Bungalow Updates

We’ve been on the lookout for a coffee table with no sharp corners. This nifty old Ethan Allen piece became available at a second hand store here in Colville. It has 2 drop leafs and will work perfectly for those over sized jigsaw puzzles. It’s also sturdy enough to put your feet up on. We are pleased with this addition to the living room and how it fills in the room.

We found this sturdy bench with a shelf at a antique/thrift store in Chewelah. It’s sturdy enough for Jaymison’s car seat and for people to sit on to take off or put on their shoes. After we added this bench the wall pieces seemed too small for the space.

We ordered this piece from Hobby Lobby. It arrived in bad shape with glass broken in the frames and all the frames had fallen off the back board. We got our money back and were told not to ship it back. We went to a glass shop and had new glass made to fit. We bought some super duper glue and glued the frame borders back on and voila for about $6 we had a new shelf.

We are pleased and once we have our family photo shoot (a present from our kids to me) in March I’ll order photos to fit the spaces. I did find temporary photos that are working well for now.

Our Master bath is getting a face lift. Dear is busy priming the cabinets and getting the walls ready for paint.

We’ve changed out the vanity lights and are pleased with the new fixtures in appearance and in the light they deliver.

Top photo are the new ones. Bottom photo are the old. Our bathroom is a mess right now with cabinet doors off and priming in the process.

The cabinets will be white and the walls will be grey.

It’s about time for me to remove all our Christmas cards and pack them away. Someone suggested instead of just tucking them away to put them in a notebook and take time in the new year to pray for each family or individual we received cards from. I think that is a very good idea.

This would be a good prayer to pray from Paul in Ephesians:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:15-23

Amen.

And for my unbelieving friends I would pray that God would have mercy on them and that He would open their hearts and minds to the truth about who He is and what He has done for them through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is snowing here in Colville. We are predicted to get 6-8 inches. We are driving to friends later in the afternoon. Hope the roads aren’t too slippery for us!

Happy Friday to you!

Signs on Highway 2

A day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes. These were some signs that stood out to me while zipping along on Highway 2 in Washington State from Eastern Washington to Western Washington on December 6th, 2019. These collages will give me an idea of where along Highway 2 the Dr. Pierce barns were. Billy Burgers was in Wilbur.

We drove through several little towns like Wilbur that were established in the late 1800’s.

Between the little towns the landscape was for the most part pretty desolate.

It was just outside of Waterville going west that we saw the Dr. Pierce Barns.

Bottom right photo is between Orondo and Sunnyslope. We are on the east side of the Columbia river here. This area along Highway 2 is filled with apple and other orchards. We cross the Columbia river at Sunnyslope and start our ascent up and over the Cascade Mountain range through the Bavarian Village of Leavenworth and on into Western Washington.

I’m linking up to Sign2 with Tom The Backroads Traveller. Oops I couldn’t link up successfully.

Speaking of a day late and dollar short I’m way behind in visiting blogs. But I’ll remedy that soon!

First Mukilteo Ferry Ride…

Way back in November of 2019 the girls and Jaymison had a little trip to Whidbey Island on the Mukilteo Ferry. This was Jaymison’s first ride on a ferry but I think it might have been Addy’s 2nd ride.

Some time at the park and then a stop in the village of Langley…

…for ice cream!

Front row seats for the ride back to the mainland.

This is a catch-up post for future reference. Our blogs really are a great source of family history!

Dr. Pierce Barn

Thinking of Tom The Backroads Traveller in posting these barn advertisements.

Sallie at A Full Time Life also has posted one of the Dr. Pierce Barns in Oregon. There is another interesting post about Dr. Pierce on Peachridge Glass.

When I took these photos on December 6th of 2019 traveling to the Seattle area from Colville along Highway 2, I wasn’t familiar with the history of Dr. Pierce Advertisements on barns. You can google Dr. Pierce or click on the Peachridge Glass post to get lots of good information.

I’ll be adding this post to Tom’s Barn link party this coming Saturday. Thanks for your comment, Tom. It made me do a search about Dr. Pierce.

This is another part of road tripping that is so much fun to experience. History along the back roads…

 

Issues

I’m having some difficulty with uploading images to my blog today and these two are the last that I could upload successfully. These are from our road trip to the Coast at the beginning of December.

