Summer…..

WOW its been sooooo long since i posted! Miss you all! Been a very busy summer, as most of you know the kids and I spent the summer in San Diego. We went down to visit my Grandma, and Uncle, Aunt, and counsins as well as Tim’s mom. We wound up staying for 2 months. Loved every second… and want to share the entire trip with you all very soon. Hopefully when the kids get back to school I’ll have time to really post photos and tell you all about it.

Saturday Market–Corvallis, Oregon

Portraits…

well, that time of the year is here again… where the weather becomes actually enjoyable.  Not that the seasons aren’t nice, but when spring comes around… its so nice to see the sun more often, and we even get a few ‘teasing’ days of 70 degree weather.  And, well, most of you who know me, know well, that I love to take photos of my kids outside… I am not a fan of indoor flash photos.  I would rather set up a camera to take a photo next to a window than to actually put my flash on my camera…. I just despise the flash that much….which I guess is something I should try to get over… maybe.  But until then, rain or not, you will find me shooting as many outdoor photos as possible.  I mean…. why waste all that incredible beauty by staying inside?!  Here are some recent photos of Maddie and Emma and yes, you guessed it… me.  I rarely get out from behind the lens to take photos of myself, but this time, I finally mustered the courage to take a few.

SK8r Dude!

Taylor…. wanting to be just like his uncle Joe…. decided to take up skateboarding recently. (yeah… that was my reaction too…. just GREAT!)  So, we have been trying to have him practice…. at the local skatepark.  So, Today, Tim took Emma to a concert in Portland… and I took taylor to the skatepark in Dallas so he could practice his moves…. (there really wasn’t much skating going on…..more like posing)  🙂  Here’s a few photos of our adventure….Black and White  seemed to capture the mood, so I went with it.   Enjoy!

Bridges

Recently, I joined facebook….. a social networking site where you can revisit old friendships, make new friendships and continue current ones. I am flabbergasted (to cause to be overcome with astonishment; astound)  at how quickly I have become reacquainted with many old friends… people I have known over the course of my life… (as I was recently reminded.. almost 40 years now… yikes, scary to think that much time has passed) I have lived in so many places…California, New Brunswick, Indiana, Michigan and now Oregon… and I have made friends in each of the places I have lived. Since I joined Facebook in August of last year, I have accrued some 300 friends many of which I went to High School with. I am so very fortunate to have had the chance to reconnect with so many of my former classmates and friends…in fact, Kathy,  my best friend through Jr. Hi, High School and College who I had lost contact with, I have now been reunited with because of Facebook. While I did not intend for this to be a plug for Facebook, I just think its so cool to have the technology which serves as a bridge to connect my past to my present… and thus come full circle.  I have never been a believer in coincidence… I believe everything happens for a reason, to serve a purpose, to cause us to grow and learn and benefit from in some fashion or another.  I can say with confidence that the Lord has put each person who I have come in contact with over the course of my short life to be influential in the making of who I have become.  For that, I am thankful…

“Reliable friends who do what they say are like cool drinks in sweltering heat—refreshing!”  Prov. 25:13 msg.

“Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.”  Prov. 27:9 msg

Reflections

While I don’t normally post on political issues, I felt that the historic events taking place tomorrow are inspiring and I needed to share some of my thoughts on this momentous occasion.

First, I would like to say, I did not vote for Barack Obama. I am a US citizen, and since I turned 18, I have never missed an election… that is to say, I have voted every election in the last 20 years (yes, I am going to be 38 in March). While I realize that saying this to all of you may invoke some feeling of anger toward me, I am confident that I can overcome whatever angst may be thrown my way. I feel this way because I am an American, I have the freedom to vote my conscience, regardless of what others may think of me for doing so.

