Upside Down Pear Gingerbread

I got this delicious recipe from a wonderful blog..        Theblissfullycontentlife.org 

It is well worth it!

Meet Me There....

We just spent the weekend at our church's annual Family Camp! It is always a wonderful time of fellowship and learning together. Even w/ the bias of being the mom of many of these people, this song was a favorite! Brought tears to several eyes....the anticipation of heaven! (We missed the first verse....just caught the chorus for that verse.)

Dyed-In-The-Wool

During the year, our 4-H wool club spent some time learning to dye wool. We used Kool-Aid and had a blast. Rachel and her friend MacKenzie wondered if the process would work while the wool was still on the animal.......So, at the fair they staged the experiment....imagining they wouldn't get in to trouble with anyone since the dye was simply Kool-Aid.....The ewe had to be well washed (pretty time consuming) and was then squirted with every color of Kool-Aid we could find. 

Here's the result....

Later this sheep was sheared and the wool carded for use. It made for a very fun demonstration. 

The girls split the wool and will spin some yarn......perhaps you'll see pictures later of what this experiment turned into!

Fair Ending to the Fair

The Clark County Fair (this is the largest fair in the state of Washington) concluded last night....So this morning we made a final trek.....to help load the last of the market lambs onto the trucks and to pick up our entries

Here is a smattering of our exhibits.....so much fun and so many good comments and suggesstions! We REALLY appreciate the judges' written remarks and encouragement to do better! 

For a Family-Fun Experience...

...How about coming to the Clark County Fair today? The Junior Livestock Auction starts off at 11am, and promises to be a grand event! To whet your auctioneering appetite, enjoy the following, then come on over!

See you there!

And the Grand Champion of Wool Showmanship is.......

Grace Coder!

Good Job!, Gracie!

Clark County Fair Kitchen..Rachel

Rachel was in the fair kitchen today preparing gluten free pizza and salad. 

While preparing the meal, the judge may ask them questions about what and why they are doing certain things. All is part of the evaluation.

She served it with Gingerberry Kombucha.

The judge thought her efforts worth a blue ribbon!

Good Job, Rachel!

Deiter 100!

On Saturday, we participated in an event called the "Deiter 100"! This event came into being because some of our friends - the Deiters - added up the ages of everyone in their family and discovered that at the end of this year, their ages will add to,....you guessed it, 100! 

So they  hosted an event similar to the "Amazing Race" and families were teams running all around our county and even into Portland on a race for clues...doing such things as visiting the local coffee shop, counting posts in the Fort Vancouver wall, getting pictures taken w/ various IKEA items and picking gallon buckets full of blueberries for the hostess! (I think that means she has 66 pounds of blueberries to her name now! - clever girl, that one!)

Most families had clever t-shirts to mark the occasion, one family w/ 7 little children came as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 

(SO CUTE!) 

Us? Well, we were the Tartaned Twelve!

Though we got a bit busy and forgot to take pictures most of the time, we did have a few....

 The first task was putting together a jigsaw puzzle...We were the first finished w/ that, and were in the lead for....

I'd say about 30 seconds. :)

A picture w/ a statue at Esther Short park...one of the requirements!

The Tartaned Twelve did not win the race...but we had a WONDERFUL time!

Hopefully there will be cause to have this kind of fun competition again soon! 

First Fair Day

Rachel, Grace, and Zachary all participated in the 4H kitchen activites on Friday.  There are several categories in which you can compete. Rachel (no pictures :(...) and Grace both participated in the bread baking activity. They must bring all supplies and ingredients to the 4H kitchen and, well..., make bread. You are judged on preparation techniques, cleanliness practices, nutritional values and costs associated with the food/meal.

Rachel made Oatmeal Molasses Bread and received a blue ribbon! This recipe is WONDERFUL! You should definitely try it!

 Grace made a loaf of whole wheat bread. She had a couple of...challenges -measuring technique- but the bread tasted wonderful, and she got some great pointers! She received a red ribbon and LOTS of encouragement to keep up the good work! 

Good Job, Grace!

Zachary participated in a "Quick to Fix Meals" category. He prepared our family's standard breakfast of....

oatmeal 

and smoothies.

I don't think he's licking his fingers! :)

He was required to set the table andserve the judge. I'm sure he was a charming host!

 He then cleaned up the kitchen and had an interview w/ the judge about nutritional value of the meal he served, and cost etc....(of which he needs to show improvement in his knowlege....)

He received a blue ribbon! Good Job, Z!

Rachel, Joshua and James will be in the kitchen on Monday and Tuesday...so more pictures will be forthcoming. 

If you're in the area, come on out to the Clark County Fair!

Bagpipes

Joshua has decided he would like to learn to play the bagpipes. So, as we've pursued this, people we'd never had suspected came out of the woodwork as bagpipe players! 

This wonderful man, Mr. Sheaffer, has been a kind and generous supporter of our children's 4H lamb projects at the fair. We met him in the sheep barn 5 years ago. We've marketed to him ever since then. 

When Joshua mentioned in one of their letters that he was taking up the bagpipes, Mr. Sheaffer responded right away, telling him to bring his chanter in the next time the kids came. When we got to his office, he said, "Hey, I have my bagpipes here, would you like to try them?"....

