Oregon

We spent two days in Oregon, which means we are now down to four states. Our first stop on Sunday morning was Multnomah Falls. I had a reservation for the parking lot, but we showed up at the free parking lot accidentally, and that lot was full. The kids and I walked halfway up the falls. We didn't go to the top since Paul was waiting in the SUV. The kids were given Columbia Gorge Junior Ranger booklets, but since the park ranger wasn't coming until 10:00 am, we will need to mail them in. Our next stop were the Japanese Garden and International Rose Test Gardens in Portland. We then took a free shuttle up to the Oregon Zoo. Our final stop for the day was the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. We paid full price for the Japanese Garden, 50% off for the zoo with our AZA membership, and got into the OMSI for free with our ASTC membership. We received our AZA and ASTC memberships through the WNC Nature Center. I had chosen a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant for dinner because it was close, but I hadn't thought to see if there was parking available. We had to pay to park in a parking garage in Portland to eat at the restaurant. Thankfully, it was only $4 because it was after 5pm on a weekend. After dinner we drove a couple of hours farther south into Oregon. Nadia slept on the floor as there wasn't room for the air mattress. We drove 245 miles on September 3.

While we had breakfast on Monday morning, I asked the woman at the front desk to print out 3 Junior Ranger booklets for Crater Lake because I realized we weren't going to be driving past a Visitor Center. I also found a coupon for the Wildlife Safari as I waited for the booklets to be printed, and that saved us $50 as we received a 50% discount for the red panda encounter that I had signed the kids up for. Our first stop was the Wildlife Safari, which was less than 15 minutes from the hotel. The red panda encounter lasted about 30 minutes. The kids fed the two red pandas some bamboo leaves. There were some animal exhibits that we visited by walking, but the majority of the park was accessible through driving. Highlights, aside from the red pandas, were two four-month-old male cheetah cubs who were adorable, watching some hippos eating very close to us as we drove through the safari, and Paul really liked one pig. Next, we drove to Crater Lake National Park. We hiked 1.1 miles (going down 700 feet) to get to the boat dock for our 2-hour tour of the lake. Naturally, it was a lot more work hiking back up that 700 feet of elevation change after our tour! The views were incredible. It was a bit chilly out on the boat, but otherwise the weather was gorgeous. We stopped for pizza near Diamond Lake and then drove 3.5 hours to Crescent City, California. Our room had three queen size beds. Breakfast wasn't included. We drove 330 miles on September 4. We checked into our hotel later than usual, but it was worth it to have fed red pandas and taken a tour of Crater Lake.

So far, my top three experiences of the trip have been Olympia National Park, Crater Lake, and Mount Rainier. The kids top four experiences include the same three as me plus the Wildlife Safari (the red pandas and cheetah cubs in particular). Although not stopping at a Visitors Center didn't prevent the kids from receiving their Junior Ranger badges, we weren't able to buy a magnet from Crater Lake. I had skipped getting one at Multnomah Falls because I thought Crater Lake was more significant. The bottom line is that we didn't get any magnets from the state of Oregon. Bummer. I can always make a magnet using one of our pictures.

Washington

 On August 29 we left our home around 11:30 to drop Milo off at the kennel. I hate to take him there, but neither of our neighbors who have watched him previously could watch him during this trip. Hopefully, he will not be too upset during our absence. After a stop at the bank, we drove towards Pittsburgh. We had dinner at a Bob Evans restaurant that was thirty miles east of the airport. On Tuesdays, kids eat for free at Bob Evans, so our $50 gift card covered all of our meals and the tip with a little bit left over! Unfortunately, we hit a lot of rush hour traffic on our drive from the restaurant to the airport, but thankfully we made it to the gate well before the time the boarding began. We didn't have to wait at all to check our three suitcases or to go through TSA. The last time we flew was in May 2018, so Oliver didn't even remember that experience. There were many empty seats on the plane. Oliver and I sat in one row, and Paul, Ian, and Nadia sat behind us. We were served a snack and a drink. 

On August 29, we drove 223 miles and flew 2,314 miles and crossed three time zones. We were taken by shuttle to our hotel. We were so exhausted that Nadia didn't even want to take the time to inflate the air mattress. A few hours later, we had breakfast, and Paul took the shuttle back to the airport to get the rental car. Although Thrifty did give us an SUV that had three rows of seats, it was much smaller than the one we thought we'd be getting. We definitely prefer our minivan! Thankfully, the cost to rent vehicles is much cheaper in Florida so we plan to rent a minivan in February.

