Leavenworth 2015 ~ First Day

Early last Friday morning,

we all loaded up (including a big dog, a little puppy and a very pregnant goat ;-)

for our annual trek to Leavenworth

for one of our family's Christmastime traditions!

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Here are just a few of the photos of this first day . . . .  

 (Valerie took these first two awesome photos!)

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But first, on the way to Leavenworth,

we just had to stop at White Pass and play in our first snow of the season!

 Lots of snowballs being thrown . . .

 and received! :-)

Excellent photo below by Valerie!

 

Brielle just LOVED sledding!

Thankfully, as you'll see in a few of the photos below,

she had lots of willing family members to tow her up the hill!

(Photo by Valerie!)

This is the road that was Brielle's little sledding hill.

  And then there was this trail that made for a pretty good sledding hill for the others.

Here's Valerie . . .

 Timmy!

 There's Joe!

 

 Here's Caroline . . .  

And the one below was snapped just before she hit a small rock in the gully at the end of the trail,

with her knee and elbow . . .

then passed out from the pain! : -(  

 So, we had a little pause in the action,

to revive Caroline, assess her condition,

and carry her back to the truck.  

Thankfully, there were no major injuries, just bad bruises! 

And with some advil, her pain was manageable!   

 

One happy lab!

Just before we left,

we had some fun feeding the birds . . .  

 

Awesome photo by Valerie . . .

The birds landed on our hands . . .

and on our heads!

 And of course,

it was a perfect time to get some pictures of Brielle!

(The adorable coat she is wearing was just given to us by a neighbor :-)

 

 

  Daddy and Benny worked on the snowman while Timmy and Joe were sledding.

But wanted to get a photo of them by it for size!

Then, back on the road and straight to our little KOA cabin in Leavenworth!

There was quite a bit of snow on the ground when we arrived!

(Photo below by Valerie!)

 A couple traditional swing-on-the-front-porch pictures!

 Timmy took the photo below! :-)

 After we settled into the  cabin,

we headed into town for the evening!

The little sledding hill was nice and snowy! 

 Back at the cabin,

we finished the night with a movie,

and Grammie's homemade fudge that Caroline made and a big tin of popcorn!

Part two coming soon!

Thanksgiving 2015!!

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Psalm 103:2 ESV

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On Thanksgiving Eve, we were blessed to have Richie and Lydia come by for dinner and a visit.

We had a wonderful time with them, as always!

 

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We were so happy to have Louis, Kelley, McKenna and Cassidy here on Thanksgiving day.

We had a very special and wonderful day together!

They also brought Quincy and Zona,

making five indoor dogs! :-)

Here's our best attempt at a doggy group picture!

(The little one with the white heart on her head (and the big ears ;-) is Sadie,

Victoria's new Corgi puppy!)

 



 Brielle was very excited to have another happy lab puppy to play with! ;-)

 My sweet sister and nieces . . . .

It was so nice to get caught up with everything going on in their lives!

 

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 Louis and Kelley blessed us so much with bringing lots of  . . .

bottles of sparkling ciders (several different varieties);

a big box of Lindt Lindor assorted yummy truffles (7 different kinds!);

and homemade stuffing and her awesome cranberry sauce!

Thank you, two, SOOO very much! 

We loved having you here!

 Oh, they also brought us a big newspaper stuffed with the Black Friday ads,

so Kyle could shop for a printer.  (Which Ted and I did secure on our shopping trip yesterday! ;-)

The cooks . . . .

 And Daddy saying, "HEY!  Wait a minute . . .what about me?!!!!!)

 Okay, that's better!

The fantastic foursome that prepared most of our meal. 

 

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 9:1

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When we finished eating,

Ted read the "Thanksgiving Day Proclamation" by President George Washington.

It was very enlightening and refreshing to read about when and why our Thanksgiving holiday was established.   Then, we all had a chance to thank the Lord for all He is

and all the blessings and provisions He abundantly bestows on us. 

 

Now, our God, we give you thanks 

and praise your glorious name.

1 Chronicles 29:13

 

After dinner, we played a game very similar to our favorite Reverse Charades.

The only difference is the  cards are displayed on the guesser's forehead . . .

like this . . . .  

 Sadie got lots of good lovin' and socializing on her first Thanksgiving!  

 We sure had a wonderful day!

 

In thinking over all the things I have to thank the Lord for this Thanksgiving,

I really came to the realization that I just don't thank Him often enough for all of His blessings and provisions.  There are soooooo many offerings of thanksgiving that should be continually on my lips,

both for all the little things and all the big things in my life,

every day of the year!  I surely want to work on this in the coming year!  

 

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise . . ."

Hebrews 13:15

Lovely Lindas' Lunch

Once again, the lovely Linda W. and Linda C. blessed Caroline, Valerie, Victoria and Lydia so much

in having them over for a birthday celebration. 

They are so sweet in providing an amazing lunch and a wonderful time of fellowship together.

Thank you, Linda Lois and Linda Kaye!!! 

We thank God for the blessing of YOU!

 

 

1/2 Way Through Adoption Awareness Month . . .

Below (#1-8) are some orphan statistics we recently received from Randy Loveless at Antioch Adoptions.  They start with worldwide stats, then U.S. stats, then WA State stats.   He writes, "Some come from my own research, and others come from a great book on adoption/foster care and the Church called Orphanology by Tony Merida."  #9.  on embryo adoption is an excerpt from an online article by Together for Adoption.

1.            Worldwide orphan estimates - UNICEF estimates 210 million, though this does not include some classes of orphans, such as trafficking victims, middle eastern orphans, etc. (Based on our own research, this number probably does include "single orphans" which means they still have one parent, but there is a high risk that the one parent remaining may also die from disease, etc. or is unable to provide/care for the child.)

 

2.            United States orphans - legally free kids, not counting foster children whose parents have rights still attached - about 130,000

 

3.            United States foster care - including legally-free kids - about 500,000.

 

4.            Number of professing Christians in America 225,000,000.  This works out to about 450 Christians per child in the system in the US.  Or, 1,730 Christians per legally-free child.

5.            Washington State foster children - 10,000

6.            Washington State legally free children - 1,573 

7.            Number of churches in Washington - about 5,000 

8.            The local (both US and WA state) numbers clearly show that the Church is capable of addressing this problem on her own.

 

9.  "Embryo Adoption and the Protection of Life (Laura Godwin, Nightlight Christian Adoptions). There are more than 500,000 embryos in storage. What is their future? Well, there are four options for these embryos: indefinite cryopreservation; objects of research resulting in destruction; destruction; or life. As we consider adoption, some will be called to adopt newborns, some to adopt children in orphanages around the world, and some to adopt waiting embryos. All life is precious in God’s eyes. Whatever our individual emphasis may be, let us stand together in protecting and preserving all life. If you are starting the adoption journey, you may want to consider your role in giving life to one of these embryos. Your adoption will just start earlier than most . . ."  Excerpt from an article online by Together for Adoption.

 

"Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan . . . " Isaiah 1:17 (nasb)

 

"He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing."  Deuteronomy 10:18 (nasb)

 

"You shall not afflict any widow or orphan."  Exodus 22:22 (nasb)

 

"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' "  Matthew 25:40 (nasb)

 

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans . . . "  James 1:27 (NIV)

 

"Adopting a child may not change the world, but it will change the world for a child!"

We are not all called to adopt, but we can all do something!  We can pray, give financially, support families that are adopting, sponsor a child, visit orphans, etc.   

 

 "With man this is impossible,

but not with God;

all things are possible with God."

Mark 10:27 (NIV)