Farming and Weddings and Warm Weather (except today which was jacket-worthy)

What a wonderful thing it is to have lots of good things to do. 

Our views are stunning. I'm so grateful for them!

Phoebe's friend got married! To Jonathan's friend! They were two kids who met at youth group, and so Jon and Phoebe both got to be in their wedding. What a fun time! 

Kenna's rehearsal bouquet was crocheted by her mother-in-law's sister (I think ~ there's lots of crocheting in that family, so it could have been someone else). And the bridesmaids also had crocheted bouquets. Kenna was just handed her bouquet in this picture, and she was so happy!

Some of the groomsmen waiting for the wedding to start.

This is the first wedding in the church since the remodel of the auditorium.

Three of our kids. Do they look related or what? 

I love it when the kids come visit us in bed before we turn out the lights. 

Harrison has quite the preaching schedule this year. He is preaching at the nursing home right here.

And he won first place in high school division at the Kiamichi Mountain Christian Mission. That was a wonderful surprise to hear about! 

He also participated in the Callao preaching contest before that and has been preaching at the Presbyterian churches in Farber and Curryville every so often. He really does a great job writing his sermons. His recent ones are from Romans and I Thessalonians, and he said the Romans one was very hard to write! He's like, "I'm not even sure I understand it." 😄 His I Thessalonians one is more direct and clear for sure. 

He is 16 now. He just opened a checking account today to get ready for applying for jobs. And he will hopefully get his license next week.

So, as an aside, it's crazy how the driver's testing works in this small town area. He can go to any number of towns to take it (our town doesn't offer it). But they all meet at different times and often only twice a month. Several possibilities around us were going to be closed (because of Juneteenth) on the one day he could take it. Phoebe took hers at New London, and that's the one we went with, but it only tests on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. So here's hoping for a license next week!

I love it when you can 'row' the crops. That green popping up against the dark earth, especially after it rains. I've not gotten a picture that captures it, but I do love it.

We're down to three trees, and who knows how long those will last.

There's always some huge surprise in our shed around planting and harvesting time. 

Lanaya Elizabeth and Amos took a kayaking excursion. He got a picture of her knitting. That crazy girl will knit anywhere!

And he brought his current favorite book: The Brothers Karamazov (which he has convinced me to read).

Liz made him a tiramisu cake with a penguin on top for Amos' birthday.

Andrea (a friend from church) and I meet up every so often, usually at some new place that we want to try out. We visited a new Tea Place in town. I had a hot cocoa and mint tea with maple syrup (think herbal cocoa plant, not the processed chocolate), and I recommend it! She wanted a picture of us.

See? Stunning

 

The Kids in Boise

Jonathan sent us some pictures of a flock of turkeys hanging out in his neighborhood. They rested a while and took off again. 

We have three new little kittens in the shed. They now get out of the straw bed and play in and around all the stuff we have out there. They let me pet them and pick them up!

These are twin cuties I get to hold about once a week. They were all dressed up for Easter, and the family sent me a picture.

And the big thing this month was the kids all being together in Boise, ID. Phoebe and Harrison flew out there last weekend. This was the first time flying by themselves, and they had layovers both to and from (at Denver airport, no less! So glad they had no mishaps while there).

They went to the Lego store after church on Sunday.

Ate at In-N-Out Burger for lunch.

Jon's host family cooked supper for them one night (they are a most generous host family ~ he's enjoying his stay with them).

The next morning they grabbed McDonald's breakfast...... 

and drove a couple hours..... (mountains in the background!)

to hike at Ponderosa State Park. 

Can you even with those trees? I want to smell them! I love pine.

Jon had packed a picnic lunch. But he forgot a knife. So they used his switchblade to apply the condiments.

And they only used a few pieces of lettuce on their sandwiches. Phoebe didn't want the lettuce to go to waste. So she took some big bites. 

It does look like a nice, fresh head of lettuce. Very crunchable.

The next day they stopped to see Lanaya at her coffee shop before heading to the airport for home. 

The flight to St. Louis was an hour delayed because their plane needed to be de-iced in Denver. So we didn't get home until almost 1 in the morning. The next day was a little bit woozy for all of us, but we survived. 

Phillip and I were so glad they could all be together over there. Oh, and Jon sent me another picture of a girl from my Seattle youth group who now lives in Boise! Jubilee. He's constantly finding people from my PNW days. So fun.

