Christmas Traditions

Traditions.  Christmas time is so full of traditions and Caleb and I spent time throughout December talking about the various family traditions we grew up with.  We participated in several of each family's traditions this season as we shared Christmas together.

Stapp Family Tradition:  Family Christmas caroling to church members, friends, neighbors, doctor's office...

Stapp Family Tradition: Christmas Eve gift game - being the first to say "Christmas Eve Gift" to other family members on Christmas Eve...even answering the phone with that greeting instead of a usual "hello"!

Baggenstos Family Tradition: Baking Christmas cookies and delivering them to neighbors

Baggenstos Family Tradition: Lighting birthday candles in homemade cinnamon rolls and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus at Christmas breakfast.

Baggenstos Family Tradition: Lighting birthday candles in Christmas pie and singing Happy Birthday to Tim after Christmas dinner.

Baggenstos Family Tradition: Sparkling cider toasts at Christmas dinner (this year's new flavor was apple-mango - yum!)

Oh, there are many more traditions, but I'm out of time and pictures for now!

Bonus non-tradition pictures: Writing a Christmas card to the Baggenstos family fish, Homer.

Decorating Simply

We decorated our home simply for Christmas this year.  There is beauty in the simplicity of not owning a bunch of "stuff" with which to decorate for the season.  I rather enjoyed the challenge of creating a festive home without buying anything but rather using natural decorations like tree boughs and pine cones.  I supplemented with lots of candles, eager for an excuse to pull out the crystal candlesticks we received for wedding gifts.  

 Instead of letting the extra December mail pile up some where in an unsightly pile, I decided to display the Christmas cards we received to brighten up the house by hanging them on a ribbon.  They looked so neat and tidy in their columns at first, but not anymore!

While I enjoy sewing and certain crafts, I don't have a natural "crafty" bent, so I was proud of myself for actually attempting a craft from a magazine - turning the 1" round slice cut off of the bottom of our Christmas tree stump into an ornament marking each year of marriage.  It seemed so simple yet sentimental!  The first problem we encountered was that we don't own a saw, so we couldn't saw off the bottom of the tree when we got home like you are supposed to.  So, we planned ahead and cut off the extra slice while out in the tree field.  It took longer than it did to actually cut down the tree...and it was hard to keep it smooth and flat.  I carried the wet slice back in my coat pocket, then tried to wash the sap and dirt off in the sink at home.  Now the slice was quite wet, so when I tried to write on it with a sharpie, it smeared.  No problem, I thought; I'll just let it dry out, then write on the opposite side.  The next day, I carefully wrote on the back, only to have water spill on it and smear the writing.  Oh well, it will be a memento of our first Christmas anyway, and I'm almost glad it doesn't look perfect because it will remind us of our humorous endeavor.  We haven't tried drilling a hole in it to hang on the tree yet, so, meanwhile it is sitting on our dining table on display.

Greek Salad

It feels almost sacrilegious to be posting on a non-Christmas-y topic this time of year, but we ate Greek Salad last night for dinner and it was so delicious I had to share the recipe!  Yesterday, after chopping down our Christmas tree, Caleb and I went into Spokane for a shopping trip.  We hadn't been on a major grocery run for almost a month due to our November travels, so we headed out armed with lists galore and hit up Yokes, Walmart, Winco, Costco, Zales (bi-annual ring checkup), The Cozy Quilt (sewing supplies for Christmas gifts), and Michaels.  Caleb was such a help and good sport about all the shopping and we had a lot of fun together. We were so proud of ourselves for emerging from Costco with only vitamins and yeast (such a good deal there) even though we were tempted to buy more of all the delicious little treats we sampled.  :)  Lest you think we have impeccable self-control, we did buy some chocolate-covered cinnamon bears from the bulk candy section later at Winco...

Anyway, on to the recipe!  When we got home, I was so excited to have lots of fresh vegetables that I decided we must have salad for dinner.  I have no idea where I originally got this recipe, but my history with it dates back to my 4-H days when I made this recipe at the county fair for a Sandwich/Salad contest.

