We're Friends

Avril is my special little buddy that I love so very much.  

We like doing lots of things together.

Things like painting nails, cuddling on the couch, spending time downstairs in my room (for some reason that is super special), going for walks or jogging with her and Rhett in the 

stroller "for three days, or just until it's dark" (in her words =)), 

holding hands, trying on hats and sunglasses together because we both love those two items, and laughing together.

Love this little girl. 

She's totally a poser since she loves pictures so much.

Feeling like a beautiful bride in Mommy's veil.

We think we can totes pull off these hats 

 I asked her to smile for a picture. The first one didn't turn out so I said 

"Just a second, let me get a better one, Avril." 

She replied with, "Ok, but maybe I should show my teeth when I smile so I look better, ok?" 

 

I told her I wanted to take her home with me and she believed me 

and really was ready to leave when I did!

Sunset in "Jail"

He put himself in here. I didn't. If I had, I would have duct-taped the edges down.

Then he made his little brother push him around like it was a boat. 

Boy, looks like that sailor/servant/pusher-of-boats is getting a workout.

And now, after a fair amount of tears involving all of them, they are headed for bed in the light of this setting sun =) 

Thinking....

....about how many words there are to describe or envision so many things...

Smelling - campfire smoke on me, myself, and my hair

Encouraged - that some people think I am a kid magnet 

(Kaylee and kid magnet? They go together?!)

Pleased - that little Inez thinks I'm pretty cool (she fell asleep when I was holding her and her parents say she never does that with people she doesn't know!)

Shivering - ummm... because I'm cold?!

Excited - to meet a girl on Tuesday who I've been emailing because she lives here in ID.  

I follow her blog and realized she lives very close to here!

Listening - to Dailey & Vincent because I'm quite partial to them and their music

Waiting - to watch a movie with my uncle and aunt 

(the kids have to get to bed first-they're almost there.....)

Loving - walking barefoot in grass

Wishing - our church had a worship team like the church here 

(they aren't "rocky" but they get so INTO it!)

Talking - to Aunt Heidi while typing (it's actually pretty hard)

Wondering - if I will want to go home after having so much fun here =)

Disturbing, but Sweet - a kiss from a snotty-nose child

Crying - from a sad story my aunt is telling me

Remembering - how hard it must have been to live in the early 1900s 

(WWI, The Depression, WW II)

Laughing - at what happens when you tell two-year-olds to put their arms around each other! (i.e. above)

Hearing - a train go by (it's NOT uncommon because the track is right across the road and is used constantly but I am not immune to it yet)

Beautiful - is long hair on a little girl 

(like all the little ones around here seem to have waist-length hair 

and they're less than 10-yrs-old)

Difficult - a mom's life (it seems to be such a big job to train children how God wants one to and to still love them through all the ups and downs involved with that. 

My aunt and I are always discussing it =))

Adorable - is Rhett when he giggles and scrunches up his nose because I blew in his ear 

Splendid - the meatballs that Uncle Jay and I made this morning before church (we've never made them before and did not have a recipe, but they turned out quite well!). Everyone complimented us, we felt proud of ourselves (even with hands smelling like onions all through church), and we shared a fist bump.

Tired - what I feel when I go to bed too late (is there a connection?!)

Hilarious - how many rednecks in rattle-trap trucks are driving around here 

(rednecks make me laugh in general)

Anticipating - a nice long walk tomorrow

Broken - how my big toe still feels  from a 4-week-ago encounter with someone else's foot

Fabulous - would be to go 4-wheeling (we might be doing that some night this week!) 

Being Glad - that I have small friends such as these (Ada, Gwyneth, and Genevieve) who just adore me and tell their cousins (my cousins) that they just want me to live with them because I am so cool. Aaaww! 

Kiddies

My little cousins here kind of adore me (well it's probably because I'm new and around them and what else would they think?!) so we take lots of pictures and have fun with each other every day.
We take about 2 or 3 walks each day. For some reason walks are viewed as super cool and special (well they are - I think so myself!) around here. Usually I am asked between 10 and 15 times per day when we will be going on our next walk, though. If we went every time I'm asked, I'd be super.....umm...fit?....umm....thin?...umm....TIRED!!

