tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-555549142627860742024-03-13T20:28:18.936-07:00Homestead WannabesMost of all one discovers that the soil does not stay the same, but like anything alive, is always changing and telling its own story. - C. WilliamsCheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.comBlogger755125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-16019396547863966612020-12-24T16:09:00.004-08:002020-12-24T16:12:08.963-08:002020 Family Christmas Letter<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wRpyre0bcIU/X-UqHaGelQI/AAAAAAAAdRQ/cYrPA86kFXss94E7WZaTCWT76ND09DqagCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_2585.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wRpyre0bcIU/X-UqHaGelQI/AAAAAAAAdRQ/cYrPA86kFXss94E7WZaTCWT76ND09DqagCNcBGAsYHQ/s600/IMG_2585.jpg"/></a></div>
2020 Family Christmas Letter:
Greetings Family and Friends! We’ve never been so pleased to finish out a year as we have 2020. We are hoping and praying things will look up for 2021. While it has been a struggle, we see God’s will and provision in all circumstances. We’ve also gained a whole new appreciation for our family and friends. I’ll start off our letter with updates on each of us.
Michael took the Shop Manager position at Camp Umatilla and is enjoying his much less intense commute. He has been experiencing some aches and pains that come with mechanicing and getting older, and is enjoying being off the shop floor and learning new managerial skills. He is now a Chief Warrant Officer 2 and has been with the Oregon National Guard for nearly 25 years.
I (Jackie) continue to traditionally homeschool all three children. So thankful we chose this route years ago as the COVID-19 crisis has not affected my kids’ education. In fact with less extra curricular activities going on, we’re getting to some subjects we hadn’t previously had time to learn. One of our goals for this year (for both me and the older children) is to write out the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights in cursive. I also enjoy giving tours part-time at the Pendleton Underground when it is allowed to be open, which unfortunately hasn’t been much this year. I kept very busy this summer with two big gardens and tried out some new canning recipes. I started teaching a women’s Bible study again this fall, which I thoroughly enjoy.
Josiah is 17 and currently in 11th grade and has almost earned his Eagle rank. COVID has definitely made it more difficult, but he is determined to finish. He completed his Eagle project this summer by installing a “game bird guzzler” on a local farmer’s property with the help of his troop. Towards the end of the summer he was hired part-time working with a local internet company. He loves getting out of the house everyday and working to pay for his many hunting activities.
Hailey is 13 and in 7th grade. She is definitely the artist in the family, spending hours drawing and coloring. Her obsession with mermaids and all things having to do with the sea has not waned. She recently discovered 3-D puzzles. She is still in gymnastics (when open) and enjoys being on the pre-team. She’s made some new friends there this year. She had her first regular babysitting job this summer and learned a lot. She’s saving up for her own scuba equipment and wants to learn how to scuba dive.
Rina is 5 and in Kindergarten. She is a joy and delight to homeschool. I think I finally got one kid who likes academics! She loves her special time with me in the afternoons when we homeschool. She also enjoys being part of a Kindergarten co-op we host in our home. Rina is my garden/food processing-buddy. She’s super observant and sometimes can spot a new veggie coming on before I do! She adores animals and is learning to ride our two miniature horses.
As with everyone, many of our plans were thwarted because of COVID, but we were able to go camping quite a bit this year with family. Our toy hauler has been such a blessing! Michael and I also traveled to Wallowa Lake for a weekend to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We were also able to visit the Oregon Coast for a few days, staying at Camp Rilea with family.
This has been a heartbreaking, confusing, and frankly sometimes depressing year. However, these trials have afforded huge opportunities to get to know other people better and to serve others who have been affected much greater than we have by all these changes. It has encouraged us to cling to God in a whole new way. I’m thankful our family’s hope is not in what is going on in this world but in the salvation of Jesus Christ who was born both fully man and fully God, who lived, died and rose again, ascended and is now seated at the right hand of His Father, waiting for His Father to tell Him when to return to Earth again. Who knows if we shall see His return in our lifetime, but we shall seek to be ready for it. We’re just so thankful He made a way for us because “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8. May the Light of all Truth shine brilliantly on each of us this coming New Year!
God Bless,
Jackie and Family
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padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eGMFGn47CkI/X-Uth99vkJI/AAAAAAAAdRc/ZFsekKbI0lkvkto7rbMgZuQmnGz2Bk_7ACPcBGAsYHg/s600/IMG_0768.HEIC"/></a></div>Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-28361521355869818092019-12-22T17:48:00.001-08:002019-12-22T17:49:32.115-08:002019 Family Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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2019 Family
Christmas Letter</div>
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Season's greetings, friends and family! What a wonderful year on Mission Rd Homestead as we embraced our “new normal". This year was a time of catching up rather than crisis. We not only caught up around our home, but we were able to intentionally connect with family and friends. We camped at Indian Lake (twice), Heppner Ranch, Jubilee Lake, Ft. Rilea (on the Oregon coast) and twice during various hunting seasons. We all enjoyed the opportunity to disconnect from work and smart phones to just play games, visit, read aloud, hike, kayak, hunt, etc. It's been great to have the time to do these “normal activities” as a family again.<br />
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Michael is starting his 5th year of commuting to La Grande to work as a heavy-wheeled track mechanic for the Oregon National Guard. Hee was able to go to Canada for Annual Training this year. He is now a W2 Chief Warrant Officer in the OR Nat. Guard. April, 2020 will be his 24th anniversary being in the Guard. He keeps himself busy working on the homestead, being an Assist. Scoutmaster for Josiah's BSA troop, hunting, working on the T-bucket and taking us all camping. He installed our flooring and got a lot of trim work done on the house. Only one more room to go, and we'll be done with the flooring!<br />
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I am homeschooling all three children (1 high schooler, 1 middle schooler and 1 pre-schooler), working as a part-time tour guide for the Pendleton Underground Tours, and am the Committee Secretary for Josiah's BSA troop. I enjoy bible study, gardening, working on the homestead, practicing my fiddle, writing, contra dancing, and have begun exercising regularly again. I've been learning to bake more and still enjoy cooking from scratch whenever I have the time. This past year, I've really tried to add margin to my life and given up a lot of things to keep from being excessively busy. <br />
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Josiah is 16 and driving (gasp!). He's enjoying more independence and we're enjoying having another driver in the family. He just attained the Life Rank in Scouts and is well on his way to achieving Eagle rank. He and Michael went to Melita Island on Flathead Lake in Montana for summer camp. He loves hunting, fishing and wants to start trapping this year. He enjoys camping and is always super creative when it comes to survival techniques. He also started doing a little boxing and is working to get in shape so he can join the military when he's older. He participated in his first Civil War reenactment and hopes to do more next year.<br />
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Hailey is 12 and turning into a beautiful young woman. She is thriving in our homeschool, even with the extra challenges dyslexia brings. She is learning to adapt and use tools to help her be successful. She is currently writing a book using “speech to text”. Her imagination and vocabulary continue flourish. She still loves participating in gymnastics and also enjoys art. <br />
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Rina is 4 and such a delight to our family. She keeps us all laughing at her cute antics. She insists on being homeschooled along with the other kids and knows all her letters and sounds and can count to 100. She's starting to read and write some very basic words. She's enjoying the “Little Learners” class through our local homeschool group and has her own library card now! Our little cowgirl adores horses and animals of all kinds and rides her miniature horse, Bakerman, whenever she gets a chance. <br />
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This is the year we learned to breathe again. The house fire and rapid re-build taught us many things. It made us take stock and re-prioritize. Our faith, family and friends are our number one priority. God has brought us so far. He has blessed us beyond our imaginings. It was undeserved, unmerited, but He did it anyway. We're thankful for His continued grace and peace as we go through this crazy life with it's joys and pains. We thank Him for the salvation He gives as a gift to us through His precious Son, Jesus, our Messiah. He was born in humble circumstances, lived a perfect life, died and rose again so that we may be saved from our sins. Oh how precious is His name! We pray blessings on our family and friends as we enter into 2020. May His face shine upon each one of you!<br />
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-80862891306279890062019-09-06T07:48:00.000-07:002019-09-06T07:48:14.629-07:00"Homeschool Hell Week"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Keepin’ it real over here. This is my 11th year of homeschooling. I have officially decided the first week of school will be called “Homeschool Hell Week” (sorry I am a military wife so using military terms.). The pattern I’ve experienced is the first day usually goes pretty well but then it slowly digresses through the rest of the week. All of a sudden they are not happy when I have stepped up the bar because they have gone up a grade, or my strong-willed children are freaking out because I changed something from what I did last year. </span><span style="font-size: large;">For years I would get discouraged as I watched lesson plans go up in smoke and had to adjust fire as I figured out what reasonable expectations were versus the ideal homeschool year I had cooked up in my head. </span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For all of you homeschool moms who are new to this or are simply feeling discouraged because you are in the middle of the battle, I want to encourage you and let you know that it will pass. The children will adjust their attitudes and both you and they will adjust expectations to the new realistic “normal” for that year. I urge you all to be patient with the process. Don’t feel like you did the wrong thing by homeschooling them because it’s hard. Sometimes my “hell week” of homeschooling turns into a “hell month”, but I’ve always hung in there knowing that I’m doing the right thing - the best thing for my kids, even though I might be getting a lot of flak back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Many parents immediately start worrying about damaging their relationships with their kids because of the conflict they are experiencing. I promise you, in the long run these relationships will be strengthened.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">I urge you to focus on character and help them to realize that you are not just the parent but the boss - the one who is in control of their schedule, chores and academics. The power struggle is real, especially in this day and age. Kids thrive with good boundaries and routine. By the grace of God, you can do this one day at a time. “Homeschool Hell Week” will end!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">God Bless,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jackie</span></div>
Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-64366524784753441762019-08-23T05:16:00.000-07:002019-08-23T05:25:07.759-07:00Resilient Homeschooling Article<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’m very honored to have been asked by OCEANetwork to write a story about how I managed to keep homeschooling after the house fire. It was published this week on their blog. I pray this encourages anyone who is feeling the call to homeschool or who has been feeling like they just can’t do it anymore due to life circumstances. Homeschooling our children is something we will never regret. We feel absolutely privileged to be able to do this. All the hard work, sacrifice (and tears) will be worth it in the end. Click on link below for article:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.oceanetwork.org/resilient-homeschooling/?fbclid=IwAR1zm3SK4qM7BVLNeR5_X-6zBpZRpklw8AfGNM9DBsrnKuW23w1_ZODF8Ps">https://www.oceanetwork.org/resilient-homeschooling/?fbclid=IwAR1zm3SK4qM7BVLNeR5_X-6zBpZRpklw8AfGNM9DBsrnKuW23w1_ZODF8Ps</a><br />
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-45310631214213484082019-02-14T14:09:00.000-08:002019-02-14T14:09:00.564-08:00Museums, Family Paint Night, Shopping and More Beach Time! - August 2018 Family Vacation: Part 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Towards the end of our vacation, we got up early to beat the crowds at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.<br />
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Ice cream for breakfast, oh yeah!</div>
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We headed out to see the Tillamook Air Museum where blimps were stationed during WWII. It was quite an interesting museum.<br />
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Rina was checking out the inside of a typical backyard bomb shelter used during WWII.</div>
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She also got to sit in the pilot seat of some old planes. It was nice that they had some hands-on stuff for kids to do. </div>
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We used the left over steamer clams to make clam chowder. Delicious! It's the only seafood my sis will eat.</div>
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My stepmom brought supplies for us to each paint a beach scene. </div>
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She convinced me to give it a try. I'm glad I did because it was actually a lot of fun and I did better than I thought I would. Art is not my gifting. My twin sis hogged those genes!<br />
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I'm going to hang our family's paintings in the toy hauler somewhere. I just love them!</div>
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Our family headed into Garibaldi for some fresh fish and chips right of a food truck. Best I've ever had!<br />
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We stopped in at the Garibaldi Museum. It had been years since we'd been there. Such a great little museum.<br />
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Josiah was very interested in the typical food sailors would eat. Josiah has always loved making his own hardtack for Boy Scout hikes and such.<br />
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The weather finally broke and we enjoyed some sun on the beach. Good thing, because that afternoon, it started pouring down rain.<br />
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Jessica and Rina enjoyed playing on the beach together for hours. I love their special relationship.<br />
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We joined my sister's family on a jaunt to Rockaway Beach. The kids got a kick out of the International Police Museum in the middle of the small beach town.<br />
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Policewomen's uniforms from around the world. </div>
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It was cute to see the middles being littles. My nephew Jacob and our daughter Hailey each took a turn on the police motorcycle ride. Fun to see them play.</div>
