What's Up?

This is my favorite tree this time of the year.
Everyday I stop and admire it.
Soon it will loose it's leaves.
I'll have to wait until next year for it's beauty.

Both of our kids and their families got together to

enjoyed a weekend together.

Our son Todd 

Our daughter Kimmy 

And their kids.....

Scarlett, Silas, Ila May, Huxley,

 Lulu, Trey, Levi, Nathan and Isaac.

This is all of them!

(Hi Mark and Stephanie)

 God has blessed us more then I

ever knew He would!

Just one more picture!

Ahhhhh.....

🌻🍁🌻🍂🌻🍁🍂🌻🍁🍂

Our church has a Harvest Festival each year.

There are so many activities to participate in.

Relay races, tug of war, horse rides, make your own caramel apple,

hay rides. 

This year the younger kids had

Pumpkin Play Dough.

Each could make a tiny pie out of the play dough and take it home.

Kimmy was in charge of this activity.

Every family had a chance to get photo taken.

So fun!

 For the Foodies in our church,

we have two contests.

A Chili contest and

 the most popular, the

PIE CONTEST!

This year there were over 25 pies entered!!

Tom has been a Pie Judge for the 3rd year in a row.

A highly coveted position!

  

Angie and I were in charge of this event.

 A lot of stress!

Boys, girls, women and men all hovering over 

the pies, debating which looks the best.

Or wondering if theirs won!

When the Judges were done, the winner is announced.

Plates and forks came out and everyone digs in.

Whew!! Our job is done!

Ila May made  her 1st Apple Pie and entered it.

No ribbon but it was delicious.

Here she is showing off her pie and

 her play dough pie, too.

📜📢📜📢

Every year we gather around in a huge circle 

and listen to someone's testimony

 before we bless the food and eat.

This year Tom told his story.

It was wonderful!

This is Tom with a microphone.

Tom wanted me to stand next to him, which was an honor to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Until next Harvest Festival...



~~~~****~~~~

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it."

Matthew 7:13-14

Wind, Rain, Thunder and Lighting

It's Autumn!

I watched the storm come in.

And came, it did!

The picture below is our backyard,

 showing you our Peach Tree. 

It's blurry because of all the rain.

Lots of hard rain.

Then the wind came! 

The next picture was taken just 20 minutes later,

after the wind had stopped.

And just as fast as the storm came in, 

it moved on.

Our poor Peach Tree didn't know what hit it!

Then the sun came out!

 I know where all the leaves went.

The wind blew them onto our patio!

Only a few leaves made it into the yard.

🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂

The other day, Levi (our oldest grandson) 

was over to help Papa

 with some "boy type" jobs.

Fence needed fixing.

And the lawn needed mowing.

Hey Levi!......

Come on back!

Help Papa pick up all those leaves!

~~~~****~~~~

Then He said to His disciples. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."

Matthew 9:37

All Things Pumpkin 🎃

They are everywhere!

Stores, gardens, decorations, and sometimes in ovens!

I'm sure you find pumpkins for any occasion

or style of decoration.

Our Bible Study 

has started up and I signed up for snacks.

 I dug out my delicious,

Pumpkin Spice Cookie recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies recipe

They are a cake type cookie and I always add lots of frosting.

Soft and gooey, just the way I like them.

Oh, and the smell of these cookies... so yummy!

Even I have a few pumpkins for decorations

I went to Walmart the other day.

Around these parts,

you see tractors everywhere!

Walmart used this tractor for their seasonal decoration.

And not just an ordinary tractor but

a huge, shiny, brand new, 

 John Deer Tractor!!

 While I was in Walmart, I couldn't resist the 

cutest, pumpkin kitchen towel. 

It is perfect for my kitchen!

Curious...

How much do pumpkins cost per pound at your 

neighborhood grocery store?

Here are some fun facts I found out about Pumpkins.

★ Deal of the season! Costco charges $5.99 for a huge pie and you can freeze them!