I’ll need to sort through some issues and see what I can come up with to remedy the problem.

So far it’s been easy to remember to write 2020 on checks and other documents. Hope the new year is starting well for you.

Standing At the Portal ~ Hymn

Standing At the Portal

Standing at the portal
Of the opening year,
Words of comfort meet us,
Hushing every fear;
Spoken thru the silence
By our Savior’s voice,
Tender, strong and faithful,
Making us rejoice.

Refrain

Onward, then, and fear not,
Children of the day;
For His Word shall never,
Never pass away.

I, the Lord, am with thee,
Be thou not afraid;
I will help and strengthen
Be thou not dismayed.
Yea, I will uphold thee
With My own right hand;
Thou art called and chosen
In My sight to stand.

Refrain

For the year before us,
O what rich supplies!
For the poor and needy
Living streams shall rise;
For the sad and sinful
Shall His grace abound;
For the faint and feeble
Perfect strength be found.

Refrain

He will never fail us,
He will not forsake;
His eternal covenant
He will never break.
Resting on the promise,
What have we to fear?
God is all sufficient
For the coming year.

Onward, then, and fear not,
Children of the day;
For His Word shall never,
Never pass away.

 Words: Francis R. Havergal, January 4, 1873.

Sledding

After Christmas we got enough snow to be able to go sledding. Jaymison isn’t convinced about the wonder of snow but Addy really enjoys it.

The contrast of delight and “I’ve had enough of this stuff”!

Love this snapshot of our grands with their mommy! And that was our snow event in the last days of 2019.

So far the snow that has fallen has not been an issue for getting around. The larger snowfalls quickly melted off because of temperatures over freezing.

I’m happy to report that I’m feeling a lot better. Happy to leave my only illness of 2019 behind! I’m thankful for a very healthy 2019!

 

Recap of 2019

This is a non-exhaustive recap of 2019 with photos, words, and many quotes that were important to me during the year.

January: 1st home purchase for Andrew and Katie, milestone birthday for Josh, Family trip to Arizona.

Journal entries to remember:

From sermons in Joshua: Wilkening

Bread of Life: The Bible has everything we need for daily nutrition of our souls.

February: Introduction to snowshoeing, Dinners, Testimonies to Deacons.

Journal Entries:

MacArthur: Christian love operates within the parameters of Biblical knowledge and spiritual discernment. 

No matter how loving an act or a word might seem, if it violates knowledge and discernment it is not Christian love.

Dorothy Sayers: It is not the business of the church to adapt Christ to men, but men to Christ.

March: Birthday on the Coast, Addy’s Bubble Birthday and another Milestone Birthday

Journal Entries:

Sermon from the book of Joshua: You can choose your sin, but not your consequences.

Keep growing, don’t stagnate.

Robert Bolton: He that endeavors not to be better, will by little and little grow worse.

A faith that is not changing you has not saved you. 

April: Jaymison Joshua’s birth, Andrew’s Throwing Axes party, NICU in Spokane, Vera’s first visit here.

Journal Entries:

Piper: Coasting is not discipleship. Drifting in self-contentment is not like basking in the pool of security, but like floating, fast asleep, toward the falls. “We must pay much attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Hebrews 2:1

MacArthur (The Gospel According to Jesus): And any “salvation” that does not alter a lifestyle of sin and transform the heart of a sinner is not the salvation God’s Word speaks of.

May: Mother’s Day, Jaymison home again and thriving, photo shoots.

Journal Entries:

MacArthur: (TGATJ) Obedience is the inevitable manifestation of true faith.

The state of mind that refuses obedience is pure and simple unbelief.

Spurgeon: One man with God is a majority though there be a thousand on the other side.

June: Father’s Day, Anniversaries, Canada MGCC Lovella’s Birthday Brunch, Highlander.

Journal Entries:

Begg: The work of the evil one is to try to re-calibrate our thinking to the culture of the world.

From Pray Big: So Paul teaches you to ask God to open your heart-eyes to see much further and see much better, to the riches of your eternity. 

July: Family Visits, Swimming Lessons, Dan’s 30 day assignment, Summer Social.

