Northwest Trip Day 19 - Mount St. Helens

Mount St. Helens!  I've seen it from the eastern edge, but never from the west and north, where it actually blew.  Wow!!!

Breathtaking!

It struck me how God still provides beauty even in the midst
of pain and destruction.

There still a lot of desolation.

The crater

This house was three days away from completion when it
was half buried in the mud flows the afternoon of
May 18, 1980.

Northwest Trip Day 18 - Happy Sabbath

Unfortunately there are no pictures, but this morning the little ones got to help out with the church service.  They have worked hard at learning a completely new hymn in two weeks.  It always amazes me how quickly children can learn and understand new things.  It is my prayer that they can learn, feel comfortable, and enjoy ministering through music and other avenues wherever they are.

It has been our plan all along that we would head over the Cascades this afternoon so we would be close to Mt. St. Helens tomorrow.  Well, a fire started on Satus Pass on Wednesday, closing the road we needed to take, and therefore thwarting our original plans for Sabbath afternoon.  

So...we took the LOOOONG way around.  We did get to see the fire, which the kids enjoyed.

A nice picnic along the Columbia River, some viewing of the parasailers, and a scrumptious dessert of blackberries right off the bush made for a wonderful evening.

Northwest Trip Day 17 - Operation Garage

Operation Clean-Out Garage Day at the Bigelow house.  The guys and kids took two full loads to the dump, plus a couple runs to donate a bunch of stuff.  It looks so much better now!  Dad certainly appreciated the free labor he got.

Northwest Trip Day 16 - Christmas in July

Uncle Andrew got the grand idea that the kids needed Christmas, since we're never actually together on the real holiday.  So Wednesday night we set up the Christmas tree top and wrapped up the gifts.  The kids couldn't wait for Grandma to get home so that we could open presents.  Talk about a lesson in patience!

Wrapping gifts Wednesday night

The mastermind overseeing his slaves disguising
all the presents he bought :)

Merry Christmas!

I think this comes close to the most presents they've opened
in one sitting before.  Not that there were very many, but
we make a point to spread them out usually.

Northwest Trip Day 15 - Pics of the Day

I had intended on posting one picture for the day (Andrew and Katie), but then I looked at the pictures on the camera and saw some that David took while I was in another room and just had to post it as well.

Foam Boots 

Uncle Andrew the hair stylist.  She asked me to redo it
as soon as he left the room. :)  

Northwest Trip Day 14 - New Friends

The kids are practicing a couple songs to sing at church this weekend.  We have another family we just met (my parents' pastor and family) that we're teaming up with for the service.

All four children are making excellent progress on learning the songs, but they're doing even better at building new friendships

I'm so amazed and encouraged by the speed at which little ones can make friends, make up after a calamity, and get right back up after a bump or scrape. 

The "Kidstack"

Northwest Trip Day 13 - Wild Horse Wind Farm

Today Dad took us on a tour of the Wild Horse Wind Farm, located in Kittitas, WA.  The kids were pretty pumped up that they got to actually go inside a wind generator.  Once they got in, though, they weren't too sure about the noise from inside the tube!

Mount Ranier

An individual blade span is 127 ft.  They are turning somewhere
to the tune of 150 miles an hour at the tips and weighs about 7 tons.
This particular blade was damaged in transport, and the replacement
cost was $180,000.

Inside the wind generator tower.

Northwest Trip Days 11 & 12 - Four Generations

This weekend we had my mother's oldest sister and parents here to visit.  The kids got to (re)connect with Grandpa and Grandma Reimche.  I'm not sure how many more times we'll get to see them, so I'm really glad we got the time to visit.

Friday evening curls.  Katie and Grandma Reimche's were
for real.  Becki's was for fun, and Grandma Audrey's were
Ethan's handiwork.

Ethan was not to be left out.

Four Generations

Northwest Trip Day 10 - Time with Katie and Toppenish Murals

I haven't posted much about Katie and her activities recently, so I thought I'd share a few pictures of her fun.

Matching cards that I had as a little girl

She's my sweet pea...

My little musician...

My Little Miss Sunshine

This morning we went down to Toppenish, on the Yakama Indian Reservation, and took a tour of the many murals they have on their buildings.  They started in 1989 and have been adding many each year.  Each mural tells a story about the town and surrounding areas, the people who lived there, their way of life, etc.

Katie got a front seat with the driver.  She even got
to hold the reins. 

Ready to go!

Many of their murals are what's called a "Mural in a Day."  Fourteen to twenty artists will gather on the first Saturday of every June to paint a mural all in one day.  It's amazing what can be accomplished when they work together!

One of the many murals.  

A winter Indian scene

Northwest Trip Day 9 - Happy Anniversary!

Nine years ago I woke up to one of my best friends at my side.  She had me lie in bed while she read Proverbs 31 to me.  It was the perfect (HOT!) day for marrying the man of my dreams.

