"Thanksgiving" Feast with Friends and Family . . .

Yesterday, on April 1st ;-),

we had our annual "Thanksgiving" feast and gathering of friends and family to

commemorate the Lord's leading and blessing on our journey from AZ to WA!!

 

Ten years ago,

 the Lord led us from the comforts of the familiar, friends and family,

to a strange ;-), unknown land,

where we didn't know a single soul.

It was really a "monumental" move for us in many ways.

At that time, we just had our older set of five children.

Lydia was 8 (almost 9), the quadruplets were 7,

and I was 10 weeks pregnant with Timothy.

It was such an exciting but scary time!

Ted's work allowed him to set up his home office anywhere within

a 125 mile radius from the Seattle office. 

So we drew a circle on a map around the Seattle office and began our search.

The Lord then led us very providentially to this little town of Mossyrock.

It is quite an amazing story of how He led us here!!

It will indeed go down in our family history as one of the most awesome testimonies

of God clearly directing our steps . . .

which included a final-hour major detour from a house offer in another town,

and the house that God had for us in Mossyrock being 124.99 miles from the Seattle office!!! 

Only God could do that!!!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And it wasn't long,

before we could see all of the good things the Lord had for us here . . .

like wonderful neighbors,

and the blessing of the Body of Christ here in rural WA.  

Bob and his beloved Marilyn  (Now enjoying the glory of heaven, but oh so missed by us all!!)

were some of the first to welcome us (and brush hog acres of tall grass for us)!!

We were soooooo blessed that he had Nate, his grandson, with him this week so he could join us! 

(Kyle and Nate have "grown up" enjoying each other's friendship,

 when Nate has been able to visit his Grandpa and Grandma here through the years.)  

 

Dean and Chris . . .

the best neighbors in the whole world.

They are such a blessing!

Dean has lived here most (if not all) of his life,

so he is full of awesome stories!!

So glad they could be here for our 10 year celebration!

 Gale and Jean . . .

are such special friends, mentors and fellow Mossyrockers.

We admire them so much, for their faithfulness to Jesus and life-long ministry to others.

We are sooooooo blessed to know them and have them near.  

We thank the Lord for them! 

 As much as we loved spending time with each and every guest last night,

I think getting acquainted with Gale and Jean's grandson, John Francisco,

was probably our family's highlight of the evening!

He was born and raised in Spain, has his masters degree in International Politics

and is currently living with Gale and Jean,

while the Lord leads him to the perfect job.

And oh my, was he ever fun!   

(As you can see by the big smiles in the following picture!)

We all enjoyed his friendliness and humor immensely!!!  

We were also delighted to have the newest neighbor on our hill, Jim,

join us this year!

Being from Alaska, he and Gale had lots in common and many stories to share.

He is a great neighbor, and we're so happy to also call him "friend!"  

 

Of course, our sweetest, most special neighbors are our beloved sister/aunt and niece/cousin!!!

We are so blessed to have them just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away now,

and are so thankful for their love and friendship!!  

WE LOVE YOU (and McKenna, too!)

"The girls!!!"

So glad to have Lydia's lovely presence and all her help!!! 

Love you!!!

We sure missed this guy . . .

When Richie isn't working hard at his job or on their farm,

or spending time with his family,

he is saving lives and structures from fires as a volunteer firefighter.

(He got paged just before dinner last night for a fire in a nearby town.) 

We are so proud of him and love him so much!!!

Richie is one of the biggest blessings within God's great plan in moving us to Mossyrock!!!

We thank God for such an amazing son-in-love!! 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Okay, now let the feast begin!

 The chilvarous men waiting patiently for the ladies to go through the buffet line first.

 Oh, boy . . . the time has come for them to dive in!

This was John Francisco's first "Thanksgiving" experience.

He wasn't familiar with most of the foods,

but after the meal, he gave a "thumbs up" review! : -) 

 "The young men!" 

 Brielle was, of course,

the center of attention after dinner! : -)  

 Then came the traditional Thanksgiving desserts!

Apple, pumpkin and pecan pie a-la-mode, 

and Chris' delicious apple crisp!!!

 Big brother feeding little sister her dessert! : -)

Thanks so much, friends and family,

for this very fun and special evening!!! 

We enjoyed every minute, and will treasure the sweet memories we made!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

THANK YOU, LORD,

for leading us here, and for ALL the many blessings you've bestowed!