It's Official, Same Place but Different, "There's So Many!"

 Hi,

 

I hope you've had a fun, relaxing weekend.

 

Beth and I ran errands the other day. First we went to Hobby Lobby! All their Christmas stuff is out! I bought two very different stars to go over my Nativity set. One is white and sparkly, the other is wooden - not sure which one will look best. And Beth bought a star to go on top of her Christmas tree. We also looked at ALL the ornaments, we could have spent all day in that one aisle!

 

 

But we also had to get to Target, that was our main reason for going out. We started in women's clothing, then I headed to bins and baskets while she went to electronics, then we met in stationary. We were all over that store! Then off to the grocery store. It's crazy, by the time we finished all that we were ready to go home!

 

I took another day and went back to the waterfront. This time it was on the other side of the marina, over by the dog park. We've had some gorgeous weather lately!

 

 

This is the dog park, looking south

 

 

Then I turned around and took a picture looking north

We have about a mile of accessible shoreline 

The marina is just north of this, then the pier and ferry dock are beyond that

I was able to get out and do some yard work this week - cleaned up the hostas and calla lilies - and put my red lanterns out on the front porch. I will confess, I've started decorating for Christmas. I found this picture in with my Christmas cards and recently bought two trees at the Dollar Tree. So I put them on the mantel. It's official! 😂

 

 Well, Beth needs some things at the drug store so we're headed out again. All this shopping is certainly adding to her step count!

 

Have a great week!

Cotton Candy, Jelly Fish, and Civic Duty

Chuck and I went down to the waterfront the other day. It's been cold here but we've had so much sunshine,we just had to get out in it!

 

Saw what looked like jelly fish all along the shore, this was one of about eight that we saw. I gently touched it with a stick and it seemed like jelly, we've just never seen any like this.

 

  We walked along the pier and saw a lot of crabs, fish... it was a busy place under that water! And we took a shadow selfie.

 

 

See the little crab? Chuck said it was a lot bigger than it looked.

 And it was pretty busy above the water too!

 

 Mt. Baker is about 70 miles north of us (the opposite direction of Mt Rainier) and was so beautiful. Just pops right out of the landscape.

 

 

When we got home Chuck asked Beth if she wanted to go for a walk. We're planning a trip over Christmas and they're trying to build up their stamina. 

 

 Chuck had suggested to her to walk the next day too. I hadn't been home for too long when I heard the key in the door. In she comes, had her head phones on, was bopping to the music, and when she saw me she said, "I went again!" Woohoo! Proud of her. Proud of both of them! 

 

We filled out our local ballots and they're ready to be dropped off.

 

 We had our Harvest Party last night: popcorn, cotton candy, face painting, inflatables, cake walk, and more than 20 carnival games in classrooms all throughout the building. There were a lot of people and everyone had a good time. Especially the child that went missing. Found him sitting in the middle of the giant maze. (lots of refrigerator boxes!) The volunteer told us that he'd get to the end, yell "Nope, don't want it to end!" and head back the other direction! One of his parents actually had to crawl in to get him. 😂

 

I was working so Chuck and Beth stayed home. We're not allowed to take pictures of all the people - so here's the Commons with one of the inflatables - before everyone arrived. The pink and yellow baskets on the left are filled with bags of cotton candy.

 

That's about it from here. Welcome to November. I'm very tempted to put some white lights outside. And inside for that matter.

This and That

 Hi everyone - 

 

We've been keeping busy around here but thankfully there's been nothing too overwhelming.

 

Beth and I made cookies. Chocolate chip cookies! I usually keep them in a cookie jar and they become hard so I add a piece of bread to soften them up. This time I was too lazy to get the jar from the back of the cabinet so I grabbed a rubbermaid container, snapped the lid on... and those cookies have stayed so soft! Just how we like them! I guess the cookie jars just don't have a very good seal. Now I know!