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We walked around Rockaway to look at several shops. One of our favorites was the blacksmith shop. The girls took some time between rain showers to play a game of chess.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oW5blyijqD8/W_g8J48FAOI/AAAAAAAAVJE/FXFz5gVnshoqOPNpsMcU85eXYNVjadL2gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oW5blyijqD8/W_g8J48FAOI/AAAAAAAAVJE/FXFz5gVnshoqOPNpsMcU85eXYNVjadL2gCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_8022.jpg" width="640" /></a>One final picture of Rina and Grandma thoroughly enjoying their Tillamook ice cream cones. The next day, we all packed up and went home. Even though it was a little soggy at times, we had a great time and it was a wonderful break from the 110 degrees F temps we were getting in Eastern Oregon. We really enjoyed have the large toy hauler as it became the hang out for Stacie's family when it was raining or chilly. Plus my mom and stepdad were able to stay in it with us part of the week. What a blessing to have it! How special that we were able to have both sets of parents camp with us. We had a few issues with the truck coming home but we made it back in one piece, and for that we were grateful. This was a family vacation that we will remember for a long time to come! </div>
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God Bless,</div>
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Jackie</div>
Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-59349257439200938082019-02-13T16:25:00.000-08:002019-02-13T20:08:41.285-08:00Perfect, Soft and Chewy Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been trying to make the perfect, healthy whole wheat chocolate chip cookie for years. I find that they often fall apart and can dry out, especially by the next day. I finally figured it out thanks to the new bonMat I received at a bonCook party. The silicone mat actually crystallizes the sugar so that it doesn't fall apart. Amazing!</div>
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You would never know that these cookies are healthier than your average chocolate chip cookie. They are made with <u><b>whole wheat pastry flour</b></u>, purely butter for the fat and an unrefined sugar called "sucanat". Do not use regular whole wheat flour! I typically use organic dark chocolate or white chocolate chips and, being part squirrel, I always add nuts. After creaming the butter and sucanat together, I just turn on my Kitchen Aid onto the "Stir" setting and start dumping. Wet ingredients first, then dry. The cookies in these pictures are actually white chocolate macadamia nut. Same recipe!</div>
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<u><b>Healthy, Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies</b></u></div>
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1 cup butter (softened but not melted)</div>
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2 cups sucanat (or brown sugar)</div>
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1 1/2 tsp vanilla</div>
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2 eggs</div>
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2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour</div>
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1 tsp baking soda</div>
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1/2 tsp salt</div>
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1 cup chocolate chips (any kind you like)</div>
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1 cup nuts or seeds (any kind)</div>
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream softened (not melted) butter and sucanat together until somewhat light and fluffy. Set Kitchen Aid to "Stir" and add remaining ingredients in the order they are listed. Put about 2 Tbl of dough in rows on a silicone baking mat such as the bonMat that I used. I have two, so this goes really fast. I was able to get 3 cookie sheets filled with this recipe. Cook in middle rack of oven for 8 minutes or until just tops are just slightly done. Remove from oven and let sit on mat 5 minutes, then move cookies to cooling rack. </div>
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Yields approx 60 small cookies.</div>
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My dear friend, Melinda, mailed me several bonCook pieces after our house fire to help replace what I had lost. If your interest has been piqued about this amazing product, check out her website at <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmelindahassinger.boncook.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1X-XcE3amMcOuEZnWYLLj9AkjGsEuzOdT5QfMG-naxVez-pZTtfpl8FYo&h=AT3BJxy4YUni2AokXJ_X_oqtoOsNNySv0wyS9lhRWPmRO38owdfNkn-LmC9VMWKaWXQknVafh_PMiERdjFeuNvlIvBObtWtTTt9akbMuMHiKncy77vQVxmKNSZ0-hFrCnX83WWRKjwPrVG5yUw">melindahassinger.boncook.com</a>. I absolutely love this bakeware!</div>
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Enjoy!</div>
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God Bless,</div>
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Jackie</div>
<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-81162075567389552232019-01-04T17:54:00.001-08:002019-01-04T17:54:34.574-08:002018 Family Newsletter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Sylfaen, serif;">Hello,
Friends and Family! We hope 2018 was good to you. We're pleased to
have been able to host many of you in our new home. God has been so
good to us. As the “after-shocks” of the fire keep happening, God
continues to provide for our every need. We are learning to be
totally reliant on Him rather than ourselves. Our biggest expense
came this year when we learned we had to put in a new drain field.
When all felt impossible, God provided! We lived without sewer for
about 3 months, ”glamping” in our new home. Once again, we are
VERY grateful for running water and a working septic!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Sylfaen, serif;"> Michael
is still commuting to La Grande where he continues to work as a
mechanic as a Federal Technician for the Oregon National Guard. On
drill weekends he is commuting to Salem. He just received his Chief
Warrant Officer (WO2) rank. Very proud of him! He has kept himself
very busy this year volunteering as an Assistant Scoutmaster in
Josiah's Boy Scout troop. We had to tear down our hay shed to
accommodate the new drain field so he built a mini-barn. He wanted to
add pigs to our homestead this year. It turns out he really likes
pigs. Both pigs are in the freezer, but he looks forward to raising
more in the future (me – not so much). He hopes to be able to work
on his T-Bucket more next year. </span>
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<span style="font-family: Sylfaen, serif;"> Josiah
is 15 years old and turning out to be quite the hunter. He absolutely
loves it, even though he didn't have a lot of luck this year. He
added duck hunting to the list this year and studied to get his
trapper's license. He recently advanced to Star rank in Boy Scouts
and is very involved, earning quite a few merit badges again this
year. He is currently studying for his driver's permit. He is a
freshman in our homeschool this year and is doing very well despite
his increased academic workload. </span>
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<span style="font-family: Sylfaen, serif;"> Hailey
is 11 years old and still enjoys gymnastics. She is currently on
pre-team. She is homeschooled part of the time and then goes to a
special reading class to help with her dyslexia. She loves her
teacher and is gaining in confidence. Reading and writing will
probably always be difficult for her but she is a hard worker and we
are confident she will gain the tools she needs to be successful in
whatever she chooses to do in the future. She loves all things
mermaid and is becoming quite interested in art. She is in 5<sup>th</sup>
grade now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Sylfaen, serif;"> Rina
is 3 years old and enjoys cooking and baking with me in the kitchen.
She is truly the cherry on top of our family sunday. We all adore her
and the biggest challenge we have is to try NOT to spoil her too
much. She received a miniature horse from her Nana and Papa for her
3<sup>rd</sup> birthday. Bakerman has been a cute addition to our
homestead. We just received another miniature horse from Michael's
cousin, Carol Ann. Bakerman was lonely and needed a pal. Her name is
Sugar. Rina enjoys helping, books, counting and playing outside when
the weather is nice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Sylfaen, serif;"> I'm
well into my 10<sup>th</sup> year of homeschooling the kids and still
love it. It gets better every year. I also did a lot more tours for
the Pendleton Underground this past year. We are thoroughly enjoying
our toy hauler and have taken it to Glacier National Park, the Oregon
Coast and deer camp. I was also able to take Hailey and I on a
mother/daughter trip to Tuscon, AZ with my sister and my niece, Lily,
to visit friends. We were able to see the Biosphere 2, Fort Lowell
(used during the Apache Wars) and visit Tombstone, AZ. We learned a
lot of history in 3 days! </span>
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<span style="font-family: Sylfaen, serif;"> As
we embrace 2019, we have no idea what it holds. This we do know. God
is in control. He sees, He knows, He will sustain us when things feel
out of our control. Over the Christmas season we enjoyed celebrating the birth of our
Savior, our Messiah, our Redeemer who lives! May God bless each of
you this New Year. We pray that when you look at our IMPERFECT
family, you will see what the Lord has done – despite our mistakes
and failures. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37. </span>
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<span style="font-family: Sylfaen, serif;">Happy New Year from the our family to yours!</span></div>
<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-41411398289945857872018-11-20T13:49:00.002-08:002018-11-20T13:49:40.482-08:00Cheese, Beach, Crabbing and Seafood Feasting Fun! - August 2018 Family Vacation: Part 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My kidlets at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company in Tillamook, OR. The first time we attempted to go to the Tillamook Cheese Factory there was a line out the door so we decided to keep traveling and landed at the Blue Heron instead. Glad we did! </div>
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Michael particularly loved all the old logging and farm equipment displayed on the property.</div>
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I always said Michael was my mule!</div>
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The kids said I make a good milk cow. I'd say that's pretty accurate :)</div>
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The girls delighted this musician by dancing to his music.</div>
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Afterwards, we want back to play on the beach at Bar View Jetty. Hailey and her cousin, Lily, are always having a great time together.</div>
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There were sand castles and forts to be built all week long with the cousins.</div>
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The kids got a selfie-stick at a thrift store so I tried it out. Here is Larry, my step-dad, and I. It was great having both sets of my parents with us at the beach this year.<br />
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Clearly, I was having way too much fun with the selfie-stick! Here I am with both my moms.<br />
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Andrew and Josiah spent a great deal of time and energy building this amazing sand fortress. A lot of engineering and thought went into this. Kept them busy for hours.<br />
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We picked a picture perfect day to go crabbing at Kelly's Marina in Brighton, OR. We've been stopping by there to buy fresh seafood for years and always dreamed of going crabbing on a boat. We finally made it happen this year and I'm so glad we did. This will be a family tradition for years to come. We enjoyed it so much.<br />
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This ended up being Josiah's favorite activity of the entire vacation.</div>
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We got two keepers!</div>
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Michael and Rina were the pilots of the boat, Josiah was the puller, Hailey and I were spotters. </div>
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We made a great team!</div>
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Awesome memories were made.</div>
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While our crabs were cooking, Mom met us down there and she and Larry bought enough seafood for our whole family to have huge seafood feast.<br />
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Rina is not a fan of the smells of fresh seafood.</div>
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Crab, Prawns, steamer clams and grilled oysters with garlic butter, Parmesan and bacon bits.<br />
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Josiah was a big help with grilling the oysters over the campfire. This kid adores seafood!</div>
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Eating treats like this is what this Eastern Oregon family loves. We live far enough away from the coast that we aren't able to go every year, so we make the most of it when we are able to vacation there. More to come!<br />
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God Bless,<br />
Jackie<br />
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-4452093199240355332018-11-05T14:33:00.002-08:002018-11-23T09:36:57.655-08:00Tree to Tree Aerial Adventure Park: August 2018 Family Vacation: Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I had such a great time playing with my older kids in the tree tops at "Tree to Tree Aerial Adventure Park" outside of Forest Grove, OR. We stopped there on our way to the coast. Josiah was able to go with his Boy Scout Troop a few years ago and wanted to go back. I'm glad we went. It was a lot of fun! Poor Michael, he was stuck on the ground with the cranky toddler who desperately needed a nap, but he managed to get some good pictures despite.</div>
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I love Hailey's look in this picture, LOL. I'm very afraid of heights but I had to focus really hard on the safety system they have in place. It helped me not to think about how high I was off the ground. There wasn't a time during this experience where I didn't feel safe.<br />
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Josiah convinced me to go on this red diamond run with him. Fun and challenging at the same time. I felt a little torn between the two kids who each wanted me to go on the runs with them. Because of that, I ran out of time to try out a black diamond run with Josiah. Next time!<br />
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Josiah was truly in his element that day.</div>
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It took some convincing for Hailey to go down her first big zip line. I went first and then she did it. I was proud of her for conquering her fears, too.<br />
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Mama first!</div>
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Don't look down, LOL!</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Rina watched us for awhile and then hung out on the play set. We'll go back when she's old enough to participate. </span><br />
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<span id="goog_1695257379"></span>Vacationing with such a wide age range is quite challenging sometimes but we managed to make it work. After this adventure, we made our way to Bar View Jetty (outside of Tillamook) with our camp trailer for a week of camping on the coast. More fun to come!</div>
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God Bless,</div>
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Jackie</div>
Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-61628043269075135452018-11-01T07:55:00.001-07:002018-11-23T09:37:25.737-08:00"Capital Fun" in Salem, OR: Aug 2018 Family Vacation: Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since we were headed to the beach anyway, we decided to take our trailer down to Salem the weekend before our vacation started and visit some dear friends during drill weekend before heading to the coast. We had a wonderful time catching up with a family we hadn't seen in 3 years. Our kids had a blast playing with their kids in the Willamette River.</div>
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Such a an awesome couple and wonderful hosts! We ate well while we were there.</div>
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The guys got to talk "military" and "Boy Scout" stuff. Josiah is really growing up. </div>