After Paul got the SUV on August 30, we drove to Pikes Place Market. The kids enjoyed walking around the market and doing a lot of window shopping. We watched men throwing fish around and visited the gigantic gum wall. We bought a Space Needle magnet, earrings for Nadia for Christmas, a cookie for Oliver, and pizza for Ian and Nadia. Then we walked a mile to the Space Needle. Those tickets were pricy. We spent a couple of hours at the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. We had seen some of his work at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis in April. It was beautiful! 

After walking a mile back to our SUV, we drove to the Museum of Flight. Paul would have liked to have had more time to spend there. It is a VERY large museum. He wasn't able to visit the floor that focused on WWI. Oliver and Ian rode in a flight simulator. Nadia paid for Oliver's admission as an early Christmas present. In hindsight, we would have driven fewer miles if we had flipped the order of what we did that day. I had made the decision based on thinking we would leave the hotel around 8:30 am, and the Museum of Flight didn't open until 10:00. I do my best when planning vacations, but there are always things I realize afterwards that I would have done differently.

We had dinner at KFC. A little less than half of the meal was covered by a gift card Paul got at Christmas. It was cheaper to eat at Bob Evans than KFC. Paul loves KFC and we go there maybe once every two years. Nadia and I ordered from the Taco Bell portion of the menu instead of the KFC side. After we finished eating, we got in line for the Bainbridge Ferry. I was hoping that we might see some orcas although the best time to see them is from October to February. Still, it was the first time the kids experienced driving a vehicle onto a ferry, and it saved us some driving time. We only drove 47 miles on August 30. We spent the night at the Poulsbo Inn after buying some groceries. Due to our sleep deprivation the previous night, we skipped the pool and went to bed early after eating some ice cream that we got at the grocery store. Nadia did use her air mattress that night.

We spent August 31 at the Olympic National Park. We planned to start our visit at Hurricane Ridge, but a lightning strike on August 28 started a fire which led to that area being closed until September 2. To be honest, our day was full without visiting that section. It's a huge park! After getting the kids their Junior Ranger booklets in Port Angeles, we did a hike to Marymere Falls. We saw a banana slug! Our next stop was in the Hoh Rainforest where we took the Hall of Mosses trail. We had dinner in that area on the way out at the Hard Rain Cafe before visiting Ruby Beach and stopped at an ice cream place on our way to our hotel. Buying ice cream at the grocery store is DEFINITELY the cheaper way to go, even if the food prices at the grocery stores up here are much more expensive than what I'm accustomed to paying. The kids earned one of two possible Junior Ranger badges. Ruby Beach was gorgeous!  Nadia used her air mattress again. We drove 317 miles on August 31. 

On September 1 we spent the day at Mount Rainier National Park. Wendy gave me hiking boots for Christmas, and I've been getting good use out of them on this trip! As beautiful as Olympic National Park was, Mount Rainier has been my favorite place so far on this trip. We did two hikes near the Visitor Center. We saw two black tailed deer on our first hike. Nadia wishes that we skipped the last hike to Snow Lake because of the 700 feet of elevation change involved in the hike. After we left the park, we went to a pizza place in Eatonville. I scheduled us to eat a several pizza places on this trip because we like pizza and it tends to be a much cheaper option. The pizza wasn't overpriced, but they didn't have an option to get a free cup of water. We had to spend $10 plus tax to buy five drinks. Still, it was cheaper than KFC or Bob Evans. We stopped at a grocery store near our Airbnb to get a box of ice cream sandwiches for the kids and I and a candy bar for Paul. Nadia slept on a twin sized loft bed. The boys slept below her on a queen size bed. Paul and I slept on a queen-sized bed in the living room. Paul played one game of chess with Ian and another game of chess with Oliver. We drove 136 miles on September 1. 