                                          Greek Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
raw spinach leaves, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 a red onion, peeled and sliced into half rings
1 large tomato, cut into bite-sized wedges
1 half cucumber, peeled and sliced
12 or so black olives
1/4 lb. feta cheese, crumbled

Toss the salad ingredients together in a bowl (if making ahead, I like to store the cut veggies together in a small container so they don't make the greens soggy and the onions in their own little container so they don't over-permeate the other veggies).  Then measure the following ingredients into a small canning jar:

3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lemon juice or wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard (or yellow if that's all you have on hand)
1 tsp. dried oregano (very important!)
Dash salt and pepper

Fasten lid and shake jar vigorously until everything is well-mixed.  Pour onto the salad and toss everything well if serving immediately to a crowd.  If serving later or in smaller portions, refrigerate dressing and salad separately, dish up salad "naked", and pour a small amount of dressing on each individual portion.  This way, the salad keeps longer in the fridge and doesn't get soggy.  By the way, the dressing doesn't look or even taste very appetizing by itself, at least to me.  But just trust me, try it on the salad mingled with pungent onions, crisp cucumbers, salty cheese - I think it is delicious!

Travel

This week, Caleb and I were gone on a road-trip to Oregon to attend the Northwest Baptist Convention in Eugene for three days then to visit with college friends at Corban (including watching my brother in the Pumpkin Smash and enjoying the Cinderella production).  It was great to attend the conference then to spend time with friends and siblings.

Leafy walk at Corban on Thursday

Throughout the trip, we marveled at the beautiful fall colors, and even fluffy clouds and sunny skies on our drive home yesterday through Eastern Washington.  The drive was sunny until we got within 70 miles or so from home:

What a contrast!  It's still fall in Salem but definitely winter in Deer Park!  We came home to four fresh inches of snow at our house.  Thank the Lord for four-wheel drive for the winter ahead.

Mexican Food

Caleb and I just love Mexican food.  Caleb grew up with family Tex-Mex traditions like homemade tortillas and fajitas every Sunday night after church and queso cheese dip.  I grew up eating burritos and taco salads on a weekly basis and celebrating every Mother's Day at a Mexican restaurant, learning to appreciate my Mom's favorite ethnic cuisine dating back to the time she spent in her younger days in Costa Rica and Mexico.  We still eat Mexican food a lot, but I've been experimenting with some new recipes.  Note: The recipes in this post are not authentic Mexican food, but we still like them. :)

Below is a new favorite recipe of ours from Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg.  I’ve heard about once-a-month cooking over the years but have never actually researched it or thought about trying it until now.  I checked this book out from the library to take a look.  While I like the idea of it, I’ve decided I’m not going to try this method any time soon because the recipes in the sample menus/preparation plans I looked at in the book rely on a heavily meat-based diet and weren’t as healthy or economical as I was hoping.  Maybe sometime in the future I’ll have more time (ha!) to put together my own plan based off of some of our favorite recipes. As a side note on freezing, I do freeze meals occasionally, as it is fairly simple to prepare a double-portion and freeze half for later, especially for soups and meats.  It has become a household joke though when we run out of something for me to say “No, we’re not out of it, it’s just in the freezer!”  

Here is one of the recipes I tried from the cookbook referenced above, with my own revisions as I attempted to make a cream-based recipe healthier! 

 

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2 Tbs. butter

1 sliced onion

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half, cooked and shredded

2 Tbs. diced green chilies (the kind that come in the little can)

3 ounces diced cream cheese (you can use low-fat or fat-free cream cheese)

Salt to taste

1 cup (4 oz) shredded Monterey jack cheese (I used pepper jack)

4 flour tortillas

½ cup whipping cream (I used fat-free half-and-half and milk)

Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat, add onion, and saute for a few minutes. Add the chicken, chilies, and cream cheese and stir over heat until the cream cheese is melted and the mixture is thoroughly combined.  Add salt to taste. 

If freezing for later: Put the filling and cheese in separate freezer bags and freeze together.

To serve: If frozen, thaw filling and cheese.  Spoon about 1/3 cup of the filling down the center of each tortilla.  Roll and set in a greased glass baking dish.  Moisten by pouring the whipping cream over the enchiladas (once again, I used fat-free half-and-half one time, which worked great; I also used regular milk once, and that worked OK too).  Sprinkle with the cheese (I didn't measure it - just whatever amount you want).  Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes.  Makes 4 enchiladas (serves 2 if you don't have time to make other side dishes to go with it, or 4 if you are serving other dishes with it).