Journal Entries:

Dwight L. Moody posed a question to a room full of children in Edinburgh, Scotland: What is prayer? He thought he would be answering that question himself but several hands went up all over the hall. He called on one young boy and this young lad with clear and confident tones said, “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies.” Moody’s amazed response was, “Thank God, my boy, that you were born in Scotland!”

In those days in Scotland’s parents still believed it was their solemn duty to teach their children Biblical truth in the form of catechism.

August x 2: Eye surgery, Laura here for a week, Steve and Lana’s Visit, MGCC camp Weekend, Dan home

Journal Entries:

Spurgeon (A Passion for Holiness in a Believer’s Life) This is the reality of holiness: “If we believe God’s Word, we are orthodox; if we practice, we are holy.”

The Bible is the great umpire as to conduct, and not the changing moral sentiment of passing generations.

Pray to God to order your life according to His Word. To this Word we must be conformed. This is our copy to write by; this is the image to which we must be modeled. 

September: Kids to the Coast, Junk Drunk, Auger.

Journal Entries:

Piper: (Life As A Vapor):

…Don’t be duped by the gurus of the age.

…One enslaving fad follows another.

…The wisdom of this age is folly in view of eternity.

…Don’t follow a defeated foe. Follow Christ. It is costly. You will be an exile in this age. But you will be free.

October: Cousin Jim’s visit, Marcus Apple Ciderfest, Annual Family Hunting Trip, Family Baking, Pumpkin Patch, Sufficiency of Scripture Conference

Journal Entries:

Psalm 19: 7-9:

The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether:

November x 2: Vera’s 2nd Visit, Piroshky Baking day, Trip to the Coast, Sounders MLS Champions, Thanksgiving and Trusses! Hit a deer. Dan begins another 30 day assignment away from home.

Journal Entries:

An old Puritan said; “Prayer is a cannon set at the gate of heaven to burst open the gates.”

Spurgeon: You must take the city by storm if you would have it. You will not ride to heaven on a featherbed; You must go on a pilgrimage. There is no going to the land of glory while you are sound asleep; dreamy sluggards will have to wake up in hell. 

MacArthur: Fight the good fight-we are in war our whole Christian life to fight for the truth and to defend the truth. 

December x2:  Laura’s Birthday, Our Anniversary and Trip to the Coast, Canada for MGCC Christmas Party, Christmas, JJ’s First Christmas, Katie’s Birthday Party! Dan returns home.

Journal Entries:

Beware of bestsellers in the supposed “Christian” genre. Ask yourself why? Beware.

MacArthur: Mission of the Messiah (Luke 4:16-21)

Theme of the Bible is Salvation; The just payment of sin to satisfy God’s justice. God must have a substitute to die in the place of sinners. The Son of God is that substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament speaks about the one who is coming. Jesus is symbolized in all the sacrifices.

Voddie Baucham:

I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in the fulfillment of specific prophecies and claimed that their writings are divine, rather than human, in origin.

2 Peter 1:16-21

“For we do not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when we received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, we ourselves heard the voice borne from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain.”

And for my last quote of the year:

Justin Peters: “If you want to hear from God, read the Bible. If you want to hear God speak, read the Bible out loud!

Beware of people who say they have heard God tell them something apart from what is already written in the Word of God.

Again this recap is for the benefit of my brain to be able to remember what happened when and what I was reading and studying that was important enough for me to write down. 

And that in a nutshell was 2019. 

 

Ring in 2020!

Ring out wild bells to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,…
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, ‘In Memoriam’ A.H.H..(1833)

Happy 2020 everyone!

Numbers 6: 24-26

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

From Spurgeon:

What heavens are laid up in Jesus! What rivers of infinite bliss have their source, aye, and every drop of their fullness in Him! Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, You are the present portion of Your people, favor us this year with such a sense of Your preciousness that from its first to its last day we may be glad and rejoice in you. Let January open with joy in the Lord, and December close with gladness in Jesus.

Photo Album Christmas 2019

This will be a photo overload post. You have been warned.

On Christmas Eve Andrew and Katie arrived and we headed over to Dan and Jamie’s for dinner before the Candlelight Service at church.

