Unusual Sunday

I rested with God in the garden this morning....before the day's activities took off. I didn't pull a single weed. 

This Sunday we 3, Michael, myself and GG, were the only ones at church in Eagle River. Larissa and Noah are traveling in TX. Krista and Luke are also traveling in the lower 48 with the kids.  Carrie and the girls were on their way back from the lake. Jamin and Jared had gone on an overnight camping/fishing trip with Cory and Benny.  The girls were at MAG as Morgan, the young gal mentioned in this post, was getting baptized. On the way into Eagle River, we typically send out a message to group me, "How many seats do we need to save today?" and we begin getting responses. Seven seats have been the least, usually it's 12 - 14 and we've hit 22 several times. We don't have pews - I can't just tell them to "squish tighter" as we did in military chapels. It was relaxing to know we only needed 3 seats today, though we missed everyone. ::snort::   Krista or Luke send out another message, "Anyone want a drink this morning?" and they stop at a local stand and show up with lattes, Frappuccino's and Italian sodas. Good times. I had missed church at ACF last week as I was in church in Wasilla with CoRielle. 

We are starting a series on the Holy Spirit, and we really wanted to hear the message.  One thing I've heard a few times since we began attending ACF is "But they AREN'T Pentecostal."  Hmmm...I've seen God moving, Holy Spirit is active and transforming lives at ACF; people are being saved, the word is preached, people are being baptized, unbelievers are welcomed and loved, a community is being impacted in practical ways, the church is living life on mission...they may not have a Pentecostal label, but Holy Spirit shows up.   Michael and I thought this was a GREAT MESSAGE  (message begins at 16 min) on the Holy Spirit and it's a series...more to come! Even GG had a few "amens" to share. He was skeptical at first of going to church at ACF because it wasn't Pentecostal, but he HAS told me in the past, "they act more Pentecostal than most Pentecostal churches." I'm not sure what he means by that. ::snort::  We hope to watch the message again with the girls as they missed it - and I missed quotes I was taking notes and couldn't keep up. I'm learning to look up from my journal and snap a picture if Brian begins a quote - because I know I'm going to want it and I can't keep up. 

Michael and I at church.

 We're PROS at saving seats. If you ever want to come to church with us, we'll save you a seat.  Carrie and the girls got home during church, and we were able to drop over and fill up our tank with girl vibes before we headed back to the valley. 

MAG, where the girls were, was also having their church picnic. A good time was had by all AND THE RAIN HELD OFF for them. Bre sent these photos. 

Allie and friend

Bella 

Stacia

Annie

Trudy

Bre and Jojo

Jojo

It started raining on our way home from Eagle River. This led to a lazy afternoon inside...no yard work. We read, watched movies, had tea...all good. 

Random June Glimpses

Wow. It's hard to believe this is the last day of June already! It's been a glorious, sunny, warm month. It's been a month of learning how to step into joyful new memories while deeply mourning the absence of Josiah who would typically be celebrating summer with us.  It's been a month of HARD GOOD. We've picked out cemetery plots, ordered a headstone, gone on first lake trips, first Colony Days, first fishing trips, first trip to Red Shirt - without Josiah. 

Here I am at the end of the month looking at photos saved and trying to decide if they are new blog posts - or a random recap.  Join me at glimpses of the month to precious to forget but which never fit into other blog posts. 

Cory and the boys on a hike📷by Arielle

 June 2nd Jared, Lassie, Noah and Larissa went to the opening of a new dog park in Eagle River. 

📷by Larissa

Hold my tea! Charles visits me on a rainy day!

Charles

Josi 📷by Carrie

Have you ever felt like life was a bit out of control? So have I. 

One step at a time and life can usually be tamed. 

Stacia...ah, Stacia. 

Colony Day Parade in the past - several of us just couldn't do it this year. Josh, my counselor, has said when asked to do things I don't feel like doing I should ask myself, "Is this worth the cost to do it even though I want to avoid it?"  If it is - do it. If there is no benefit, in this season, it's o.k. to say no. Maybe it's o.k. in any season. I'm new to boundaries. LOL  In any event, to me, the parade wasn't worth the cost. 

There's Cy, Carrie and Liv in the back📷by Arielle 

This little one is full of smiles - though she's keeping Mama up every 20 - 30 minutes at night. Sleep training is in her very near future. What a joy it is to see her daddy's smile peek through her smile...his personality begin to show up in her personality...melded beautifully with Carrie's. 

Josi Faith - 📷by Carrie

Cousins! 

Bre and Carrie's kids 📷by Carrie

Our road is a mess! We've watched quick tar patches over cracks and potholes for 7 years...but I guess this is the year that the planned road improvement is happening in our area. Our road leads to a major trail head.  They are widening the road and putting in a "pedestrian pathway."  This looks like a bit mess and lots of trees down at this point. I'm glad the view in the mirror is always beautiful. 

