Sabbath with Family - June 20,2010

Another Sabbath come and gone. Our family went to church this sabbath to hear Pastor LeBrun give a wonderful sermon on "Biblical Church Leadership", then to Grandma's for lunch with cousins and family.We had a nice relaxing afternoon putting puzzles together and visiting. The day was just to nice to spend inside all day, so our cousins and Cherie and I went for our favorite little walk down to the Meyers Falls. We enjoyed the wild roses in bloom as well as the blooming Locus Trees. Played hide and seek in the tall grass growing by the swift river's edge, and took some more pictures.

On the way up our mountain road, mom wanted us to get out and pose for her in the blooming Lupine patches before they fade out for the season. Almost every year up to last year since we have lived up here on the mountain, we have taken yearly pictures in this same patch of Lupine except last year...so we took advantage of this time we were all together.

Cherie's 20th Birthday - June 14th, 2010

It is so hard to believe the baby of the family has turned 20 years old today! She is making her older sister feel so old today. You have grown into such a beautiful young lady Cherie. May God bless and guide your pathway through this life!

Cherie had a full day of college today, so when mom and her came home from town, Jared and I had our BQ set up all ready to enjoy a special surprise birthday dinner for Cherie. I had so much fun on my day off home preparing veggies, BQ gluten,BQ sauce, for veggie-kabobs, corn on the cob, potato salad, and bake potatoes. We ate outside as soon as Cherie and mom got home. I had never BQ over a grill before so this was a fun new experience. I was so skeptical of those charcoal pieces getting hot enough after setting them on fire and letting them sit for 15min. It worked! It is an amazing thing and makes food tasty. Mom and I had made a cake, so sang happy birthday, ate cake, and called it a night.

May God bless you with many more years Cherie!

Congrats to the new ASB College President! - June 14th, 2010

After making her posters, spreading streamers, and wining the students to vote for her, Cherie finished her campaign for College ASB president. She waited and wondered for a whole week before finding out if she was elected or not.

So as the college opened up their ice cream social and valets filled, the big question was answered. A very patriotic looking gal beamed from ear to ear. A
CONGRATS to Cherie Mills, The 20010-2011 College ASB president! From filling in part time as Vice president, Cherie moved up to the president's seat and is excited to have her own office as well as friends to aid and support her. Your family is SO Proud of you Cherie! Way to go sis!

Hood River Family Campmeeting - June 11-13th, 2010

We finally made it this year to the "Empowered Living Family Campmeeting" outside of Hood River. After so many years of wanting to go, mom and I made it along with my Uncle Kevin, cousins-Sarah, Jonathan, and Hannah. Due to Jared's work and Cherie finishing college, they were left behind much to our dissapointment.

Mom and I had a late take off from Azure Thursday night to drive to Hood River and didn't get crawl into our tent until 2AM. We were so tired, but we made it! The meetings were great and such an encouragment for our everyday Christian life. I felt so blessed to be there. We get so carried away with our everyday lives...we forget to take Jesus with us in every step. Life would be so much easier and better if we could only take the time to have that close relationship with Him! We sat for four meetings with breaks in between for youth Sabbath meal preparation in the kitchen, Family freeze tag, kite flying, Frisbee throwing, walking, visiting, and choir practice in the evening.

The weather was perfect, nice and warm. God really blessed with coming from the rain Washington to the fair weather in Oregon. The sunsets were beautiful casting a pink glow on Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams in the distance. It was a beautiful and rather a quite setting for camping on the edge of town.

Sabbath we sang in the choir for the morning meeting, helped out with kitchen duty for potluck lunch of haystacks, helped out with dish duty afterwards, went for a walk down the country road, nap time in the tent, and sat through some more encouraging meetings.

We had one more Sunday morning before we packed up and left to head back home. Mom and I took our time on our way home to stop along the Columbia Gorge Historical Highway to site see. Of all the times we have driven through the Gorge, we have never had time to stop and see the historical sites, so this was really special for mom and I. We learned alot of the Columbia Gorge history. There is so much history of the Indians that use to live along the gorge. I could not get over all the wildflowers! Bachelor Buttons, California and Red Poppies. It was so colorful and the fields filled with wildflowers looked like waves across the landscape. It was breezy as always in the Gorge. Mom and I had such a fun time in the flowers and taking pictures.

It was such a nice weekend, but mom and I were so happy to get home and see Cherie and Jared again.

