Jon's Visit

Our friend, Jon Nuttelman, visited us this past week. He was here for the snowfall which he loved! There was lots of time to hang out, pray and be prayed for. We so enjoyed his visit - he played with the kiddos, told us all about his next step in life (military intelligence training) and even treated us to a super fun night out :) Thank you, Jon!!!

Ross and Jon

Weekly Roundup

We are hopping in the car for Portland (we will be there for the week for mini-outreach), actually the kids are already in the car, so here are a few pictures from the week, but no text today.

Selah with the "gloves" that Shae made her. She loves them! Thank you Shae!

WE LOVE SNOW!!!

We had our first BIG snow on Monday night of this week. Here is a panorama that Ross took with the new iPhone technology. Have you tried it yet? 

This is the view between the dorms, we usually have an amazing sunrise this direction. Our windows are the 2nd and 3rd sets on the bottom left.

The back of the student center:

The YWAM Montana sign by the street where we always see deer. Side note: For a few days, Ross was able to walk out of work, make a snowball and throw it at one of the deer by the sign, he said it looked at him, but didn't even run. We still don't know what to make of these beautiful, but not so smart,  animals.

Mason loving the snow!!! Isn't he cute?

All the kiddos enjoying the snow. Notice Selah is dressed appropriately, Kiera is 1/2 there (she has on jeans) and then Mason didn't know about snow pants yet... Don't worry, he has some and he is adorable with them on :) He wore them everyday this week so he would be ready for snow play at any time.

In case you forgot what we look like, here we are :)

Can you see each of their tracks? Isn't this beautiful?

Weekly Round-up

More pictures from the week and a few stories:

International Night: Thursday was "International Night" where all the countries represented on base have a table and they have some food or drink from their country. The kids thought this sounded like a really good idea, but they didn't actually like most of the food and by the end they wouldn't try the samples (I don't blame them). Thank goodness that Selah DID like the pad thai (which will be even BETTER in Thailand). Now I know that at least Selah won't starve while we are there. Now, to get the others ones to eat... There were tables from Canada, Iceland, Cambodia, Thailand, Norway, England, Nepal, India, Japan (sushi), Pennsylvania (whoopie pies!), New Mexico... and about 10 more that I can't think of right now :) I don't have any pictures from that night. Maybe I'll take some next quarter.

Bike Move Up Week: The kids all moved up to bigger bikes this week. Selah on a 20" (compliments of the Garrigans), Kiera on a 16" (Selah's old red bike), Mason on a 12" with training wheels (Kiera and Selah's old purple bike - compliments of Mimi and Papa!). It was a big week for all and they are loving their new big bikes. They are all much faster now.  (I'll try to get a picture of the girls on their bikes soon too!)

Funny Faces from the kiddos to their friends:

Kiera has been sick the past few days with a fever and feeling so tired. So tired that she feel asleep in my arms twice yesterday (so precious and pitiful at the same time).

Mason Story: He gives big hugs around your neck and then says, "I pop your head off". It sounds a little violent, but it is the most adorable thing ever. Oh, the things you can do and say when you are two and have dimples :-)

Tamaracks

We have discovered a new type of conifer here - the Tamarack Tree ("though the tamarack tree resembles other evergreens, it is actually a deciduous conifer, meaning that it sheds it’s needles every fall"). It is beautiful! I think the reason I love it is because it turns this amazing golden yellow color and the yellow against the backdrop of mostly green evergreens is stunning! (pictures below) We went on a very small hike / exploration trip yesterday and got to see the trees up close and also blazed a trail along a creek - over logs, under branches, across a fallen tree that was soft with age. The girls were muddy afterward, but happy! The reason the trip was short is because I'm a wimp. Yesterday was our first day of real cold and I was not dressed appropriately :) I did get used to it after a while, but by then the kids fingers were numb, so we hopped in the car and finished our sandwiches in the car.

Later that day we went to a friend's house and on the way (1.5 miles away), we must have seen at least 12 deer. Here is a picture of one of them that just posed for me about 5 feet away. CRAZY!

P.S. We also have a great restaurant at the bottom of the hill called "Tamarack Brewing Company", it is a brewery and pretty fancy for our small town. Come visit and we'll take you for some local beer :-)

Quotes for the week

My kids are saying some really funny things lately - not all of the things they say are nice - but it is pretty funny!