Crockpot Refried Beans http://realmomkitchen.com/1549/crockpot-refried-beans/
I decided not to re-type this recipe word-for-word here in my blog because I don't have much to add to this already great recipe, but I highly recommend it!  Here is why:
1. Economy (beans are cheap, why pay extra for canned refried beans when you can make your own)
2. Health (these beans are great tasting without any lard or unhealthy fats)
3. Ease of preparation (the crockpot does most of the work and then you can freeze them in the amount you need)

Mexican Rice - Elisa's way
Boil 2 cups of chicken broth (and some diced onion if you have it handy) in a covered saucepan.  Add 1 cup of brown rice (sorry folks, white rice has zero nutritional value), lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes, until tender.  But first, add lots of the following spices (I don't measure for this type of thing):
Chili powder (LOTS)
Ground cumin
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Ground red cayenne pepper (just a little, unless you're used to it)
Chopped fresh cilantro (if you have it on hand and like it)

For those of you who may have been wondering like me, is it ethical or even legal to repost someone else's recipe?  I found this website (http://foodblogforum.com/1067-recipe-attribution) to be very helpful.  If you don't feel like reading it, the basic premise is that it is OK to post a recipe from another website or book without permission as long as you cite the source, don't include large quantities of recipes from the same collection, and generally avoid re-posting the recipe directions (the ingredients are fine) word-for-word by expanding the text of the recipe or including your own comments.

Adjusting...

Part of the adjustment after moving somewhere new is getting used to a new community.  As long as I can remember, I have lived with my family in sprawling suburbia - in several states mind you, but still similar settings.  We always lived in neighborhoods with hundreds of houses (or so it seemed at the time), with grocery stores and gas stations and libraries close by car, a mile or two or ten away, a few close enough to walk to if you planned in advance.  But still, the area was... sprawling and full of people.  After living in Fairwood for over 14 years, we would run into people we knew occasionally when we were out and about - maybe even three people at the grocery store.  But the community was big enough that you could easily go somewhere and not recognize anyone, and it was normal to live, work, and play in three completely different communities surrounding Seattle.  Last year when I was living at home in Fairwood, I worked 40 minutes North in Bellevue, coached for a youth symphony 15 minutes South in Maple Valley, attended church 10 minutes East in Kent, and played in an orchestra that practiced on Mercer Island (25 minutes North) and performed in Seattle (40 minutes Northwest) and Burien (30 minutes Southwest).  

Then in June, I was welcomed to Deer Park, population 3000.  To some extent, the situation is similar.  Many people live in Deer Park but work in Spokane, which is also sprawling.  But the many miles of farmland and rolling pasture separating the two cities seem to make Deer Park more isolated from the big city and connected as its own small community.  It is not unusual for us to drive into Spokane once or twice a week to go to a big store like Walmart.  But when we are in Deer Park, life is definitely "small town".  

We live in a neighborhood of sorts.  But in small town fashion, everything is right here.  We can walk to the doctor and dentist in three minutes.  It takes just as long for us to walk to the post office to get our mail (no mail delivery! - a first for me) as it does to get in the car, start the engine, back out, drive down the street, park the car, turn off the engine, and get out.  Last week, I hopped on my bike from home, ran three errands-bank, grocery store, and redbox-and was home again in a matter of 20 minutes, including travel time.  Some times we even walk our water bill down to City Hall and hand it in over the counter to save a stamp.  It is rather convenient, I must say!  

But the part of small town life that continues to shock me is the people.  I have only lived here 4 1/2 months, but I see people I know everywhere!  Two weeks ago, Caleb and I went on a 1 mile bike ride around town late one Saturday afternoon to go to the farmer's market.  It seemed as if almost every person we passed by yelled out "Hi Caleb".  We ran into 6 different families that we know.  An older couple called out from the doorway of the butcher.  We met a couple from church in the grocery store parking lot and they showed us their new rental car.  A group of kids on bikes hollered from the pizza parlor porch.  We felt like celebrities!

