Halloween Shenanigans

Got the pumpkins carved...just in time.  Kids did awesome..considering they were mostly on their own this holiday.

 

They created their own costumes, and I think that they turned out great!
A jellyfish, a mushroom, and a couple of dabbin' chickens.
Awesome.
 



 

 

Birthday Dinner Celebration

This super cute guy took me out for my birthday....


 
He took me to an "undisclosed location" for a birthday dinner date.  PS - he's not *actually* sleeping at the wheel.  Just pretending.


We went to the Melting Pot...which was amazing.
 
 

I could've eaten the cheese course for days and skipped the rest.

We fondid it! (See what I did there?)

Almost 39.  So far this birthday hasn't been half bad!!!

Almost 39!!

Because of all that has happened in the last two weeks, all I wanted to do for my birthday was have some time to just hang out with my friends.  Thankfully, they all knew exactly what I needed and made it happen for me.  These girls have been with me, crying with me, laughing with me, celebrating with me, and praying with me so much over the last few years, and especially these last few weeks. I'm extremely grateful for them!
We went to a local winery and had a wine slushie, which was suprisingly good, and then went thrift store shopping.  Then back to Brooke's where Thomas has spent all day cooking up the ribs that I love so very much.  The kids all wrote a play and acted it out for me as my gift, and we spent time around the fire laughing and enjoying cinnamon buns (instead of cake) which was so perfect!!!
 
 
 Grateful for a fun, laughter filled day today with friends. 


The kids wrote a play to perform for me for my gift.  It was pretty fun...


13 kids, BBQ ribs and homemade cinnamon rolls.  Perfect end to the day.

Psalm 91

One of my favorite spots to read in the morning is on the floor next to my bedroom window. 
Truths from the Word, coffee and the rain are all extremely comforting.

October Homeschool Happenings

Brynn has been loving her horse class. She has learned the basics in grooming and care for horses, and occasionally gets to ride.  I'm happy she can spend time with these creatures that are so magnificent.

 Friday: Prime trim and siding, give a spelling lesson, bake brownies, season a cast iron pan...all simultaneously.  Multi-tasking at its finest. 

 Field trip to Quarryhill Botanical Garden to learn all about nature and that stuff...

 The dog is that soooooo happy she is home to be with all day.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Ready for the Pumpkin patch.  (Cause it was legitimately raining.)

 Milking the cow.  "Well, that was weird mom!"

He *didn't* love the smell of the cow. But you totally can't tell....

 "The haystack ate me up".
But for reals. I couldn't find him for quite a while.

 Converse. Yellow pumpkins.  And those huge leaves. 
I love the smell of the dirt. And the cool of the fog.
I love where we live!

 Blustery and windy. But so thankful to be out in it.

 He picked the "perfect" pumpkin as the clouds rolled in.  

One of my favorite things about this place.  The old rusty truck in the field. 

Happy Birthday Gigi!

Homemade cards are the best. Especially when 90% of the words are incomprehensible.

 Get it done Gigi!!! Blow them out!

 Love these 3!

Happy 3rd Birthday Deeter!!!

Today we celebrate this guy's birthday.  3 years old and such a firecracker!

Lost Tooths

He knocked out a bottom loose tooth yesterday on the trampoline, and then woke up this morning to the top loose tooth gone.  Lisping for the win.....

Sweet little gap toothed smile with all those amazing freckles...

Snuggles

These two have a special bond. I don't know why...but they do.  Its so sweet to watch.

Christi

And just like that, she is gone. 

FB 10/11/16
 My sister died today. It was very sudden and we are all in shock. She had a massive brain hemorrhage, and it all happened very fast. The entire family covets your prayers.
We are seeking after the joy of the Lord and praying fervently that we will be bold in sharing the gospel as we grieve.

FB 10/14/16
Found this pic today. It was the one time she let me take a selfie ("usie"?) and post it online.

 

FB 10/13/16
We are so incredibly grateful for all of your prayers and support and love that you all have shown these last couple days. We are just kinda plugging along. Lots of tears, but smiles and laughter too as we talk about my sister, and the hope we have due to our sweet comforting Lord.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday October 22 at 11am at Santa Rosa Alliance/The Bridge. 301 Fulton Road, Santa Rosa. Please feel free to join us.


FB 10/22/16
I'm not going to lie, I'm fully expecting today will be hard. But my God is my comfort, my strength and my refuge. He shelters me and gives me joy and hope in a situation that will be heartbreakingly hard. He's my Rock, and I'm thankful for that

















Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and inscrutable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Rom 11:33-36

 Eulogy....

For anyone who doesn’t know me, my name is Rich Andre. I had the joy of being Christi’s brother in law.

As I look around today, I see that Christi was a much-loved friend.  She was compassionate, and kind. She was generous, she loved to talk to people and always had jobs in which she could be around people to help.  She had a witty sense of humor, and was often the one to lighten any situation with a well-timed remark or joke.  People loved to see what cool jewelry, or unique mix of colors that she would be wearing when she showed up places.  She had certain free-spiritedness that people loved.  Throughout her life, Christi played hard. Band-Aids, bruises, scrapes, dislocations, broken bones, casts, crutches and wheelchairs seemed too frequent.