Our little Highschool Graduate -June 8th, 2010

A time to celebrate has arrived again in our family. Cherie has done it! She has finished high school, but decided not to march this year with the graduates of the "Running Start" program through the College to recieve her diploma. She will wait until next year when she will walk down the isle with her Highschool as well as her A.S. Degree both together, but we still celebrated her accomplishments.

Along with Cherie's adopted brother "Jeff" (also attending Colville Community College with Cherie), we went out to eat at Cherie's favorite restaurant "Rancho Chicos" in town and just had some fun. Cherie didn't want anything to big, just family. She has finished her first year and has another to go. So, without embarrassing her any further.....Congratulations Cherie! You did it girl and your family is so PROUD of you!

Sabbath at Home - June 5, 2010

It was a beautiful day after all! It has been raining all week long again, but not today. Mom and Cherie were not feeling so good when they got home yesterday, so the camp outing was canceled. Seems like every time we cancel our weekend plans, we have wonderful weather for an outdoor adventure. Oh well!

Jared asked me if I wanted to go for a walk after lunch to our lookout, so we both went for a stroll down the country road. I had fun with all the blue wildflowers and blue sky. I told Jared we were having a blue walk. The Lupine, Delphinium, and to my excitement....the Mountain Lady Slippers were all in full bloom. It is funny telling others about the Lady Slippers and that there are so many on our mountain. Everyone seems to think they are a rare flower. We have noticed every year in the same area clumps of them growing together were you can count up to 20 slippers in just one area. They are not rare where we live!

Jared and I had fun chasing the butterflies and moths gathering on the moist road for a drink. There were even a bunch of the "Blue Azure" little Butterflies to top our blue walk with!We even took time to hunt for the Elk prints in the soft ground were Jared saw one earlier this past week.I asked Jared what kind of man he saw reflected in the mud puddles in our driveway...how true the statement that " A measure of a man's own heart he can see, only if he looked with open eyes at his own reflection". Such little things in life are so special....a walk with my brother, wonderful weather, colorful wildflowers, and chasing butterflies. What a joy and blessing!

Working and playing in our yard - May 30,2010

Well, I guess I'm glad we didn't go camping with all this rain! Instead, everyone in the family decided to keep close to home and get some much needed things done around home. We weren't in the same room or place as a family, but it was nice to know everyone was home.

Jared spent many hours mowing with the hand-pushed mower (our riding mower is out of commission and will be for a while, so everything takes twice as long), and declares he is not looking froward to trying to keep up with the grass this summer.Thanks to you Jared, the yard looks amazing though and all the more appreciated knowing how much time you put into it!

Mom stayed busy indoors cleaning the house. I know she wanted to play outside, but it rained almost the whole day!

Cherie enjoyed cooking and making breakfast and lunch for us. You can cook anytime girl! You said you missed it....as long as you let me in now and then to, for I will miss out on all the fun! Cherie was able to take a break from college study and read a book and plant her hanging flower basket for out her window.

I on the other hand, played in the mud all day long. I cleared, weeded, and planted flowers in our flowerbeds around the yard. I planted petunias in the beds along the house and rock wall, planted some of my favorite old-fashion perennial flowers (Delphiniums-shades of blue) at the end of the house along with some annuals, and then a surprise planter full of flowers for mom. I had my hands and fun in the mud!

The yard is starting to look like someone cares about it again! It is full of color and blooming flowers. With all the rain, it has been hard to keep up with it, but hopefully soon it will be nice again.

Driving in the Rain - May 31, 2010

Well, Memorial Day might be a day off for some, but I choose to be on back up for ambulance duty tonight. After playing in the rain....I drove in to town with it.

Always thankful I have a wonderful sister who loves to do things together. There is something about driving in the rain that is so neat....with music playing, laughs shared between Cherie and I, and visiting with each other. Cherie captured some fun pictures while I was trying to drive....guess I better keep my eyes on the road Cherie.....you should know better than to ask your EMt sis to look away for just a moment.

We both were meeting up with mom and a friend for dinner at the ambulance shack and then to play games afterwards. It was a game-night cut short due to Cherie realizing to her horror that she left her ASB keys at home for college and to get into the town-house we are staying in. I can still hear you Cherie as we were leaving home...."I just feel like I'm missing something"! I'm going to add keys onto your verbal check list....Ha! Oh well, it was still a fun night while it lasted with family and friends!