When I walk into the bank by myself to deposit a check, I just hand it over to the teller, no deposit slip required.  They know who I am before they even read the check.  It will be hard to adjust to the waiting in line and filling out deposit slips if we move out of town someday!  

What still continues to surprise me is going to the library, trained as I was to use the automated self-checkouts on the other side of the state.  I feel like I am bothering the librarians when I want to check out, but they don't seem to mind!  In fact, when I walk up to the counter, they automatically retrieve any DVDs I may have on hold, before I open my mouth to tell them my name, as well as the ones for my husband...and sister-in-laws...and brother-in-law...and mother-in-law...and father-in-law :), even though I don't have a clue what their card numbers are, and they let me check them all out for them!  I feel like I'm spying on other people's lives when I go to the hold shelf to retrieve my books, because everywhere I glance I see names I recognize - today just glancing at two short shelves looking for mine, I saw holds for three families from church plus the middle school principal's family.  As I got in the car, I began to mull over the idea for this post; on my home, I stopped in at the post office and ran into a homeschooling family I know from Homelink.  Just recently, I also encountered at the post office the principal from Homelink, the youth pastor from a church in town, and the senior pastor from a church in town, all whom I know by name.  That reminds me, the first week I lived in Deer Park, I had a doctor's appointment, I showed up (and got called Mrs. Fatt instead of Stapp because of receptionist's phone transcribing mistake!) and the doctor said she had seen me walking with my husband to the grocery store the night before.  Small town!  

We enjoy the sense of community here - we stop and watch five-year-old soccer matches at the field when we bike by, we frequent the farmer's market, we play ping-pong with the local teens who hang out at the community youth center after going to high school football games every once in a while.  It is a unique feeling to feel connected and a part of the community.   

Well, I'm still getting used to this whole blog-writing thing, so this may have been a rather boring post to read.  Hopefully though, it was insightful about suburbia girl adjusting to small town girl!

And on an unrelated note, Caleb cooked a delicious Spanish Chicken and Rice Casserole tonight for dinner.  He would like me to note that he did tweak the recipe a bit by omitting the pimento, using brown rice, and substituting home-grown green beans for the bell pepper.  Highly recommended!      

Pizza Dough

Well, here I go with another recipe to share.  This is one I have been using for a couple of years, but I am inspired to share it because it is one of my absolute favorite, fool-proof recipes (which says a lot for a yeast bread!).  Plus, my Mom is currently teaching my youngest brother how to cook and I thought I might convince them to try this recipe since Tim tasted its results when he visited.  


Here is why I love this recipe so much:
1. It takes so little time to make compared to most yeast bread recipes, yet without sacrificing in quality.
2. It uses simple ingredients I usually always have.
3. I can mix up the dough one day and bake it the same day, or the next day, or three weeks later and it works just as well any way!  Has anyone else ever tried to bake frozen homemade yeast dough for rolls or something and come out with a freezer-burned dense brick when it is all thawed and baked?  This has happened to me many times, but NOT with this recipe (granted, these are not rolls).  


Make-Ahead Pizza Dough (adapted from www.finecooking.com)
2 packages active dry yeast
3 cups very warm water
8 cups all-purpose flour (or sometimes, like today, I use half whole wheat/half all-purpose)
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside.  Mix together flour and salt in a mixer bowl (if you have a mixer - I use my Kitchen Aid).  Using a dough hook attachment, add the water/yeast mixture and oil in a steady stream.  Once all of the flour and liquid is mixed together, scrape the soft dough onto a floured surface and knead into a mass, incorporating all the flour and adding more if needed.  No, you do not need to knead the dough at this point. Cut into 8 equal pieces and roll each piece into a tight, smooth ball.

To use immediately:
Let rise about 45 minutes in a warm place (turn your oven on for a few minutes to warm it up, then turn off).

To use tomorrow:
Place dough balls on a baking sheet lined with a floured dishtowel.  Cover with plastic wrap, leaving room to expand.  Let rise in the refrigerator overnight and remove 15 minutes before shaping.

