Oh dear, I’m really behind these days. 🙂
I’ll leave you with some fun photos gathered this past week. “Fearless” granddaughter jumping in a rain puddle. Her mommy captured her in mid-air.
And this was the wind-up! She’s generally fearless in physical activity but there are “noises” that concern her.
They live on their own mountain and traffic noises are few and far between. When she visits Baba and Gramps on their very busy road we’ve had to reassure her and point out the big trucks that are making those noises. “What’s that?” is a common question when she’s at our house.
Addy came to play yesterday at Baba and Gramps’. We were outside at her water toy when thunder clapped in the distance. She ran to me in a panic and said “what’s that?” I told her it was thunder and she started walking to the door into the house and said, “let’s play inside Baba.”
We are happy to report our little JJ is finally getting more regular and we are most thankful to God for that.
Baba is so thankful she lives close to Addy and JJ.
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.”
We have much to be thankful for…starting with our troops, veterans, law enforcement officers and emergency first responders. God bless America and all who do so much to keep our country safe and free.
Before we welcome July we have some major events that we celebrated at the end of June. Dan and Jamie celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary on Thursday (6-27-2019) and Gramps and I babysat while they enjoyed a quiet meal together. Before they left for their date I captured photos of JJ who only had eyes for his mommy. He cooed and baby talked and smiled at his mommy.
The next day on Friday the 28th of June we celebrated Dear’s retirement from his contracting job he’s had since last August. Our kids sent this great bouquet to congratulate their dad on a well earned retirement from many years of work well done and being a shining example of integrity in the workplace. This is the second time Dear has tried to retire. We are thinking this time will stick.
After we packed up and dropped off his computer/monitors/work cellphone and other bits and pieces at Fedex to ship back to the company we stopped at Colville Pour House for a celebratory pint. Cheers to Dear!
This sign arrived on Thursday. Our niece sent the sign with the farewell message our dear old Pop would always give us when we were ready to leave from a visit with him or end a phone call. Three times sets things in stone you see. “I love you, I love you, I love you”. Thank you dear Miss for having these signs made for us in memory of your Dzeda, our Pop. We love you, we love you, we love you!
A great finish to June included a meal out at El Ranchito on Saturday to celebrate Dan and Jamie’s 4 year anniversary. Dear and I gathered with Jamie’s family for lunch. The next photo is from the drive home from Chewelah to Colville after our lunch.
On Sunday we had our last service in our sanctuary at church which is being extended and remodeled to include room for 100 more seats and a baptistry. We will be meeting at the community college on Sundays until the sanctuary is done the end of August. We had a picnic in the park after our service and it was nice to meet some more folks and have conversations. After the picnic some of us headed back to the church to completely empty out the sanctuary so that it can be gutted this week.
And that’s a wrap for the month of June!
Happy Canada Day to our good friends to the North of the U.S.A.!
17 The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Can you imagine God singing over you?
Are you a child of God? Have you responded to His call to repent and be born again? Jesus died for our sins and rose again so that our sins can be forgiven and we can be saved and be born again. Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? Are you following and growing in relationship with Him?
If you answer yes then you are His child. You are one of His lambs. Stop and consider the fact that the God of the universe sings over you…
My daily readings right now include the Bible, Daily Readings by C.H. Spurgeon, The Pleasures of God by John Piper and Pray Big by Alistair Begg. In Piper’s book I’m in the chapter called “The Pleasure of God in doing good to all who Hope in Him”. The beginning sentence reads; “Can you imagine what it would be like to hear God singing?”
This chapter brought my thoughts to who I have sung over in my life. There is a simple song I sang over each of our children when they were babies. I made up the simple words to a simple tune and sang it when I held them or rocked them.
There’s a little boy I love, his name is Joshua, Joshua.
There’s a little boy I love, his name is Joshua, Joshua.
He’s my little boy, I love him so.
He’s my little boy, I lo-ove him so.
I sang the same song over our second born son, Daniel.
There’s a little boy I love, his name is Daniel, Daniel.
There’s a little boy I love, his name is Daniel, Daniel.
He’s my little boy, I love him so.
He’s my little boy, I lo-ove him so.
Then we had our daughter, Katie.
There’s a little girl I love, her name is Katie, Katie.
There’s a little girl I love, her name is Katie, Katie.
She’s my little girl, I love her so.
She’s my little girl, I lo-ove her so.
Now 40 years later I’m singing this same simple song over our granddaughter and grandson.
There’s a little girl I love, her name is Addyson, Addyson.
There’s a little girl I love, her name is Addyson, Addyson.
She’s my little girl, I love her so.
She’s my little girl, I lo-ove her so.
and
There’s a little boy I love, his name is Jaymison, Jaymison.
There’s a little boy I love, his name is Jaymison, Jaymison.
He’s my little boy, I love him so.
He’s my little boy, I lo-ove him so.
