NAILED IT!

AUGUST 1st! Can you believe it??? 

It is 15 days until Stacia's 18th birthday. 

It is only 5 days until Stacia's 18th birthday and graduation celebration. I bet you THOUGHT we forgot, didn't you? Stacia is an introvert and would only allow me ONE party....we finally pulled it together. 

It is 16 days until Allie and Stacia's college orientation. 

It is 20 days until Stacia and Allie begin classes at Alaska Bible College. 

The fireweed is slow in blooming this year. I suspect this is due to our late spring and RAIN....we are trying to decide if it means it will be a late winter, but some of the tree leaves are starting to change colors.  HOWEVER - and this is STRANGE, ODD, UNHEARD of for this tropic-raised gal - I find myself looking FORWARD to winter this year. I'm EXCITED for the season to change. There really is something to be said for living fully present and embracing each season. 

We NAILED this day! I was up and out of the house early. I headed over to CoRielle's to spend my morning with the boys while Arielle went to her work morning at the church. 

Selfies with Bachan! Pretty sure Danny isn't
sticking cereal up his nose! 

We spent most of our time together outside. We played with bubbles, RAN, and played basketball. Inside we made a giant fort and read 2 books. 

Go, Danny!

LOOK! No emojis over any faces!!!

Something about this scenario is just a bit off! LOL 

Charles helps Benny make the basket! LOL 

I returned home at 1100 and told the girls if we could knock out dinner for our new pastor by 1230, we could deliver it before we went to our appointment at ABC and have the rest of the afternoon to work on the basement project. This way Allie could be part of the fun of dropping the meal off as well. We got it done! I popped some brownies in the oven. Stacia made pie crusts, Allie and I worked on the Chicken pot pie filling....threw it all in a box with salad, some muffins and deviled eggs and we were ready. I DID forget the fruit - but hey - it all worked out. 

We picked up boxes they had unpacked for our basement project.  

At ABC the girls both talked over their plans and the credits they are transferring in.  We were excited both girls only had the "welcome to XYZ university" credit that wasn't accepted. They registered for classes! We talked with the finance department and assured them we WILL pay the first week of school if the VA funding hasn't arrived by then. There was no problem, I just wanted to be sure we weren't missing an expectation. 

We arrived home minutes before Arielle, Benny and Danny. Charles was at therapy, and they were here to look over our homeschooling books and see if she'd like any of them. Arielle was surprised at how much we have. It HAS been 35 years of schooling. Some of it I will need to pitch. Quite a bit of it, however, is still valuable. Bre will check things out and then I'll let other friends from church know they are welcome to check out the stash and then....who knows what I'll do with the stuff....but it needs to be gone. We ARE saving books I want to read to grands and/or the ones that I always meant to read but haven't gotten around to yet. I have a ton of high school Sonlight manuals - I have no idea what to do with them.

Into the midst of the homeschooling mess - we added all the things we were storing in the trailer. We wanted to loan the trailer out...and now that the boys' old room is freshly painted and ready to be turned into the study...it seemed like a good time to get everything from our parents inside and see what to do with it all. The problem is we moved Stacia's party up a week, so I have this week to clear the space...in case it rains, and we need the space for people.

Much of this goes into the new "guest room" - which currently houses all this.... homeschooling material, years as a pastor, an Air Force office that has never been fully unpacked, parts of a home office....

Sometime in here Allie had to leave for work. We managed to CLEAR the big shelves we wanted to move to the new study. I wasn't 100% sure they would fit out the door as Michael built them in the room...but they did. It's one large shelf....Benny and Danny WERE a huge help carrying books and shelves. I wish I'd taken a moment to grab a photo. 

The three of us got it out of the study, across the common room, to the new study. We only had to start and stop a few times to get the angles right. We didn't chip ANY paint. I'm impressed with the wonderfulness of us. ::snort:: 

Stacia and Arielle 

While we worked on this, Michael was dragging large broken appliances and other yard trash to the back of his truck. We are going to take a load to the dump BEFORE the party. I have a couple of large yard bags from the "old study" to contribute to the load and I'm sure there will be more. 

We had a LOVELY day. I believe we broke 80* on our back deck. Summer is finally fully here. LOL Stacia and I enjoyed a quick break on the deck. 

Oh, making pot pies for Scott, Rachel and family reminded us we had a salmon pot pie in the freezer. HEY - don't knock it until you try it. If one must eat salmon, it's not bad - as long as you KNOW it's salmon and prepare your tastebuds.  We pulled it out and heated it up for dinner. We had just a bit of pie crust left, so I pulled one of our apple pie mixtures from the freezer and made a cobbler for dinner too. While Stacia and I pulled together dinner, Michael cut and placed a LOT of shims under the bookshelf. Our floors are NOT level in the basement. 

After dinner clean up Stacia and I ran over to the parsonage to deliver eggs and pick up more empty boxes. 

We will be ready in the morning to load the shelf in the study and unload the other books shelves still in the old study. Stacia has an appointment in the a.m. but I'm set to make some good progress. 

I think I can. I think I can. 

July Randomness

 Noah is full of personality! Just look at that sweet expression!

Noah at 5 1/2 months 📷by Larissa

Rainy summer day vibe

When I say I make GG breakfast every morning...I make him BREAKFAST! This pretty standard...

Enjoying summer 📷by Larissa

Apples - maybe? 

Stacia spent many evenings in July driving around the neighborhood in the Vibe. She taught herself to drive a standard auto AND she is teaching Millie to ride nicely in the car. 

We do have blog readers on the other side of the screen.  Jessica sent this with the message that catching up on Courageous Joy makes for a nice Sunday afternoon read. LOL 

📷 by Jessica or Krista

Papa shows Gideon how to tie a "real tie." 