★The name pumpkin comes from the Greek word, 'Pepon', which mean large melon

★Pumpkins plants features both male and female flowers, with bees typically being involved in pollination 

★Scientifically speaking, pumpkins are a fruit (they contain seeds). When is comes to cooking they are often refereed to as vegetables.

~~~~****~~~~

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Who ever come to me will never go hungry, and whoever believe in me will never be thirsty,"

John 6:35

Fall From My Point of View

Yes, it Fall or Autumn.

I looked up the difference between these words.

(link)

( I love to look up things like this)

Both refer to the season,

between summer and winter.

I knew that!

But Autumn is the more a formal way to refer to the season.

So, that's what I'm going to call it.

(Even thought I'm not a formal type gal.)

Autumn is Idaho is lovely.

But then again it's lovely everywhere.

For me it's more of the change

 from one season to another.

I like how Autumn puts on a big show!

  Morning sunrise from our backyard.

We moved to Idaho 4 and a half years ago.

It took some time to adjust to all the changes.

But the one change, that I have always enjoyed,

is driving out on the back roads.

Sunday is the best day for this.

Farmers aren't plowing or harvesting.

Peoples aren't racing to their jobs.

The light from the sunrises are
 sometimes breathtaking.

As we pass cornfields and hay fields, I think how blessed

I am to be able to see,
 the seasonal changes.

I never get tired of it!

I look for the familiar horses, cows sheep or goats.
that are grazing in the fields.

I now know each farm and who has what growing

 or what is in their pastures.

We live near The Birds of Prey National Conservatory.

So, you can look up,
 once in awhile, and see hawks or
eagles soaring above.

Never gets tiring!

We also live near a lake that is home
to geese and ducks.

This time of the year,

The Canadian Geese 

(or is it Canada Geese)

are overhead, all day long.

I looked up the difference
between the two names and found that

The Audubon Society,
 refers them as Canada Geese.

In this report, it says the 1772,
the Oxford English Dictionary,

refers to the birds as
Canada Geese.

Sometimes we just call them Honkers.

After the easy drive, 

we come to the entrance of our church.

What a great way to start our 

worship and fellowship.

Enjoy Autumn and the Honkers

God is good!

~~~~****~~~~

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth."

Genesis 1:1

I saw this sign a few years ago and realized how true it is.

Getting older is hard.

But sitting around isn't what I want to do.

I want to be healthy, active and helpful.

So, I got a pedometer to track my movement (steps).

At first I used my phone but then I found that my phone wasn't always with me, all day.

I would get discouraged with how few steps I took.

Tom suggested a Fit-bit, but I didn't want something around my wrists.

 Besides, it  hooks up to your phone. 

And if you know me, that isn't me!

I'm a pretty BASIC person.

Then Tom found the perfect pedometer.  

You can clip in onto your waist band, stick it in your pocket or wear it around your neck.

Now, when I get up and dressed, 

I look at what I did the day before and reset it.

So easy! 

My goal is 7,000  steps or more a day.

If at the end of the day if  I'm short of my goal,

I jump on to my little exercise trampoline.

AND LOOK AT ME NOW!!!!

(disclaimer, this is NOT me!

hahahaha)

How do you stay active?

~~~~****~~~~

"Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, 'Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well.' And instantly the woman was made well."

Matthew 9:22

One More Time!

Mark and Kimmy bought an RV that sleeps 10!

Let's go Camping!!

The RV that sleeps 10

So that's what we did.

Tom and I packed our 2 person RV.

The RV that sleeps 2

It's the end of the camping season, so there were plenty of spots available.

We got two that were side by side with a

 big patch of grass in between each RV.

The bikes were unpacked and the kids were off!

Papa was a kid again and joined in the fun.

Tom even joined in some wrestling matches

with Silas and Isaac.

Their new RV is so big,

 that the girls have their own bunk beds. 

Here's Lulu in her bunk, showing us her window.

Levi was in charge of the wood chopping.

Silas "supervising" his older brother.

We were surprised when a fellow camper, 

pulled up in 

the very same RV as ours.

Here we are enjoying the camp fire and Levi's hard work.

In between the crackling of the fire, we heard coyotes howling!

Freaky!!

Must be Fall because the mornings were COLD!

Nothing like a hot cup of coffee, to warm you up.

Lulu found a quiet place to write.

The back door of our RV opens up!

Another quiet spot... in the shade.

Papa giving out back scratches.

Ila May did a lot of drawing in her sketch book.

She is getting really good!

Lulu and I went on a bike ride and 

found a perfect spot for a selfie.

In the mornings we had visitors. 

Or what I called, our Alarm Clocks !

Move over Grammie-Goo and Papa!

Yes... you can get 7 people in our

2 person van!

~~~~****~~~~

"The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, 

For His compassions never fail.

They are new ever morning;

Great is Your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23