We're back!!!

We're Back!!!
It is so good to take a warm shower and to sleep in my cozy bed. Boy I really take things for granted. There is nothing like 6 days in a tent by a river to get you focused.

We had a wonderful time. My husband got us to the Kern River safely. We unloaded and set up camp with the help of our kids. They are working on their camping and fishing badges so it was super easy to motivate them this trip.

We went fishing the first day but caught nothing. The second day Lauren found a trout hiding spot and tried to catch them for hours to no avail. These were very crafty fish. We went back to our camping site and she thought she saw some more fish. So Lauren and Emily went fishing from our site and bang, bang, bang Lauren caught three rainbow trout in a row. Within seconds of each other. A man and a teenaged boy came over right away and started casting just a few feet from Lauren. They desperately tried to catch some more trout. Emily, 6 yrs, was standing on a rock in her bathing suit and patiently continued to cast out for about 30 more minutes. Her patience paid off as she finally caught the biggest rainbow trout of the trip. The man gave such a look of disgust to the teenager. They still had not caught a fish and a cute little girl aced them!

The next day I was feeling terrible with a migraine so Mikey took the younger kids out on a hike up a rock mountain while Lauren studied her Government homework - so dedicated!

The next day was more fishing and for our last full day we drove further north in the Sequoia National Forrest. We drove about 30 more miles up and really enjoyed the scenery. We even tried fishing off of the highway.

Mike grew a beard and hasn't shaved it off yet. Hmmm. A first for him. We had a beautiful drive home with no traffic at all. Pretty much a miracle for us.

I have been doing laundry non stop since we arrived home and still have about 10 more loads to go. Otherwise I am back on track with work, school and home.

We started back to school today and completed our full day of school by 130pm. So I had a nice break until my piano students show up at 300pm. I will be working tonight and attending a Bible Study in the morning so I will not blog again until mid week.

Wonderful news. Mrs Christie Probst from AWANA had her baby on November 21st. Samantha Grace Probst has arrived. Woo Hoo!!

We started a unit study today on Christmas and will be studying some carols. Today we started with Good Christian Men Rejoice. What a wonderful song! I never really focused on the words before. Here they are for you.

Good Christian Men Rejoice : Lyrics

Good Christian men rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Give ye heed to what we say
News! News!Jesus Christ is born today!
Ox and ass before Him bow
And He is in the manger now
Christ is born today!Christ is born today!

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice
Now ye hear of endless bliss
Joy! Joy!Jesus Christ was born for this
He hath ope'd the heav'nly door
And man is blessed evermore
Christ was born for this
Christ was born for this
Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice
Now ye need not fear the grave:
Peace! Peace!Jesus Christ was born to save
Calls you one and calls you all
To gain His everlasting hall
Christ was born to save
Christ was born to save

Merry Christmas

Gone Fishing

We are outta here! My family are gone-zippo-zionk-kabam! We'z gone fishin. Our long awaited family vacation has finally arrived. We are going on a 6 day camping trip. Please pray for us. Our radiator broke yesterday so now we are renting a van for our vacation. Please pray for safe travel and that our hearts would be focused more on God.

As for my dear laundry room. It is completed. I do not have photos yet. We removed all the extra furniture and shelving and painted the entire room deep lavendar. It looks great! I will post photos from the laundry room and our camping trip when we return. So = in advance = HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Laundry Room Before

These are very embarrassing photos but the first step is admitting it right? OK. I resisted the urge to clean up a bit before allowing the "BEFORE" photos. Here the room is as it was the moment we were to start.

This is the view from the front door. When you walk in our home you enter the Entry. As you walk forward through the Entry you enter our laundry room. You also need to go through the laundry room to enter our downstairs bathroom.



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This is the view straight on and looking up. The shutters you see are on our door window.

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This is the table under the door and angled a bit to the right. You can see the shelf we have on the right side wall. That's why it looks like towels are hovering.

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This is the straight on shot. AHHHH!!! To see it all there before my eyes. Oh please hold me accountable. The clutter monster is so rampant in my home.

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This is a cabinet on the back wall and to the left. We can only open the right door because the dryer is blocking the left.

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Here is the washer and dryer. My satin robe is on the washer. It is pink with white polka dots.----Love it!

The good news is that it took so long to get the pictures up that this room is already completed. Surprise ! We painted too! Look for the photos soon. They should be up within a day or two.

Entry After

FINALLY!!! This project was completed two weeks ago! I had great difficulty with the photos but Lauren set me up. Now we are good to go. Soooo..... Here is the view when you walk in our front door.



Here is the view straight on and a bit to the left

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This is the view if you walk in and take a direct look to the right.

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Our floors still leave a lot to be desired but we are only talking about decluttering right now. New flooring is a long term plan.

OK----on to the Laundry Room!