The Pacific Ocean!

Saturday morning we drove from Aberdeen down to the beach near Westport. This was the first time we had been to the Pacific ocean and it was beautiful!!

Sisters by the sea!

We enjoyed searching for sand dollars and shells.

We stopped at the marina in Westport and watched the fishing boats.

Tugboat on Grays Harbor.

~Alyssa

Traveling to Washington state and a Dessert Social....

Last Wednesday evening we left on a trip out to Amy Ellen Bradrick and J.R.'s wedding in Washington state. We girls had never been west of Fargo North Dakota, so we were very much looking forward to seeing the Rocky Mountains!

We drove through most of ND in the dark, but as it got light we came up to the Badlands in the Thoedore Roosevelt National Forest...they were so beautiful!

When we got out of the van the scent of sagebrush filled the air.

Dad near the edge.

A semi transporting a wing for a wind turbine....it was really long!

Montana was one long state with lovely scenery.

Farm land.

Rocky ranch land.

We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce/visitor center in Billings. This was the only cowboy we saw on our entire trip! We drove up to the Rim Rock that surrounds the town and caught our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains in the distance:

The 'Crazy Mountains' .
This was the first mountain range we came to and they are some of my favorites.

I'm not sure of the names of these mountains.

Coming down Bozeman pass we saw this train track way up the side of the mountain!
The town of Bozeman is in a huge valley up in the mountains surrounded by more mountains. This town is higher in elevation at 4810 ft than the highest mountain in Vermont which is 4393 ft. An interesting bit of trivia!

Mining in Butte.

The closing of the day.
We spent Thursday night in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

~ Friday ~

At a rest stop in the eastern part of Washington state, which Dad said looked like a rolling grassy dessert.

Later in the morning we stopped at a scenic overlook in a very rocky area of the state along the Columbia River.

We didn't see any rattlesnakes, but we did see a few of these little lizards.

At the overlook. :)

Later on the terrain became very mountainous and rocky with lots of pine trees. I think I saw more pine trees on this trip than in the rest of my life put together!

Going down Snoqualmie Pass. This one was my favorite!

Some of the passes had a 6% grade and were quite curvy!

As we were driving around the city of Tacoma, during rush hour traffic, we saw this cute old car!

At 3:00 in the afternoon we arrived at our hotel in Aberdeen. It was a LONG trip but a very pretty one.

Dad in the hotel lobby.

Once we got the van unloaded we went for a walk. This is the view near the hotel which was on Gray's Harbor. There was also a train track that went right next to the hotel and wound through the town.

California poppies!

After supper we drove to the B&B in Montesano where the

Dessert Social and English Country Dance was held.

It was a lovely day, but got cold as the evening went on. (I am not used to wearing a sweater in July!)

Peter, one of Amy Ellen's brothers.

Emily Bradrick and Thomas.

Kristen Craig, one of Amy Ellen's sisters.

The Virginia Reel! This was the first time we had done English Country Dancing and it was so much fun! The neat thing about it is that it is an activity that almost all ages can do together!

Coming up next: pictures from our trip to the ocean and the wedding! :)
~Alyssa

Ladies Tea on Proverbs 31

Picture from Allposters

Mom found this recording of Mrs. Scott Brown and her daughters, (Kelly, Blair, and Claudia, and daughter-in-law Monica), speaking at a Ladies Tea this past month when they were on their Road Trip. They go through Proverbs 31 and share practical applications they have learned from experience that can be used everyday. It is very encouraging!
Listen to the talk HERE. :)

~Alyssa

Way Back When-sday

Vintage loveliness!

~Alyssa

Joseph and Stephanie's Wedding!

This past Friday evening was the wedding of our friend Stephanie S. to Joseph K.

Ana was asked to make the wedding cake and cupcakes for the reception. She baked everything Thursday, and on Friday we went down to the church about noon and worked to get everything decorated and ready before the wedding which was at 6:00 PM. (For more about the cake, go to Ana's blog and read all about it!)

Engagement picture.

The entire S. family, plus Joseph.
(I took this through a window, so it's not the clearest.)

~The Ceremony~

It was a lovely joyful wedding! One of my favorite parts was singing the song "In Christ Alone" as a congregation. Joseph's younger brother John played the piano and his playing fit the words of the song so well....

"In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light my strength, my song.

"This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm."

"What heights of love, what depths of peace when fears are stilled, when strivings cease."

"My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand." (verse one)

...running down the isle....

These two were so cute! I don't think the ring bearer knew quite what to do with the pillow he was given to carry. After the ceremony he gave it to the pastor before going down the isle with the flower girl. So in the end, the pastor ended up with the pillow (as you can see in the picture above)! :D

There were six bridesmaids and groomsmen. