I wish it were this easy to feed my family for a year

Four trips and one hundred and twenty bales of hay put away in the loft for the winter. That, and a few bags of grain, are ALL that are needed to feed our goats and sheep for the next twelve months…now why couldn’t it be that easy to feed my family? I think we may try hay for dinner and see if they like it.

Diddybuns is learning to be as good of a driver as her big sister Jessica. Watch those mirrors and pay attention to Daddy ;)

My camo girl. And Mindy, you are no longer allowed to point out how quickly my little daughter is growing up. No she’s not. I still see a cute little 7 yr old and it will stay that way. Oh dear.

Kayaking Burrows Island

Paul and I got away for an ocean kayaking adventure last night for our anniversary. It’s just one of those things we have always wanted to do…ok….*I* have always wanted to do, and Paul was kind enough to go along with it. He had FUN though.

We left Anacortes Kayak (highly recommend) around 5:30 pm and spent over three hours paddling around Burrows Island in the San Juans.

I could live there on the sea, the sights, the smells, it was experiencing God’s creation with all the senses. We’d *park* in kelp fields to avoid the current and sit and chat. Our guide said that kelp can grown an amazing three feet a day. Kelp is very high in iodine and bubbling over in minerals and good stuff. I hoisted kelp onto our kayak and we tasted it, mmmm, salty.

Gary, our guide, pulled this purple sea star off a barnacle covered, black, rocky shoreline.

I’ve lived here for 36 years and never seen a porpoise, but last night, a small pod of porpoise strolled by about 300ft away.. 

It was so great. Even our guide commented that he doesn’t see this much wildlife on a trip too often, but we knew it was a gift from the Lord of Creation. There was so much to take in.

A stop on Burrows to stretch our legs.

Then we rode off into the sunset, back to the harbor from whence we came. The journey back was eventful with the ebbing tide. The intersecting tidal currents, wakes from the large boats coming back to harbor made for a wet and exciting ride. Thankful for this special time with my hubby of 19 years!

Dirt

 

…Is good.

 

 

 

 

How lucky were we

to get a live band performance for the evening!

Herm, John and Bob VH came over tonight and gave us a special treat!

I guess these guys all played together a couple months back(I missed it). We fell for their family, they fell for ours. These three men are from a family of 11 boys and 2 girls, one of those *girls* is our neighbor.

Neither of them can read a lick of music, everything is by ear. They each play a minimum of two instruments. Jon taught both Jacob and I some new tricks on the guitar.

Herm on Dobro, Jon on acoustic guitar, Jacob on acoustic, Daniel on the fiddle, Micah on spoons and Bob on the bass. Jessie and Ems vocals - Gracie was on tambourine and Elijah was on shaker off camera.

What a blast. These guys have hearts of gold and were so patient and mentoring. Thank you! Catch them at the Lynden Community Center this Friday at 12:30pm,  our kids might be joining them for a few songs.

It was one of those nights I just sat back, watched my kiddos and thanked God for His goodness to our family. Where He’s brought us. My sweet children who love each other, their smiles, their brilliance, their cheerfulness, their talent, their hearts for hymns and singing…it was a wonderful night.

Sweet sleep..

…with a brother is best.

She’s legal….

AAAaaaaaaahhhhh!!! This happened too fast.

I told her to expect to be turned away because we didn’t have enough ID. I told her to expect to flunk the first test. I told her to be patient. I tried to protect her from being disappointed, BUT she passed and in two hours we left with a permit. We prayed before we went in and the Lord just made it so smooth and blessed her with the kind man she leaned over and told me she “hoped she’d get”.

That was the easy part, now giving her the wheel will be cause for much more anxiety…for me. Yay Jess! We are so proud of you!

Happy birthday..

…to the sweetest, kindest, most handsomest man I know.

The Lord gave my men seven beautiful trout this morning for his birthday…not bad.

Yesterday, we had fun taking family pictures! Here is Paul, me and Paul’s Dad. He is feeling much better this week!

Dead birds don’t eat…

 

At least, that is what Elijah(3) learned today. A neighbor called last night and said an exotic bird was attached to her screen door and wanted in. Jessica ran over on her bike and saved the little escaped, runaway blue bird from the elements.

She brought her home and kept her calm, covered and quiet. That wasn’t enough, however, the stress was too much. In the morning, the little parakeet was nestled in the corner of her cage… dead. Much to everyone’s disappointment, especially a very curious toddler, we could not play with a new pet.

That didn’t stop Elijah. He really wanted that bird to wake up. Periodically, while walking through the dining room, I looked over and saw the bird, face down in her food dish. Several minutes later, floating in her water bowl. It still didn’t hit me. Several minutes later, back in the food bowl with it’s head rolled in food and this time Elijah standing guilty-like by the cage. O.k., that’s just wrong. Get the dead bird OUT of here. Wash and sanitize the 3 yr old. <Sigh> Toddlers. Gotta love ‘em.