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During Michael's lunch break, we rushed over to see the Oregon State Capital building. Unfortunately we weren't able to get in as it was a Sunday and much of the outside is under renovation. At least the kids were able to see the basics- something they've never seen before.<br />
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The beaver bronze was a hit with the kids. Next time, we'll have to go back on a weekday so the kids can go inside. Also we will wait for the renovation of the grounds to be completed. </div>
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Michael took us to work for a couple of hours where we got a private tour of several helicopters, including this Blackhawk. The kids thought it was amazing! We really enjoyed meeting some of Michael's co-workers. Great people!</div>
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That evening, we all combined our kayaks and we had just enough for both our families to go kayaking on the Willamette River. So much fun!<br />
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What a blessing to reconnect with friends and see where Michael drills. It's nice to put faces to names. It was a short weekend packed with lots of fun. We left the next morning for our aerial adventure at"Tree to Tree Park" in Forest Grove, OR, as we slowly made our way to the coast. </div>
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More fun to come...<br />
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God Bless,<br />
JackieCheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-21065671369489198792018-07-15T17:07:00.002-07:002018-07-15T17:07:37.122-07:00Homestead Happenings: Sept 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7TZZnIK71d4/W0u-jbeLwkI/AAAAAAAATbo/MkL59wScwXcghv0b3AObsKxSdKRBVosAwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="536" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7TZZnIK71d4/W0u-jbeLwkI/AAAAAAAATbo/MkL59wScwXcghv0b3AObsKxSdKRBVosAwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_5053.JPG" width="478" /></a></div>
<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Michael had a three-day weekend over Labor Day, so we chose to paint the house despite the heat. We had to get it done therefor we pushed forward with the help of a few family and friends. We were able to get the entire house painted that weekend. It was an enormous task and Michael did much of it by himself. How he kept going in that heat, I'll never know.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The kids helped with the lower trim. Every bit they were able to help with was appreciated.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Our friend, Ryan, took this picture. Ryan helped Michael move ladders when he was painting the upper part of the house. He also lent us his paint gun, which saved us a lot of money!</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Ryan's son, Josiah, also helped out. These guys are part of our BSA Troop 700 family.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Rina loved to supervise, even in her pajamas and bedhead.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">We worked all day and rewarded ourselves with some DQ ice cream that night.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> End result. We were really happy with the way it turned out despite a few mistakes along the way. It's not perfect, but considering the hurry we were in, we couldn't be too picky.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Our friend, Grady, took Josiah on a special farm control hunt and Josiah was able to shoot his very first cow elk. We were so proud of him! Lots of meat in the freezer.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">While Josiah was hunting, Michael and I took a trip to Home Depot to pick up drywall supplies. As reward for their semi-patience for being dragged along, we took the girls out to Denny's for dinner. We still have these cups!</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">We had a our first homeschool co-op class of the new school year in the shop. We studied Astronomy last year. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot. </span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Our first meal together consisted of all round foods. Planets are round and so was our food. Gotta have a theme!</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Pastor Paul started on drywall. Josiah and his friends were able to help quite a bit. Michael and I did a lot of the easier rooms, saving the harder areas for the expert.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> In between drywall, the boys worked on fleshing out Josiah's elk hide.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Before we knew it, it was time for the Pendleton Round Up Kick-Off Parade. Grandma Kricket is teaching Rina how to stand for the American flag and put her hand over her heart.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Josiah walked in the parade with his Boy Scout troop.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Josiah read a lot of adventure/survival stories over the summer which kept him busy trying out new survival skills. Here is an adjustable meat drying rack that he made.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">He got his elk hide fleshed out (mostly), stretched and salted. He ended up soaking it in the kiddie pool for too long and it was ruined, but he learned a lot from the experience. </span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Michael came home from drill to the walls being foam insulated, which meant he and Pastor Paul could keep going with the drywall work.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0V0qVrluvts/W0u_KZNwG_I/AAAAAAAATdI/gvrGQWOIcjAK4C5GkhSuHbPbb2GT4VJOQCLcBGAs/s1600/42BA966D-8DBE-46D9-8305-B017359639A6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="715" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0V0qVrluvts/W0u_KZNwG_I/AAAAAAAATdI/gvrGQWOIcjAK4C5GkhSuHbPbb2GT4VJOQCLcBGAs/s640/42BA966D-8DBE-46D9-8305-B017359639A6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> I picked up these really cute home decor finds for our new home at a booth during the Pendleton Round Up. We put them in the shop until we were ready to move in.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Someone gave me two tickets to the Round Up and I took my nephew, Andrew, who had never been before. Let 'er Buck!</span></span><br />
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I found this adorable vintage cowgirl outfit for Rina downtown. She rocked it at the Westward Ho! Parade.</div>
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She always has so much fun with Grandma Kricket at the parades.</div>
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Hailey had a Round Up adventure. Our favorite western author, Rick Steber, was in town doing book signings and asked Hailey to help him pass out flyers. She had a wonderful time and earned several new books from Mr. Steber. He asked her to help him out next year, too.</div>
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Rina found Mr. Steber's books perfect for bedtime reading, LOL.</div>
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Hailey also got to visit her favorite pirate, Captain Arrrr! He has been coming to the Round Up for many years and always remembers Hailey's name and makes her part of his show. </div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> The boys got to go on a Boy Scout camp out the last weekend of Round Up. Josiah's cousin, Andrew, decided to join the troop. This was his first camp out. I think they might be listening to creepy stories around the camp fire in this picture.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Burrr! Getting chilly at night.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Time to fire up the wood stove in the shop in the evenings. The pressure was on now! We wanted to get in the new house by Halloween. After that, it gets really cold around these parts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> A friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, cleaned all these dishes (some were family heirlooms) that we were able to save from the fire. We appreciate all her hard work.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Family drywall time in the kitchen!</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> The kids and I snuck away to a homeschool field trip to nearby MacNary Dam. It was really fun and the kids learned quite a bit. </span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Rina got a ride on her brother's shoulders and Josiah got to suck on her binkie in exchange, LOL.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Pastor Paul took a little break from drywalling to play with Rina. She adores him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">At the end of the month, we drove over the mountain to attend my friend, Dorene's, "Friday School at the Farm".</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">And Mr. Kimball demonstrated different blacksmithing techniques, which Josiah is extremely interested in.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pmvw0Mg1r3c/W0u_nkQwHfI/AAAAAAAATes/H0Tf25b-GpMvSVC_myfZNAAfKz0RHv_5ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="1271" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pmvw0Mg1r3c/W0u_nkQwHfI/AAAAAAAATes/H0Tf25b-GpMvSVC_myfZNAAfKz0RHv_5ACLcBGAs/s640/IMG_5362.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> How lovely to get to spend time with our homeschooling friends from over the mountain. Many of these families were homeschooling with us at the beginning of our journey 8 years ago. My how everyone has grown! We met several other new families as well. They enjoyed a scavenger hunt on the farm.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> The best part is that I got to hang out with two of my besties! Love these gals to pieces! </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z47xJeYlwZQ/W0u_oseqOHI/AAAAAAAATe0/KIfbBgYAv-o1gobVUJuubIYf-jcR8W9NwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="715" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z47xJeYlwZQ/W0u_oseqOHI/AAAAAAAATe0/KIfbBgYAv-o1gobVUJuubIYf-jcR8W9NwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_5365.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Rina almost blended in with the background that day.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Josiah had a couple of his Boy Scout friends stay over and help him with jerking some of his elk so they could take some jerky on Boy Scout activities.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Looks like a Boy Scout sleepover to me!</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">They smoked all the meat on the rack Josiah made over this elaborate fire pit. It turned out pretty good. So good, that the boys ate all of it that weekend as they kept tasting to see if it was done. I don't think there was anything left for camp outs, LOL.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> When we were desperate to get drywalling done without Rina's "help", we set her up with a movie on my I-Phone. It worked for a few minutes.</span></span><br />
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Josiah hand-sewed these canvas moccasins that had runners that went inside his pants, hooking to his waistline so he could keep them up. The kids comes up with some crazy things, but it keeps him busy, and sewing by hand is an extremely valuable skill - so we roll with it.</div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Hailey begged me to take her down to the "Mermaid's Lair" on the river so I could get some pictures of her swimming in her tail and the crown our Cousin Di made her. The water was super chilly but she made it through our photo session. I was sure wishing I had my good camera- someday. The I-Phone does okay.</span></span></div>
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The girls worked hard at trying to clean up the drywall mess.</div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> The Bork guys would come and help Michael into the middle of the night sometimes. </span></span></div>
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"It's not quite straight, Dad!"</div>
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I took the kids to Dufur so Josiah could go on his first deer hunt with my brother, uncle, and his cousin Andrew. He is ready!</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HAwqt54kqvg/W0u_4bV7tMI/AAAAAAAATfk/GlfCvkO584ch5rT-SI-F4s-t0okkGkhiACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="536" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HAwqt54kqvg/W0u_4bV7tMI/AAAAAAAATfk/GlfCvkO584ch5rT-SI-F4s-t0okkGkhiACLcBGAs/s640/IMG_5524.JPG" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Papa let Rina sit on Bakerman. They are so cute together!</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">I stayed with my sister and her kids. Jessica and Rina had a great time bonding again.</span></span></div>
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The girls played dress up with their cousin's cool dress-up clothes.</div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The boys were successful on their hunts. Josiah got the first buck! Andrew got his later. So proud of these boys bringing home the meat for their families.</span></span></div>
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My brother and Uncle Kenny helped the boys hunt and do all the hard work after the hunt. Really appreciated their help as Michael wasn't able to go due to working on the house that weekend.</div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">My brother hunting with Josiah and Andrew on the ranch my dad manages. Love this picture.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Another exhausting month filled with hard work with a smattering of good times in between. We were getting so close to being in our house, we could taste it. Once that drywall was finished, it was a race to the finish line to get in the house before the snow started flying! God was with us every step of the way. He gave us the energy and motivation to keep going. He provided the help when we needed it most. His Hand was on us and He moved mountains that to us looked impossible even to climb, let alone move. We continued live in the shadow of His wings.</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">God Bless,</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Jackie</span></span></div>
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-82978331125890647622018-07-13T22:35:00.000-07:002018-07-13T22:35:13.025-07:00Heppner Family Camp Out 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NUslK5D414I/W0lx8xu2ygI/AAAAAAAATVM/ZKcoUbIACFs32b7JH6SwNitZY94qu78awCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_7674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NUslK5D414I/W0lx8xu2ygI/AAAAAAAATVM/ZKcoUbIACFs32b7JH6SwNitZY94qu78awCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_7674.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
We had a perfect weekend camping at a private ranch in Heppner with family. The logging roads make for the best ATV trails and you never have to worry about anyone coming around the corner. The wildlife is in abundance and the views breathtaking, but best of all are the memories made with family. Hailey is starting to learn how to ride ATVs with someone else behind her. She and her Cousin Jess REALLY like the mud!<br />
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You can't see it well in this picture, but they both came back from a ride just covered in mud.</div>
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My niece, Jess, would also take the younger kids on mellow rides near the camp. Rina enjoyed it so much.</div>
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We added a few new fun activities this year. We brought our two kayaks and took turns rowing them around the small stock pond. It was really fun, but when you got to close to the bank, it smelled like a feedlot.<br />
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Jess tried her hand at fishing since the pond is stocked. </div>
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No luck. The only thing she caught was...</div>
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...herself!</div>
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My niece, Lily, with Rina. Campin' kids!</div>
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Hailey paddling through "Algae Island". </div>
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I took my good camera and practiced a little. Here are some Common Teasel I snapped a photo of as I was practicing my close up shots. I'm trying to get used to my new camera, but don't have a lot of time to practice. </div>