Mason:
Mason's thing to tell anyone who is giving him attention is to say, "I don't want you to leave." As they try and try to leave he just keeps repeating, "I don't want you to leave." That will tug at the heartstrings of anyone! A few days ago one of the guys was telling me about how Mason had pulled this trick on him and kept saying that he didn't want him to leave. As I'm being told this story, Mason was at the end of the hall saying to one of the girls, "I don't want you to leave." - I felt bad for the guy who thought he was special :-)

Kiera:
This girl has really come into her own.
A few days ago she looked at me and said, "Mom, are you going to do the puzzle with me or not?" (you have to imagine that she said this with confidence and attitude). I almost laughed at her adult frustration at me.

Kiera was sitting in the hallway with one of her friends, Samu.
Samu said: Do you like my sparkly shoes?
Kiera said: No.
Samu tried again: Don't you like my sparkly shoes?
Kiera said: Yes, I like them, but I don't like the way they look. (totally straight-faced. she tells it like she sees it)

Another conversation with Samu and Kiera:
Samu: Jesus would be sad if He heard you say that.
Kiera: He can't fit in this room anyway - He is too big to fit in the dorm and get through the doorway.
(After I heard about that conversation, I realized they both needed a theology lesson :)

Random Play Pictures

I need to do a better job of taking pictures of the kids close up, but until then, these group shots will have to do. I took this picture because I was amazed at the number of children that could fit on one playground piece. This is part of the playground behind the cafeteria. My children play on this playground at least once a day, but up to 4 times a day (after breakfast, after lunch, after nap, after dinner). They still love it. I'm guessing it is partly because the playground is fun and partly because it is the meeting place for all the kids. Do you see Mason at the top? Yes, he is a daredevil!

I took this picture because behind the big tree on the left / between the two buildings are 3 deer. You have to really zoom in to see them, but I wanted to give you an idea of how close they get to us - and you can imagine with this many kids on the playground, it wasn't quiet.

Here is another picture of Selah's school playground. Kiera and I went to her school on Wednesday to bring snacks for the class (chocolate covered frozen bananas) because Selah was the "Monster of the Day". Since we were there early, Kiera got to go to recess and play with Selah and her class, then we were there for spelling time and Selah's show and tell. It was a really special time to get to see her in her element. Let me tell you, she really is in her element, she loves the freedom and the way her teacher treats them with respect and lets them do a lot of things themselves. It was great to see her obeying and getting along with the other kids in the class AND seeing her swing on the "vine" in an around the world fashion. A true monkey, I mean, Lackey.

Kiera doing a trick - another Lackey monkey!

This is the scene when Selah plays soccer on Friday afternoon at the base. Do you see Kiera, Mason and Peter Garrigan watching? Kiera and Mason aren't old enough to play, but they really like to watch.

Selah is the one on the far left wearing pink

Harvest Festival

There was a Harvest Festival at the base this past weekend. Corn Hole Tournament, Square Dancing, Chili Cook-off, face painting, bobbing for apples, popcorn and candy, Chili, Cornbread and Apple Cider. Selah wore her halloween costume (yes, she wanted this pumpkin suit for her costume), but I didn't let Kiera wear hers because she has a princess type dress-up gown that would have been destroyed outside with face paint, playground dirt, chili, ... you get the picture. Ross and I got to square dance for quite a while. I haven't laughed that hard or had that much fun in a while. Luckily, I had a strong partner, because I would inevitably go the opposite direction than the caller said.

Here are a few pictures from that day:

Again, no Mason. I think he was too busy playing in the "Bobbing for Apples" water :-)

More snow!

Well, it didn't snow again, we just found some of it on top of the mountain to eat and play in :-) Last weekend, we all drove to the top of Blacktail Mountain (the one we live at the base of) to drop Ross off for his first exploratory bike riding of the mountain. There was still a little snow from when it had snowed about a week before that. The first picture is of Kiera throwing a snowball at Ross. He didn't ride away quick enough to not get hit.

The girls posing for me. Even though Selah acted super cold in this picture, she was the one playing in it the most.

Kiera, in her infinite wisdom, was tromping around in the snow without shoes or socks. I know, I'm the mom and should have said no, but she didn't have any in the car - so it was either barefoot or no snow. I figured this way she might get cold and want to get back in the car sooner, but that line of thought didn't really work. She would have stayed all day.

Funny picture of Kiera with Selah eating snow like a "dog" in the background.

Kiera

Both of the girls eating snow off the ground. Lovely. It seemed clean enough.

Selah

Some of you may be asking yourselves, Where is Mason? Great Question! The answer is the same as always - he was asleep :-) He was in the car passed out and missed out on all the snow fun. I'm not too worried, as I've been assured there will be more snow that I can handle in a few weeks! 

