Kathlyn's Birthday, etc.

I got up early and made cinnamon rolls. It was nice to have more than usual quiet time before every one got up.  No interruptions - what a novel idea! :)  Amos helped me arrange fresh pineapple, minneola tangelos, and banana pieces on a plate, and then I made scrambled eggs. It's not normal for the birthday person to make their own breakfast, but I wanted to, and it was fun!

Mom, Alida and I walked through town and visited a few shops.  At the coffee shop, we shared a butterscotch cappuccino (I think!), an Italian soda, and peppermint ice cream.  We played Rummy and a couple other games.

Alida and I with the dessert she made me.  It was a [homemade] chocolate cookie crust, then chocolate cheesecake, then a "chocolate layer" then chocolate whipped cream! THEN, she melted chocolate and formed each piece that surrounds the cake, letting it cool/harden, before gluing each together around it with more melted chocolate. Strawberry jam and toasted sliced almonds were around the edge. Super yummy! Super rich too, though, so we couldn't eat as much as we wanted! :)

Those who came to our home for fellowship on Saturday got to try a  bite!

 The "gate" on the side. This gives you a better idea of the chocolate work she did!

 Laurissa and Dahlia and I with my special dessert.




Thomas made a 20-stop treasure hunt for my presents!! Wow!  I've made treasure hunts before - and it's hard!  But he did a great job!

My gifts - Alida was taking the picture and Laurissa decided to do what she's (unfortunately) seen her siblings do (ahem! not me!) -- and I thought it was amusing where her finger ended up on the photo...

"I don't want to be identified!!"  :)

Alida with the peppermint cheesecake she made not too long ago. Yum-ola! : )

 After fellowship time, some of us played Bible Outburst, and then spoons - great fun!

Some of the adults - I like the natural, but overall happy look of this one!

 Edwin and I made bread together for the welcoming home for the H. family.  However, I refused to follow my expert brother's advice, and instead tried to follow the recipe.  What a MESS!  I had to admit that he was right, and I had to add flour to remedy the situation (the recipe said to knead with oil - Edwin said it still needed some more flour).  Edwin waited too long to run for the camera - if you can imagine, it was worse than this! I certainly learned a lesson! 

You're probably wondering when this post is going to end.  I assure you, just two more pictures!!

 Thomas with the passenger jet that he made with Edwin.

Thomas with his "cake popover."  He poured some of his popover batter into a bundt pan to bake.

Alright, that's it!  

But... Coming Soon, is a post on our annual Valentines Party!!    (hopefully soon! we'll see... :))

 For His Glory,

~Kathlyn

Highlights from 2012

Okay! I know, I haven't posted for ever but here's some from last summer/fall. :)

 We went to the Rockford Fair with a visiting family - and had lots of fun! Here we are participating in the group games!

 Edwin and two friends that also came with us.  They were sitting out for the games that were just for younger ones. (They played for some of them - as did I!)

Dad and Mom used money that was set aside for something fun (from a Gramma) and bought tickets for us all to use on the rides! We had lots of fun!  This is Laurissa and friend Haven on one of the small rides.

The Royal children and the O. children!  These are friends that went with us to the fair.  We had a great visit!

Grandad and Gramma Royal came to visit! They helped us can peaches and applesauce and pears.  We always enjoy their visits! 

This is me with a friend and the birthday cake I made her.  I had a lot of fun making it, even though it wasn't ready on time! : )

Winston on his 10th birthday  - this is breakfast!  Pancakes with peaches and other toppings! Yum! 

I'll do more soon!
Kathlyn

Arizona Trip Part Two -- The Prescott Zoo!

Every day we were in AZ we were busy!  But, I didn't take a picture of every little thing we did! :)  I am giving you the highlights though.  One day our whole family plus Grammom went to the Zoo!  Here are some pictures I took.

There were two peacocks walking around loose- they are such pretty birds!

This raccoon was very friendly- he walked right up to us. I think he thought we were going to feed him!

This great horned owl hissed at me when I took his picture!

It was neat to see a Mountain Lion so close!  She kept pacing back and forth while we were watching.

 We brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed it while at the Zoo.  They had picnic tables in a covered area (some of us were glad to get out of the sun), a large sand area, and grass.  The children really enjoyed the sand!