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My nephew, Jacob, took my other nephew, Noah, out for spin. It's nice, because smaller children can fit up front in these kayaks. They are only 8 ft in length, but wider than a normal kayak. I like that because they feel more stable. Although my niece Jessica managed to turn one over, she got it up-righted before it sank, LOL. She's our hot-rod kayak kid.<br />
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I was able to take Rina out and enjoyed spending time with my niece, Lily, as we rowed around the pond and I pointed out all the different birds. She said to me, "Aunt Jackie, you make everything into an adventure!" What a sweetie. Love all my nieces and nephews to pieces.<br />
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Rina took a turn paddling me around the lake. </div>
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My "skittish" sister actually got into a kayak. I think we got her hooked! She was relaxed in no time.<br />
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This has to be one of my favorite pictures of Stacie and her daughter, Jess. I couldn't get enough of watching have fun together with those kayaks. They were a great investment and we've already used them a lot this summer.</div>
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The next day, I went out with Rina. Hailey was the only kid who was brave enough to swim in that water. She enjoyed letting me pull her around the pond. My silly, brave daughter!<br />
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The girls did a little kayak routine to music. OMGoodness, so cute and funny!</div>
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My stepmom, Diana, provide fun activities for the kids which included making sun visors and filling a pinata for the all the grand-kids to enjoy.<br />
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The pinata included these interesting looking teeth and A LOT of candy.</div>
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Stacie, Jessica, Rina and I road down to the old schoolhouse to see if it was still standing. We always think it's going to be a fallen down mess the next year we come back, but somehow it is still standing the test of time even though it is severely leaning.<br />
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Can you see how it is leaning to the left?</div>
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We hung out in the shade while the kids played in the creek and caught a whole bunch of crawdads with nets provided by Nana. Here is my nephew, Elijah, who is currently battling kidney disease. He had so much fun that weekend. It was awesome to see him just get to be a kid again despite his challenges. </div>
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My dad helping to get a kite unstuck from around their motor home. It was windy that weekend and their aren't any power lines around the ranch- so perfect place to fly a kite.<br />
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Fly high!</div>
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My niece, Jess, took these fun pictures of Hailey when they were out on one of their ATV rides.<br />
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LOL, love this!</div>
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Nana gave this cute bee costume to Rina. It has a little stinger in the back and she had a grand time going around "stinging" everyone with it. Here she is standing in the doorway of Stacie's cute vintage trailer. Peace out from this bumble bee! Good-bye Heppner, until next year!</div>
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God Bless,</div>
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Jackie</div>
Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-52963692181602678102018-06-20T17:15:00.000-07:002018-06-20T17:15:52.109-07:00June 2018 Family Vacation: Part 3 - Crystal Gold Mine, Kellogg, ID<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On our way back home from Glacier National Park, we stopped in Kellogg, ID at a privately owned mine called the "Crystal Gold Mine" where they give tours through it. It is an old 1880s gold mine rediscovered in the 1980s, I believe. Josiah is fascinated with all things to do with mining so we decided to fill his love tank and take the tour as a family. So glad we did! It was an absolutely amazing piece of history, plus wonderful geology lessons were involved, too.<br />
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Dave did a great job as our tour guide. He was showing us some drills that came from the mine. You could still see where the rails were for the cart(s) to ride on.<br />
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Old hand drills mixed with rock and quartz.</div>
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There was water in this area of the mine and to prove it was safe, the owner kept it stocked with huge rainbow trout that Rina got to help feed.<br />
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There actually ended up being more silver in the mine than gold, but the original miners passed up the silver. It's the dark areas you see on this rock. The red is iron being leached from the rock.<br />
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Here are some stalactites beginning to form on some of the walls. They called these bacon stalactites, because they looked like strips of bacon.<br />
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Here is an offshoot that they tested out, but didn't find gold. </div>
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Dave was demonstrating how the miners would drill by hand the holes in the rock to put the dynamite to blast more of the rock away. What a hard job, and so very dangerous.<br />
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You can see the manganese that is leaching out of the rock here. Such a pretty purple color.<br />
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There was gold in this quartz! So small you had to have a magnifying glass to see it. But it was there!<br />
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You can see copper leaching out of the rocks here, making a beautiful blue color.<br />
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Here is wire silver which apparently is very rare. </div>
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This is an old wooden brace used in the mine, it looks like it will become petrified wood in no time.<br />
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Hailey is looking past the wood bracing log and down the tracks to the back of the mine. </div>
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Rina found some fools gold and Dave told us all to rub it for good luck. </div>
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Then we found some real gold and he told us all to rub it for good luck, too. </div>
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This was the end of the main shaft. There was a shaft that they built going 60ft straight down but it was filled with water. The original miners left very suddenly and they never had an official claim on the mine filed.<br />
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This is the original pump the miners used to keep the water pumped out of that deep shaft. I love that the original wooden plug is still intact.<br />
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As you walked up to this offshoot, you could smell a difference in the air. They used that room as a place to store their dynamite. This is one of the original boxes (now empty) they found in this offshoot.<br />
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Dave took a couple of family pictures for us. We had such a good time and would recommend this tour to anyone! We got to meet the current owner who is a veteran. Super nice man!<br />
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The tour included a chance to gold pan for an hour. Thank goodness it stopped raining just as the tour ended so we gold panned and found some fun stuff. </div>
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The kids found some pretty rocks and even a few gold flakes. Love doing this kind of stuff as a family. They even let us stay in their parking lot and eat dinner in the trailer. Like I said, nice people.<br />
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After that we stayed at our friends' house in Spokane again. We lovingly call it the KOJ now. Thanks again, Laci and Andrew for letting us stay. It was so fun to see you again.<br />
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The next morning we headed for home, bucking a wind and almost running out of diesel. But we made it!<br />
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Mom and Larry took great care of our animals for us while we were gone. A big thank you to them indeed.<br />
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God Bless,<br />
JackieCheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-8618528911060962612018-06-16T16:48:00.001-07:002018-06-17T08:45:51.912-07:00June 2018 Family Vacation: Part 2 - Glacier National Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Stealing a kiss on the banks of Lake MacDonald in Glacier National Park. </div>
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This smooch was much needed as we had a very stressful time getting there because I gave wrong directions landing us in an extremely hard spot to turn around a 32' toy hauler. Yikes! All I can say is Michael is amazing (with Ernie spotting for him), and he managed to get us out of the pickle I put us in. After a good cry when we got to Fish Creek Campground (thank you, Kay, for letting me cry on your shoulder), all was better when we walked down to the lake and saw this beautiful view.</div>
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Lake MacDonald</div>
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Hailey had a lot of fun playing with her cousins Jasper and Zeke. </div>
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I think they thought her antics were pretty funny. Here she is walking along a log going over Fish Creek.<br />
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Always the gymnast! </div>
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She even practiced bars on this cool root that was in the bank. </div>
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Rina had a lot of fun playing with her cousins, too</div>
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And her sissy, of course!</div>
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This is now one of my favorite pictures of all time!</div>
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Privileged to have Crystal call me "Aunt Jackie". We had so much fun together! She was really brave to come camping with us without her husband. We love you, dear niece!<br />
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Awww, aren't they cute?! My favorite picture of my in-laws...ever. Love my new camera!<br />
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Rina and Grandpa Ernie</div>
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Rina</div>
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It was really nice for Rina to get to play with cousins she doesn't see very often. They had so much fun on the beaches of Lake MacDonald.</div>
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We got the kayaks out and paddled around Lake MacDonald. We were excited that Kay was able to try it despite her recent back problems.</div>
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You get a whole different view from the kayaks.</div>
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Was really glad Michael got to go kayaking with his mom. </div>
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Lake MacDonald.</div>
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Josiah and Hailey tried their hand at gold panning. Found some pretty rocks, but no color.</div>
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Josiah, Dylan and his friend, had a great time kayaking and riding mountain bikes all over.</div>
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We roasted elk back strap on sticks over the fire, courtesy of Josiah's successful hunt last fall. This was a treat for everyone. Of course we had s'mores every night.<br />
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Michael's older brother, David, met us at Glacier. He brought along his dog "Weeble". It was great to get to spend time with him also.</div>
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Josiah taught the boys how make their own musket balls for black powder hunting.</div>
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We didn't see any bears in our campground, but we saw a deer.</div>
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Morning snuggles in the camper with Dad. It was a wonderful place to escape the mosquitoes when they got too thick.</div>
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We drove the "Going to the Sun Road" as far as we could going east, but we were stopped at Avalanche because it still wasn't open due to the amount of snow they had that year. So we stopped off at a few falls along the way.<br />
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Josiah was fascinated by the big holes in the rock created by cavitation and powerful water.</div>
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The boys had a great time skipping rocks off the white water. Dylan has a special talent for it.<br />
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Gorgeous, rugged mountains on either side of us. Clearly David doesn't enjoy his picture taken, but I got one anyway, ha ha!</div>
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Hailey, looking like a big girl instead of a little one. </div>
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Kay and Ernie beside the "Going to the Sun Road".</div>
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The next day, Michael and I decided to leave the older kids in camp with their cousins and uncle and we drove with Rina, Kay and Ernie down and around Glacier National Park so we could enter the "Going to the Sun Road" from the East Entrance and travel as far as we could on it from that direction. What an incredible drive! We also stopped at "Running Eagle Falls" and hiked up to it. It was a short hike and perfect for Rina especially.</div>
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Running Eagle Falls - named after a famous Blackfoot maiden warrior who was killed and buried in a tree above the falls. </div>
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Rina and Michael are crossing the bridge that goes to the falls. </div>
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Kay and Ernie at Running Eagle Falls</div>
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Michael, Rina and I standing in front of Running Eagle Falls.</div>
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Cutest little hiker - ever!</div>
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Saw a toad on the side of the trial. </div>
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Rina really wanted to smell the snow along the trail, so I let her. </div>
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Views from the "Going to the Sun Road". We could only go about 15 miles in before they made us turn around. So we probably missed a third of it, but what we saw was worth the drive.<br />
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The east side of the park had been heavily affected by the fire last year, but it made it easier to see the gorgeous mountains.<br />
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"Goose Nest Island" in St. Mary Lake.</div>
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A monument to the Blackfoot Nation in Glacier National Park near St. Mary.</div>
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We managed to pack all that you've seen and more in two full days. Next time, I would definitely try to be there for at least 4 to 5 days. Two days were not enough! But really grateful with the time we had with family in this beautiful country we'd never seen before. Wonderful memories were made! We had a few more adventures on the way home, which I will blog about next.<br />
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God Bless,<br />
JackieCheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-64918342912984744452018-06-16T15:26:00.000-07:002018-06-16T15:26:40.133-07:00June 2018 Family Vacation Part 1: Cataldo Mission and Wallace, ID<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We went on our first ever week-long family vacation ever. Michael's folks joined us as we traveled through Washington, Idaho and then into Montana where we met up of with Michael's brother, David, his niece, Crystal, and her family and camped at Glacier National Park. After staying the first night in the trailer in the driveway of a sweet friend of mine from MOPS, Laci, who now lives in Spokane, we headed to Cataldo Mission.</div>
