God's Blessing's!

God's gift to us this morning!  Thank you Lord for this beautiful view of your creation.

God's blessings are all around us.  This morning we woke up to snow, lots of snow. It is so beautiful, fresh, clean - just how God sees us with all our imperfections. 

The view outside our motor home window this morning.  The bay is behind the trees.

Another view of the campground this morning with all the beautiful snow!

I thought about how God sees us a few times today as I reflected on a friendship Ron and I have had for many years. Ron and I have been blessed to be friends with Al & Selma Geinger since early 1989 when we moved back to the Blaine, WA area.  In fact, Ron has known them all his life.  I was blessed to meet them late 1977 when Ron traveled to Holland for his job in the Air Force and I stayed with his parents until he had housing for us.  

Our friendship together really began though once we were living up here.  Al & Selma were Ron's parents age.  Al & Selma just kinda adopted us and our two boys. Jamie & Brandon greeted them whenever we saw them just as Max & Christopher greet us ~ with open arms, hugs and kisses.  We have shared many meals,  attended many basketball games around Whatcom County as well as District and State Tournaments.  We have visited with each other in our homes and even gone on a few camping trips together at Mt. Vernon, WA and Birch Bay, WA.  Al & Selma loved us with all our imperfections and weirdness.  They loved us through some great times and rough times.  We laughed and cried together and even disagreed once in awhile.  They stood by us through medical emergencies and celebrated special birthday's, wedding's, and graduations.  And through it all we knew we were loved by them at all times.

We heard this morning that Al went home to the Lord early this morning.  He is now with his beloved Selma who left us just over two years ago.  As soon as we heard the news I told Ron I was so thankful we followed the Lord's leading and stopped in to see Al last Saturday while we were in Bellingham.  Al welcomed us into his home.  He was sitting in his chair watching football.  We started talking like we had just seen each other the day before.  That was not the case, it had been a long time since we had seen him.  We only stayed about an half hour as he seemed to be tired.  He asked about our boys.  He was excited to hear that Brandon is now coaching a boys high school basketball team.  Al said he just knows Brandon will do well at that.  We showed him pictures of Opal, Max and Christopher.  Al said Jamie is going to have his hands full with that precious little girl. 

Opal Rae Trulock-Workentin.  Al said her smile reminded him of Jamie.

And for us to remember to love on those grands as often as we can.  We told him that is not a problem for us ~ we love to hold, snuggle and love on them all.  Al asked us if we were still going to church ~ he lovingly called us "church hoppers" as we went to three different churches over the last 22 years we have lived here in Blaine.  He said one time he didn't understand why we had to leave the Birch Bay Mennonite Church but he was glad we were attending a Bible believing, God loving church and participating in the fellowship of other believers.  We will miss you Al (and Selma too) and are so thankful that you were a part of our family.   We have so many wonderful memories of our time with you both.  Thank you for loving us as your own children and grandchildren.  Thank you Lord for blessing us with Al & Selma for all these years.

Ron and I shared with each other some of our memories of Al & Selma, reflecting again how glad we were that we saw him just last week.  What a reminder to take those little nudges the Lord sends our way, follow up on those thoughts "I should call so and so."  You may never know the reason the Lord nudges you do to do something but in this case we do ~ God knew we would have felt horrible if we had not had time for a visit with Al.  Thank you Lord for the little nudge last Saturday.

Then it was time to get on with our day.  Ron did some work around the motor home and then loaded our little jeep up with more stuff to take to the storage unit.  We have just a couple more days before we head off on our new adventure.

Ron and our new jeep.

Here he is again.  Don't the two of them look like a great pair.  We are so happy we have this little 4x4 that we can tow behind the motor home.  It handled great in the snow.  Ron just popped it into 4 wheel drive and off we went.

Ron and I both worked at the church for a couple of hours today.  Ron and Phil put in the new dishwasher and I finished up the bulletin and script for the Sunday service tomorrow as well as finished up a project for Pastor Charles. As I finished up I felt some sadness as I put some notes on Charles' desk and turned the heat down for the last time.  As I pulled the door shut behind me I thought this is the last time I walk out of the office as church secretary.  I have so enjoyed my time working with Charles and for Northwood Alliance Church and will miss it lots.  I am excited that Tina is stepping into that position.  I know she will do a great job.  I shared with her one of the things I have learned over the years "remember to laugh often and be flexible."  Thank you Charles for teaching those two important tools in any job I will have in the future.  Thank you Northwood Family for letting me serve you these past seven years. I love you all and will miss you as we travel and work on this journey we call life.  A few tears fell down my cheeks as we drove away from Northwood ~ we are still a part of the Northwood family, just in a different way.

This little guy greeted us as we pulled into Beachwood upon our return from Blaine.

After we got back to the motor home I made a pot of minestrone soup.  It was so good on this cold night.  The weatherman is calling for more snow tonight and tomorrow.  I hope it does not dump too much as we are driving to Redmond tomorrow to meet up with Chuck from Noel Christmas Trees. Tomorrow we will get a little training and instructions.  Am thinking the learning curve for selling Christmas trees will be easy compared to learning the ropes at the carnival. We found out we will be selling trees in Edmonds, WA.  We start next Wednesday.  Once we have the address of the Christmas tree lot we will send it on to all of you.  Who knows, maybe some of you will be able to come by and say hello!  I plan to have coffee and hot chocolate readily available.

Till next time!

Saturday Smiles

Woke up to beautiful snow everywhere!  It is so pretty and shows God's masterpiece in beautiful ways.

Yesterday was another busy day for us.  I worked at the church for 4.5 hours, trained Tina on a couple of things, then met Marla for tea and great conversation and prayer.  Congrats to Glenn for passing the National Boards in Education!!!!  While I was busy at the church and doing some visiting Ron was at Jerry & Lynda's doing plumbing work.  Am thankful for friends who need plumbing work done once in awhile.  Yesterday's job was to replace the garbage disposal.  Sorry Lynda it needed done, but thanks for the job.  God is faithful to provide for us in many ways.

In the evening we watched television, listened to the rain come down for awhile and then noticed it had changed to snow.  It was pretty white outside when we went to bed.  For the first night in many I was in bed before 10:00 p.m.  Slept well and now ready to face the new day!

Be safe in whatever you are doing today whether it be traveling, working, resting.

