Set Apart Girl Conference

July 11, 2009

Before the Set Apart Girl conference, I was blessed with a special treat. Five whole days with my dear friend, Katherine Huber! We talked, and talked, and talked and . . . well, you get the picture. :-) We also enjoyed a refreshing visit to Hume Lake, a few hours weeding the garden with Jeremy, (thanks Kath!) and a lunch out with just us two. We had not spent time together since 2006 and I soaked her in as much as I could. :-) Thankfully, she was able to join our SAG group as well. Love you Kath!
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Kaylee McCracken and Raylene Werzinski have both written beautiful tributes to our time together in Colorado. It was a close time of fellowship for each one us, during the conference, but especially spending hours and hours together in the car. I truly felt as though each girl had become my sister! A big thank-you to Eric and Leslie Ludy, and their team for the incredible conference! It was a time of immense encouragement to me personally and as Kaylee said, difficult to describe. I came home feeling renewed and filled up with zeal for Christ, our great and mighty Lord and Savior.

I enjoyed visiting with Mrs. Callis and Mrs. Werzinski during my time in the front seat. They were our adopted 'mothers'l during that time, and did an incredible job. Thank-you both for your patience, your energy, and your effort in organizing this trip!

Thank-you for driving all that way Mrs. Werzinski!

I hadn't met Rebecca Kinabrew before the trip, but am so glad for the opportunity! She is a sweetie.

Here are a few dear girls I met in the dining room.

The Colorado campus was beautiful!

On the road again.
Eden was our trip photographer and did an amazing job. She was never without her camera and worked tirelessly to document our memories in film. Thank-you Eden!


A few more girls I met . . .

I met Brittany through Katherine. She is a CollegePlus counselor, and a caring, friendly, beautiful young woman with a heart for the Lord. We three strolled the paths along the campus during a break, getting to know each other better, and connecting as sisters in Christ. Meeting other young women who are also traveling the narrow path is greatly encouraging.

Here we are getting registered. We're still discovering we have legs after sitting so long. :-P



After each stop, we mixed up the seating arrangement. Doing so provided opportunity to connect with each girl in the van.


This is an example of two things that happened often in the car. Sleeping, and laughing!



Deciding the best route.
I couldn't help but smile whenever we stopped and got out to eat. Coming from a family of mostly boys, being in a group of 13 girls was such a novelty.

Hello

Hello Everybody!

So much has happened since Mothers Day! Because of this, I thought I'd just give a quick run down, with a few photos that I wanted to share, of the 'happenings' big or little, that have blessed the Parish Family since our last post.

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Along with all the other real birthdays we've been having, we also celebrated Jayni's, un-birthday. Max and Jenny will be in Oklahoma, (where they are moving for Max's continued education) and won't be here for her special day. Jenny's sweet heart led her to make a beautiful cake for Jayni, and we all enjoyed a nice dinner and evening. Hooray for un-birthdays!

Sisters are forever friends.

The secret to making Lilly happy: confetti cake with melt-in-your-mouth frosting. :-D

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Simon, Jeremy, and I had the opportunity to attend a free acoustic concert featuring Jadon Latvik. The family atmosphere of the concert was a blessing, and we enjoyed this evening of praise!

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Kendra drove up for the weekend to attend a one day conference with Nancy Campbell held at the Shaw home. Mrs. Campbell spoke from her heart, and shared many treasures that have come as a result of her walk with God. Her emphasis was encouragement for mothers, but I was uplifted as well. A huge thank-you to Mrs. Campbell for traveling, for sharing words of encouragement and wisdom, and for the love she shared with everyone there. Thank-you Callis family for organizing everything, and Shaw family for hosting! It was a special day.

Ladies of all ages attended.

Mrs. Campbell provided an older woman for our Moms, a rare blessing these days. Here, they were soaking her in!

After the conference, which was documented on video by these two gentlemen, they took many interviews. Mrs. Smith was a pro at spontaneous interviews!




Just for laughs, I had to stick this one in. Phillip Callis was taking a picture of some of the gals that had helped out during the conference. I was taking a picture of him taking a picture . . . and this is what happened when they found out. :-P
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During mid May, we enjoyed a visit from our dear friends the Haymond Family. You who have read our blog for a while, or checked back into the archives, may recognize this family from pictures of our times together a few years ago. We missed them so much when they moved to Montana, but our reunion was sweet. Sharing the twists and turns of life has made the roots of our friendship run deep. It was special to see Jeff and Ashley Baird and their new little boy after attending their wedding in Washington last year!





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The Reedley homeschool choir has been a good experience for our Littles, and for Jeremy as well. We've mingled with local homeschooling families, and have established some great relationships in the process! This was their Spring concert, in which both Jayni and Jeremy preformed solos. Singing is a favorite individual and family activity in our family so choir has been both helpful and enjoyable.

If you have spent time with Jacob, you will probably remember his voice. Jacob LOVES to sing and does so often. A common sight around here is Jacob, sprawled out on the floor with his trucks and cars, singing to his hearts content.

As one of the older boys in the choir, Jeremy had the chance to encourage his younger friends to enjoy singing. Jeremy enjoys singing himself, and is learning to lead our family worship time on his guitar. Along with bluegrass guitar, Jeremy has also learned some bluegrass style voice techniques. It's great to hear his version of, "I'll Fly Away".

Jayni was so inspired from choir that she announced to Mom one day, "I'm going to start teaching my own choir now!" 'Choir' meaning Lilly. :-) Even though she was nervous, Jayni stood and sang her solo well. She loves to learn new songs, and is asking to start piano and violin.

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I noticed Dad and Jacob walk up the hill on Saturday, and trotted after them with my camera. Turns out, Dad was teaching Jacob how to shoot the pellet gun!




More happenings to come soon . . .I hope. ;-P

P.S. Happy Birthday to Jeremy today!

Mothers Day at Hume Lake

May 26, 2009

We celebrated Mother's day by driving up to Hume Lake and spending family time together. Simon brought his Hobie, I brought some home-made ginger ale I've been experimenting with, and Max and Jenny brought Graham, that precious little boy who keeps us smiling. I can truly say that Mom lights us our home with the joy and life that radiates from her heart. I am blessed to be her daughter and have her as my best friend.

It's wonderful to celebrate two more mothers in our family this year. We love you Kendra and Jenny!

These are a few photos of our day:


Splash art.





If there is any 'creeping' creature to be found, Jacob will find it. In this case, it looks like some sort of fish. . . hmm . . .
To see the source of this Mommy's amusement, scroll down.



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Graham's fan club.












There's no escaping the camera Max, nice try.

It's much easier to just sit still and smile.


Beaches and Frisbee are like Salt and Pepper. They just go together!




One very happy couple who will be sorely missed when they move to Oklahoma in June!