Slumber Party

Well.....here are a few photos from our time with the 4 littlest Rufflings. We had a blast having them ALL to ourselves. We enjoyed a lot of Ruff-housing and laughter, treats and TV watching. I did get in a little trouble though.....I chopped up a Twix bar and Mitch fed it to Mitchie and Charlie. We found out later that Laura hadn't been giving them treats yet...oops :). Like I told Laura, I am the Ninnie and Ninnie's get to give their grand babies treats......it goes with the job!

All 4 of them were so good, they even went to bed without a fuss. We weren't sure how Dawson would react.....he is his daddy's boy, but he did great since Papa is a close second to his parents.

We awoke Saturday morning to Spokane's first snowfall.....so pretty. It was the first snowfall that the twins were aware of it and it was so cute to see their eyes light up as they looked out the window.

Ella, Dawson, and I made place mats for Thanksgiving....aren't they cute?

"When the Cats Away The Mice Will Play"

Mitch and I are off to our kid's house tomorrow, we are going to babysit the four youngest Rufflings...our grand children. I FINALLY talked my Laura into taking her man away for a little R and R.....and we get to have them all to ourselves, for a whole night and a day.

I promised Laura that I would be good.....Not too many sweet treats or TV watching, not too much syrup on the breakfast waffles or too many donuts (that is if we can talk Papa and Dawson into a trip into town).....I am so glad that she couldn't see that my fingers were crossed! Ninnie has been known to be quite naughty when mom isn't looking!

With four little ones we should be very busy and tired, but I am looking forward to it.

I plan to craft some cool Turkey place mats with them, and we will probably play numerous games of Memory, Princess Yatzee, Hi Ho Cherry-O, and of course........a whole lot of Ruff-housing with Papa!

(PS The photos are from our trip to Disneyland......as you can see Ruff-housing happens all the time and in any place......even the older Rufflings get in on it too! I will post photos from this weekend when I get home)

Bringin' In The Sheaves

Here are some of the photos from our church's Harvest Party.......We throw a Harvest Party each year as an Outreach to our community, and we had over 1,000 adults and children attend this year's event! We had tons of fun games, like "Holey In One"........."Take Off Goliath's Head" (with a bean-bag of course)......and my favorite of all........."Throw Jonah Into the Mouth of the Whale!" Hey, I thought that Jonah came out of the mouth of the whale?? There was a real popcorn machine.....cotton candy galore......and YUMMY caramel apples.....let's just say that the scent on the air was to die for! We served BBQ Hot Dogs and of course there was candy, tons of candy.....FOUR 40 gallon barrels FULL of Candy to be exact!

My friend Melina and her band, played beautiful music for us the entire time, and the children's costumes were adorable.....even the adults got into the spirit of things. I volunteered to man the Information Booth, so I came dressed up as a Nerd.........I guess I didn't pull it off, because everyone thought that I was a Librarian. Now, I visit the library at least twice a month, and I don't recall seeing anyone dressed as I was, so I ask....What library do they go to?

We even had beautiful weather, a little windy at times, but all in all a gorgeous Fall day.

Mitch gave of himself to the Dunk Tank.....I am sure that he was wondering how he got roped into doing this, but he was a good sport about it, but hey, that's my man....he'll do anything for Jesus. Some of the other pastors took a turn too, except Zach and Matt.....party poopers, or should I say........CHICKEN babies!!

Family

My Aunty Sharon called me today, excited to tell me that she had found her long lost sister!! Aunty told me that she knew that she had a big sister.....it was alluded to during her growing-up years, but she didn't know anything about her. Through the help of an on-line ancestry site, she was able to locate her sister and her sister's son....and the rest is history....my history!
I am amazed at my Aunty's detective skills! Quite a few years back, she had "found" her father....he had been "missing" ever since my Aunty was 5 years old! I love that my Aunty Sharon was able to visit her father before he died, sharing the love of Jesus with him! And because she went to see her father, she met up with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins that she had no memory of! I even got to meet one of my great Aunts and a second cousin, who happened to live here in the Tri Cities.....in fact, my cousin lived next door to me!! Yes, it is totally true......Kim was my neighbor for 5 years, and we didn't even know that we were related! I told Kim that I was thankful that I had been a good neighbor to her, and they to us......how awkward would that have been if we had been feuding neighbors?? I still correspond with another second cousin, Bonnie, and hope to be able to meet her face to face someday.
My family is not one that I would have picked.........there is divorce and destruction throughout, but I know the God who can make something beautiful out of something so ugly, and I thank Him daily for saving me.......so that I would not walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before me.......I thank my heavenly Father for giving me a sweet family life of my own, it could have gone the other way so easily. I thank God for my Aunty who loves Jesus and for my second cousin Bonnie, who loves Him too. I don't know if any others (of that side of my family) serve God, but I pray that they do. I know that my Aunty Sharon is going to share Jesus with her newly found sister, and so I pray that Barbara Jean will fall in love with Him too.
For in MY salvation, the chains of sin have been broken in my life, the sin that still holds some of my family in its grip. But I know my God, and I know how great His mercy is, and someday soon I will see with my own eyes just how far the Father's love reached into my family.