Life Sure Get's Busy at Times

Greetings on this very chilly night.  We just got in the door (10:20 p.m.) and it is 37' outside.  Forecast is calling for snow tomorrow here in Whatcom County.  Sure won't be surprised if we wake up to white stuff tomorrow.

Sorry for not keeping up with daily posts.  The last few days have just been crazy busy for us but have had lots of things to be thankful for.

Monday was a busy day for us.  We ran errands, had lunch with a friend and then realized we had a few hours before meeting Glenn & Marla for dinner so we went truck shopping.  Didn't find a truck but did find a Jeep Wrangler.  It met all our requirements: towable, room to haul a couple of grandkids, 4x4 and low mileage.  We took it for a test drive but told the salesman we didn't have time to talk as we had to be in Blaine to meet our friends.  Ron made arrangements to meet with Guy, the salesman the next morning.  We then met up with Glenn & Marla about 6:30 p.m.  At one point I looked at my watch and it was 7:45 p.m. and then the next thing we all knew it was 9:30 p.m. and we all had plans for Tuesday.

Tuesday morning found me being very thankful for friends.  While Ron went to Bellingham to see if we could make a deal for the Jeep, my friend Dee picked me up and took me to run some errands.  While we were out Ron called and said we had a new to us vehicle.  We were able to trade in the suburban and add a little cash and the car was ours.  So off Dee and I were to Bellingham.  We loaded everything from the suburban into her car.  She had twice has much room in her car then we have in the Jeep.  We ran a few more errands before calling it a day.  I was so thankful she was free for the day and able to help us out.

Wednesday Ron was going to go to the Men's breakfast/Bible study at Blackberry House but my phone died in the night so the alarm did not go off.  So we got a late start to the day.  We had both made commitments to be at the church around 9:00 a.m.  I needed to meet with Charles and get some things done at the church office and Ron was meeting up with Gerald & Philip, two of our church deacons, to remove the old dishwasher and change lights in the parking lot.  Before going to the church we stopped by Blackberry House for some much needed coffee.  I am thankful for the little things in life...like a nice little coffee shop to stop in, get great coffee and help support friends.  Thanks Aaron & Kelly for having great coffee and nice friendly staff.  It was a great way to start a busy day.

After both of us finished up at the church we headed into Bellingham to go to the bank and then to the store to pick up a few groceries.  While I was in the bank, John called to say the motor home was ready for us to pick up ~ yippee!  The busyness of the day continued.  We got the motor home, went to the condo and loaded up all our stuff except the food from the fridge & freezer.  Because the motor home had been locked up for three weeks and the electricity was off to the fridge it had gotten pretty stinky.  So we took the motor home to Beachwood (one of two campgrounds we stay in while in Blaine) and got the power on and the motor home settled in.  Then we were off to dinner with Gerald & Sandra.  We were able to do a load of laundry while we ate and visited.  Again, thankful for the little things ~ clean laundry, great food and wonderful fellowship.  We stayed there till after 11:00 p.m. ~ we were having so much fun talking and solving all the worldly problems that the time got away from us.

We had another busy day today.  We had to organize the motor home from all the stuff that had been in the condo plus the stuff I had picked up at the store and from the storage unit.  One of the things I wanted to do was take my regular dishes out of the motor home and switch them for my Christmas dishes.  I had made plans for Dee to come over so I could unload all of the stuff that had been in the suburban (remember Tuesday's activities).  So with Dee's help we were able to take all the regular dishes and put them in a storage tote and put the other dishes in the cupboards.  One of the delights of today was finding my Christmas dishes were all wrapped in my Christmas sweaters.  Remember I was feeling frustrated that I could not find the tote with them in it and yet it was there all along.  With needing room to put my sweaters away I took out all our summer clothes from the closet and bedroom cupboards (including 4 pairs of black pants ~ our carnival uniforms ~ don't need those for a few months).  With all the clothes out of the closet Ron was able to fix the clothes rack that half the screws had come out.  Today I am thankful for willing hands to help with some projects that needed to be done before we head out to sell Christmas trees.

Once we were done in the motor home, Dee and I headed to Bellingham to run some more errands.  I can't believe I have been to Bellingham (about 20 miles one way from Blaine) four days in a row.  Usually once a week is more than enough.  

After running errands Dee dropped me back here at the motor home.  Ron took a short nap and I checked emails before we once again headed out the door for some food and fellowship with friends.    Tonight we enjoyed a delicious meal of steak, baked potatoes, with baked creamed corn and broccoli raisin salad all the while watching the Huskies beat UCLA and sharing lots of laughter and stories with Jim & Mary.  

Now we are back in the warmth of our motor home.  As they say "there is no place like home."  Snuggled in, watching some television and catching up on writing blogs, reading emails and getting ready to start another busy day tomorrow.

Wishing all who read my blog to have a great night and a terrific weekend. 

Sleep

Today I am thankful for SLEEP.  Sleep is such a good thing.  Last night I slept hard and for  9 1/2 hours.  I woke feeling refreshed and ready to start the day.

There was a time where I did not sleep much.  Insomnia ruled my life.  For about 2 1/2 years if I got 4 hours of sleep I was happy.  I dealt with insomnia for over 3 years.  I am so thankful that lack of sleep in my life is a thing of the past.

Now I usually sleep 7 or more hours each night.  Eight hours is the average now.  9 1/2 is a gift, treat and enjoyed.

Sleep.   Love it and enjoy it.  Thank you Lord for the good night's sleep I had last night.

Today I am thankful for the freedom to share

As I mentioned yesterday, Ron and I had the opportunity to share out testimony this morning at church.  I am thankful that we live in a place where it is okay to share from our hearts how God has been and is working in our hearts and lives.  Ron and I had spent time talking yesterday and again this morning about what we were going to share.  We both agreed about what was on our hearts and why we felt we needed to share certain things.  Our desire in sharing was to show that we, in our humanness do things but in God's awesomeness He makes good come from even the hardest of things in our life.  We hope you will see His awesomeness, His wonderful and loving care in our lives.

This is what we shared:

~ last winter and spring we were very financially strapped due to the loss of our plumbing business due to the economy.  We found ourselves in the position of having no money to buy groceries.  We had used the local food bank many years ago and yet the decision to go again was very hard.  I struggled with having to go.  I talked to myself for over a week about going.  I shared with no one how desperate we were.  One Monday I woke and said "today is the day.  This is something that needs to be done and I am going to the food bank."    As I walked in the door I saw someone from our church.  I thought I was going to get sick.  Thinking to myself "why is she here?  How am I going to face her?"  I went in, got the groceries and left.  She greeted me warmly.  I honestly don't remember if I talked with her.  As I drove home God and I had a conversation.  It went something like this:

     Alice ~ God how could you let her be there?  This is so hard.

