A Worthy Side Trip

On Thursday October 12th we struck out early from our home in Western Washington for our first annual family hunting trip in Eastern Washington. Our kids, their spouses, and our little grand enjoyed several days together all sleeping under the same roof.  I will be sharing posts from our times together over the next several days. First we had to get there. Our trip from our home to our son’s home in Colville, Washington is about 351 miles.

We generally leave our home before 6am and our first stop is breakfast at The Cottage Cafe in Cle Elum on the eastern side of the highest pass we cross over the Cascade mountain range. Continuing on we descend into Central Washington with rolling hillsides and lots of farmland. One of the highlights of our trip is crossing the Columbia river at Vantage. On this trip Dear was getting sleepy and we pulled over at the Wild Horse Monument just after the Vantage Bridge to switch drivers. This was about 135 miles into our trip. I drove the next 147 miles to Spokane and since I was at the wheel I veered off our normal route turning right on Division instead of left to try to find this beautiful church.

The bell tower of this church can be seen from many parts of Spokane and I had seen it on so many trips always wanting to get to it and inspect it closer. It proved a little elusive but with Dear’s help we finally found it and we parked and enjoyed a walk about it and were so happy to see the front door wide open so we could go inside, too.

The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

St. John’s Cathedral is one of the few examples in the United States of classic Gothic architecture. Its detail includes the French influence. The Cathedral, begun in 1925, is the fulfillment of the dream of the Right Reverend Edward Makin Cross, third Bishop of Spokane.

A solid masonry with exterior stone quarried near Tacoma, Washington; the interior of the nave is of sandstone from Idaho, and the remainder of the interior is of Indiana limestone.

The trefoil window of the Holy Trinity proclaiming God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

On our drive looking for this cathedral in Spokane south of I-90 we discovered some very nice neighborhoods and a beautiful park we’d like to return to in the future. We had the cathedral to ourselves on this day and we were happy to take it all in. After our side trip we headed north on Division to stop at Costco before we continued the one hour north to our kids’ home. More posts on our family time to come soon.

Linking up to Tom’s Tuesday Treasures and also Our World Tuesday. Thank you to our hosts and hostesses.

Barns and More

A few farm scenes from Northeastern Washington for Tom’s Barn Collective. These shots were taken from the road on the way to our son’s home for some family time together last week and weekend.

Back here in Seattle we enjoyed the last season game for the Seattle Sounders v. Colorado Rapids.

A Sunday afternoon game and the sun came out to warm us after several days of rain. The tifo for this game was exceptional. Tifo [ˈtiːfo] is the Italian word for the phenomenon of supporting a sport team. In some countries (but not in Italy) it is mostly used as a name for any choreography displayed by fans in the stands of an arena or stadium in connection with a sport event, mostly as part of an association football (soccer) match.

We especially enjoyed our time this afternoon since the Sounders won 3-0 and we now get a bye before we head to a playoff game.

Hope you all are having a good weekend and that it ends well.

Give Thanks to God, for Good is He ~ Hymn

Give Thanks to God, For Good is He

Give thanks to God, for good is He, His grace abideth ever;
To Him all praise and glory be, His mercy faileth never.
His wondrous works with praise record, His grace abideth ever;
The only God, the sovereign Lord, whose mercy faileth never.

His wisdom made the heavens be, His grace abideth ever;
He spread the earth above the sea, His mercy faileth never.
Praise Him whose sun doth bring the day, His grace abideth ever;
The moon and stars His might display, whose mercy faileth never.

He helped us in our deepest woe, His grace abideth ever;
He ransomed us from all our foes, His mercy faileth never.
Each creature’s need He doth supply, His grace abideth ever;
Give thanks to God, enthroned on high, whose mercy faileth never.

Words: From The Psalter

ht: Cyberhymnal

Home Again…

We had a lot of joy being with this little one for several days in a row. Lots to share from our family time in northeastern Washington. We drove home today and we were happy it only poured down rain when we approached Snoqualmie Pass and descended on this side of the Cascades. The vibrant Fall colors out the windows as we drove entertained me as well as a book on cd by Louise Penny.

Lots of fallen leaves welcomed us home on our driveway and yard. Do you deal with lots of leaves in the fall where you live?

Wednesday Wonder

Isn’t this a welcoming autumn driveway? I wonder who lives at the end of it. This was taken last Thursday when we arrived in Colville. Today is our last full day here and we’ll be heading home to rain, rain and more rain if the forecasters got things right. We had quite a wind event come through here yesterday that caused a few problems in the county but thankfully power stayed on here on the top of our kids’ mountain. I wonder how things are where you live.

Happy Fall Y’all!

On Saturday we went to a Sign Making Party and this is the sign I made. It’s fun for me because you use stencils and all you have to do is pick the wood you want and the colors. Addy May and all her grandmothers, her great grandmother and aunties were there.

These are the four generations on Jamie’s side of the family. I’m sure my mom would have gotten a kick out of our little Addy May. One thing for sure this little one does not lack for love and attention.

We are still busy busy here in northeastern Washington and enjoying some fine weather that is about to change. Hunting expeditions have been successful. Next up is wood gathering for the winter. Hope you are enjoying fall where you are.

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling ~ Hymn

Broadway Day 7 038-001

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Refrain

Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?

Refrain

Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.

Refrain

O for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.

Refrain

Words: Will  L. Thompson

When the world-re­nowned lay preach­er, Dwight Ly­man Moody, lay on his death bed in his North­field, Mass­a­chu­setts, home, Will Thomp­son made a spe­cial vi­sit to in­quire as to his con­di­tion. The at­tend­ing phy­si­cian re­fused to ad­mit him to the sick­room, and Moody heard them talk­ing just out­side the bed­room door. Re­cog­niz­ing Thomp­son’s voice, he called for him to come to his bed­side. Tak­ing the Ohio po­et-com­pos­er by the hand, the dy­ing evan­gel­ist said, “Will, I would ra­ther have writ­ten “Soft­ly and Ten­der­ly Je­sus is Call­ing” than an­y­thing I have been able to do in my whole life.”

This hymn was sung in the Acad­e­my Award win­ning mo­vie Trip to Boun­ti­ful (1985), and at a me­mor­i­al ser­vice for Amer­i­can ci­vil rights lead­er Mar­tin Lu­ther King, at the Eb­e­ne­zer Bap­tist Church, At­lan­ta, Georg­ia, Ap­ril 8, 1968.

ht: Cyberhymnal

This hymn came to my mind again in the middle of the night this week while I was awake in bed and praying for some dear friends. What are you waiting for?