enjoying the process » loving the journey, not just the destination

The Oregon coast was so beautiful, but we were anxious to get to Washington and spend time with family. My sweet sister-in-law, Audrey, is battling stage 4 cancer and her husband, Mike, had major surgery during the summer and is still recovering. We were eager to get up there and love on them and serve them in whatever way possible. It’s SO HARD to live so far away from family. My family is in Ohio and James’s family is in Washington- boo hoo 🙁

We had a small family reunion with just Pake & Beppe (Friesian for grandma and grandpa) and their 5 children and families. Below: A family portrait finally! YAY. Thanks Uncle Ralph.

We visited the Lynden Fair with the entire family, went blackberry picking with Pake & Beppe, Kennedy and Beppe made jam (which we’re still enjoying, thank you Beppe!). On Saturday, Pake treated the entire family to breakfast at small airport near their home in Arlington. As an added bonus, a few of the pilots let the kids sit in their planes- so fun! We were able to spend quite a bit of time with Mike & Audrey at their home in Ferndale- the kids loved playing wiffleball with John and Beth.

We even managed to squeeze in time to visit our sweet friends, Christian and Stacey, (Stacey worked for us from the time she and Christian were married until last Chrismas). They just recently had their first baby girls though I’m so far behind, she was still pregnant in these photos.

The 2 weeks went WAY too fast!! On the way out of Washington we stopped back at Brian & Susan’s house for one more night. I was able to take Zach’s Senior pictures! He was SUPER excited about it as any boy probably is 🙂 It was a bittersweet goodbye- so sad to leave but also excited for the journey ahead of us.

Slowly, I’m trying to update my blog and facebook with our amazing adventure. Trying to keep some semblance of order within my growing lightroom photo collection is a bit of a daunting task, doubled by the fact that there are 6 children within a 4 foot radius at all times who seem to need me almost constantly. I’m glad they need me still. A day will come when no one is calling “mooommmmy” every 4.2 seconds and I’m pretty sure I’ll be sad, so I will not complain about my role as mommy. It is my high calling from God Himself and he has entrusted 6 precious little lives into our hands- we take that very seriously! This trip has been such a great stretching and growing time for all of us. James (my husband) is teaching us through the book of James and I find myself both convicted and encouraged at every turn. I can definitely see my sin more clearly in this 150 sq. ft. magnifying glass. I’m sickened by it almost daily and called to repentance. The kids, who have memorized almost the entire first chapter of James, are taking it to heart,too – I’m beginning to see the fruit of it in their lives. That’s so encouraging to my soul! Chloe even recites her verses with her little lisp, “count it all doy when you faw into vawious twials”  I love it!!

So far I’ve only been able to organize my photos for the month of August (all 4091 of them!). I’m only able to plug in my computer about once every week or so and then once it’s plugged in, I’m only able to sit and use it about 15-20 minutes at a time unless I stay up REALLY late at night while everyone else is asleep (which I did last night). I’ll be paying for it today for sure- and practicing my verses, “let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to become angry” 🙂

These are from our trip through Northern California- we stayed a few nights at a quiet little campground right along the Eel River. Driving through the Redwoods is an unforgettable experience. Joseph Strauss, designer of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California said, “Here, sown by the Creator’s hand, In serried ranks, the Redwoods stand; No other clime is honored so, No other lands their glory know. The greatest of Earth’s living forms…:God stands before you in these trees.”