Come See My Family...

Hey Ya'll. Let me introduce you to my family:
The pictures are not in any particular order, but that will make it randomly fun for you. I do love random things! ;o)

Aunt Judy, Nephew Jace, Sister Leigha

My darling brother and sweet niece Gracie

Cousins!!
More Cousins!!
Second Cousins!!

Niece Gracie, and myself

My Mommy and Daddy

My Brother Chad and I

End of Summer Cleaning?

Guess how I have been using my freetime the last two weeks? Cleaning! Actually, I have been de-cluttering, and organizing our hallway and two attic closets. The garage is coming soon. ;o)

It has been a very, uhm, unique undertaking to say the least. So far approximately 6 large garbage bags have moved from our house to the dumpster! We now boast an organized hallway, and two semi-organized attics. My parent's attic was slightly more difficult, as mommy has 25 years worth of 'special' things stored.

Following is a list of interesting items located in our closets:

1) Mouse traps!
2) Porcelain nick-nick high heels, and one doubles as an exotic pin cushion!
3) A bag of brain teasers that my aunts have faithfully bought daddy every year for Christmas.
4)Miscellaneous papers that have no purpose.

After it was all over, my mommy gave me this really quaint old music box that looks like a cottage / water wheel. It is really cute and well made. I love it!!

And, now that all the organizing is done I get to dig into my school work. Algebra 1, History, Science, Spanish, Piano, Violin (Lord willing!), and Canning!

Well, we're supposed to be going out to dinner with my great-uncle Bruce tonight, so... it's time to go.

In Christ, Brooke

A Trip To Holland

No, not really. But I wish!! Our family vacations in a quaint Dutch town in Northwest Washington every summer. Lynden is approx. 25 minutes from the Canadian border. It was originally settled by Dutch immigrants, and most of the current inhabitants have strong Dutch roots. What brings us there, (most of my family knows this, but not many of my friends do) is the annual Puget Sound Antique Tractor and Machinery Association's Steam and Tractor Show. (Wow! That's sort of a long name. We just say "goin' to Lynden") My daddy and both of my uncles inherited steam yarders (used in logging) when my grandfather passed away, and my dad does most of the 'events' with them. For this one though, my dad helps one of my grandfathers old friends, Bob Sorenson, run a steam powered saw mill. It's pretty interesting to watch! Bob's saw mill is set up year round in Berthusen Park on the outskirts of Lynden. The family joke is that daddy works harder on vacation then he does the rest of the year. ;o) So... while daddy is working, my mom and I explore the town, do a little early Christmas shopping, and have a jolly time. ;o)

One thing that kind of bugged me though was the fact that I didn't get to play my piano before we left. I thought, "Oh, it's okay. I'm sure I'll come across a piano in our travels." Sure enough, on our trips through the unique little shops, I saw several rare, old, and very beautiful pianos. My fingers itched to play, but upon further inspection there was always a neat little sign saying, "Please do not touch." Drats. And I actually believed that there would be a nice piano to play!! Oh well, not the end of the world by any means. For any one that is interested I am currently learning "Be Thou My Vision", "Unchained Melody", and "Canon in D." So far I have Canon in D memorized! Yeah! Speaking of memorization, some friends of ours and I are racing to see who can memorize Psalm 119 first this summer. (They are probably winning.)

Talk to ya'll later! ~Brooke