The host of the Airbnb left us a $25 gift certificate for the cafe located under our unit. The waffles and such were $11 or more per person, but we were able to buy five breakfast sandwiches for a little less than $25, and they did provide free cups of water. Due to a landslide earlier this summer, we weren't able to visit one part of Mount St. Helens, but we still stopped at two visitor centers, the kids earned a Junior Ranger badge, we visited a lake, and we hiked the Hummocks Trail loop. Mount Rainier is certainly more beautiful, but Paul and I remember when Mount St. Helens erupted so it was something that was a high priority for Paul. Our last stop in the state of Washington was Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. I thought it closed at 5:00, but it actually closed at 4:00 so we didn't have much time to spend there. Thankfully, it's a pretty small site, and the Junior Ranger badge program was extremely easy. If we had more time, the kids could have earned a second Junior Ranger badge at the Pearson Air Museum, but it closed at 4:00. We had dinner at Red Robin. Usually, our $50 gift card covers our meal there aside from the tip, but that wasn't the case last night. We enjoyed our meal. It's the only restaurant where Nadia still orders from the kids' menu. The boys and I spent about 15 minutes in an outdoor hot tub at the Comfort Inn in Oregon where we spent the night. Our room had three queen sized beds, and I'm not talking about a sofa bed. We drove 197 miles on September 2. 

We're spending today and tomorrow in Oregon. Washington was the kids' 45th state, and Oregon is their 46th. In three days, we plan to be in Nevada, which will be their 47th state! 

Thankful Thursday

 

1. Monday was our first day of school for the 2023-24 school year and Nadia's first day of General Psychology through Grand Canyon University. Ian also had his first piano lesson with someone other than me on Monday. He is working to play Waltz of the Flowers by Tchaikovsky with Josh as a piano duet at a recital in November. I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to homeschool my three children and that we have the money to pay for Ian's piano lessons. In light of the fact that Nadia might attend Meadowbrook for her senior year of high school, it seemed wise to have Nadia start taking college classes in her sophomore year of high school. Most colleges only offer dual enrollment for juniors and seniors. A few months ago, I had narrowed it down to Boyce, Grand Canyon, or Bluefield. After we applied to Bluefield, we found out that sophomores had to have taken the ACT or SAT prior to applying. Boyce's course selection was rather small, so she submitted an application to Grand Canyon. I'm hoping she'll take five general education classes through Grand Canyon this year, take her Bible classes through Liberty next year, and take only one class (Calculus) through Liberty during her senior year.

2. I had my first Sound of Music rehearsal on Tuesday night. Tonight, those who are nuns will be rehearsing our music for three hours. I'm grateful for this opportunity and hoping I have the stamina for rehearsals that end at 9:30pm. Next year they will be doing Anastasia. We shall see if Nadia, Ian, and I audition for that one.

3. Yesterday we had an appointment at the Post Office to submit the kids' passport applications. Both parents need to be present. Between the fees to the US Department of State and the Post Office, we paid a little over $700 for five passports. Ouch! The kids' passports will only be good for five years since they are all under 16 years of age, but the other two will be good for ten years. We shall see what passport stamps we get in those books over the next 5-10 years! It's Oliver's first passport. Ian and Nadia got their first ones when they were babies, so they've been expired for many years. I'm thankful we have the money to pay for these passports and look forward to traveling to other countries with our kids in the coming years! We think the first stamps will be in February in Ecuador. 

4. We had a safe trip to Lynchburg and back on Sunday. If Nadia goes to Liberty for three years, we will be making that trip many more times in the years to come. Hopefully, we won't typically make the round trip in one day. We were in Lynchburg for 3 hours as we arrived 90 minutes before Margie's funeral, and the funeral lasted 90 minutes. We didn't get to spend much time with anyone, but the Towfighis (minus Andrew), Benners (including Drayton's parents), Lisa, Joel, Michael, Nate (and his family), and Aunt Tina were also in attendance. Becca also made a very brief appearance prior to the funeral. I'm very thankful that Margie's suffering has come to an end and that she is with her Savior.

5. Yesterday we had our third field trip of the 2023-24 school year. Our first stop was George's Furniture where we had a one-hour tour. The handmade furniture was gorgeous. None of the furniture we own compares to what we saw there. The kids really liked this one very unique "Do it all" desk. What interested me the most was the tables that had the ability to add MANY leaves and become VERY long, and there were also benches that had leaves and could be expanded. The prices were much higher, so I doubt we'll actually ever buy anything, but it was interesting to see them working and learn about the company. The primary reason we headed down to that area was to see Moses at Sight and Sound with Paul's dad. Originally, I thought we wouldn't go to Sight and Sound this year because we had seen Moses before, but I changed my mind because we saw it in 2014. 

