Summer Happenings & Family Thoughts

Hi, remember me?   5th-wheel-dweller?  Squatter on a beautiful mountain property with a musical husband and four home-schooling children? Lover of gardens and coffee and food?  Used-to-be avid blogger who disappeared for two years? Slight exaggerator because it's been more like three weeks?  Hello, my name is Katie.  It's good to be back.

I might have overwhelmed myself with all the thoughts, activities, and pictures I thought I needed to post over the past few weeks.  Instead of breaking everything up into cute little bite-sized pieces, I vacationed from beloved blogland in self-imposed exasperation.  Really, I'm only hoping to remember the art of forming complete sentences.

Do you want to see something Amish?  I knew you did.

and

and

Oh, and a little souvenir for myself:

But what I really wanted to take home was

and

That house up there?  That's where we stayed for the week.  You can rent it, too, if you want (click here). :)  We stayed there with Jer's brother and his sweet family, aka some of our best friends.  And that yarn? It was hand-woven and dyed right there in Lancaster, PA.  It's time for me to learn how to knit, I guess.

In case you didn't hear (you can if you want here), we were gifted six plane tickets to Lancaster County, PA to meet up with a lot of Riddles for a family reunion and to celebrate Jeremy's grandparents' 60th anniversary.  60 years or marriage, folks!  There's just too much to talk about when 43 Riddles gather, but I will tell you there were lots of stories shared, sweet moments, and 500 water balloons filled and deployed in less than an hour.  It was an unforgettable 5 days, and I am so thankful we were able to be apart of it.

Being in Amish country was an added treat.  We even had an Amish-served dinner one night.  It was eye-opening in two ways.  First, this old-order Amish family served us delicious food.  We tasted the best peanut butter we've ever experienced, and the woman of the house told us she added marshmallow cream and pancake syrup to make it so irresistible.  I was thankful for the tip, but I must admit the ingredients didn't seem very... Amishy.  And then,  on top of the apple pie... Plop, plop. Cool Whip.  I got a little woozy.  I must admit some personal assumptions of Amish eating were crushed.  But when Eli (who couldn't have been older than five) dragged a bench seat to the kitchen sink and started washing dishes,  my heart was refilled with sweet affection for this culture.  I also realized my kids have been holding out on me.

Family reunions and Amish families and (currently) visiting my amazing parents has got me thinking about, well, family.  Because I've just overwhelmed myself with what I've already written, I'm a'goin' bullet point my thoughts on family.

• I love it when families share life together.
• There's a lot to learn from the Amish about being interdependent on family and community.
• Working and playing together as a family just needs to happen more for us.

Also, I think I discovered a major mental block that has kept me from incorporating my children in more of my daily life: my goal is to impart to my kids what I've learned and not to get my to-do list completed as quickly as possible.  You know?  I could do all the daily chores as fast as I can and never have time to enjoy my kids (short-term thinking that I've been stuck in), or I could take extra time to teach and incorporate my kids in more daily chores so we can all get the work done and have time to play (happy, long-term thinking).  I'm taking this new concept to more than just chores.  It's finding it's way in our spiritual and educational growth as a family.

This is all so simple but so new.  All I have left to say is I'm excited about our future as a family.  New vision and good examples go a long way.  Thank you, Amish folks.  You've always been my heroes in so many aspects of life.

Oregon, Part 2

The hotel beds were actually cozy.  I was ready for some good sleep, but then...

I wish those three beautiful hours of deep sleep were accurate, but that's when the phone dropped off the bed as I hoisted 21-month-old into it.  Oh well.  At least the other three kids miraculously slept like little logs.

Waking up, I could feel the business of the day in the world of intercession.  There was the women's conference Jeremy was playing at.  I had friends speaking and interceding at another conference south of us.  And then there was the earthquake in Chile.  And all the tsunami advisories.  Seeing next to nothing come of the tsunami warnings was beyond encouraging.

We dressed, we brushed, we meandered downstairs to the kitchen. It was the moment 6-year-old had been waiting for: waffles.  Waffles and bagels.  Yes, it was a refined flour frenzy that only comes but once in a blue moon.

I didn't get to take any footage of the women's conference.  Photography was strictly prohibited, but it was a wonderful gathering.  The speaker was engaging and inspirational. Jeremy and Martin (the amazing cellist), aka the acoustic dynamic duo, decided on a new mission in life: to lead worship at women's conferences.  In Hawaii.  Those ladies spoiled us up one way and down another.  Jer and Martin would walk into the green room with euphoric, stunned expressions, double-fisted with coffees and smoothies.  They muttered, "They just gave them to us as we walked off stage."  Incredible.