     God ~ Alice, do you trust me?  Do I always provide for you?

     Alice ~ Yes Lord, but how could she be there?  I didn't want anyone to know.

     God ~ Because I care about you.  I tell you in my word "cast your cares on me.  Share your burdens so others can help carry them.  You don't have to walk alone.  I am here to walk with you.  I have put others in your life to help you.  Don't be ashamed.  I love you and my people, your Northwood family, love you. (Alice paraphrase)

By the time I got home I was at peace.  Peace that I was not struggling alone, that someone else now knew of our struggle.  And it was okay.

I had not shared that incident with anyone except for one friend.  She knew my struggle in going to the food bank.  That is until we returned from our time working/traveling with the carnival.  It came up in conversation a couple of weeks ago with someone who is very dear to me.  Since that time I felt like I needed to share that story with our church family.  To encourage someone who might be struggling with the same issues I had been.  Pride, embarrassment, shame that we could not provide for ourselves were the thoughts/feelings running rampant that day and God took those feelings/thoughts that were racing inside of me and turned them into a peace that He would make all things good.  Even though I knew I had reconciled my thoughts/fears that day in February last winter, I needed to share with our church family one of our hardest struggles we had faced and that God was faithful in His love for us.

~ how we had prayed for a job for us.  Over the past few years we had often said "wouldn't it be fun to work & travel with a carnival?"  So near the end of January when Ron came home and said to send out emails to different carnivals I did.  I sent out five.  I prayed as I hit the send button.  That was on a Thursday.  The following Monday we received two phone calls.  One gentleman told me to call back in March ~ that is when he does his hiring for the season.  The second one was Rob Rhew from Funtastic Shows.  We talked about 20 minutes.  He asked us to come to Portland for a job interview.  We made plans to meet on February 4th in Portland.  We told people we were going to Seattle as I had an eye appointment.  We mentioned to three people that we were also going for a job  interview.  We told two of those three that it was for the carnival.  We asked that they pray for God's will to be done.  The eye appointment went well.  We were anticipating that maybe I would need to have a new artificial eye made as I am now in the 5th year of this eye.  They usually only last me about 4 years.  We were very encouraged, the eye is in great shape, the eye socket is in wonderful shape and I was not having any eye infections.

We continued from Seattle to Portland.  One of the friends praying for us had gifted us with some money to go out to dinner, to enjoy ourselves and to trust God, reminding us He was in control.  We had a pleasant dinner, slept real well and had a quiet morning before heading over to meet Rob.  We arrived about 15 minutes before our scheduled interview.  We joined hands and I prayed to the Lord to be clear with us about whether we should go to work for the carnival or not.  I told him, he either had to open or close the door, no waffling, I don't do waffling.  Within the first 10 minutes of that interview Rob offered us both employment.  We came home.  On the way home we called two friends and asked if we could meet with them on Friday.  They asked no questions and we made plans to meet the next day at 12:30.  We stopped to pick up Charlie Brown, shared our news that we had been offered jobs (the gal who had kept Charlie Brown was one of the two people who knew we were going for a job interview).  She was excited for us and said she would pray for everything to continue to work out.

To make a long story short, we met with our friends on Friday.  They prayed with us, encouraged us and said "just remember your home is in Blaine."  In other words, you can go work for the carnival but remember you need to come back home.

Six weeks later we were on our new adventure.  We were sent off with lots of prayers, hugs and a love gift from our Northwood family.

~ how God's hand was on us for the six and a half months we were gone.  How when we lost the drive shaft in the motor home.  We were not on the ferry, we were not going 60 mph on the freeway, how we could stay in the motor home while it was being repaired.  And that we only had $645 to our name (most of that from the love offering from Northwood, that we were holding onto for when we had a problem with the motor home, because we knew we eventually would have a problem) and how I prayed "Lord we only have $645, please don't let it cost more than that when I go in to pay the bill."  The bill was $641!  God had answered our prayer!

~ how God opened doors.  Giving us opportunities to share with others.  How other workers knew they could come to us to pray for them.  One young man, Shawn, who's cousin was killed in an awful accident in Portland while we were in Wenatchee.  He came to us, cried with us and asked us to pray for him, for his family and for a way for him to return to his family.  We did pray!  And God answered!  Shawn was able to go home for a week.

~ how a picture on our screen saver of a little town, Adele, OR was where Kollin was from, where her Grandmother taught brought us together.  Over the months we were together, God allowed us to pray for Kollin, to support her with love when her Grandma died.  To become her friend.

~ and we shared we had fun.  We got tatoos (they were spray on but some of you thought they were real).  We shared meals with many of the other workers, always praying before we ate and how God blessed us to share our home with others.  We laughed and loved on people, sharing what we had whether it be a plate of spaghetti or band-aids and peroxide.

~ and we shared how God taught us to not take things for granted.  Before we left to work/travel/live with the carnival if one of us woke up and decided we just didn't want to go to church or we were not feeling well (though well enough to traipse off to Bellingham or Mt. Baker or a picnic or ??) we would just not go to church.  Oh how we missed church, missed the fellowship of being with other believers, missed being loved on and encouraged by other believers.  How important it was to us to get back into fellowship, to hear God's word preached from the pulpit.  So we encouraged others this morning not to take for granted that they have a church home and church family to be a part of.

~ things we learned over the past few months: 

~~ don't be afraid or to proud so let others know when you have struggles.  Just as we like to help others when they have a need, others want to do the same for us. 

~~ be open about our love for the Lord, we never know how God will use us in someone's life

~~ and remember that God is in control even when things are out of control

After the service we were loved on, hugged by and encouraged by so many.  A few people asked us what are we going to do next.  Right now we are waiting to get our motor home back from Jerry Chambers Chevrolet.  We have been told that should happen this coming Tuesday.  Next week we go to our next job ~ selling Christmas trees in the Seattle area.  We should hear this week exactly where and when we start.  Depending on clean up after selling Christmas trees through December 24th we will be going to Lewiston, ID for about two weeks.  Brandon is coaching high school boys basketball for Orofino HS and Max is playing basketball for the Boys & Girls Club in Lewiston.  We plan on watching as many games as we can in those two weeks.  