6. It was looking like we wouldn't be able to take a boat tour of Crater Lake, and then finally in the middle of August they began to announce what dates tours would be available this summer. We have tickets for a tour on Labor Day! I recently discovered that the Oakland Zoo is going to be closed on the day we planned to go there, but thankfully I was able to modify our plans for our time in San Francisco so that we could go there on a different day. We are looking forward to our upcoming vacation and praying things will go as smoothly as possible.

7. Ian wore his retainer for a little over two years, and then it was accidentally thrown away on August 8. Thankfully, the orthodontist said it was fine for him to stop wearing a retainer. He's thrilled to have a break from that! Oliver still sees the orthodontist every month for an adjustment on his braces. While Yvonne was at our house, she adjusted Ian's eyeglasses, and they are no longer sliding down his nose!

8. Our home was built in 1999. All of the rooms that had carpet in them had an off-white Berber carpet. Over the years we've been gradually replacing that carpet. Earlier this month we replaced the carpet in Oliver's bedroom, the hallway, and the stairs. We love it! It's definitely the plushest carpet we have ever had in this home or any other that we've lived in over the last 22 years. The only area in our house that still has the Berber carpet is our master bedroom closet. The next project I think we'll do on the house will be to waterproof the basement. We had water in the basement again recently. 

9. Due to Paul selling the company, his days of driving down to Gordon to work six days a week are numbered. Because of that, I asked him if he'd like to join us in attending church on Wednesday evenings. I showed him the options for adults, and he chose The Chosen small group. The group will be watching and discussing episodes of the show on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:00 starting on September 20. This will be the first time in our 22 years of marriage that we've attended church together on Wednesday evenings. I had been in a Bible study on the book of John which hadn't quite finished, and the group was going to start a study on Romans after finishing John, but I'm excited about being in a study with my husband. 

10. On our first day of school I continued the tradition of having the kids each draw their self-portraits. Oliver showed VAST improvement over any he's done in the past, but he asked me not to post it anywhere, so I didn't include it here. Last year I also started a tradition of having the kids write their goals for the year, and we did that again on Monday. Hoping that we all make a lot of progress toward achieving our goals! 

11. Last week when the Towfighis were here I forgot to take out the recycling. It only goes out once a month, so this was a problem. When I realized it this week, I called the garbage company and thankfully they made an exception and picked up our recycling this week. I was very appreciative of their kindness! Thankfully we live less than a mile from where they keep their trucks. 

Cousin Time!

 

My kids love their cousins. All ten Towfighis plus Toby arrived at our house on Monday afternoon. Seven of them left on Tuesday morning to take Andrew to Cedarville. Joel, Micah, Wesley, and Julianna stayed with us through Friday evening. Nadia spent a lot of time with Wesley - they did puzzles, colored with crayons, colored with sidewalk chalk, played games (especially Loot Letter), etc. I think she'd make a great babysitter! We had lunch at Kids' Cafe every day, which was a blessing to me, and the kids enjoyed all the snacks they were given to take home each day (cereal, chips, rice Krispie treats, juice boxes, pretzels, etc.). One day the police officers were also distributing free backpacks and school supplies, which the kids loved receiving. Micah was very attached to his backpack for the rest of the time they were at our home. Aside from Kids' Cafe, we only had one other outing - a hike at the Milton State Park with other homeschoolers. The outing was also supposed to include tubing in the river, but we've had TOO much rain lately (including water in our basement) so the water conditions weren't safe for tubing. Oliver and Julianna were the only ones who got in the water at all. 

Margie passed away on August 10. Because the funeral is happening tomorrow in Virginia, Nadia rode to Maryland with the Towfighis on Friday evening so that she could have more time with her cousins. The Benners flew from Chicago to Virginia today, and Joe drove 6 of his kids plus Nadia to Virginia. Nadia was looking forward to spending the night with Rachel, Julianna, Susie, Grace, and Wendy in a hotel room. Jenna and Yvonne are driving from Maryland to Lynchburg tomorrow. Paul, Oliver, Ian, and I are heading to Lynchburg in the morning. It will be a new record for Oliver and me as far as time spent in the van in one day (about 12 hours total). The service is at 3pm. There is a meal for family members at 5pm, but we aren't staying for that due to how late we would get home if we did. 

