Thankful Thursday

vacation edition...

We recently took a family vacation for 10 days. It was such a blessing to be able to take such a chunk of time off and go on a road trip together to the Pacific Northwest. There were many things I was thankful for.

I am thankful for the innocence an joy my little boys have.

Corbin enjoying the fall leaves at the James Cant Ranch in the John Day Fossil Beds

I am thankful for fossils we got to see at the John Day Fossil Beds and that this is proof of the ice age and that Noah's Flood actually happened.

I am thankful for our trailer that we got to camp in. I am grateful for the heater and the comforts of home we had in it. I am also thankful for the memories we have made using our trailer. ** This is the first road trip that I have actually packed a fruit and vegetable basket to take along and homemade broth to drink throughout the trip!

I am thankful for waterfalls. Sunsets and waterfalls are two of my favorites in God's creation. We saw A LOT of waterfalls at the Columbia River Gorge on our trip. I was in awe of the beauty. I took over 80 pictures of the waterfalls!

I am thankful for new discoveries, like this leaf that is as big as Corbin's head. I am thankful for the quiet peace that the hikes up to each of the falls had to offer. 

I am thankful for my family of boys. They are so curious and full of energy. I am thankful they have a Daddy who is willing to teach them how to grow up to be men and give them the wrestle time now that they need. 

I am thankful for sweet treats! We had several treats on our vacation and since the boys are Gluten Free and I am Paleo we had to hunt for treats a lot of the time. We were thankful to find Kyra's Bake Shop. It is a 100% Gluten free bakery! She is the two time winner of Cupcake wars on Food Network. She won with some of her Gluten Free Cupcakes.  I did not partake in a cupcake but did have a small bite and they were delicious. The boys were in heaven! 

Speaking of food, we found some amazing places on our trip that were Paleo Friendly and had many Gluten Free options. One of the places we stopped was Cultured Caveman - a little food truck in Portland. I am thankful for Clean, Whole Paleo food that is prepared for me. We had coconut crusted chicken tenders (fried in beef tallow), braised collard greens with bacon, bacon wrapped dates, macaroons, chili, and homemade garlic aioli. MMMM...I can taste it now. I am thankful for good food! 

I am thankful for the power and majesty of God. We visited Mount St. Helens and it had a way of making us feel real tiny. Like small little peons. It is amazing how this 8,000+ high foot mountain could literally blow thousands of feet off it's top devastating everything (for miles) in it's wake in a matter of three minutes. There is nothing like being at the foot of this mountain in person. It is HUGE. It is active. It is mind blowing. God is big! God is all powerful. Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

I am thankful for laughter. We visited the fish market at Pike Place in Seattle and it is always so much fun there. The fish Corbin is standing by moves when the fish monger pulls on a chain it is connected too. I knew this (because we had been there before but Corbin was really young) and so I told the boys to go up close and look at the fish. They did and when they did the Monger moved it and scared the bejeebers out of them. Corbin thought it was funny and Cody did not! He wouldn't go near that thing. It gave us a good laugh.  Such fun memories.

I am thankful for animals and for Corbin's love of animals. I have always loved animals too just like him. They are so fun to watch and learn about. It is amazing how much we can see that we have an intelligent Creator through the study of animals.  The intricacies of all animals is astounding. There is no way they could just have formed from a blob. When we visited the Seattle Aquarium it was like a field trip for our homeschool. We learned so much about aquatic animals (which happens to be what we are studying in science right now anyway.) We saw Octopus being fed and very active, otters, harbor seals, fur seals, jellyfish, starfish and more. It was a great time!

I am thankful for my husband. To have a complete family is a blessing I don't take for granted. God has blessed us tremendously. He was the one to do all the dirty work on the trip like jack up the trailer and make sure we had the spare tire. Get the "lines" hooked up to make sure certain things - eh-hem, went where they were supposed too. All the loading and unloading. I am thankful to literally have the man-power. Also I am thankful that God has allowed my husbands back issues to heal and God has given him relief and ability to be able to do these tasks without pain.

I am thankful for time away from the normal routine and all the many sites to see on this earth. I am thankful for renewal and refreshment at the perfect time of the year. It was much needed and what better time that to go see the fall colors!  This is the Puget Sound in Seattle from the top of the Seattle Great Wheel. We were in a Ferris wheel that was 200 feet above the ground over the Puget Sound. We got so see an amazing sunset which I am thankful for and view all the sites of the town from way up high.

I am thankful for the means to take a much needed family vacation like this. God has provided in abundance! 

I thought this Psalm was a fitting end to this thankfulness post...

Psalm 145
A Praise of David. I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, And I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, And shall sing of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, And Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.