A Sabbath Drive - May 29,2010

It was a disappointment with another Sabbath of rain this last Sabbath. We can't complain to much for we really need the rain, but our family is so missing being able to have the nice weather to do outdoor activities.

Our family ended up spending a nice cozy time listening to recorded sermons, visiting, individual quite time for reading and bible study, singing, and then went for a car ride to Davis Lake to see how busy it was with Memorial Weekend. Would have been nice to camp this weekend if the weather was better.

Davis Lake was very dark with the dark color of the sky and cold looking. A few people were fishing along the banks, but most campers at the campground were huddled around the fire pits trying to get dry. Glad we had our house to go back to instead of a soaked tent!

Did get to take a few pictures of the lake and some False Solomon Seal, Purple Violets, and unknown cream colored, bell shaped wildflowers. Even though it was not raining at the time we drove to the lake, nobody wanted to go for a quick hike around the lake. Maybe next Sabbath!

Corina's Wedding- May 23,2010

The exciting wedding day finally arrived for Corina and Jeff! The clouds were dark and thick, but many prayers accented for good weather for the wedding to take place at 2:00PM. After a long night for mom baking wedding cakes and making frosting, mom and I loaded the car and took of for Spokane. Both mom and I had such a hard time staying awake it was scary! A few stops and some soda kept us going.

The hustle and bustle of wedding preparations and company where in full swing upon arrival. Mom and I quickly worked in the kitchen to assemble the layers of cake with filling and frosting. The bride arrived in her cute white sweats with her veil, hair, and make-up all intact. I teased her about about being all ready for the ceremony since she was all dressed up and in her white dress already. Along came her maid of honor, her sister Chelsea got all of us bridesmaids together to the bottom section of the house. There it was closed off just for us girls and getting ready. As the maid of honor and mother of the bride assisted the bride to get dress...all of us bridesmaids busied ourselves with make-up, hair, and slipping into our very pink matching dresses. I have never dressed quite like I did today...It felt strange. All the girls looked great in pink and we all had a big dress up party just like little girls. Everything was hurry...hurry because we were having pictures taken before the wedding...yes, that meant the groom saw his bride before the ceremony. I was lucky to catch the bride peering out the door window all nervous right before the first look. The bride and groom had a private moment with their photographer....we all missed out! Then all of us bridesmaids with the bride had fun with picture taking out front while the groomsman out back with the groom. My favorite picture is still what the maid of honor called "The James Bond Pose" with the bride. After pictures...all wedding party was bound to inside the house until the wedding at 2:00PM and the wedding march began. The clouds parted and sunlight streamed down as the wedding ceremony started. It was perfect and a bit windy. Everything went well and the ceremony beautiful! The preacher's notes did blow away, but the best man was able to retrieve them. The bride and groom kiss and so the life of Mr. and Mrs. Cook begins!

The wedding reception followed with a beautifully vegetarian catered dinner, I was the first one to call Corina Mrs. Cook which made her laugh, the cake cutting (Mom did an amazing job as always...it was beautiful and very tasty), the bride bouquet toss...which Sarah (one of the bridesmaids) caught, the garter toss, the first dance, sending the married couple off to their hotel, and sighing with relief of another wonderful wedding come to an end. Now for the trip back home. It was beautiful, fun, some tears shed, and making new friends. Such a special day! May God richly bless your new lives together Mr. and Mrs. Cook.

Corina's Wedding Rehersal - May 20,2010

A long time friend from over the years, is finally tying the knot with her sweetheart Jeff. After accepting Corina's request to be one of her bridesmaids, I'm still not so sure about the whole thing. This is a first for me and has been a new experience. Such an honour to be in your wedding Corina, and to think your special day is almost here!

We met at Corina's father-in-law's house last evening for the wedding dress rehearsal with all the wedding party. I knew the brides family, her fiance, and had met the mother of her fiance, all the bride's bridesmaids, but not the other party members. So acquaintances where made right away.

The weather was not so promising and very cold wind was blowing in the back yard. We all were shivering and cold as we faked our wedding ceremony and march. We had a good time watching Corina and Jeff have fun. Everybody seemed to be having fun and there were a few nerves rattled. The big day is yet to come!

One Step Closer....

One Step Closer

Rachelle Mills - May 15,2010

One step closer to my Lord,
His words to me my sword.

To fight the battles of the day,
that old dragon, the devil slay.

