our family ramblings

our first elk sighting!

2012-01-24T14:51:00.001-08:00

I know these photos aren't very good, because the zoom on our camera is not great, but we were very excited to see this small herd of elk a couple days ago. We were driving a back road to Suncadia and I thought I saw extra large deer, and when I looked again, I saw about 8-10 elk. They are such beautiful animals.

a day at the spa

2012-01-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

: reading Edith Schaeffer's "The Hidden Art of Homemaking," (one of our favorite books) in the hot mineral baths :

: Clint and Caoimhe Dunn :

: resting in the "sanctuary" room while drinking hot tea and cucumber mint water :

It's Tuesday...almost one week since the fire, and Jake and I are getting restless here at the Lodge. We're itching to work on a project or be creative in any way. The four of us will be moving into the Drew's cabin on Monday, so we're excited to have a change of scenery soon. We have been so blessed to stay here at the Lodge though. The staff here has been so kind to us all.

the Lodge

2012-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

: Suncadia Lodge - look up suncadiaresort.com :

: view from our room's balcony :

: hill leading to the Yakima river behind the Lodge :

: jake took challah to play in the 2 ft of snow :

: it was so fun watching her romp through the deep snow :

Suncadia prides itself on trying different ways of being "green". So, they offer a free (12-20oz) cup of coffee/latte/mocha, etc to each room per day that they refuse room service. I was happy to enjoy a mexican mocha this afternoon in place of not getting new towels or sheets.

Those things aren't necessary, and it really makes you think about how staying in a hotel doesn't give you an excuse to be lazy with your convictions. Don't we re-use our bath towels at home for at least one week, and don't most of us only wash our bedsheets after at least two weeks have past? It's so easy to just allow yourself to be pampered in places like Suncadia, but I still believe that we have to be true to our convictions and not just take advantage of daily room service, for example.

Jake just left to take Chase, our 10 yr. old neighbor and friend snowboarding in Roslyn, and when C&C get back, the three of us are going to relax in the hot mineral baths. I'll hopefully get some photos of the spa.

Shabbat Shalom!!

more photos of the house

2012-01-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

Jake and I went back to the house today to see what we could salvage, while Caoimhe ran errands and Clint stayed at the Lodge, making the list of immediate needs for well-being and building materials. We were there for about an hour or so, and Bill Doyle (friend from our Life Group and Church) showed up to help us remove things from the house. We retrieved dishes, the computer tower, some silverware, a couple photo albums of C&C's wedding, a cordless drill frozen in a bucket of water, the cast iron skillets, a painting by Jackie Vaughn and a couple other things.

My feet started freezing after we had been there for 45 minutes or so, because all I have are my leather Merrell boots that are supposedly waterproof but really aren't at all. When we were about to leave the house to return to the Lodge, Bonnie (also from our Life Group and Church) showed up and gave me a brand new pair of Ugg-like fluffy-lined boots, so I gladly and quickly changed into those to get my toes feeling warm again. Thankfully Jacob didn't lose any of his winter boots to the fire. I am still looking to replace my Georgia boots and a winter coat.

: living room gone and view of kitchen windows :

: kitchen counter :

: cabinet with plates and drinking glasses :
today, we rescued the plates from Ireland and some of our favorite mugs and drinking glasses :

: fridge, chopping block and tea cabinet :

: fridge (we rescued 6 eggs that are still good) and stove :

: view of the outside of the dining room...to the left was Clint & Caoimhe's bedroom :

The staff at the Lodge have been blessing us so much, even giving us unlimited day passes to the Mineral Baths and Saunas and such. Tomorrow evening starts the Sabbath, so we're really going to rest and relax. Caoimhe rented some movies (including 'The Help,' which I've been wanting to see for awhile), we're going to sleep in and probably relax in the mineral baths. Thank you again for your prayers and offers to help. Shabbat Shalom!

anamchara monastery fire

2012-01-18T16:54:00.000-08:00

I didn't get any photos of the actual fire, just the ones in the post below...but these two photos were sent to Caoimhe from one of the neighbors, I believe. The heat was incredible. I've never experienced a fire like this before. I am just so glad that Clint & Caoimhe made it out alive and unhurt.

the LORD gives and the LORD taketh away

2012-01-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

today, 18 january 2012 at 5:00am, the front house of Anamchara Monastery, where Clint & Caoimhe live along with Jake & I, burnt down. the fire started, we think, from the wood stove being really hot and an article of clothing possibly falling on the stove and then falling on the carpet, creating a flame...we can't know for sure. all we know is that God is a good God who loves us very much and gives and takes away.

it is truly a miracle that Clint & Caoimhe are alive today. their miniature pomeranian, Chloe woke them up to the smell of smoke just in time. Jake and I were asleep in our room in the back house that didn't get touched by the fire, thank You Jesus. most of our things are saved, but Clint & Caoimhe lost everything. please pray for them.

our Church got us a weeks stay in a resort here for free while we figure things out. the whole Cle Elum community has been so supportive and helpful already. there's a fund set up at the Sterling Silver bank for the Monastery, and the Tribune paper is writing an article with a complete list of all of our needs. again, God is good.

somehow the little brown house on the other side wasn't touched by the flame either. and the house in the back was only 10 ft away, but it didn't catch either. God is good!

thank you for your prayers!

learning & jenni in seattle!

2012-01-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

Learning and Jenni Ross traveled to Washington from Chicago to spend Christmas with Learning's family in Leavenworth. Jake and I got to meet up with them in downtown Seattle for a few hours before New Years. It was so wonderful to see them again!

: A herd of goats under the I-90 bridge in downtown Seattle...probably one of the herds that can be rented for landscaping purposes :

: After a very short spell of rain, a rainbow appeared in the sky :

: The four of us walked from Pike Place Market along the waterfront to the Olympic Sculpture Park :

We miss them already but can't wait until May or June when they will be moving here from Chicago!

Christmas Cookies!

2011-12-27T15:34:00.000-08:00

: I made a double batch of sugar cookies, and together, Jake and I decorated them with homemade vanilla butter-cream icing :

Happy Christmas!

Christmas Soup

2011-12-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

Michael and I are shelling fresh crabs for the traditional Grove Christmas Soup, made up of tomato soup, Sherry, cream of mushroom soup, curry, crab meat, etc... I look forward to it every year on Christmas Eve.

for jace: a handmade teddy bear

2011-12-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

Our friend Owen and his wife Lisa had a baby, Jace Michael one month ago, and Jake really wanted to make him a teddy bear for Christmas. He used a bath towel, artificial sinew (for the facial features and stitching) and washable Poly-fill for the stuffing. Isn't he cute?!!!

We are really proud of Jake for making such a fun and unique creation, and Jace loved it.

"the mountains are out today!"

2011-12-22T12:38:00.000-08:00

: taking one of our many walks down to Water St. while in Edmonds :

more bedroom...

2011-12-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

: as i promised, here are photos of the other bookshelf that jake just built for our room :

: and here is a much better photo of the sewing machine :

: the lighting was more forgiving this day :

the stairs were finished yesterday morning before we left for Edmonds, so i'll have to post photos of those when we get back after New Years.

all settled!!!

2011-12-20T12:44:00.001-08:00

a room of our own!! we couldn't be more thrilled. what a blessing it is to finally have our private space - our own sanctuary. clint did so much work on making this room a reality. we are so grateful.

: the curtains are lovely and fit! i've been experimenting with different ways of tying them back. jake bent some penny nails to use as hooks on the side trim boards. for now i particularly like them as they are hung and tied in the photo. :

: jake made the bookcase pictured here last winter for our old bedroom, and now we get to use it again in our new bedroom! he also made a new bookcase out of recycled pallet wood that still has the bark on the rims of the planks. the bark wasn't sanded off, and it's beautiful. i'll have to include a photo of it soon. :

: Jake carved two hooks out of maple to hold the curtain rod. aren't they beautiful? :

my own! jake's parents bought this 1926 Singer for me for my birthday this year. now that our bedroom is done, it's all set up so that i can use it again. they found it at an estate sale for only $15!! it's a gem, and it works perfectly.

: hanging above the dresser is a stencil of a tree, delicately cut by our friend lindsey beach. it was a wedding present that we cherish. :

now that our room is done, we're going to head across the Pass to Edmonds tomorrow morning and spend the next 10 days with jake's family, celebrating Christmas and the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

moving in...

2011-12-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

: caoimhe lent us the white, wrought-iron coat hanger that i love, as well as the chair in the photo below :

: my new sewing machine is finally all set up so that i can use it again! :

: waiting for the shelves to be put up so that i can put our books and odds and ends away :

almost done!!

Anamchara Ministries

2011-12-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well friends, Jake and I are officially students of Anamchara Ministries, "a monastic ministry fashioned after the order of St. Patrick's Celtic Christianity," including a 6-month long discipleship program that Clint and Caoimhe started over a year ago. Their home is now considered a "monastery" in that it is meant to function as a community space "occupied by people living under religious vows". Anamchara Ministries is an official Non-Profit organization with 501c3 status with a Board of Directors and Elder Board that provides direction, spiritual support and accountability. Caoimhe is fashioning a website that is still under construction, but it can be found here. If you would like to see a copy of the Monastic Programme (the who, where, why, how...), just contact me and I can have Caoimhe send you a copy. It is very informative.

"Anamchara" [ah-nom-car-uh] is the Irish word for "soul friend," "meaning one with whom you would walk through matters of the soul"...more like a mentor/mentee relationship than a spousal relationship.

The structure of the ministry includes housing and sharing meals with students who undergo an application process to be considered for the discipleship program, bi-weekly discipleship classes for students as well as a weekly Bible study (and dinner beforehand!) that is open to the community, serving the widows and orphans, and offering services (construction, painting, snow shoveling, etc...) to the community by donation only.