To use later (up to one month for optimum results):
Place dough balls in ziploc bags and freeze.  Transfer to the refrigerator the night before use, OR to the counter 1 1/2 hours prior.

Shaping and Baking
Press each dough ball into a flat cake, generously dusting each with flour.  Roll out until it is your desired thickness, about 9" across.  Add pizza sauce and toppings of your choice.  Bake at 500 degrees F on the lowest oven rack for about 8 minutes or until edges are golden.

Toppings Caleb's way: Start with a base of Tuscan Traditions brand hot spicy red spaghetti sauce, top with mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, bacon, pineapple, and massive amounts of sliced onion, sprinkle Italian seasoning, and (the most important part, he says) generously sprinkle red pepper flakes.

Topping's Elisa's way: Start with a base of homemade alfredo sauce (or ranch dressing), sprinkle garlic powder over the sauce, then add onions, garlic, chicken, fresh diced tomatoes, and green onions.  Top with a very generous sprinkling of additional garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

Harvest Cooking

When the two neighbor boys came to the door with a sack full of fresh-picked fruit from their apple tree, I was thrilled to do some fall cooking to store away for the winter.  Right now I have half of the apples stewing in the crockpot for applesauce, but Sunday I made apple pie filling.  I had never made filling like this ahead of time - I usually just slice fresh apples, toss them with sugar and cinnamon, and pop them into a crust-lined pie dish, but I was pleased with the moist results of this stove-top recipe.

Apple Pie Filling (adapted from allrecipes.com)
18 cups thinly sliced apples
lemon juice
8 cups water
4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Right off the bat, I refused to peel the apples.  I grew up using an apple-peeler-corer-slicer contraption, which worked well on apples just the right size.  Left to my own devices (aka a knife), I opted to leave the skin on, especially since the apples I was working with were very small and would take a long time to peel.  And, as my Dad would say about potatoes (and I'm sure must be true of apples as well), most of the nutrients are found right in and beneath the skin, so why bother?  For those of you who are wondering, the filling turned out great despite my lack of peeling.  I urge you to do the same and save yourself the work!  

As you slice the apples, toss them in a bowl with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown (although the cinnamon tints the filling brown later, so I'm not sure if it really matters except perhaps the lemon draws out the apple flavor).

Fill a large pot with 8 cups water and heat on the stove.  Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and spices and whisk into the water as it heats.  Bring to a boil and stir constantly while boiling for two minutes.  Add the apples and return to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the apples are tender, about 10-15 minutes.  Cool for 30 minutes.

You can use some of the filling immediately, like I did, and ladle it directly into a pie shell.  I was having difficulty with my pie dough this time, so instead of struggling with the top crust, I packed the dough into a ball, refrigerated it for an hour while I was gone, and used my large-hole grater to shred the dough on top of the pie in German apple pie fashion before dusting with cinnamon sugar and baking as normal.

 The recipe said it would make around five pies, but I used nearly a third of the filling to make one.  It could be that I didn't pack the apples tightly enough when I was measuring, or that I just like to pack my pie shells full of more filling than is normal.  I froze the rest of the filling in two plastic containers.  Once they had frozen solid, I popped the blocks of filling out of the containers and into gallon freezer bags so that I could use the containers for other uses in the meantime.

As a side note, the apple pie recipe I have used in the past makes pies that taste best hot, fresh out of the oven.  This one, however, was even better cold the next day because the filling was so moist.  I'm not sure I'll make them the old way again.  Enjoy!

Signs of Fall

Leaves turning colors

Homemade zucchini bread

The return of scarves and mittens

Cinnamon rolls

Stormy skies

Crocuses?  Yes, a whole row of them recently sprouted in our flowerbeds to our confusion.

Summer Snapshots

Summer for us began June 4^th, 2011.  Not only was it a magnificently glorious, sunny day, but it was the best day of our lives so far as we gathered with over 250 family and friends to commit ourselves to each other before God.

