*waves*

I snuck onto my sisters computer.  We made it into Yakima in one piece.  We had a minor detour in that we had to drive back 35 minutes and get Rob's wallet when we stopped to buy pop and realized he hadn't brought it.

That made the drive on Friday a little bit longer then originally planned.

When we got to Yakima I thought I could drive straight to my sisters.  I couldn't.  And I'd left her phone number sitting at home.

Two and a Half hours later we got a hold of mom and my sisters number and we were there.

Friday as a result was LONG.

Yesterday was for family.  And we enjoyed the loud and chaotic bunch.  We will do similar today, and tomorrow we will head to Kahneeta

It has been soooooo COLD over here.  It was 75 two weeks ago, and now its in the 50s.  We are desperately praying its going to warm up as we are supposed to be sleeping in teepee's for Monday-Wednesday night. 

The good news is I only purchase wash and wear clothes.

The good news is all the laundry in the house is caught up--except for one load in the dryer.

This is good.

Cause it ain't getting folded until we get back from vacation.

There just isn't enough time in the day.  LOL

My mom took the chihuahua's to her house for the next two weeks.  The other two dogs will stay home, they feed themselves, and will be visited by a teenager and played with daily.   He will also feed Kaylin's turtle and fish, and assure that the cows and pony are still in the field. 

Everything is packed except for one last-minute bag by my feet.  Its for the things like battery charger for my camera...and so on.

We're ready and almost out of here.

Don't panic yet Dee.  I'm hoping that at 9 I can get the posts done.  If I don't fall and twist my other ankle that is.  (did in the left one this morning *snort*  but its mostly okay now.)

Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, Patent Ductus Arteriosus, Bronchial Malacia,  Near complete Distal Trachea Rings, Hypertonia, Reflux, Central Sleep Apnea

The words that Rainee taught me.  And the fear that she taught me.

And yet we have survived...even thrived.

And today.

                                               

Happy Birthday Rainee Grace.

God has indeed rained grace in your life. 

Our last night of Awana until next fall.

I'm going to miss it.  I really like reconnecting with my friends there.   But at the same time I'm glad I'm not going to church there anymore.

On other notes of insanity.

On the way to Awana I spotted an eagle and pointed it out.  Zeria said, "that's a nice fat one."

Rainee thinks about it for a moment.  "Its probably a mommy."

Zeria snorts.  "Are you saying moms are fat."

Rainee;  "un-huh."

Zeria.  "What about Aunty Kelly?"  (My 125 pound soaking wet sil.)

Rainee stays quiet.

