Multitude of Thoughts: June 2018

Thankful that the 6th year of Tom & Matt tag teaming meetings has come to an end...

we are looking forward to next year already!

The VBS skits were pretty cool this year, like usual!

Jordan, Bryon, Brady, Jeswyn & Matthew T did a great job!

The joys of camping... inch long spliters... poor hud! thankful for surgeon and macguyver daddy who took it out painlessly while hudson was napping!

We loved loved loved having both sets of grandparents here for a few days and to celebrate a few major things with us!

Almost a teenager!!!!

Graduate! Masters of Education!

YES.

Hannah and her fave guy Jordan

Such a fun crew!

Okanogan Gospel Hall

Huge wind storm, had the tent spikes coming up! The guys all starting slamming the tent peg thing down .... and sure enough.... poor Bry missed the peg, and hit his head. Hard. Good thing Jeswyn's wife, nurse Debbie Ann was there!

We took a day off of VBS and drove through the Cascades! ( yes they are pretty but also steep and scary)

Lunch!

Snow!

Teen Night was always awesome! Although I normally had Hudson in the trailer, I could watch from the window, and keep tabs on my almost teen ;)

Lego playtime!

Loving the nearby lake!

Playdate in an RV! Movie and snacks!

Very thankful for redeeming the lost auntie status! Gracie is such a sweet heart and it had been way too long since we had hung out! Much needed time together was so valuable and treasured.

Hannah and Matt drove them to the airport on Thursday, in Spokane. Snack time on the way home

Sheriff Joe came to visit his grandkids at VBS!

Hudson got some happy mail from Boston!

Hannah too!

Last day of VBS!

Appreciated the love of one of the helpers at VBS. She knows all about special ed and loved giving some of the kids sensory activities to help them, as well as these cool cards. Hudson LOVED it.

So Marantha is a dear friend. She is moving from WA to Idaho. She came to Oahu in August and prayed that we would meet her sister in law, also in Oahu. We did, you can look back to April's Fellowship Friday event for Shelby, Peyton and sweet baby Ember.

Getting ice cream one afternoon was clearly in God's plan! She was also there! Small town, small world. Huge love.

Thankful for the chef skills of the believers! Tina made lunch daily for us! Lois and Emily traded off nights for supper duty. The meals were hearty, delish and all homemade! They don't have the luxury of running to Costco for the ready made stuff! So we were blessed with domestic diva goodies DAILY. So much love.

Look at this little dolly! Emily was SUCH a happy camper!!

Yum!

On the last night, the forest rangers pulled up for an hour. Just in time to hear singing and one preacher.

Happy 1-3 to big H!

HARRISON IS a TEENAGER!
He is a sweet, goofy kiddo who loves being active and social. He can play any sport, anytime & has sick abs! He loves meeting new friends and playing any kind of sport game except killer volleyball! He loves all food ( praise the lord since we catered to every request for his 1st 5 years, this gives us great hope that our other two will eat normally by 13!)
He has a new to him sassy mouth, but has a soft heart and great knack for massaging my back at just the right time. He wants to be a professional soccer player when he grows up & aspires to attend Notre Dame for University.
He is into fun socks and being creative with his hair. He is really excited for his 1st week on his own, at Anvil Bible Camp in Vancouver next week! He has made a profession of salvation and has been baptized, and now we pray that he will be fruitful and demonstrate his faith in real ways. He is beyond excited for soccer in IL and to be reunited with his IL buddies! He will be in the teen Sunday School class and is really looking forward to that! The group of guys there is pretty solid! We love his too big for his britches self and hope we don't mess him up too crazily as we navigate these teen years with him as our guinea pig! #joysofthe1stborn #thankfulforgrace #lotsofit

After the tent was taken down on FriYay 6.22, we slept in the RV for the last time this year. We moved to Tina and Wolter's basement, which is the perfect nook for us!
Their yard and the beauty of creation always gets us.

Sunday, after church we went to sing hymns at the nursing home. Of course Hudson is on the move, which allows for great relationship building. Strolling around the home there 1- made me pray I never have to live in one and 2- made me realize we need to care for the elderly WAY more than we make time for.
Sweet Helen was strolling in her chair, with two baby dolls on her lap.
Hudson loved them and she loved Hudson.
She shared the dolls ( the girl doll cries, and that freaked us all out. but Hud pretty much a natural ;))

Then the other Helen, had her 81st birthday.
At the end of singing, Wolter sang Happy Birthday.
It was a heart melter. She was overwhelmed with thankfulness and just covered her face.

Saying goodbye is never easy! Especially to our Hale friends!

Thankful for Wolter and Tina's Lego collection!

and swingset!

and pool!

and their hospitality!

4 out of 10 grandkids stayed after VBS, and they were ANGELS and SUCH good kids for our kids to interact with! And a few other kiddos from church joined!

#girlseverywhere

The innocent sky.
That later scared the life outta us.
3am, power goes out. Now Matt uses a CPAP machine ( envision darth vader ), so with no power, no sleep machine, and you guessed it- no sleep.
We also sleep with every light ( or just 3) and fans. So the silence and blackness was deafening.
But then the garage doors were opening.
Insert all the panic.
Because I overdramatize every little noise, I might not have been taken seriously ;)
But pretty soon, all adults were up, Wolter, who works for the city in their power department had to go to work that early! In 55 MPH winds! I thought I was going to join Dorothy in Oz, but after getting some flashlights by the kids, realizing it was wind and a gorgeous lightening storm, not a country crazed robber, Calvin and Hobbes kept us ( just me, who am I kidding) calm, until power was restored.
SIGH.
What a night.
Lessons learned: Wolter is pretty much super human. Tina is a tough chick, without any fear of weather ( and can wake up and whip up a serious breakfast)