Then we are coming back to Blaine.  Ron has jury duty from January 10th to 21st.  And then we just don't know.  We continue to look for work for next Spring/Summer.  We don't know where the Lord is leading us, we just know He is.

If you have questions, job leads or a comment we would love to hear from you.  One question I was asked after church today was "are you going to continue to blog?"  I answered with a resounding Yes!  I love to write.  I have been told I write like I talk ~ A LOT!  Blogging is one of the ways we can keep in touch with a lot of family and friends and we so love to do that.  We hope you enjoy reading about what we are doing, where we have been and where we are headed.  Tonight I even came up a few more ideas on what to blog about.  Funny and happy memories, times when the Lord has spoken to me and worked in my life, and of course I have to keep sharing about our three wonderful grandchildren, and the happenings of Jamie & Suzanne and Brandon & Danalyn.  So I encourage you to stay tuned for more from The Wandering Workentins.

PS...what do you think of the new picture and title of my blog? 

Simply Saturday

Don't know that the title has any meaning for what I am going to write about...it just sounded catchy :)

Today has been a fairly quiet day for us.  Took some time to lay together in bed this morning and just chat.  Chatting together before starting our day was something we got into the habit of doing on days we started late while working for the carnival.

This morning we chatted about tomorrow ~ you see tomorrow morning we are going to be sharing our testimony at Northwood Alliance Church of how God provided for us in different ways while we were working/traveling/living the life.  Still not sure what we are going to share, just praying that God will be honored by what we share.  I also put a few pictures of us from our carnival days in the power point to show during the service.

After having a slow start to the morning I went off to work at the church.  I needed to finish the bulletin, do the script and power point and do an insert for the bulletin asking for donations for pies for the Thanksgiving Dinner Boxes that the Peace Arch Christian Ministerial Association (PACMA) puts together for needy families in the Blaine/Birch Bay/Custer area.  Each year members of churches that belong to PACMA make/donate pies for the dinner boxes. 

Which leads me to what I am thankful for today...I am thankful for a delightful pastor to work for and with.  I have missed working with Pastor Charles the months we have been gone.  I miss the camaraderie and laughter, the little English lessons he gives me (covering commas, parenthesis, and apostrophes ~ which if you notice I use way too much and not always in the correct manner).  I am thankful for a pastor who is quick to listen and pray about whatever is troubling/concerning me at the moment.  I wish there was a way I could work at the church even while traveling but it is not a commuters job :(  One of the projects I am trying to finish up before we head off to sell Christmas trees is our church pictorial directory. Bernadette is putting the final updates and corrections together early next week and then I will get it printed up before we head out on the 21st or 22nd.  

After finishing up at the church Ron and I headed out to look for a new to us truck.  We are looking for a little 4x4 extended/super cab truck that we can pull behind the motor home.  We found one today but the guy at the lot didn't seem to be too interested in talking to us much less wanting to sell us a vehicle.  So off we went to continue looking.  Didn't find one so we will continue looking.

While out and about today we stopped to see our good friend Al Gienger.  Al & Selma (she passed away two years ago) have been like parents to us and grandparents to our boys.  They have watched many a basketball game over the years and always showed an interest in what the boys were up to.  Today was no different.  Al wanted to know what Brandon was doing.  He was glad to hear that Brandon finally has an high school coaching job.  (Brandon is coaching the boys basketball team at Orofino HS).  Then he wanted to know what Jamie was doing and was pleased to hear that Jamie is in school and wanting to become a CPA.  He was delighted to see pictures of our grands and happy to hear that we have been able to spend time with each of them.

After visiting for a little while we headed home with a stop off at Haggens for a few groceries and something for dinner.  We opted for their Chinese food take out.  We had chicken chow mien, pork fried rice along with honey glazed chicken and empress chicken.

This evening we have just been relaxing, reading blogs and Ron has been planning a maybe trip to Yuma, AZ next spring for the Gypsy Rally put on by Nick & Terry Russell of the Gypsy Journal.  We don't know what all we are doing next year but there definitely is nothing wrong with planning, dreaming and hoping.

We continue to pray and wait for the Lord's leading for next year.  We have been communicating with a couple of campgrounds about working there next season or if we will return for another year of carnival life/work with Funtastic Shows.

That's all for tonight.  Wishing you all a blessed day tomorrow.

Oops ~ Almost missed my post for Friday! Again

Here it is almost 11:00 p.m. and I was about ready to go to bed when I remembered I hadn't made a post today.  Whew!  Glad I made it.

Today I am thankful for...

...a friend to remind me that God has been faithful in the past and He will continue to be faithful today and tomorrow.

...a husband who does the laundry and the dishes because they need to be done.  Thank you honey for all you did today while I was gone working at the church.

...a pastor that encourages me without even knowing he is doing it.

...a son and his girlfriend who stopped by to visit just because.

...a grandson who humors his Grandpa over the phone.  Thanks Max for being such a great grandson.  We are so proud to have you in our family.

...finally receiving my unemployment check today.

Thank you Veterans!

Today is Veteran's Day. 

I want to say thank you to the veteran's in my family.

My Grandpa ~ George Everett Lockwood, US Navy

My Dad ~ Theodore Arthur Nelson, US Navy

Ron's Dad ~ Pete I. Workentin, US Army

My husband ~ Ronald James Workentin

My son ~ Ronald James (Jamie) Workentin, JR

I want to say thank you to all the veterans I know.  Too many too count.  

Thank you all for the service you gave to our country.  For the freedoms you fought for.

Thank you for serving!

Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for God's creation!  I woke to beautiful sunshine this morning!  Here are some pictures of God's creation looking out the window of our condo here in Birch Bay.

This is looking out the left window of the living room towards the bay.

This is looking out the window straight ahead.  They are building a new house across the street.  I sure hope the view does not get blocked too much.

Another view trying to see out onto the water.

This is one of my favorites ~ seeing the mountains in the distance and the houses in Birch Bay Village and the clear blue water.

This is from this morning with the sun shining brightly.  I could stare at this view every day, all day long.

 We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful place.  As I drove home from the church earlier today I could see Mt. Baker to my right and then when I turned the corner there was the bay with the water lapping on the shore.  Such peaceful settings.

Tired Tuesday

Good evening!

