This last week was intense!

Monday was a nice quiet at home day before the whirlwind took over.

Tuesday - I had to go clean for a client, take her to lunch, finish the cleaning and then take her to the grocery store and bank. It was the slowest grocery store trip I have ever taken! Even my grandmother goes faster than that, but this lady is probably ten years older than her! I got her back about 2pm and then I had a slew of errands to run before Dad and Mom left town with the only working vehicle that I can drive. Across the bridge to WA to pick up some sewing supplies for projects to work on during the week, small things to pick up at Walmart, groceries to pick up last minute, gas station, etc filled the rest of the time and I got home much later than I'd wanted to!

Wednesday - Dad and Mom were gone before any of us even thought about waking up! The animals had to be done, house cleaned, etc (and we managed to get in some weeding in the flowers beds) so that we could be ready in time to be picked up for the games. I baked cookies, but did not start them in time, so they weren't ready to take with us! Oh, well! My sisters' guy picked us up and we had one stop to make before we went to the park and started Badminton and Volleyball. Later in the evening when it was cooler, we played a full game of Frisbee! It had been awhile since we'd played, so it was good to be running that much again! Plus, my team won! Woohoo!

Thursday - Well, honestly, I don't remember what we all did on Thursday. But, I did laundry, sewing, vehicle research and talked to an incredibly sweet friend for almost 2 hours among keeping the kids under control, and life moving forward for those of us that were home.

Friday - There was an extra game planned, so we spent the morning cleaning and I did more sewing and laundry before we again got picked up for the game. This game was the most exciting I have ever been to: there was a fire! We saw the column of smoke, and then went back to Volleyball until we heard sirens and noticed the smoke column was larger and quite black. So, we ran to the edge of the park, but couldn't see enough, so we ran down to the main street where quite a crowd was gathering already in all the parking lots, the used car lot was rapidly pulling vehicles off the lot and the deputies were closing the streets down. We watched for awhile before we decided that we did want to play Volleyball, so we walked back to the park and started a game. We also played Mafia while we waited for the weather to cool down a little and tried some different variations to change it up.

Saturday - We had to get up very early to get ready for a hiking/fishing trip to Elk River. I barely had enough time to pack a picnic lunch and hustle the kids to get ready and miraculously, we left only seven minutes late! Once we had arrived, one of my sisters and brothers went with the fishing group, but my two sisters and I went with the hiking group to see the waterfalls. After we were joined by the fishing group, we headed to the last fall and went wading. Rolled up the pants, and into the water we went. Some rocks were slippery and some were sharp, but we had a lot of fun anyway. For the most part, we stayed out of the water fights that were going on. After eating a picnic lunch, and stopping at the Inn in town for huckleberry shakes, we headed home.

Sunday - We slept in because everybody was *exhausted*!!! After quite a bit of confusion, we packed another picnic lunch and headed to Waha Lake with my future brother-in-law to meet up with his siblings. We waded around in the water until a snake showed up, then we dangled our feet in the water on the other side for awhile and talked while the people with licenses fished. After lunch, we played a version of Volleyball for a circle, and then went home to get ready for Dad and Mom's return.

Those few hours at the Lake were the most peaceful few hours I've had in quite awhile!

~am

Brothers and Sisters

Of all my brothers, I am the closest to B. He is just older than me and we have the shortest span of time between us. Along with his just older sister, we formed a Terrific Trio. It started with schooling, and quickly moved into all things life. We were inseparable! I am extremely close to the rest of my siblings, too, but the older ones were so much ahead of me in life that it was harder to be close to them. They are more role models.
As children, we did not get along. At. All. We fought constantly and were always in trouble for it. When we both reached our teen years, it just changed and we got along so well after that. We can often talk in codes and know exactly what the other two are saying.
Things will never be the same again.
B now has a girl that is his all, his confident, his help-meet. And, that is exactly how it should be. God made it that way.
It will take getting used to. Sometimes, I'll just sit and think about the way things used to be, how they were in the "olden days" when it was my sister and I in the backseat with our "chauffer" driving us places; the laughing, school work, long deep talks and the fervent prayers... most especially the prayers. We all clung to each other in an extremely trying time and that was when we were the closest; hanging on for the last threads of hope.
I thought that when the time came, I would be very jealous! But, I've found that I'm not. I am just ecstatically happy for them and couldn't imagine a better girl for B.
~am

Another family wedding!

On Thursday, my brother, B asked his girl to marry him and she joyously said, "yes". Her ring is lovely!!!! They are now earnestly planning their wedding for August, but have not finalized the date yet.

I am so happy for them! B is the best brother in the world and C is the perfect girl for him!!!!

My sister is courting!

My sisters and I have known for quite awhile now that one of our dear sisters, H is downright dippy about this guy that we know. She tried hard to hide it and though she never downright told us, we just knew. We are her sisters, plus they seemed to be just a natural match. We watched intently to try to detect signs of partiality on J's side and while we saw several convincing signs, we just weren't sure and didn't want to be presumptuous. We just watched and waited while we secretly all talked about it.

On Sunday, J approached our father, got permission to start a courtship on Tuesday and then asked H if she was willing on Wednesday. She said yes, and they have been talking tons ever since, as well as chatting, fishing, being around our family and his, delivering hay, etc. It has been different having a sister in a courtship; I've been through 3 brothers courtships, but a sister is just different.

It is exciting to see God working in their lives like this!

~am