Adam is pretty much obsessed with fishing, so this day we walked he carried his fishing pole for like 4 miles hoping and waiting for a good place to fish. I guess I'm just not that into it because I probably wouldn't do that =) 

Rowan found a super cool dandelion.  

While walking along, I heard Adam and Rowan discussing important things. 

Rowan: "I like playing legoes. And DS's".

Adam: "Rowan, do you love legoes and stuff more than you love God?!"

Rowan: "I love God the most, because he made the whole universe!"

            

This is my little lady. Seriously. I love her to pieces. She is super cute (like the time I asked her if I could take a picture of her and she said, "Sure, but I am going to tip my head to the side so I look cute. Ok?"), even though she can also be such a girl with the screaming so dramatically at one of her brothers that you think she's dying.

The first day I was out here I was holding her and I gave her a little lovey-squeeze. She gazed up at me and asked incredulously, "You love me already?!"

Yep. I think she's pretty great.

I want  would love to have a truck like this....

My attempt at a "cool" picture.... Not really sure....Avril was supposed to be looking like she was lecturing an indifferent Adam, which in truth she actually was! 

 Rhett is my special little buddy. He loves swinging, so we go to the park down the road and do it even though it makes me dreadfully motion sick : / That's what friends do! Haha....
Last night when he was all fussy and his mommy was busy with the other kiddos so that she couldn't pay attention to him, I grabbed him and ran outside to watch daddy mow the lawn. Daddy is his favorite, so we watched for a while and then we walked up the road and talked to each other. He also thinks it's pretty funny to have someone blow into his ears. He giggles because of how ticklish it feels =)
Some days he just randomly runs up to me, says, "HI!", with an impish grin, then grabs onto whatever of me is closest and gives me a squeeze, then runs away. I love it....

Even though children make moms and dads crazy sometimes (I'm not even a parent but do know that!) and they wonder what in the world they are doing wrong and why God has given them this job anyway, He always has a plan for everyone that just might not be able to be seen right away.
I'm realizing that focusing on the fun times with each of the little kiddies you interact with definitely helps enjoy them through their ugly moments and makes you think differently about them =)

"Children are a gift from the Lord...."
- Psalm 127:3

Mt. Saint Helens

I am now in Idaho and the weekend was busy, so here I am, still on Friday.

................................................

Can you believe I actually went to a volcano?! Well you have to, because I totally did.

This is the Mount Saint Helens in Washington which blew up exactly 34 years ago, the 18th of May, 1980.
(Ironically we visited the place on the 16th =))

I knew that we did have an active volcano in our very own United States, but didn't know anything really about it. Now I know something! Well, about that..... =)

Since volcanoes are always being watched for change, this blow was anticipated for a couple weeks before.

It started around 9:30 in the morning with a giant landslide of one side of the mountain because of the collapse inside. That landslide was a mass of dirt, rocks/boulders, snow, and water which left a huge messy path after it down the mountain and then all around. Then it blew tons and tons of everything sky high in a blast that spread out over the ridges all around. It was so powerful that it literally sheared off all the trees for miles around, and leaving humongous boulders and piles of ash. For a few days afterward in the towns and cities around there was a heavy cloud of ash in and on everything. 

So, with the landslide removing quite a bit of the earth that could grow things, trees blasted away, and basically a new landscape formed by that impressive force flying all over, it looks a bit desolate around there, even with the 34 years improvement. 

This is the mountain as we were driving up. Most volcanoes blow straight up, but St. Helens surprised everyone and blew out the side, causing more of a horizontal destruction. 

There is a series of ridges all around, and this one is on the side that blew out. See how it looks so barren? The trees literally got blown off. A lot of places got replanted, but the rest of the topography was left as an experiment to study the natural regrowth. 

The blow flew at the ridges in such a way that it totally destroyed one side of a ridge and the other side didn't have nearly the same damage.

Alyssa & Uncle Chad

It's hard to depict HOW far down something really is, but believe me, this was FAR down. It's a big valley between the ridges with the bottom of it looking like a giant construction site. A bit of growth is down there - enough for elk to enjoy themselves!

