Summer and other things

So this summer has been a little busy. I notice I have not blogged since May 13, which was my sisters birthday....and I still haven't gotten her a present because I have not been able to find that 'thing' for her. She has given me lots of hints and suggestions but I always tell her that if she suggests it then very likely I won't get it for her 'cause I want it to be a complete surprise and if I get something that she told me to get then it would be spoiled..... on and on.... does this sound like an excuse? To me it doesn't but maybe it feels like it to her? I should ask her.   

                       In June Naomi was home for a very short few days for a friends wedding. This is the only picture of all of us that I have. Please notice do not notice the yellow lamp shining brightly 

behind Dorcas' head. :)

In my spare time I am working on the 60 candles for a friends wedding in august. In this picture, I have just finished pouring the wax and they are getting hard.... the clothespins are to hold the wick straight and keep it centered while the wax is still hot.... I have quite a lot of fun doing this and one day I promise to give one away on here. Your choice of scent. It just hasn't happened yet.

Here is 1/60 of the finished product.  -I'm using baby food jars and spray painting the lids bronze. 

They look quite enchanting I think.

 I put this picture on just cause I like it so much. It is fresh blueberries from my manager at the bakery. I think it looks like the perfect summer gift for anybody. Who wouldn't like to get blueberries tied up with string?  :)
And so this weekend Jon & Mary come see us for a little while. -little as in nearly 2 days-  and seeing that Dorcas has moved to Iowa recently...I should think it would be very easy  for her to come along! ? :)
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 God has been doing amazing things and I will write some about that in the next post but for now here is a verse that says it all.

You are the God who works wonders;
 You have made known Your strength among the peoples.
Psalms 77:14

Of recent thought....

Hello people! I see that it has been a total of more than 30 days since my last post & I realize that perhaps you: the reader, have lost all interest in reading.... that's OK. I don't have this blog so I can keep track of how many people are keeping track of me but rather 'cause I find it relaxing to just write and post pictures onto the 1 out of 108,810,358 -and counting- web pages that exist today....entertaining thought anyway.

It seems to me that my life has suddenly gotten quite busy. Sometimes I find it hard to remember how it was before. You see, it is quite a change to go from spending practically ALL your days at home -& sometimes having not much at all to do- to working 2 jobs which suddenly fill about 5 days out of my week.... income is nice though. I'm not complaining about anything. Just saying what I have noticed...

Saturday night I got home from work @ 11:30 and decided to quick check Facebook...today's greatest waste of time I know, but in this case I'm glad I did cause I discovered that a FREE concert was to be had only 30 minutes away the next night and the people singing were rather good & all this is rather exciting to me who loves concerts (especially when they're free :)) so the following night my brother and sisters and I went & enjoyed ourselves & I am rather glad that I discovered it. :)

2 weeks ago my sister Dorcas came home after being gone for 3 months at Bible school & my sister Sara and her husband and little kids came for a visit and this coming Wednesday Micah & Dorcas & Rhoda & I are going to Colorado to spend quality time with our sister Naomi... I so cannot wait!!!
   

 Aubrey is blowing her 'wish'.

 I totally LOVE Mya's expression! It made her so happy every time I told her

 she could play on my keyboard :)

 Kyler & his 'backwards' hat..he's so happy that he can wear it anyway he wants....

And Uncle Micah reads them stories...

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on another note......

 

What I've been thinking about recently is pretty much said in the following words... to often I find myself becoming settled in my Christian life and I don't reach out and grasp God's plans for me. Too often my faith is not stretched because I want to stay in my comfort zone or I don't see the miracles He performs every day because I'm not looking for them. But recently in being around the people I work with every day I see a hunger in them & they don't know what they are searching for... they seem to be looking for security and they are settling for relationships that bring only more pain because they haven't ever experienced God's love.  And I can't stay away from them. I think of them often. I can't stay in my own shell of comfortable comforts any longer. I must show them the love of Jesus. They need to see that there is a lasting relationship worth pursuing and it is only found in God.

 I have been challenged again & again by this quote and felt like sharing it with ya'll. My prayer for whoever reads this is that you would let God work through your life and that you could know and show the love of God...  

 

Disturb us O Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves; when our dreams come true because we dreamed too little; when we have arrived in safety because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us O Lord, when with the abundance of things we posses, we lost our thirst for the water of Life; when having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build the new earth, have allowed our vision of the new heaven to grow dim.  Stir us o Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms shall show Thy mystery and, where losing sight of the land, we find the stars.  In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes and invited the brave to follow, even the name of Christ Jesus our Lord.    -Sir Francis Prake 

 

In Which.....

