Happy 13th Birthday GRANT!

 

Dad and Ryan watch as Grant opens his bday gift

They had found a great carving/pocket knife that they just knew he'd love..

Grant loved it!

 

Nana and Papa came for a birthday visit too.. they had to get some

Goldendoodle snuggles in too of course!

Nana, Papa and Flora, one of Ashley and Amanda's goldendoodle pups from last year's litter

 

The next day we had a fun time going to pizza at Abby's with Grandma Barb!

 

We all enjoyed the gluten free pizza..

 

And Grant was especially thrilled with the all-you-can drink soda!

 

 Happy Birthday dearest Grant.  We love you so much Bubba and are so privileged to have you as our son. We love the way you think of others first and how you take your sisters under your wing and take such good care of them. We can see Jesus working in your life.. and are praying that in this coming year you learn to serve him and submit to Jesus even more!

 

 

 

~Amanda & Thanksgiving~

For 2 weeks in November Amanda had another terrible flare up. We hadn't seen her this bad since our first time in Belize, 2011.. She had no appetite or energy and was in terrible pain much of the time. We were able to control the pain with some medication.. otherwise, she just spent the whole time in bed. Because of her condition and not knowing how she would feel by Thanksgiving Day, we had to cancel our plans with our family in McMinnville. Instead we celebrated by ourselves. That turned out for the best since we ALL came down with a terribly painful bronchitis type of cold. To the point that we all felt too terrible to make a trip to the grocery store for cranberries and stuffing fixins'  We were blessed to have a huge 28 lb turkey that Grady's work had gifted him and a few Thanksgiving-ish items already in the pantry. We were so grateful that by Thanksgiving Day Amanda was feeling much better and was able to enjoy the day.

           

       Much of November was terrible for Amanda.. :-( It lasted 2 weeks.. she is doing much better as of the time of this post, which we all praise the Lord for! Thank you for your prayers.

                                 

 

Old McDonald's Farm!

 

 Ashley purchased two alpine does and Grady's mother surprised Amanda by arranging a surprise gift - a Jersey milk cow! When our family showed up at the Jersey's farm.. Mandy thought we may be looking at chickens to buy.. or goats...

But we soon surprised her and told her that the sweet cow in the paddock was hers! She had always wanted a cow.. grandma Bonnie knew that and loved surprising her with Miss Daisy. There was only one condition.. if Daisy gives birth to a heifer, Grandma wanted Mandy to name her Bonnie, after herself! ;-)

Surprise Mandy!

 

While at the farm, the gal offered this cute Nubian doe to Ash  for free!

 

The farmer hired a friend to bring both the Nubian and Miss Daisy to our home the next day.

 

Miss Ivy settled right in!

 

Miss Daisy meets Ryan.. he leads her to the barn to spend a few days during the adjustment period

What a cute pair!

Are you gonna leave me in here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homestead Happenings

The Lord has provided our family a rental house in the country! We had enjoyed the temporary rental but were excited to get out to the country where the kids could run around outside again and we could have a bit more privacy. We have determined that we are just too loud for the city! :-) Our new landlords are gems. The rental has been in the wife's family for 100 years and was her family's old homestead. It does put a bit of pressure on us in regard to keeping it kept up and well managed but we try and do that anyhow with any home we live in. They allowed us to pay a little over the (very reasonable) rent in order to use their barn and acreage for farm animals.

                                    

With Grady being gone so much, the kids and I pretty much had to move us from this house which was the one located in Halsey and right next to the train track. Thankfully we didn't have much stuff so loading up the trailer didn't take too long.



         

Happy packers!



         

 

All loaded up!

 

The next morning we had tons of help which made the job of unloading and unpacking at the new house go very quickly

We really are enjoying this new home. It was built in 1952 and has all the charm of an old house

Willow and Ash put the food away in the fridge

'The twins' are looking less like twins now that Mandy isn't wearing glasses as often. They are still best of friends though!

Hanging out in the new living room

Meadow gets the job of babysitting the children while we unpacked and cleaned

Stephanie finishes up the dinner that they and the Pages were so sweet to bring us.

We all gathered for prayer and a blessing over the home and then it was time to eat!

The back yard

Our living room. I love the red wall, don't you! And a free piano from CL! Really, looking at this picture, we have almost all of the colors of the rainbow represented! Very cheery!

Home sweet home, at least for now! :-)

The neighbors brought us these lovely fall flowers. We are very blessed!

Happy 23rd Birthday Ashley Elizabeth!

Unbeknownst to Ashley, the Page ladies had arranged a surprise birthday tea party for her! Upon arriving to their home, we saw this cute banner on their front door which read 'Page Garden Cafe'

The ladies had prepared the most lovely tea and light lunch! And Willow had made and decorated a lovely cake along with little cupcakes! It was so yummy.. with chai flavored filling! Mmm!

And tea cups were lined up.. including 2 manly mugs for the boys!

And 2 for the little girls..

 

A birthday message for Ash

Watching Ashley open her gifts

The ladies had cut out over 20 maple leaves out of beautiful fall colored paper, each with a blessing for Ashley or with an Godly attribute that they see in her life. So special! They also showered her with many other gifts. She felt so special & spoiled!

Posing with her pretty cake

 

Posing with the pretty cake decorator!

Tea, warming on the stove

Ryan, with  his manly cup- really enjoyed the prayer, tea and goodies

 

We are blessed with such sweet friends! The Lord is so good to us!

 

Later that evening, Mandy and the boys watched the little girls so that Daddy and I could take Ash out to Burgerville for delicious burgers and fries! Happy 23rd birthday dear Ashley. You are such a blessing and joy to have in our family. It is such a blessing to watch you grow more and more daily.. to let go of those things which are not pleasing to God and seeking his face and being changed into His image. You are a treasure and a Godly friend to me, your mama.