Monday, July 31, 2023

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, July 30, 2023

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. 

Thursday, July 27, 2023

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. 

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Christmas in July


They came up for youth dressed like this. They bought gifts for the youth gift exchange when we were in Kenai. 

Stacia made Christmas crack today. 

It must be Christmas in July. 

Stacia has two or three more weeks in the youth group. The 3rd week is her 18th birthday. The day after her birthday is college orientation. Times are changing. 

 Allie continues on in the group as one of the youth leaders. She's been doing this for a year and really enjoying it. 

Cousin Playdate

 I have done more laundry than a human should be ALLOWED to do in one day. We had all our camping laundry, GG's laundry (which I usually do a load daily) and then there is bedding etc. I began laundry EARLY and kept it going all day. I'm not sure I'm making a dent in the pile. LOL 

I thought I could set both girls down with their laptops and we could knock out two FAFSA applications in no time. It was not to be. Allie couldn't get the site to do a thing for her. Stacia needed to go pick up a new phone as it wouldn't take any of our phone numbers for her - because we've done that before with other IDs. I couldn't remember the name of my youngest child when I first set up the FAFSA ID those decades ago. ::snort::  We'll work on it again tomorrow. I've collected all the info and we should all now have current ID's. 

Did you know this is SHARK WEEK? It is. Bre is great about pulling together themes and parties. Today her kids and Arielle and the boys came over for a bit of cousin time in the yard. We painted sharks, did shark tattoos...had shark treats (and goldfish because you know...at least it's fishy) and there was shark goodie bags. We also just played. 


Hello, Trudy. 

Annie

Jojo - Josiah 


I saw a meme that said, "Remind her she's survived enough storms she doesn't have to worry about a few raindrops."  When the kids showed me my tat options, I took a wave and some bubbles and tried to recreate the thought on my wrist. I like it. It will be gone tomorrow. LOL 


I weeded in the greenhouse. I let the weeds grow up with the plant until I could see which green was good and which was a noxious weed. 

The girls are off to youth group. Michael is at the church for a couple of hours - working to edit and upload services we've missed. 

I hear there are chickens in our neighborhood that are being killed...and a bear has been in coops. I'm not happy about this at all. I do like when the bears go back up the mountain for the winter. 

I'll end this post with a photo of Noah on his way to his 6 months well baby check.