Wapato Point W/Grandma Bonnie

To celebrate Grandma Bonnie's birthday, we met halfway in Tacoma where we all enjoyed a nice (hot!) day at Wapato Point Park. The boys had fun fishing and the little girls played on the playground.  

Mandy, the little girls and I ran over to the grocery store to purchase lunch stuff

 

Even though it was hot outside, we managed to purchase and eat yummy birthday ice cream!

Of course it was ice cream soup by the time we got around to eating it! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

As Grady and Grandma took the boys to the fishing area, the girls and I walked around the lake, enjoying the diverse cultures represented there.. but at one point Amanda laughed and reminded me that we ourselves were also a culture group! We had folks ask us if we were Christians..I suppose due to the way we dress.. one older gentleman stopped us and asked if he could take our photo because he and his wife were from Moldova Russia and he thought she would be encouraged to see a photo of other ladies who dress in dresses and cover.. We had so many opportunities to speak to people about the Lord! It was a very fruitful day. Spending time with Grandma and time together..

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the Beach

Our family decided to take advantage of some of the last summer weather and head back out to the beach. This is our favorite spot.. at the jetty in Ocean Shores.. the boys like to fish off of the jetty and the taller sand dunes provide protection from the wind..

 

Grant catches a small lingcod!

Grace and Mama head down for some sand castle-making water

 

 

 

Grace and Ashley go on a little walk.. Ashley snaps this photo...

and Gracie snaps this one! (like sister, like sister!)

Gracie finds a claw on their walk

.. and insists Ashley takes a photo of this fellow

As summer ends and we prepare to leave for Belize, Lord willing.. this place will be one that we will miss so much while in Belize. Both Grady and I grew up near the Puget Sounds and absolutely love the beach. Our children have aquired the same fondness for it.. Belizean beaches are pretty nice too though.. We look forward to more adventures there in the near future!

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!