Christi was born on Jan 24^th, 1980 in the middle of an earthquake.  John and Gisela brought her home to Sebastopol.  She was always independent, trying to keep up with her older sister Angie.  The girls grew up in the apple orchard, and Angie remembers many days of playing outside in the treehouse, riding bikes on the driveway, and building forts in the tall grasses. She remembers that each summer they had to pick one bin of apples before they could do anything they considered fun.  It was a way for John to pay them some summer spending money, and teach them a little about hard work.  They didn’t like the job, and would procrastinate so much, that they stretched a day’s work into a week.  One year, they thought they could outsmart their dad and finish up the bin faster, by using dirt to fill up the apple buckets and putting a few apples on top.  They soon learned that the dirt would just sift out of the bottom of the bin and they were no farther ahead in their job. 

Christi went to kindergarten through 8^th grade at Santa Rosa Christian School, and had the privilege of having teachers share the good news of Christ every day in their lessons and school work.  She had a wonderful memory for obscure things.  She was always offering up information that she had learned…usually starting with the phrase “It’s a well-known fact that….” followed by some bit of information.  She enjoyed school, but probably understood a lot more of what was going on at the blackboard once her parents finally realized that she couldn’t see, at all, without glasses.   She had many fun days on the playground with her friends, some of whom are here today.  She went to El Molino High School, and was involved in Drama, and soccer.  She even dragged Farmer John into a coaching role when they didn’t have anyone else to do it.   When she wasn’t on crutches from her latest injury, she was on stage singing and acting and showing the world that she loved to perform.  Her smile was contagious and she always nailed her characters down so well.  The times that she wasn’t doing that, she was hanging out with her friends, doing skits, songs and making everyone laugh.    

Christi went on to the Junior College, and to Sonoma State, where she focused on child development and Spanish.  Before she finished school though, she discovered travel, and once she started she didn’t stop. She always loved to travel. Whether it was a road trip down south, or a plane flight across the world, she enjoyed it. She explored the Dominican Republic, St Croix, Panama, South Africa and Mexico. She lived in London for a semester, and explored Europe with her mom one year.  She took some of these trips with friends, some with her work, some with family, and some by herself.  I even had the opportunity of travelling with Christi to South Africa a few years ago. We shared the joy of spreading the gospel to underprivileged kids through a summer camp experience. 

Angie remembers very well the day that Christi told her about meeting Dustin.  “He’s tall. Like really really tall.  And his hands are dirty, and he kinda smells like grandpa”.  There was a running joke about Christi’s favorite cologne being diesel fuel and I think she got close to that with Dustin.  She loved that he was a man’s man and a gentleman.  She adored how safe she felt with him. She loved his blue-collar work, and the way that he made her laugh. His sense of humor was perfect for her.

On Aug 3, 2013, we celebrated the marriage of Christi and Dustin.  Morgan became part of the family and we all had the joy of watching her parent.  Christi’s long time desire of motherhood came true when Deeter came along.  She loved being a mom.  She actually thrived at it.  And she shared that joy with all of us.  Marriage and motherhood completed her greatest desires.  Those who knew her heart for this are thankful to God for allowing her to experience it. 

 With Christi gone there will be a huge hole left behind.  Her work will miss the way that she interacted daily with customers and how she showed compassion to those she helped.  The way she anticipated the needs of her customers before they walked in.  Her friends will miss the time that they spent together joking around, laughing, and sharing life stories.  Dustin and the kids will miss all the big and little things she did daily to show them how much she loved them.  We will miss her at family dinner and miss hearing about her experiences with work, and friends and the kids.

We know that life is uncertain.  James 4:14 says that our lives are like a mist, here for a minute and then gone.  I do not believe that a persons’ journey ends at death.  The bible says in Hebrews that man dies once and after that is judgement.  We should be prepared for that part of the journey.  Christi is experiencing the reality of knowing what comes after death.  And I think if there was one thing that she would want me to share with you today, it would be how important it is to find hope for that future journey through Jesus. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  God has made a way for that future journey by sending His son, and I encourage you to consider this invitation from Jesus.  That hope, the hope for a future with our Lord, is found by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior.  

Unplugged Weekend

It's amazing that it takes so much effort for an itty bitty one night trip.  Harstone Camp, here we come!

 The yurts and the trees and the hammocks and the swings! I can't hardly contain myself! So happy to be here!

 The morning walk to the pond was amazing.  Sun, time to relax with friends, and watch the kids play!

 

 I feel like we never saw the kids while we were at camp. They were off playing gutter ball, doing archery or swinging. What a great place!

 And then there was the talent show.  Nolan showed his "snapping" talent.

 Cannon did a couple magic tricks, and the girls showed one of their flips.

 We cooked over the campfire most of the time, and played cornhole a lot too.

 And I sat in a hammock, in the sun, and read books.  Which was perfect.

And I tried out archery.  Which was hard.

 In the afternoon we went to the beach and the kids played in the water, while all the adults sat around and talked.

 

 We were all pretty sad to leave.  Especially this guy.....

Until next time Harstone!!