As we drove off from the wedding, we began our honeymoon road trip.  We spent the first night in downtown Seattle at the luxurious, historic Sorrento Hotel after a near-death (not really) experience on the Seattle waterfront involving a horse and a dog the size of a horse (story to be told at a later date).  The next day, we drove a couple hours to the Olympic Peninsula, where we spent three days on Marrowstone Island at the Honeymoon Cabin, a beautifully decorated little house nestled in a gorgeous foresty setting.  The best part was that the kitchen was fully-stocked with generous supplies for us to cook breakfast, bake sweet treats, and grill steaks!  

While on the island, we also enjoyed a 10 mile bike ride, along the way visiting the beach and historic Fort Flagler.  From there, we took the Port Angeles ferry onto foreign soil where we explored Victoria and took another ferry to Mayne Island.  While there, we stayed at the Oceanwood Country Inn and explored the island via moped.  We traveled back to my parents' home and crossed the state two days later to Deer Park.

We welcomed my brother Zach and his friend Andrew for the 4^th of July weekend.  Caleb’s family has organized a God and Country concert for the past thirteen years on 4^th of July, involving their entire family plus dozens of church and community musicians to make up a chorus and orchestra.  Zach and I have driven over to participate in this concert for the past three or four years, so it was different this year to be hosting Zach instead of traveling with him.  We had an old-fashioned picnic at the park during the day, then performed in the evening and watched the town fireworks.

In mid-July, Caleb and I hosted a Backyard Bible Club at our house, assisted by two ladies from our church.  Spread out across town, our church hosted Bible clubs at three locations in different neighborhoods to take VBS to the kids.  Caleb led the games and music while I taught the Bible lesson.  On our highest day of attendance, we had thirteen kids participate and a daily average of about seven.  

Overlapping a few days with the Bible club, my eight-year-old brother Tim got to come visit us for a week by himself.  We had a blast together and the week flew by as we worked in the yard, swam at the pool, and experienced many amusement park rides for the first time at Silverwood Theme Park (thanks to sister-in-law Rebekah for winning free tickets!).  As a hostess gift, Tim brought along some green bean seeds which he planted for us and of which we are still reaping the harvest.

At the end of July, Caleb and I led our church youth group on a mission trip to Rathdrum, Idaho.  We helped with Vacation Bible School, service projects, and a youth outreach event. 

Not long after arriving home from the mission trip, we left town again, this time to help staff Odyssey Children’s Camp.  Caleb headed up the music and recreation portions of camp while I led the 3^rd grade girls Bible study and operated the video projection system.  Although we were exhausted, we had a lot of fun!

August was a month of car searching and job searching. In-between, we enjoyed soaking up summer—fresh corn-on-the-cob, evening bike rides, concerts at the park, church picnic, and young adult group camping trip.  And now it is October!

Canoe Camping

On Labor Day weekend, Caleb and I embarked on our first solo canoe camping adventure.  We were both introduced to canoe camping last summer when a professor from Corban and his wife took us and another engaged couple from Corban on a premarital canoe trip.  We learned from them how to waterproof the gear, how to tie down the gear and balance the canoe, and how to work together to maneuver the canoe wherever we want to go (theoretically).

We borrowed a canoe from a friend and set out late morning that Friday on Horseshoe Lake.

The lake is true to its namesake in that it does snake around into a horseshoe shape in such a way that you can only see a small part of the lake from any given spot.  In that way, it has definite river-like qualities, although there was never much of a current.  We took our time and paddled to an open portion of the lake where we floated and ate our lunch.  Then we continued on until we found our campsite.

The bank was pretty steep, but there was a spot mostly level for our tent, and a fire pit a previous camper had built out of rocks.  

After we set up camp, we took a hike to the nearby "Devil's Well", a naturally formed rock pit, filled with water.  There was no guardrail surrounding the steep drop into the well, so it made us a little nervous, especially after the wind picked up my empty camera case, which I had set to the side while I was taking pictures, and blew it irretrievably right down into the well!  

 

We haven't checked to verify the truth to this, but we heard that the water depth in the well was tested and so far, the bottom has not been found.  Also, dye was put in the water to see if it would surface anywhere, and the dyed water was found in five area lakes, some quite a distance away.  

Next, we paddled over to Exley Falls which appear much bigger in person than in the picture!  We hiked up one side of the falls and down the other after crossing the stream at the top that feeds the waterfall.
This was the view from the top of the falls:

We then canoed down the farthest tip of the lake, where it feeds into a stream, into another lake, I think.  