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We toured the Mission House first where the Jesuit priests would live and be trained.</div>
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This was the chapel inside the Mission House.</div>
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These wooden pillars outside of the beautiful wooden cathedral were huge!</div>
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The inside was breathtaking. The amount of work and love that went into carving out all of this just boggles the mind. The building itself was mostly built by Native Americans who where members of the church.</div>
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The artistry in all of the wood carvings was amazing. This is a panel in the ceiling. </div>
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Another decoration on the ceiling.</div>
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All of the candelabras an chandeliers were carved from tin cans. A Jesuit priest painted all the paintings and stained the wood to make it look like marble. The beautiful wall paper was hand painted newspaper. You would have never known it wasn't real wallpaper. </div>
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Read the picture below for the construction details. Incredible!</div>
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This was carved out of wood.</div>
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This was my in-laws first time seeing Cataldo Mission. Our kids were old enough to remember it this time. You can see the beautiful wallpaper behind the altar in this photo. </div>
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Checking out the beautiful view outside the Mission. </div>
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I love this picture of my FIL, Ernie. I was having fun playing with my new camera. </div>
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I'm glad Rina is always willing to be my model whenever I want to practice with my new camera.<br />
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Standing in front of where the gristmill was at one time. After that, we walked through their wonderful interpretive center, which was a first for our family. </div>
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Rina fell asleep in the truck between Cataldo and Wallace, ID, so I let her sleep a little while in the trailer while Michael took the older kids and his parents on the Silver City Mine tour in Wallace. She woke up just as I saw them pulling away, so she and I walked downtown and ended up eating some huckleberry ice cream from the "Brain Freeze Creamery" while we wanted for everyone else to finish their tour. </div>
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Josiah was thrilled that they asked him to run the mucker during the tour. Hailey thought it was loud! Thanks to Kay for taking these pictures for me.<br />
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Walking down one of the shafts of the Silver City Mine. Lots of great stories and very educational.<br />
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LOL, I love this picture so much of Michael and his mom. We enjoyed having them on vacation with us and look forward to doing it again. I'll be blogging about our adventures in Glacier National Park in my next post.</div>
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God Bless,</div>
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Jackie</div>
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-46435032759562358452018-06-09T14:19:00.000-07:002018-06-09T14:19:09.861-07:00Homestead Happenings - August 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As our contractor, Daniel Jacobson, finished the basic construction of our house, we started working on the wiring. We also had other local contractors working on all the heating and air/ducts as well as getting the plumbing roughed in. The kids, including cousins and friends, were constantly helping us sweep and clean the interior after each project was complete.</div>
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Rina is standing in front of our new heat pump. That thick powdery dust is what we dealt with all summer long. Piles of it! We were all dirty - constantly. </div>
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Rina is standing in front of our new furnace which is twice the size of the one we had in our old house.<br />
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Josiah's friends from Boy Scouts would come over and help us late into the night. Michael taught them how to string wire. They were so helpful!<br />
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Hailey loved to get up in the rafters to help string wire. She's a monkey, too. </div>
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Our friends from Boy Scouts, Josiah and Ryan Bork, helped dig ditches for plumbing....<br />
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...and helped Michael in the evenings with stringing wire. We have awesome friends!<br />
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Daniel's son, Tavi, who hung out with us for much of the month and a half that his dad was camping on our property buildig the house, used a magnifying glass to burn the wood with his Dad's business name. Daniel nailed it into the rafters. We love it!<br />
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Josiah's turn to help Michael string wire through the rafters. It was soooo hot in that house! We had to do it later at night to keep it bearable. We were exhausted from so many late nights, but it paid off in the end. Daniel worked late into the night constructing the house almost every night he was here. He worked so hard and so fast. People around here just couldn't believe a house could possibly go up that fast with so few people working on it.<br />
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This is pretty much Daniel's pace every second of the day. Now you know how he got it done so fast!<br />
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Daniel, contractor extraordinaire!</div>
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Here he is right after he put the last nail into our house. A job well done! We made many memories with this amazing Romanian mountain man. We were absolutely honored for him to be the contractor to build our home. He gave us an amazing deal on the house because of our circumstances and got it done in record time besides. We pray many blessings on him and his precious family whom we count as special friends. </div>
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Michael took a night off from working on the house to take Hailey to one of the nicest restaurants in town since she had been working hard on learning her table manners. It meant the world to Hailey that her very busy dad would take her out for a date. This is why I love this man.<br />
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Michael's beautiful date.</div>
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Josiah was able to go to the desert with Grandma Kricket to get everything prepared for their month of vacationing down there. He got a little driving practice in.<br />
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This is what my kids looked like at the end of every day. I would spray her down in the evenings using the outdoor shower on our travel trailer where I would also do the dishes.<br />
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She cleaned up well though. Here she is standing in the shop I struggled to keep half way clean despite all the dirt (and sometimes sheep) constantly coming in.<br />
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Hailey was able to save up enough money to get her mermaid tail. She used the tar out of it the rest of the summer and really became quite good at swimming in it.<br />
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I took a quick trip to my sister's house where Rina got to play with Cousin Marcus while I did some yard-saling with my sis. She ended up storing a bunch of furniture that I got really good deals on that I wanted to put in our new house. What a blessing! I saved so much money on furniture that weekend.<br />
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I asked Josiah and his cousin, Andrew, if they could build me a stanchion to use for the sheep for shearing and doctoring. Josiah came up with this design and they used scrap lumber from the house to make it.<br />
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Then they convinced me to try it out, LOL. It worked! Mama approved.</div>
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A friend from church gave Hailey this new outfit. I thought she looked so grown up in it.</div>
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Grandma Kricket came back from the desert after taking Hailey and several of her cousins down there. We had one night to celebrate her birthday and then she was off again! Josiah made her shrimp sushi and I made her Thai chicken in the Instant Pot. Just because we lived in a shop, didn't mean we were going to stop celebrating and living life to the fullest.<br />
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Michael patiently wired a great deal of the house with his little helper clinging to his back. He's always let the kids do this as he's worked on his projects. Rina is no exception.<br />
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One night we impulsively took the trailer up to Indian Lake where they were having a MOPS retreat. We invited Michael's folks to join us and we had a wonderful time. It was so nice to use the trailer for which it was intended. </div>
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Josiah is a good big brother and is always teaching Rina about the great outdoors. </div>
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Kay, Ernie and Michael, just relaxing by the lake in the morning. It was so nice to see him doing absolutely nothing but visiting with his folks.<br />
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Rina got to hang out with some of her MOPS friends. Aubrey looks so much like Rina. They're adorable together.<br />
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Josiah and Hailey were able to borrow our friend's kayaks and had a wonderful time paddling on the lake.<br />
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When we got home, my FIL, Ernie, was hard at work with Michael as they continued to work on digging ditches.<br />
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I decided to throw together an impromptu Solar Eclipse party at our house where we had a good view. We didn't quite see 100% totality, but we still had fun. We even made tin hats to keep the aliens from sucking out our brains, LOL. Glad we have friends and family who are nutty like us.<br />
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Mom and Rina watching the eclipse. </div>
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Rina lost interest after awhile. </div>
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Then we had a little eclipse potluck in the shop. Complete with an eclipse cake compliments of our friend, Gracia.<br />
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Total Eclipse Cake</div>
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One of our homeschool friends brought his family over the mountain one night and wired the control panel for the house which was a huge, complicated job. What a help Brandon was to Michael that night. It was so hot in the house. Just miserable. They worked through it until they got it done.<br />
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Brandon's wife, Marlana, was very pregnant with their latest son. She's a mama of many boys. It was so nice to visit with her and her sons got to play with our children on the homestead. They went home very dirty, LOL.</div>
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We were visiting my mom's house to water for her while she was gone. Rina just sat down in her green lawn in absolutely heaven. Didn't realize how much we all missed having a green lawn until that moment.<br />
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The girls were great about helping do laundry using our outdoor laundry system.</div>
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Josiah started working on his hiking merit badge for Boy Scouts that summer. </div>
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We took some time to swim in the river near our friends' property. Found a great swimming hole to play in.<br />
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I managed to have a small garden. It brought me a lot of joy in a time of extreme stress.</div>
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This was the last picture I took of the Rina at the pool. The bumble bee was tired, as were the rest of us. As exhausted as we were, the work was really just beginning. </div>
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"Peace out" from this bumble bee!</div>
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-59903635005762111982018-06-02T10:30:00.000-07:002018-06-02T10:30:03.043-07:00Hailey's 10th Birthday - Stayin' Cool at the Pool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We had a pink camo themed birthday party at the aquatic center for Hailey's 10th birthday. </div>
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She was blessed to have many of her homeschooling friends from over the mountain attend. It was wonderful to hang with old friends as well as new ones that day. </div>
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Singing "Happy Birthday" to Hailey!</div>
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What a great looking group of homeschoolers! I tell ya, we know how to have fun!</div>
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These kids are all getting so big! I remember many of them as toddlers or babies.</div>
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Rina sure enjoyed her her cake.</div>
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Reading through her birthday cards. It was a bit overwhelming since there were so many. Many friends gave her money to buy a mermaid tail she could actually swim in. </div>
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We gave her her own pink tool kit for working on the house and a gymnastics bag with a personalized water bottle. </div>
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Rina conked out about mid-way through the party.</div>
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We were also blessed to have Michael's niece, Crystal, and her three boys visit us for Hailey's birthday. They hung out at the homestead with us for a couple days.<br />
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Zeek liked sitting on Dixie.</div>
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Jasper just liked to talk to her. She's a good listener.</div>
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Dylan just enjoyed leaning on her and trying to make friends with our black sheep, Fluff.</div>
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What a fantastic birthday weekend for Hailey. Full of family and friends making her feel special. I think she really needed that after such a stressful time after the fire. We are so proud of our sweet and sour redhead. She's got a tender heart for the Lord and loves His Word. </div>
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We love you so much, Hailey!</div>
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-70428037746450372652018-05-30T18:17:00.000-07:002018-05-30T18:17:03.235-07:00Homestead Happenings - July 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Josiah earned enough "Scout Bucks" through his troop's Christmas tree sale fundraiser to pay for Boy Scout camp at Camp Meriwether on the Oregon Coast. He was able to earn several merit badges including rock climbing. He spent most of his time completing the Frontiersman Award, which included blacksmithing - something he absolutely loves doing.<br />
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He's always been a monkey!</div>
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Since he was gone for the Fourth of July, when he got home we lit off personal fireworks in the middle of where the old trailer house had been. Rina wasn't too sure about the sparklers. </div>
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You aren't going to believe the progress of our house in one month. Our contractor, Daniel Jacobson, absolutely rocked it! So at the beginning of July, within one week of breaking ground, we already had floor joists in.<br />
