The Lord's Bountiful Fruit

We had quite a few chances in August to pick blackberries..

 

 

First our friends invited us to come out to their farm for dinner and berry picking

We gathered quite a lot of berries and then they sent us home with even more!

 

Mr. B shows the boys around their land

 

Mmmm! So wonderful! We had such a lovely evening of fellowship. Mrs. B sent us home with farm fresh chicken and duck eggs along with the big bucket of berries! What a fun time!

 

 

A few days later, Grace and Grant decided that they would pick enough blackberries for a pie!

We had lots growing around the property here so they didn't have to go far to find tons and tons!! :-)

They took their pickings into the house where Laura and Grace helped prepare the 'pie' (gf cobbler)

 

 

Mmmm was that a wonderful dessert! Thank you Grace and Grant!

 

The next day, daddy decided that God had provided so many berries in the woods around us that it would be a shame to not pick and freeze some for the fall and winter.. so we all headed up the back dirt roads behind our place, near the lake.. it was so quiet and peaceful back there!

Grady spots an osprey family and points it out to us! We watched for a good half hour as the baby sat at the top of the tree, 100 feet up (and weighing-in more than mama!) as the daddy osprey and mama took turns feeding baby. Whoever was not feeding the little one would swoop down and try to scare us away. It was an amazing sight! Such a blessing to experience such wildlife right in our own backyard.

Mama osprey trying to scare us off

 

The girls, standing at the edge of a 150 ft precipice above the lake

Back to the road to pick more blackberries!

evidence that Laura had already helped herself to the spoils of the day!  :-)

 

 

Time to head home after lots of picking!

 

A very sweet ending to a wonderful family-memory day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting Paradise!

 

We were so blessed to have a week full of visitors! The Page family was one of those sets of company. We had such a lovely (albeit too short!) time with them.. they pitched a tent in the front yard for Mom, Dad and the girls slept inside. It was a fun, full house! We had a special time with them.. the highlight being a wonderful, day long trip up to Mt Rainier. We found a short hike near Paradise where we enjoyed the glorious flowers and scenes created by our Almighty God!

 

Stopping on the way up the mountain for a good view and some lunch

The guys take in the scenery

'The twins' enjoy each other's company

Prayer before the meal

Some of the scenery as we head up to Paradise

 

We found a nice .7 mile hike to wander

 

The flowers up there were unreal!

Grady heads up the steps, along the gorgeous mountain creek

 

Mandy, Willow and Savannah

 

Gracie-Girl had a great time and kept running up ahead of us..

She has become much more independent and less fearful of inclines, steps and uneven ground. We really noticed a difference in her on this trip. It is such a blessing to see her mature and overcome some of her fears.

 

Hey! Come back here! :-)

 

Ryan, in his element!



Best Friends! (AND sisters!)

 

Heading back to the van..

The parking lot was full on this particular day!

 

We couldn't find a parking spot up at Paradise and the Sno Park area.. these cars were parked all the way down the hill, spilling over the main upper parking lot all the way down to the lower one. Mt. Rainier is a very popular tourist spot for visitors from all over the world. Even on a foggy day like this day.

 

We head back up to the upper parking lot to use the restrooms..

 

It is so hard to imagine that this is the same spot where we went sledding just a few months back!

Here are the meadows, just down from Paradise

We drove along further through the National Park and came to this lovely cliff..

 

Mrs. Page and I were *not* happy at how quickly these two ran to the edge to see *just* how far down it was! :-) we sat in the car calling out 'get back from the edge!'

 

 

 

The fog and clouds were lifting and Mr. Page really wanted to see the top of Mt Rainer..

So we stayed at this look out for quite a while.. as the top peak of the Mt slowly emerged from the clouds.. many other tourists were also stopping for a look...

 

 Our four oldest look out over the beautiful precipice.. toward the Mountain.. it was so breathtaking!

 

 



 

 

 

The Page girls with our oldest 4

 

Finally, we could see most of the top of the mountain!

Mr Page took the occasion to chat with a man from Europe.. they spoke about the Lord and Grady and he were able to give him a few tracts and speak about some serious matters. It was a blessed opportunity. I think they must have spoken for close to a half hour..

 

Heading home down the mountain and down those lovely windy roads

 

..through the tunnels..

 

And headed home. What a great opportunity to spend time with wonderful brothers and sisters and admire the Lord's handiwork.. in a place like this, how could you ever deny that there is a great and mighty Creator?

 

¹⁸ For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. Isaiah 45:18