We are working on getting the kids outfitted with snow gear. It is crazy! Snowsuit for sledding and skiing, snow pants for school, snow boots, warm socks, mittens/gloves, hats, scarves... I hear that you need multiples of most things due to drying time and potentially items being lost at school. Selah will leave a pair of snow pants at school because they still go out to recess 3 times a day in the winter unless it is less than 0 degrees (or something crazy like that)! 

And about Ross' bike ride - it was great! He found a trail that is goes from about 2/3 of the way up the mountain to Foy Lake (15 miles ish). I'm guessing his favorite part was flying down the mountain back home!

Highlights

Mason sitting on the swing with some of the girls in our DTS. They all think he is the cutest thing ever. Of course, I agree :-)

This picture was taken out front of Sportsmans. For those of you who haven't been to one, it may be my new favorite store. A cross between REI and Bass Pro Shops. Stuffed animals all around as well as bike, ski, hunting, fishing, and any other outdoor activity gear you could want. We ALL had fun there! Ross tells us that a full grown male moose can actually be this size. I'm not sure that I want to run into one now that I know how big they are. Side note: some friends were driving home yesterday and saw antlers hanging out of the back of a truck. Upon closer inspection, they realized there was an entire moose in the bed of the truck. Yes, moose hunting is alive and well in Montana.

These two pictures are from Sunday (when it was warm) and we walked to church. We went with another family and their oldest boy (4) and Selah and Kiera all rode their bikes. It was SO fun to be able to do something like that with them. The church was about a mile away, but pretty hilly. The girls did great!!! 

It snowed last night!!!

Yes, last night (October 2) it snowed on the mountains all around us. The mountains are dusted in white powder and the sunset on the snowy mountains tonight was pink and AMAZING!!! This first picture is of Kiera in front of Selah's school - the view from Selah's school!

Here is another picture from Selah's school today:

This is a picture I took from the car as we were driving up 93 about 10 minutes from our house to go biking. We spent our 8-year anniversary on bikes and watched the sun go down and the light fade from the mountains.  There were at least a dozen deer in one field that we passed, there were bike paths through hillsides without a road in sight. It was amazing and one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I know that we are home.

DTS and Outreach

We are in week 3 of our DTS and are starting to find a groove as far as meals, working at 100 Fold, enjoying the weather and mountains, homework...

I thought I'd describe what goes on at DTS for those of you who wonder what we are doing :-) Well, it is a 5-month discipleship training school - the first 3 months are in the classroom and the last 2 months are putting what we learned in the lecture phase into practice in the "Outreach" phase.

A typical day:
7a - Breakfast (Eggs and Oatmeal, always :-)
8a - worship
8:30a - Intercession or Bible Overview
10-12p - Lecture (last week was on Hearing God's Voice, this week is Bible Fundamentals)
12p - Lunch
1:30-3p -  Small Group, Outreach Prep, Track (Ross and I's "track" is 100 Fold, so we get to go to the office) - it depends on the day what we do
3-5p - work duty (Ross' work duty is 100 Fold, my work duty is the kiddos)

So depending on the day, Ross goes to 100 Fold at least 2 hours a day, but some days he gets to go 6 hours a day. I think he is enjoying DTS, but he can't wait to get into the studio full-time and really start helping with teaching, design, processes, standards, technique...

I'm enjoying my small group (there are 6 of us including our leader, Leah) and outreach team meetings, as well as the lectures. This week - Bible Fundamentals - is one that I'm particularly excited about. I love learning about the bible!

Selah is in school from 8:20 - 3:10, Kiera is in preschool from 8:30 - 12. So, Eliza takes the kids to school and has Mason all morning, then she watches Kiera and Mason in the afternoons till 3. I get to have all meals with the kids and after 3 till bedtime, it isn't as much time as we are used to, but this is a short season and I'm grateful that we get to have this time of awesome lectures and fellowship to prepare us for the season of ministry that we are entering into. It gives even more perspective to what we are doing and who we are serving.

Outreach... We found out where we are going... THAILAND!!! 2 months in Thailand - YEAH!!! They tell us we might even get to ride elephants while we are there :)  We will spend a few days in Bangkok, then 2+ weeks in Pattaya, 4/5 weeks in Chang Rai and then a few more days in Bangkok before coming home at the beginning of February.

For those of you who have read to the end, please be praying for our finances, we still need $10,000+ to cover our DTS (Outreach phase). We are excited to see how God is going to provide for us and once again, teach us to rest in Him and trust in Him for everything.

Sorry this is a long post, with no pictures. Next time, there will be pictures :-)