a song for every day: September 2006

Happy Birthday Mom!

"He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary." Isaiah 40: 29-31 NASB
This pic was taken a couple of year ago when Mom and Dad visited us in the Crowsnest Pass...Crowsnest Mountain is in the background. Mom, may you know God's nearness and provision today and this year...in a real way. Love you.

Baby Isabelle gets a story.

The view from the entrance to camp...this is the driveway. The leftmost building is the barn which our garden is on the south side of. The next building in the foreground is the shed where a lot of stuff is stored. The houses are in the trees...ours on the the left and the next one over is Cyril and Mary's. The rightmost building is the camp dininghall. The yellow leaved trees along the driveway are crabapple trees...oh, and I speed (over 15 mph) on this driveway...shhh.

Thought I'd take a picture of myself because I was feeling pretty good right then...Sarah had had a nap this day and boy does that make a difference. Yeah.

Here we are at the bridge.

We're going to the bridge to throw rocks and leaves (in the cups) into the creek. This was 2 days ago. Sarah is 'hiding her smile'...then she bursts into laughter when I ask, "Are you hiding your smile?" Grandma Abrahams, this is how you'll get a smile for your pictures, use this line :)

Hi. I had a good day at the farm.

Hug by the sunflowers.

We found a few pumpkins too.

Picking apples at Bahati farms in Keremeos. We've gotten to know these people a bit, which is great...small 'o' organic place.

Waiting for Daddy in the car after the picnic.

Tea time. Sarah really enjoys drinking herbal teas with us...a favorite is rooibos with rice milk.

Another vantage point. This spot is a great getaway...it really feels like your in the middle of nowhere...you can just see the sky down the valley in the upper mid left of the picture.

We had a picnic at the garden one night. It was great fun. Andy has been preparing beds for the spring.

report from now and before

Ha ha. Hello. Church. We went to church. finally. It's been while.
Someone was carrying a pot of food in when we arrived and I noted that it was probably 'potluck Sunday' - happens once a month...we haven't attended yet. But yeah, we were planning on having a picnic so had food in our trunk. So, we stayed and that was nice. Then we drove to Keremeos for fruit and veggies...picked apples (macs for applesauce) and got carrots, squash, onions, garlic. One day this past while we had a picnic for dinner down at the new garden plot Andy is diggin up. We heated leftovers and actually drove the 30 sec. down to the barn where our new plots are. It was lovely...it's really like a little escape down there.
Oh, I've been going to the Moms and Tots group and met some people - Char and Louise and their kids. One day we hung out at Char's with the kids - 2 1.5 yr. olds and a 3.5 yr.old and Sarah. That was nice. Char and Kaia (1.5) come over here tomorrow. More adventures in sleep have been happening. Sarah's been in her 'big-girl-bed' since just before her b-day (which was wonderful by the way...Abrahams (including James) and Klassen's were over for lunch and it felt like Christmas). My folks stayed 2 nights, Abrahams just up for the day. For S's actual b-day we went to playgroup, the library, and gave her a photo album with pics of family in it.). So, we are trying to teach her to get out of bed and walk to our room when she wakes in the middle of the night and we continue the rest of the night there...in our NEW queen sized bed which we recieved 2 days ago from our pastor's family...now Andy doesn't have to evacuate to the guest room when Sarah comes cause there was not enough room in our double for us all. I've been having trouble with dripping exhaustion, but I think I'm getting used to it (ha) or trying to make life work (normal) despite it. Have trouble turning my brain off...lay in bed during naptime (if it happens - Andy sometimes takes S. around 4:30pm for an hour to work in the garden and I lay down if she didn't want a nap). I am rejoicing today cause she actually had a 2 hour nap! Didn't think it was going to happen, but I just layed down in her room while she played and she eventually came over and layed down, nursed and fell asleep. Yipee... a fellow was over to work on our chimney pipe...took out the old liner (clay).
Now I'm typing after my nap and we went outside and threw leaves and rocks in the creek...I feel pretty good. Yeah. I don't know what else to say.

Taking a break during play...look how I set up my little baby, chair on a mat and everything...the babe looks a tad uncomfortable.

I am laughing at the stroller that is running away on it's own. I'm wearing my Jasper vest from the Klassens.

There's the cake. I could only find one candle which we used last year, so we threw a tea light on as well after this pic was taken. Nutella squeezed from a baggie was used for the writing.

I loved my birthday soup...thank you very much Dad! 2 days from being 2 on the afternoon of this pic.

The birthday meal...it was so great having everyone who came at our place. It felt like Christmas!

Birthday soup...there are little place namecards we made by modge-podging leaves to papers and writing names on them...fun.

Together...go go gadjet arms.

Sarah helping mix her birthday cake. The recipe was called "Cousin Natasha's Wacky Cake" cause it had vinegar in the recipe I think...anyway. There's me rushing in the background :)

Plum time.

I found S. reading one day, laying on her back in the livingroom. She's reading 'Everyday with Jesus,' grabbed from the bookshelf.

Peach jam time.

Sarah loves to help with dishes...she's good at putting the dishes into the sink.

Smokiness on the way home from Keremeos the day S. and I went a couple of weeks ago.

Harvest time - Sarah and Andy wash tomatoes.

My friend Crystal and her son Lucas came for one weekend a while back. There was also a wedding at camp that weekend, hence the tables etc. on the beach.

Crab apples on the tree.

Picking crabapples from the trees by the camp driveway so the bears don't come and pull down the trees (has happened in the past).

Digging potatoes from the garden.

Second time fell asleep...new outfit cause of 'throw-up' but there's a snack container...getting better, some food was staying down.

Sarah got sick at the end of camp and fell asleep in her chair twice during this time.

Sand castle time. We have a movie from this time stuck on our digital camera. Yesterday we were waiting for Andy and it came in handy as some 'entertainment'.

Dad and Sarah...Mom and Dad Stopped by on their way home from Alberta, visiting Lance, Aimee, Elijah and Eva.

Camp in action...this is everyone coming down from the dining hall one evening after dinner.

Holly the DJ during a party at the 'Zone' (rock wall, b-ball, skate, V-ball area) at camp.

Ordered some food from Presto Cucina for the dinner before we drove home to camp...on the Abraham's patio. I think everyone is mid-mouthful.

The Englers had us over for a lovely dinner outside in their backyard and Josh, Sarah and Cherith enjoyed playing with the water. Cherith was a good sport as Josh doused her :)

Took Mom Abrahams out for chimichangas at the House of James for a late B-day 'thing'...here is Sarah and her in the kids play area.

Really enjoyed seeing the mountains.

Tomato juice please. She loved it.

Here we are on the plane on the way home...a direct flight from Edmonton to Vancouver! Ear trouble on the descent but otherwise good times flying...we had 2 seats and a window, good asian snack mix and tomato juice.