"What greater thing is there for Human Souls than to feel that they are joined for life-to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories."
George Eliot

Hanging Up Our Running Shoes......For Now

For those of you who have been waiting on pins and needles :) to hear how Mitch and I did in our Marathon.......well.........we weren't able to run!

Mitch was doing so good on his running, he even brought his running shoes to Disneyland. He got up early our first morning there, and headed to the gym, and he injured his knee on the treadmill.

Because of an old injury to my leg, I had already been babying my calf for a few weeks. I pulled a ligament and a muscle in the side of my calf a few years back, and it will hurt me every once in a while, but the running seemed to be ok, until I turned wrong one morning.......oops!

A friend of ours, who used to run a lot, until she injured her knees, suggested an Elliptical Trainer. She uses one, and told me that her knees don't hurt her when she "runs" on it. So we are on a hunt for one.

All I can say is.......Getting old is for the birds!!! In my 30's I used to go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, working my buns off.......except for the usual muscle aches, I never hurt myself!

Ah well, maybe we can try again in the Spring.......Or maybe not, since I'll be even OLDER!!

Second Spring

"Autumn is a second Spring when every leaf is a flower."

Albert Camus

Fall is here........and if I do say so myself, Autumn is the BEST season of all. Most of you know that I do not like the heat of summer, and so the coming of Fall brings relief from the scorching heat. You have to admit, Fall is a gorgeous time of the year.

The changing season also means that Winter and Christmas are just around the corner....and they, are my favorite times of the year.....don't hate me, but I do love the snow, in fact, I am already praying for the Snow to come!

A few weeks back, during our usual visit to Spokane, Mitch and I went to Green Bluff with the fam. I had always wanted to visit the Bluff......Over the years, my girls had told me about how much fun it is. Green Bluff is an area of Spokane that holds orchards, and fields of produce, and grains. Each year, during the growing seasons, the Bluff is the place to pick your own fresh produce and fruit, but Autumn is the time to be there. Every year during the Fall Green Bluff is alive with people, visiting the orchards to pick apples and pears, sampling apple cider and home backed goodies, like pumpkin donuts.....YUM! There are horse and wagon rides for the kids, and we even went into a field to pick our own pumpkins. The grand kids enjoyed trying to earn a $100 by shooting a potato into a bucket.....too cute! The churches in the area hold Harvest Parties, and the locals open their barn-doors to the public. We enjoyed a meal at a sweet little shop that served the best home-made pies and sandwiches. We ate out on the terrace and listened to live music, enjoying the last few days of sunshine. I brought home a bag of apples, some fresh cut lavender, and of course.......pumpkins......best of all I brought home memories of a day spent with my sweet family, enjoying the blessings of God.

The Magic Kingdom

Disneyland was a blast........Yes, we had our moments (Cali was having a freak heat wave!), but all in all it was great FUN!

The kids did awesome and so did the adults......only a few melt-downs each, yes that includes the adults, but all in all we did well!

In have said it before and I will say it again........I LOVE Disneyland.....there is just something about the place that brings out the kid in me.

My favorite rides are the fast and crazy ones, Space Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain. I love the kiddie rides too, The Mad Hatter's Tea Cups, Peter Pan's Magic Flight, Dumbo, and Alice In Wonderland, and of course the Buzz Lightyear ride. We all were trying to beat each other's scores. One time Mitch took Charlie with him and Charlie kept spinning their spaceship in circles, yet Mitch kept on firing his space gun at the targets....too cute, and I don't have a picture of it....bummer!!

We got to see the fireworks, and Ella loved seeing Tinker Bell's flight from the castle to the top of the Matterhorn.

We spent a small fortune on Churros, and water (did I mention how HOT it was?) and a lot of ice cream and frozen lemonade.

I LOVED being able to share Disneyland with my grands. Ella and Papa had a blast together, two peas in a pod, and the twins were too cute. Charlie loved the Tiki Room, I wish I could show you how cute he was........humming and dancing to the music. Mitchie's favorite ride was Its A Small World, his head would turn back and forth so that he could see it all. Dawson was content to sit in his stroller and enjoy the sights while eating Frozen Lemonade.....his favorite rides were the Buzz Lightyear ride, and the Hungry Caterpillar ride in California Adventure's, A Bug's Life Land.