On our way back to our campsite, we enjoyed watching many turtles sunbathing on logs.  As we would approach, they would one by one slide off the log into the water.

We spent the evening cooking dinner on our new Coleman camp stove, reading books, and enjoying conversation around the camp fire.    

Caleb is an excellent camping organizer and canoe packer I discovered.  How fortunate!  We are grateful for the wedding gifts that provided the equipment for us to go camping, because it allows for a very inexpensive, local getaway for us!  

Doesn't this picture just make you want to go camping?  It does for me!  We're headed out this weekend for the last campout of the season - via car instead of canoe this time. 

 God provided a car for us with four wheel drive to get ready for the rough winter ahead - we found it on Craigslist and bought it on Friday.  Thanks for praying!

Workout and Shopping

As hinted at in an earlier post, we ride our bikes around town quite frequently.  Caleb's college car died and was donated to UGM last year, so when we got married, "my car" became "our car".

Unfortunately, it had a rather short life as "our car".  Maybe it was somehow payback from the car for having to drag a pair of boots and a pair of shoes from the wedding in Renton all the way to Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula, across two ferries, onto foreign soil (Canada), back again on another ferry, back to Renton, then on to Spokane (the boots were last seen still attached to the car, in a rather shredded state, at the Costco gas pump in Spokane).

But regardless, on July 6th our car was totaled in a small accident with Caleb driving responsibly at 25mph through our little town.  Another driver just didn't see him and turned left from a cross-street directly in front of Caleb, causing him to hit her car.  No one was injured, thankfully, and Caleb was even able to share with the other driver about the gospel.  The driver's insurance company was really wonderful to work with, and it ended up being a huge blessing because we received a check from them for double what my parents and I had paid for it when I bought it used a couple of years ago.  

Following the accident, we had quite the schedule of events and trips, so we delayed looking for a car until we were back in town the second week of August.  And we are still looking....and biking!  We have had quite the journey so far of learning how to "read" a car and its owner, searching Craigslist daily, borrowing cars to look for cars, remaining firm despite pushy salesmen, doing our blue book and consumer report research, and calling the police to report sellers who almost scammed us.  Thanks to my Dad for giving us a list of warning signs to look for in a Craigslist car, and thanks to my in-laws for letting us borrow their cars so frequently!  The car God wants us to have will show up in His timing.  We would appreciate your prayers, as all of the sudden, winter seems not so far away!

We have also gotten to sharpen our backpack packing skills as well as balancing skills - when we go grocery shopping.  Today, we biked home from the grocery store with 36 pounds of food on our persons (including 4 jars of tomato sauce, a dozen eggs, and five whole cantaloupe among other things)!

We celebrated our achievement by testing out the Fry Daddy someone gave us as a wedding present.  We had never used one before, but we discovered it is way too easy to make homemade, deep-fried french fries.

Right this Way, Please: A Tour of Our Home

We have had the privilege of hosting overnight guests in our home on four occasions so far, but if you weren’t one of the “lucky few”, let me take you on a tour (and phone in your reservation soon!)

Before we got married, we spent a significant amount of time researching where we should live.  As there are very few apartments in Deer Park, we thought we would have to rent one in North Spokane (25 minutes South) and commute to Deer Park.  However, at just the right time, God opened up a spacious, double-wide manufactured home for rent in our price range in a convenient location in Deer Park.  We can easily bike (or walk) anywhere in town, including the church where we attend and Caleb works at.  For reasons that will become apparent in a later blog post, this has been a HUGE blessing! 

Our front porch (no, Tim doesn't live with us, but he did visit!)

Living Room and Front Door

China Cabinet

Nook off of the living room

Built-in China Cabinet (in-between the living room nook and dining room nook)

Dining Room

Laundry Area!

Bedroom window

Bathroom

Guest Bedroom (which also doubles as a sewing room and soon-to-be-office in the part of the room you can't see)

Caleb's favorite feature of the house - the built-in stereo/cassette player (above the microwave) that  plays through speakers located throughout the house

And saving the best for last, here is my favorite room in the house!