Goodbye May!

Goodbye, May!  

What a month it was in 2023!  It was definitely the biggest month of this year for our family.  Thank you for sticking with us through it all.

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to those who gave their lives in service to our country.  We remember and honor you today.

Goodbye Oregon

Today is our "see you later" day to Oregon and our family here.  There's never an easy transition in life.  Not to me anyway.  We are glad to have lived here from October 2020 to May 2023.  We made many beautiful memories together and those can never be replaced.  They will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Goodbye, Newberg.  You were our home.

Goodbye, Fig.  You were our special Oregon rescue kitten/cat.  We got to love you for a year and your body will remain in our backyard.  But the memories and love will live on.

See you later, Adam, Rach, Kylee, Evan, Jack, and Clover.

We made lots of special and fun memories.  Meals shared, holidays spent, activities, and more.  I feel that our kids got to spend really some of the most important years together - their teen years.  It's been neat to see them change, grow, and mature into each season of their lives.  Life will be different without cousins and family around that close.  But never look at that in a negative way.  Remember and cherish the time you did have.  Not on what you won't have.

Life changes but grateful, our Lord stays the same and is there for us through it all.

Our Last Week of the School Year

Our little backyard here in Oregon.  I love the perennials, freshly mowed grass, and our willow tree.  In the summer, the willow tree provided almost a cocoon you could sit under shaded by the warm sun.  It felt cozy.  I also will never forget Fig sleeping among the bushes and perennials especially when the house was hot.  She will stay buried in her resting place in this yard.  Just thinking about the good times here.

The beautiful purple blooms.

This was our last week of school for the year.  It was a busy week of finishing up school videos, homework and final exams.  Instead of doing all the exams on one day, we did two pages of each exam every day for the last three days.  It seemed to spread them out and not be so mind-tiring.

Well, unless you are 12 and fall asleep.  LOL!

A lot on my mind this week.  Taking in the beauty.  I have loved my walks in this pioneer cemetery.  It is a peaceful and pretty place.  Filled with untold stories of history.  I look at all the headstones reading the names and dates.  Dating back to the 1800's.  I think of what stories those lives hold of possibly coming across the Oregon Trail to the wild west.  It's a fascinating thought.

The new green on this huge tree is so vivid.

And then at the base of this tree.  Grown up among the graves.  And these beautiful plants and flowers.  I've always loved this spot.

Friday was our last day of school - May 5th.  We have a tradition of going to McDonald's on the last day of school.  We worked all day and then went for dinner, ate, and talked for over 2 hours.  Life is fun when you have sweet girls that are growing up and you enjoy spending time with them.  We laughed and talked about life.

Summer is 12 and finished 7th grade.

Sierra is 15 and finished 10th grade.

Autumn is 17 and finished 12th grade.

Saturday went from clear to big, dark clouds to clear again.  It was definitely a changing weather sort of day.

I spent the day working in the carport packing and taking down shelves, etc.  Moving is not for the faint of heart.

Jackson was chill-he found a good napping spot and slept there for several hours!

I'm not sure why I kept this.  I suppose it was just a memory.  It was the Speedy Reader that Addie had to do in K-4 when she attended Hammond Baptist.  Such a lifetime ago.

And when packing, you come across gems like these.  These two dear ladies - Alice and Gladys.  I had forgotten that I got to see them and show them Addie.  Dear, dear friends.

It was a long and busy day.  I got quite a bit done but it is still all quite overwhelming.  I guess Max was overwhelmed too (ha) cause he literally wouldn't get up to eat his food.  I had to spoon-feed him because his meds were crushed up in it.  That dog!

Heading Into Our Last Week

Autumn and Jackson

This is the last week of school for our school year!  Let's do it!

Monday, May 1st, Summer had a consultation at the orthodontist's office.  After the appointment, we got groceries at Winco and Wal-Mart in McMinnville.  We got our package of spicy crab sushi that we share and our Shasta soda for the way home.

On Tuesday, we went to Jack's first baseball game for this season.  

The new update from Pensacola Christian College where our daughter attends.

I do love when it is clear in the morning and it is a beautiful morning.

More of my flowers blooming.

Happy Graduation Day, Autumn!