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The shop was unbearably hot in July. We had one window air conditioner loaned to us and it kept it around 95 degrees in there. Some homeschool friends of ours heard about how miserable it was for us and sent us money to pay for another large window air conditioner. With the two window air conditioners going, we were able to keep the temperature in the shop around 85 degrees F during the heat of the day which was much more bearable. What a blessing! A big thank you to both our friends for helping keep us cool that summer.</div>
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Soon the subflooring was in. The kids had a great time riding their bikes around it that night.<br />
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Exterior walls went up the next day. The inspector was really great about coming over right away for his inspections so there weren't any delays. Josiah helped with this portion of the house.<br />
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Rina found a very important job of watering the dirt to keep the dust down. It was really quite helpful and kept her entertained. It was so dusty!<br />
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The exterior walls were up in two days, just in time for my dear friend, Cora, to come and check on our progress.<br />
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Here were are standing in front of the windows of what would soon be my homeschool room. It was starting to feel real at this point!<br />
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I took the kids and some Boy Scout friends of Josiah's down to the river to swim, snorkel and catch crawdads. It was nice to have a little break.<br />
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Great way to cool off!</div>
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Next were the interior walls which might have taken Daniel three days to complete them all.<br />
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Daniel and his friend, Senior. Love these guys!</div>
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Even Daniel's friends were dropping by to donate their time to helping him get our home built as quickly as possible. Thanks, Andy!<br />
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Trusses were next. They swung them over the shop and trailer and then placed them on the house carefully. It was quite the process to watch!<br />
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Hallway down to the bedrooms.</div>
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Really starting to look like a house now!</div>
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Rina was on hand to give carpentry tips. </div>
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I'd take the kids to the pool or the river once a week on my day off from doing Underground tours.</div>
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It had been a very long time since any of us were able to bath in a bathtub. Rina couldn't wait!<br />
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Sub-roofing going on.</div>
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Meanwhile, a friend loaned us a backhoe and Michael worked hard both with it and a shovel to dig the main utility ditch to the new house.<br />
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He had his little helpers. The man is so patient!</div>
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Hailey's turn.</div>
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End result</div>
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Windows and doors in and weather wrap and moisture barrier on roof. Whew! Go Daniel!</div>
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Drove to Arlington to meet up with Aunt Stacie and the kids and have a fried chicken picnic and swim.<br />
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Rina enjoyed swimming with her cousins Jess and Lily.</div>
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Our contractor's sons were able to hang out with us a lot that summer. The kids had so much fun playing and creating together. Tavi was able to go to Arlington with us.<br />
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Stacie and I got to hang out in the shade and visit for a bit. Love our sister time!</div>
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Josiah was able to go home with them and spend some time with his cousin Andrew and their Nana who let them go metal detecting around the ranch. They found some fun "treasures".<br />
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I went over the mountain to pick up Hailey from summer camp and got to spend some time with my friend, Dorene, on her homestead. I hadn't bottle fed a calf since I was in high school. Brought back memories and I had a really fun visit with my friend. Loved seeing her living the homestead life.</div>
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Picked up Hailey from Cove Camp. This was one of her craft projects she made. She had a great time.<br />
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After Daniel got the roof done, the siding was next. He got both finished in a matter of just a few days.<br />
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In the meantime, Michael started working on the electrical inside the house.</div>
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Here he is installing the electrical panel. <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fzXVJoWz8h4/WwoIYAz15tI/AAAAAAAASh4/0FYhX5kadHY11aR3vyF-7trKl13syFR4gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="536" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fzXVJoWz8h4/WwoIYAz15tI/AAAAAAAASh4/0FYhX5kadHY11aR3vyF-7trKl13syFR4gCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_4509.JPG" width="478" /></a></div>
It was so hot, the kids slept outside quite a bit that July. Talk about some redhead bedhead!<br />
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At the end of July we went on a much needed (and belated) anniversary date to the nearest city. A friend had given us a gift certificate to the Olive Garden and the movie theater, so we decided we better use it. My mom and Larry Pop watched the kids so we could get a hotel overnight in Tri-Cities. We spend most of our time at the Re-Store, Lowes and Home Depot, but it was wonderful to get to pick out all the fun stuff that goes into a home, like faucets and a refrigerator, without bored kids in tow. What a huge blessing for us to be able to connect as a couple after so much stress and hard work.<br />
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As you can see, we feasted at the Olive Garden...</div>
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...and PF Changs</div>
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Then Cinnabon rolls while watching <i>Dunkirk</i> in the theater. Thank you, Beth, for the mandatory date! Such a blessing.<br />
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Brought home light fixtures and a lot of electrical supplies that weekend. Michael had his work cut out for him for sure. It took him about a month to rough-in the electrical in our house.<br />
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Daniel was almost done with building our house and we were about to get extremely busy for the next few months as we worked hard to finish the house enough that we could live in it before the snow flew.<br />
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-55672262846187856862018-05-28T18:14:00.000-07:002018-05-28T18:14:06.831-07:00Heppner Family Camp Out 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While Michael and Josiah were at summer Boy Scout Camp, the girls and I headed to the annual family camp out at the ranch in Heppner. We rode ATVs to look at the beautiful views and saw a lot of wildlife along the way.<br />
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Stacie and I with our dad. We've been so blessed with an amazing dad who loves us unconditionally and isn't afraid to tell us.</div>
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Hailey was spoiled rotten by her cousins as usual. She was old enough to really be able to play with them this time.<br />
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Cousin Jacob and Rina, walking to the creek. </div>
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Cousin Asher enjoyed taking Rina for spin in his little battery operated side-by-side. They were so cute!<br />
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I took my nephew, Elijah, and Rina for a slow ride through the camp.</div>
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My niece, Lily, and nephew, Asher, just loved my brother's good friend, Ethan. He was so much fun! He would take them to the pond to go fishing.<br />
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Hailey, enjoying a nice cup of cocoa to start the morning off right. We enjoyed sitting in the shade of my sister's vintage trailer. Having an awning was awesome!<br />
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Rina wanted to clean Aunt Stacie's trailer. Hope her clean streak sticks!</div>
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Selfie on Aunt Stacie's bed! Love my nieces, Lily and Jessica, so much.</div>
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On the way home, we stopped by the Heppner Cemetery to see the "Days of Sorrow" mass grave and monument. There was a flood that wiped out over 200 people in that town in 1903.<br />
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Whole families were wiped out. It is a super sad story told best in Peg Willis' book called <i>Rise Above</i>.</div>
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We also saw this interesting headstone. </div>
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My sister and I always wanted to stop and see the mass grave and we finally did it. It was super sobering to be standing there. All the sorrow and heart-ache caused from that flood was just horrible. </div>
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If you are ever in Heppner, Oregon, be sure to stop by their county museum and check out the display on this subject. </div>
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It was another Heppner Family vacation for the books. It seems like we're getting fewer as the teenagers get older and more busy with jobs and camps, but the younger kids and us adults have so much fun. We look forward to next year's camp out!</div>
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-24344745125903835162018-05-26T15:15:00.003-07:002018-05-26T15:25:11.977-07:00Rina's Third Birthday Party - A Cowgirl is Born!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This darlin' little girl turned three years old a couple weeks ago. We had a family dinner at her favorite restaurant, Susie's Cafe, on her actual birthday. She was given several things horse-related that evening.</div>
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Hailey made this gorgeous lemon/Bavarian cream filled cake to take to the restaurant. </div>
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She did such a good job.</div>
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On Saturday we had her birthday party at our homestead. Before the party, Papa and Nana showed up with a BIG surprise. Here she is waiting to see what Papa brought her in his horse trailer....<br />
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She was absolutely overwhelmed when Bakerman emerged. She just didn't know what to think!<br />
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It didn't take too long for her to realize that Bakerman really did belong to her!</div>
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She was excited to receive a pink lead rope from her Grandma Kricket and Larry Pop. Bakerman loves the green grass at his new home. Bakerman is a 23-year-old miniature horse whom my dad has had for years. He's an absolute sweetheart and perfect for a 3-year-old girl. He doesn't bite or kick and he's not only broke to ride, but also to drive a cart.<br />
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This saddle is the same one I rode in when I was her age.</div>
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Naughty Papa, he even brought Bakerman into the house. Good thing I still have plywood floors!</div>
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The Papa hitched him up and took the birthday girl for a spin. We gave rides to all the kids when her party started.</div>
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Our sweet homeschool friend, Gracia, made Rina's beautiful cake. </div>
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I had sent her a picture of Bakerman and she made it look like him. So cute!</div>
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Gracia helped Hailey make some lemon-filled cupcakes and they had a great time decorating them.<br />
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The newly constructed deck sure came in handy that day! </div>
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We served cake and ice cream to 50 friends and family that day.</div>
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We brought out the chicks and let the kids hold and pet them.</div>
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We even cleaned up Dixie and she got lots of loves that day. She was one happy ewe!</div>
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Rina got some really cute gifts. The Clarks got her a little stuffed horse that looked like Bakerman.<br />
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She loves this wooden play food set she got from some friends at church.</div>
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We gave her a couple of brushes for Bakerman.</div>
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Grandma and Grandpa Laughlin gave Rina a very useful gardening tool set. </div>
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We had a pinata filled with little toys instead of candy.</div>
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The kids had so much fun. The pinata was looking pretty disproportionate by the end ;)<br />
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The next day I taught Josiah how to hitch up and drive Bakerman. We also discovered it is an excellent way to get her to take a nap.</div>
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I also taught Josiah how to saddle him up so he can lead Rina around. This day I had them take a letter down to the mail box. And you all thought the "Pony Express" was history!<br />
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Welcome to Mission Rd Homestead, Bakerman! You will be loved and cared for in your twilight years. We look forward to many good times ahead with you.<br />
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Thank you to Nana and Papa who made a little girl's dream come true! Happy third birthday to our sweet Rina. You are so very loved and cherished, dear one.Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-71362101532663248702018-04-16T15:56:00.000-07:002018-04-16T15:56:04.769-07:00Homestead Happenings - June 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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June started out fairly quiet as we tried to keep things as normal as possible for the kids. Rina always loves to feed the chickens their cracked corn when I do chores in the morning. Thankful we have only nice chickens, even our rooster is a sweetheart.<br />
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On the first weekend of June we traveled to my sister's house to watch my oldest nephew graduate from High School. We were all so proud of him! He even gave me a rose, which I wasn't expecting at all. Very sweet. I remember changing his diapers and rocking him to sleep. Time marches by so quickly! Now his is out on his own and doing a great job supporting himself, and learning many lessons along the way.<br />
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My second oldest nephew, Marcus, adored playing with Rina while we were visiting.</div>
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We brought my other nephew, Andrew, home with us to camp on the homestead for a few weeks. He loves to camp and fits right into our family. It was hot dogs grilled over an open fire for dinner that night!<br />
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My stepmom is friends with Tedd Arnold who is the author of the famous "Fly Guy" children book series. When he heard about how all of our Fly Guy books were destroyed in the fire, he sent us 14 signed books to replace those we lost. Wow! We were so surprised and grateful!<br />