Today I am tired.  Didn't start out that way but sure has ended up that way.  Decided I needed to run some errands in Bellingham today so called a friend to see if she wanted to go.  She did and so we went and went and went.  We did stop long enough to eat lunch at a great little pizza place in downtown Bellingham.  And then we went some more!  We both realized we were exhausted so headed home about 3:30.

Since then I have paid bills, checked emails, ate dinner, tossed some moldy bread (found while making dinner) and just vegged on the couch.  That is what I am thankful for today ~ a wonderful place to lay my head and just veg and not have to worry about anything.  Thank you Lord for a warm, dry, comfy place to rest my weary body.


Update on the motor home ~~ Ron spoke to John at Jerry Chamber's this morning and we should have it back either late Thursday or Friday of this week.  We love this little (much bigger than the motor home:) condo and are thankful that our friends own it and it was available yet at the same time I am looking forward to getting back into our home.  We have lots to do before we head out to start our job of selling Christmas trees.


Update on job search for 2011 ~~ we sent off the paperwork for a workkamping job in Northern California today.  Please pray with us that if this is the job the Lord has for us that he will continue to open the doors for us.


That's all for tonight folks.  This tired lady is going to bed.  Talk to you all again tomorrow.

Monday Meandering's

Monday Meaderings ~~~

A day to be thankful for the little things ~


~ the insurance adjuster called.  Gave the go ahead to fix the motor home.  Hoping it will be ready for us by Friday this week.  There are a few things we would like to do inside the motor home before we head off to sell Christmas.  


~ went to the credit union to make a deposit.  Found out we had an account that had not been used for five years.  Had $155 in it.  Thank you Lord for found money!


~ had another play date with a friend today.  We ran a couple of errands, went out for a great lunch with even better conversation.  Looking forward to doing it at least one more time before we head out on the 22nd.


~ had a couple hour of quiet time this afternoon.  Watched a beautiful sunset waiting for Ron to get home.  Thank you Lord for the beautiful weather you have blessed us with while home here in Blaine.

~  instant messaged with Danalyn for a few minutes.  She had had a good weekend of classes in Boise, Max had a blast at the Boise State football game with his PopPop, Christopher had fun playing with cousins.  But all are glad that their little family of four is all under one roof again.


~ went to Writer's Group tonight.  First time since last March.  We laughed, we cried, we talked, we read, we listened, we ate some sweet goodies.  Another reminder of how special it is to be with other believers sharing in each others lives.


Thank you Lord for the little things you bless me with ~ friends, honest people, loving family members and your wonderful creation.

Sunday ~ A pretty lazy day for us

Hello on this chilly Sunday night.  We had a busy morning but truly a lazy afternoon.  First off this morning my phone alarm went off at 7:30 - it was supposed to go off at 8:30.  So we started our day an hour earlier then we had planned.

Brandon got up and out the door about 8:00.  He was off to meet Jamie and check out their trailer before heading back to Lewiston.  I asked him if he wanted breakfast before heading down the road.  Sure!  So we made plans to meet at Big Al's Diner in Blaine.  Big Al's is just two blocks from our church.  We have eaten there way too many times over the years.  The food is good, the service great and it is always fun to meet up with folks that we don't get to see very often.  So Ron and I got up and moving when Brandon headed over to Jamie's.  We were going to meet about 8:30 but Brandon didn't get there till almost 9:00.  It was fun to have a little more time with Brandon and have a prayer together before he got on the road.

While sitting at Big Al's I had this thought "oh, no.  I put the pictures of us from our time with the carnival in the overheads for today's service.  They are supposed to be in there next week."  So I quickly gave Charles, our pastor, a call.  He saw those yesterday and deleted them.  He wondered if I was playing a joke on him or something.  Ron asked if I was eager to share.  I don't know what I was thinking...we are sharing our testimony next Sunday, November 14th at Northwood.  

More about that later, back to breakfast with Brandon.  While eating we saw Kristen & Coral.  Coral is one of our adopted granddaughters.  Coral had the cutest outfit on and the wig she wore for Halloween.  I wished I had my camera but alas it was in the suburban.  Kristen and Coral were having breakfast before picking up Jade, Coral's sister, from a sleepover.  We said we would catch up at church.  We were almost done with breakfast when a school friends of Brandon's came in with his two children.  It was good to see Aaron, Ian and Ana.  They were out for breakfast while Mommy, Kelly, was working.  Aaron graduated with Brandon and they played soccer and basketball together in high school.  Aaron and Kelly own Blackberry House.  It is a cute little coffee and sandwich shop on the corner of H Street and 3rd.  If you get a chance stop in and see them.  Aaron makes all his own bread, delicious soup and all types of coffee's.  After breakfast we shared hugs and "safe travels" with Brandon and he got on the road.  We then headed to church.  And that leads me to what i am thankful for.

Today I am thankful for our church family.  We attend Northwood Alliance Church which is part of the Christian & Missionary Alliance.  We have been attending there since November 2001.  It is a small church of about 42 members with a regular attendance between 60 & 75.  It is so good to be back in our home church.  Today was only our second Sunday back and it felt like we had not been gone at all.  The guy who was to do the overheads was not there so Ron did the overheads for the service.  As we were praising God in song I had another thought "oh no, I put in the script (the written out plan of who is doing what and when) that after community prayer time Glenn was going to call on Charles to call us forward to share about our time in carnival and how God was working in our life (remember the thought while at the restaurant earlier).  So I got up, went to where Ron was doing the overheads, checked the script.  Yep, I had put us in there.  So then I had to walk up to Glenn, trying not to be to obvious (hard to do in a small church) and whispered in his ear, as he is playing the guitar and singing (he is in the worship band) to just skip over that part.  Okay, back to worshiping God and being in fellowship with our church family.  