I'm just dying laughing up front.

~~~~~~~~

On the way home we spotted a beautiful sliver of the moon.  It was so bright you could see the dark side of it.  "Its upside down.  It looks like a smile."  Was the first observation.   "Its kinda like digimon."  Samuel informs me.

ummmm ummm how?

He never did explain.  *snicker*

The food is packed (mostly).  This is because when I bought it on Friday we just piled it into our laundry baskets.  My bathroom is clean so the boys staying here don't freak out and walk out when they entered it.

No tent needed this year--we'll be staying in KOA cabins, but Rob will dig out the sleeping bags and get them packed today.

I have Rainee's bday pressies all organized and in a box--as we will celebrate it on Saturday with all the nieces and nephews.   This seems appropriate as she will be turning 5.  A red-letter birthday in our house.  It means she's no longer a baby.

Which in my opinion is an incredible miracle from God.

Did you all realize its been 5 years since all of the excitement/frantic/scarey moments of her birth?  I know its very hard to believe.

Rob will do the 3 loads of laundry or so that are accumulated in the house, and then I will have the kids pack their back packs tomorrow.   We tend to pack light and do laundry frequently.  Its easier. 

The towels are packed.

Today's job should probably be to pack the kitchen utensils & pots and stuff I need.   I like to have a day to remember what I forgot.

And then discover 2 hours down the road that I forgot something integral. 

Usually its something like a knife or a can opener. 

And we alllllllllllllllways forget the matches.

Tomorrow I have intentions of making a pasta salad to eat for lunch, and sausage rolls to eat for breaky in the morning when Rob gets home from work.

HMMM actually *today*  I should make ginger snaps.

But we shall see.

I might just curl in a corner and pretend that I have nothing to do except continue to get healthy.

I have spent this evening coughing until I think pulled a muscle somewhere down along my ribs.

Now I cry when I cough.

I was cleaning my bathroom about 5:15 and started coughing.   I think I had a allergic reaction to either the cleaning product, or the carpet in there.  (It's naaaaaaaasty.)  

Whatever it was I now hurt.  A lot.

So another day to post fried thanks to my health.

I shall take this moment to scream.

On a positive note.

The bathroom is the cleanest its been in months.  Rob won't recognize it.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAA

Can you tell me why color crayons disappear faster then food around here?

Rainee is miserable and needs sit down projects to entertain her.  After taking apart all the couch cushions we found exactly FOUR color crayons.

I know how much money I have invested in color crayons.  There should be at least 2 million. 

NOT 4.

We went for a hike in the woods along the Hoh River yesterday.  Its was a beautiful little hike.  And we have full intentions of going back when we can do the FULL thing.  We were just unprepared for a long hike.  At the very least we needed jackets for two of us.  Water bottles and a snack would have been even better.  But now that we know where its at we will go back.  If not this summer next.  LOL  We always have a huge list of want-to-do spots, so its no biggy it will happen some day.  

The Hoh river makes ours look like a bitsy creek.  Its rather wild and fast.  And I admit hiking the trail made me nervous in a couple places as their was a sheer cliff into the raging thing next to the trail.

The kids desperately wanted to keep going.  But mommy and daddy knew that it was very close to dinner time, and we were an hour plus from the nearest food, so we turned around and drove back home.  Dinner was fairly late, but we were all better for some time out in the woods.  I love the woods in the spring time.  I think it relaxes me a ton times more then the ocean.  Its just like coming home somehow.

Well I'm back to coughing hard today.  Rainee and Jeremiah both have the crap in their lungs.  Rainee being the worst of the two.  I as a result upped her flovent puffers to 3 puffs twice a day.  It should beat it back.  It usually does.

Other then that well its raining elk and deer outside.

Zeria and I were singing this song while making lunch, and I went and found this video.

Giggles see Faith I knew there was a reason we got a long.  *snort*

You Are a Ring Finger

You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything. You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word. Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world. You get along well with: The Pinky Stay away from: The Index Finger

Its been a quiet day. And most of us are on the mend. Jeremiah is the worst off--but I'm beginning to suspect *part* of his is an allergy to our van. HIs coughing was waaaaaaaay worse in the van.I've only had 2 really bad coughing attacks today. I think I might be healing.

Funny day today.  Rob spent a great portion of it fixing fences.  The calf has proven that his fence making abilitys are city-bred not farm bred.  The mama cow freaks and just breaks the fence to get to her baby.  HE added sheep fencing to the fence the calf prefers to get out.  One can hope it works.  We tried twice to go to the beach today.  It started raining the first time and we headed back.  But I really, really needed to get out in the air, so we tried again.  It began raining in the same place, but we decided to press on.  A few minutes later we spotted the above picture out on the ocean.  And we managed to snag an hour at the beach without rain.  We got back in the van and it began raining again.  God knew I needed out apparently.

I refer to this picture as the Princess has arrived.   She's deaming to give me permission to take a picture.  *snicker*  Silly Zeria.  The tide was super far out.  And as a result the tide pools were more intresting and we actually found at least 6 star fish.  Purple and Red both.   I waded knee deep--I know smart with a nasty cold--and took a picture of this fella.

I love the beach.  I love that every time we go there we discover something new.  We learn something new.  And we learn to appreciate the intense variety of God's creation. 

This particular beach has some awe inspiring driftwood.  And the tide was waaaaaaaay far out so we were actually able to climb on it without getting wet.  

The beauty is everywhere, even in the patterns the surf creates as it leaves the sand, and the rivlets of water falling everywhere.  And all one can say as they look is God is good.  And suddenly the most recent pity party goes out with the tide leaving me feeling clean once again.

And when your done looking...you can always dig in the dirt.  *sniggers*

Anyhow it was a lovely way to end the day.  And a nice break from coughing.  Actually I didn't cough once the whole time I was out on the beach.  And then I got inside and began hack, hacking away.  Too bad its not warm enough to just live on the beach.  Or dry enough for that matter.