One Month to Go!

Everyone! It's countdown time for SKY Camp! What is Sky Camp you ask? It's our Harrisburg Church of the Firstborn's Camp Out. The location is the name. We have our camp out at SKY Camp which is located on Fall Creek Reservoir. Our body of brethren is small, so we only can have our camp out every other year. This year SKY Camp is on Aug 29-31. All food is provided, all you need to bring is your clothes/necessities and your sleeping bag and pillow! Our church does all kinds of fundraisers during the year and we raise enough money to pay for the food and for any brethren that want to make it but can't financially! So if your thinking about coming to Oregon this year, here's a great reason to come! You are officially invited!

House Mouse- What fun!

Oooo... House Mouse and House Mouse Antics has their new catalog out with the 2009 Calendar! I am seriously in love with all their stuff! Go check it out...! And I found this really useful website called KuKuKlok . You can set this online alarm to ring so you know when you've spent enough time reading blogs! Actually I used it yesterday to time the little kids at the library who were using the kids' computer. Everyone gets 1/2 hour. But guess who is the mommy at the library who has to monitor this 1/2 hour? You got it! Me. I get so busy and forget to look at the time, so yesterday I used KuKuKlok and it worked great! The kids could actually hear their timer go off and told each other to let the next person go ahead.

Chickens in the Trees?

Okay, so I'm posting twice in a day...but it's evening now and something just happened that I gotta write about! There are chickens in the trees! Really! I used to love this Sesame Street clip about the chickens in the trees. Tonight, it's been replayed in my own backyard. Of course The Dad is gone. Of course the men are all gone hiking. Daughter L and I are left to fend for ourselves...oh and the chickens too. It started innocently enough. We decided to go out and plant a few flowers; you know, really get something accomplished! I went out to the shed to get my trusty dusty trowel and thought, "mm... those chickens are sure making a lot of noise. I'd better go check." "Hey, wait! There are only 7 chicks, where is the 8th?" I could hear her. Might she be in the neighbor's yard? About that time here comes the neighbor out their back door saying there had been a chicken in their yard earlier. But where was she now? Mmm....I asked if I could come around and have a look see. Sure they said. So over I tromped with my hair all in a tizzy, it being now 8:30 in the evening. No chicken. They have a simple yard too, not many places to hide a chicken. Couldn't find her. The poor old lady says that the other evening she could have sworn there was a chicken in their tree...I think to myself she might be losing her marbles. Back home I went to count my chickens again. Now there were only 6! Great...what am I going to tell The Dad when he gets home? Umm...sorry, but we lost two chickens into the mysterious void of the neighbor's back yard? Oh boy! So Daughter L gets a great idea. "Let's cut their wing feather's so they can't fly anymore!" I say OK and flip flop to the kitchen to get my scissors with what is now becoming an evil gleam in my eye! We set ourselves up...we climb on over into the henyard. EEyyyuuuoooo.... is that chicken poop on our shoes and legs? Daughter L runs in the house and into the bathtub to wash her legs. Forget the scissors I say and let's let them loose for the night. So I just happened to hear chickens again in the neighbor's yard! I look up and into their tree and what did I see? You betcha! There are chickens in the tree! Two of them... well they can just stay there for tonight. I'm done tuckered out.