At lunch, the kids opened boxes given to them that held the funnest surprises.

Us grown-ups were quite delighted, as well.

It was all prepared by them; not store-bought.  What a personal touch.  We felt so loved.

While we waited for Jeremy to wrap up, the kids watched a movie with Mr. Owl...

And I studied a timeline drawn up during the Civil War.

My sweet, considerate 8-year-old decided on her own to write a thank you letter.  I love her.

Sadly, we didn't have time to sight-see... or so we thought.  There was little visibility on the way up to Oregon.  The drive back home was breathtaking.

We saw gorgeous rivers, valleys, mountains, and then the sight that stole our hearts forever.

Mt. Shasta

Jer has decided to build a cabin where we took that picture.  I have decided we will have cows and we will have a ranch and my husband will become a cowboy and he will yodel the cows and I to sleep every night.  We took about 35 photos of that mountain, but I promise to only post one more capture of it.

There.  Now, we are home.  I think I've caught the bug that's been floating around our family.  My amazing babes surprised me with breakfast in bed.

The trip was beautiful, filled with amazing people, and was short and sweet.  It's a gorgeous day, and after I make the kids smoothies, I hope my body will allow me to spend a little time in the garden.  Happy Sunday, friends.

Oregon, Part 1

We found out a sad thing today.  Whatever that waterfall was that Jeremy took pictures of is not Klamath Falls.  Apparently, there is no Klamath Falls.  I am so confused.  But we're only 45 minutes from Crater Lake, so we're really hoping to get the chance to see that tomorrow.

The drive was... interesting.
Very appropriately, it rained, then snowed, then rained the entire drive.

Oh, and the winds?  Crazy winds.  It was intense.

I don't think it helped that I was snapping pictures.  Hey, here comes some snow!  Look, kids!  Snow!

Oh.  It keeps coming.  And we don't have chains...

And then... then... 4-year-old uttered the words you never want to hear when a rest stop - or anything - is nowhere in site, "Mommy, I drank too much water and now I have to go potty real bad.  The pee pee is hurting me."  Well then...

Would you have done anything different?  Then I looked behind me and discovered what happens when you give a 21-month-old a granola bar with chocolate drizzles.

Word to the wise, don't let chocolate set on faces unless you want to scrub a screaming toddler for three and a half minutes.  But we made it.  And we are staying in the coolest Best Western ever.  Where else do they look like log cabins and are decorated with full-sized stuffed animals.  No, not teddy bears.  Real ones.

 My kids were thrilled to see the TV in our room.  We watched in awe a pug who surfs, snowboards, and skateboards.  We miss so much not owning a TV.  Wow, and they make TVs so thin and long these days...

Jer's leading at a women's conference; that's why we get to be here.  These ladies are amazing.  Absolutely welcoming, gracious, and full of anticipation of what God wants to do this weekend.  The kids and I went wild over the treats in the green room.  How wondrous!  Jeremy cooly informed me these sorts of things are very normal.  Food waiting for me on a pretty table is not normal in my world.  It's magical.

And yes, you do see a large, stuffed owl in the background.  He was the highlight of 4-year-old's day.  I think he was monitoring how many goodies I shoveled in my mouth.  Okay, Mr. Owl, I'll stop now.  Stop staring at me, please.

And now, the kids are actually sleeping, and I am finishing my fourth warm cookie, complements of Best Western.  I was only going to have two, but the oatmeal raisin I picked up was stuck to another, and I already touched it, so...

Travel is fun.  Not having to clean up after making food is mind-blowing, but I do miss preparing and serving it.  Oregon has a very different feel than California.  It seems... calm, slow (in a good way), and content, uncaring of what the outside world might think of it.  But I'm realizing how much of a homebody I really am.  It's only been 10 hours since we left, but I miss it.  I miss writing Katie's Quick Home-keeping Hints. Maybe I'll whip one out while the kids zone out in wonder to cartoons in the hotel room tomorrow morning.  Thinking about writing about home is making me happy.  I miss my hens.  I miss my bed.   I even miss that big, dumpy Black Jack and I want to squeeze him and feel him purr right now.   There's no place like home, there's no place like home...