An A+ Day

Some days are simply perfect - A+ days. We've had a few of those days this week...mixed in with the sore throats, busy schedules, cancelled meetings and meetings kept.  We woke up one day with a desire to celebrate Allie: her journey and the nearing completion of her first round of college classes. 

Why, yes, we DO look for reasons to celebrate. Everyone needs a good party. Lunch found many of us at the restaurant in town with a table big enough to seat us all spur of the moment. Liv and Carrie, Nolan, Arielle and Benny joined Nolan, the girls, Michael, Dad and me. We love the family who runs the restaurant, and, on this day, Allie scored a cinnamon roll nearly the size of her face! We split it the next morning for breakfast.  

We all made sure not to eat past 80% so we could head over to our town's local ice cream shop after lunch.  Alex, Cory and the little boys and Bre and kids joined us there. We took over the establishment...and they seemed happy for our business.

Such hard choices

CoRielle, Danny and Little Buddy 

CoRielle and BreZaak live within walking distance of the ice cream shop. All the kids were excited about their unexpected walk - and the final destination. 

Carrie, Stacia and a photo bomber

Michael and Dad - we opted not to have ice cream as they
have no sugar free - solidarity with Dad

Livie, Allie, Jamin and Nolan 

BreZaak's kids 

The gang

Cousins - Annie, Bella, Gideon and Benny 

The only grizzly I care to meet! 

We cherish days when we can gather so many dear gherkins at the drop of a hat. We don't take the blessing for granted after all our years of wandering. We ended the night playing a bit of Pando. 

It was an A+ day! A day we'll remember with smiles for years to come. 

Time with Grandblessings!

CoRielle's boys were quick to jump help me one morning this week. What the lack in attention to detail they make for with exhilaration.  Oh yeah, I remember. It's easiest to get chores done when the little ones nap. LOL 

Little Buddy and Danny 

Benny and Danny - Danny stayed the course with
the water

The broom was great fun. 

Still washing dishes. 

After work came books and play! 

Bre had an OB appointment this week and I was happy to play with their kids as well. The kids were quite impressed that neither Alaska nor Hawaii were on this globe. 

The kids talked me into getting the bag of tents out. Oy VEY. I have nothing but respect for young moms. I told them we would NOT be doing this again. LOL We did eventually get them all back into the bag. Such a small bag that explodes to fill the entire family room. LOL 

An Afternoon Drive

 Michael came in and found me. 

GG was taking a nap and Alex was willing to watch him.  Stacia was "introverting" and Allie and Nolan were working. 

"Let's go out in the RV and pretend we are retired and go explore anytime we want." ::snort:: 

Some of you know we ARE retired. 

The first two summers we were up here we were busy moving into our place, and BreZaak were living in the RV the next year. Then we had Dad move up. We tried a couple of trips with him, but it became apparent the steps were too hard for him to navigate. After the surgery 2 years ago, it is definitely out of the question. So we have this dream boat - which we haven't been able to enjoy. 

Michael suggested we take the RV out for a drive and then bring it back and park it for the winter. Always a sad moment...but this time we went out and pretended we could hit the road. 

We dreamed of what we would like to be doing in 5 years. We processed together some of the things we were doing in this season. It was a good drive. 

Unfortunately, we HAD planned to take GG to a hymn sing at CoRielle's church, but I am glad we let him sleep and hit the road. It was good for our souls. 

Reflecting on This Gorgeous Fall Day

After church and its subsequent potluck, we had an hour before Allie needed to be at work. The girls and I have been looking for an opportunity to make it to Reflection Lake this fall.  We were all in the car. Michael humored us and off we went. He and GG sat at the head of the trail, by the lake, and reflected. We zipped around the trail as fast as we could. 

It was good we did this. I think there will be far fewer leaves in a couple of days. We ran into 4 or 5 groups of photographers with clients.  Everyone was out catching the last of the colors. It feels like snow may arrive in a "couple" or "few" weeks. 

It was a beautiful day after a meaningful weekend and we had to take a "funny" selfie. We took a serious one too. 

We took a bit more time to process the words from the conference that each of us felt were "just for us." 

                                            We were happy to have caught some of the colors. 

Stacia has a knack for spotting rocks! She found this heart and had to show Allie and I where it was. 

Ah, fall! We love fall! 

And, I love doing life with these two young ladies. 

We arrived back at the trailhead and Michael already had GG in the car. We hopped in and made it back to town and to Allie's work with minutes to spare. Perfect!

Adventure Awaits

 All the planning and packing were about to yield results. Early Thursday afternoon the girls and I grabbed Stacy and headed for Anchorage. We checked into our Air BnB and unpacked the van. It has been typical for our group to drive back and forth both days. Last year, three of us rented an air bnb and stayed in town. This year we rented a BIG BnB and made plans for the majority of us to stay in town. This was the first year with this element and I learned much for next year. LOL 

We took a quick tour of the house and the way the rooms may fall into place came clear....I made a nifty chart. This was not set in stone - it just gave us an idea of how to work with various factors. 

Our next job was for the girls to set up air mattresses while Stacy and I placed cards and chocolates and made up the one bunk bed. 

Everyone began to arrive at the house. We grabbed a QUICK dinner and then headed over to the church which was hosting this year's conference. This was an exciting year for us.  The years I have attended we've had 8 or 9 attend. Last year there were 4 of us. This year we had 17 women attend - though not all at the same time. LOL The fact that a couple could only do one night or the other means that we took two group photos. 

Lisa Potter, author of the Collective Journey, was our speaker. She did an excellent job fleshing out our theme, but also casting vision for what God can, and wants, to do with women. Her presentation of how the church changed their attitudes on women was the best I've heard to date (other than a couple of books I've read). Part of her ministry is equipping the next generation of female church leaders. There was a LOT of other great points she made if that was not a topic which interested you. Personally, this Friday a.m. session was a highlight. A frequent theme in her messages was to "tell your story" - a theme that resonated with the girls and I. 

📷by Lindsey 

Rather than share personal testimonies here - I think I'll give the highlights of conference and share thoughts later....when they are more processed. Have YOU ever found it takes pages to write about what God did in one minute at the altar? 

We made use of the photo booth on Thursday night. I was thrilled BreAnne was with us this year. 

Our Thursday group - love these women. 

The benefits of staying in a home began to show on Friday night. Instead of driving down the highway we went back to the house and played games and visited. 

We had a quick breakfast available at the house for those who wanted something and were back at the church at 8 a.m. 

Lindsey is our photo hero! She had nearly 30K photos on her phone! She was one of 3 contestants to go up front and compete. She won a gorgeous picture from France. 

I loved the Redwoods on the walls and screens, the theme decor was hiking and nature, mountains and fun. 

📷by Lindsey 

Friday Night photo

Friday night we all played Pando. We got increasingly silly. 

📷by Lindsey 

Most of us slept in Saturday morning and then we went for brunch at Gwennies. This was a great way to end the weekend. 

It was a joy to be with three of my daughters this weekend - surrounded by 14 other wonderful gals - my tribe.