Weekend in Oregon

Last summer Sam got the opportunity to stay in Selma, OR. with Balin's parents for a week.  He came back with such stories of fun and excitement, Perrin was bound and determined to have a week all to herself also.  Since there are no direct flights from Phoenix to Medford that allow children to travel unattended, we decided to make it a family weekend, and we all flew up together.  Charlie, Balin's brother, rented a house in Ashland that would hold us all and we gathered for a couple of days of fun in the sun.  

Part of the fun was having lunch with our friends the Allreds.  We met Rachel when we were on assignment  at Malibu years ago.  Her husband, Ryan who is from Ashland, and Balin hit it off and we used to play with them when we all lived in the Seattle area. We were hoping that we would all end up in Oregon together but they were the only ones who made it back.  Ryan now is the area director for Young Life and continues to run his white water rafting business in the summer while Rachel balances the three girls (6,4,1) as she teaches high school English and snaps photographs of weddings all summer long. (www.bellajanephotography.com)  

 The best part of the weekend was hanging out with Charlie and Lindsey on the Rogue River.  We rented inflatable kayaks and spent the day playing on the river.  It was so much fun that we are hoping to come back next summer and spend a week on the river. (We'll be calling you Ryan)

After the weekend we left Perrin with her grandparents where she continued to have a great time.  Meanwhile Sam went to my mom's where in his own words he got, "spoiled rotten".

 And while the kids were away mom and the dogs did play.  I took advantage of the time by going mountain biking, sewing and relaxing.  I found that after a couple of days with the kids and husband gone, I was ready to have everyone back again.

 When Sam returned from my mom's, Sue my sister invited us to go camping with her, Sophie and Jack.  Since they were just going down the road we decided just to go for dinner.  Sue purchased a single axle trailer this past year and has been trying to get out and enjoy the great outdoors.  Unfortunately for her that night, I did not read the date right and told her the campsite was available.  Well it wasn't.  11:00 that night the people who had reserved the campsite showed up and Sue ended up going home.  Sorry Sue.

Jordan and Yogi.  This picture testifies to the kindness of Yogi.  Jordan has been scared of all creatures of the Strickler household for a couple of years, but with perseverance and patience, Yogi showed that he is kind and loving to even the most frightened of little girls.

Susie brought Perrin home from Oregon and decided that a few days at the Strickler house were in order.  She and I enjoyed a little time at the lake one day.  I think she likes coming to our house, especially now that the guest suite is finished and waiting.

 The Irwins of Denver invited Christie Hamman and I to join them for a weekend of reflection and quiet at the Downing House of Denver.  It was a great weekend of quiet time with God and good conversations with friends over good food.  The Downing House is a ministry of the International Foundation and The Fellowship.  It's a pretty amazing place with an amazing story.  It's a story of a couple whose lives had been changed by God through the tool of Young Life and how they decided that living for the Kingdom in Heaven is more important than creating a kingdom here on earth.  It was inspiring to be there and I am encouraged to continue to participate in building the Kingdom in Heaven by living generously and big in this world.

 The Doce Fire started just before we were to go on vacation to Yellowstone. As you can see from the picture it was a huge fire and just about destroyed the cabins at Granite Basin Wilderness.  From the porch of cabin 4 you can see where the fire was stopped by red fire retardant.  We continued our plans for vacation as there was nothing we could do about the fire, other than make sure our insurance was up to date.  We went and saw the cabins last Saturday and they are all fine.  Thank you to all the firefighters who worked diligently to put out the fire.

Unfortunately the Doce Fire was not the only fire that raged in the past week.  The Yarnell fire, which was started by lightening, engulfed the community of Yarnell taking out over 250 homes and taking the lives of 19 of Prescotts finest firefighters.  Our city is one in morning as this tragedy touches every single person, whether they knew the men or not.  It's amazing to see the town come together and look for ways to participate in taking the overwhelming task of "getting on with life" for the survivors and their families.  Fundraising efforts have been amazing as well as looking to the every day needs of food and shelter.  Fundraising for the families who lost their homes in Yarnell are also underway, which is essential as Yarnell is one of the struggling communities in Yavapai county.

Our prayers and our actions are with those who are in need and it's a blessing to participate.
 

 In the midst of the craziness of the first few weeks of summer, Balin and I were able to get away for two nights at the Intercontinental in Fountain Hills.  We had a lovely time relaxing and sitting by the pool, well I did anyway as Balin had a meeting in Phoenix one of the days.  That and he got the flu...but other than that it was a lovely little get away.

The kids made a killing at their root beer float stand.  They did a great job getting their supplies, advertising and personnel in line.  Sam was in charge and took the risk of purchasing materials.  His employees worked hard and he rewarded them with an hourly wage and product.  It's a good job for a 8 year old.