Understanding God's Mercy to Us

Sis Shannon asked that I post some stories from our quick trip to Colorado and so here goes! This is Sis. Carolyn G. from Grand Junction. She cares for her dear husband, Bro. Marc who is so sick. I mentioned them in my previous post. A long time ago, we had Bro. Marc and Sis. Carolyn in our home (back when we lived in California!) and to make a long story short, they were not treated well while there. So, for many years, The Dad has been praying that our paths would cross again and we would have the chance to say we were sorry and make it right with them. We didn't know where they lived in Colorado and didn't know their last name, so it was pretty impossible to find out who they were. But, lo and behold! The Lord knew my husband's prayer and He made a way for us to apologize to them. Recently our nephew married a sister from Colorado and wouldn't you know it but it's Bro. Marc and Sis. Carolyn's daughter! As soon as The Dad heard her maiden name, he recognized it as the last name of the brethren who were in our home so long ago. We were able to visit with our new niece in Idaho and learned that her father was terribly sick and both The Dad and I knew that we'd need to make a trip to Colorado post haste. That is how we found ourselves on the road there and back again. We were welcomed in to the very brethren's home that we had mistreated so long ago and were welcomed with open arms! They had not carried any hardness of heart along with them through these years. God was very good to us that we were able to meet them again and this time to actually get to know them! We spent time with Bro. Marc the first afternoon and evening we got there and we enjoyed his apparent grace and bravery in the face of what surely could be death. He spoke of his joy in the faith and his hope for the faith to continue through all of our children. He stressed the importance of teaching our children about the treasure we possess and living the faith ourselves so that they can learn from our examples. He loves his children dearly. He loves his wife dearly. And rightly so, two of his children are in the faith now and he hopes for his third. And his wife! She is a dear solid sister. Up she was early in the morning caring for Bro. Marc and caring for their home. You could tell she was very busy at keeping her household running smoothly for Bro. Marc. She tends her yard and it's beautiful! You can tell she loves plants because even her house is full of gorgeous pots full of deep lucious greenery. Good grief, I'd have those plants dead in a week! Her calmness of spirit was an inspiration and she made us feel so at home. The next morning Bro. Marc was needing to sleep and rest and so we got to visit with her and the whole morning the telephone kept ringing. I finally gathered that it was her birthday and here she was cooking breakfast and taking care for us! Later that day we were able to get her a birthday cake and have a little celebration. Even Bro. Marc was able to have a bit of cake and sing to his wife! I cannot stress enough how much that Bro. Marc needs prayers. He needs God's grace to suffer the affliction he has. I know he wants it, I know he will only get it through the grace of God. So, when you think of him, please ask God for mercy for both him and Sis. Carolyn. She has a big job caring for him and their home. Oh and she also helps care for her almost blind mother, Sis. Helen who lives about 45 minutes away! I will always treasure getting a chance to know these dear brethren and understand that it was God's mercy to The Dad and I to have the chance to make things right with such sweet children of His.

There and Back Again

We are home! Wow what a trip. I am so thankful that we got to go and see our dear brethren there in Colorado. It is a LONG drive! Let me say that again... it is a L O N G drive! 20 hours! We went there to see Bro. Marc and Sis. Carolyn G. who are the mother and father of our newest niece. Bro. Marc is very afflicted. He sincerely needs your prayers, most likely he has congestive heart disease and has swelling and other problems in his legs. I can't say enough how much he needs the grace of God to suffer this. But he is a testimony of cheerfulness and what grace God can give in this kind of thing. He says he is ready to jump over that final river Jordan! And why not he asks? That is what we are all living for...to die and make it to heaven to be with God. I hope I can have such a heart in my final days. His wife, Sis. Carolyn is now so dear to my heart. We got to spend a lot of time visiting with her and she cares for her husband with such patience and love. She definitely needs our prayers for continued strength in all that she does. Daughter L, the Dad and I got to go to church in Delta and meet so many brethren. It was so humbling to be in their old time assembly and meet dear sweet sisters like Sis. Helen, Sis. Carolyn's mother. What an honor to meet her! Girls, this woman has LIVED the faith! As we spoke with her, she would get tears in her eyes as she mentioned past trials, but what a smile and what a laugh and what mercies of God she spoke of! It was an joy and honor to be invited into her home and be welcomed. I want to go to her mansion and see her in heaven one day! If she knew your grandma, (and she asked you who she was!) then she was sure she would know you! My goodness how many brethren she knew! And we got to meet Sis. Julie! How can I begin to say what a blessing and an honor it was to see her sweet face and meet her? Words will never describe what a gift that was. She was warm and gracious and tried so hard to work things out to meet us. And we got to spend the whole afternoon with her! And meet her darling little kids! HI Taylor and Blake! Did you read Skippyjon Jones and Finklehopper Frog? And then Julie took us to meet her mother. Girls, again, what a blessing to meet such a sister! You could tell by little things she said how deep the faith was in her blood and what a rock she was. Again, we were welcomed so heartily and graciously. We also got to meet another bloggie sister! Sis. JoAnn! We got to take a picture with both her and Sis. Julie after church. Then on the way home, after driving all night, we got to see Bro. Van and Sis. Nancy. They kindly welcomed us into their home at 6:00 in the morning and we got to spend time visiting with them before we drove the last 7 hours home. Again, what can I say? It was wonderful to sit and visit with such dear loved ones and hear their old time faithful testimonies. I surely want to thank God that He allowed us to travel there and back again. He watched over us and kept us once again while we travelled 2438 miles. PS sorry about the sideways picture, I guess I'm a dork and don't know how to turn it!

