Wednesday, October 19, 2016

One Darling Girl!

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend of celebrating Miss Taiya Grace!
Her day, Friday, began as usual with our homeschool co-op;
 I was substitute tutoring that day, so it made for a super busy one!
We took our Oregon Grandma with us, and the entire homeschool group sang happy birthday to her, which she loved!
She smiles big and claps each time she is sung to!
When we came home, the cakes I had ordered were ready!
We chose a "tugboat" theme because Adrian calls her his little tugboat!
A few hours after we got home from homeschool day,
our house was blissfully filled with a bunch of friends!
We ended up with 15 adults and 24 kids ~ a marvelous time of worship, fellowship, and fun!
...and there's always enough food!  
The next day, after the MT grandma arrived, we finally had time to open presents!
Here is Taiya with all of her gifts that arrived from around the country!  
She seemed a little more interested in climbing on top of them than opening them!  ;)
With a little help, she got them all opened...
One gift was a new at-the-table seat so she can be at the table with us!
She also got a beautiful green knitted blanket with Gramma L said was partly knitted near the Taiya River,
a sweet pink outfit from M&A and not forgotten though she is one-of-many great-granddaughter to special G. Grandparents! Tessa even made her a very special hand made touch-and-feel birthday card!  
Orion sweetly presented her with the same toy as on her birth-day: a dollar store dinosaur figurine!
The next day, we took yet another cake with us out to eat!

We love this little girl so, so much!
She is super lovable....
....but it seems that our hearts have grown and have the capacity for even more love now than before. 


What's she up to?  Taiya is crawling, signing, talking in a few understandable words, requesting to use the potty chair (a year earlier than any of our other babies!), eating all sorts of vegetables, fruits and grains, and got her first taste of ice cream on her birthday!  She is constantly entertained and held by siblings, snuggled by parents, claps after she turns off light switches, and begins to sway back and forth when we sing or play music.  She is just too delightful to describe! <3 nbsp="" p="">

Friday, October 14, 2016

Beauty all around

Pause. 

Soak up.

There is beauty all around.

huckleberries 'n' homemade ice cream...

He could just pick her up and take her with him...




My sweet husband spent 4 weekends sanding, sanding, sanding every board of our front deck.  He was racing against time, as we know we can get snow any time after Oct 1.  When he had to travel for work that last week, the girls and I put in hours to finish the final stretch for him.  We were soooo thankful that the stain/sealing process was much quicker, and the result- a job well done!  Our deck is ready for a few more seasons...thank you honey!

I think it was the 6th stain color we tried that we settled on....
Here you can see the raw wood below and the fresh stain above. 

So thankful for cheerful help!

Wish I could just sit and enjoy every sunrise and every sunset...
they are truly magnificent from here!


First day of homeschool community day!

We may have started a tradition....
Breakfast Pizza on the first day of school!!!
Mmmm, a homemade crust topped with crumbled sausage, scrambled eggs and cheese!

Garden Harvest

The day her brother gave her a fresh grape...


Standing proud!

I am so thankful for this beautiful life we are living- so many things to smile, praise and laugh about!
We still have the struggles- the mess, the broken things, the mechanic and vet and dental bills...
We still get overwhelmed, frustrated and tempted to complain...
But when I lift my eyes to the maker of the mountains I can't climb,
I lift my heart and hands and voice in praise,
and all I can see is beauty again.  
Psalm 121:1-8 1 A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the mountains-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Hello Handsome!

Took some fun back to school shots of this handsome little guy- he was having so much fun!


~my heart melts~