The Playful Fun of Dress-Up

Fall dress up party at Jonah Camp

Lydia found my favorite dress and woolen shawl in my closet, her own hoop skirt, and colonial bonnet and hat from our 2012 trip to Colonial Williamsburg.  Grandma was visiting throughout the summer and fall, camping in her own trailer behind the barn, to spend more time with us and help out Marshal at the clinic three days a week!  Gabe shared with her his dress up idea as a UPS delivery man, so she brought him a shirt and pants from neighbors and friends.  They fit Gabe perfectly.  He printed off some UPS symbols from online and taped them to his hat and shirt.  I love my cuties.  They struck a perfect pose going into Camp Jonah.  It didn't escape my notice that they were perfectly color coordinated with the building!  

Camp Jonah - at the heart of the community - a place where families of the land, put their faith in God and obeyed to be a blessing.  Running the other way when we receive the call of God may be the first response, but because of the Son of Man who went into the belly of the earth for three days and rose again, fulfilling the sign of Jonah, we have a second chance to turn (repent) and obey.  Because God gave Jonah a second chance, one of the greatest cities of the earth, with its king, believed God, repented and was saved.

Fifteen Candles

Relaxed family dinner with all four grandparents.

Grandpa and Grandma

Gabe sent Lydia on a treasure hunt.

Penny Whistle

Gabe tried out his UPS man uniform for delivering presents.

Fifteen Candles

Little light of mine.

More than wishes... blessings!

Banana cream cake.

Happy Birthday Lydia, a beautiful light that reflects the Greater Light.

Endurance - XC 2018

Hebrews 12:1, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"

A friend and fellow X-Country mom took this photo of our girls, the sixth hidden behind the middle runner, and Coach Marshal in the foreground.

Last pep talk at the starting line. 

GO!

Lydia running through the trees.

Coming in to the finish line!  Number 22.  She was bumped up to 21st spot and qualified for the State X-Country Meet in Pasco, WA.

Ran their race well.  They took second place as a team in this Washington state regional race, headed to state championship.

Boys are up!  Gabe with the shades, gets set.

They are off!

Running strong

Feeling the pain.

Burn

Throwing all he has into the finish line.

Crossed the line, 18th place.  Bumped up to 16th place of the 28 runners that qualified for State.

I am thankful for my Cross-Country passionate husband who has a love for the race and trains our children to run with endurance, that they might know the meaning of Paul's words in scripture.
1 Corinthians 9
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control,[b] lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Philippians 3
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 
2 Timothy 4
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Late Blooms of October

"Consider the lilies..."

 The lilies continue to bloom until the deep freezes of night will finally arrest.  This year the blooms reflect my own sense of time and seasons.  The days have passed and everything is hazy in my mind. Where did spring and summer go?  The fall has been full of sunshine.  The blooms holding on.  The leaves are turning their brilliant colors though and falling, falling.  The wind tousles them with the verdant foliage.

See, the spring has not yet come and gone.

 I have never seen violets bloom a second time.  This is not a solitary blooming violet in my front yard.  There are a few.  There is one by the Lily at the front step in fact.  I have always had a fondness for this bloom, a birthday gift.  I love their sweet fragrance!  The violets bloomed under the Holly trees at home as a child, and I waited for them with expectancy as I grew older.  When we bought the homestead in Chewelah, the lawn became a carpet of violets the first spring.  When I came home to Trout Lake, the yard again became a carpet of violets.

Handsome mother hen, scratching in the compost among the leaves and Black-eyed Susans.

I don't know this shrub, but I'll call its fruit, luscious bird berries.  The birds will come.

Such a lovely cottage with a warm hearth and geraniums in the window.

I love all seasons of the Crabapple at the front gate.

Radiance of the sun on leaf.

This is what I mean by verdant.  My shadow cast upon fading leaves mingled with a rich green lawn of yarrow.

17

Gabe turned 17 in October!

Blowing out the candles.

One continuous soft breath.

And last one extinguished.

Fly Rod from Dad

Card from Grandma and Grandpa

Card from Grammy and Grandpa

Good gifts.

Gaming with the cousins.  Gabe bought himself a Wii at the annual rummage sale.

Found out later, Gabe wasn't so pleased with us stealing Havah for the adult "gaming," dominoes at the kitchen table.  (No gambling involved.)  We were missing Grammy, who was connecting with family and grammar school classmates in California.  Overall, Gabe had a happy birthday.