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My friend, Cora, stopped by for a chat on my bench swing while passing through. Dixie managed to squeeze her way in for little love and attention from Cora. She was resting her head on Cora's shoulder in this picture. She's a sheep "dog", I'm tellin' ya! I'm going to do an "Adventures of Dixie" post one of these days.<br />
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Got a late start on my garden because I wasn't sure that I wanted to plant one with how crazy I knew life was going to get, but I decided to plant a small one, again, just to bring some normalcy to our situation. The girls were a great help. Rina is picking my flowers (awww!) and Hailey is planting pumpkin seeds.<br />
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I didn't know what to do about my damaged sword collection that we were able to recover from the fire that I couldn't bear to throw away. I decided to re-purpose them and use them as plant markers. Coolest plant markers ever, in my opinion!<br />
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Dixie wants to swing, too!</div>
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My mom brought over a gold mining kit and the kids went hog-wild. Next thing I know, Josiah has a sluice box built. It kept them entertained for hours.<br />
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OCEANetwork, Oregon's Christian Home School support group, called up and offered me a free scholarship to go to Oregon's homeschool conference. It was the first time I've ever been able to attend, and I was able to go with my super awesome friends, Dorene and Cora. We stayed at my adopted in-laws and went to the conference during the day. I love Lamplighter books and when one of my friends mentioned to the folks at the Lamplighter table that I had lost all mine due to the house fire, they insisted I pick out any book on table. I picked the "Secret Bridge". It ended up being a really good book. That was so sweet of them. Made me cry, of course!<br />
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We met up with some of my homeschool friends from La Grande, whom I had started my homeschooling journey with. We had SO MUCH FUN! I learned a lot and came home inspired and confident in my decision to keep homeschooling my children despite our difficult circumstances.<br />
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On the way home, we stopped by Eagle Creek and took a selfie. Little did we know that this area would be the site of a huge fire that would burn a big portion of the Columbia River Gorge later that summer. Oh my goodness, but I do love these girls!</div>
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The next day, our contractor, Daniel, was able to come over the mountain and start prepping the ground where our new house was to be built. It was so excited to watch, after months of just feeling like we were waiting and unable to do a lot. What a privilege for our children to watch every step of their house being built. The sheep were kicked out of the upper pasture and it was transformed into a construction zone. It was a hot, dirty mess, but oh so worth it!<br />
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Here is a video of Hailey putting a Gideon New Testament bible in the corner of the foundation because as she says, "Without God, we labor in vain." God had his hand in every bit of our situation.</div>
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Daniel, getting ready for the foundation to be poured. The kids had SO much fun on those dirt piles, which made my shop a constant mess, LOL.<br />
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This is what our house looked like a week after he started working on it. The foundation was completely finished. Daniel is unbelievably fast at what he does!<br />
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My mom and step-dad celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with us kids and as many grandkids as we could wrangle up, along with some of their friends. We went to Rooster's Restaurant to eat and celebrate.<br />
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We were so happy for them! We are ever so grateful to the Lord for bringing Larry into our lives. He has loved our mom well and will continue to until death do they part.<br />
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Crazy cousins who have motorcycle fever, just like their grandparents! I think Lily and Rina look so much like each other.<br />
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What a wonderful way to end the month of June and leap right into summer where adventure and a lot of hard work awaited us. His plans are not our plans, but I can tell you one thing, they are ALWAYS good plans, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time.<br />
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God Bless,<br />
JackieCheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-74118021712988500362018-04-14T14:38:00.000-07:002018-04-14T14:39:07.126-07:00Homestead Happenings - May 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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May brought warm weather which made it much easier to camp on our property. Living in the sheep pasture provided a constant source of entertainment. We were pushing to get the burnout trailer demolished and removed from our property as soon as possible. The smell was horrible and every time we'd have a wind storm, it would blow stuff into our neighbor's yard. We couldn't get it removed until it had an asbestos test, which thankfully came back negative and we were able to move forward. </div>
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In the meantime, the people who let us borrow their trailer needed it back, so we were scrambling to see if insurance would pay for us to buy our own. After a very stressful month of not having a clue if we would be living and sleeping in the shop all summer, some friends of ours from Thunder RV in La Grande, found the perfect set up for us! Finding a bunk bed situation is hard, but they gave us a screamin' good deal on this 32' toy-hauler. The outdoor shower is where I did the dishes all summer and fall. It had a lot of features that worked for us. Josiah still preferred sleeping on the couch in the shop, but the rest of us slept in the trailer. We did all our cooking and hanging out in the shop during the day.</div>
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We will be able to use it for a long time to come. What a blessing!</div>
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It's so nice in side and very child-friendly. You can see how excited the kids were when we got it.</div>
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Trying to keep things as normal as possible, the kids did a shortened version of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" for our local homeschool group's presentation night. They did a great job and had everyone laughing. It was something they had done for our Narnia unit study.<br />
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My pretty girls, playing in the front yard (our pasture).</div>
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It was getting warm, so time to shear the sheep. We did it on the front step of the shop. They were shearing sheep just as my MIL came to visit and help watch the kids while I went to Greece for a week. I had already had the trip paid for before the fire and my sister insisted I go so she didn't have to fly back alone. I'm really glad I went. It was a good break from the chaos of our situation. I'm forever grateful to my MIL for making it possible for me to go, and my adopted in-laws for inviting me in the first place!</div>
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I'll eventually blog my trip to Greece, but I had to throw one of my favorite pictures of me and my sis and her in-laws, Vern and Ethel, standing in front of the Temple of Poseidon, which was the first of many temple sites we were able to visit in our 5 days in Greece. It was an amazing adventure!<br />
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While I was in Greece, our little darlin, Rina, turned 2 years old. The grandparents threw a little party for her back home in the shop. It was really hard for me to not be there. I'm glad she was too young to be bothered by it.</div>
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When I got home from Greece, I came home to this delightful sight! The burned out trailer had been removed while I was gone. I bawled all the way up the driveway when I saw it. So wonderful to have it gone and not be constantly reminded of all our losses. I'm sure the neighbors appreciated it, too<br />
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Despite some jet lag, I was working at the Underground the next day as a tour guide for their "Comes to Life" event. I had a wonderful time giving tours. I always love an excuse to dress up.<br />
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This is what we would wake up to every morning when we would go into the shop to make coffee and breakfast. This kid was a trooper! I really appreciated his willingness to sleep on the couch in the shop for the 8 months it took for us to get into our new home. We lived out of tubs, doing the best we could with what we had. Mom and Larry gave us their old couch and love seat which was a real blessing.<br />
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Rina helped me with my outdoor laundry system all summer long. </div>
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In May, we participated for the first time in our local homeschool group's egg drop challenge.<br />
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Hailey put hers in a laundry detergent container full of some sort of fluff and then duct taped it shut.<br />
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It worked!</div>
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Josiah's not so much.</div>
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Hailey won for her age bracket. She was very excited!</div>
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Josiah and his Boy Scout troop were able to go on a zip-line adventure at a place on the other side of Oregon, called, "Tree to Tree".<br />
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Michael went with them and said it was really neat to see how all the boys overcame their fears and rose to the challenge of conquering these zip-lines courses.<br />
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Josiah was the only one to finish the entire course. They couldn't believe how fast he moved.<br />
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Josiah with some of his Boy Scout friends at the Black Diamond zip-line run. They had a fantastic weekend!<br />
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To top the month off, we were surprised when we looked into our chicken coop and found some baby chicks from a mama hen who had gone broody and was hiding. We didn't notice her missing. She had three baby chicks. It was a wonderful thing for my kids to see, especially since all of their other baby chicks had been destroyed in our house fire. Another God smile. He knows what we need, when we need it... ALWAYS.<br />
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So the end of the month left us camping on our property and waiting for the building permits so we could begin the monumental task of building our new home. We were really thankful to be able to stay on our property so we could take care of our animals easily. We were able to kind of catch our breath in the month of May. Good thing, because we were about get really, really busy!<br />
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God Bless,<br />
JackieCheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-38253687041281736432018-03-29T12:57:00.000-07:002018-04-08T17:39:36.746-07:00Homestead Happenings - April 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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April of 2017 was a month of trying to find a new normal as we camped on our property during the months immediately following our house fire. We learned to make do with the things we had. The kids look back on this time fondly. We chose to look at our temporary situation as an adventure. Life was very INCONVENIENT at this time, but we learned to be grateful for the things we did have.<br />
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The weather was starting to get nice so we heated up water on the propane burner and the kids got to bathe in the canner kettle.<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">Even Josiah (13 at the time) managed to just barely fit in it. When his friends came over, they all had to have a try, too, LOL. Everyday was always an adventure at our place.</span></div>
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We moved the play set into the upper sheep pasture which became our yard. It was fun having the sheep to play with everyday. The little black lambs were so cute!<br />
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The kids had lots and lots of hammock time. They invented hammock games like "Spider in the Web".<br />
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Before the flies got too bad, we were able to open the shop door to let in light and fresh air We quickly came up with ways to keep the sheep out of the shop where we were living. Dixie would stare longingly at us, just waiting for us to pet her.<br />
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I can't tell you how many times the sheep got into the shop. I had lots of messes to clean up when someone would forget to close the shop door. Never thought I'd say, "Someone please get the sheep out of the dining room!".<br />
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There were a lot of firsts. Like doing laundry outside. Often times I would have to step over Dixie to get to the washing machine. We hung everything to dry on the clothesline - spring, summer and fall<br />
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Rina, not at all a flexible child, had a hard time adjusting to new sleeping quarters. Camping long term with a toddler was challenging to say the least. </div>
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This was what I called my "fire art". These were items I pulled out of the the burned out trailer house and used as yard art. I put my bird feeder in the middle of my antique ice cream parlor chair, added my jewelry tree with my burned earrings and topped it off with the "God Made Me Special" plate.</div>
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I brought all my herb buckets I had on the front porch near the burned-out trailer and put them around the borrowed travel trailer. Making lemonade out of lemons. My spinning wheel was half burned and unusable, but I thought it looked OK as yard art.</div>
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As we settled into our new digs and were waiting to move forward with the removal of the burned-out trailer, we were able to sneak a little fun into our lives. Michael was finally able to enter his '26 T-Bucket into his very first car show at the Doolittle Raiders 75th Anniversary event. He had a great time and the girls enjoyed showing it off, too.<br />
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Mom and Larry bought us tickets to the Doolittle Raiders Gala that happened that evening. I had to scramble to come up with an outfit as all my vintage clothes had sadly burned. I ended up wearing my Grandma Evelyn's beautiful fur cape and hat. It was such a blessing to get to wear it!<br />
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Unfortunately the picture is terribly pixelated, but it was the best we had. This was a badly needed date for Michael and I. He would have loved to be in his Army dress blues for the night, but we couldn't get them set up in time. So in a borrowed suit, we swing-danced the night away. What a great evening and much needed break from the constant stress that came with each new day!<br />
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Michael and the kids participated in their first "Passion Play" at our church during Easter weekend. It helped everyone focus on the Lord instead of our circumstances. We have so much to be grateful for. The best gift ever is Jesus!<br />
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Hailey was a townsperson. </div>
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Michael was a disciple. He looked so weird with long hair! </div>
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Josiah helped behind the scenes with the lights. He did a great job!</div>
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Hailey reenacting Palm Sunday.</div>
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Our pastor did a great job playing Jesus.</div>
