Oregon Trip: Days 3 through 5

Day 3 found us traveling south on I-5 for a loonnngg time. We drove from Portland down to the Medford area, ending up at Joseph Stewart State park where we met up with some friends. We spent the next three days there. The very first day Gabe found a tick on me when I asked him what was crawling on my back! We spent a lot of time praying that God would keep the ticks off of us, especially Isaac! I had my oils, just in case, but we never saw another one!

Being funny with Mommy

Stopping for some ice cream- YUM!

Isaac loves Ice Cream :-)


Me attempting not to further injure some one's spine whose been injured but must be moved to survive... theoretically...

Crashed out Isaac.

Trying to recreate Melia's flying picture with Isaac... Not too bad! It sure makes his hair look long!!!

Kid craft time- they had a ball!

Me learning how to throw a tomahawk. Incredibly hard, but fun!

I kept making the tops fall off the handles!

We had a great time meeting people we know, but had never actually met before! We did a couple of classes; soap making (can't wait to try!), shooting, safety, mountain medicine (hence my picture above), cooking outdoors (AWESOME!), tomahawk throwing, knife sharpening, OC spray... lots of good information. We are really looking forward to the next one... Maybe in Hawaii!

Oregon Trip: Day One

The first day we got out of town around 1, which we thought was pretty good! We drove and drove... Gabe was awesome and encouraged me to try driving, towing the travel trailer! He pulled over on White Trail Rd, and I drove all the way down to Goldendale! Then he took over and pulled us the rest of the way into Portland. This was Melia's opinion of her inability to sleep while we were driving.
We stopped at the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery to stretch our legs, plus we'd been told that they have some really cool sturgeon! Boy, do they ever!!!

That was it for our first day- the goal was to make it to Portland so we could spend the next day with Jeremy. And we did! I learned I could tow a trailer, which was a big deal for me, especially considering my motion sickness problem (this makes a huge difference the rest of the trip!) and I am starting to understand the love/hate relationship between google maps, microsoft streets & trips, and tomtom. Too many hands in the pot.... More on that later :-)

Just a few pics from summer camp...

These were from another person's camera, sorry they're so blue, but I thought they were too cute not to share!

Kiera coloring with Helen (our pastor's wife)
Beautiful Girls

Momma and Isaac

More to come, I promise, but it takes so long :-) So you just get a few at a time....

We're Back!

Lots to share, along with some fabulous pics... I love summer camp. God never fails, especially when you invite Him to work in your life, open to what He has in store. He really suprised me this year.

More later :-)

Off To Summer Camp!

Adios for a week or so! We are so very blessed to be able to help work at our church's youth summer camp. Please keep us in your prayers- for health, safety, traveling mercies, patience, and most of all for God to work a MIGHTY work in All our lives, showing His Glory and transforming our lives into vessels to further advance His Kingdom! The theme is "Unveiled: Revealing the Glory of Christ."


In the meantime, here's more fun pics :-)

Blessings: Answer to Prayer!!

So, you all know that I have to go back to work next week. Remember that they were thinking about switching me to Fri/Sat instead of Sun/Mon, and how I didn't really like either of those options? Gabe helped me to be "ok" with whatever happened, saying that we can't really afford to give up my work yet and we would make it work, whatever happened... Read on!

My manager was on vacation, so he just threw me in for one day the first week instead of two- which was totally ok with me!! Blessing Number One...

A few days after that, he called and said, "So, what's working for you lately?" I have not asked for anything, trying to simply be thankful I have such an blessed position there at Costco and thankful they are flexible with my reduced schedule. I responded that I had just been waiting to hear from him where they needed me. And he said "well, Jackie's been thinking she'd like to have Thurs/Fri off...." Me:"I can do that- let's try it and see if it works!" Inside I am jumping for joy and trying desperately to hold the tears in until I can get off the phone. You see, Thurs/Fri is just about perfect! That way, MIL would never have to have kiddos two days in a row (barring OT or unforseen Gabe activity.. *wink*), Gabe would still get his one day in a week with them, and we would still have 2 days together of his 3 day weekends! And SUNDAYS OFF!!!! (that's me squealing with joy!) Huge huge HUGE praise- I am so thankful that He cares about our little concerns, and assists us in blooming where we're planted! Blessing Number Two!

Feeling courageous, I mentioned that we had summer camp coming up, and said while I completely understand if this won't work, but for that week, could I not work until Fri, and Sat or Sun? He said sure, they have lots of backup now, so that week I will ONLY work on Fri! I won't miss any days of camp!!!!! How many more exclamations can I add!!!!???!!!!

He has been so good to us- I pray that we remember always to give Him the glory and praise, and serve Him first! Amen!!

Camp Quotes that I found Profound

"Satan tells you things that are true, but only God tells you the truth." (from Memory's bible study)

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." C.S. Lewis (I knew of this one before, but as I hear it in different contexts, it become more profound each time.)