Today I’m dumbfounded in thoughts about God singing over me. God singing over His lambs. I’m waiting on God for the day when He returns to gather his lambs. How about you? “Open our heart-eyes to see much further and see much better, to the riches of your eternity.” ~Begg
John 17:24-26English Standard Version (ESV)
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Weekend last we had some precious time with our grands and kids.
On Monday the electric company sent tree trimmers to top some of the trees in our backyard that were encroaching on the transformer and wires.
On the first day of summer I took a walk about our country bungalow to document the plants that are growing and blooming.
These are the last of the pink peonies we have in our yard. The crystal vase on the left was a wedding gift from my little babushka. Some of you might recognize the Princess House vase on the right.
We can take no credit for planting anything you see in the collages/mosaics. We are enjoying the fruit of someone else’s labor in the planning and planting on our property. What’s left to us is weeding and pruning in the future.
Linking up with Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf for Mosaic Monday.
Do you have any traveling plans for the summer? Lord willing, we plan to take some day trips into Canada and around our area and we are hoping for visitors to our country bungalow. This is Dear’s last week of his part-time contracting job so he will be officially retired come Friday afternoon. I told him I’d like to celebrate by making an appointment for a massage for myself. He questioned my logic since he’s the one retiring.
Jaymison Joshua’s 2 month mark has come and gone and before this time gets away from me I want to document it. He is nine weeks old today. It is so easy to concentrate on firstborns with no competition for attention. When you have a toddler around during the stages of life of the second born it’s easy to get distracted. That’s life and it comes with some good benefits for the second born, too. It’s not all bad to not be in the limelight all the time.
Here are our firstborn and second born. This photo was taken on Father’s Day 2019.
“Wait a minute Baba, this post is all about me so stop with the distractions.”
Saturday June 15th.
“I see you, Baba.”
Baba and Gramps love talking to you and watching you. We love you!
JJ, you have our full attention.
We thank God for you and ask Him to lead you and guide you to walk with Him.
“There’s Auntie Laura taking pictures of me and Baba.”
You and Uncle Joshua chillin on the couch.
Here you are with the guys on Father’s Day 2019.
Numbers 6:24-26English Standard Version (ESV)
24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
On Monday Dear and I headed over to our kids’ place to help out. My help was of the play and cuddly kind. Addy found this little camera in her toy chest and we had some hilarious fun with it. She gave me instructions on where to stand when she was going to take a photo of me. Too cute. She’s learned a lot from those who want photos of her.
She got her work clothes on and sun hat on so she could work in the garden with her mama. I stayed inside and watched and cuddled Jaymison.
After lunch Addy got to choose one small lollipop to enjoy. She got a stash of candy from the Kettle Falls Parade this past Saturday. Her first experience with candy galore! She wanted to see her red tongue so Dear took this photo of her.
I’m flying to the Coast today and will be in Canada tomorrow so if you don’t hear from me you’ll know why. Looking forward to seeing our Coast kids and the “Girls” in Canada.
Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards.
Song of Songs 2:15
A little thorn can cause much suffering. A small cloud may hide the sun. Tiny foxes spoil the vineyards; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These small sins burrow in the soul and fill it with what is hateful to Christ, and thus our comfortable fellowship and communion with Him is spoiled. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable.
~Spurgeon
They are not seeking truth but seeking to put forth their own point of view ~ Linda
It cannot end there for a true believer. One with genuine faith cannot hear the Lord’s words and walk away without acting on them. The faithful will be more than shocked, more than amazed, more than admiring–they will be obedient. They are building a structure on solid rock.
* Obeying the words of Christ is equivalent to building on solid rock.
Obedience is the inevitable manifestation of true faith.
The state of mind that refuses obedience is pure and simple unbelief.
Faith obeys. Unbelief rebels.
~Excerpts from The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur
Becoming a Christian is waging a war against yourself.
Are you willing to abandon the sovereignty you exercise over your own life and confess Jesus as Lord?
~From a sermon on Matthew 7:13-17 by John MacArthur
One man with God is a majority though there be a thousand on the other side. ~ Spurgeon
All these quotes came from my readings and what I listened to these past couple weeks. They are for my own benefit and hopefully yours, too.
We drove to Spokane yesterday to do some shopping and when we arrived at the kids house to drop off their items we enjoyed quite the noisy thunderstorm. Every time the thunder rumbled, Addy asked, “What’s that?” One of the times she wanted me to hide with her on the couch with a pillow in front of our faces. It seems JJ can’t sleep well when it’s too quiet. Jamie tried to have him sleep in his own room with the monitor on. He kept waking up. She finally brought him into the living area with music going, Addy making noise and the vacuum going and he fell right to sleep and stayed asleep. Hmm. I got some extra cuddle time with JJ while we were there, too. When we arrived home our power was out but came back on shortly after 9 PM. Glad that was a short outage. Hope you all have a good weekend.
Little brother content and asleep with all the noise a busy family produces!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 