Birthday Beach Trip

 

To celebrate Ryan's birthday, we headed to the coast for the day. On our way out of town, Grant requested that we stop at the dollar store in order to purchase buckets and shovels for Grace and Laura with his own money. What a sweetie! It was a windy day but we were blessed enough to find a place on the beach near a sandy hill which blocked much of the gusty gales! The children enjoyed the time there so much.. the little girls are already begging to go back. :-)

 

 

 

Special Time Together

 

 

It was a windy day but this sand hill provided some protection from the wind

Two Best Friends

 

This was the best shot out of like, 10. The girls were particularly wild this day!

 (The little ones, not the big ones :-) )

 

 

Sweethearts after all these years!

Since we were located so far from shore, near the bank, we all took turns heading to the water to gather water for the little girls to dump and play with.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord gave Ashley and Amanda the  opportunity to talk with these sweet girls.. they spoke with them for over an hour together about the Lord. It was a precious meeting.

Ryan brought along his beach cruiser.. unfortunately, it didn't 'cruise' very well on the beach! LOL!

 

Such a glorious day!

 

 

 

 

Happy 15th Birthday Rye-Bo!

 

 

 

Ryan has become such a wonderful young man.. so respectful and helpful. He has a great desire to please the Lord in all things and sets such a godly example for his younger siblings. We are all so blessed by his quiet, strong presence in the home. Grady and I feel so honored to be parenting such an amazing young man

 

 

Ashley makes her brother's birthday cake~ She and Mandy decided that a fishing theme would be fun

Grant provides creativity consultation

Daddy gets ready to bring him the cake

Can he really be 15? Our baby boy! *sniff*

 

 

So cute!

 

 

 

Degoede Bulb Farm

We were able to bring Amanda's friend Willow back for a visit for a few days..it was such a special blessing having her! She is such a special young lady who is sold out for Jesus. Amanda and she are like 2 peas in a pod and are such an encouragement for one another. One of the trips we took was to the Degoede Bulb Farm. They have a beautiful display garden which is currently in full bloom! It was fun to do a few photo shoots! :-) It is fun to have a few budding photographers in the family.

 

here the girls are standing in front of some 'garden phlox'. I had no idea that there was

such a thing! They were 4-5' phlox bushes! The color was incredible

This particular rose was lavender in color

I think these are called Moss Roses

 

A lovely rose bush

Marigolds

Amanda and her friend Willow, A.K.A 'the twins'

I am so blessed by my wonderful daughters!

Gracie

Grace and Laura

 

Visiting Halsey

We recently enjoyed a trip back down to visit one of our favorite churches.  We were able to introduce our new friends who we have been meeting with, to some brothers and sisters down in Halsey. Our three families had such a wonderful time together, caravanning down to Oregon, attending the meeting and a shared meal at the park with the Halsey group and then stopping at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Vancouver and sharing the dinner meal together! We stayed at the place for an hour and a half, fellowshipping and spending time talking. Our children were running around yelling and playing. After a long, hot day we didn't have the heart to stop their antics! :-) We had the place to ourselves!

 

 

Special Friends

Stephanie and Matthew visits with Grace and Laura

'Guy Talk'

I enjoyed hearing about Phebe's adventures from her trip to Belize!

 

After the meal, many of the mamas and children headed down to a shallow place

 in the river to cool off..

 

 

 

We look forward to travelling down again soon with our three families! What a blessed time of sweet, sweet fellowship with special brothers and sisters