11 Years Old!

 On Monday Oliver turned eleven years old! I had planned a two-day getaway in Pittsburgh for his birthday. We ended up being away for three nights. On Saturday morning I picked Nadia up from Camp Susque and Melinda and Ed picked up Ian, Oliver, and Xandir. That afternoon we began driving to the western part of Pennsylvania. Our first stop was a free Christian music festival in Brockway. The headline artists were supposed to be Katy Nichole and We are Messengers. We are Messengers backed out a couple of weeks before the event, but Consumed by Fire came in their place. We spent Sunday morning at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. We had to pay full price because they had left AZA in June. We spent the afternoon at the Bushy Run Battlefield and Fort Pitt before having dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse with Charlie and Nadine Beares. On Oliver's birthday we spent the day at Kennywood. Oliver rode one of the big rollercoasters two times. Unfortunately for Nadia and Ian, the biggest roller coaster was closed. Oliver forgot to pack his birthday t-shirt. Instead of a birthday cake, we splurged and got the kids each a large dish of Dippin' Dots. We ate dinner at Subway and then instead of driving home, we drove for four hours into Virginia so that we could spend five hours with my dad and say goodbye to Margie who passed away today. Yesterday, Xandir and Faith came over for five hours. The boys played the Nintedo Switch for a couple of those hours. All six of us played three rounds of Codenames.

Oliver received Gatorade powder from Nadia, money from Ian, Grandpa, and Pop Pop, and 8 puzzles, $11, a watch, 5 pounds of peach rings, and a bag of Fritos from Paul and me. Oliver used his money to buy a drone, a watch, a cotton candy machine, and the supplies for making cotton candy. He spent $20 more than he received, but he'll be earning money from doing Junior Ranger badges on our upcoming vacation.

Oliver had his physical today. He only received one injection because they were out of stock of Menactra. Today he weighed 72 pounds and 6 ounces (32nd percentile) and was 59.25" tall (84th percentile). His BMI was at the 5th percentile which means he's not technically underweight as they define underweight as less than the 5th percentile. Over the past year he gained 5 pounds plus 4 ounces and grew 2.5 inches. Fifth grade here we come! 

Home Alone

The Home Alone movies, which Oliver has watched umpteen times, are about a child accidentally ending up either at home alone or alone in a hotel. I'm referring to a fifty-one-year-old woman having a week alone at home. Last year while the three kids were at Camp Good News, I told myself I didn't want to do this again; so, I signed the boys up for a week of camp in June, but then the Bible quizzing competition was scheduled later than usual, which meant I had to contact the camp and move the boys' registration to the end of July into early August. The upside of all three kids being at camp at the same time was that Paul and I were able to have a date on Sunday. We hadn't been on a date since September 2022. Our first stop was Lowe's to get three things for the house. Then we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and shared a dessert at TGI Fridays because I had about $7 left on a gift card for that restaurant. Prior to coming home, we stopped at Lingle's to get Coke for Paul. We watched part of a movie together, and I asked Paul to sit on the couch with me. We finished the movie on Monday evening. On Sunday afternoon before the boys left for camp Paul did some spackling in the family room. I'm hoping he finishes the spackling and sanding either today or tomorrow because I'd like to do the painting by Friday. 

On Monday I took the van to the Honda dealership for some factory recall repairs. I was there for three hours. I also talked on the phone with Aunt Janet and Charlie Beares that day. Yesterday I met Tab for lunch as an early birthday celebration, and we also walked around Lewisburg talking for a while. I did some shopping at Walmart and the Dollar Store before lunch and picked up ice cream at Old Mill Creamery afterwards. I don't have any plans today through Friday, so I am at the point where I am REALLY missing my kids. Milo is a nice companion, but he doesn't talk! Paul and Al sold the company yesterday, which is an amazing answer to prayer. I'm looking forward to being able to go on dates with Paul more regularly in the coming years. I was hoping to take a ballroom dancing class with him this fall, but I think that will have to wait until 2024 in light of my participation in the Sound of Music. If the kids end up being at camp at the same time next summer, I shouldn't be home alone. I should have the company of my husband! When I first moved to Pennsylvania in 1996, I was frequently at home alone as I lived by myself. It's a blessing that this hasn't been the norm, especially for the last 15 years that I've been a mom. 

