On June 30, 1973, Mark and I were married in Santa Barbara, California. Tomorrow we celebrate the 35th anniversary of that wonderful day. Thanks, honey, for being my very best friend and my one and only true love. Because of you, and the Lord's faithfulness, I am living my dream every day. I love you.
We are heading to Portland this afternoon, and will stay tonight at Portland's White House, a charming bed and breakfast. We are excited!
The mill, with the flour coming out the chute at the bottom.
They had a display of pictures from various mills in the area.
Water is carried from Cedar Creek to the mill via a flume that extends 650 feet upriver. You can see the excess water cascading from the mill above.
We hiked along the footpath - sooo beautiful.
The covered bridge over Cedar Creek.
Oh, and we got to meet their 12-year-old dog, Annie, too. What a cutie! Bob told us that she follows him around literally everywhere, and doesn't like to let him get out of her sight.
It was a definite highlight of our day. We also toured a grist mill and visited with family. More about that soon.
Today is our beautiful daughter-in-law's birthday. Nikki, we love you and are so thankful you are part of our family. Have a wonderful 22nd birthday! Can't wait to see you soon in Colorado!
The card Jake gave Mark is shown above.
The first task: empty the tool shed, sorting stuff into piles: "keep," "give away," and "throw away."
How do we manage to collect so MUCH stuff?
Then you set out all of your electrical gear.
They even installed an outlet on the outside wall - very handy!
They worked very hard all day. Then came the test - will all those outlets work? Hmm... let's flip that breaker switch and find out. The good news? Five of the eight work great. The others? Need a little more work. Did they get their wires crossed? To be continued... And, by the way, Jake, thanks for being such a fine son. Dad had been looking forward to today all week. WE LOVE YOU!
You might have to double-click on the pictures to see them clearly - they are really fun. Ben - you actually really did take your first steps before you were two years old! :-)
Pretty good drawings, in my biased opinion.
Mostly, looking through all this stuff made my heart ache to the point of tears with longing for my Ben. Thankfully, we are heading to Colorado in just two weeks, and I'll be able to give him lots of big hugs. Love you, Ben! Miss you so very much.
Congratulations, Jake! Way to be a famous artist! We are huge fans! We are very proud of you! And we love you!
Sarah and I in the hospital in Dayton, Washington, the day she was born.
A proud new Daddy holds his firstborn. (Gotta love those curtains, no?)
We couldn't believe we were allowed to take you home from the hospital, Sarah! Mark drove up to the hospital entrance, and as we placed you in your car seat, we looked back over our shoulders at the hospital staff who had accompanied us to the curb. Could we really just drive away with you? Did those nurses and doctors really think that we knew what we were doing? If so, we certainly had them fooled! I can remember just marveling over and over that you were ours, and feeling so inadequate to the task of being your mom. And yet, despite our often bumbling efforts, you have become a lovely woman of God, an amazing teacher, and a beloved wife.
Well... except for one thing... you DO kind of have BAD taste at times! :-) We loved your BAD TASTE birthday party on Saturday. Note to readers: you simply MUST check out Sarah's blog (link at right) to see pictures of the outrageous party that was held to celebrate Sarah's milestone birthday. It was very fun! Love you, sweet girl! XO
Above, Mark, Jake, and Hannah's boyfriend Mitchell pose between rounds. (Hannah and Mitchell had spent the day in Newport, going to the aquarium, the lighthouse, and out to lunch. It was rainy on the coast, but they had a nice time.)
For her birthday dinner menu, Hannah once again chose a breakfast-foods theme. So we enjoyed french toast, bacon, a huge fruit salad with tons of fresh fruit, and orange juice. After dinner, more bocce ball was played, and then Mark fired up the chiminea (aka outdoor fire pit), and we had Hannah's birthday dessert outside.
Hannah invented her own "cake" for the occasion: ice cream sandwich cake. I unwrapped lots of frozen ice cream sandwiches, squished them into a bowl lined with plastic wrap, and refroze it. When we were ready to serve, I plopped the concoction out onto a plate and pressed crushed Oreo cookies onto the top and sides. I cut it into wedges, and Beka helped me serve it. It was delicious!
Beka is always ready to lend a hand.
And below is Handsome Husband, who really helped make the party happen. He pre-cooked all the bacon the day before, cooked the french toast for all of us, and got the firewood all ready. Jake laid the fire, and did a real good Boy Scout job of it.
Love you, Hannah - so much! May God give you His joy, peace, and love forever. Thanks for all the ways you bless our lives. We are humbled to be your parents, and thank God every day for giving you to us to be our daughter.
A few things have actually popped up - any guesses as to what these tiny grass-looking things are? If you guessed carrots, you would be correct. OK, we know... they're so very tiny, but we're predicting that they will be huge and lovely very soon.
Beka transplants some of the lettuce starts into bigger pots, so they will hopefully get bigger and stronger.
Time to label the broccoli - or is it brah ko lee, brock oh lee, or bra co lee? Beka is so very creative, no?
This is the spot where "let us" will someday flourish. Where is it now? We don't know.
Hannah is planting more lettuce in this bed.
Mark mounted these black metal rings and terra cotta pots on the six posts along our back deck, and planted petunias in them. Aren't they sweet?
The gardeners (oops - FARMERS) confer about their operation.
Half the fun of farming is hanging out together with fellow farmers.
And hooray! The peas are up and looking GOOOOD !!!!!
