From Women of Faith

The Maker of Heaven and Earth
Has His hand on you.
Don't trade what He has for you
For the comforts of this world.
Let the love of Christ compel you
And infuse you with courage.
God, even God, who created the heavens
Is the One who comforts you.
Whatever you do,
Don't refuse it!
His grace will guard you from bitterness
And Christ will turn your pain
Into Holy Passion.
Pour your life lavishly into others.
Humble yourself and share your hardships
That others may also share your comfort.
Live till you die!
Then live like there's no tomorrow!
For the King enthroned in Heaven
Is worthy of your all.
Now, go, Girl!
For the Father of Mercies
And the God of all comfort
Goes with you.
Bless be God and bless be you!

A Walk in the Park

After enjoying a day of my sister and her girls here, and a late afternoon/early evening ministry dedication for Outdoor Connection Ministries, we decided to go to Outback for dinner and just unwind a bit. As we came out of the restaurant, the sky was lit up in purple, orange, pink, blues-what a beautiful sunset! We decided to go check out the new park in Coeur d'Alene that we've been hearing so much about, mainly all the problems with the way the geese have taken it over and how they are trying to figure out how to deter them from hanging out at Riverstone Park. We enjoyed a few minutes of a visit with some friends who had just enjoyed dinner at the new restaurant on the new lake, and who were finishing up their evening with a walk around the park. We went for a walk around the park as darkness crept in too early on a nice summer evening. It seems like a really nice park, despite the huge goose droppings all over the place. I love Canadian geese. I think they are absolutely beautiful and I have grown up around them my whole life. I can see, however, the problem they will pose to this park, with goose droppings all over by the nice play area for kids, all around the amphitheater, and the trail that goes around the lake. I hope they find a nice solution to deter the geese from this park. I know the geese were here before the high rises and new lake went in, and they, like many of us, are experiencing the growing pains and changes of this area.

The park features an old time bronze of a lady on a bike, with two dogs running alongside her, a big fountain, four or five rock fountains, stairs that lead to the water even though you can't go in the water, a beautiful waterfalls, a nice pavilion, and as I mentioned before, a great play area, along with lots of grass. Of course, it has all the new, big city condos going up all around it, but it is nice that they put in this park for the public to enjoy. I look forward to going back to the park in the daylight and seeing everything it has to offer. It is a very pretty city park. There are lots of trees, rocks, benches, and of course the water. It is a nice oasis in the middle of the hubbub of the busy life of Coeur d'Alene. I would still rather be up in the mountains any day, next to a God-made waterfall and lake, but I guess I just have to make the best of where I've been planted and enjoy the things around me as much as possible.

I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances........Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

Philippians 4:12-13 The Message

NOTE: I was there in the daylight, and must say it's prettier at night. Still a good place for kids to play, and the restaurant on the 'lake' has good food.

Brandon Update

Brandon has the first step towards his new legs. This is not the final format for his right leg. Big moment for all of us to see him stand on two legs. Keep us in your prayers!

Brandons birthday is 8-19 He will be 22. Send messages to sapper_19@yahoo.com

In Christ Doug

Busy, Busy Weekend

It was a very busy weekend! We made a very fast trip to Sandpoint to the Arts & Crafts Festival, where my parents had a booth with their artwork (http://www.woodnwings.com/.) Unfortunately, we got up to Sandpoint too late to go to the Celebrate Life walk, but we were sure thinking of Jenny as we came into town. We did get to see a lot of familiar faces and visit with many friends that we haven't seen for some time, while at the beach. The main reason for the trip was to meet our nephew Nile down at the festivities. He is up to visit for a couple days so wanted to make sure we got to see him. After getting quite warm at the beach, we played in the water some. The nieces had a blast. Obviously, it wore everyone out! They were all asleep, but Lizzie woke up just before I snapped the picture.



We decided to go for a quick drive out to Twin Lakes as the sun was setting. This old farm place is so cool, and it would be a neat place to live. It seems like such a serene setting.

Sunday brought more additions to the front yard. The paver patio is finished out front, and now needs to be finished in the back. It looks really nice.

After working all day on the patio, we decided to take a drive to get a new geocache at Cougar Bay. We took the scenic way around and then took a side road off that, and saw some beautiful areas. This is an old farm place that is still standing.