Clint and Caoimhe feel called by God to focus on finishing their building project, so that students will have a place to stay. The projected completion date is set for October 2012. Once the building and remodel is finished, the monastery will have 9 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an entry/greeting room, a large kitchen and dining room, a library and resource room as well as a laundry and sewing room. The only rooms that are finished in the large building are Caoimhe's office and our bedroom. The projects that will be worked on next - now that our bedroom is finally finished - include plumbing for the upstairs bathroom and downstairs laundry room, and insulating and drywalling the whole upstairs. Last Sunday, Caoimhe presented the ministry to Cle Elum Community Church where we all attend together on Sunday mornings, and she asked people to consider helping out with the insulating and drywalling so that we can get it done quickly. We are hoping for a handful of people to come help in January or February. Until the insulation is finished in the whole upstairs, we will be using a space heater for our bedroom. However, eventually (once the insulation is done) the large wood stove in the downstairs wood shop will heat the whole upstairs.

Jacob and I are the first students (the guinea pigs to be sure) and almost two-months into the discipleship program and are learning so much about Scripture and how to live out the commands of Christ. Clint and Caoimhe are creating the curriculum as well as teaching the different commands of Christ. The curriculum is run by the Board through a process of approval.

Since we have committed to being here for the six months of the program, we will be living here until May, at least. We do not have any plans for this summer yet, but we would like to try and see my family at some point. Jake and I would like to settle in the South Cle Elum area, where we are living now. There is a house next door (that we are partial to) that has been foreclosed on by the bank and is selling for $50,000. We do not have that money or anything close to, but we know that if God wanted us to have it, then He would provide the money needed. We're praying about our future every day. We would like to have our first child in the next couple years, so we're thinking and praying about all the things that accompany that decision.

So there's the more serious update that I've been meaning to tell you about...Please forgive me for the delay. We love visitors and practicing hospitality, so please come visit if you are able. Also, if you want to send us mail, starting in January, please send mail to:

Jacob and Abigail Grove
c/o Anamchara Monastery
P.O. Box 283
South Cle Elum, WA 98943

Shalom.

our bedroom: laying the floor stage

2011-12-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

remember the photo above? well all that work of finding pallets and taking them apart paid off. we now have an awesome custom and rustic-looking floor! jake and clint spent all last week planing the boards, cutting them to size, laying and sanding them, then staining and sealing them. we'll put the 2nd coat of sealant on tonight, and then we can move in tomorrow once it is dry!!! notice the window trim has been put up. the color of the stained barn wood softens the shade of green paint.

jake and clint used their creativity and added four small squares near the corners and one large spiral in the center of the floor. the outer edge of the floor as well as the squares and spiral are all painted a darker contrast of stain than the lighter stain used on the rest of the floor. the lighting wasn't very good in the room today as it is grey and dreary outside, so i had trouble portraying the beauty of this floor and the great job that they did in creating it.

i love the width of the shelf on the window. it's wide enough to fill with plants and an herb garden! i am on the lookout for plants and seeds.

i am beyond thrilled to get to move our stuff into our own private bedroom soon. all that is left to be done is one final coat of sealant on the floor, the door trim, baseboard trim, trim around the ceiling rafter, cleaning the window and placing the plates on the outlets and light switch.

our bedroom: painting stage

2011-12-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

Finally! the drywall is finished, and the paint has been added to the walls. instead of buying new paint, i searched the root cellar where clint's old paint is stored. i found many different shades of green, white and yellow, so i spent a whole afternoon mixing colors together on a piece of printer paper, hoping to find colors i would like. i wanted a green accent wall and off-white with a yellow tint for the other walls. i found what i wanted after quite a few hours of mixing and matching.

: a reclaimed, solid wood door :

: A-frame roof with supporting beams made from reclaimed barn wood :

: I like the uniqueness of the slanted walls in this particular room :

we're getting there... :)
next comes the floor to be laid and the trim to be added.

chase's new snowboard

2011-12-17T13:41:00.001-08:00

clint found a snowboard last winter that someone had pitched when leaving Snoqualmie Pass, and jake repaired it and custom-painted it a couple weeks ago for our neighbor friend, Chase. my husband is so creative in the giftings and abilities that God has given him. i love how he stenciled the Old English letters and taped off the paint to create mountains in white. we found some bindings on craigslist for only $10 last time we were in seattle, so we added those to the board. Chase loved it but is really bummed that there isn't any snow around here for him to ride on.

late night silliness

2011-12-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

jake wanted me to share these photos with you all... isn't he hilarious?!"

i love him, and he is mine. :)

second snow fall!

2011-11-17T14:04:00.001-08:00

finally, more than just a 1/2" of snow is falling today! it's gorgeous outside, and we're loving the fresh winter weather.

one of my favorite times of winter is when i take a long walk all bundled up with the wind sweeping my red cheeks and truly feeling alive. to help introduce the new snowfall last night, i made hearty miso soup with vegan bagels & lox for dinner. it was superb. AND i got a long, down coat for the winter from the thrift store! it's cozy and fits just how i like it to.

caoimhe and i went to ladies' Bible study this morning at the church, and i'm going to spend the next couple hours of my afternoon making cards for my etsy collection. i found the neatest book at the Half Price Books dumpster a few weeks ago. it's called "Ed Emberley's Drawing Book: Make A World". since i can't draw very well, i'm learning some how-tos. i'm going to incorporate my new drawing fascination into the cards that i'm making. i'll have to upload a preview once i've made a few.

toot-a-loo

autumn in cle elum

2011-11-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

jake playing with chase, our new 10 yr old neighbor that lives next door

: chase and i raked all of the leaves in the yard into one large pile, and he and jake wrestled for awhile, taking turns tackling each other into the leaves :

chase is so mature for his age, and we really enjoy hanging out with him. he's taken to jake so quickly as someone to look up to and hang out with. he doesn't have his dad around, and his friends at school seem to be too immature for him. he knocks on our door at least twice a day to ask if he can play fetch with challah, hoping that we'll come out and play too. :)

jake and i went to mrs. aragone's home today, across the street, to take her a jar of my homemade applesauce and hang out with her for awhile. she is a widow and is very lonely, but she LOVES having people to talk to and listen to her stories. she was born in Italy and grew up in Rome, but she came to America after WWII with her husband. she calls herself a "war bride". she and her husband moved to cle elum in 1947. he worked for the Milwaukee railroad, and she adjusted to the small town life, having come from bustling Rome. she now loves the small town feel and doesn't want to move, despite her family's desires for her to live closer to them. she has a very strong Italian accent and seems to have taken a particular liking in jake and i. i think we're going to try and spend time with her often while we're here this winter. and she happens to eat applesauce every morning, so unknowingly, we gave her an appreciated gift today.

diy hardwood floor

2011-11-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

jake and i collected various hardwood pallets in the seattle area last week, took them apart and saved the good ones, removed all of the nails, will plane them all to be the same size and sand them... all to create a hardwood floor for our bedroom in cle elum.

we dog-sat for jake's parents in edmonds all last week, and i busied myself by making lined panel curtains for the big window in our bedroom. i used a thermal fabric for the backing, which will help with insulation by keeping the heat in the room during the winter months and keeping the room cool in the summer. it was a fun and challenging learning experience, because i've never made curtains before, let alone a project with tons of fabric.

Christian Fall Camp: Oregon

2011-10-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, Jake and I drove to Carlton, Oregon near the coast and met up with about 25 friends for a weekend camping trip. We called it Christian Fall Camp since the people that came also went to Christian Summer Camp. Some people that weren't able to go to the campout in Colorado were able to come camping last weekend, so we got to see some friends that we haven't seen in a year, namely the Brougher family.

The photo above is of Patricia giving a skill-share on the fermented edibles she made for us to taste (kombucha, sauerkraut and kimchi) as well as all of the dried medicinal and edible wild herbs she harvested in the southwest for us to take and use. Patricia gave me a bunch of herbs last winter, and I didn't use much of them. I buy tinctures every year to use when we get sick, but they're so expensive. This year, however I'm really excited to make my own herbal tinctures this winter with the fresh herbs she gave me this past weekend.

: The kitchen and main campfire :

: Hodges & Jake playing music :

: Olga & Carmen by the river :

It was such a rare and beautiful blessing to see friends twice in six weeks. I especially was blessed to pray with three people the last night about a lot of things going on in Jake and I's hearts and minds. We praise God Almighty for the Church as the Body of Christ.

2nd honeymoon: cannon beach

2011-10-04T11:20:00.001-07:00

: so happy to be back at Cannon Beach! :

: lunch at Pizza a Fetta (the best pizza we've ever had) two days in a row :

: Jake had fun skateboarding at the local skate park :

: multiple evenings spent enjoying the sunset - reading, playing music, making dinner, scaring up the pelicans and seagulls, etc... :

: and of course, playing fetch with challah in the surf :

: our touristy photos with Haystack Rock :

: I walked up onto a cliff while Jake and Challah ran around the rock. Notice Jake carrying Challah in the bottom right of the photo below. Challah almost got swept out to sea. :

: We went exploring in the sea caves one afternoon :

: We found lots of colorful starfish (pink, purple and orange), green sea anemones, barnacles and millions of mussels on the rocks :

: view from a sea cave :

: Jake preparing the fire to make dinner one night (black bean and cheese quesadillas with sauteed onions and orange bell peppers) :

: sun rays at Hug Point Beach :

The last night spent in Cannon Beach, we went up on the highest cliffs (where some kids we met two years ago on our honeymoon built a fire pit and camped) and made a fire and invited a Canadian couple to share dinner with us. We all hung out, watched the sunset, talked about dumpstering in Canada and the ill effects the Vancouver Olympics had on the local people of Vancouver B.C., and then afterwards, we all hiked down the cliffs and drove to the sister pub of Bill's Tavern & Brewhouse and hung out for the rest of the evening. It was a lot of fun making new friends on our last night there.

We miss Montana and Cannon Beach so much already, but we're happy to be back in the Seattle area. We're back staying with Jake's parents, but we'll be heading to Cle Elum this weekend most likely.

2nd honeymoon: montana

2011-10-02T11:35:00.001-07:00

Day 1
: breakfast in Montana :

Day 2
Jake took me to the location of Christian Summer Camp 2007, and we camped there for two nights. We found a Bible from someone who had left it at CSC as well as an elk skeleton. The bones were dry and bleached from the sun from these last four years. We brought the bones home for Jake to carve with.

