Summer Fun!

For those of you not on Facebook, I just published an album of some pictures from our summer. You can view it by clicking here, even if you're not a Facebook member!

It feels like this summer has gone by so quickly...of course, being in Sacramento we'll still get "summery" weather well into October, most likely! But soon, we'll be able to break out the sweaters and start lighting fires in our fireplace again. That will be nice!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer as well! Enjoy the soon-coming change of seasons as we head into the fall!

A trip to see the family!

I enjoyed a great visit with my family Thanksgiving week...here are a few pictures from our time there!

Anna with Aaron and Ben:

Mom and Dad enjoying an after-Thanksgiving-feast nap:

Ben and Aaron playing in the tent I brought them ($9.99 at Ikea!):

Sisters:

Here's an adorable video of Ben and Aaron playing in a hall cupboard. They are so cute!

And finally, a video interview I did with Ben...now that he's 3 1/2, he has a bit more to say (if you're reading this via e-mail, you'll need to go to my blog to see the videos)!

I look forward to seeing them all again in February when I go up to help out when Baby Grace is born!

Off-roading in a Minivan

So a few weeks ago, my sister Anna and my nephews, Ben and Aaron, were visiting us while Anna's husband Matt was in Mexico with their youth group. Matt dropped Anna and the boys off near our place on their way down south, and picked them up again on their way back up to Oregon. Well, we actually had to drive Anna and the boys to meet up with the group in Ione, a city about 45 minutes from Sacramento. At least, it was supposed to be only a 45-minute drive...

See, it all started when I printed out directions on how to get to Ione using some computer software I have. Having never been to Ione, I assumed it was giving me good directions. We were in a rented minivan with NO navigation system (something I never want to be without again), and the trip turned into a real comedy of errors.

So here we were: my brother Nate, my sister Anna, the two little boys and me, off to take a leisurely little drive to Ione. Ione is out in the country, by the way -- kind of the middle of nowhere. Keep that in mind as you read.

Our first mistake was missing a road we were supposed to turn on. We just kept going and going and going...and weren't seeing the road. Finally the road we were on spit us out onto the freeway, so we realized we must have missed it and backtracked until we saw it. We turned onto this road and soon discovered that what started as a road quickly turned into little more than a trail. The road got narrower and narrower and was soon just dirt instead of cement. All we saw for miles around was farmland and fences...no houses, no cars...nothing. We would round a bend or crest a hill and see nothing for miles but more of the same...and we had no cell phone reception!


Here's what we saw:








We debated about whether we should keep going, hoping we'd find a main road again, or whether we should just go back the way we came. We decided to press on. We finally did come to a main road, only to come to a place a little bit later where we weren't sure which way to go -- and chose what we later discovered was the wrong way: we ended up on yet ANOTHER out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere road with barely any signs of civilization around us. And this road was in WORSE condition than the first road -- we were bouncing over potholes and swerving to avoid big piles of gravel, backing up to avoid driving into ditches, carefully lining our wheels up with the ruts of previous travelers who'd managed to navigate the craziness...it was so bad it was funny! We were not just in the middle of nowhere -- we were in the MIDDLE of the middle of nowhere!

Anna started singing, "Five passengers set sail that day for a three-hour tour..." and we all laughed. "We should have brought Skipper and Gilligan!" I responded. (Those are my cats, for those of you who don't know!) Every time we got to the top of a hill and saw nothing more than miles of this same road stretching before us, we had to laugh -- it was just too crazy! Meanwhile, we knew that Matt was waiting for us and probably wondering what on earth had happened! We couldn't call him, because we had no cell reception.






FINALLY, we saw some farmhouses in the distance. We stopped at one to ask the way to Ione, because we didn't want to do any more minivan off-roading, thank you very much! When the farmer discovered which way we'd come, he was incredulous. "That seven-mile stretch of bad road? I've lived here for eight years and have only been on that road four times, and only when absolutely necessary!" He graciously gave us directions and we arrived in Ione about 2 1/2 hours after we'd left Sacramento -- I told Matt I'd just been trying to sneak in a little extra time with my sis! ;-)


I learned several things through this experience:


1) Either make sure you have a GPS system in your vehicle when headed to a new location, or get good directions from a local!


2) If you are stuck in a minivan, lost in the California countryside, make sure you have traveling companions by your side who can take it all in stride and laugh at it with you. It helps not having uptight, stressed-out passengers! Even though Anna was anxious to get to her husband after not seeing him for 10 days, she didn't get a bad attitude or blame me for getting lost, which I really appreciate! :-)


Hope you enjoyed the chronicle of our little adventure!

Long time, no blog!

Whew...we have finally moved into our new house -- the big move day was June 19 (Andrew remembered as we were in the middle of moving that the day we moved to Sacramento from Vancouver was June 19, 1999, so I guess June 19 is just our day for moving)! Two days after we moved, some of our closest friends (we all met at Bible college) came to stay with us for a week, and the day they left my sister Anna and two little nephews, Ben and Aaron, came to stay for 10 days! They left last Sunday, and on Tuesday my parents arrived for a visit! They will fly home this Sunday evening. We have really enjoyed sharing our new home with everyone, even though it's been a whirlwind few weeks!