Further down the road, we came across this tree that was filled with tiny conks. I have never seen anything like it. From top to bottom, and all around, there were baby conks covering the tree.

A bit further down the road, we spotted three deer in the field and sat and watched them for awhile.

We finally arrived at our destination. We were the only ones at the preserve, so we enjoyed the views, while searching for some cache.

Our dog loves to go with, so was happy to help us try to locate the sneaky cache. As usual, she just enjoys going along for the ride, but this time she was able to get out and lay in six foot tall grass, and cool off, while we searched the area for the geocache.

We decided to do one more multi-cache in Coeur d'Alene before we headed home. It was a fun one and took us around to different building art around town. We ended up at an area we didn't know existed, which is what we love about caching. Tomorrow is our one year anniversary of being addicted to the game/adventure of geocaching, so we are trying to figure out a place to hide a good cache tomorrow to mark our 'anniversary.'

Right now, I'm going to head outside to see if I can find those meteor showers they keep talking about that are supposed to be neat to watch the next couple nights. Hope to get a good show, although they are supposed to be best around 3 am, but I hope to be sound asleep by that time!

Yard

I've been asked about the progress of our yard, so here's the before and after pictures. Plus, 95% of the flower pictures I post on here on from our yard. There are still projects to finish up, but we are getting closer.

Plenty of Rock!!

Brandon Update

Received this from Doug this morning: Hey there sorry for such a long gap in information but look, it's the beginning of Brandon's right leg! Soon he will be on two legs! I cannot wait to send that picture-it is coming soon.

In Christ Doug

Memories

“Recall it as often as you wish, a happy memory never wears out.” —Libbie Fudim

The great thing about memories is that you keep them forever. Take the time today to dig out old photo albums and remember the good things in your life. It will bring you joy to recall happy times in your past.

No day is over if it makes a memory. -- Author:Unknown

MEMORY is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~The Wonder Years

Rest

Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure? ~Author Unknown

Just a reminder to enjoy some a little peaceful time this month, before summer turns to fall. I know we are all trying to fit as much summer stuff into August as we can, but we also need to remember to just sit down, relax, and rest. Enjoy a sunrise or sunset. Play. Enjoy a beautiful flower garden. Watch the a bumblebee, hummingbird, or butterfly as they flutter in the flowers. Sit at a lake and soak in the beauty. Rest a moment and take in your surroundings.

Cherish each hour of this day for it can never return." Og Mandino

Be still, and know that I am God Psalm 46:10

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday to my dad! My dad is the one who has taught me how to stand up for what is right, to be a person of their word, and to put my faith in God. I have been amazed at his talent for writing that he has recently been displaying since he started blogging. I never knew my dad had a this talent, much like we didn't know he had a talent for carving amazing birds and fish until a few years ago. I am proud of my dad and very thankful and blessed that God has given me the treasure of such a great dad in my life. I love you dad. Wish I could be there today to share the day with you! Happy birthday!

"As I was growing up, my father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it." - Clarence Budington Kelland

The greatest gift I ever had came from God; I call him Dad!~Author Unknown

Fires

Thane had his kidney stones blown up yesterday so hopefully in a couple days he will be feeling better. On the way home from the hospital, we saw a 'cloud' to the east and wondered if it was smoke because there wasn't another cloud in the sky. The closer we got to home, the bigger the plume got, and we could tell it was smoke from a fire. On our way to church last night, the plume to the east, somewhere over the mountains behind Hayden Lake was very large, and then we looked south and saw a lot of smoke billowing over Coeur d'Alene. We wondered if the Indians were burning their fields, but didn't think they would be as high as the winds were. On the way home from church, we saw a fire plane heading to the fire. When we got home we found out it was in St. Maries. I am glad we took our scenic drive last weekend, since that is the area we were in. I know a week long bike ride is supposed to start there in that area tomorrow, so the fire could definitely affect the ride! The fires are getting closer, and it's getting pretty scary how tender dry it is! Fortunately, the winds have died down today, and they said the humidity will be higher but it's still very, very dry. Here a some of the photos posted on KREM.com of the fire. Have a good weekend, and be safe!

Lily