 The lemurs were very fun to watch. I thought they acted like little monkeys - they were quite cute. 

At this zoo, almost everything has either been rescued, donated, or bought from another zoo that was getting rid of an animal.  They had deer, goats, javalinas, tortoises, Mexican wolves, wallaby (like miniature kangaroos!), bobcats, different kinds of birds, a tiger, bear, lizards, snakes, spiders, and lots of others that I'm not remembering! We had a good time!


Grammom, Mom, Alida and I enjoyed going on several walks in Grammom's neighborhood while we were there.  One time I was getting tired and didn't want to climb another hill, so I sat down at the bottom and took pictures of stuff while I waited for them to come back. :)

 Here they are going up the hill. They are on the right side of the road. (Hey, aren't you supposed to walk on the left side?!)

I just thought these rocks were pretty. :)

My view of Prescott from where I was standing. Most of what you can see is the neighborhood Grammom lives in.  I got a nice break and enjoyed the morning - then when Grammom, Mom and Alida came back down we headed back for breakfast!

Nice view of Granite Peak from Grammom's deck. :)

Mom and Grammom working in the kitchen together.  We had lots of special food while we were there; Grammom spoiled us!! :)

 Dahlia LOVES the camera! When she sees it she always smiles big!

This is Lynx Lake. We went there and took a picnic lunch one day. Some played near the water, but we didn't stay as long as we would have liked to.  We had to leave so that we could get home in time for Grammom's "open house."  She had invited some of her friends to come hear us sing, and she'd prepared some snacks.

     Grammom also arranged for us to sing at the preschool she volunteers at - so we did that one day.  We sang for two different classes.  We sang patriotic songs (it was a public school.)

Anyway... more later!

The LORD bless you and keep you, the LORD make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
Numbers 6:24,25

Kathlyn

Arizona Trip Part One! -- Driving down and Bryce Canyon!

We set out from our home in Trout Creek, MT, on February 17th, and drove to Mapleton, UT (near Salt Lake City.)  In the morning we got back on the road and drove and drove till we reached Bryce Canyon National Park. We spent about three hours there - I took lots of pictures, so here are some of them! :)

 

South of Dillon on I-15.  (I wouldn't remember such details, but Edwin does!)

Not the greatest quality picture, but I liked how we could see the road stretching out in front of us!

                                      













This is early morning right before we left Mapleton, Utah. See the moon?





















A view from the road - Edwin says south of Mapleton about an hour. :)

Southern Utah - nearing  Bryce Canyon!

Almost to Bryce!  I like the way this picture has a kind of frame, with the interior of the van on one side and a blurry foreground at the bottom/right, sort of bringing out the clear focus of the center.

The view from the first "scenic look out" we came to. This was called "Natural Bridge".

Same place as above.  See the rock on the pedestal?!

From another vantage point. 

Everyone except Dad and the little girls hiked along the rim of the canyon from one point to another.  This was taken along the way. If I remember right we hiked around a mile.

The view was breath-taking!

All the "things" sticking up are called hoo-doos.

Along the way, we met some hikers from Germany, and I asked one of them if she would take a picture of us. BUT, when she went to take the picture, my battery went out!  A friend of hers suggested putting my SD card into her camera, taking the picture, then giving my SD card back! I would never have thought of that, but am so thankful he did! 

We spent some time in the gift shop, and bought a few things - a couple magnets, etc.  I bought myself a brown cap with pictures of Zion, Bryce, and Arches on the front (all Utah parks). 

After we left Bryce, we headed south to Prescott, where Grammom lives. We arrived about quarter till 10 pm.  She was very excited to see us! (And of course we were excited to see her too!)  

That's all for now, but more will come!

Blessings,

~Kathlyn

We're moving!

Hi! This is Kathlyn.  We are going to try and post fairly often now. :) 

We are moving to Tekoa, Washington, here in a couple of days.  There is house/job opportunity there and Dad felt that's where God wants us to go.

We have good friends there are are looking forward to fellowshiping with them. 

I am looking forward to this new adventure, and what the LORD will teach us all through it.
 
I have not completely figured out this whole blog thing, but I hope to post pictures! :)

Oh, I did it!! :)  This is Amos (5), Dahlia (10 months), and Laurissa (almost 3). Happy faces!
~Kathlyn

Welcome to our Blog!

We will post soon!

~Alida