January Catch Up Post

Haven't had much time to blog, so thought I'd do a quick catch up post for January. The best thing that has happened this month is when I got a new nephew! Little Asher Steven was born to my brother and SIL, bringing their offspring to a total of three fine boys. So happy for them! He looks so much like my brother.

 It this isn't a very good quality pic, but I love it anyway. My dad is meeting Asher for the first time. So precious.

 My dear friend, Cora, came for a visit and brought me the rest of the "Letters in Nature" signs our bible study ladies bought for me as a good-by gift. I absolutely love them. They are in a place of honor in the living room, reminding me everyday what is important.

We've had a little project around here while we are waiting for funds for the shop to be built. We call this the "Leaning Toilet of Pisa". This toilet was literally falling through the floor in the kids' bathroom. 

This is what we found under it. Apparently it had been leaking for some time. Michael and the kids tore out the old floor down to the crossbeams while I gagged clear out in the living room. My hat is seriously off to plumbers! Michael replaced the floor and we put new vinyl in, complete with a new toilet.

Michael didn't have a chance to get the toilet in right away, so it sat in our living room for almost two weeks. It was a great "toy". Don't worry it was a brand new toilet!

Hailey and Josiah have really been enjoying their new AWANA club. They have a different theme night every week that they look forward to. A couple of weeks ago it was "Wild and Wacky Hair Night". Hailey went as Pippy Longstockings. I braided her hair around pipe cleaners and she was thrilled!

A couple days later, she lost her first front tooth. Now she is talking with the cutest lisp. She is my big girl now. 

 We went on a field trip to the Sage Center outside of Boardman last Friday with the local homeschool group. It was very interesting. Got to see how a lot of the agriculture industry works.

 Last weekend, we were able to get away for an overnight stay at "Hot Lake" outside of Union, OR. This picture of my grandpa was found hanging in one of the rooms. Made me choke up. Artists and photographers from all around have taken photos and drawn or painted pics of him. So proud of him. Miss him terribly.

I just love old steam radiators. The natural hot springs water heats the place through these old radiators. Thought they made a cool pic.

 Our room. It was a very relaxing time. We played games with Mom and Larry, went to dinner then soaked in the hot springs water. Was nice to have some down time for a few hours.

They've completely remodeled the place. It was a house for rodents and birds and now look how beautiful it is. This is just the landing for the stairway.

After our stay at Hot Lake, we attended the Burns Night Supper with the Celtic Society of Eastern Oregon. It was awesome to be able dress in our tartan with our wonderful Celtic Family and have a fun evening of socialization, entertainment, and of course eating! 

We say good-by to January (already) and look forward to all the great things we have planned for Feb. God has blessed us this month. He's protected us, given us rest and given us the funds to be able to fix our home. We give Him all the glory!

God Bless,

Jackie

Wrapping Up 2013

Thought I'd write a little holiday catch up post. Now that I'm in the throes of homeschooling again, I'm just not having much time to blog. Christmas day was MUCH better than last year (when we were recovering from wrecking our truck Christmas Eve 2012). My mom and step-dad joined us and we had a very relaxing day of eating too much, opening gifts and playing games. It is hard to get good pics in this trailer house with all the dark wood paneling and the sun pouring through the windows.

Looking for the pickle ornament. Whoever finds it gets to open the first present!

This town girl turned country got herself some cowgirl boots for Christmas!

Josiah's big gift was a Hobbit Lego set. Can you tell he was excited? The kids both got a whole bunch of Lego sets from grandparents. They both adore Legos! So good for the brain.

Right after Christmas, a dear homeschooling family came for a visit. Oh how we love it when the Mays come to town! No end to the role playing and fun. They were playing "spies" in this photo. Absolutely love that all those boys included Hailey in their play. I think they loved having a "damsel in distress" who could shoot with the best of them. 

Soon after the Mays left, my sis arrived with her tribe and we had so much fun celebrating Hogmanay (Scottish New Year Celebration). We had haggis, homemade steak pies, colcahnan, fresh veggies and cucumber punch.

Josiah attempted to recite part of "Address to the Haggis" a poem by Robert Burns. He needed a little more practice but I was surprised at how much he remembered for reciting it cold. 

Josiah had the honor of slicing into the haggis.

Some of us dressed up. Hailey is dancing a jig. My sis is a good sport. She looked beautiful!

My nephew, Jacob, with the bagpiper nutcracker Josiah got for Christmas.

These pics don't do the fireworks justice. My mom provided a slew of fireworks for the occasion.

 After the fireworks show, we came back home and played musical chairs. It was so fun! We got to use the padded retro-vintage chairs I bought with a fermica dining room table to go with my 1970s double-wide. If you can't beat it, just go with it!

You can see the detailing on the table I bought with its matching chairs. It is perfect for this space since the trailer is decked out in gold accents everywhere. My nephew, Marcus volunteered to be our "dark-haired stranger" bearing gifts at midnight. Salt, wood and a bottle of spirits (we used Italian soda syrup) are all traditional Hogmanay gifts.

The day my sis and her kids left, my MIL, Kay, and SIL, April, and her daughter, Layla, came up for a short visit. It was wonderful having them. My MIL helped me burn a huge pile of wood left on the place since Michael had to work that day. The kids really enjoyed playing with Layla and we hope they can come up again sometime. 

Since then, we've started homeschooling again and are doing things with the homeschool group in this area. The kids are doing AWANA and I've started a women's bible study.  Poor Michael has been waiting for 2 months now to have his shop built, but we've had some frustrating delays. Hope to start the building process by the first week of Feb. Overall, we are adjusting well and starting to make friends. God is good! We are sure looking forward to spring and getting some chickens and perhaps some other animals.

Happy 2014 To All!

God Bless,

Jackie