I plan to share some before and after pics of our new home soon...I just want to get a few more things done (like curtains and artwork put up) before I take the "after" shots! Thanks for your patience! :-)

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the last few weeks...enjoy!

Becky and LaSarah, my two best friends from college, at the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA, where we took a tour to see how the famous candies are made!

LaSarah with her husband Nate and their kiddos, Josh and AnnaLuisa, posing on some "toadstools" at FairyTale Town in Sacramento.

My brother Nate with our nephews Ben and Aaron at a little community parade we went to see.

My sister Anna and me; pardon my squinting -- it was bright!

And just a little something to tide you over until I can get more before and after pics ready, here's the circular fireplace in our living room as it was when we purchased the house:

And here's what it looks like now, after we commissioned a local artist to paint it (the scenes are from the Northwest, where I'm from -- Multnomah Falls and a scene from the Columbia River Gorge). We're quite pleased with the end result!

Splash!

Today we drove over to the new house to check on progress (it's coming along slowly but surely - we're hoping to move in the first week of May; even though the whole house won't be done yet, the side with the most important rooms, like the kitchen and our bedroom and bathroom, will be). While we were there, we decided to clean the pool (turning on the filters and vacuum for a while, and skimming off all the leaves and bugs floating on top). Once the pool was clean, Andrew and I decided to dip our feet in the water for a bit -- it was in the mid-80s here today, so quite warm! The water in the pool is still pretty chilly, but after a few minutes our feet got used to it and it felt quite refreshing!

A little later, I was trying to convince Nate that he should dip his feet in the pool too, since it felt so nice. But he didn't seem interested. We were sitting at a table on the patio, and I had my back to him, watching Andrew skim the pool. Next thing I know, Nate comes running past me and jumps into the pool, shorts and t-shirt and all (for a second I thought he was going to push Andrew in)!

So Nate was the first one of us to officially swim in the new pool...he looked like he was having such a fun time going off the diving board, and it looked so refreshing... Andrew was sweaty from being in the sun cleaning the pool, so we convinced him that he should go for a little swim, too. (I was not dressed appropriately, and we were planning to go shopping afterwards, so I didn't join in the fun!)

Here's Nate explaining how it all went down and doing a re-enactment, then a video of Andrew jumping in the first time (pardon my little shriek when the water almost hit the camera), and a few pictures! (If you're reading this post via e-mail and can't view the videos, you'll need to go to the blog itself to see them!)

Thanking the Lord today for beautiful, sunny weather, a refreshing pool, and a relaxing afternoon!

God's Amazing Creation...

Before I get to the content of this week's post, I wanted to point out the link over there on the left of the page...did you know that you can sign up with your e-mail address and receive new blog posts that I write in your inbox? It's great for people who don't remember to check the blog regularly! So, if you haven't already signed up, you should! :-) You won't get any spam or anything, just my blog posts!

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And now, on to the topic of God's glorious creation! Last Friday, my brother and I decided to take a drive to Table Mountain in Oroville, CA. I'd read online about the beautiful wildflowers there this time of year, and we weren't disappointed! Hard to believe that come summer, this place will be mostly brown and dry. I think I will make it a yearly goal to visit Table Mountain around the beginning of April. It was so peaceful there! There weren't very many other people around, either. I could stand in one spot and all I saw was sky and grass and flowers and trees and rocks (and a few birds and butterflies and grazing cows) -- no wires or poles or cars or buildings...nothing man-made (except when we came across a broken-down fence on someone's cattle grazing land).

Being there was very refreshing for the soul, and then on the drive home we saw a glorious sunset...

Enjoy the photos!

What God has joined together...

While in Oregon, I was privileged to be part of a vow renewal ceremony held for my parents at the Christian counseling center they've been attending for a while now. My parents would be the first to admit that they have not had an ideal marriage relationship over the years -- both of them were dealing privately with various issues in their lives and neither of them put much effort into keeping their relationship strong. Through God's grace and following the counsel of Scripture and wise believers, my parents have made great strides over these past few months, both personally and as husband and wife, and we (their children) could not be happier about it! It is so refreshing to us to see the changes in how they interact, and especially in how they now hold hands and hug often (something we rarely saw before). All I can say is, thanks be to God! What we sometimes thought could never happen is now unfolding right before our eyes!

Just for fun, here is a picture of my parents on their wedding day, January 3, 1975

L-R: Al, my dad's counselor and head of the ministry; my brother, Nathan; Dad; Mom; me; my sister, Anna; my sister, Elisabeth

Dad and Mom...33 years of marriage and counting! :-)

Surprises are fun!!

Last week, my brother and I drove up to Oregon to surprise my sister Anna for her 30th birthday...we showed up on her doorstep, along with our parents and younger sister, and gave her quite a shock! Here's the video of her reaction (sorry you have to stare at the door for so long...she didn't answer right away)!

We spent a few days at their house and enjoyed the time with our nephews Ben and Aaron...here are a few videos (I just love the one of Ben singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star")!

Here are a few more cute shots of the boys that I took:

Aaron and Elmo coloring

Ben and his buddy Elmo

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry it's been so long since I've written here...I need some more inspiration for things to write about, I guess!