This morning I woke up to my husband at my side, my children sleeping at the foot of my bed.  I may not have attained all that the Proverbs 31 woman embodies, but the past nine years have helped me grow closer to my God and to what He desires for me to be as a wife and mother.  With God's grace, the future years will be times for even further growth towards the godly woman He designed.

After school this morning we took the kids to Franklin pool for a swim.  What fun!  My adventuresome little girl went time-and-again down the waterslide with Daddy.  Ethan would have none of it, but he enjoyed watching the two of them zoom down to the pool.  Katie would beg again, "I want to go super-fast, Daddy!"

Once Mom got off work they took the kids so David and I could have a little anniversary date.  We tried out the local Indian restaurant.  Yum!

While waiting for Becki, Auntie Twyla, and Grandpa and Grandma Reimche to arrive I spent some time perusing Pinterest ideas for school.  I found a really cool activity for Ethan for the morning.  We're going over short vowel sounds, and I found a picture sort and QR codes so he can use my phone (normally off limits) to check his work.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/QR-Codes-Scan-to-Check-Short-Vowel-Sounds-779148

Hopefully he enjoys it as much as I think he will!

Northwest Vacation Day 8 - Daddy's Here!

Day three of solid, consistent school down.  It feels good to be starting to get into a routine, even if it will be disrupted as soon as we get home again.

Despite not caring for Reading (takes too much work at the moment), Ethan does seem to be enjoying Language Arts.  He's learning about the sentence.  The only problem is that he can't remember the word "predicate."  Whenever I talk to him about the subject and predicate he ends up calling it, "prednificate."  We get a little chuckle.

Cutting sentence strips.

Learning about Subjects and Predicates

I've found the perfect thing for Katie's activities.  I knew with our travel I couldn't bring a whole lot of different projects for her, plus (thankfully) preschool is a lot of repetition.  I found a simple rainbow lapbook for her and laminated most of the activity pages.  I give her a dry erase marker each morning and let her have at it. The only problem is how motivated and focused she is.  20 minutes and she's done, which would be perfect except that since Ethan is still doing school she thinks she should.  A little alcohol, a paper towel, and some elbow grease later and she's back in business.

In the afternoon we went and picked up Grandpa Lester from work and then found a park to play in until time to pick up Daddy from the airport.  It was such a hot day, but the shade and gentle breeze were perfect!

Grandpa parked where the kids could watch Daddy's plane come in.  What fun!  Now our family is complete and we can continue our vacation together.

Northwest Trip Day 7 - Quiet Day

Nothing special happening at all today.  Uncle Andrew left to go back home, and then we sat down to do school in the morning.  Sometimes I wish the kids were reversed.  I have to drag Ethan along on every lesson while Katie sits at her seat, anxious to have something else to do because she whizzed through her activities.  She's not interested in play; just "school."  I'm going to have to plan a lot more for her!

I'm noticing improvement on Ethan's reading skills, so I know the hard work is paying off.  I think he also notices, but he's not letting on much.  I'm praying for a breakthrough soon - not that I feel he needs to suddenly be reading better, but that he'll realize that yes he can indeed do it and that it can be useful.

Northwest Trip Day 6

It's pretty sad when you have to go on vacation in order to have your first full day of school!  But we successfully got through all scheduled subjects.  Woohoo!

Ethan started creating his first lapbook, one on his addition facts.  We plan to work on it all week, reviewing all of them so that when we get back home he should breeze through the next several weeks'-worth in his Math textbook.

The reward of getting to watch a "Modern Marvels" episode with Grandpa Lester is a wonderful incentive to getting everything done.  But then, so is getting to spend time playing the piano and organ with Grandma Audrey. :)

Northwest Trip Days 4 and 5 - Prineville

Sabbath!  Sabbaths on the road are never as restful and peaceful as at home, but we had a beautiful day nonetheless.

After a sandwich picnic in the park we got to explore the High Desert Museum with all the local family members (memberships are a wonderful thing!).

Ethan getting a chance to drive Grandpa Bigelow's scooter

Katie's turn

Uncle Ray using a watering can to wash off my little dirt magnet

Get her to the cement quick!  He made the mistake of putting
her down where he cleaned her off and she immediately got
muddy again.

Sunday we got to celebrate Grandpa Bigelow's 82nd birthday with a barbecue before heading back home.

The kids really got an in-depth, first-hand look at differences in climate.  They knew we were in a desert, but seemed so confused, since their preconceptions of "desert" meant sand and cacti.  They understand now a little bit better the real, designed reason for sprinklers, and even got a lesson in why it's so important to be careful about fires in a dry area.    

In Indiana we can have a bonfire anytime we want.  Grandpa Currier brings out his propane torch, lights the burn pile, and we have a grand time sitting around with no worries of the fire spreading.

On our drive home Sunday afternoon we saw hazy smoke off in the distance.  By the time we got closer we could tell that there was most definitely a forest fire to the east.  Perfect scenario for an impromptu fire safety talk.