Looking Up and Back

On Tuesday November 11th I was able to capture some of the colorful night sky with my phone camera.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” Psalm 19:1-2

During this past week we got some photos of our loved ones via text. I am so grateful this kind of communication is available at our fingertips.

Addy getting a kick out of herself and her Skyjo skills! She was “getting ready for her victory dance”.

Katie and Laura on the other side of the mountains at ‘nail time’ that they enjoy together. Our westside beauties!

Woohoo! Look at who is Clubber of the month. Great job, Addy, memorizing all your verses! Baba and Gramps are thankful you enjoy learning about our God and Savior and storing up Scripture for your heart and mind.

Leaving off with a beautiful sunset viewed through the window at Addy’s Irish Dance studio on Thursday the 13th.

What are some of your ‘thankfuls’ this time of year?

Y is for…

For April I’m challenging myself to an A-Z photo a day excluding Sundays and in addition to any regular posts that come to be. Disclaimer: this has been a lot more than a photo a day. It has been more like a theme for the day.

Today is Tuesday April 29th and we are on the letter Y.

Y is for youth, the young.

Our grands co-op school year came to an end with a field day last Thursday in a local park.

The Awana year is coming to an end, too.

This coming Wednesday is the last evening of Awana until September. Addy and JJ earned many points that turned into Awana cash that they could use to buy stuff at the Awana store. They chose lots of fun treasures.

It is great to be young and enjoy all the things that youthfulness affords. It is also nice to be young at heart without denying your actual age and experience.

Yesterday I watched these Young-uns for a few hours. That gives me a proper appreciation of our age and physical differences. Thankfully they yield to my commands and limitations.

Children of the Heavenly Father ~ Hymn

Children of the Heavenly Father

Children of the heav’nly Father
Safely in His bosom gather;
Nestling bird nor star in Heaven
Such a refuge e’er was given.

God His own doth tend and nourish;
In His holy courts they flourish;
From all evil things He spares them;
In His mighty arms He bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord His children sever;
Unto them His grace He showeth,
And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers:
Your protector never slumbers;
At the will of your defender
Every foeman must surrender.

Though He giveth or He taketh,
God His children ne’er forsaketh;
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy.

Words: Karolina W. Sandell-Berg, 1855.

This was my Mother-in-law’s favorite hymn sung in Swedish.

The Merry Start to May

April ended with a crockpot meal at Baba and Gramps’. We dug out our daughter’s University of Washington cheer outfit from the 80’s for Addy to try on and enjoy.

On the fourth of May we attended the Awana Awards night at church and Addy got her promotion from Cubbies to Sparks. In the Fall she will move on to the Sparks while her brother gets to start Cubbies. Here’s Addy helping to lead one of the Awana songs.

We are so thankful for the dozens of volunteers who make this program successful.

With the sunshine we are having at the beginning of May our dandelion crop has overtaken our grassy areas. The bees are happy. Maybe we should look into Dandelion Tea.

We are catching up with family and friends on the Westside of the mountains here in Washington State. A mix of good reports and hard reports. My computer time is scarce. The rain is plentiful. We’ve shopped at Business Costco filling up the rear of our vehicle leaving just enough room for our suitcases for our return trip. We’ve traveled roads we traveled for 20 years before we moved to the East side of the mountains. Things have changed and some things remain the same. We are still happy and content with our move.

This is Mother’s Day weekend in the USA and Canada. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms that visit here!

Awana Awards Night

Our little Cubbie enjoyed her first Awana Awards night on Wednesday. Cubbies are the 3 to 5 year old group.

She really lights up for her friend.

She had lots of fans in the audience to watch her receive her award.

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, AWANA. 2 Timothy 2:15 is the theme verse.

There were hotdogs, chips, cookies, lemonade and games for the kids outside after the Awards Ceremony.

JJ enjoyed himself.

On Thursday our temps got up into the 80’s! Our community participated in the National Day of Prayer at the Colville Courthouse lawn. Several pastors including ours prayed for different groups, our government, our schools, law enforcement and military, our familes, our businesses, and our churches. Stevens County Commissioners read a declaration pertaining to the National Day of Prayer.

We have a busy few days ahead of us here at our Country Bungalow. Do you have any plans for Mother’s Day Weekend?

 

All is Calm…

…and with grandchildren, all is bright!

Here is Addy pleased that she’s earned another badge from Awana. Are you familiar with Awana?

With an unwavering commitment to the gospel, Awana is being used to reach over 4 million kids every week in 120 countries, giving children and youth from every background an opportunity to know, love and serve Jesus for a lifetime.

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed
In 1950, Latham and Rorheim founded Awana as a parachurch organization. The name is derived from the first letters of “Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed” as taken from 2 Timothy 2:15.

Our DIL messaged the fam these photos of Addy who earned a new badge at Awana and then Addy and JJ enjoying the great outdoors. All our past snow has melted and we have more snow in the forecast for Friday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That forecast shows sunny days on Saturday and Monday. Time will tell if the forecast is correct.

On Wednesday I was able to take our Christmas cards to the post office and send them off. Two other packages were mailed off for two babies that will be born to our extended family early next year.

Dear has made some progress on the shop with all the trims around the overhead garage doors and man door. Our local son will come over on Saturday to make some more progress on the siding.

Since this photo was taken the wrap is up in this front end of the shop, all ready for the siding now!

Soon I’ll wrap presents. This past Tuesday when Addy and JJ came for a short visit Addy asked, “Baba, do you have a present for me under the tree?” I said, “no, but there will be presents for you under that tree soon.”

I hope all is calm and all is bright at your home!

What’s New?

Dear and our son laid out and fastened all the rebar over the vapor barrier last Saturday.

Now all we need is the Concrete contractor to fit us into his busy schedule. We hope that’s soon!!

Addy started Awana this week for the first time. She’s in the Cubbies class. She thought it was GREAT!

I was gifted this new puzzle and it’s not an easy one. This will be our 7th COVID puzzle to date.

Even though it’s not easy I love it. Thank you, Linda!

We are still smokey but we are suppose to get some rain on Friday or Saturday.

We have a pie social tonight with our JOY group at church. (Just Older Youth) I’m bringing a cherry pie. What would be your favorite pie?

True Confession: I do not bake pies but I did find a handcrafted frozen cherry pie that looked real good at the store. It was pricier than the name brand frozen pies. I’ll put it in the oven to bake tomorrow before our event. I’ll let you know if it was worth the big bucks!

True Confession #2: I am not fond of cherry pie. Other pies were already signed up for and no one had signed up to bring cherry and that’s why I ended up with it. Dear enjoys cherry pie.

***Update on the store bought pie…It was delicious per Dear (he had two slices) The crust was flaky and the filling was wonderful. The pie maker was Village Pie Maker. I think I bought it at Wal-Mart in the frozen section.