Andrew and I are here in Oregon this week with my family, and I'm loving getting to hang out with my nephews (Ben is 2 1/2, Aaron will be a year old next month). It's neat to see how they have changed even since I was here a few months ago. They're so fun!

I am so thankful for all that the Lord has given me...much more than I deserve. I have a wonderful husband, a loving family, and precious friends. God provides for all of my needs, over and above. I am truly blessed!

Praying you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration!

The Cow Train

My brother, Nate, and I were in Oregon on Labor Day, and we spent a few hours with my parents, my sister, Anna, and her two boys at a farm. My 2-year-old nephew Ben really enjoyed sitting on the old tractors and going down the inflatable slide with his Uncle Nate, ascending the climb-able hay pyramid with his mommy, and imitating the rooster in the barn. Then Anna and I decided it would be fun to take Ben on the “Cow Train” for an idyllic little tour of the cornfields and pumpkin patches before lunch. So we paid our $2.00 and settled in to enjoy the ride. Don’t we look happy?


That sense of joyful expectation soon gave way to a sense of “What in the world did we get ourselves into?!!!” and “How soon is this going to end?”

The way this “train” was constructed is there’s a guy on a four-wheeler type of vehicle pulling a chain of these little “cars” made out of plastic barrels with wheels attached, painted to look like cows. They did include seatbelts, which is a good thing, seeing as how….well, we’ll get to that in a moment. But the seats were not padded in any way, shape, or form, which was not a good thing, seeing as how…well, just keep reading.

The man driving this train (I shall fondly refer to him as The Torture Master from here on out) either had to go to the bathroom really bad or he thought we were being chased by a swarm of angry wasps, because once all the victims, er, riders were in place, he tore off down the bumpy lane as if he were racing a cheetah! I think I caught a glimpse of some corn fields before the first turn, but I was bouncing around so much that it might have just been tall grass. Thank goodness for those seatbelts I mentioned earlier, or I’m sure Ben would have bounced right off of Anna’s lap and onto the side of the road! I’ll just say that it’s a good thing we decided to go before lunch and not after.

As we sped along, I noticed that the roads were very dry and dusty. I could tell because the huge wheels on the contraption The Torture Master was driving were showering those of us in the first few barrels with a fine, gritty layer of terra firma. “So that’s what I’d look like with a tan,” I thought as I looked down at my darkening arms. As our dusty hair blew in the wind and we tried not to breathe, I thought I glimpsed some large oranges lying in a field – oh wait, those were pumpkins! Too late to get a closer look, though…they were already far behind us.

After what felt like hours (but was, in reality, probably less than five minutes), we came to a fork in the road. Finally, we were going to head back! But wait, oh…no! He turned left instead, away from where we started! I gripped the sides of the barrel, white-knuckled; steeling myself for more jolts; closing my eyes against the dust; feeling a new kinship with the tin cans people tie onto the backs of newlyweds’ cars.

If you had been watching as we raced by, you would have thought that my sister and I were having a good time…we were even laughing! But it was more a laughter of bewilderment, of shock, of “We paid good money for THIS?!” – it was not a laughter of enjoyment, I can tell you that!

Finally, we rounded the last corner and the cow train screeched to a halt back at starting position. As we unbuckled and shakily stepped out of the barrels, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the dust from our hair and clothing, I had to suppress the urge to shout out a warning to the people waiting in line for the next ride: “Spare yourselves the agony and get away while you still can!” But I kept silent as I glanced at The Torture Master, who was busy accepting people’s dollars and strapping them into the plastic cows. I think I heard him give a sinister little laugh under his breath.

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I didn’t get any “after” pictures, but just imagine something like this:

Scrabble-tastic!

While I was visiting my sister in Oregon last week, we came up with a fun way to spend an evening. She suggested playing Scrabble, and then I suggested that when we were finished, we should each write a story – using all the words from the game at least once. So that’s what we did!

Anna thoroughly enjoyed my tale of a hapless teenage boy smitten by a girl he knew from band, only to discover upon visiting her home that she was a bit, um, odd. And I was laughing so hard that it hurt when she read what she had written about pirates trying to appease the sea after an oil slick (complete with pirate-y voices). It was really cool how we were using the same words as starters and came up with such completely different stories!

We had so much fun that we decided to do it again the following night, and I think it will become a regular event during future visits!

Both of our husbands (hers from the other room and mine when I told him on the phone about it later) expressed their opinion that our choice of entertainment was something akin to Chinese water torture. All I can say is, it’s their loss!

Oregon

A few weeks ago I flew up to Oregon to spend some time with my sister Anna and her family, and then to go to Women's Camp at Camp Tadmor with my mom and Anna. It was a really good time! I love hanging out with family...below are some pictures of the trip!

We shared a special moment with Anna and Matt as Benjamin (2) and Aaron (7 1/2 months) were dedicated at their church (where Matt is the youth and worship pastor)

Ben and Aaron -- the next "little boy" band..."Hadley" ;-)

Brothers

Benjamin

Aaron

Anna, Mom, and me after Women's Camp