Our Sunday Jaunt

Before anymore time passes I need to finish this blog post. A week ago Sunday, Steve and I decided to have a bit of church right here in our house and then head up into the hills to just get away from the busyness of life and enjoy looking at God's creation. The kids were up for the drive. So Steve broke out his guitar and we had a bit of worship time (Youth group Style, as Steve likes to call it). We are enjoying teaching the kids some of the songs we sung way back in our college days when Steve was a Jr.Hi Youth Intern and also led the worship. He read from the Bible about.. I can't remember.. but the kids really enjoyed hearing the story once again. We prayed and then I finished preparing lunch and then we were on our way.

Our first stop was in Yakima at a park for lunch. At the park just over the crest of the hill was a pond and the kids spotted a couple of Swans and also ducks. So as soon as we finished our sandwiches we took what was left over and they were able to feed the Swans. I love this picture, it looks so peaceful.

As soon as we said we were headed to the car to go to the mountains, James and Allie took off ahead of everyone and headed to the playground to get in at least one slide down the slide. I took this picture at a good distance and caught them hand in hand (a rare site, though Allie is very protective of James, much to James demise).

We headed to the mountains to catch a glimpse of the Fall and see the colors changing. We did see it but found no great place to get out and "frolic". So Steve kept driving until sightings of snow came into view. Not what we expected to see at all. Then there was Mt. Rainier in all its glory. Wow! Pictures do not do it justice. How powerful and Awesome to see God's Majestic creativity.

There was a place to park and get out so we decided to stop and let the kids enjoy a little pre-winter snow. We found a trail hoping to follow it to a great hiking place, but not too far the path turned into a muddy mess. So we stopped and let the kids have a little fun playing in the snow.

James was loving it, but couldn't figure out how to get back up without putting his hands in the cold snow. His hands were cold and red, poor little guy.

Of course, Steve couldn't resist the temptation for a snow fight, especially with Tori. She's always up for a "fight".


We let Andrew have the camera to take a few shots of us. Not bad!



In the midst of all the fun we met up with a park ranger that kind of spoiled our joy. He told us to try to keep our kids on the (muddy!!!) path. So we headed down another path but Steve noticed him continuing to watch us and decided he didn't need a babysitter. So that spoiled that and we were headed back to the car. I was trying to get some good shots of the kids and Steve and after I took it I noticed the sign in the picture and just laughed. It says "Trampling kills meadows. Please Stay on Trails" a sign we obviously missed going in.



So we got back into the suburban, cleaned our shoes as much as we could and headed back. We enjoyed looking out into the masses of trees and the changes of colors. I especially enjoyed looking at the Vine Maples that are in the midst of all the trees in the woods, another hidden beauty that usually only artists pick up. By the time we hit Yakima we were ready for another stop. So Steve surprised us with dinner at Miners, a local burger joint that has been there probably over 50 years. We had a great time being together and enjoying looking out into God's creation and not being distracted by all the things in the world that want to steal our time and joy. God knows I needed the time to get away and just enjoy Him with my family.