: smoked salmon and celtic sharp cheddar for lunch :

: afternoon nap and reading time:

Day 3 and 2nd camping spot
: staying cool in the river (95 degrees every day) and making dinner :
: view from our camping spot :

: foil dinners = chopped potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and hot dogs combined with salt, pepper, barbecue sauce and a little water wrapped in foil and set in hot coals to cook for 25 minutes :

: montana sunset :

Day 4
: hike a mile or so up the river to the fishing & swimming hole :

Day 5
: swimming, skipping rocks, reading and playing in the river :

After spending four days in Montana in the 95 degree weather, we got back in the car and drove 10 hours to Portland where we saw our friends Zach, Johnny & Bailey for a night. We got coffee with them the next morning and then drove 1.5 hrs to Cannon Beach, OR where we spent the next 4 days. Look for photos of the rest of our trip soon.

seattle, wa

2011-09-20T16:26:00.001-07:00

: hanging out on the beach in Edmonds after having a salted caramel ice cream date :

: at Fremont Coffee with zach and chris who just visited from Portland :

Well, Jake and I are on our way to the cabin in Montana tomorrow morning at 4:30am. We are so looking forward to the week plus that we'll spend there. We have been starved for time alone and can't wait to finally have some seclusion for awhile. It has been wonderful being back in the Northwest, especially spending time with Jake's family. We're having a birthday celebration for me tonight, and they've been keeping secrets from me lately...apparently I'm going to be really excited about a special gift they all know about. :) Got to go start loading up the car...

john & kimberly's wedding!

2011-09-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

:Seattle friends - Nelson, Cory & Shauna :

John & Raylene Swanger, our old SCUM of the Earth pastors in Seattle

: getting ready to practice... Jake played and I sang "All Creatures of Our God and King" during the ceremony :

: Seattle reunion (minus the groom) in Denver! :

: Keagan giving a toast :

CSC 2011

2011-09-14T17:31:00.001-07:00

Christian Summer Camp was in Colorado this year on a mountain up Guanella Pass. Boy, was it cold up there. Now I know another reason why CSC is normally held in the Pacific Northwest. It's just too chilly at night in the mountains. We had 48 attend this year, and 25 of the group had never been to CSC before, so it was awesome to see so many new faces and make new friends. Two people, Nelson and Laur got baptized this year. Praise the LORD! Jake spoke one night at Chapel and gave part of his testimony as well as speaking about the vitality of obedience to our faith and the relationship between trust and obedience.

: Jake and Adam (our new friend from Indiana) in Georgetown, the little town at the base of Guanella Pass :

: CSC main camp :

: hawkeye using the stencil of the year :

: miss carmen o'brien :

: one of the prayer chapels :

: playing music with John, Nelson and Keagan :

: Adam and Zach served communion before the baptisms :

: Zach and the river :

: Nelson baptized by Jake :

: Laur baptized by Ben and Patricia :

Hallelujah!

denver, co

2011-09-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

: hanging out at the Behemoth house in Denver where our good friend, Marcus Hyde lives :

: new friends, Bailey and Jenny! :

: Johnny, Jake, Zach, Matt, Me, Adam, Jenny, Bailey (friends from Portland, Indy and Seattle) :

new york: keren & daniel

2011-08-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

: sisters! :

: we don't look quite as much like twins anymore, i don't think :

: little sweet basel and keren :

: basel got many kisses from challah during our stay here :

: he really is almost walking by himself! :

: and he is always smiling :

: mama keren and basel :

new york: timon & keely

2011-08-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

: mama keely and her girls :

: timon installed a new baby swing on the apple tree :

: oona loved the new swing :

: our favorite time of the day -- story time :

: i made a crisp with blueberries and local plums and peaches :

: timon and jake brewed a chocolate stout beer :

: happy clio! :

: on our last day with them, we took a hike to the lookout and saw 5 copperhead snakes sleeping by a rock :

: oona, my best pal :

: what a gorgeous day :

cory & shauna!

2011-08-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

: on our way to new york, we stopped in pittsburgh and stayed with cory and shauna from seattle. it was the best reunion! :

cornerstone festival 2011: bushnell, IL

2011-08-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

: hanging out at our camp and skateboarding :

: rusty and ishmael :

: justin helping jake play the banjo :

: andrezj reading :

: jake rebelling by swimming with his cast :

: the girls :

: us with danielle :

life in indianapolis june-august '11

2011-08-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

: above is the house we have been given a room to rent for the last two months. there is a huge yard for challah to run in, 14 laying hens, a cat, rain barrels, compost bins, grey water sinks and a cat named Sadie :

: jake teaches brandon how to skin a squirrel :

: Josh Garrels played a show at Indy Alliance, the church we have been involved with during our stay in Indy :

: our 2nd year wedding anniversary! notice jacob's cast. :

: local meats and cheeses at Goose the Market in Indy :

: at Laughing Planet and SOMA in bloomington with friends :

: old friend Laura and new best friend Adam :

: The Scurvies in Indy :

: 3 Days in Paris, the stand at the farmers market where laura and i work

: Timbre's show at Indy Alliance :

: friends at New Day meadery, where we go every tuesday night. my favorite mead is "Tom Thumb," a local plum honey wine.

: jake skating with his brace :

: this is Ellie, the most fun child in Indy :

: we took her swimming in a rain barrel on a day when it was 120 degrees outside :

finally, an update!!

2011-08-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

as of late, updating this blog has taken a backseat to everything else going on in our life. we will be leaving indianapolis for the northwest at the end of august, so we will begin updating this blog more frequently. we don't have internet service at our house in indy. i do apologize though to those of you who checked-in, hoping to find updated posts and photos. you can find updated photographs with short descriptions on our flickr page.

we are currently in new york for a week, visiting keren, dan and basel, and timon, keely, oona and clio. i've taken lots of photos of our nieces and nephew that i'll upload either today or tomorrow on our flickr page.

as for a quick update on jacob:

his dish-washing accident occured on June 10th, damaging his left wrist and partially severing the nerve that controls his pinky and ring fingers.
his surgery was successful in re-aligning his nerve and repairing his tendon and vein on June 17th.
he wore a soft cast for the three weeks following his surgery.
he wore an arm brace for three weeks and began occupational therapy to strengthen his fingers and muscles in his hand and regain movement in his wrist and fingers.
he is now wearing an anti-claw splint on his hand to protect his pinky and ring fingers from clawing, as well as training them to straighten out again on their own.
everything is going as well as it could be. the surgeon told us to expect months to years before we see any signs of healing of the nerve and regained advanced movement in his fingers.

thank you for your prayers. we wouldn't have true peace or hope without Jesus.

living in Indianapolis, IN

2011-06-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

can you believe it? we're living here for a bit...until the LORD makes it clear to us that it is time to move on. i apologize for not posting sooner. internet access is scarce. here are a couple photos to wet your tastebuds. :) i will post more when i have more time. if you are wondering about jacob and how he is holding up after surgery...he's doing great. he has pain most days but not as strong as before. he has moved from taking vicodin to ibuprofen. hopefully he won't have to take anything soon. he gets his cast off in two weeks and then will most likely start occupational therapy to re-train the tendons in how to function properly.

Upland, IN

2011-06-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

: Jake fishing (above) and one of the many hailstorms (below) :

: Mom & Sam enjoying a campfire in the backyard on a cool evening last week :

: working in the garden!! :

: peonies and irises in bloom :

Jake and I have spent a relaxing two and a half weeks at my mom's house, helping her with chores and eating good food. We are headed on to Indy tomorrow morning with our friend Rusty to visit our friend Laura Poe and other friends. We're also excited to visit Indy Alliance Church on Sunday morning. We love the little cabin in the woods, and I'm sure we'll be back to visit again soon.

walks with my husband

2011-06-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

: we love each other a LOT! :

we have a lot of fun together each day, that's for sure!

time with my dad

2011-06-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

: in front of Grandpa's tree in dad's backyard :

misc Indiana photos

2011-06-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

: cousin Katelin and I with her baby in her belly! :

: four simultaneous games of pyramid solitaire :

: we got pie cherries from Yoders Meat & Cheese in Shipshewana, IN :

All-American Soul Food Buffet

2011-06-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

After a long 14-hr train ride from GR, Jake and I arrived in Elkhart, IN. We chose a direction to walk in, not knowing anything about the town. We intended to find the highway and continue on our trek to Upland to see my mama, but instead we walked upon the All-American Soul Food Buffet and decided to stop and get some good, old-fashioned Midwest breakfast. We had Challah with us of course, so Jake went inside to order to-go while I sat outside with our dog. Not too long after, the owner walks out the front door and tells me that we should come inside and eat and rest up for awhile. I smiled and said, "With our dog too?" "No! She can't come. You'll have to put her out back. Nobody will steal her around here." I could already sense that the owner had a lot of personality. :) We talked about our options for a few minutes and then the owner remembered that there was a little room in the back of the restaurant that had an extra door to divide the restaurant from the room. She offered for us to lay a bed down for Challah in the room, so we gladly did and went inside and sat down at a small table.

Crystal, the only waitress came up to us and sat down two large glasses of fresh orange juice and two large glasses of water, as well as two mugs of hot coffee. "They're on the house, " she said. I smiled and thanked her. The owner, Mama BK, as everyone knows her, came and sat down by us and asked us about our lives, our travels and what we're up to in general. She wore a gold chain around her neck with a gold cross on it. Perhaps she saw that our Bibles were laying out on the table, but somehow she knew or sensed that we love Jesus, because she said to us, "I know that you kids are Christians, and I am blessed to be able to serve you. That's what I have this space for anyhow." Jake and I were so blessed by their generosity and hospitality. We spent the next five hours there, because my mom decided she wanted to drive and pick us up in Elkhart. Mama BK and Crystal were so awesome, showing us the Love of Christ. They were a little weary of getting their photo taken, but it blessed me that they agreed to get a picture taken with us. They told us to be sure and come back for a visit.

grand rapids, mi

2011-06-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

a day after we left GR, kait left for Italy to study drawing for 6 weeks, and rusty went to get a veggie oil system installed in his bus. we'll see rusty tomorrow! and well see kait at Cornerstone festival at the end of June.

grand rapids, mi 2

2011-05-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

: kaitlyn's mom took these two photos of us yesterday morning! :

: packing and preparing to leave GR :

Our time here in GR has been great! For the past two days, Jake got to re-do a roof at our new friend Troy's house where Kait and Sammie will be living this fall. The weather has been awesome -- lots of sun but too hot. We finally got to see our first midwest thunderstorm of the year too!