Many months ago, I had planned that we would spend August 6-7 in the Pittsburgh area so that we could visit the Bushy Run Battlefield on their annual battle reenactment and spend the day at Kennywood on Oliver's birthday. At one point we thought those plans might be cancelled because we'd be spending the week in Maryland, but since the Benners bought a home, they aren't traveling east next week. When I learned of a free music festival that is taking place near I-80 in the western part of the state on Saturday evening, I decided to have us leave on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning. Katy Nichole is one of Nadia's favorite artists, and she will be performing there. Originally, We are Messengers was supposed to be the headliner, but they backed out a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, Consumed by Fire is coming as well as some other groups. Sunday morning we'll visit the Pittsburgh Zoo/Aquarium and then go to the battlefield. After that we'll have dinner with Nadine and Charlie Beares before we spend the night at a Holiday Inn in Pittsburgh. On Monday, which is Oliver's birthday, we'll spend the day at Kennywood Amusement Park and then drive to Virginia. Tuesday we'll spend several hours with dad and say goodbye to Margie before we return home. 

Thankful Thursday

The vast majority of the time I've had this blog, a small number of people have visited it on any given day. For some unknown reason, the numbers drastically spiked at the end of June. For that reason, in early July I decided to make it private - meaning I'm the only one who can read the blog at this point and time. I started this blog at the end of 2006. We shall see if I ever open it up again. I've received very little feedback or comments over the last few years so for me the change to private is not a big one. I considered ending the blog when my mom passed in 2016, and it turns out that 2023 might be the year I cease to write posts that others can read. I have periodically deactivated my Facebook account. Currently my account is deactivated, and I'm giving serious consideration to permanently deleting it, which would be a first for me. Here are some things I'm thankful for today.

1. The boys really enjoyed the Stronghold camp last week. I think they're going to join a club in the future.

2. Nadia had a great week of camp at Camp Susque last week. She chose arts and crafts and pottery for her electives. 

3. Last Saturday night I chose for my family fun night that the five of us would go swimming at the Exchange Pool. We didn't get a membership this year. It was the second time the kids and I swam there this summer and the first for Paul. 

4. We were able to visit the Eisenhower National Historic Site on Sunday. It definitely wasn't one of my favorite National Park sites, but we did learn a little about President Eisenhower. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge.

5. On Sunday we also spent a few hours with Yvonne's family. Some played in the creek at Messiah University while others played tennis or went for a walk. All sixteen of us had dinner at Primanti Brothers. Joe treated everyone as they wanted to celebrate the sale of the company, which is now scheduled to take place on July 31. 

6. On Monday we drove to Six Flags Darien Lake for Kingdom Bound. Nadia had been throwing up starting at 2 am so we left seven hours later than planned. We made it in time to hear some of Cain's concert as well as the entire concerts of We are Messengers and Matthew West. I had purchased five tickets. Paul wasn't able to come, and then at the last-minute Cheri changed her mind.  Due to our late arrival, we didn't ride any rides on Monday. On Tuesday we had breakfast at Denny's and then spent about 6 hours riding rides. I rode a wooden roller coaster with Oliver and Superman with Ian. It was Ian's very first time going on that ride. Oliver and Ian rode their favorite roller coasters quite a few times over the two days. On Tuesday we attended several concerts including Anne Wilson and We the Kingdom. Both nights we arrived at the Econo Lodge around 11 pm. On Wednesday morning, Oliver threw up, so we went to a Tim Horton's instead of Denny's for breakfast. The two concerts we attended were of Katy Nichole and the Newsboys. The kids spent the majority of the day in the water park although they did spend some time riding dry rides again. They enjoyed spending some time with Ean and Ivan at the concerts on Tuesday night and in the water park on Wednesday. Oliver and Nadia were interested in the Skillet concert, but given it wasn't supposed to start until 9:15 pm and I had to drive a little over 3 hours to get home, we left after the Newsboys. It also started raining at that time. We got home a little before midnight. I viewed it as a once in a lifetime experience. I'm thankful that after Paul sells the company and helps the new owner through the transition, he will be able to join us on outings like this! 