Noah is CLOSE to crawling! 

Noah was the first volunteer we pulled in to help with coffee on Sunday

Red Door Coffee #MAGlove

Bre and the kids do Shark Week well. 

📷 by BreAnne

Bella jumped off the diving board into the deep end. Gideon did soon after but I don't have a photo. 

📷 by BreAnne

Shark Week fun with Joelle and kids 📷by BreAnne

Ice Cream with JaRissa and Bre and kids  (Photo from Riss?)

Cutest Cowboy in the States
Photo by Rissa

Sunday Afternoon at Jamin's

 Sundays have been fairly busy since Shannon and Lindsey's last Sunday. Today was no exception. Stacia and Noah ran the coffee corner, Allie and I greeted, Michael ran around doing a bunch of things and preached. 

As has become somewhat standard, we grabbed the other last person in the building, Jenni, and headed for lunch. We opted for a quick lunch as we had a family dinner this afternoon/evening. 

Family dinner? What? It wasn't the 3rd Saturday of the month. Jamin invited us all to his home. He's been working hard on his home and yard.  It was fun to gather at his place again. He's painted, paved the driveway, leveled the yard - and planted grass, added decor and steps to the hot tub and he bought a trampoline so the kids would have something to play on.  Krista is in Guam and Luke tends to like smaller gatherings than ours when he's alone (we get it!). Nolan and Alex and Izaak didn't attend. We still enjoyed a FULL HOUSE. 

We set around and visited and played in the yard while Lasagna baked. Annie loves time with "the uncles." She spends quite a bit of time playing yard Jenga.  She needs an assist to reach the top and finish her turn...

...but she's a pro at determining which one should be removed without tumbling the whole tower. 

She's sweet enough to give advice to struggling Uncles when needed. 

Annie has an engaging personality that invites interactions with others. She's determined and gutsy and sweet. I know God is going to bless those around her with her unique personality and gift mix all her life. 

Danny 

Cory, GG, Carrie, Cy 

"Can I come into the out?" 📷by Larissa

Aunt Carrie and Noah 📷by Larissa

Noah, Jared and Michael 📷by Larissa

Such a sweet moment! 📷by Larissa

GG & Noah📷by Larissa

I hung out in the kitchen at some point...making sure pans were in the oven, bread ready to pop in and salad ready to go...Danny cracked me up. He was NOT having the oranges in a bag. He KNEW Uncle needed the oranges in the basket. Danny knows how things should be and he's not afraid to work to make sure they stay that way. He also knows the rules and is diligent to enforce the rules. A judge? Lawyer? I look forward to watching how God uses his developing personality.

Aunt Arielle, Trudy, Aunt Allie

Uncle Josiah bouncing kids 

I believe it was after we ate that Cory and Jamin headed for the hot tub. In less than a minute they had quite a crowd joining them. Most stayed with their feet in the water. Of course, a few fell or jumped in and were promptly corrected. 

Cousins - Bre, Arielle and Cy's kids

Charles wants to join the fun! 

Cy, Danny, Gideon, Benny, Cory, Annie, Bella, Bre, Trudy, Liv

About this time Jamin brought out the WATER BALLOONS, and hoses and buckets. I do believe Jamin and Josiah were the main targets of the battle. I have balloons in wait at our house, but it's never been a nice enough day when the kids are all over. Maybe in August. 

I absolutely LOVE this photo of Charles. He had the courage to join the fray, and when it got to be too much, look at him running for all he's worth to the safety the rest of us provide. Good traits to have. 

Run Charles, run! 

This day was such a blessing to all - but I think to Michael and I most of all. It is pure joy to watch our adult Gherkins desire to be together, go out of their way to entertain each other, and watch out for each other's children. Having adult children so near each other who desire to be a part of each other's lives, cousins growing up together, Grandparents and great grandparent nearby....it is all a dream we are so blessed to be living. No, life isn't perfect - but it's pretty darn close. Our family vision all these years has been to "Love Courageously" - which boils down to "Love God wholeheartedly and Love others Deeply. I feel like we are on track...we are learning to love well in new seasons. 

College Update

 And here we sit. 

A second day. 

At the table. 

There is room at the table for ALL.  GG was at the table until he got bored with us and went out to the deck - you can see him in the background. 

We did it!!!! Two FAFSA applications filled out, SIGNED by parent 2 with an UPDATED FAFASA ID.  It feels like cause to celebrate. We suddenly have little to do.... sort of.  There actually is plenty to do. BTW - the girls purchased some cool dry erase pens for me...check out the color coordinated board.  Most the post it notes were completed and thrown away. We added a church line on the board and a repair line.... ::snort:: 

College update for the girls! 

Stacia earned a 3.81 for her semester of college at Global University.  She has received official notice of acceptance to Alaska Bible College. Her transcripts have arrived, and they will give her credit for 2 of her 3 Global University classes. The 3rd class was one of those "how do I do college online" classes.  We are waiting on a certificate of eligibility from the VA and need to simply go in and register for classes. And, yeah, pay. 

Allie earned a 3.75 for her freshman year at Liberty University.  Her transcripts have arrived at Alaska Bible College, and they will accept quite a few of her classes - nearly all. She is most relieved she will not be required to take another math class. YES.   She was told they are waiting on her references and then they can extend an official acceptance.  We are getting closer. We are waiting for some information from the VA and then will go in and discuss classes for the upcoming year. 

We had planned to go in for ONE appointment and line out the course of study for both girls - but it may be easier to go in 2 separate times. 

In any event - we are getting it done and in three weeks both girls will be in college again.