Bob's Red Mill Field Trip

Well, this has been the season of Field Trips for our family! :-) Normally we do not take part in field trips, as our schedule and little girls tend to fall apart when we are T O O  B U S Y.. But, our friends are always tempting us to join them.. after all, they are such a fun and sweet group to hang out with! :-) Their two families have been best friends for a while now and they have allowed us to tag along, with their 'Creation Adventure Team' as well as their outings and field trips! This time, we were invited to come along to the Bob's Red Mill tour in Milwaukie, OR.

Christie at BRM was *the* best tour guide! We highly recommend her to anyone considering a tour. She was very knowledgeable about gluten free products and she herself is gluten intolerant.

Bob's Red Mill has two grinding/packaging areas, one is specifically for gluten free products. BRM  has very stringent testing to ensure there is absolutely no gluten in their gf products. In addition, the company only purchases grains which have not been genetically modified. Only non GMO products for them! Here we see corn being ground..

and shot into the disposable bags which hold 2,500 lbs of grain. The bags have a small orifice at the bottom which is used when packaging the product. In an effort to ensure the lack of cross contamination, these bags are only used once and then sold to local businesses for various purposes.

 

Christie shows the children how wheat is taken from the stalk and then ground into flour. All of them were able to 'thresh' a stalk of wheat and grind it in a small hand grinder.

 

 

Our little Gracie

Here they are packaging oat bran

The children were able to get their hands on many of the grains and legumes.. tiny quinoa and teff, whole corn, soup mixes, wheat berries, sorghum.. too many to list!

Christie explained to the children how the daily suggested servings have changed in the past years.. and how fruits and veggies are now suggested for half of our diet. And how high quality grains are essential for the that portion of a balanced diet.

Hey, Bob himself gives us a surprise visit! Being in his 80's now, he still occasionally stops in to see how things are going. Their story is quite amazing.. we really appreciated his Christian testimony and how when he had a chance to retire and purchase a huge home and live a great lifestyle, he instead chose to give millions of dollars away to charitable causes and 'sell' the company to the employees. We had 2 separate employees tell us how well taken care of they are and how their job is the best!

We grabbed (literally) the kids and got a quick shot with Bob!

 

 

 

Between the tour at the warehouse and visiting the retail store we took advantage of the gorgeous fall day and stopped at the park to enjoy our lunch in the park

 

A game of chase!

Time to go! :-)

 

 

Off to their retail store, located about a mile from their plant

 

Cutie-pies

A Rubin girl with Laura. They have been mistaken as sisters! You can see why! :-)

 

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Section! Wow!

Rye poses by a huge mill stone.. these things are used for literally hundreds of years!

Cute shot with the Pope children

A view from the upstairs restaurant

 

Mandy and Laura look down at us

 

Grant peers down at the waterwheel located outside the building

 

 

There's daddy shopping in the bulk section

 

Buying bulk is definitely more cost efficient

A healthy snack for the kids on our way out the door! Honey sticks.. Thank you Christie the tour guide and Bob's Red Mill for a very fun and informative day for our children. 6 years ago when our family went totally gluten free, BRM was such a blessing. Being one of the first companies to offer gf products, they were such a help in the 'early days' of trying to navigate thorough the new lifestyle of gluten free eating. It was a blessing to see just who we have been supporting over the years. Our visit surpassed our expectations! From how they care for their employees (co-owners), to their stringent protocol of purchasing and processing of products, and their responsible and Christian business practices, we are happy to be customers of this great company.

 

Goings On Around the House

Poor Ryan, day 2 after his biopsy

 

A sympathetic crowd :-)

 

The girls have been enjoying a color-by-number bird book which we purchased from Milestone Ministries for $3. They are realistic coloring pages of birds with a color chart, showing which color to use to make the finished product accurate. So far, Gracie's favorite is the Painted Bunting, Grant likes the Kildeer and Laura the Spoonbill (which she saw in Belize!)

 

Grace's Painted Bunting

 

Grant's Killdeer

Laura's Spoonbill

 

 

 

Cutie-Pie!

 

 

Grady and Ashley finish up painting Nana and Papa's house.. waiting on schedules and weather, this project took a month to complete! All the older children were able to help daddy with the job!

 

Looks great guys!

Nana, walking her adorable birthday present

The little girls LOVE checking the mail!

Easy, Ladies!

Puppy in a basket <3 p="">

 

 

Update on Ryan's Biopsy

Ryan had an 1 hr surgery today which removed some of the tissue from the mass. He has 7 large sutures from the tissue removal. While in there the oral surgeon drained a large amount of fluid from the cyst,  including lots of fluid which had pooled in his nasal cavity. The doctor told us once again what a miracle it is that Ryan's teeth on that side are still in place due to the fact that the jawbone has all but deteriorated away and the roots of his teeth are mostly all displaced due to the enormity of the cyst. We were able to give the Lord the glory for that! The doctor says that he shouldn't lose any teeth and that his jawbone most likely will fully regenerate.  We will be waiting for the results of the biopsy ( up to 2 weeks) but it is the doctor's opinion that Ryan has a cyst, not a tumor and that it appears to be the non-reoccurring type, Praise the Lord! After the results are available he will be scheduled for his second surgery which will be a lot more detailed, including opening up his nasal passage in order to fully remove the cyst. He is in tremendous pain but we are all taking great care of him.. Feeding him yogurt and mashed potatoes while he listens to his favorite audio book- Pilgrim's Progress. :-) Thank you again for your prayers. The little notes, texts and emails were such a blessing.. They have really encouraged him!  We even had some friends come join us today while he was in surgery to keep us company and to be there for him.. That was so special. We are so blessed by you all! Thank you for keeping us in your prayers, for your concern and love..
Praising the Lord, The McDonald Family

Our beloved Ryan! Picture taken this morning before his biopsy.

A Day Trip

The children and I took a day trip over the mountains to the other side of Washington..Daddy had to stay at home and work..We missed him so much!   Ashley and Amanda had to transport 2 fun Bernese Mt dogs to their new homes and I got to do the driving! We had such a nice sunny drive.. 5 hours both ways!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took our time getting to our destination in order to have the option to stop along the way.. the boys had conveniently thrown in their fishing gear..

 

which came in handy when we chanced upon this lovely fishing hole..

 

Our fly fisherman

 

'Be careful boys!' Grace is always mothering the boys.. it is so funny! Well, actually she tries mothering all of us.. not so cute while trying to mother daddy and mommy! :-)

 

 

I think he has a bite!

 

He catches a trout! Too small though.. this one got thrown back

The girls play in the sand

 

 We sure enjoyed the lovely fall colors..

 

 

 

Mission accomplished! These lovely ladies now live in Canada with their new owners!

Thank you children for a fun road trip...