Sisters from Oregon say Hello! And Colorado Bound!

In back, Me, Sis. Brittany, Sis. Kristen, Sis. Dayna, in front, Sis. Tiffany w/Abigail, Sis. Mandy w/James, Sis. Lorraine, Sis. Amy w/Max and Lil' Timothy

Also, we are headed to Colorado this coming weekend! I'm hoping to get pictures of my blog sisters in Colorado and post on my blog. Please pray for us as we head on out for a quick trip. More later...

Eloquent Quote!

"Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says..

"Oh no, she's awake."

---Unknown

One Day at a Time...

I am learning. Trying to remember what Jesus said, about not thinking about tomorrow. I am pretty sure I get so stressed out each week by what I have to do that I have no pleasure in exactly what I do do. Does that make sense to anyone out there? What follows is some random things we've been doing and getting accomplished. You've probably all noticed that I've not been posting or commenting as much lately. That's because I feel so guilty and overwhelmed when I sit down at my computer; thinking of all the things I SHOULD be doing instead of sitting and reading/writing on the blogs. First and foremost I've been asking myself, "have you read the scriptures today, have you got on your knees to beg God for mercy to even get through this day?" It is so much fun to sit here and read all your posts and be a part of your lives, but I seriously need to buckle down and get things done around here. Okay, so here goes:

I'm finally over my allergies and it seems like it didn't last as long this year. That's a good thing. We've made some progress on our garden, had tons of lettuce to give away and WASH. I spent one whole morning (with SO many other things I should have been doing) washing lettuce. . . with a bad heart about it the entire time I might add. Okay, so last night, we pulled out all the lettuce and found out that if we filled a 5 gallon bucket full of water and dunked each head up and down several times in it, it washed really FAST! In place of the lettuce we planted some purple bush beans. We had these last year and they were so pretty! We finally got some tomato and pepper plants and got them in the garden. I really wanted to get a Hens and Chicks plant and put them in a pot by my front door. Did that, this past weekend. Our guys all went on their Clackamas River rafting trip http://www.blueskyrafting.com/photo-gallery2.htm They all had a blast and I heard them talk about going for a two day rafting trip someday. We went to Idaho for Bro. Mark and Sis. Carrie's wedding. The highlight was church meeting. We got to be in meeting with some brethren we hadn't seen in so many years! I got to meet a new niece by marriage who is from Grand Junction, Colorado! And even if we didn't get to go to their wedding in Colorado, she let me see their awesome pictures from the wedding. One of them was this dear picture of Bro. Jim Smith, who baptized me so many years ago. His wife, Sis. Paula is The Dad's big sister! We love them so much and hold their family so dear to our hearts. I got to finally see Sis. Charlotte's house; now when I think of her I will be able to picture her in her kitchen or in her living room working on a puzzle! Mmm...what else? Oh! We might be going to Colorado this next weekend...! We'll see what The Dad decides. More on that later. We got our family pictures taken, you've all seen some of them on Daughter L's blog but now you can see a little behind the scenes! I really want to get a whole wall of pictures put together with the best of them. Of the three quilts that I need to get done this month...I've got two of the tops done, and now I'm realizing that Son #6 birthday is next week! So, I'm going to run right now to the fabric store and get the batting and the backing. He's going to spend the night at a friend's house tonight, so I can possibly work on getting it together. I realized this morning that if we leave for Colorado this Friday, and not get back till late Monday, then I'd better get the rest of his quilt done this week! Yikes! Off I go, working on "one day at a time"!