I really did not post tonight because I wanted you to know how I voted, but I wanted to say something that has been welling in my heart and mind over the events of the last months since the night of the election. Regardless of how you feel about ‘President’ Obama, regardless of how you feel about the way any of the elections of any of our leaders have gone over the past several years, regardless of your liberal or conservative viewpoints, regardless of how you were raised, who you grew up with, the color of your skin, the accent that reveals where you come from, how old or young you are, you must admit that tomorrow will be a historic day for our country.

Tonight, I had the opportunity, for the first time (that I can remember) to view Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. I thought that it would be a good thing for my kids to watch the entire speech, (which is 17 minutes long) its not too long, but I don’t know if I have ever seen it all the way through. Yes, we all have heard the most famous parts of the speech, the ones that they play over and over year after year. But, I have to say that it was amazing to sit and talk to my kids about slavery, and segregation, and black and white, and to explain to them about MLK, and the signifigance of tomorrow’s events. I was not alive during the 60’s, I do not remember, like my mom, what it was like to grow up during that time, and I am not black, so I cannot possibly know what it was/is like to have that experience.

Like I said before, I did not vote for Obama, I am a conservative. But, I will say that the night of the election, I was in awe of the feelings that welled up in my heart, of joy for all african american people who have dreamed of this day, of Martin Luther King Jr. who died for this day…. of many who have lost their lives in the struggle of racism, for all those who have fought for equality, for rights that they never thought would be theirs. We have come a long way as a nation, and we have not yet arrived, but the ‘promised land’ that Martin Luther King spoke about is a little closer today, than yesterday. History is happening all around us… lets take it all in!

I am an American, I am proud to live in the greatest country in the history of the world. Many of my friends who are conservatives did not vote for Obama, many of my friends who are followers of Jesus Christ did not vote for Obama, but certainly many of my friends who love Jesus did vote for Obama.

My friends, it matters not, because our call now, is to PRAY like we have never prayed before for President Obama. The man has just taken the weight of the world on his shoulders, and we have a biblical mandate to pray for our leaders. Tim and I tonight talked to our kids about the historical nature of what tomorrow brings, and then we prayed for President Obama. Put your political beliefs aside and join our family in praying for our nation and our President and his family.

112

Ok, so here is the Palmer’s List of a Hundred things we are thankful for….  Okay, Okay, we thought we would only be able to come up with a Hundred, but ended up with a hundred and twelve

1. God’s word
2. Computers
3. Emma’s friend, Maddy
4. Mrs. Hursh
5. Mrs. Peterson
6. Corvallis Nazarene
7. Katy our Children’s Pastor
8. Sunsets
9. Mountains
10. Lakes
11. Sand on the beach
12. Cars that we drive
13. School
14. Work
15. Warm feet
16. Water to drink
17. Grammy’s and Grampa’s
18. bed
19. blankets
20. warm running water
21. Coffee
22. Nintendo DS
23. Warm Coats
24. Slippers
25. Donald Duck
26. Stuffed Animals
27. Healthy Kids
28. Blue Skies
29. Clouds
30. Fog
31. Rain
32. Snow
33. Grace
34. Mercy
35. forgiveness
36. Jesus dying on the cross
37. Love
38. A place to call home
39. Pillows
40. Hiking trails in the woods
41. Big Rocks on the coast
42. Trees
43. Flowers
44. Birdsongs
45. singing and humming children
46. life
47. Adventure
48. Friends
49. Family
50. Michigan
51. 1st Wesleyan Church
52. Grass
53. Lavender
54. Soap
55. Socks
56. Shoes
57. Clothing
58. Gloves to wear in the cold
59. Smiles
60. Hugs
61. Kisses
62. Goodnights
63. Goodmornings
64. kind words
65. Someone to share our lives with
66. Grammy and Grampa’s house
67. Chocolate Milk
68. Bagels
69. Facebook
70. Crisp cold air to breath
71. Feet to walk
72. Hands to feel
73. Minds to comprehend and imagine and create
74. Peace
75. knowing what we believe.
76. Oregon
77. WordPress
78. the ability to read
79. The land of the free and the home of the brave
80. the smell of wet asphalt
81. God’s sense of humor
82. Psalms
83. Joy
84. rivers
85. waterfalls
86. sleeping children
87. laughter
88. books
89. Libraries
90. Cameras
91. Music
92. Memories
93. Photographs
94. Sleep
95. a quiet house
96. Giggling children
97. the ability to learn
98. Swimming Pools
99. Knitting
100. Our Families who love us and put up with our quirks and shortcomings
101. The warm sun
102. The moonlight
103. Boardgames
104. Taylor’s friend Brendon
105. Legos
106. Emma’s friend Abby
107. Our neighbors
108. Our Pastor
109. that Jesus isn’t finished with us
110. that he never gives up on us
111. That he is faithful, and that his mercies are new every morning
112. that he has saved us from the pit (Psalm 103)