This is all that's left today

We're already starting to decorate for Harvest Party on Tuesday. The last few years we've done a Trunk or Treat but this year we're back inside. When I first heard that, I was a little nervous thinking of all those people - the set ups, the mess - but custodians are able to come in on their day off so I've scheduled one custodian per floor to keep the trash cans empty and check on the bathrooms... and now I'm excited about it! Our theme is The Farm - can you tell? :)

 

I lowered our flags at work in honor of those killed in Maine earlier this week. It's so heartbreaking - another senseless shooting. My heart and prayers go out to all those affected by this.

 

Earlier this spring we started to hear pastors and speakers all over the country talk about a 'shaking.' Tim Sheets got a word from the Lord about 'shaking starting in 3 months.' That put it right around the end of September. One of our pastors got a word that said, "The time for preparation is over. The shaking as begun." Gina Gholston, Larry Sparks... so many talking about "It's time!" "The shaking has begun!" And across the nation and the globe:

 

San Diego had a hurricane

Eastern WA had devastating fires

Flooding in New York

Category 5 hurricane in Acapulco

Earthquake in Afghanistan

The war in Israel...

There was also this word: "The physical attacks happening to Israel will begin to happen spiritually to the churches." It seems the shaking really has begun. 

 

We had a Sacred Assembly this last Sunday, taken from Joel 2 when Israel was under attack and it's enemy seemed too great to overcome - "Even now," declares the Lord, "return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." "Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly." And that's exactly what we did.

 

 

We combined both services into one, set up chairs in the foyer, in classrooms, the Commons, and got every person into the building for one service. We had a time of worship, of prayer, repentance, communion, anointing. There had to have been more than 2000 people there and every single person was anointed. It was such a holy time, repenting and calling on God. I truly believe He is in control and we don't need to be afraid. Just trust Him. He knows what He is doing.

 

Doing devotions in preparation for the Sacred Assembly

 

 I saw this on IG the other day -

 

 

I think about you often and hope you're doing well during this season. May you find the Lord's favor and may His goodness go with you each and every day.
 

Every Which Way

 Chuck and I did a day trip last weekend - a mini road trip. He loves to drive, drives a city bus here in Seattle, but of course that's much different than a relaxing drive through the countryside or the mountains.

 

 (Thanks Google - actual photos of Seattle)

 

 

We headed south through Seattle, through Tacoma and into Olympia. We stopped at the capital building and walked around. There were very few people around and we kind of had the place to ourselves. Found a WWII memorial that was so humbling to see. So many people have given their lives for this country. I wish we were more united for their sake.

 Goodbye Seattle

 

 

 

 

What looked like figures of soldiers turned out to be the names of everyone who had died. It was very moving.

 

 We turned west from Olympia and went up the 101 on the inside of the Kitsap Penninsula. I've lived here more than 30 years and had never taken this route before. (I'm sure Chuck has with all the driving he's done around here.)

We continued west for a little while then headed north and after a while found ourselves on a dirt logging road. Before we left the house Chuck was looking for places to visit and found the High Steel Bridge and we were making our way there.

Originally it was the tallest railroad bridge in the United States. It's now a roadway for cars and the Skokomish rivers runs under it. We saw a waterfall on one side, flowing down through the trees. I expect it's a lot bigger in the spring, once all the snow has melted.

The Skokomish river

 

 

The waterfall

 

We headed back out the way we came and continued north on the main road. We drove along the water most of the way home, stopped at a small diner for lunch, then took the ferry back across the water to Edmonds. 

 

 

The ferry heading toward the dock to pick us all up, with a cruise ship heading out to sea.

 

 

 

 

Can you see Mt Rainier to the left of the ship? (Downtown Seattle on the right, about 15 miles away.) Now you know that photos only give a small percentage of what the eye sees, right? Mt Rainier was about 60 miles south of us but was so bright and clear I felt like I could reach out and touch it! When the mountain is out here in WA state, it's breathtaking! 

 

The weather was beautiful, the scenery was stunning, it was exactly what we needed. We're already planning our next trip!