....I go to Colorado to see my sister with 9 other friends, and we make lots of good memories. Such as getting "stuck" in the mountains at night and waiting patiently for help to arrive.... :)  I'm so glad I had a chance to go see her & meet the friends/people she works with out there... Here are some pictures from that weekend.

 Friday morning we drove way up in the mountains to this place to eat, the 'General Store' as it was called, where as you can see, housed a dog that was able to go in and out as it pleased along with 1 or 3 others that are not shown here.  The food was good & it was very interesting....the owner sat and talked, brought us drinks etc. all the while a pistol stuck out of his back pocket.... he looked a lot more 'western-mountain man' than any you would find here!

Simply amazing & awesome!

 Here is all 11 of us on the outside of the General Store.

In the afternoon some of us went on a long walk and took pictures while some of the others were taking engagement pictures :)   Here is Naomi, me, Carol & Teresa

And again....

and than they want to take a 'fun picture' :)

  Andy grills our supper....

 Canon City from skyline at night, it was totally awesome! -more then this picture shows! :)

the guys....

 and most of us girls....

 Tres & Julie

 Glen & Jes - I so can't wait for their wedding in June!

(then Naomi gets to come home for a few days! :))

Saturday we went 'subbing' (i.e. an old suburban w/ the top cut off) that was definitely one of the favorite things from the whole weekend! It was gorgeous (& cold) in the mountains.... 

We went all the way up to Cripple Creek, which is a little mountain town of Casinos....  There we found a coffee shop which was quite happy! :)

Us girls in the coffee shop.

 The old sub. Yea, we felt so in style that day....totally! The latest model?? or not....

 ...I think not. On our way back down the mountains this wheel decided it couldn't any longer. It could have been very terrible but thankfully it didn't quite come off! So we sat there talking, growing cold, laughing & waiting for nearly 2 hours -i think- till someone brought things to fix it.... I am quite certain that we will always remember this part of the weekend! :)

And lastly. Naomi & I....

 I'm so glad to have her for my sister and one of my best friends! It's amazing to see what God is doing in & through her!  -please excuse the fact that we both look a little cheesy on this picture. Thank You.

The End.

Wisconsin 2013

These past several years we -my brother & sisters & I-  have sorta developed a 'tradition' of sorts to go spend several days each winter in Wisconsin. Here's some pictures from that weekend in February....

Saturday afternoon/eve. Mary had to work, so we paid her a visit 

and ate fried cheese curds & cheesy 'tater rounds...

Here we sit around talking after supper. Apparently the conversation was not being excessively 

exciting or awakening as it seems we look a little dazed...

Saturday afternoon we went out to 'play' in the snow...

...it was grand fun! Such a lot of fluffy snow it was! :)

Here we are trying to fit as many people possible onto the only sled.... 

...Sometimes it worked & sometimes it didn't. 

Monday we went shopping wedding shopping but Kathryn had to work so we bought her a small present and delivered it to her at the bakery where she works.....it seemed a little sad to have her missing.

 Rachel, Rhoda & I riding happily along in the backseat. Never mind that we look a little sleepy....it's probably 'cause we didn't get 9 or 11 hrs. of sleep the night before. That's all.

 Here we are at DQ having happy things to eat & interesting conversation! :)

The darling little blizzard that tasted quite excellent! 

The End.

And maybe soon I will post pictures from when I was out in CO to visit my sister with some friends, & how we got stuck in the mountains -in the dark- because our carriage vehicle-of-sorts wanted to lose it's wheel..... yeah, it was kinda exciting! :)

Of recent days in February

In this month some of my favorite things have been going to Wisconsin with Micah & Rhoda to see friends & stopping to see Jon & Mary on the way... umm...I don't have any pictures of this but please be assured that we had a grand time! :) It snowed, and we went on a walk in it -singing Christmas carols- we laughed very hard -lots of times- went wedding dress shopping with a friend, had interesting conversations & I made my first angel food cake that I still think tasted like baked egg whites with sugar! Perhaps when I get pictures from the weekend I will post them...we'll see.

 Around the end of Jan. beginning of Feb. Dorcas left for Bible School. -This isn't such a favorite thing of the month :)  She doesn't come home till May 1st sometime & I miss her. we all do. 