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I always try to get the kids books for their Easter presents instead of a lot of junk food.<br />
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Having Easter morning in the trailer where it was warm!</div>
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Early Easter morning, we rushed over to Dufur to worship with family and friends at Dufur Christian Church and then have an egg hunt and dinner afterwards.<br />
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I managed to get the girls matching Easter dresses. They both looked so beautiful in blue!<br />
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Grandma Kricket, teaching Rina to pray in church.</div>
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Rina sure enjoyed her egg hunt with her cousin Marcus. He adored helping her. It's so fun to have a little one again to enjoy the traditions of Easter.<br />
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We are so thankful for the resurrection of our Lord and that we have to privilege to celebrate it.<br />
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HOPE SPRINGS NEW!<br />
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God Bless,<br />
JackieCheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-19512890091789543192018-03-04T12:18:00.001-08:002018-03-04T12:18:39.600-08:00Narnia Unit Study 2016-17: Voyage of the Dawn Treader<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: start;">We only got through half of </span><i style="text-align: start;">Voyage of the Dawn Treader</i><span style="text-align: start;"> as a co-op due to the house fire. We all ended up finishing this book on our own. We continued on as a co-op to finish the rest of the Narnia books, meeting in our shop/pasture for the rest of the year. Yep, we weren't going to let a thing like a house fire, stop us! I'm really glad these guys helped us finish what we started. These are some of the last pictures taken in the old house.</span></div>
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The kids finished up their clay lamps. Unfortunately, they were all left at our house to dry. They were definitely cured in house fire, LOL. The kids did a great job on these. We will have to do them again sometime just for fun.<br />
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For presentations, Naomi started us out with her topic - Bears. She told us about their habitat, diet and showed us different kinds of bears. </div>
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Hailey followed Naomi's presentation with her own on Bear Safety. We learned the basics of what to do if you ever have a close bear encounter.<br />
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Alli taught us about trees. She showed us several beautiful water colors of trees she painted herself.<br />
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Gracia's presentation was on the Grand Canyon.</div>
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Josiah explained how old-style compass navigation works, comparing it to modern-day GPS. Then he gave us a compass course demo. </div>
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Measuring out the course.</div>
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Using the compass on his phone to find the coordinates for his course. </div>
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We made a Fall Foliage Feast which was delicious! It consisted of roast pork, rice and pecans, grapes, cheese, crackers and grape juice instead of wine.<br />
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While we were preparing the "Fall Foliage Feast" described in the book, the kids were outside playing suggested children's games such as Flag, Blind Man's Bluff and Hunt the Slipper. It was a bright sunny day!<br />
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It was Amanda's birthday so we had to spoil her a little. Love this lady! She brought yummy cupcakes for us all to enjoy. Hope she enjoys her last year of being in her 30s.<br />
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I'm super grateful for these two families who learned to be as flexible as we had to be for the next few months. They were really there for us. So happy to be in such a wonderful co-op!<br />
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God Bless,<br />
Jackie<br />
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<br />Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55554914262786074.post-51250474359045257902018-02-05T17:31:00.000-08:002018-02-05T17:31:07.638-08:00"God Smiles"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the our God will stand forever." Isaiah 40:8. </i>When I came back the next day after our house fire to survey the damage and see if there was anything we could save, someone had already pulled out my two favorite study bibles and they were on the deck rail. This verse came to mind as I looked at them. I've never felt so close to God or been the recipient of such love and care as I did during the day of our house fire and the weeks/months that followed. I started to call these little miracles that constantly popped up my "God Smiles". God really does care about us. Yes, we lost 99% of what we owned, but some of the few things that survived were really miraculous. Those are the things I'm choosing to focus on in this post.<br />
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This metal plated old trunk my friend, Amanda, gave me years ago was in my living room serving as an end table. I had forgotten I had put all my kids' Antiquity photos and a picture of Hailey in my wedding dress (the dress burned of course). These are a few precious photos of the kids that I didn't have digital copies of.<br />
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These survived without water or smoke damage. Amazing!!! I'm thankful I got my first digital camera just before Josiah was born, which means I have digital copies of most of the kids' pictures since the hard drive on our computer miraculously survived the fire as well. </div>
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The is where the computer was, down at the bottom of this well-built, solid oak Winners, roll-top desk. Can't believe we were able to save the hard drive with all our pictures and documents.</div>
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One of the first things Michael pulled from the house was my antique school bell I always use to call the kids in when it's time to eat or start homeschooling. My friend, Danielle, polished this up and looking prettier than it did before the fire.<br />
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Even though our social security cards didn't make it, my passport did! My sister and I had a trip to Greece planned in May and because the passport survived, she told me it was a sign that I still had to go with her. Another God smile. </div>
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My favorite cast iron pan was in the oven, and came out in great shape. Eventually, we were able to save all our cast irons pans and Dutch ovens. </div>
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We found the "God Made Me Special" plate I made for the kids when I was in MOPS in La Grande. If anyone had a birthday or had done something extraordinary they got to use the plate. Unfortunately it was made of plastic but when I saw it burned with the words still visible, it felt like a "God Smile" and I knew He had something very special in store for us indeed.<br />
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Hailey found this bracelet in our burned-out trailer. The bracelet was a fundraiser for a homeschool family we knew whose young daughter was fighting brain cancer at the time. She has since passed, but this bracelet symbolized the hope we have in Christ and the things that are eternal- all the things that Julianna and her parents put their hope in as they bravely fought the cancer. This picture is a very precious "God Smile".<br />
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When I saw the seeds I had just purchased for spring planting scattered on the dining room floor, this verse came to mind.</div>
<i>"For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring Word of God." 1 Peter 1:2</i><br />
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So many of Josiah and Hailey's friends, especially from the homeschool community throughout Eastern Oregon gave the kids some of their most special toys and lots of Legos.</div>
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I had a shamrock flexi in my closet and was waiting until St. Patrick's Day to give it to Hailey. Sadly it burned, but my cousin Laura, a Flexi consultant, sent this flexi to Hailey in the mail. Another "God Smile". Several of my friends, knowing how much I love to wear flexis in my hair, gave me theirs.</div>
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The same day, Crystal, a friend from MOPS, gave Hailey a brand new American Girl doll (who happened to have red hair). She had bought it for her own daughter and was saving it for her, but was prompted by the Lord to give it to Hailey instead. To say Hailey was thrilled, would be the understatement of the year!</div>
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Another friend, sent Josiah this dinosaur skull dig kit. I was unable to keep track of all the things we were given because it was so much. </div>
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Another friend from MOPS gave us these gift cards, movie tickets and a dinner at the Olive Garden. We finally got to use them in July for a much needed weekend away, just the two of us. Seriously, people thought of EVERYTHING!<br />
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More Legos from friends. What a blessing! </div>
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We received these homemade blankets from a homeschool family with adorable handmade cards. </div>
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A friend was cleaning out under our tv armoir, which was made of solid cedar. The movies on the bottom, while a little smoked, made it, including "<i>Narnia"</i>. The majority of our movies were stored in our bedroom and were completely destroyed, so it is nice to have a few that survived. </div>
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The Usborne Illustrated Classics are some of our favorite books. Quite a few of these were able to be saved. My friend, Amy, a consultant for Usborne, also gave us some new ones to replace some that were destroyed by smoke or water.<br />
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As I was attempting to inventory all the books in this mess that was my homeschool room, at the bottom of my burned out bookshelf I found these very wet but not burned photos of our high school prom/winter formal as well as my senior pics. Irreplaceable! So glad I didn't scrapbook them as everyone of my 30+ scrapbooks burned. These were the only items that survived in this entire room. Another God Smile. The vintage navy recruitment poster hung in my childhood room at the ranch. My Uncle David had given it to my mom when he went into the Navy during the Vietnam era. The top of it is burned but I think I can do something fun with it someday.<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1vx9A5Nr6Oc/WnecI0MscUI/AAAAAAAAQtI/vGXiLH4VKbwOsYVwmxw2PChyBfMHjoL5ACLcBGAs/s1600/BQHO9941.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1vx9A5Nr6Oc/WnecI0MscUI/AAAAAAAAQtI/vGXiLH4VKbwOsYVwmxw2PChyBfMHjoL5ACLcBGAs/s640/BQHO9941.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
My nephew, Andrew, and I were able to carefully extract the delicate silver necklace and bracelet from this pile of melted jewelry in the picture on the right. Michael had bought me this set when he was serving in Iraq. The earrings were destroyed but these were saved!!! They were the most meaningful pieces of jewelry I owned besides my wedding ring which I was wearing at time of fire. Wow!!! PTL!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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All the books in the house were either burned, smoke damaged or waterlogged - EXCEPT THESE! My absolute favorite books, four of which were from my childhood that are also my children's favorite books, and the three antique bird identification books that belonged to my deceased Uncle Bert, managed to somehow survive. All the rest of the 50+ books in that shelf were ruined.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My friends Vickie and Dawn (a Unique Consultant), got together and gave me a bunch of amazing make-up. I'm not very good at putting make up on, so my niece, Jessica, gave me a tutorial. I felt like a million bucks when she was done with her "Auntie Makeover". Like I said, people thought of everything!</div>
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We are a family who enjoys our Celtic heritage. When we were going through the kids' rooms to see what we could salvage, we found the antique trunk that was my Grandmother Mary's. Inside was all of our son's Scottish outfit, in perfect condition. We also found our daughter's tartan buried under a pile of ruined clothes in her closet. It was still in good shape. Both kids still had their clan badges attached to their tartans. They were so excited! Yet another God smile.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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People gave us many nice clothes. We only had one tub each to store our clothes in, so we had to really pair down what people gave us. Rina got this cute outfit from our friend Kat whose daughter is the same size as Rina.<br />
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Got this package of brand clothes and towels from my blogging friend, Camille, who lives in Canada. Such useful items!<br />
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Another good friend gave us the money to buy an ILife robot vacuum cleaner. This worked great on the shop floor and made my job so much easier. Keeping a shop floor clean enough to eat off of is not an easy task. Now "Gizmo" works great in the new house on our plywood floors.<br />
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Our friends, Gracia and Naomi, where staying with us at the time of the fire while their dad was in the hospital. They lost some of there things, too, and people were so kind to think of replacing things they lost. One of my mom's friends gave all of us, including Gracia and Naomi, handmade quilts.<br />
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I've been waiting until Passover week to post this God Smile! Many of you know our family enjoys celebrating Passover by putting on a traditional Seder meal with a Messianic focus with a few friends every year. The skull caps and a prayer shawl were literally "passed over" from all smoke and fire. They were in the bottom of my grandma's hutch. The top part of the hutch burned but these were safely tucked away in the bottom cupboard of the hutch. Look how white that top kippah is! They didn't even smell like smoke!<br />
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Hailey worked so hard sewing this bonnet by hand when we did our "Little House on the Prairie" unit study. I was thrilled that it was one of the items that could be salvaged. Rina is modeling it in this picture.<br />
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I found a few of the kids' special baby clothes that were in partially opened plastic bins in the their closets. Josiah and Hailey's dedication outfits (couldn't find Rina's) and some of their special costumes that we use for homeschooling. All we're smoke damaged but my friend, Danielle, managed to save these with minimal to no staining. Couldn't believe it! Thought they were goners. Thanks to my friend for all her hard work in restoring these treasures and saving Michael's leather holsters, too! There were several other items friends and family worked hard to save especially dishes and some special bedding that I don't have pictures for, but did manage to survive. It is so nice to have a few familiar items in our new home. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know this seems like a weird God Smile, but as I was rifling through my kitchen, trying to find stuff I could salvage, I saw this burned loaf of bread on top of the refrigerator, and I couldn't help but laugh. I texted Michael this picture with the caption, "Honey, I think the house is toast". It made me laugh for the first time since the fire. That was an awesome God Smile!</div>
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God Bless,</div>
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Jackie</div>
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Cheesemakin' Mammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12654726238107266586noreply@blogger.com5