Happy Birthday Charity!!

Sometime life is too busy to celebrate a birthday on just one day, and you just have to spread it out over a few days. That is what we did with Charity's birthday this year.

Charity has always loved the idea of having a cat, (especially a cozy, friendly, purry cat) so she kind of counted Kitten as an early birthday present.

Charity's cake was a triple layer gluten/sugar free chocolate cake, with peanut butter filling and frosting...... yup.

Charity is the classic firstborn. Brilliant, talented, sweet, and so so much more. We are so grateful for her analytical mind, and attention to details along with her computer genius.

Happy Birthday Charity!!

~Chs

ELIM A Wonderful Week

For the past 2 years now the second week of September has been a very special one for yours truly. :) And this year I was thrilled to be able continue the trend.

Each year my Aunt Carmen and Uncle Tim's church helps/runs an "ELIM" missionary retreat, that is held on some gorgeous private property at the tip of the Thumb in Huron City, right near Port Austin.

It was a wonderful week full of laughter, cooking, discussions, singing, serving, eating, walking, praying, loving, and reconnecting. 

Below is a glimpse of what it looked like on the surface. :)

{Some of the food purchased for the week}

{The view}

{Putting together the welcome bags for the guest}

{"Abide with me"}

{So much interesting wildlife}

{Looking back at the lodge}

{Lu, the queen in the kitchen with the 30lb Turkey for our "Thanksgiving Dinner"}

{First dinner with all the missionary guests}

{The sunrise up there is always stunning.}

{"Abide" the theme for the week}

{Point Aux Barque Light House}

{Cook out night!}

{Lovely evening for a bonfire}

{Time to talk and relax}

{Visit to the legendary Grindstone General Store for Ice Cream}

{The whole group}

{Sunset on the lake}

{Breezy day at Lighthouse park}

{Found this Rock at the park}

{Chatting around the fire}

{Group photo on the last evening}

There is so much I could say about the week, but putting it into words would be difficult, so I will be succinct and say that... It was an incredible time of serving, learning and being blessed, all rolled into 7 brief days.

~Chs

Alpaca day

One sunny blustery day in September, Josiah, Faith and I were able to carve out a little time to stop by an Alpaca farm, which was hosting an Art and Fiber Fair. 

The Alpaca shop was full of warm and beautiful articles of clothing etc. all made out of some sort of fiber (alpaca, sheep, lama, etc.)

Hello! :)

There were many different vendors, some with fiber products of their own, and others with different farm related items.

Look, it's a baby Alpaca!!

Definitely an interesting event, and we are glad we were able to look around for the morning.

~Chs

Always Something New

It does seem, looking back on the past few years, that we are always getting into something else, picking up something new, trying something different.  Each new item/occupation always has a back story, and this is no different.

I think it's starts with us having some extra brushy ground that needed to be cleared.... or was it because the lady, who we met and became friends with through looking for milk for the puppies, had an extra wether she was getting rid of. Or maybe it was both of those combined with the fact that some people in our family have never gotten over their irrational affection for goats.  Anyway, our brushy area is now fenced in and we are the "proud" owners of 3 meat goats.

Lamancha's are definitely not our favorite breed, but with horns they do look a little better... besides they have a sure end.

The turkeys aren't too sure about their new neighbors.

"Who are you??"

But... that's not the complete story, there is a side trail to it. 

Josiah and Faith were on their way to pick up 2 of the goats when they saw something huddled in the middle of the road....

That "something" was this adorable little kitten. She was very skinny, but other than that was really in beautiful shape.

She is really the sweetest kitten ever, extremely friendly and laid back. Not at all aggressive. Just down right sweet, but a little mouthy. :)

Her markings are truly unique. She has little dashes and patches of saffron or cinnamon color here and there, which after much debate and multiple options, have resulted in her being named "Saffron" or "Fronsie" for short.  We did post "found" signs, but haven't heard anything, which, along with the location where we found her (a dirt road with no houses on it) confirms are suspicions that she was dumped.

We are  hoping to turn her into a barn/garage outdoor cat to help us take care of mice... but right now she looks pretty comfortable inside don't you think? :D

~Chs