Rainy Day

It has been so rainy here in Oregon for the past 2 weeks.  I thought since there won’t be any adventures for awhile that it would be good to re-cap some of our summer activities, since I haven’t had the opportunity to fill you in yet.  It started in June, over Father’s Day weekend when Tim and the Kids and I spent the weekend in Vancouver, WA visiting our friends, Rob and Karen Brown.  Rob is the Pastor of Vancouver Wesleyan Church.  Tim and I have known Rob and Karen for our entire married life…. about 13 years now.  While we had not remained in contact with them for all of that time, we have always known where they were ministering, and believe it or not, we have lived near them in 3 states.  Now that we are in Oregon, we have been privileged to be able to visit them as often as possible, and on occasion Tim has been able to help them with some computer work.  We are so Thankful that the LORD knows what we need, and provides it for us!  He provided Rob and Karen to us at a time when we really needed friendship and encouragement.  Thanks Rob and Karen for blessing us with your availability and friendship and for being there for us!

In June, over father’s day weekend, Vancouver Wesleyan Church has a Car Show.  If there is something you should know about Rob is that he has a thing for Mustangs.  He has owned and restored many through the years, and belongs to a car club.   So, following, you will find photos of the cars from the show, if you want to view the image at a larger size, just click it.  

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roloff farms: little people, BIG world

Only Days after posting our trip to the coast, here I am again, posting another adventure. This past weekend our kids group at church had a day trip to Roloff Farms. YES, it is the farm of the Roloff Family from ‘TLC’s Little People Big World’. Taylor, Emma, Maddie and I drove about an hour or so just west of Portland to the really little town of Helvetia, OR. This was a MAJOR excitement for Emma, who loves the tv show. She especially likes Jeremy and Molly. So, for the whole time (until the end of our day) I let her take the photos to post on our blog, she did a great job, other than some minor adjustments, the photos turned out great! If you like them, leave her some good comments!

The Roloff Home with the new addition

About a half mile from the Farm, the traffic started to back up, and there was even sherriff patrols to direct traffic and keep everyone in line. It took us an hour to drive just a half mile. And when we left, the line was backed up to the same place. The Roloffs seem very down to earth, they were around the farm working, hosting tours and doing photo ops with visitors … while we were on the farm we saw Amy, Matt, Zack, Jeremy and Molly. We didn’t see Jacob anywhere. We also saw Grandma and Grampa Roloff. Jeremy drove the tractor on our hay ride tour.

the hundred year old barn–

Matt Roloff and the Mule in the driveway

Amy Roloff taking a photo with just a few of the MANY visitors there

Jeremy Roloff, our tractor tour driver

Molly Roloff

Zac Roloff

Grandma and Grandpa Roloff (Matt's Parents)

Checking you out with my 'binoculars'

Scary Jack-o-Lantern Faces

As you can see, we had a great time at the Roloff’s Farm! The kids even shared their Scary Jack-o-Lantern Faces with me for a photo. Hope you enjoyed our Trip to the Roloff Farm, maybe next fall, you can visit and join us for a trip there yourself!