Jake and I will be heading to my mom's home in Indiana next. We'll be close to Indianapolis, so we'll be visiting our friends there too!

grand rapids, mi

2011-05-10T07:23:00.001-07:00

: making 'Happy Mother's Day' postcards in the sun :

: Kaitlyn and Rusty about to embark on a biking adventure :

: Jake working on building countertops and installing a mini range onto Rusty's bus :

: the finished product! :

: Rusty is a leatherworker (see his Etsy shop here), and I wanted to share the photo below, because it shows his tools and creativity in displaying them for easy access above his sewing table on the bus :

: In the winter, he will use this small wood stove to heat the bus. He still has the stovepipe to install :

Check out Rusty's Etsy page. He is so talented at leatherworking, and he makes the most beautiful and classy hats, bags, journals and other neat items. Today he is making a custom hat for a man in Germany and a dog leash for his neighbor.

Our time here in Grand Rapids has been really good. Jake and I have had many really good and intense conversations with our friends here, spent a lot of hours working (constructing and painting) Rusty's bus, played worship at the HUB church last week, went to see Rusty play two different shows with the two bands he plays with as the drummer as well as 'Soil and The Sun' - a local Grand Rapids Christian band. Rusty has invited us to travel with him on his bus, so we're praying about that possibility.

We may leave this week to go back to Chicago to spend some more quality time with Learning and Jenni and to finish studying Revelation with them. We are still waiting on the Lord and trying to be patient, to hear where He wants us to go next. Thank you for your prayers.

north liberty, iowa

2011-04-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sharon and Mark Lobb, Jenni's parents, invited us to fellowship with them for the weekend while we celebrated Jesus' death and resurrection. All of their kids and kids-in-law were home for the weekend, so it was a very full house filled with joy and relaxation. We played lots of card games, read books, studied Revelation, drank lots of coffee, made four pizzas one night for dinner, played soccer in the backyard and took lots of walks in the woods and around their quiet neighborhood.

One of Sharon's greenhouses...

If you follow the trail below where Jake is sitting, a little ways through the woods, you will come to the huge lake where you can canoe, swim, etc. When we were here for Learning and Jenni's wedding last summer, they made a camp spot in the woods for us and some friends to camp out for the week before the wedding. It was so fun. However, Jake got really sick and we both were completely paranoid about all of the poison ivy around, so we ended up sleeping in the house most of the days of that week.

: Jenni's brother Luke, on the left, just recently built a forge in the backyard and has been making his own skillets and tongs :

: Mark and Sharon with Jenni :

: smokin pipes :

Jenni's youngest brother, Zach just came to know the Lord after being a self-proclaimed Atheist, and he got baptized this past Sunday at Genesis, the Lobb family's church. It was so special to witness Zach giving his testimony and telling the congregation how he wants to serve the Lord with his life now. Also, Zach asked his pastor to hold him under the water for ten seconds to signify the dying of self and resurrecting of new life in Christ. It was a really powerful example.

: Learning taking photos :

Alicia and Tony from the Lobb's church came over for the Indian feast that Sharon prepared on Sunday afternoon, and Jake got to play music with Alicia. It's always a treat for Jake when he gets to play music with someone else.

Learning and Jenni set up their 4x5 camera (about 60 years old) and shot a few Lobb family portraits. They are such beautiful people.

Shredder! Challah's favorite buddy.

chicago, il

2011-04-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

About two months ago, Jenni called us and asked us to pray about coming to Chicago to surprise Learning for his birthday. We saved up some money and took Greyhound out here last friday. We have been here for 10 days so far and think we'll be leaving in the next couple days, heading to Grand Rapids, MI to visit our friends Kait, Rusty and Jake. Our time spent with Learning and Jenni has been so blessed. We have been studying Revelation together and having many great conversations about our faith and what it would be like to live together one day once Learning finishes school at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Since meeting Jenni and re-uniting with Learning right before their wedding last July, they have become two of our closest friends.

We're making beef jerky in the photos above and below. They got a dehydrator for Christmas, so we also made dried mango slices and dried flank steak. The marinade is really simple -- worcestershire, soy sauce, a little curry, a lot of salt, pepper and a little tomato sauce.

Jenni is an intern at the Chicago Weaving School, so she took Jake and I along one afternoon to WeaveSpa, a two hour beginners weaving session. It was so awesome! Jake sat and watched while I wove different colored threads together on a loom. It was really relaxing and exciting to learn a new skill. Jenni has two different looms at her apartment, so I'm going to practice a little tomorrow. I got to take home the piece I created at WeaveSpa, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I may sew it onto something or make a small bag. Any ideas?

I brought along the camera to WeaveSpa but forgot to ask Jake to take some pictures, so I asked him to take a couple while I finished twisting the tassels once we got home.

new Seattle friends

2011-04-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

While we stayed with Jake's family before leaving the state to travel, Darryl and Carl Hung came over one afternoon to bring us some dog food and chocolate because they work for Nestle and get free stuff all the time. Jake and Carl played and sung "Amazing Grace" together which was really special. Thanks for the treats!

clint and caoimhe day!

2011-04-09T22:13:00.001-07:00

Caoimhe didn't know there were any beaches in Seattle, and she loves the water and sand more than just about anything in the world, so Jake and I wanted to plan a short tour to some fun places for her and Clint to see. We drove to Seattle Saturday morning and had breakfast with our friend Nelson at his house, and then we picked up Nick and Matt and drove to Golden Gardens, a large and popular beach. We spent quite a bit of time there, walking, skipping rocks, eating seaweed, etc. It was a really fun time. Caoimhe was just ecstatic to find a beach she and Clint and come to. Sadly the mountains weren't out that day, but it was warm and breezy and definitely worth the trip.

: Chloe had her first experience with a beach that day -- actually with any body of water at all. she loved the seaweed but ate way too much and was sick for the next two days. :

: our little but fiercely strong acrobat :

: from the left, matt, caoimhe, clint, nick, abby, jake, nelson :

: Jake's doing a handstand which I did not know when I took this photo :

_______________________________________________

Afterwards we went to The Locks where the salmon climb the ladders each autumn and where the boats transfer in the locks from Lake Union to Puget Sound. Nelson and Caoimhe were just transfixed on the boats rising and falling with the water. Jake, Nick and Matt entertained themselves on the art installation. :)

: Chloe gets the special treatment since she gets so much colder now with her new haircut :

: at the Lockspot Cafe, our favorite fish & chips place in the city :

We are going to miss our days with Clint and Caoimhe, but we know that we and they are right where God wants us, so we rejoice in the season he gave us to live together, commune together, grow, challenge and be challenged with them and so much more...

Jake and I have learned how to live in community in a way that we've never learned before, and the Lord has taught us many many things through Clint and Caoimhe. God has given Clint a passion to fervently study the commands of Christ, so we got to study the first seven commands of Christ in Matthew 4-6 with them. We will miss our 3x week Bible studies and the ways in which we learned how to comfortably and many times uncomfortable challenge each other.

Clint and Caoimhe are people who, though we don't see eye to eye on some issues superfluous to our foundation in Christ (which are few and far between), we respect deeply and whose faith and love for Jesus Christ has been a tool used by God to bring Jake and I into a deeper relationship with Him.

Bama's memorial

2011-04-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

Jacob's maternal grandmother who he called "Bama" passed on into the hands of Jesus in March, and Michael and Lael held a memorial service in her honor at their home this past weekend. Jake and I went to Edmonds Friday evening to help with last minute preparations and then we stayed until Sunday morning when we returned to Cle Elum. These photos were taken by myself to honor Bama and especially Jake's mother Lael as she put so much prayer and energy into preparing this special time. It was a beautiful service, and I was especially struck by the amount of friends that Michael and Lael have in their life to support them, hold them in prayer, encourage them and keep them accountable. It was beautiful to see how many friends and family surrounded the Grove family on that special day.

: Jake and I played and sang "I'll Fly Away" after the service :

: Bama's obituary, one of her poems and wedding photo pictured with her father :

Jake and I were especially blessed by God that day for many reasons, but one in particular involved Darryl -- the man holding the green napkin. We sat with Darryl and talked about the work God is doing in the three of us, and we all were so encouraged and blessed by the long time spent together in conversation and fellowship. God has affirmed our calling to minister to the traveling and punk sub-cultures, and therefore, we don't get as many opportunities to talk to and encourage middle-class business men and women. It was awesome for both Jake and I to sit with an older man who is very different than us on the outside but who loves Jesus and to hear him ask us questions about what God is doing in our lives in such an intentional and intimate way. We thank and praise God for giving us all such a memorable and encouraging experience.

I was also blessed during the memorial to think back on the times this winter that Jake and I traveled to Bainbridge Island to visit Bama when she was passing. Those times spent with her were very special and blessed me because I realized that I got to have more grandmothers with my husband's family. The realization that my family boundaries have grown exponentially since we've been married has been such a neat thing to expound upon. Jake is doing really well despite the hard fact that has hit him lately that all of his grandparents are deceased. I know this past weekend spent with his family and their friends was a huge blessing to him. We will miss Bama and we know she's in a much better place than we are right now. Thank you God for capturing her heart.

chloe got a haircut!

2011-04-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

it's sunny, warm and snowing here in cle elum! can you believe that? chloe sitting in the window was panting from the HOT sun shining in.