Thankful Thursday

Last week was a humdinger of a week for Paul and I emotionally. Something rocked our world at a level in the same ballpark as when I learned that my brother had passed away. Thankfully, our stress level began to recede last Thursday. When I'm feeling completely overwhelmed, it can be challenging to appreciate the blessings in life, but by Sunday I had regained my ability to do so. Today I'm giving thanks:

1. Margie is a believer. We know that when her suffering comes to an end (in the probably not so distant future as last Friday she stopped eating), she will be in a much better place. Every day I pray for her to be as physically comfortable as possible and for the Lord to strengthen and comfort her family and friends who will grieve her absence (her two sons, her daughter, my father, her grandkids, her nieces and nephews, etc.). 

2. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like Nadia is having a great time at Camp Susque this week. 

3. The boys are having a great time at the Stronghold camp this week. Four of their friends are also participating, and I'm thankful that two other moms have been carpooling with me. It's a foam sword fighting class. They want to join a Stronghold club. 

4. On Monday morning I called the dentist to see if they had any cancellations this week because we will be losing our dental insurance at the end of the month. They had one for that morning! We're looking forward to Paul selling the company, but I was also grateful to get one more free cleaning before his company stops paying for the insurance. 

5. We've been paying $600+ a month for the medical sharing program for 20 months and had never submitted any medical bills for reimbursement. Over the last about four weeks we had more than $4K in medical bills. Almost exactly half of that was for Paul's skin biopsy. I decided to submit that to Samaritan even though the result was good (benign). They gave initial approval to our submitting the bills. If they approve the bills, then we will be reimbursed approximately $1,600. 

6. On Tuesday morning while the boys were at camp, I was able to walk around Bucknell with my friend Cheri, and then we had lunch together at Gram's before I picked up my van at Bastian and five boys at camp. Yesterday morning I was able to talk with my friend, Joyce, on the phone during their camp. We've been friends since 1996 but haven't spent much time face to face since 2000. We don't talk that many times a year, but we always really enjoy getting caught up. Today I took the van back to Bastian because the tires failed the inspection on Tuesday, and I also did some grocery shopping while they were engaged in archery and sword fighting. 

7. Last Saturday morning Ian, Nadia, and I auditioned for the Sound of Music. Ian didn't prepare a monologue because he only wanted to be in the chorus. It turns out that for this particular musical they aren't having any boys his age in the chorus. He did an amazing job singing Hakuna Matata (had the judges laughing!), but it was pointless. Nadia's audition didn't go well. I only auditioned because Nadia has wanted to be in a musical at our church for many years and figured if I was going to be chauffeuring her to rehearsals, I might as well participate. I was confident I'd be chosen to be in the chorus (as a nun), but I was pleasantly surprised because almost seventy people auditioned, and I was one of twenty-four who were assigned a speaking part. About half of those were given one of the main roles. I was given one of the smaller parts - Frau Zeller, who is the wife of the primary antagonist. I will also be a Nun in the chorus. I sang a song from Fiddler on the Roof and performed a monologue as if I was Mother Gothel for my audition. In prior years I had never given any thought to participating in the musicals at our church. At first, I wasn't sure if I should accept since I had only planned to do it with my kids, but in the end, I accepted, and I'm excited! I haven't been in a choir for two years, and pretty much my entire life revolves around my kids. The rehearsals begin on August 22, and the five performances are in November. The director knows I will miss five rehearsals when we are on vacation out west. Depending on how this goes, I might decide never to audition again, or this might become something I do on an annual basis. Time will tell, but I am very thankful for this opportunity.

8. I had a really, really delicious nectarine today. YUM! 

9. I saw the movie Sound of Freedom with Cheri on July 6. I thought it wouldn't be appropriate for the kids, but that isn't the case. I'm planning on having them see it once it comes out on DVD. I'm thankful for people who are trying to rescue those trapped in sex trafficking. 

10. The kids and I were able to help the First Baptist Church youth group at Experience Missions for two days earlier this month. 

11. Although the closing has been delayed, it appears that it will happen next week. We are very, very thankful! Paul will still work FT until he completes two projects and trains the new employees. We're looking forward to seeing him a lot more. I am hoping to sign us up for some ballroom dancing lessons.

12. Paul took down and hauled away our dilapidated shed and swing set! He also cut down some branches and weeds from two of the three evergreen trees in our backyard. I'm hoping the next two projects will be to finish the third tree and also install a new mailbox that I recently purchased.