Here is Joshua giving it a go....takes a LOT of air! We had a great time! Can you imagine hearing bagpipe noise coming from the top of a bank building in the middle of a work day? Don't know what the rest of the bank thought.....

Some Birthday Pictures

Thought I'd post some of the evening's pictures - celebrating our toothless 8 year olds!

Peasant blouses made from this pattern. and some denim leggings that look nice under dresses (and long tunics!) and tuck into furry boots easily. 

We like our little girls to look....well, like little girls. (Seems to be difficult to achieve this w/ ready made clothes these days!)

Rachel bought them these sweet ballerina shirts.....

and Emily bought them these sweet ballerina books. 

Sarah Jayne set up a lovely treasure hunt...this morning...and they are enjoying listening to a 'princess-ish' violin cd, which was the prize at the end of the hunt.

Now, out to the pickle ball court, and then to some frisbee - the games of choice for the birthday girls!

Our Favorite Flavor of M&M's!

Today, we celebrate 8 years of Twins....Affectionately called the M&M's in our home!

We are so blessed by this sweet addition to our family! Never would I have imagined I would have twins....My dearest friend had twins (in fact those twins are my oldest daughter, Sarah's, best friends) Several other acquantances have twins...but, as we were pregnant for our 9th time, I had rather not given it a thought.....oh that fun day of the ultrasound.......the technician chatting happily, finding out about us and teasing that, "oh, maybe you'll get twins this time!", and then, as she begins the scan, going quite silent....we thought something was amiss...perhaps in a bad way.....and then she looks at us and says, "there are two of them..." Gregg grabbed a chair, and I (if you know me, you will NOT be surprised by this) giggled....and giggled...which is NOT conducive to taking measurements if you are a technician...but, there I was...uncontrollable giggling...I could stop for moments, but, then would just begin again. Poor technician...not only did her job just get doubled in length, but this momma wouldn't stop giggling.

Okay...enough of that...

Here are our toothless 8 year olds today!

Still making me giggle!

 They are kind, precious little girls that are a blessing to everyone in our family! I love to see how each of them interact with each of the other children. AND how they interact with each other. 

Megan Joy is a thoughtful child. She likes to know how and why things works. She thinks....and watches and figures things out. She likes to sing...sometimes rather loudly.

Madeline Hope laughs. She is quite care-free and easy going. She is quick to forgive.

They are the best of friends.

Today, we grew out of carseats. In our state, law requires children to be in car seats until they are 8 years old. We have had carseats in our cars for 22 years. Eight years ago, upon their arrival, we had to have 6 carseats in our car.

Today, we have  zero. 

So exciting for them! A bit melancholy for me. More room in the car for everyone!

Very Happy Birthday, Megan Joy!

Very Happy Birthday, Madeline Hope!

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make his face to shine upon  you,

and be gracious to you.

May the Lord lift His countenance upon you, 

and give you peace.

Family Day!

Yesterday, Gregg was able to take a day off of work. We decided to do a family outing...(missed you Sarah and Benjamin!). So, we started off at our favorite (and local) coffee shop,  Old Town Battle Grounds:

Then we headed to the beach. When we go to the beach, we try to pack a snack of "sausage tarts and marmelade rolls" as the quote from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang goes. This trip we used a recipe off of Pam's blog. I used a non sweetened dough for the sausage and the one as written for the plum jam.



















We have affectionately called these little homemade poptarts, PamTarts. They are delicious! and this is now our 'keeper' recipe!

We stopped and bought a frisbee on the way, and played w/ it as best we could in the wind!

(Sarah!!! Where are you? Can you believe NO ONE even got wet enough to need to change clothes? AND we finally brought everyone a change of clothes!!! Oh Sarah, without you we cannot get wet! - and as a result, the drive home was....strangely pleasant!)

The day was cloudy and cool and VERY FUN! Notice the blue sky trying to break thru! It finally did by our next destination!

 We stopped at a Costco and got some pizza, and then headed to.........

 

                                                                                                          photo credit
                                                                       the Astoria Column.

There are 164 steps up to the top, and then you get a beautiful view of the mouth of the Columbia River as it empties into the Pacific Ocean. We climbed to the top, and then ate our pizza on the grounds.

That is our beautiful state, Washington on the other side of the river!

If you are ever in our neck of the woods, we'd sure love to show you 'round!

Summertime...

 I have many things to blog about....but not so much time at present......partly due to the fact that Sarah is......

These travelling ladies are on the final 11 days of their 7 week expedition! They reached Anne just yesterday! and will get to be there for several days!

I will have to catch up on my blogging, but in the meantime, w/ Sarah...where she is, and Benjamin working full time at HP for the summer, my taxi service business has increased immensely. Josh is working almost everyday..at someone else's home, and Em is taking summer school and working, James has been gone this week...camping w/ my parents and everyone else is trying to make up for the lack of the above mentioned people.......I have other things (HAPPY THINGS, mind you) taking my attention!

 It is a great summer and everyone is doing just exactly what we feel like the Lord has for them to do!

Have a lovely day, resting in where the Lord has you!

....And They're Off

Three beautiful young ladies...

Heading on an adventure overseas...

Made it safely to their first destination...

Still smiling!

That's my girl!....Look out France....Germany.....and Scotland!