Christmas Day dawned and Josh and Laura boarded a plane from Seattle to Spokane.

When they arrived at our place we enjoyed some Swedish Pancakes. After pancakes and before Dan and Jamie would arrive Josh, Laura, Andrew and Katie took the short drive to Douglas Falls Grange Park for a Christmas day hike.

Naps were over and Dan, Jamie and the kids arrived for our family Christmas. Auntie Lolo got a good long hug from Addy. Jaymison and Addy’s Granny joined us for our celebration, too.

Before we had our dinner we gathered around the tree and enjoyed our stockings filled with goodies.

After dinner (Prime Rib, Yorkshire Pudding, Creamed Corn, Brussels Sprouts, Fruit salad) and after our Christmas Crackers we gathered around the tree again to open up our gifts to each other.

Before we began opening our gifts, Dear read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2. I wish I would have gotten a photo of Addy being very still while seated on Uncle Andrew’s lap with her eyes on Gramps for the whole reading. A sweet update, Laura did take a photo of Addy and I’m adding it below. Thank you, Laura!

Let the paper and tissue fly!

Katie pulled out the presents and read the tag to Addy so she could deliver the right gift to each of us.

Jaymison was content for a few minutes in his baby walker but soon ended up in someone’s arms.

Addy was on the move most of the evening.

These well thought out gifts made us all get a good laugh especially the one for Laura that says, “Just the Driver”.

Dan’s gift to his father got the biggest laugh of the night! That’s a good solid fork attached to a lanyard that Dear can wear around his neck. Dear has a pet peeve about wimpy forks that practically bend when you use them and he has frequently complained about wimpy utensils. Dan got this bright idea for this gift to his dad when he passed some solid flatware in a store and he drilled a hole in the handle to attach the fork to the lanyard!

Belly laughs people, belly laughs. So much fun.

A glorious time of celebrating our Savior and the gifts of Christmas.

On Boxing Day we all gathered for our 2nd breakfast of Dear’s famous Swedish Pancakes.

Jaymison gently pulled on the Christmas tree branches.

Addy enjoyed time in her playroom which is also Josh and Laura’s guestroom when they are here. She enjoyed the marble game and looking for things with Gramps’ flashlight.

The kids went home for naps and we were all going to meet up and enjoy our Boxing Day dinner at El Ranchito in Chewelah.

Dear surprised everyone at El Ranchito when he unzipped his vest and revealed his fork on a lanyard around his neck. We had a good round of belly laughs again!!

On the morning of Katie’s birthday (December 27th) we all gathered at Dan and Jamies for waffles and eggs. Dan was our cook of the morning.

Addy enjoyed showing us many of the new toys she and little brother received. Dear and I headed home right after breakfast to prepare for Andrew’s father and his wife’s arrival and so that I could bake Katie’s birthday cake.

Addy wanted to help light the candles and I said no thus this expression found it’s way to her face. Love the furrowed forehead! Another photo fail as I forgot to get a photo with Andrew, Katie and Andrew’s dad. Oye!

On Saturday morning we all gathered at Dan and Jamie’s again and Josh made his famous Huevos Rancheros ala Josh. I left the breakfast early as I was not feeling well and didn’t want to pass anything on to the grands.

Our boys with their beards before Dan shaves his off.

Josh and Laura left to the airport from Dan and Jamie’s. I spent the day at home doing nothing but trying remedies to fight my cold.

Katie and Andrew left early on Sunday morning for home after an egg scramble and packing up their car to the gills with all their gifts and Josh and Laura’s gifts.

A family challenge has been thrown down for us all to commit to some healthy habits before we have the family photo shoot our kids all gifted me with. We plan to take those photos in March or April when we are all in Colville for Addyson’s birthday party or Jaymison’s birthday party.

My goals are to drink more water, take my D3 everyday, walk at least 5 times a week for the length of a sermon, memorize scripture and look into the WW groups in our area and maybe join up with a group.

This morning I finished my Bible reading plan for 2019. I’m researching others and if I don’t find something similar I’ll just carry on again with this 5 day a week program that worked well for me in 2019.

“God’s Word is always true and His promises are sure.” Jack MacArthur in “The Finding of an Old Book”