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.

 

Phillip's Birthday and Cold Snow

We've had another cold spell and winter storm and powdery snow covering the ground. But we should be above freezing for the rest of the coming week, so all the snow should melt and perhaps that'll be the end of harsh winter weather. It's not so much the cold as it is the prairie wind ......

For Phillip's birthday, we went to Hermann for hanging out and lunch and coffee shop. It was a fun time!

Boston Cream Pie, per usual! He's 51 this year. I never have the right candles....

The kind of arctic, blowy snow that can be swept off the porch. 

At home Sunday morning watching church while we eat lunch. We "attended" church with Lanaya Elizabeth and Jon at Eagle Christian Church in Boise.

Settlers of Catan with Phoebe when she was home one afternoon. I think Harrison won.

Jon and Harrison went shooting some day before Jon left for Boise.

Picture of my breakfast to go along with a post about a book about cooking.

I've started reading An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler. Kind of a delightful book on cooking which has been recommended by many in my circle. Whenever I hear enticing recommendations, I add the book to my Goodreads account so I won't forget. This is the kind of book to read slowly and attempt her counsels as you cook your usual meals. 

"When you find yourself tasting your water, you are doing the most important thing you ever can as a cook: the only way to make anything you're cooking taste good, whether it's water or something more substantial, is to make sure all its parts taste good along the way.... You don't need to know what it's supposed to taste like: what anything is supposed to taste like, at any point in its cooking, is good. This is as true for water as for other ingredients." ~ chapter 1, An Everlasting Meal

 

Harrison preached at the Farber Presbyterian Church last Sunday, so Phillip and I joined him and enjoyed it very much. It's a neat little congregation in a small town. I believe Phillip's first preaching experience was at the Christian Church in Farber. 

A podcast I've heard lately that I thought had great things to say: "God's Solution for Anxiety and Biblical vs Christian Counseling" with Johnny Ardavanis on Culture Apothecary. It's probably especially helpful for those who are often in counseling situations, like those in ministry.

 

Christmas!! With All the Kids

What a wonderful thing to have all your children under one roof again. 

I can see that it won't happen super often. Our kids are comfortable living far away (that's our fault for moving so much!), and I know what it's been like for my siblings and I to try to get together (living east coast/pacific northwest/midwest ~ it rarely happens 😓).... 

But this year our kids were all here together and my heart is content.

We've been talking about the Christmas tree in the window for years now, and this is the year we made it happen. 

Joy!

Harrison and I picked up Lanaya Elizabeth from the airport Tuesday night (Harrison got some night time driving hours ~ in the fog, no less!). Wednesday we went to Spencer Creek Baptist's Christmas Eve service with Papa. (That's the church he grew up in.)

On Christmas Day, Phillip and Liz drove to the airport to get Amos and Jonathan. Phoebe and Harrison watched Charlie Brown Christmas. 

We had cheesy potato soup for a late lunch, and then lots of people took naps (the boys had had little sleep the night before because of flights and such). 

Phoebe had to sleep in the living room since the two bedrooms were full, so she was also tired. I don't know how she sleeps under the covers without smothering.

Christmas night Phillip prepared a slide show and Scripture readings about Jesus' birth.

Then gifts! 

So it was quite the shipping conundrum leading up to Christmas. Amazon had all kinds of possible dates for when gifts would arrive. The last I had looked, it said January15th. Most of those were stocking gifts, so I went into town and bought stuff from Dollar General and the thrift store. Then all of a sudden every single thing arrives on Christmas Eve! So we had plenty for the stockings.

The big Christmas meal was the day after Christmas because originally we thought Phoebe would have to work Christmas Day. It worked out just fine to do it that way.

Harrison decided he'd eat alone at the kitchen table instead of crowd with us in the dining room.

Elayne made the roast beef and lots of her special candy recipes that we love every year.

Opening gifts from Mimi and Papa.

Lots of hanging out and game playing.

And snacking! 

Jonathan will be here for three weeks total. and Lanaya Elizabeth and Amos flew back home Saturday evening (another late night for them).

Jonathan and Phoebe and the friend group gift exchange. 

Bunch of goofballs! 

(I heard about some of ya'lls gifts!)

Matthew and Harrison and some other friends have been working on a shack at Matthew's house. They dug holes on Saturday. It's good for this boy to get out there! But the muddy boots ~ we need a plan for that.

Merry Christmas, everybody!