luftballoon

Took a little bit of 'me' time at a seemingly empty park this afternoon. After an hour or two a stage was set up. . . live music was being rehearsed and people began to surround me with blankets & picnics. My DH joined me after he finished classes for the day. I *heart* Oregon summers!

one day became two !

I couldn't help it. I just couldn't let them all leave. Only a day in Portland? Absolutely unheard of in all the years. . . so I joined the morning caravan to the Coast. Over to Lincoln City to be precise. We arrived in time for a traditional Clam Chowder lunch at Mo's.

Afterwards the momma's went school-clothes shopping at the Outlets. Oregon has no sales tax. Excellent place to shop.

And my cousin, Annie's dad, the kids, and I all headed out to the seashore to fly stunt kites. An absolute MUST whenever we go to the beach with the cousins.

Eventually I did have to say my goodbyes and head back into Portland to meet up with my DH while they all ventured down to Florence, Oregon for the night.

if only for a day

'Twas a visit only for a night and a day and a night. It was so quick, but so worth it. My dear friend Annie, her two boys, and her dad (from Belize) were driving through on this amazing family road trip that started in Calgary, Alberta (where they had flown in from Belize to visit Annie's cousin, Margaret, who happens to be my cousin's wife!). They arrived late Monday night, we grabbed a bite to eat together before heading off to bed. We woke the next morning for a trip out to the beautiful Columbia River Gorge; a Must See, especially in the summer months. But because we got a later start heading out to the gorge, we missed the opportunity to hike into one of my all time favorite gorges: Oneonta (next time, Annie. I promise, it's totally worth it!). So instead we hiked Bridal Veil Falls and drove over to Multnomah Falls as well. All this before heading over to my brother's place to meet up with the cousins who were also along on the family road trip and in town for the day. We enjoyed a tasty BBQ there and more good times together. If only for a day. . . it will be a day well spent.

above: hiking Bridal Veil Falls.

below: views of/from Multnomah Falls.

.pdx ssot 2010.

~ My girls ~

.Portland Summer School of the Truth 2010.

A week with an awesome group of girls. Loving Jesus. Abiding in the Vine. Loving the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

Sadly I didn't take that many pics.

But here are a few quotes that we all enjoyed:

"Love is the very element, the inner substance. of God. The goal of the book of Ephesians is to bring us into God's inner substance that we may enjoy God as love and enjoy His presence in the sweetness of the divine love, and thereby love others as Christ did." ~Eph. 5:25 footnote 1.

He is not just love Himself, but He loves His Body.

The reason we have a hard time to believe or love is because we are exercising our own love and believing, and not allowing the Lord to infuse us with His speaking according to the divine life.

The will of God is sonship.

This is not your journey. . . This is His journey. He is living in you and He has mingled Himself as Spirit in your spirit.

It takes time to be transformed.

Redeeming the time because the days are evil. (you don't know how long you have...) So, PURSUE HIM! KNOW HIM! BE FOUND IN HIM! COUNT ALL THINGS LOSS FOR HIM! ~ Gain the Lord each day!

WHAT are you enjoying & experiencing TODAY? WHO are you EXPRESSING today? ~ Only our enjoyment and experience of Christ will be what remains.

The graduating class.

Lord, make them Your top enjoyers!

Thank You they've given themselves to You.

Build them into Your Body.

Cause them to be those who bring You back!

lego my frisbee

I love to walk up the hill to the elementary school near our place to toss the frisbee with my DH.

I'm so thankful that he was able to spend little times with me throughout his busy summer school program.

van-ho. . . !

There are definitely some benefits to having a friend with a mini-van. *tee hee-hee* We were able to pile in six sisters and drive out to the coast to spend the day at the beach. . . And amazingly enough we had fairly pleasant weather considering Oregon's infamous unpredictable coastal weather regardless of the season.

The tide pools surrounding Haystack Rock were on display.

Check out this HUMONGOUS starfish!

These sea anemones were pretty long too.

And the barnacles . . . Woah this wall and many others were covered in them.

Em & Haystack Rock.

Em & Andrea yoga-ing.

old town pizza

My DH's younger sister moved to Portland this summer. We love having her here with us in this fun city. On this particular evening our hunger and mutual love for cheese led us to set off on an exploration of a pizza joint in NW Portland that sits above the Shanghai Tunnels and is said to be haunted. . . Old Town Pizza is said to be an icon, a must, something to check off your To Experience Before You Die list. You can read about their story here. As for it being haunted, I couldn't tell ya, but the pizza, breadsticks, & beverages were just what we needed. Yeah! for happy hour prices! Though I think their regular prices aren't too bad either.

Having experienced no such 'haunting';

we posed our would-be-fright in this photo.

stopping to smell the roses

July is a great month in Oregon. The weather is gorgeous and the temperature is perfect. That's why I was so happy to have so many sweet visitors this month. The first to come through was my dear friend Lydia on her travels venturing from her last term of the FTTA. Accompanying her was two of her companions: Deborah & Megan.

Stopping to smell the roses. ---^--<@

We went out to see the rose garden in it's glory.

(I only wish I would have taken a full-on photo of the place).

And no stop at the Fehrenbach's is complete without a breakfast of German Puff Pancakes.

Even Mt Hood could be seen on such a lovely day in July.

nanny of two

I've really been enjoying walking in the park blocks of downtown with my friend Inna. She's a nanny for these adorable little twin boys.

dutch blatz

.Summer Training 2010.

This summer my DH was enrolled in a summer German immersion school that was to last an entire month, so I registered for the live Training in Anaheim and enjoyed the first half of the book of Isaiah and some sweet times with the girls. *grin*

A roadside stop with Christina & Christina.

We stayed with my dear friends, the Blatz Family.

Their son kept us highly and thoroughly entertained.

And after-hours we found ourselves in a full-fledge game of Dutch Blitz.

And after those hours, us girls would pile into our bedroom and talk & laugh hysterically. Too much fun (really, I wasn't allowed to post the other photos).

Us again on the couch, accompanied by the children.

Their beautiful daughter:

And no Anaheim trip is complete without a trip to the YOgurt place.