: doesn't she look like a little deer? caoimhe thinks she resembles her goat kid that she raised from birth :

: chloe's haircut is growing on us but we really miss her cute fluffy fur! :

she is still just as sweet and affectionate as ever before though, so jake and i can't be too sad.

learning about my filthy pride and becoming a beloved daughter of God

2011-03-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

the LORD is teaching me a LOT about my pride - and it hurts a LOT. however, there is great JOY to be found as well in this process of learning how to be selfless like Christ and serve others more than myself.

we had a house meeting tonight and sorted out many issues that have been circulating between us all for a few weeks. when faced with constructive criticism about myself, i reacted with defensiveness 10 times out of 10 and finally confessed that I know exactly what my biggest shortcoming is these days -- my pride. and the disgusting thing about pride is that I want to hang on to it. I want my rights, but I continually come back to the Truth and have to admit that what I want more is to be completely stripped of my pride and instead be filled with the humility and love of Christ. i brought up an issue that the community I lived in and was a part of for two years in college dealt with -- that of encouragement versus criticism. when people only tell others what they're doing wrong and just keep to themselves any thoughts of appreciation or thankfulness towards that person, then that person begins to lose trust in that person whenever they do show their appreciation. we began to talk about what it means to encourage each other in the character qualities of Christ, and i realized how similar it is to when Jake and I have a fight. let me explain...

when Jake and I have a fight, in order to stay mad, we have to keep any affection from each other because we both know that when we reach out and touch even one finger to the other, than all of our hardheartedness and anger will dissipate because we're showing love and care instead of continuing to withhold it. it works the same way with encouraging someone when you notice something they're doing that's blessing you or someone else, even though you know that when you do, any previous feelings of bitterness, anger or jealousy will dissipate because you have made a decision to show them that you do notice and appreciate when they act certain ways or do certain things. my pride gets in the way when I choose not to tell someone that i appreciate them just so I can stay mad, fooling myself into thinking that my right to stay mad will make me feel better and happier than if I reach out and encourage someone else.

it all comes down to me not fully accepting and living into my belovedness as a daughter of God. I tell so many women how they are God's favorite daughter, beloved and precious. and when I am filled with the Holy Spirit to share something beautiful like that with someone, it's easier for me to believe it about myself as well. as I meditate on God's Word and the Truth that is found in the teachings of Jesus, I begin the process of fully accepting and living into the truth that I am also a precious, beloved and beautiful daughter of God.

Jake was given Henri Nouwen's Life of the Beloved for his birthday last week, and we've both been engrossed in it since we started reading it. Nouwen writes to a friend who requested that Nouwen write "about the deepest yearning of our hearts, about our many wishes, about hope; not about the many strategies for survival, but about trust; not about new methods of satisfying our emotional needs, but about love. Speak to us about a vision larger than our changing perspectives and about a voice deeper than the clamorings of our mass media. Yes, speak to us about something or someone greater than ourselves. Speak to us about God" (22-23). the titles of this book speak for themselves: "Being the Beloved," "Becoming the Beloved" and "Living as the Beloved". this simple and short book is packed full of truth aligned with Biblical teaching. I suggest that you find yourself a copy as soon as possible.

and remember that you are a precious, beautiful and beloved child of God.

love, abby

cowen park

2011-03-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

: we love Matt's laugh :

: playing on the baby swings, what else? :

after spending the weekend with Jacob's parents for a triple birthday celebration, we hung out with Matt and Nick in Seattle for a couple hours this afternoon. here are some fun depictions of our time spent at Cowen Park in the U-district. our time with them is precious, because Matt is leaving for Peru soon and Nick will be leaving to go traveling with his brother soon after we will in April.

blizzard in cle elum!

2011-03-07T08:50:00.001-08:00

well, we finally got the snow that continued to hit the northeast coast last week! in 12 hrs, we got 1.5ft of snow and then another 2 ft in the next 24 hrs. it was a fun 2 days, watching the snow fall out the windows and cover everything in a thick blanket of white flakes. and of course, jake went snowboarding. ;) the photo above is taken from the back door, showing the snow and our compost bucket. and below is "white noise," the little toyota that has been so faithful.

: out front is a truck we're borrowing :

: challah and chloe trying their best to run through 3.5 ft of snow :

the weather is warming up once again, so this snow may only last a week or two. it's already begun to melt. :( at least my husband has got in 4 snowboard runs this last week. he's going to have go clear off the skate ramps at the nearby park so that he can get his energy out if winter is really going to go this time.

mama taylor visits!

2011-03-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

mom came out to seattle for a week to visit us and my brother, josh and our nephew, teague. teague had a week off for Winter Break, so we got to spend a whole week of "vacation" together at josh's house in Ballard. it was really wonderful, and teague was so happy to have more of his family around. jake and i also visited his parents for a few days, saw his cousins and visited his grandmother on Bainbridge Island who just recently passed away.

the first day mom was here, jake and i took her to Discovery Park to walk around, see the mountains and re-visit the place of our wedding.

: it was really windy :

it's really special for jake to get to play music with my mom. it seems that when we're together, both mom and jake expect that they will play music at some point and possibly even multiple times. i grew up listening to mom lead worship at Open Door Fellowship in Indiana, and when we left that church she took time to play the guitar and piano at home. we would regularly sing worship songs together, acapella or with me playing the piano and she playing the guitar. i'm blessed that my husband can share this special time with my mom too.

teague has been taking piano lessons, so josh just recently bought this keyboard for teague to practice more regularly on. we listened to teague practice, but mom also took opportunities to play duets with teague as well as to play along with jake.

i know teague will really miss having his grandma around. she read him quite a few chapters of The Five Little Peppers, played hot dice, took care of him when he was sick, told him stories of her childhood before bed and watched old movies like Pollyanna and Old Yeller during the week she was here.

we're all going to miss you grandma becky. hopefully it won't be too long before we see you again.

jake's hilarious snowboarding jump

2011-03-04T23:39:00.000-08:00

jake wanted me to go film his 360 jumps in Roslyn a couple days ago while our snow was still around, but alas, he didn't land any 360s like he had the day before. i did film this entertaining fall though that we can all get a good laugh from.

our first kombucha!

2011-02-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

about one month ago, jake and i made our first batch of kombucha together! this is a drink that we used to spend a fair bit of money on, and now we can have a free and endless supply for our own consumption and to share with others. we introduced the healthy, fermented drink to clint and caoimhe and clint is now a convert to regular kombucha consumption.

kombucha has many health benefits, which is the main reason why it is sought after in health food stores. it also has a delicious taste, influenced by the type of tea used, is tangy and slightly carbonated because of the fermentation process. "one of the major health benefits of kombucha tea is its detoxification properties. the tea is rich in bacterial acids and enzymes that the body produces and uses to cleanse and detoxify itself, thus helping reduce the stress on the pancreas and easing the load on one’s liver. kombucha tea is also rich in Glucaric acid which has been reported to help prevent certain cancers. the detoxifying properties of kombucha tea help ensure that the body’s systems will function properly and efficiently. correspondingly, when all body systems are running perfectly, energy levels will also increase significantly." i found that quote here.

so far we've made two different kinds (Peach Black and Early Grey Black), and a third kind (Vanilla Cinnamon Black) is presently brewing. we really like the peach brewed at 10 days, and the earl grey was good but not strong enough so we need to brew it for an extra day next round and/or maybe add a sixth tea bag when steeping the tea. and making a batch with the vanilla cinnamon black tea was a risk for us, because it doesn't sound that delicious... it just sounds... interesting. but we'll let you know how it turns out next week.

: the photo below features the two kombucha "scoby" or "mothers" as avid kombucha consumers call them. these are the mushrooms that grow from feeding on the sugar that is mixed in with the steeped black tea at the beginning stages ". the mothers can grow to be a few inches thick, so you can simply peel off a layer or cut off a section and give it to a friend to help them start their own batch of booch. :

if you're interested in making your own kombucha, start out by buying a bottle of GT's Synergy Kombucha or another organic raw kombucha bottle. find yourself a large glass jar, a square piece of cloth and a rubber band or piece of twine to cover the jar with (do not cap the jar with a lid while fermenting, because it needs to breathe but still needs to be covered so as not to be contaminated with dust, ashes or bacteria). fill a large pot with 12 c (3 litres) of water, bring to a boil and then remove from heat. add five tea bags (black or green varieties are the best. it is controversial as to whether herbal tea creates the same medicinal effects or not) and steep for 15 minutes. add 1 cup of refined white sugar (evaporated cane juice sugar is what we've used) and stir until dissolved. when tea is lukewarm and cool to touch, pour into large glass jar along with the jar of purchased raw kombucha. top jar with cloth and twine and set in a dark, warm (70 degrees) place where it won't need to get moved. let it set for at least 10 days (GTs ferments for 30 days), take jar from shelf, pour liquid into a large measuring cup or something used for pouring and pour into individual bottles. make sure a leave at least 10% of the liquid in the jar for the scoby to stay covered in. steep another batch of tea after you've tasted the kombucha to see if it's to your liking. you may want to add another tea bag or let it ferment for more days. put the individual bottles in the fridge and set the large jar with the scoby back on your shelf.

our valentines day

2011-02-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

jake and i hardly go out to eat anymore, so making breakfast, lunch and dinner together is a regular part of our days. however, on monday night clint and caoimhe went out on a valentines date and let us know that we would have the house to ourselves -- something we cherish. we don't celebrate many holidays, but we definitely took this opportunity to do something special together. so we went to the grocery store and splurged a little on ingredients for a special meal. jake wanted to prepare it all since i'm normally in charge of dinner prep for the four of us during the week. it was so nice to have a break from cooking, even though i love it, so i sat on the couch and read for an hour while he hummed in the kitchen and came in regularly to check on me. i went into the kitchen to find lit candles on the table, fancy stemware, and a beautiful spread of baked salmon with fresh dill, garlic and olive oil, steamed broccoli and stir-fried leeks and mushrooms. i could only eat about half of my serving, so we're going to share it for lunch today. :) afterwards we played music together and then went out for ice cream at the local diner. it was a really nice evening, to say the least.

did you know that Saint Valentine was a part of the underground church in his day, officiating Christian weddings? jake told me this bit of info during our homemade valentines dinner on monday, so i wanted to look it up and see what else i could find. i found this here:

"The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. [Additional evidence that Valentine was a real person: archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine.] Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth [Claudius II]. Since he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome [when helping them was considered a crime], Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner -- until Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn't do it, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate [circa 269]."

bread extravaganza

2011-02-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

i have been doing a lot of baking lately, and i'm loving it as usual. my biggest baking kick as of late has been with bread. i've been growing more and more convicted, since we've been in one place for a few months now, to make as much as i can of what i would normally buy at a store. that involves food (kombucha, sourdough, hummus, tahini, bread, cookies, cream of mushroom soup for casserole dishes, etc) but i also want to carry that principle into all other areas of my life. for instance, we have pretty much stopped buying clothes except when we desperately need something to replace an article of clothing that has fallen apart. also, i don't want to support any more companies, even the ones trying to make good products, that make disposable pads and tampons. instead, i made myself my first reusable cloth pocket pads (created mainly out of quilters flannel) that i can wash and dry myself and use until they too fall apart. i still have to buy or find fabric for this project, but i'd rather do that than spend all the money buying organic, dye-free tampons and then throw up to 10 pads or tampons into a landfill every month. all that to say, i've been excited about making lots of different kinds of bread lately, so here are a few photos of my first attempts at some new recipes from my favorite bread book, the Tassajara Bread Book.