One step closer to my Lord,
In His footsteps my life I trod.

From morning, noon, and night,
That His guidance, my pathways light.

One step closer to my Lord,
His life, His light, in each step border.

To start anew each day within,
My self, my heart, my submission bend.

One step closer to my Lord,
To grasp life, truth, and the faith accord.

To base my purpose to truth’s cause,
Obey His voice; heed His commands, His laws.

One step closer to my Lord,
All roots of sin, my selfish will ward.

That one day when He comes for me,
Face to face, my Lord, with Him I’ll be.

An Ordinary Day - May 17,2010

An ordinary day finds beauty within....If you have no say in it, enjoy what God has planned for you.

Family "Silverwood" Outing - May 16, 2010

Cherie's ASB got a group rate for a college outing to "Silverwood Theme Park" for every college student and their families 1/2 price. Our family never gone to a theme park before, decided to make this a family outing as Cherie choose to go with the college. Cherie rode with the college students in the carpool vans as Jared, mom, and I rode in our own vehicle. We actually saw some different Idaho country we had never seen before on the way.

Once we arrived at Silverwood, we walked through the gates and found a park map. Cherie and some of her college buddies tried to choose which ride to go on first which was hard for them to decide. As we followed the group down the pathway, my family was more engrossed with the flower beds, mother robin sitting on her nest, and the butterflies, unlike the rest of the group eyes focused on the towering wild rides ahead. Our family was not too excited in trying out the rides, but we tried the small ones. Jared, Mom, and Cherie tried at least the "Tremors" rollacoaster. I had simply no desire to go on anything wild and ridicules.

We each tried the many different small, and wet water rides....we decided the bumper cars, train ride and water rides were the best in the park. Thanks to a sweet brother, Cherie and I remained wet most of the day as he shot water at us from side guns on the water attractions. We spent a lovely time in a spaghetti restaurant all trimmed in Victorian style furnishings that thrilled us gals. We loved the old fashion pictures and tiny mirrors on the walls. Jared along with the rest of us, report the food was wonderful....but then who can say anything bad about spaghetti.

After the day, our family still decided that more simple things in life are a joy. The birds, flowering shrubs, trees, and flowers are more of a pleasure than any theme park could provide. Amidst the whole day....what matter most was having fun time together with family!

Quite Sabbath Together - May 15, 2010

After a crazy and busy week for all of us, we ended up spending our sabbath at home. So we slept in, instead of hiking Ambracombi Mt. like we wanted. Car problems always happen when one has other plans. It was nice to relax together, singing and playing sacred piano duets (which we haven't done in a long time), ate lunch out on the lawn for the first time this year, and then took turns reading an encouraging book out loud together. It was really nice to be together, but we all were disappointed about missing our hike.

"College Spring Fling"- May 10, 2010

Cherie' had so much fun preparing for the college "Spring Fling" to raise money for Haiti relief funds. The college ASB (Associate School Body) hired mom to sew them a special tablecloth with their name's function on it which turned out beautifully! The tablecloth was black with golden yellow lettering.It looked pretty sharp and professional!

Cherie said the "Spring Fling" was a hit outside on the patio with their potato bar, salads, and pasta meal, chalk drawing contest, raffle, and more. Cherie and her best college buddy Anna, won the chalk drawing contest with their drawing of a little man peeking over a brick wall. Also, Cherie signed up to run for ASB president this coming college year....you go for it Cherie! Your family is so proud of you!!!!

Cherie came home with a sunburn on her shoulders. Gotta watch it Cherie....No burning girl! Overall, Cherie reported they raised close to $600 with everything. It was a wonderful excuse to party for the college.

Happy Mother's Day! ~ May 8, 2010

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I thank God every day for being blessed with a special mother. You are my best friend on earth and such an encouragement! Love You Mom!

On this special day in honoring mothers, our family joined my Unlce Kevin and my cousins at my grandparents for the day (Actually, due to my scheduled work at Mount Carmel Hospital, I only was able to spend half the day with everyone). We had planned a special brunch of crepes and just time together playing table games, croquet, and visiting.

Family get togethers are so much fun! After we all played bumper cars in the kitchen getting brunch ready, we sat down to eat then Jared and I did the dishes while Cherie and cousins set up the croquet set out in the backyard. Grandma's yard is the most colorful yard on the block right now. She has a ton of different flowers in bloom, including a few trees and shrubs. The birds even thought it was a perfect place to hangout! It was a beautiful, sunny day, and perfect for playing croquet on the freshly cut grass. It was my first time running around the yard barefooted....felt good too!

