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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fruit picking w/ Nana on Sauvie Island

Located 13 miles north of Portland, OR lies Sauvie Island, a lovely rural place which boast of many family owned farms, U Picks and pretty beaches. While Grady did some work on Nana's bathroom flooring, she took the opportunity to take the older kids to some farms to pick Peaches, wild blackberries and Blueberries~ As you can probably tell by the photos, they had a wonderful time and brought home some lovely produce for Mama.

 

 

you wouldn't think that this lovely place is only miles from busy Portland

 

 

they start their day at the peach orchard

 

then took a leisurely walk where they found a plethora of blackberries to pick

 

 

 

Blueberries were next!

 

 

when they arrived at the blueberry patch, the worker told them to enjoy as many as they wanted..

down in Portland it is the end of the blueberry season

Ryan took full advantage of the offer!

 

Here Grant is hard at work, picking yummy blueberries

well, and eating them of course!

 After picking (half a bucket??) Grant is very tired..

 



Or at least pretending to be! :-)

As they head out of the blueberry farm, the girls noticed these beautiful dahlias

What a picturesque island!