After the sermon, Charles remembered that we were sharing communion together as a congregation.  Now remember, I did the bulletin, script and overheads on Friday for the service today.  And I had already remembered two things that I messed up on for the service today.  Really there was three but I remembered that about 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning while waiting for Ron & Brandon to get home from Seattle.  I had missed one of the things that needed to be tweaked on the handout.  And I had emailed Charles about that then.  He had emailed me back not to worry about it!  I so like having an understanding boss/pastor/friend.  The last I had heard on Friday was that serving communion today would be some of the young people from youth group.  Just about then, I hear Charles say "he would like to ask Ron & Alice come up and help serve communion."  Wait, Ron hates surprises.  But being the trooper he is, he came forward and we walked up front together to join John & Barb who were also walking up front to help serve.  While waiting to begin serving communion, Ron leans over to me and said "you put in the bulletin that we are having communion next Sunday."  I chuckled to myself and thought "with all these mistakes I have made in the last three days, maybe they (Northwood congregation & Charles) would be happy to see me gone again).  But mistakes on my part were not done yet.  After we served everyone, Charles served Ron & I and I whispered to Charles "it looks like Bud & Kay Dee got skipped."  Well Charles turned, walked over to them and they had :)  I then leaned over and whispered to Ron "well it looked like they hadn't been served."  So four mistakes later (at least the four I knew about), we returned to our seats to take communion together.  I gave thanks to the Lord for allowing us to be part of a very gracious and loving church family.  They accept each attender for who they are even with all their imperfections.  I am glad to know that I am one who is loved by many.


After church we visited for a little while before heading out for lunch.  We met our friends Stacey and Sean at Paso Del Norte for great food and even better fellowship.  We ate and chatted for over two hours.  It was so good to get caught up, laugh together, share stories about our kids and just being together with other believers.


After lunch we came back to the condo and have just rested, vegged, watched the Seahawks get creamed in football, did a load of laundry and just relaxed.  While I have been writing, Ron went into the kitchen and what did he find ~ the goodies we bought for the grand boys yesterday at the C Shop.  Guess I will be getting a package ready to go in the mail.  Do you notice a theme here ~ I have been very forgetful lately.  Hmmm...THEY say the mind is the first to go.  Hope I am not in too much trouble.  I think I am too young to be losing my mind ~ okay, some of you would say I already have :)


To answer a couple of questions/comments.  As of right now we don't know where we will be selling Christmas trees except somewhere between Federal Way and Everett.  Once we know we will definitely let everyone know.  Maybe some of you can take a road trip to come and see us.

Someone commented "19 people ~ that's a big family."  In attendance last night was Ron's 4 siblings:  Judy, Kathy with her daughter, hubby and three boys, John and his daughter Miriam, Lynn and her fiance, Brian, Ron's Uncle Ike and Aunt Joey, us and our son's, Brandon and Jamie and Suzanne (Jamie's girlfriend) and Opal (Jamie & Suzanne's daughter).

Hope I have covered the questions that have been asked.  Take care and check back tomorrow to see what I am thankful for.  Wishing each of you a blessed day.

Saturday Summary

Saturday night and all is good! Today I am thankful for my family.  Specifically for Ron, Jamie & Brandon.  

Brandon flew in last night from Lewiston.  His flight finally arrived at 11:04 p.m.  Ron and Brandon arrived here in Birch Bay about 1:30 a.m., yes this morning.  After saying hello we all went to bed.  It had been a long day for all of us.  Brandon had been up early for school conferences at Orofino High School.  I had been up and at 'em ~ spending my day working at the church.  Ron had been busy doing some things here at the condo.  I think I heard he did take a nap ~ lucky guy.  But he did spend over two hours driving to Seattle, 2 hours waiting for Brandon's delayed flight and then another 2 hours driving back to Birch Bay.

This morning we had a leisurely breakfast and I got started on the laundry and Ron and Brandon ran a few errands, took the tool box out of the back of the truck and putting it in the storage unit (it is a huge heavy metal tool box ~ not sure what Ron is going to do with it now that he doesn't have a truck to put it in) and getting some things from the storage unit for Brandon to take back to Lewiston and a couple of things for me.

In the afternoon Ron & Brandon watched football.  We watched the Boise game, looked for Max who was at the game with his other Grandpa.  Never saw him, he was kinda hard to see in all his blue ~ blue clothes, blue wig and I think a blue Boise sign ~ since most of all the other fans were also dressed in blue.

In the evening we gathered at Bob's Burger & Brew for dinner with the Workentin family.  We were 19 altogether.  We were supposed to be 22 but James (Kathy's son) and his little family had car problems that needed to be addressed.  A good time was had by all.  We were seated near Aunt Joey and Uncle Ike (Ron's uncle on his dad's side).  It was fun to hear stories from when he was a child, how George (another uncle of Ron's) and Pete (Ron's dad) jumped in and took care of the 6 siblings after their dad (Ron's grandpa) died at the young age of 34.  What an example of how to take care of family George and Pete were to their younger brothers.  Uncle Ike even said that George and Pete were his heroes.

As we were leaving the restaurant we ran into friends Jay & Viv.  So good to see them if even for only a few minutes. 

Once home Ron and Brandon grabbed their swimsuits and headed over to Beachwood (one of the places we park the motor home when we are here in Whatcom County.  It is a part of K&M Resorts which we belong to) to join Jamie for some hot tub time.  I am so thankful that my husband and our son's want to spend time together.  They laugh a lot, Ron would say the boys pick on him, I call it just sharing the love :), share about their lives, their goals, what they do as father's and husband's ~ they share who they are and enjoy being together.  I am so thankful that they like to be together, do things together and make an effort to be together whenever possible.  It brings joy to this mom's heart to see the love the boys have for each other and their dad.

Prayer needs ~
~ for traveling mercies for Brandon as he drives back to Lewiston tomorrow
~ for Danalyn as she drives from Boise to Lewiston on Monday.  She has been in Boise, staying at her folks while attending a 3 day class for work.
~ for the insurance adjuster to follow through on what he needs to do ~ to give the go ahead on the necessary repairs for our motor home.  We really need to get back into the motor home so we can get the necessary things done that we need to do before we report for our job of selling Christmas trees (we start on 11/23).
~ and as we continue to look for work for the new year.  We have heard from a couple of campgrounds and are  sending the requested paperwork for further consideration.

That's all for now.   It's time for me to head to bed as we have another busy day ahead of us tomorrow - church in the morning and then lunch at Paso Del Norte with friends, Sean and Stacey.  I also need to do another load of laundry ~ you know, the never ending job.

Take care and may you find something to be thankful for today as well. 

Oops ~ Almost missed my post for Friday!

Just looked at the clock and saw it was almost 11:30 p.m.  Oops, almost didn't get my thankful post in for the day.  I had planned to write it this evening but whoa, almost skipped right to night.

