Precious Gems

Zachary lost his third tooth last night - his first top tooth!
He worked on it diligently all evening 'till at long last it broke free.
I wondered if it was motivation when I offered to take him to Mr. Smith (home from Iraq) who pulled his seven-year-old's top left front tooth last week!
That's o.k. mom - I can handle it!














Mr. Smiley:-)
Sweet sweet Clay. quick to see a need and meet it.
Great Grama F. you would be happy to hear this guy - he likes to spell all his questions and answers: If someone asks "Mom can I have a snack?", I hear a little lisping voice pipe up "M-E T-O-O!"














Miss Sue got her first ever hair-cut last week - just a little trim of the long stringy ends.
I think it's an improvement, and boy! Does she look older all of a sudden?!


















THIS is a little bitty trouble maker. Mmm-hmm. It's true.
Where did you get that Olivia?
What are you doing Olivia?
Where have you been Olivia?
Oh-livvv-eeeeah!!! What? you think that sweet innocent smile is going to make it alright?
Hmmm. You're pretty smart!


















Carolina Truth - littlest but not least!
Two top teeth are about to pop through. Isn't that ironic? #1 is losing his top teeth and #5 is getting hers:-)
She is now able to sit in the shopping cart (albeit buckled in), and gets lots of attention because she is so tiny sitting there!

















What a delight these children are to me!
I am glad that there are so many wonderful Grandma's to appreciate these little Bugs with me:-)

Groovy Greats

"Children's children are a crown to the aged..." Pr. 17

I can't tell you what a privilege it is to have been able to introduce all my children to both sets of my grandparents, and three of their daddy's grandparents.

This Summer when visiting our Sunny California home, we got to drop in on my paternal grama and grampa - here you see my Grama F. with a lap full!





























This Great Grama is never satisfied until she has made my children eat some food - bananas, persimmons, oranges, apples, fejoas, crackers, juice... You name it, she is sure you will only be half a person until your tummy has something in it!
She may be right? ;-)

And then out at my folks we celebrated Zachary's birthday with Mom's parents!














Great Grampa H. was blowing out a number 80 plus eleven candles ( he was 91 this Summer for those of you who are as slow as I was figuring this out!)































Carolina enjoyed making friends with Great Grama H, and inspecting her specticals :-)


























I myself had the honor of knowing my mom's grandmother whom we fondly called Gee-Gee.
When I wsa quite little, Gee-Gee came to stay with us for weeks at a time, and she would cook Roast dinner always remembering green beans for me. She made world-class pies too! Gee-Gee used to make pies every day as a young girl for family and farm hands - she never consulted a recipe because her hands knew what they were doing by memory!

I am so thankful for the chance for me to know a small piece of the generation that my great grama came from, and I praise the Lord for opportunity for my children to know their greats too.

The Lord's mercy stretches through all generations. I have seen it!

What a Guy!

Now THIS is a friend to have!





























Travis is our bachelor friend going back to fifth grade for me (I admit he was not MY friend at that time - that happened after AJ), and AJ has known him for at least that long too.

After we got married AJ was often summoned by Trav at pitch-black morning hours to have his rig pulled out of the mud it was illegally stuck in!
He is proud of those escapades and numerous others. Perhaps he is a bit reckless, but what's life if not to live?!
AJ was always happy to "unstuck" him, and Travis has always been available for AJ - it's a good relationship!

This Summer Travis scoped out a truck AJ was interested in, and was the go-between on that purchase.
That truck hauled a trailer load of stuff to Idaho, and Travis drove.
Once in Idaho, Travis helped unload our belongings and a pallet of flooring from the truck bed..

After the work was done (Clayton helping), Travis put his cogs to work to invent some diversion.
























It looked too fun to resist, and after they had done a couple trips from the top of the hill to the bottom and back again, I had to try it:-)
So with my two girls and cousin Eleanor stuffed in, we careened down the hill next!







































It was quite a ride, and secretly I'm looking forward to our next visit North when I can ride all by myself with a running start!

(Thanks Travis!)

Utah Salt Flats

These were taken on our drive West. As you can see we hit the rest stop at just the right time of day!
















































How beautiful is God's creation - even AFTER the flood!






























































Isaiah 41:17-20
17 "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

19 I will plant in the wilderness the ceder, the shi'-tah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree: I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, the box tree together:

20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it."

AMEN

Big Sister!

This morning Susanna decided to get herself dressed, fix her own hair, and then proceeded to fix her little sister's hair too!
I am going to be put out of a job!


















Didn't she do great?
What a blessing:-)

Thanks Susie!
Love,
momma

The Laying of The New Floor

Howdy-doody!
Thought you'd like to see our floor-layers in action:-)

First there's my brother Charlie - what a blessing you were Char!


















Then you'll see Zack, AJ, Jon, and also his wife Jana (thank you, you two!).










































Lastly you will see ROSIE The RIVETER (ahem), I mean Auntie Em.
This is my favorite picture of all!






















































It took a whole week to lay this floor, but there was a lot more play and talk than actual work going on (which was just the way we wanted it!)

Proverbs 31: 30

"Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised."

1 Samuel 16:7
"But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

2 Corinthians 10:7
"Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's."

Slab O' Tree

Here's our new kitchen counters.















I'm very excited about them!
Can you believe that the whole thing: the slabs of wood (4" thick), log undersides, back splashes, and labor cost less than what we could have bought Formica counter tops installed?!

I can't believe it either. I think it's beautiful and almost makes up for there not being any running water in the house (yet)!
Note the new flooring we put in when the crew was up with us (pictures of that yet to come), the staircase (I love love LOVE it!), and the burl on that table leg - isn't it great?!

All the log construction in this room will be sealed at the same time, and then I can attach my hand crank grain mill to the end of one of those "slabs O' tree"! Yipeeeeee!!

What to Blog Tonight?

When in a dilemma of this sort, only ask your children and you will instantly have fodder for the impotent mind!

Zachary said to blog that: "Us children have the stinkiest feet EVER! -will you write that mom?"
Then commenced a dialogue about who in this house really HAS stinky feet, and when I was unjustly accused of this gross atrocity I proceeded to prove my point by sharing an up-close whiff with my snickering eldest son!
If I didn't make the desired impression, at least he knows I am not to be thus tempted in the future.
You'd better be careful what you accuse your MOTHER of!!!

Now...
Do you want to see the lake that's four mils from our new digs?
Here it is!
Perfect for swimming, socializing, bathing, moose and bald eagle watching.
Are you drooling?
Tell me what you think;-)