BFF

This fall it will be 29 years since God in His sovereignty plucked this scared little girl out of the public school system and graciously filled a painfully empty desk at a local Christian school. As a clueless 14-year-old, I had no idea that the somewhat hostile and cold demeanor of the girl sitting in the seat next to me was due to the recent crushing heartache of losing her best friend to a drunk driver. Her friend happened to be the former occupant of my desk, in fact, of most of the desks I now sat in, as well as the books I carried and even the Bible I was given.


But God...don't you love those two words? But God in His grace and mercy brought us together and has kept our friendship throughout the years. Becky, I thank God for you and for your faithfulness to me. Thank you for driving all the way up here to visit me and my family. I truly enjoyed my time with you!

My sweet husband watched the kids on Saturday while
Becky was here so she and I could have a day to ourselves.
We went to the Rose Garden, out to lunch, and had a
wonderfully relaxing day of visiting.

IRL

Since last summer I've been trying to get together with a friend I "met" online. Something kept making us have to postpone or cancel, but we finally were able to get together last week. The kids enjoyed meeting her as well and had fun playing with all the toys in her toy cabinet. She helped me make some cute cards, and we had a nice visit getting to know each other better. She doesn't keep up her blog any longer, but she does have a blog with pictures of her beautiful cards that you can check out.


This was the first time I have met someone in real life that began as an online friendship. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, so I'll have to settle for a picture of the cards I made. It seems like I have been forgetting that more and more often. I think it's time for a camera that will fit in my purse!

Neighborly Love

Last week when our back neighbor (as Abby calls him) found out I was sick, he called me to the fence and handed me this beautiful bouquet of dahlias. Then this week as a bonus, he cut me this gorgeous bouquet of hydrangeas. I have been enjoying these so much. I told him how much I thank God for him because he is such a great neighbor. I only hope he comes to know Christ soon. I keep praying for him, but would you mind saying a prayer too?

Fishing With New Friends

Saturday we went fishing with some old friends, and Sunday we went fishing with some new friends. We first met Brea and Joey at a mutual friends' house on the 4th of July. Since then Ed has discussed some business with them for his company, played golf, and now the kids and I have gotten to know them a little during our afternoon of trying to catch fish together.


They were really excited and had high hopes of catching fish, but unfortunately Abby was the only one to reel a fish in. In fact, she caught two: a catfish, and a large mouth bass.

Restless kids. Ryan is playing with his tackle box and
Abby is peering through the slats to spy out fish in the water below.
There is a nice paved trail that runs all the way around the lake and extends to other areas as well. The kids and I tried to find a geocache that we had previously found but it had apparently been taken (or what we geocachers called "muggled"). We still enjoyed the walk, and the kids sampled thimbleberries and blackberries along the way.


Abby lit up when she saw a couple riding horses along the trail,
and the owner of horse saw her enthusiasm and stopped to ask
Abby if she wanted to come pet the horse...which, of course, she did!

Fishing With Old Friends

Back when Ryan was two and Abby a year old, I did child care for little two-year-old boy one spring and summer. I did it for about five months before realizing I had bit off more than I could chew with three kids under three. However, we became friends with the little boy and his mom, and if I ask Ryan who his best friend is he will say Jakey even if we haven't seen them for a year.


When Ryan had his sixth birthday party earlier this year, Jakey's dad brought him (mom was sick) and we all decided to get together for an afternoon of fishing out at Trojan sometime soon. Well, six months later, we finally did it. Jacob (he doesn't like to be called Jakey anymore, but it's hard to break that habit!), his mom and dad drove out to our house and we all then drove to Trojan.

More bread, please!

We had a picnic lunch amidst rain showers (some were outright downpours), and then the kids played while Daddy pretty much did all the fishing. He caught three trout (one good-sized one!) and a sunfish. The kids were having so much fun and were so excited to see each other that they really didn't do any fishing.


I brought a big bag of stale bread I have been saving throughout the year, and we fed some geese and tried to feed the ducks but the geese were pretty greedy and aggressive.


Abby doing one of her favorite activities, digging in the mud.

The rain cleared up after lunch, and we played some Frisbee. Jacob saw how pitifully I throw a Frisbee and told me he could show me how to do it. So after some instruction, I was doing a bit better. Then the kids spent most of the rest of the day playing castle and wrestle-fighting. Abby took some pretty good body slams to the ground, but she got up looking for more! Ryan held out for much longer than I would have expected as well.


During our time at the park, the Frisbee golf basket became the kids' castle.

Lastly, the moms and kids took a walk around the lake. We saw beaver-chewed trees, frogs (well, I did anyway), sampled some blackberries and Oregon Grape (yuck). Then it was time to pack up and go home, much to Ryan's displeasure. He was comforted somewhat by the thought that we would have trout for dinner!