: these beautiful loaves are made from the traditional Tassajara Yeasted Bread Recipe :

remember to turn the oven on when you put the bread in to bake, because if you don't, your bread will continue to rise and overflow over the pans and then will sink when you open the oven door to clean up the mess and then turn the oven on (this was my experience baking my second batch of this recipe)

here are my first Challah bread loaves. they turned out beautifully but HUGE. if you use the egg bread recipe in the Tassajara book to make Challah, then make four smaller braided loaves instead of two really large loaves. i had to bake these in giant baking dishes, and even then they bunched up against the sides of the pan so that the edges of the loaves are flat instead of round.

: we couldn't figure out how to follow the 6-braid directions, so jake had the brilliant idea of taking three groups of two strands and braiding them together, so it gives the appearance of a 6-braided loaf :

homemade bread is so much tastier then any store bought bread, and you get to learn how to create something so beautiful with your own hands instead of wondering how the "artisan breads" in the grocery store were made so nicely. making your own bread is really quite time consuming so i recommend spending a day or two making four or five loaves and then freezing them until you need them next. just let the loaf thaw in the bag on a counter and then slice and use like normal.

our new waffle iron!

2011-02-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

i know, i know... we're using electricity in this photo, but hopefully soon we'll try it out on the wood stove. we found this cast iron treasure at the Goodwill in Ellensburg, WA for $3.00. there is a dial on each side with an arrow that slowly moves from "cold" to "hot" as each side warms up on the stove or electric burner. the waffles each take about 2-3 minutes to completely cook, so we now have been enjoying waffles again.

: i like homemade raspberry freezer jam, unsalted almond butter and virgin coconut oil on my waffles, but sometimes i just want butter and pure maple syrup instead :) :

here's our favorite waffle recipe so far:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 egg whites

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.
In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly. Stir in milk and oil.
Add egg yolk mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (should be lumpy).
In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up).
Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, Do not overmix.
Spoon waffle batter into your waffle iron, making sure not to overfill it.

sour cream pancakes

2011-02-16T10:36:00.000-08:00

really fluffy and moist with only a few ingredients! our friend lindsey told us about her favorite sour cream pancake recipe, so we tried it out yesterday for breakfast. we also made hashbrowns and eggs from our friends' farm.
here's the recipe - courtesy of the smitten kitchen blog:

Edna Mae’s Sour Cream Pancakes

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ree says this makes 12 4-inch pancakes; I got 8 that were closer to 5 inches

7 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/ 2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream (I swapped some with yogurt when I realized I was short, to no ill-effect)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter
Maple syrup

Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat; you want it to slowly get nice and hot.

Stir the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in the bottom of a medium bowl. Dump the sour cream in on top and stir it together very gently; it’s okay to leave the texture a bit uneven. Whisk the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl and stir them into the sour cream mixture, once again, being careful not to overmix.

Melt about a tablespoon of butter in your skillet or griddle and pour the batter in, a scant 1/4 cup at a time. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, or until bubbles appear all over the surface, flipping them carefully and cooking for about a minute on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve in a stack, topped with a pat of butter and a cascade of real maple syrup.

another of jake's creations

2011-02-16T10:31:00.000-08:00

my brother, Timon needed a handle or knob for his jeep's shifter, so jake dumpstered a knob and whittled it down to size to fit the shaft of the shifter. hopefully we'll get it mailed out to him shortly.

he also sewed a scrap of leather together to fit around the naked shaft. i like what my husband thinks of to make. :)

stencils : made by jacob grove

2011-02-02T10:06:00.001-08:00

please disregard the dirty snow behind jake and clint. sadly, we still haven't gotten any more winter weather.

jake has spent the last couple weeks making these stencils: a hobo roasting some sausages with his dog (featured on jake's snowboard), a skull and atomic blast combination, Christ with a crown of thorns (featured on the bottom of clint's board as well as the next one), and Christ laughing. clint and jake had some bonding time painting their boards to make them look brand new and then painting on the stencils.

: i love this one of them laughing :

i recently finished making a stencil of a Native American arrow, and i'm excited to use it on something soon. stencils are a neat medium because they're not too difficult to make and you can reuse them on many different materials (make patches, decorate a snowboard, etc).

jake's newest creations!

2011-02-01T16:12:00.000-08:00

I got a hardback Bible (NLT) for Christmas from Jake's parents, and Jake transformed it for me, making it more durable and full of owl feather bookmarks! the leather patch on the front is hand painted by our friend Kait from Grand Rapids. thanks kaitlyn!

: didn't he do a nice job on the stitching? :

: Jake made this bookcase for me for our bedroom out of reclaimed materials :

: and we made this bookcase together one evening for the kitchen area :

: i love my husband and how crafty and creative he is :

our videos on vimeo

2011-01-29T10:05:00.001-08:00

hi all,

jake and i recently uploaded some of our videos to Vimeo for your viewing pleasure. you can find them at vimeo.com/abigaildeon. enjoy!

abby

Chloe and Challah

2011-01-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

This is Chloe, a miniature pomeranian. Challah is the only dog that Chloe regularly plays with, so Chloe naturally has taken on pitbull mannerisms. They both lay with their legs spread out like a frog, and Chloe has learned how to play rough like Challah too. they have a lot of fun together, but as you can imagine, Challah gets tired quickly of Chloe's puppy behavior and sharp baby teeth. Jake and I have really grown to love Chloe though, despite our dislike for small dogs.

snowboarding ...

2011-01-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

it hasn't snowed for over a week in cle elum. instead, it has rained a lot and been sunny a couple days here and there. unfortunately, that means that the majority of the snow has melted. jake whines a little every day and we both are hoping for more snow soon. we were recently informed that the winter here usually lasts until May, so that gives us hope. here are some snow photos that we like to look at while we're sulking. ;)

"The Shack" by WM. Paul Young

2011-01-20T10:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I read "The Shack" for the second time, spending about six hours of my day fully engrossed in the imaginative fiction involving one man's encounter with the Triune God. Jake is going to begin reading it today hopefully, though for the first time. It was published in 2007 and quickly printed more than seven million copies and became the #1 NY Times Bestseller. Its quick success compelled me not to read it unfortunately, so it was a year later before I finally changed my mind.

When I read it in 2008 as a sophomore at Seattle Pacific University, I remember being in the height of my Christian feminist ideologies, so I was captivated by God, also known as Papa being portrayed as a large African American woman. This idea for the first time blew my view of God out of the water, my view caused by cultural conditioning that God could only be a male and certainly not any ethnicity but Caucasian. "The Shack" presents Jesus as a Middle Eastern male and the Holy Spirit, known as Sarayu (which means "a common wind") is described by the protagonist as being a female of northern Chinese, Nepalese or Mongolian descent. As I have been delving into the Word this past year and a half, I have found more truth about God's gender, with the help of the Holy Spirit. "The Shack" also speaks to this truth, which I found again while reading yesterday. To quote:

" 'I think it'd be easier to have this conversation if you weren't wearing a dress,' he suggested and attempted a smile, as weak as it was. 'If it were easier, then I wouldn't be,' she said with a slight giggle. 'I'm not trying to make this harder for either of us. But this is a good place to start. I often find that getting head issues out of the way first makes the heart stuff easier to work on later...when you're ready.' She again picked up the wooden spoon, which was dripping with some sort of batter. 'Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature. If I choose to appear to you as a woman and suggest that you call me Papa is simply to mix metaphors, to help you keep from falling so easily back into your religious conditioning.' She leaned forward as if to share a secret. 'To reveal myself to you as a very large, white grandfather figure with a flowing beard, like Gandalf, would simply reinforce your religious stereotypes, and this weekend is not about reinforcing your religious stereotypes.' ... She looked at Mack intently. 'Hasn't it always been a problem for you to embrace me as your Father? And after what you've been through, you couldn't very well handle a father right now, could you?' 'But then' -- he paused, still focused on staying rational -- 'why is there such an emphasis on you being a Father? I mean, it seems to be the way you most reveal yourself.' 'Well,' responded Papa, turning away from him and bustling around the kitchen, 'there are many reasons for that, and some of them go very deep. Let me say for now that we knew once the creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed -- but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence. (p. 95-96) ' "

God reveals himself to Mack as a male father figure on page 223 at the end of the book after Mack forgives his own earthly father. " 'I understand Mackenzie. We are coming full circle. Forgiving your dad yesterday was a significant part of your being able to know me as a Father today. You don't need to explain any further.' "

