Moving Again and Mama's Surgery

Well, why stay put when you can move every 6 months or so?? :-) Our rental in the farmlands of the Willamette Valley was not a good fit for a few different reasons. We were blessed enough to find a bigger place up in the foothills on 7 acres which suits our family much better. In addition, I had to have surgery to remove a huge mass. Once the Dr. operated it had shrunk immensely (thanks to prayer!) and the biopsy result came back as a benign mass, praise the LORD! I had been suffering from a chronic infection which had caused all of the pain and problems over the past 2 years. But the Lord has healed me since and I am feeling so much better these days! It was a busy and somewhat stressful March/April but as I write now (April 28th) we have moved to our new place and we are trying to get settled back into a normal schedule.

Mandy, Daisy & the Girls

Gettin' hay the city-folk way.. in a 15 passenger van

 

Mama, bustling off to do something important, I'm sure :-)

Getting goat kisses

Between the goat and cow, we were getting this much milk every night

Mandy works on a puzzle with the kids and Nana who had come to help during surgery

The same day I went in, we got word that we were able to go check out the new rental

I was sore but not about to be left behind! LOL. Nana came along as we checked the place out

neat old barn..

The driveway is quite steep and impressive

...the view is gorgeous

Great deck for playing on those rainy Oregon days

Looks like a good fit! Thank you Lord for providing for us once again

Oregon Coast With The Kings

The Kings had rented a house for a few days at the coast and invited us out for the day. It was a blessing to relax together, share a meal and fellowship. Even though it was March, the weather was surprisingly lovely

Clear skies!

 

Rye gives the trail bike a spin on the beach

Gracie flies a kite! For the first time, I think :-)

There goes Amanda! Watch out!

...and Ashley!

Mr. King whips up some yummy BBQ Pork

Mrs. King with Matthew and Me with Laura- our 'babies'

 

Ash Chows on a Sour Cream & Brown Sugar dipped strawberry!

Childhood friends- so sweet..

Mr. King and Gracie discuss important issues.. like strawberries and BBQ :-)

Enjoying the last few minutes of sunlight

 

watching the sun set

Rye helps the girls back up the bank

Only our mighty God could make such a lovely scene. A perfect ending to a sweet and precious day

Brothers and Sisters

Grace & Laura Jean

 

 We found this free swing set on Craigslist! The big brothers hurried to finish schoolwork this particular day so that they could erect it for their little sisters.

Thanks Rye-Bo!

 

 Later in the day the little girls got to go on a walk with their big sissies. 

 

 

Mandy with Jasmine

 

Laura finds a walnut!

Ashley & Laura

 

One true joy of a large family is that there is so much love to go around! Grace and Laura are truly blessed with such wonderful siblings. 

Yaquina Head Lighthouse for Mama's 44th Bday

                            For my birthday we took advantage of the good weather and headed to the coast for the day. We decided to check out the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, located just north of Newport, Or. Its dramatic history can be found here Click Here

 

 No dogs allowed! I held the hooligans while Grady and the children got a closer look at the lighthouse

They were not able to climb up the stairs on the inside (the scheduled tour wasn't for another hour) So they enjoyed poking around the courtyard and bluff area

 

Such a pretty sight!

Sweet Girls!

 

The girls enjoyed playing on the enormous compass rose which was etched in the sidewalk area near the parking lot. They had fun running each direction depending on where I told them to run toward. "Which way is Canada?" "North!" They would reply and run to the large N. It was a fun game.

 

 We decided that we would come back next time to explore the lovely tide pools located on the shore as well as visit the interpretive center.. when the weather warms up a bit! Thankfully we have the National Park Pass which gets us into the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area for free!