Camping Fun

Clear, refreshing river at Klipchuck Campground, WA

Ever feel like someone is looking over your shoulder?  I'm grateful for my children.  We had fun taking this picture.

Happy Feet

A new pair of sandals was desperately needed for my son.  His current sandals were nearly in shreds.  We had been putting off shopping for new ones for various reasons.  But the day finally came when his sandals wouldn't stay on his feet very well.

We went to four different stores last week.  It is almost the end of summer, so most stores are just about out of sandals.  We couldn't find any that were the right size, style, or durable.  Finally, we decided to go to one last store that has lots of good quality shoes, suck in my breath, and pay the price if need be. 

A nice salesman met us.  "Sorry, no sandals are on sale, we just boxed them all up two days ago," he told me.  Ok, so he brought out a couple durable sandals.  They were very good quality, not the favorite style, not quite the right size, and certainly not the cheapest.  But, just as I was swallowing hard to buy them, another salesman came around the corner holding the perfect pair--the right size, color, style, and even on sale.  He said it was the only one left that he had on sale in the back room!  I asked him if he had any more so I could buy a pair for my other son for the future, but that was in fact the only one left. 

My son and I walked out of the store very grateful and rejoicing.  I've wanted to post a picture of the happy feet, but they keep moving too fast for me to catch on camera, or maybe my camera just doesn't move fast enough from the shelf at the right time. Ever grateful for God's providence...

Powerful Plantain

It is becoming bee & wasp season around our valley!  A little boy at our house got stung by a wasp on his ear yesterday evening while they were at a playground.  He came home nearly in tears.  I had stayed home to read up about natural remedies for bee stings (one of my sons had some on his foot already from the day before).  I saw a little video about using plantain.  So, I want outside and picked a nice bunch of fresh plantain leaves and was about to blend them on low in my blender when he walked in the door.  I was so shocked to see that he got a bee sting when I had just been learning what to do.  My immediate reaction was to grab a plantain leaf, stick it in my mouth, chew it up a little, spit out the wad, and place it on his wasp sting.  He kind of blinked and was a little surprised at my quick reaction.  He dutifully let me put on two applications of the chewed up plantain before he went to bed.  He fell asleep just fine.  In the morning, his ear had no swelling and wasn't painful at all.  I put one more wad on it just for good measure for about 30 minutes.  He told me this evening, "it was all well so quick."  I'm grateful for powerful plantain--God's natural remedy and timing.

Journey to Dayton

Jane with a miniature mule.

I'm petting Izzy the camel.

A smile for you.

Jane studying the wheat.  Harvesting has started in our valley.  (Next time I'll flip this photo before uploading it)

I'm thankful for the experiences that bring a little joy to the soul!

Only Two Shoes & Socks

This evening, this thought struck me as I was folding clothes.  I'm grateful God designed us to have only two legs instead of eight.  Wouldn't that be a chore to have to fold so many socks, put on so many socks, and tie so many shoe laces?  I'm grateful today.