My grandma was tickled to have all of us together for a visit again. It is so unfortunate life gets busy and we don't see much of each other. We are going to have to make a change there! We did make memories as always....together!

Sabbath Group Hike ~ May 8,2010

Our family hiked Hoodoo Canyon yet again this last weekend. We had invited a large group of friends to hike with us and was hoping for nice weather.

We woke up Sabbath to a beautiful sunny day with blue skies....it was so promising! But, not long after breakfast the dark clouds rolled in with pouring rain, sleet, and hail. We tried hard to keep from being disappointed and prayed that by 2 pm that afternoon it would be nice weather for our planned group hike. I didn't want to cancel the hike just because it was raining. Closer to time to take off from our house, we could see patchy blue skies again. Again, our faith was being tested in a small way!

On our way to the trail head where we had planned to meet up with the rest of the group, Jared jumped out to put paper plates up pointing the direction to the trail head. All of us gals had a good laugh watching him try and decide how the paper plates should go.What a good sport Jared was! Finally, reaching the trail head we met up with Uncle Kevin, cousin Sarah, Jonathan, and Hannah for lunch before friends would arrive for the hike.

We ended up an hour later start on our hike, due to a friend's unfortunate car problems (Jared was able to go and rescue him and at least give him a ride to the trail head for the hike). It was still overcast when we took off hiking and a few raindrops fell on us, but we made our trek up the trail. I noticed a lot of the wildflowers blooming last week had already past their blooming stage much to my disappointment, but I knew others soon would take their place as the season progresses. We all had a merry time visiting with friends as we hiked up to the lookout. It was so fun that 6 of our friends still braved the not so promising weather, to come hike with us.

When we reached the lookout, some of us climbed the rocks to the very top of the cliff to take pictures and see the view. As you can tell, we had some fun with the camera again! It is such a beautiful view from way up there!We ended up spending quite some time up there before climbing back down to join the rest of the group waiting below. We were more than ready to all get back and build our campfire to warm up. How come it always seems faster getting back to the cars, than climbing up anyway?

We all ate supper around the fire, roasting our hot dogs and visited some more. Believe me....the fire felt GREAT! There was just a bit cold out with night coming. We ended Sabbath with singing and music around the campfire. There is not a better way to spend time around a campfire than singing!I had fun watching the bats overhead swooping back and forth enjoying their meal of pesty bugs.

After packing up and saying goodbyes, we headed home. Jared and another friend retrieved equipment from home to tow our friend's car back into town. Before they left, our family and friends were blessed to see a beautiful, clear night sky, filled with stars. We stopped to watch as one after another shooting star fell from the heavens...It was such a treat and even more when we noticed faint Northern Lights rippling across the cold night's sky. Such a BEAUTIFUL night! It was one of those nights one could easily stay out and watch the stars all night.

The night turned into morning fast as Jared and our two friends had trouble getting the broke down car off our mountain. What a night for them! Our family finally made it to bed early morning, exhausted, but happy to have shared a wonderful time with friends...We are so blessed to have friends!

So, another fun filled adventure for our family and yet more to come! We are not tired of Hoodoo yet....next hope to backpak it, but this time all the way over to Trout Lake and back.

Cherie's College Days

Cherie declared she is ready to finish her third quarter of college. She really loves her classes, teachers, and classmates, but is so ready for a break! She is enjoying her classes of Chemistry, Spanish 3, Political Science, and Computer.

Cherie at this time is filling in as the college body's "Vice President", assisting with college activities, hanging out with friends, and working hard to get those great grades. She is officially graduating from highschool this June and as part of being in the running start program through the college, she will have finished highschool as well as completed her two years of college by June of 2011. We all look forward to seeing her complete her goal and walk down the isle in cap and gown next June with her Associates of Science Degree!

A Changing Season ~ May 5, 2010

This is such a beautiful season! Everything is full of life and beauty. We have such an awesome Creator that created with such detail,color, and beauty! Yes, there is beauty amidst the sin in this world....a rose behind the thorn. If only I could remember that lesson behind every trial! This season reminds me of our christian walk...dead to sin..the old man that we might put on Christ (the new man)and have new life. Our character is just as detailed as a beautiful flower and may it radiate His character (spirit), as a flower it's fragrance!