Today I am thankful for being able to work with my pastor at our church.  For those who don't know, before we left for the carnival I was our church secretary.  Started out as a volunteer in the Fall of 2003.  Was going to do it for six months and then look for another job.  Well one thing led to another and I started to get paid so there I stayed.  I also took another part time job as secretary for HomeConnection.  HomeConnection is a Parent Partnership Program through the Blaine School District.  It is a program where home schoolers take enrichment classes to supplement their home schooling classes.  I held the position of church secretary till now.  I took a leave of absence that started in March for us to go and travel and work with the carnival.  The plan, at least what I thought it was, was that we would go work for the carnival and then come back to Blaine, after a vacation to Lewiston to see the grands, and get back to work as church secretary.  That was the plan.

As we worked for the carnival and then went on vacation, Ron started talking about "work" and what we could do next.  Selling Christmas trees sounded fun to him.  I thought OK, we can do that I guess, thinking "na, no one will hire us and we will just go back to Blaine."   Wrong we got hired to sell Christmas trees and we start the 23rd of November!  Somewhere between Federal Way and Everett.  OK that's close by, but we can travel right ;).  Okay, Federal Way to Everett is not that far from here.  But that is now our plan.  Bringing me to today.

Working at the church, doing my secretary thing.  I had so much fun.  It was fun to joke with Charles, get some stuff organized, do the bulletin again and get things ready for Sunday.  It was fun to be greeted by Keith as he came into the office with "so good to see you in that chair."  Thanks Keith, it feels good to be back there if even only for a couple of weeks.  I chatted with Charles, reviewed the list of things he would like me to do and got down to work.  Made a trip to the Post Office to get stamps.  Even the gal at the Post Office commented she hadn't seen me in a really long time.  I had to tell her I had run off and played with the carnival for seven months.  She looked at me kinda funny.  I told her really, we did and had a blast.  Back at the office I found myself sitting at the computer wondering how to do something - funny how even after just a few months I forgot the easiest of things to do.  Was about ready to ask Charles how do I put the scripture reading in the power point ~ but I remembered so I didn't feel too dumb.  Just a little.


Finished up at 4:25 ~ told Ron I would be home by 4:30 ~ well at least I left by 4:30.  Came home, got Ron out the door to go to the airport to pick up Brandon.  He is flying in for the weekend, not so much to see us but to get the truck from us.  Another piece of the puzzle coming together for us to continue to work and travel on the road.  Brandon and Danalyn bought our truck from us, for the price we were asking.  Okay God, I will try to get used to the idea of doing more traveling.  Thank you Lord for continuing to show us what you want us to do.


About 6:15 I headed out the door to go to First Friday.  It is  group of friends, from many walks of life who get together the first Friday of each month during the school year.  We share a meal of soup (usually two kinds) and bread, chips, dips, and desserts of all kinds.  Some of us have a glass of wine or a beer, some of us have a soda pop.  What we all do is have fun reconnecting with friends.


Got home from First Friday (thanks Jim & Cindy for being my personal driver ~~ can't figure out how to spell chauffer ~~).  Called Ron to see where he was.  He was sitting at the airport.  Airplane problems, needing a new crew and who knows what all, Brandon's flight was not due in till 11:15 p.m.  So guess they won't be home for awhile.  Settled in on the couch, read a few emails and a couple of blogs and then looked at the clock ~ 11:30 and I hadn't written what I was thankful for today.


Like I said at the beginning.  I am thankful for having the privilege of working for our church family at Northwood Alliance and with Pastor Charles.  I missed the days of joking, teasing and being teased about proof reading and putting things together to help make our service on Sunday's go smoothly.  Thank you Charles and Northwood family for letting me fill in these next two weeks and working on some projects.  I love and appreciate all of you!  Thank you Lord for leading me to a great group of people I am blessed to call my family.

Thursday Happening's

What a fun day today ~~~

Saw my endocrinologist (diabetes doctor) and had lost another lb!  Don't go back till April of next year, that is if we are in the area.  If not, schedule an appointment when we are.  She said she was so happy to see me healthy and happy!  Told her "me too!"

Then my friend, Dee, and I went on a hunt.  We looked for Pure Bliss, a new bakery in Bellingham.  I had the Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffin and Dee had the Pecan something arother (can't remember the name) along with a humongous cup of drip coffee.  Everything was so tasty, the atmosphere so pleasant.  If you are in the area, stop on by.  They are by Chocolate Necessities on Cornwall.

Now don't those just look so good?  Believe me they were!

Look at the size of this cup of java - 16 oz.

Our next stop was at Flat Bread also in Bellingham.  It is a new bread/bakery on the corner of Alabama & Cornwall.  Today picked up some egg bread ~ only $3 for a nice round loaf and some Naam - having that tomorrow.  A new favorite place of mine to pick up specialty bread.

Then we were off to Costco.  Went in for hummus and Propel and came out $80 later.  But got their Hot Chocolate, now I am sent for another winter season.

After Costco we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond.  Heard they carried the NuWave Oven.  We are thinking of getting one.  Nope, none in stock but they can order it for me.  Nah, that's okay, I really want to see it before I buy it.  Guess I will have to check Kohl's.  Saw lots of neat Christmas goodies so we trudged off to Wal-Mart thinking they would have lots of Christmassey things but not much.  Did see some people filling shelves.  Guess that means another trip to Wal-Mart is in my near future.


Had so much fun with Dee today.  It is sure a lot of fun to reconnect and have a girl's day out.  Next week I think we are going to have a Bellis Fair Mall day and of course sharing a cup of java.


Came home tonight and made a dinner of spaghetti squash with a creamy mushroom sauce and grilled steaks with a slice of egg bread - yummy!


Today I am thankful for good health.  It has been a struggle to get here, now to stay there.  God is so good giving me good doctor's, friends and a very supportive husband.

Now onto questions/comments ~~
~ yes we can stay in the condo till the motor home is repaired.  Another thing I am thankful for ~ good friends who share their blessings with others.
~ time together...yes our jobs with the carnival, especially at the end of the season we were going in different directions and different hours working.  We so love working together and will continue to search for work where we can do that.
~ Skype ~ very easy to hook up.  Just download to your computer, follow the directions and you are good to go.  Doesn't take too much time.  The only problem Brandon had was trying to find where to put the camera.  It was designed to sit on top of the computer monitor but they have a flat screen.  Not sure where they put it, but it all worked.  I would encourage everyone to do it.  It is so much fun to see our grands especially since we are miles apart.  I have also used Skype to speak to our friends who are on a mission in Russia.  So much fun.