That mountain that's all white in the background is Mt Rainier, and hard to pick up through a camera. You have to go there to see it all yourself =)

Another day Uncle Chad did a 16 mile hike that took him around that ridge on the left. He said there is literally no shade and quite exhausting on a hot day, but the view from the other side is amazing.

I'm going back sometime to check it out....

That very thin line along the edge was our hiking trail! If someone slipped off that, there would be nothing to stop them from going all the way to the bottom of the valley.....

....Not the most comforting of an idea, but definitely something to keep in mind when you slip on a pebble and have to flail your arms to keep your balance!

The lake down there is full of logs that got blown in at the time of the blow up, but they are not allowed to be touched. Not really sure why they can't be taken out, but they are worth a LOT of money now because of some deal with how long they've been preserved? maybe?

Dear Alyssa....It was her 20th birthday and she happened to not have work until night that day, so she got to go with us.

This is where lunch is eaten best....

The power of the force that blew all the trees actually twisted the wood of this tree trunk. The blast sent it spinning through the air, obviously at very high rates of speed.

Uncle Chad found my boyfriend he says..... " I am excited to introduce you to Big Foot, my boyfriend.....Do you think he's a little tall?...." 

Yep. Uhhh....Nope. Uhhh... What?!

If you get a chance, go hike on or around a volcano, especially one that has recently blown. It'll be an experience that is fabulous =) 

The majestic-ness of God's creation and power is SO evident in places like this. 

Was I In Another Country?!

Yes, I do believe I was.....

Uncle Chad loves to do active things such as bike riding and hiking, so I have been doing those things with him while here. I always like the idea of doing all that and in the summer time do it somewhat, but I am really not in shape. I re-decide that every time I am huffing and puffing up a hill that really isn't that big : /
Yesterday we took our bikes and drove out to the capital forest where there are some lovely trails that are used for mountain bikes, hiking, and horseback riding. Uncle Chad had me drive the truck (it's a big Ford thing that is fun to drive 'cause it makes me feel grown up!) because he said then I would know how and be able to take it anywhere I pleased this week =)
Anyway, it was a lovely day for such a thing as biking - I even got a sun burn!
I seriously felt like we were going through the red woods or something. Of course the trees weren't nearly as large, but since I have never actually seen the "real" ones, these seemed awfully close =)

             

      There was a whole stand of trees this big (!) all around one place we were biking through.

You think maybe this is a rain forest?!....I'm thinking so....

Especially with all this moss on everything - Uncle Chad said this tree looked like a super scary ghost =)

We left our helmets on because, like he said, who would want to see our messed up hair?! 

 Vermont just doesn't have trees this tall....

And then we came out of the rain forest into what Washington is really looks like.....and then we realized we were lost =) 

We were on this road hoping it would curve around to the main road we started from, but it ended up curving around the other way bringing us back to another section of the paths we'd passed. 

It was fine and fun, especially since my uncle is pretty hilarious. Of course he blamed us not knowing where we were on me. It was SO not my "fault". 

We were flying down this steep and long road, me hoping we wouldn't have to turn around and go back UP it, when he yells back to me, "If we don't find out where we are by Thursday we'll turn around!"

Well, that's good to know!

He'd brought two snacks for the trip, so when we ate the first one, he put the other one back explaining that that one was for Wednesday night. At least he was prepared....

Oh, and he was wearing a camel back so we'd have water and he would squirt it in my mouth instead of me sucking on it. Well, he'd aim it way back in my throat so it'd choke me nearly every time. I would feel it coming and then start laughing so then would start gagging =) 

A beautiful birch wood that reminded me of the first scene in the Anne of Green Gables

 This reminded me of walking down to the beach in Maine or something - these yellow flowers are everywhere here right now.

When we were finally on our way back, we realized how much up hill it really was on the way, because we went super fast back down, winding in between these trees.

That bit of white across the field is Mt. Rainier (covered in snow, hence the white :)). This field was also covered with naturally made little humps called Mima Mounds. It's protected from being smoothed out because there are only two places like that in the United States. I guess they study it too or something since it's been like that since the Flood.

It was a fabulous time of it and I was so tired afterwards. Don't really know how far we went but I feel like it was about 15 miles.
I slept well last night =)