~Blessings~

By Grace

(A Thankful Thursday Post)

Since I have moved into this house there was a special place that I wanted to put up some wall words that said "By Grace." It took me a while to get them up because I had to have them custom made. Most vinyl wall word companies don't just have this saying.  I finally found a place that did my words for me for a reasonable price.  Yay!  So, after a little over a year I get to walk into my house each day (or down my stairs) and see the words, "By Grace."  It is a good reminder because I would not have the life I have now if it were not for God's Grace on me.

~Grace= favor or goodwill, a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior, mercy; clemency; pardon~
 
By Grace I have my salvation

By Grace I live in this state

By Grace I have a complete family

By Grace I have two healthy, sweet boys
 
By Grace I have family who loves and supports me

By Grace I get to read my Bible and sing worship without fear

By Grace my heater works

By Grace we own our home

By Grace I have warm clothes

By Grace I have a comfortable bed

By Grace I am slowly healing and finding answers

By Grace I can homeschool my children and parent them by my values

By Grace I can see

By Grace I can walk and use my hands

By Grace I can taste and enjoy food

The list could literally go on and on because everything in my life is only because God gives me His Grace.  Grace that I don't deserve.

Let's not take for granted the Grace our Lord so freely gives us and take some time to reflect on the graces your have in your life this season. I guarantee if you sit down to think about it your list will be long too.

Ephesians 2:8-9
⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

~Blessings~

Thankful Thursday

Hello!  How is your thursday going?  Mine is going well.  I have a lot to be thankful for but I will keep this list neat and tidy for you.

God has gotten us to our new home safely and without any major bumps.  It is truly his will that we move and we have seen so many blessings from this relocation.  We do miss our friends and family but are grateful for his work in our lives.

Thank God for our family who was able to help us tremendously in this move.  Moving to another state is not easy.  There are a lot of t's to cross and i's to dot. Thank you family!

What a blessing that my kids get to grow up close to their Great Grandma.  I am so thankful for my Grandma, she has been a huge positive influence in my life.

I am thankful for the wonderful fresh tomatoes we got to enjoy from our new garden.   I used them to make homemade marinara last week.  It was really yummy.  I used some of the marinara for these stuffed peppers and froze the rest of it for spaghetti and meatballs.  MMMM...

I am also thankful for the two HUGE zucchini's that Corbin picked in our garden last week and yesterday.  The Gluten Free zuchini bread I am making right now is making our house smell so good.

If Cody is awake for any amount of time in his crib these days he decides to take his clothes off AND his diaper.  I am thankful that the other day when I went to get him that he did not have a poopy diaper when he decided to pull these antics!  Yuck!  Is that bad - to talk about food in one paragraph and bodily excrement in the following one?

I am also thankful that Cody has decided to stop eating the cat food!  I caught him crunching away the other morning.  I asked him "Cody are you eating the cat food?"  He said "no." All while his jaws were gnawing on the crunchy feline treats. Gross. Hopefully he doesn't go for the cat box next.

Ok, back to food.... :-)  We live near a Gluten Free Market that holds cooking classes.  I am so thankful to be able to participate in these.  The cost is really reasonable for the class too.  Double score!

Our cat Max survived the move quit well.  He loves being with his family again and is SO tolerant of Cody figuring out how to treat a kitty. You can see in this picture he is quite relaxed catching the sunbeam.

Finally, I am thankful to be in my most favorite season of the year.  I just love it.  The warm sweaters, the hot soups, and the gorgeous fall colors.  Thank you Jesus.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am calling "Thankful Thursday"

I am thankful for my bed.  Seriously, my bed is my most favorite possession.  I look forward to crawling into it at night sinking into that perfect little place and having the covers envelope me and warm up my cold feet.

I am thankful for my cup of coffee or tea in the morning (even though by the time I finish it is is usually luke warm.)  I look forward to it everyday and some days it is the only thing that gets me out of bed.  Besides my five year old who is bopping around usually before me.

I am thankful that my oldest boy is showing signs of chicken pox.  I know - this is a weird one but once he gets it, he wont get it again for life!  Yay!  Then we will all be done with it.

I am thankful for the song Let the waters rise by Mikeschair.  I think I have posted this song on feastingonjoy before.  That's because I love it.  I had one of the worst days of my life recently and the crazy thing is that during that day I was driving and on the radio station that I listen to daily it came on.  I hadn't heard it on the radio in quite a while and it was perfect it came on that day. It encourages me because I know I will always have the Lord.  I love the song.

I am thankful for one or two feedings in the middle of the night that I have with Cody left.  The quiet, the darkness, the pats on  the back I get when I pick him up, the bond. I will never have this again so I cherish it.

I am thankful that my Lord is trustworthy, never changing, always there, perfect and loving.

I am thankful that I was able to post this before Thursday ended!