Prayer requests/updates ~
~ we have been emailing back and forth with a campground in No. California.  They are now sending us paperwork to fill out.  We continue to seek employment for the new year.  Have been asked to return to the carnival but have not yet made the decision.  We trust the Lord to give us guidance and we know we will have peace when the decision has been made.  We continue to seek your prayers for us on this journey.
~ please continue to pray for my friend Lynda as she mourns the loss of her dad and for the family as they say good bye to him.  Always a tough thing to do.
~ for Ron and I as we prepare to give our testimony at Northwood Alliance Church.  We will be doing that on November 14th.  We want to give God the glory for how he has blessed us time and time again, through the many different journey's we have traveled.


Time to sign off for the evening.  Hope you all have had a wonderful day like I have had today.

Things...

Wednesday Wanderings ... in the mind.

Had a special treat last night.  Got to see Christopher and Max, Brandon & Danalyn through Skype ~ thank you Brandon for getting that hooked up.  It was fun to see each of you.  Can't wait to Skype again soon.  

Slept well last night.  Woke just before 9:00 feeling rested for the first time in a few days.  I think I am kicking this bug!


The sun is shining again today.  It is a little warm, especially driving in the car.  Ron is up at Norm & Kristy's helping with something in their basement.  I am hoping he gets home while it is still light outside so we can go for a walk along the beach.

Today I sent off two more emails applying for jobs ~ this time in California.  Some of you may be wondering why we are still looking for work ~ well the job we got selling Christmas trees is only from 11/23 to 12/24 so we need employment beginning in January.  Ron did speak to a guy in Texas about doing security work at an oil field in Texas or Louisiana.  He needs to do something but I am not sure what.  We appreciate your prayers for our job situation.

Today I am thankful for friends.  Ron and I are richly blessed with many friends.  Not just people we know but true friends.  Those people who care about the day to day things that affect us.  Who share their lives with us and ours with them.  Friends who have stuck by us through the tough times and celebrated with us in the good times.  I am also thankful for all my blog friends.  It is fun getting to know each of them and share our life with them.
 
Speaking of friends ~ we would appreciate continued prayers for our friends Lynda & Jerry.  Lynda's dad passed away late yesterday afternoon.  I am thankful that Lynda was able to make ti to Alabama to be there with him and the rest of the family.

To answer a few questions ~~~
~ the casino with $2 dinners is the Nooksack Northwood Casino in Lynden, WA
~ yes $2 for a buffet dinner on Tuesday's
~ yes we will be staying in our motor home on site while selling Christmas trees.  One day next week I need to go to the storage unit to go through our Christmas decorations.  I want to decorate our home for the season.  We have 19 boxes of Christmas decorations to go through.  I am sure we will not use all of them :) - I will take pictures once we are in our site and all decorated.

Update on motor home ~ Ron spoke to John at Jerry Chambers this morning.  They are waiting for final approval to go ahead and do the repairs from the insurance company.  Ron is calling Steve this afternoon to see what the delay is.  We had initially thought we would be back in the motor home by this Friday but that is definitely not going to happen.  Once we get the go ahead from Steve Ron will talk to John and see what the time table is.  We definitely need to be back in soon so we can do what we need to do before heading out to sell Christmas trees.

Guess that's all for today - take care and have a great day wherever the Lord leads.

Thankful for,..

Today I am thankful for a nice place to stay while the motor home is being repaired.  It is so nice to have a comfortable bed to sleep in, a nice kitchen to cook in, and a beautiful view to see God's handiwork.


Today the sun is shining, the skies are blue and the view of the water is gorgeous.  Thank you Lord for dear friends who share their blessings with us.


We had an wonderful dinner with Patrick, Patricia & Brenda.  It was fun to hear about Skagway and share about some of our adventures with the carnival.  Later we were joined by Keith & Saara for more great conversation.


Today Ron is working at Norm & Kristy's and then this evening we are meeting Addie & Doh at the Lynden casino for $2 Tuesday dinner. 


Wishing everyone a great day!

Monday Musings

Hi on this cold, windy, rainy Monday afternoon.  I slept in today, thinks it helped to take Nyquil last night.  I think I am getting a cold ~ first one is I don't know how long.  Hopefully it won't get much worse.

 Yesterday we went to church at Northwood.  It was so nice to be back in our home church. It was fun to see friends and get lots of hugs.  During the children's message the question was asked "what is a missionary?"   And little Jacob replied, "sugar makes me crazy!"  We all laughed.  It was so nice to be where laughter was freely shared.  We had a missionary who shared about her time in Russia.  Following the service we had a potluck.  What fun to share a meal with many of our friends, and of course, the food was plentiful and delicious.

In the afternoon I took a nap and when I woke up we had company.  Jamie, Suzanne and Opal had stopped by for a few minutes.  Opal was so cute in her little costume.  Sure hope you enjoy the pictures.  Grandpa got lots of hugs and kisses.  Grammy kept her distance so that she would not give Opal her cold.  Hopefully hugs and kisses will come soon.

Here is Miss Opal with her daddy, Jamie.

In the evening we got a picture of Max and Christopher from their trick or treating time. 

Max as a blind ref and Chris as an elephant. 

Today has been a kind of lazy day.  We are having dinner with Patrick & Patricia and Brenda this evening.  It will be good to visit with them.

Today has been a very laid back day for us.  We both have spent much of the day on the computer and sending out a few emails regarding job possibilities.  Ron called on a job in Texas at an oil field doing security.  He has to call back tomorrow.  Talked to John at Jerry Chambers; he faxed the info on the motor home to the insurance company and hopes to get started on the repairs tomorrow.  

Today is November 1st.  One of the blogs I follow does a post for every day in November and lists what she is thankful for.  I think that is a great idea.  I hope you don't get tired of a daily blog post.  I am going to do the same thing ~ do a post for each day and include in it one thing I am thankful for.

Today I am thankful for the love of a wonderful husband. Ron and I have been married almost 35 years.  He has stood by me during the good, the bad, sharing in my laughter and tears.  He is a loving husband and father.  Thanks Ron for loving me and being the best husband a girl could ask for.

Followers ~ I also want to say thank you to all who follow my blog.  I can't believe I am up to 68 followers plus the many who read my blog (the silent followers) through my Facebook link and email notifications.

I don't know much else, just really wanted to post pictures of the grands.  Hope you enjoyed seeing them in their Halloween finery.

Wishing you all a blessed day!  Talk to you all again soon.