Harrison had his wisdom teeth extracted this morning. The recommended place was an hour away, but it all went well. We're back home now. The numbness finally wore off, and he can eat and drink a little. He couldn't drink for several hours because he was so numb that water would just fall out of his mouth. 😂 He was quite the conversationalist the first half hour of the drive home.

 

Spring is a Roller Coaster Ride

 

The weather goes from 80° to freezing snow and back again. It's wild! 

Harrison has been working on building a shed pulpit. 

He goes out to the shed to practice his sermons, and we had some scrap wood, so shed pulpit (shulpit) is what gets built.

Speaking of sermons.... he and three other preacher boys preached a few Sundays back: Harrison's Sermon on Sanctification.

Some of our many cats. 

I love that little one sitting by the back door. She's orange and black and white. But she won't let us get near her. 

Sad. 

But Mama Cat just had babies last night, and she has them nesting in some straw in the loader on the tractor, and she's letting us pick them up and pet them, so there's a chance they'll be tame!

Phoebe's friend Kenna is getting married in May, and the church had a bridal shower for her. 

It was delightful! 

Jonathan made a trip to the Oregon coast during his Spring Break. That's Multnomah Falls in the background.

I think this is so neat: one of the residents with him in Boise is a boy whose parents I grew up with in Seattle. At least I knew them long enough to see them engaged and married before they moved off; and then I was friends with their siblings at church. So Jonathan and this guy (Gideon) are now friends, and Jonathan stayed at Gideon's parent's house on his way to the coast. I just think it's so fun that people I knew as a kid hosted my son through no connecting of my own!

And also last Sunday, my Aunt Jerie Lynn (my dad's cousin from Washington) walked up to our daughter at church in Idaho and said, "You must be Lanaya because you're knitting!" She was there visiting some relatives who live nearby. And I love it all! Aunt Jerie Lynn taught me how to French braid and kept me for a month or two while my mom was in Louisiana one time. 

Jonathan has now been to both coasts, and he drove almost all of it himself (except for an hour or so in Florida). 

We found a new spot for nature study. Harrison made a tree branch bridge so he could get across this stream and explore the other side. I'm pretty sure this is part of Spencer Creek.

We saw some ground prep work before the rain came. It's almost planting time!

A new sweater Lanaya Elizabeth has been knitting up. 

Gotta love a good moose pattern!

Harrison has been working on card pyramids. This was impressive.......

....... until he got to this stack! I think this is his highest so far.

John Donne and Cinnamon Rolls

Papa turned 89 this past month! 

He has so many stories to tell and we love listening to them every time.

We had angel food cake with homemade brown sugar frosting and pecans.

I took a picture to prove to Phoebe that Harrison does indeed do kitchen work sometimes. He helped me make cinnamon rolls on this particular evening. Although I was so disappointed that they didn't turn out very well. Not a good dough and way too much sweetness.

But they looked delicious.

We spring forward an hour this weekend. Aren't we going to cancel that stupid time change thing at all!? It absolutely drives me crazy that we switch times twice a year. It makes no sense! And it drives families with babies and littles to the brink ~ to the brink, I tell you! Stop this madness!

Phoebe comes home about every other weekend and we love having her home. We watched the first Godfather with her, and she insists we must finish them. So we've watched II, and III will be watched next time.

Jonathan has been learning country swing dance (they made him go; but he found it stretched him, so he went back) and eating out with friends and climbing foothills to watch the sunrise. His residency also keeps him busy over there in Boise!

Lanaya Elizabeth is knitting up a storm! Always new patterns and new sweaters and her pictures are always lovely. 

Instagram: 

lanayaelizabethknits

Facebook: Lanaya Elizabeth Gonzalez

What should we call this cat? She looks like a shag carpet to me, with her orange and black fur.... Her brother is shaggy black like Rochester, so I call him Jr. 

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I've had Harrison memorizing this sonnet by John Donne: Death, Be Not Proud. 

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee 

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

        A friend from college who was right around our age passed away a few weeks ago. I didn't know her well, but I knew her family and her husband & his family (our preacher's wife is twin to the husband). It was a bittersweet time going to the visitation. Hard to see the sadness, but we visited with so many college friends -- it was a mini reunion and joyful in that regard for many of us. She was a Christian and so we know the end will be joyful for all of us.

One short sleep past, we wake eternally 

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.