But she sounds happy & so I am happy for her! :)  

( excuse the bright-ish picture please)

Yesterday was a rather cloudy day with not much to do so in the afternoon Rhoda & I made a small batch of mini mocha cheesecakes & coffee. It was amazing, the cheesecake I mean. I think I am on to something now.... I will make them a few more times then post the recipe 'cause I don't have correct measures of anything.  Just saying a little of this & a lot of that doesn't always work well...

Then today we wake up to awesome snowy-ness outside! Dry, fluffy snow, and lots of it! So we went on a walk in it.... I don't think there has been this much dry, fluffy snow since moving to Missouri so I was quite excited! :)

 Rhoda & Sam.  It doesn't look like the little dog wanted to be in the picture...

Rhoda & I

And next weekend I think I get to go see Naomi in CO! Such fun that will be I am certain! :)   And coming up on the 28th (I 'm not sure which day that is) is National Pancake day! Rhoda & I like to make pancakes on that day as some kind of.... uhhmm.. observance? Or something like that I think. :)  

 The end.

Grateful for happiness...

This is a list of random things from the last several days that have made me feel very happy & grateful...

• Going out to eat, thrift shopping, & Starbucks with a sister and friend
• Seeing friends & family that have not been seen in a very long time
• Seeing a girl in Starbucks reading her Bible -there's just something so refreshing about this-
• Laughing a lot with family over various random things
• Fresh baked cinnamon rolls & tea ring to eat with coffee and sisters and mom
• Learning new pieces of music...some happy and but most sentimental :)
• The nice checkout lady at Walmart offering me a good coupon that was a saving of $1.75 :)
• Pinterest :)
• Music videos 
• My sisters black & white cheesecake bars
• Pulled pork sandwiches with stir-fry for supper :)
• Sewing new things
• Making fabric flowers
• Making and selling candles

Us... Having apple & cream cheese tea ring with coffee, 

and missing the sisters and sister-in-laws that couldn't be here....

So this is a very random list as you can see, but it helps to look for small things to be grateful for. And I like to write them down sometimes and see what all I can come up with! :)

What has made your days happy recently?

In which...

....I will post about December and Christmas...'cause I haven't posted since October 31 and this seems to be a good place to start....

Around the beginning of Dec. Dorcas, Rhoda & I went to Iowa for several days to surprise 2 of our cousins... It turned out to be a rather profitably fun couple of days including an amazing afternoon of thrift shopping and Caribou Coffee with an aunt and girl cousins! 

Here I play memory with Liz & Rebecca....they beat me every time. 

I'm not getting old. I just have a tired brain sometimes.

 Here we play dutch blitz....

Here is us girls.... even if we are blurry. :)

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 Wes & Sara came for Christmas and Jon & Mary were here as well...  We drew names among us girls and set a $5 limit. Rather small I know but we hunted our minds 'till we found creative things.... we made the gifts or bought them from thrift stores ( or on Black Friday ;)) and in the end we all got  with very useful presents! It was a lot of fun to see what could be come up with! ;)

 One of the kidders most favorite games is pegs in the park.  You can play it most any way you want when you are the one making the rules! ;)

Miss Mya ;) she rather liked to play with the little houses and people... ;)

 and the others play legos. :)

 Here we are in the middle of a "picnic"..... never mind that I look terribly tired... After all, we had just climbed to the top of a VERY steep mountain (with our babies) to reach this perfect spot for a picnic.  Sound like fun? It was! :) 

 Dad, Jon, Sara & Micah play the stock market game. 

 I am quite certain that I would not win if I ever attempt to play! 

 Kyler is so happy to get Scarloey for Christmas! 

He seems to like Thomas & his friends quite a lot... :)

  Aubrey gets a scarf! And it's pink! What can be better than that? :)

 Mr. snowman/cheesball. He looks rather fierce... I suppose he was....

 Stories with Uncle Jon. I love how Mya is looking at him on this picture...

 ...and again.

 And then we wash dishes. It's so fun to wash dishes with these helpers...

 Especially this one. :)

So there you have it. (some of it) 17 pictures and some words. A little more than 2 months since my last post & I must say I enjoyed updating! does that sound odd? I hope not.

  

Life has already changed since Christmas. Jon & Mary have moved away to Iowa and I already miss them. Dorcas will soon leave for 3 months and I will miss her. But like Pooh says - it's a good thing when you like people well enough to miss them and the other way around..... (something like that I think)   But know I need to go 'cause it's getting kinda late....Have a good day tomorrow! :)