on the home front

I asked Hadassah just now how I should begin this little family-newsy-update-thing...and she answered with quite a bit of jabber. A loose interpretation follows:

"Life is pretty great at our house. I wake up each day with reasonable expectations of full attention, food that I like, toys of my choosing, hug and kisses whenever I'm in the mood and a family to meet my every need. Yep, that's about it."

"What about everyone else?"

"Oh yeah...there's that..."

And so, here is "everyone else," in no particular order, bits and pieces, little context, super sporatic and zoomy...like much of the other stuff you get in our culture...so, no problem, right?

Snow! (I saw this picture and thought, Wait, where is the responsible adult with all these kids at the top of Mt. Hood?!)

Alaskan Snow--could it possibly be better than Oregon snow?

(Corrie, Christiana and Cecily went to visit the cousins in Homer to find out.

Read more of their Alaskan adventure from Christiana's perspective here:

https://barefootstorygirl.wixsite.com/jewelrybydesign/post/alaska-adventurer)

Well, maybe the vote is out on snow,

but you can't beat flying with Uncle Andy over Alaskan landscape...

...although William thought flying over the Columbia River and over our house the other day was pretty thrilling. (Don't worry, an experienced pilot friend flew the plane!)

Corrie checked out Maryland snow while visiting the Fischer cousins,

and of course, some American history as well!

Boys being boys...

Nathan, with his first rifle, generously given by enthusiastic uncles,

Caleb and William, with their first four-wheeler, after diligently saving for 8 years,

William, proud of his wild turkey, while on a hunting/fishing trip with Caleb,

a cousin and friends in Eastern Oregon.

And a boy

being a boy...

conquering reading,

bike-riding,

and new heights

like a champ!

Alec earned the reward of a new Bible when he recently completed his "learning to read" book.

And cousin time?

The BEST!

The roads became a bit scarier...

And then scarier still...

But there is some redemption in the music these guys create...

After years of playing violin, Corrie (inspired by Grampy),

searched for and finally settled on the "perfect viola" of her own.

Christiana's harp business increases all the time as she plays for a variety of events.

(Need a harpist? Visit her website here: https://celticinspirations.wixsite.com/harp )

Caleb auditioned for and won the privilege of soloing with

the Southwest Washington Symphony! He played Mozart's Horn Concerto

and I'm completely unbiased when I say he was excellent!

(Watch it here: https://youtu.be/dI2Hge60hn8?feature=shared)

And where would we be

without all the animals?

(Don't answer that.)

Life would be so much more dull

without Christiana's faithful

dress-up days!

(And her siblings' agreeable cooperation!)

We are pretty spoiled with this little rascal...

at least, as much as she herself is spoiled!

(Please refer to beginning of this post.)

There is much that has grown,

changed,

and been tremendously blessed

in this home

and in this family

over these past five months.

Many of you continue

to pray for us.

I am grateful for this

beyond words.

Thank you.

"But how are you all doing?" comes the frequent question.

Yes, I know what you mean.

Perhaps this little conversation I recently had with Molly will shed some light:

Molly: Can I have a hug? I miss Daddy.

Hugs.

Me: Me too.

Molly: Tomorrow would be a good day for the rapture.

Me: Indeed. Today would be, too.

Molly: Well, we need to dye Easter eggs tonight.

Me: The rapture would be more exciting than dying eggs.

Molly: I suppose. Maybe we could dye eggs in heaven [with Daddy].

Silence.

Molly: Maybe it should just be tomorrow...after we dye them and then look for the eggs here.

Me: Maybe so.

Molly: Yep.

We look for the lovingkindnesses of the Lord in each day--

and He is faithful to give them.

The kids are wonderful gifts to me in their

consistent love, growth, service and resilience.

Yet in the midst of the daily blessings,

there is a persistent, underlying longing...

a longing for our forever Home...

and that day when the Lord makes everything right.

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast"

Hebrews 6:19

If you'd like, take a moment to visit the

"life in pictures" tab to see more 2024 photos.