Happy 14th Birthday Special Grant!!

We are so blessed that you are such a wonderful, helpful, cheerful young man who loves God and love people. Your constant willingness to help and give to others is a testimony and blessing to all who have the privilege to spend time with you. May God continue to break your heart for what breaks his heart and may he continue to grow you into the amazing man you are becoming! We love you sir! :-)

Yummy banana & chocolate cream pie made by sissy Amanda!

I (mama) enjoyed playing a few games of your favorite~ Boggle!

               We enjoyed a birthday drive up through the new snow & ice to Clear Lake. It was a gorgeous drive-although getting down to Clear Lake without chains got a bit dicey- or should I say icy!!

Happy Thanksgiving 2015!

Our friends, The Popes had been invited to come for Thanksgiving. But drama hit our household when 2 nights before Thanksgiving our stove went out! Kaput! We had a 25 lb turkey to roast, rolls, pumpkin pies, candied yams, cookies and twice baked mashed potatoes to bake. We experimented with cooking in the tiny travel trailer oven-everything burned! We discussed the issue with the Popes and we all agreed it may be a rice and beans sort of Thanksgiving dinner.. :(   However, just in  time-Grady showed up Wednesday night with a used range which he had purchased off of Craigslist! Yay! The girls and I hurriedly prepped the Thanksgiving dinner for the next day!

 

Grady cuts the beautiful turkey- a gift from the company he is employed by

 

Autumn had brought a lovely salad, cranberries, little smokies and stuffing

 

Dishing up

 

 

 

Mama & Autumn catch up- it had been too long!

 

 

The Pope children took turns playing songs for us

 

 

We finished a lovely day by singing and praising the Lord together

 

 

Its was such a very special day with our very special friends

Our trip to Bend, OR with Nana

Nana rented a few condos at Sunriver to bless our family with a little get-away. Grady & Grant elected to stay home to take care of the animals and home chores. We had a lovely drive along the Santiam Highway, over the pass and into Sisters- a charming Western-themed town, just outside of Bend.

Taking a walk in Sunriver

Mandy reads to the girls by the fire

 

 

Up the stairs was a loft

 

Grace and Laura had fun peeking over at us into the living room

 

Nana, working on a puzzle 

 

Its finished!

 

The little girls helped with this one

 We had such a nice weekend-visiting, walking to the Sunriver shops and visiting the High Desert Museum