Girls... Horses... Snow!

*FLASHBACK*

Back in January.

Yes, way back in January.

When we had some snow.

We had friends over.

 Fun times in the snow.

 Fun times with friends.

 And fun times on the horses.

(Abbi, where is your coat young lady?!) 

Friday

Have you ever wondered what we do on Fridays?
Probably not.
Well, if you keep reading
 you are about to find out anyway...

First of all,
it's French Toast Friday.
A favorite breakfast around here.
Then we do 2 hours of school.

Then...
we load Grandma into the car and head to
Main Street in our small town
for her weekly hair appointment.
"The Shear Touch" is our destination.

This is where Mrs. P awaits our arrival and gets started on Grandma's hair.

We enjoy our visits with Mrs. P 

BUT...

the person Tessa can NOT wait to see is 

"Rebecky"!!

(her name is actually Becky but Tess calls her Ra-becky)

Meet Rebecky.

She is 43 years old and lives with her mom.

Becky's mom was kicked by a horse in the stomach when she was pregnant with Becky.

Becky can not walk.

She understands EVERYTHING!

And can talk.

(not real clearly but enough that her mom can understand her)

She and Tess have a fun time together.

Becky's mom gets her hair done just before Grandma so we get to see and visit with

"Rebecky" while her mom finishes up.

TA-DA!

Grandma is all fixed up and ready for another week.

Well, whether you wanted to know or not - 

now you know...

what we do on Fridays.

:-)

Touched by Angels

These sweet people are the most amazing couple
E.V.E.R.!!
How they found and came to Big Canyon was completely orchestrated by God.
And we are ever so thankful!!

Mr and Mrs W live in California.
They had been to a camp (in CA) a few years ago and while they were there as campers, they saw and met a few retired couples that lived in their trailers and volunteered at the camp.
After seeing how these people served - that's what they wanted to do when they retired.
Well....
they retired.
And we were the blessed recipients of their love and servants hearts.
WOW!!
They were here for about 8 weeks and got soooo much done.
They have gone home and we REALLY miss them.

Gordon, Karen and Cooper 

Tessa was Mrs W's sidekick almost the entire time.
What a pair!

After a long days work (if they were up to it), we would have dinner, make cookies, or watch movies and eat popcorn with them.

Tessa, Dani Rae and Elizabeth played many games with Mrs W.
Their favorite was the matching game.
Poor Karen had no chance of winning.
Oh, those young minds with an incredible memory.
:-)

We are praying that God leads them back to Big Canyon and into our lives again - 

Real Soon!

10 Hours...

of skiing at Park City Mtn Resort!!

Hudson, Abbi and Caleb

The details are confusing. 

But long story short- -

they got $15 ski tickets from some friends.

They started their day on the mountain at 9am and went until 9pm 

with a few breaks for eating and warming up in the lodge.

They had a blast skiing all day with their friends.

And even did some night skiing.

Thanks P Family!!

A Great Ski Day...

for my chums!

They skiied without me.

I missed out on my once a year ski day with my friends due to other circumstances -

A VERY LARGE BELLY!

BUT...

I met up with them at Deer Valley for lunch

What a treat!

LOVE MY CHUMS!

Labor and Blessing

at 3:48 am

i was blessed

to help a sweet friend

give birth

to a precious son

God is sooo Good!

"Praise the Lord!
I will praise the Lord with all my heart.
The works of the Lord are great
His work is honorable and glorious,
And His righteousness endures forever. 
He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion."
Psalm 111:1-4

Guys and Guns

Do you know what today is?

Apparently, I didn't.

I just thought is was a new month - September!

I was wrong.

My boys, however, informed me that it was NOT just a new month. 

It is September 1st.

Which, in their boy brains, it is Dove Opener!!

Let the shooting begin.

Their friends came over early this morning and the hunt was on.

Total numbers for the day were 22

Jonathon, Hudson, Caleb and Daniel

(and 6 of their birdies)

ps I guess you know what will be on our dinner table tonight...

Our Door Of Love

We are having so much fun...

reading your Christmas letters and praying for you!

We love receiving letters/pics from our family and friends during Christmas. I always open them, read the letter and take a peek at the pic. Then I tuck everything back into the envelope and put it in our Christmas letter basket. 

There they accumulate. 

There they wait. 

Then when the holidays are over and we are back into our daily routine, we pick an envelope each morning before our "special time" (aka devotions). We read the letter and pass around the picture. Then I tell the children how we know that person/family (if they don't know) and fun things/memories of them. 

Then the fun part...

We all pray for that family!

After the family is prayed for the picture gets hung up on our schoolroom door.

We are reminded of you daily!

We love you.

(if you don't see your pic - we are not through the basket of letters yet...still more to come!)

Bluegrass - NOT Green!

We were so blessed by the men of the Winton family.

If you enjoy Bluegrass (banjo, fiddle, guitar, dobro, mandolin etc) then you would lo-ove these guys!

If you don't like Bluegrass, you will! after listening to them.

What a team!

Jesse (15 1/2) Randy (dad) Cody (17)

(and a wife and 2 daughters that did not travel with them this time)

This is a family that ministers with their music, talent and hearts with a passion for families and Jesus.

We enjoyed our evening of fellowship with them and the Price family. 

After dinner and visiting they played a set of songs for us.

Awesome!

You really need their CD. Trust me. You do!!

You will be blessed!

You can order a CD and learn more about them HERE!

Hungry?

My guess is that you are not starving but there are children out there that are!

We visited a church in Salt Lake on Sunday. On that specific Sunday they were packaging food to fight against hunger. We joined in!

The sanctuary was set up with tables. Tables of food - grains and spices.

As you can see, they had bags and bags of food.

The grains were put in tubs and then we would measure, mix, seal and package.

Quite the process and an efficient assembly line!

Abbi and Caleb

Most people were working hard.

BUT not this crazy lady! :)

One of my very sweet friends, Laurie.
I love this girl!

Abbi

Hudson, Weston, Maggie and Brian were helping at this table

The younger children drew and colored pictures to put in the boxes for the children that received the food.

Elizabeth, Tessa and Dani Rae

The finished product!

Ready to be boxed and sent.
This food will be a blessing to many little children. We were blessed by helping out.

Thankful Hearts

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; 

his faithfulness continues through all generations."

Psalm 100:4,5

Fun Fellowship with Friends and Family

  

  

Devotion before dinner...

And then Dinner!

 

Oh and More Pies!!

With thankful hearts and full bellies, we continued our fellowship in comfy chairs.

Dani Rae and Toby had the right idea...

a snuggly nap together!

So much to be thankful for!

I hope that you have a thankful heart today and forever.

Many Blessings to YOU!