Today is the day!  Our second daughter, Autumn, graduates today from high school.  She home-schooled with Abeka Academy from K-4 through 12th grade.  And today, she will be walking with other home school graduates from across the United States and the world to receive her diploma in Pensacola, FL.

While you wish they could stay little forever and those memories are so very precious, you are so grateful for who they have become in Christ.

A whole new journey begins today for Autumn.  Full-time job, college, and adulthood.  Congratulations, my daughter!  We love you and are so proud of you!

Closing Day in Reno

 Today, we officially close on the sale of our Reno home.  This is a big step for our family and closes a big door in our lives.  

My father-in-law bought this home in March 1996.  He passed away on December 28, 2020.  After his death, I transferred his home into our names via Transfer on Death Deed.  

We did a lot of work to the home after he passed. The first step was simply clearing out the home which was a huge task in itself.

 We had the soffit repaired, had the entire outside, including the garage, and inside of the home professionally painted, replaced the bathroom vanity, replaced several light fixtures including the dining room chandelier, painted the kitchen counter, replaced the stove and fridge, replaced the entire home with luxury vinyl plank flooring, replaced all the baseboards, replaced the front fence, fixed the leak in the roof.  The work could have gone on and on!  Twenty-seven years with one homeowner creates a lot of catch-up work and updates.  :)

We then rented it so that we could recoup the expense that we put into the home as well as pay the monthly mortgage, etc.  We rented it from April 2021 to January 2023.  Our renters moved to Las Vegas, therefore, moving out as our renters.  This was also the time the FL opportunity came to us.  It was the best decision for us to not continue to rent it as we would be living too far away to manage it under renters.  It also would need more costly updates such as a new roof, windows, etc. as well as pay the mortgage and HOA; it would not be profitable to rent.  We decided it would be best for our family to sell Dad's old home.

It was quite the ordeal getting the work done on the outside this spring.  Winter didn't want to let up in the Sierras and we were delayed with snow and cold temps.  Finally, we were able to get the work done and put it on the market.

God has been gracious through it all and today, the house closes.  It will have a new family to own the home but our memories for many years will never be forgotten.  Today, this chapter of twenty-seven years is closed in our life yet it will be remembered in our family for our lifetime.

Schedule for our Monday at PCC

 Today, our family is in Pensacola, FL!  We are here for Autumn's high school graduation.  The graduation ceremony is tomorrow but today they have lots of activities to enjoy.  

Here is our schedule:

1pm:  Check-In

1:30pm:  Tour of Abeka Distribution Center

2:50pm:  PCC (Pensacola Christian College) Tour

4:15pm:  Meet and Greet with high school faculty

6:30pm:  Arrows picnic for graduates and family

7:30pm:  PCA (Pensacola Christian Academy) tour

They also have activities on campus that are free to enjoy.  Bowling, rock wall, swim center, and more.

Looking forward to a fun day together on campus!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there!  

You truly are the most giving and unselfish people there are.  Moms are always looking out for everyone but themselves.  My greatest purpose and mission in my life is to be a wife and mom.  I love what God gave me to do!  You are special and you are loved.  Thank you to all moms!

My Near Miss and Quiet Sunday

So this is what happened as I was driving back from my nephew's meet.  I was in the position as the dark car on the right in the above photo.  There was a lady in a large white SUV in the position as the truck on the left in the above photo.

That lady pulled out to cross the intersection just as I entered the intersection.

I swerved to miss her, crossed over the oncoming lane of traffic, across the median just missing that pole, across the exit lane, and landed in the ditch.

You can see my tire tracks across the exit lane.

And the ditch I landed in that stopped my momentum.

How close I came to hitting that pole.  And how I could have hit an oncoming car very easily.

It was a heart-stopping moment in time and I am so grateful to God for keeping me safe.  I was not hurt and my car is fine.  Interestingly, the lady simply crossed the intersection, slowed to look at me getting out of the ditch, and drove down the road.  Incredible.

Sunday morning was church and then Domino's Pizza for lunch.

Summer went to a friend's house for the afternoon between church and youth group.

Autumn did childcare for an in-service for workers at the church after the morning service.

Jackson and his funny way of sitting.

Pretty blooming tree in the cemetery.

Jackson and Mama hanging out.

Brownie