This was GG's toughest puzzle yet...and truthfully Michael and Stacia did much of it, but GG spent many hours sitting with the puzzle. 

Eggs! 

Noah, is the best little campaign side kick in history! Jared and Noah have been in miles and hours meeting up with people in their district and talking about how lead. 

June 19 - cousin play date at CoRielle's - Ellie and Josi 

📷by Arielle 

Danny & Josi 📷by Cory

Larissa and Noah have flown to TX to visit their TX family for a few weeks. Larissa is an amazing traveling mama. How is Daddy going to campaign without his best door-knocking buddy? 

Window Clings for the win! 📷by Larissa

📷by Larissa

Check this out! Some sort of sleeping contraption...I usually look like a pretzel trying to sleep. Of course, I'm a bit taller than Noah. 

📷by Larissa

Noah is having the time of his life in TX. He's playing in the ocean for the first time, enjoying play dates with 2nd cousins and spending quality time with his Texas family.  He's having the time of his life - and we miss him and his mama dearly. LOL 

June 21st - they say things must get worse before they get better. That is sure true of our road. I was complaining in the spring that they keep putting a layer of tar over cracks and potholes...but we are down to the dirt now. LOL 

June 24th - Ellie is three months old. 

Krista was home for a weekend before she, Luke and the kids flew off to the lower 48. They landed in Oregon and are taking the road trip of a lifetime down to CA and back up - stopping to enjoy many things along the route. Here are just a few pictures that are meaningful to us. LOL 

Kids and Luke 📷by Krista

On the beach below Michael's childhood home. How we loved this place! 

 📷by Krista

The lighthouse and Redwoods from home. 

 📷by Krista

 📷by Krista

 📷by Krista

 📷by Krista

 📷by Krista

June 29/30th - I've previously written about what Red Shirt Lake has meant to our family. Truthfully, most of us girls opted NOT to hike in 3 miles, sleep on plywood, have no outhouse, and eat beanie wheenies from a can, but the guys loved their trips to Red Shirt.  Jamin and Jared invited Cory to go along with them on a Red Shirt fishing/camping trip this Saturday/Sunday. Cory took Benny along. How FUN to see the next generation joining in the fun.  This trip is another one of those HARD GOOD things in June. 

Jared, Cory, Benny, Jamin 📷 by Jared

They have to carry everything in and out on this trip. They hiked in 3 miles, paddled across the lake, camped, fished and did it all in reverse. 

Keep Walking - 📷 by Jared

Setting up camp. 📷 by Jared

Jared 📷 by Jamin

Cory's raising him right. LOL 📷 by Jared

View by Jared

Benny caught his first ever fish!!! What a momentous occasion. 

Photo by Jared

📷 by Jamin

Around the fire. 📷 by Jared

Heading home 📷 by Jamin

Productive Saturday

It's been another beautiful summer day spent outside in the yard and garden. I'm not sure we could EVER have everything done at once around here.  The above pot sits in the greenhouse filled with all the essentials for a quick weeding trip to the garden. 

We have a pepper!

I weeded all 10 garden beds and a row of potatoes. The chickens love to see me heading towards them with the brown planter. These are all the weeds from today...I used to do 2 beds a day and get a huge RUBBERMAID tote. I may be gaining on the weeds. 

Speaking of weeds - I sprayed the garden walkways, the parking spaces and the driveway again. Yes, that's the 3rd day in a row. I've used 6 gallons of vinegar this week...and it's time to buy more vinegar. I'm seeing some success. 

Chickweed is dying....

You can see it isn't totally killing everything in the garden...but it's turning it a color that matches the wood chips. I plan to get a handle on the weeds and then keep a bottle of vinegar and salt ready to spray on walkways. I saw some aphids in the greenhouse and read to try dish soap and water in a spray bottle? 

Allie spent the day working on her summer class. Stacia spent the day at a nanny gig. I took a break here and headed to our local Fred Myers to meet up with a gal who had pumpkin starts. She threw in some garlic...I'm game to try.  Michael took the afternoon to make another garden bed. We had 5 more garage door panels from BreZaak's remodel and some lumber from CyRi's yard...so he made a bed. I got boxes from Freddies and threw them over the spot Cory had previously leveled out. I have been spraying the spot with vinegar and salt. 

I lugged the 5 bags of soil I had to the bed. I usually try to fill a bed with compost and branches etc about 1/2 way and then add dirt...but I need this space and don't have time to wait for compost to build up.  We have some 3 panels left - maybe Michael will make another one and I'll use THAT one for compost first....In any event, I need more dirt for this bed. Next year, we need to order a truck load of garden soil. 

I also planted some radishes. I went through the seeds to see what I may have that could still grow in the next two months. I have one or two kinds of squash and lots of greens...which I already HAVE lots of greens...I may or may not plant more.  I actually have space in the greenhouse as I'm not planting melons in there and I didn't start a bunch of seeds this year.LOL  I'm not sure what else to put in the greenhouse. 

It was a productive day.