A thought that just came to me in my processing about God's gender over the years. My parents divorced when I was three years old, and I lived with my mother and made visits to see my dad every other week. Because I had a mother who was very present in my life but had a father who wasn't as present due to the circumstances, it makes sense that I would have looked for God more as a father in my own relationship with Him. I remember in 2008, in my Christian Theology class with Priscilla Pope-Levison, coming full circle in my heart and realizing my need for God to be as He is truly, both male and female in spirit in my life. Priscilla helped me to recognize that need. After taking her class, I asked her to be my advisor and we quickly became good friends. I will always be thankful to God for using her to stir up thoughts in my mind and heart during those last three college years.

our friend shauna

2011-01-17T11:48:00.000-08:00

do you remember our blog post over the summer about being immensely blessed by God through a woman who bought us food and conspired with her friends and family to pay our way to New York from Roseville, CA via Amtrak? our memories of Shauna and her generosity will stay with us always. we have continued to keep in touch with her, and she just recently sent us her family's Christmas photo. we want to remember Shauna and praise God for His hand on our lives.

kait's finished drawings

2011-01-17T11:46:00.001-08:00

these are the finished copies!

we dislike cars :(

2011-01-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

jake was driving home from work on the country roads and stopped when he noticed an owl lying dead on the side of the road. mournfully, he picked it up and brought it home. he told me to come out to the wood shop, and i gasped when i saw the owl. i've never gotten to touch owl feathers or their talons; it was quite the experience. we both felt a sense of awe and reverence for God, our Creator who could make an animal so intricately beautiful.

we debated about what to do with the bird. jake was convinced for a couple hours that we would learn more about taxidermy, but we eventually decided against that.

jake insisted on not wasting the meat, so i looked up game bird recipes, and we roasted an owl for dinner. i stuffed it with yams and onions and rubbed it with olive oil, fresh thyme, dried rosemary and garlic powder. it was about 18 degrees outside, so the owl's flesh was naturally preserved. it was a sober process for me to hold the freshly skinned owl, picking off every bit of down left on its flesh, knowing that it was providing a dinner meal for the four of us that night.

we saved all of its wing and tail feathers, as well as its feet and the teeth of the two mice found whole inside its stomach. jake used three of the down feathers to make bookmarks for my new Bible. he wrapped the ends with artificial sinew and sewed them into the Bible's binding.

jake already skinned an opossum since we've been here. we hope we aren't so lucky as to find more roadkill this winter. it's a sobering process to be sure.

jake and abby go to seattle

2011-01-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

this past Sunday, jake and i traveled once again over the pass to Seattle. we drove up to Lake Stevens where his paternal grandmother's memorial service was being held. jake played his banjo for thirty minutes during the prelude while i passed out programs and manned the guest book. it was a beautiful service, and all of jake's uncles were there including the one that is living and doing ministry in bangkok, thailand with his family. jake also got to see his favorite cousin, Glen who he hasn't seen in quite a few years. and i met many of the extended family for the first time, since i was incapacitated during our wedding reception.

afterwards, we went to seattle to visit with our friends Mike and Kelly Langford and their two children (and one on the way!) Hannah and Seth. we have featured these two darling children in our blog many times already, but we love to show you how they've grown. Hannah is really into "dress up" right now, and Seth is talking a mile-a-minute. seth couldn't talk when jake and i saw them last, so this was an exciting development.

the flash was too bright, but you get the picture... we had a really fun time seeing them again. :)

annual Grove Christmas party

2011-01-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

each year, the Grove family communes at Jake's parents' home for a party to celebrate Jesus' birth and the growth of their family. everyone brings an hors d'oeuvre and sparkling apple cider; we have a very silly white elephant gift exchange, and at the end we pass around Lael's famous rum cake complete with three tapered red lit candles and say what we are thankful for from that year. this is a particularly very special time. we always look forward to what Aunt Carolyn will have to say, because she is very kind and thoughtful, and she always brings the focus to what the Lord has been showing her and growing in her.

kait's drawing of us

2011-01-04T22:28:00.001-08:00

when jake and i were in grand rapids, michigan over the summer, kait was taking a class at Kendall College of Art & Design on how to re-create a photograph in drawing form. she decided to photograph us in her apartment, and this is one of the final drafts of her piece. isn't it grand?!

thanks kaitlyn, because we'll always have this memory with you.

kait comes to cle elum!

2011-01-04T21:54:00.001-08:00

our good friend kaitlyn otto from grand rapids, michigan came to visit us a couple weeks before Christmas. she stayed for six days, and we got to show her around our new home and around seattle as well. she helped us with our daily tasks; we drank and a lot of herbal tea while sitting around the wood stove and made delicious meals together.

: unburying seasoned wood and loading it into the truck:

: the beginnings of our snowman :

: this piece of art last about 8 hours and then melted away with the afternoon and evening rainfall :

: friendly Tonka from next door and Tiffany, a young neighbor :

kait is an artist through and through. she goes to Kendall College of Art & Design in Grand Rapids where she studies drawing. here, she is creating an address book for a friend, drawn with a calligraphy pen. it was fun to watch her draw the detailed letters each day, and the finished product is beautiful.

: this is a drawing that kait did of our friend rusty for one of her finals at school last semester :

: we miss her! :

: it snowed a lot while she was visiting, so we spent a good amount of time playing outside :

: digging his snow cave! :

we spent one whole day in seattle, showing kait some of our favorite spots. we took her to Kerry Park (shown below), Gas Works Park, Golden Gardens Park, Chocolati Cafe, Mishima Sushi, to see the Troll on Troll Avenue as well as to visit our good friend Jeffery O'Neill who is back in Seattle for the year. thankfully, for her sake, it was beautiful and sunny in seattle that day.

we love you kaitlyn.

the beginnings of our life in cle elum

2010-12-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

: The Dunn household where we will be living for the next few months :

: notice the many Irish symbols inspired by Caoimhe and the snow! :

this house resides behind the house we all live in, but in the spring the smaller house will be lifted up and moved over, and a room will be built to connect the two houses. when the construction is completed, the house will have 9 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a large library. notice the small rock wall and rope ladder that clint installed. he is an avid rock climber.

: this is David, Clint's son :

: and Clara, Clint's daughter -- we get to see them about once or twice each week, and we've really enjoyed befriending them both :

: working on a puzzle by the wood stove! :

the next few photos are of the reconstruction of the bedroom we are sleeping in. when we first saw the room, it was painted with a mural by one of Clint's sisters for David and Clara when they were much younger. they outgrew the mural and didn't mind if we gave the walls a makeover. we found some paint in the closet matching the walls in the kitchen, so we went to work with our friend Kait while she was visiting us for a week.

: makeover 1 with my new vintage apron from Patricia :

: makeover 2 with my photos, candles and books -- my husband built me beautiful oak shelves for my books :

: I made a camera case last week out of deer hide from Tandy Leather in Grand Rapids, MI and used raccoon fur that Jake tanned last year as the lining :

: the next three photos were taken on one of our drives to Seattle across the mountain pass of the Cascade mountains that Cle Elum is nestled within :

: on the left is the nearest ski resort :

: my favorite part of the 2 hour drive between Cle Elum and Seattle is the trees blanketed in freshly fallen snow :

Jake checks the weather nearly every day in hopes for new snowfall. :)

Mando and Hodges in Cle Elum

2010-12-31T22:51:00.001-08:00

: views from the hill we ride on that's down the street from Clint and Caoimhe's house :

Jake and I have really gotten into snowboarding since we've been in Cle Elum, so naturally we took Mando and Hodges. Mando had never been before just like I hadn't, but Hodges had snowboarded a lot as a youth. We all had a lot of fun.

I borrowed my sister-in-law's board and boots for the winter, so I've been practicing with Jake a few times each week. I'm having a lot of fun and getting into shape again. It's amazing how snowboarding really works your body, not to mention hiking up hills after riding down. Jake's a good and patient teacher, so we're enjoying spending these times together each week.

: Challah at the bottom of the hill :

: a joyous Hodges after his first ride in a long time :

Mando and Hodges traveled together this past year in similar ways that Jake and I traveled. We're hoping that both of them come back for another visit but for longer this time! :)

Mando and Hodges in Seattle

2010-12-31T22:16:00.000-08:00

while we were in Seattle, our friends Mando and Hodges traveled into town to hitch a ride with us back to Cle Elum to spend some time with us and Clint and Caoimhe. one sunny day, we met up with our friend Ryan, and the four of us went out to breakfast at the Hudson Cafe and then spent the afternoon at Discovery Park. we showed them where Jake and I got married and hiked down the bluffs to the beach.

: Mando and Ryan, talking on the drift wood pile :

: Mando and Jake :

Jake and I have brought many friends to this particular beach front when we have given tours of Seattle. Hodges had never been to the Pacific Northwest before, so he had a lot of firsts with our tour. :)

back to the pacific northwest!

2010-12-31T15:13:00.001-08:00

hi friends and family! i apologize for the lack of posting for these last two months. a lot of change has happened for jake and i, so there hasn't been a lot of time to post, and our computer was extra slow, making it frustrating to upload photos. but with new RAM for my laptop, i'm all set to post regularly to the blog again!

Jake and I spent a week in Chicago in October with our friends Learning and Jenni who are newly married and headed back west via the highline. Jake wrote a detailed story of our trip on the train. If you would like to read it, let us know and we'll email you a copy.
We arrived in Wenatchee, WA on October 29th where Clint and Caoimhe picked us up and drove us to their home where we will be staying for the winter in South Cle Elum, WA.

We spent the 30th and 31st in Cle Elum with Clint, Caoimhe and our friends Nick and Matt. On the night of the 31st, when most people were celebrating Halloween, the six of us sat together and talked about the history of Samhain [pronounced 'Sow-en'] (what people in the West know as Halloween), read Scripture, sang worship songs and prayed together for those who were participating in something seemingly innocent but instead were being deceived by Satan on that particular night. In this last year, Jake and I have paid special attention to traditional holidays, studying them in depth to find out if they are traditions that we want to be present in our family that we've started together. Samhain started with the Irish Druids. To find out details about Samhain, check out http://www.suite101.com/content/history-of-samhain-and-its-influence-on-modern-halloween-customs-a264402
If you want to ask us any questions about why we don't celebrate Halloween, feel free to email us or give us a call.

Later that evening, we drove to Seattle and stayed with Jake's parents for a week to visit and collect our things that we would want in Cle Elum for the winter. The two photos above are of Jake skating at the Edmonds skate park by his parents house. We got here for the very last week of sunshine in Seattle, thankfully.

chicago, il

2010-10-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

well, Jacob and I are back in Chicago for a couple days visiting our dear friends Learning and Jenni Ross. we will be here until Sunday and then are getting a rideshare to La Crosse, WI where we will then hopefully catch the highline train back to Seattle.

until then,

Abigail and Jacob

pound ridge, ny and new york city, ny

2010-10-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

When our Greyhound bus arrived in Manhattan, Jake and I took the public commuter train up to Pound Ridge where Timon and Keely just bought a homestead from the 1800s. We stayed with them while we were in New York. Our stay there was very restful and peaceful. We got to cook many meals for our family, and I got to bake lots of yummy goodies (earl grey chocolate chip cookies and apple cinnamon maple pecan scones). We also got to know our niece Oona a lot better. We became fast friends. Jake got to do some yard work for Timon, and he even carved a door handle for Oona's playhouse.

: Challah's new friend - a toad from the woods :

: the woods behind Timon's house is actually a 5,000 acre state park with 40 miles of trails, hundreds of man made rock walls and huge rock formations :

: view of the reservoir from the ridge by Timon and Keely's home :

: the first night spent at Ti and Keely's, Jake and I made three gourmet pizzas (my favorite had eggplant and goat cheese) and cheesy herb bread sticks for us four and Oona :

: Grandma Becky pushing Oona on her new swing :

: Honey Hollow Homestead - Timon, Keely and Oona's new home where Betsy Boone and her husband (a direct descendant of Daniel Boone) lived previously :

: Jake and I camped in Timon's four season Moss tent in the backyard while we stayed there :

: the rock wall where Oona spends most of her time playing :

: Oona's grass soup :

_____________________________

I took the commuter train back into Manhattan to spend a day and a half with my sister and meet my new nephew Basel Scott Baltzer (pronounced Bahzol) who is 3 weeks old now. The following weekend was the baby naming ceremony, so we met at my sister's house with 15 or so of their friends, and my parents and step-parents came out for the event also.

: Uncle Jake holds Basel :

: while staying at Timon's, Jake finished whittling and staining his first chess set! this set is a gift for our friends Learning and Jenni in Chicago. :

syracuse, ny

2010-10-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

Justin left us in Indiana to get a ride to New Jersey, so Jake and I decided to ride a train from Indianapolis. We had hopes of getting to NJ as well, but we ended up in Syracuse, NY - about 3 hours away from NYC. We tried for four days to catch a train out of Syracuse but again God had other plans for us. We took my first Greyhound bus into New York City and arrived safely five days before the baby naming ceremony.

: the chess set is almost finished! :

upland, in

2010-10-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

: wildflowers in October :

: Jake worked on a few projects for my mom while we stayed with her - one being topping the evergreen tree in the circle drive :

Two different afternoons, we drove over to the 1812 battlegrounds where the annual 1812 festival takes place in Marion, IN. We made campfires, played music and watched the stars against the black night sky. My step-father, Sam has reenacted as a "trapper" at the 1812 festival for nearly 20 years. Then my mom married Sam, she began camping with him each year. This involves wearing and living with 1800s period-only clothing and goods. The festival was set to take place the following weekend, so since we knew we would miss it we went to the site to hang out by the river while we were in town.

: Jake whittling chess pieces :

: My 2nd cousin Logahn and our Grams at the camp on the Mississinewa river :

: Mom and Sam :

We only stayed in Upland for about four days this time, because we needed to continue east to see our new nephew, Basel and attend his baby naming ceremony in NYC.

grand rapids, mi

2010-10-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

Above - The Soil and The Sun playing at Plan B at GR's annual Art Prize convention

Below - Jake and Rusty busking with a bluegrass banjo player at GR's farmer's market

: slingshot practice at the creek :

: Rusty, our leatherman friend makes awesome hats like the steam punk one I'm wearing in the photo below :

Jacob and I did not intend to go North since we were trying to get East to see my sister's new bab boy, Basel Scott. God had other plans though. We arrived in GR at a crucial time in our friends' relationship when they needed some relationship counseling and prayer. The time we spent with them was a blessing for us and for them as we got to spend many hours talking intentionally and praying together. After spending four or five days in GR with our friends, we hitch hiked south to Indiana to visit my parents and for Justin to get a ride to NJ from Indianapolis.

chicago, il

2010-10-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Even though arriving in Chicago was a surprise, we were excited to spend time with our friend Learning who goes to the Chicago Art Institute and lives in the Pilson neighborhood with his wife Jenni. Above - we waited in a park for him to get out of school when we got into town.

: Sunshine faces at Learning and Jenni's apt :

we stayed in Chi-town for four or five days with Learning while his wife Jenni was in Ethiopia and Morocco shooting some photographs for an orphanage. then, we continued on to Grand Rapids, MI by train.

kansas city, mo - canning vegan ketchup

2010-10-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

: Laura and I got our first canning experience while Jake and I were passing through KC in September. Laura made her vegan ketchup recipe, and we also canned tomatoes that we picked up from the farmer's market. :

We stayed in Kansas City for three days and then we, along with our friend Justin headed east towards New York. We intended to take a train to Atlanta, GA where Justin's family lives, but our train wound up in Chicago instead. Traveling like we do requires a flexible spirit, so we have to learn how to roll with whatever changes God throws into our "plans". This also means that we are constantly learning more about patience as our plans change day-to-day.

kansas city, mo

2010-10-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Above - Deep fried night at Laura's vegan kitchen, featuring stuffed squash blossoms with cashew cheese, fried okra, jalapeno poppers and hush puppies.

Below - Seth and Dean found a sweet kitten abandoned at the church doorstep next door.

: Jake, Justin and Neil waiting at Union station :

denver, co

2010-10-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Jacob and I got a ride with our friend Laura all the way from Fresno, CA to Kansas City, MO. We stopped in denver for one night on our way back to visit our friends who didn't get to make it to CSC this year. This photo was taken of Challah after our buddy Joel put "REI adventure dog" booties on her.

last night at CSC

2010-10-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

The last evening of Christian Summer Camp was spent around the campfire, reading Scripture and praising God through singing and playing music. Above, Mando and Carmen are reading out of the Bible as the rest of us listen to them. It is always awesome and powerful to witness my brothers and sisters in Christ rising up to lead our community by example as they ask that we spend time reading the Bible and praying together.

CSC baptisms

2010-09-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

An opportunity for CSC attendees to get baptized is something we want to make time for each year. Thankfully, this year there was a waterfall feeding into a creek with little pools to wade in, so we were given the perfect place for baptisms to be held. I think seven people were baptized this year. The Holy Spirit was very present there, making it a really meaningful and powerful time for everyone.

: Jake was asked by Matt, Chris and Nick (all pictured here), as well as by Laura and Hodges to baptize them that day in the river :

: Johnny and Bailey from Portland, OR :

: Keith York sharing about why he chose to get baptized that day and why he wanted to share that experience with all of us specifically :

Our camera died right before Keith got baptized so I didn't get to take any photographs of the baptisms, but others did. Hopefully I'll get to post some others soon.

CSC group times

2010-09-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

At CSC every year, someone volunteers to create two separate spaces for people to take alone time with God during their stay at the camp out. Being at a camp out with 50-70 people can make it difficult to find time to be alone, especially to be with our Savior. We create two prayer sanctuaries, safe and peaceful places for people to commune with God. This year, Jake and I picked the two spots and set up the space as God inspired us along the way.

It was a neat opportunity to approach the task prayerfully, being led by God to certain spots and given specific Scripture verses to inspire those who do take advantage of the prayer sanctuaries.

The picture below was taken at one of the evening chapel times. Two or three of the chapel nights involved a couple people leading worship and a couple people sharing their testimonies or talking about something that God specifically put on their hearts to share with the family. One of the chapel nights was unique in that it involved whoever wanted to sharing about the specific ways that God has led them to do ministry day by day. Jacob and I took the opportunity to share about our mission statement [posted to the right on the screen] and about our first day of traveling together and what God blessed us with that day as well as how God used us to bless a guy named Hansen that day.

Every morning after breakfast, a different member of the InnerCHANGE team from San Francisco would lead devotions that would correspond with the memory verse of the week -- Hebrews 10:23-25.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ and let us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Every day at 2:30pm, the women and men would part ways and join together for "gender specific time". This time was really special and meaningful for both Jake and I, because we witnessed our brothers and sisters vocalizing their insecurities and hardships and asking for help. Something that stuck out to me especially was that it gave us all a chance to realize that when we talk openly and vulnerably about what we're going through, we find that we're not alone in our weakness; and there is family around us that has experienced similar things and we can hold each other up in faith and prayer.

CSC trading circle

2010-09-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

Every year at CSC, we all gather together and set out things (patches, articles of clothing, music, homemade goods, etc) to trade and/or just give away. Doing this together creates an environment for us to remember that giving things to others and trading items is more relational and life-giving than going to a store and setting money on a counter to purchase something from a stranger without much dialogue between the two people. The trading circle is fun and something that people look forward to each year.

: Valerie and Challah :

CSC hang out time

2010-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

: Patricia feeding milk to her new kitten :

: Jake, Hodges and Keagan chopping wood for the fire :

: Chris and Liann :

: Ben and Patricia made CSC shirts for everyone! :

: Mando, Andrezj, Eddie and Patricia :

: Johnny and Bailey playing music together :

: Seth, Mando, Chris and Claire :

: Jayson and Val walking through the forest :

CSC northwest's dinner crew

2010-09-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

For the northwest's dinner crew, we made wraps with vegan bbq tempeh and vegan poppy slaw. Laura, our friendly vegan chef let us use her bbq sauce and slaw recipes!

: Robin mixing the poppy slaw while Jenny chops cabbage :

: Justin and Jacob chopped red and white cabbage :

: Clint prepared the tempeh and bbq sauce :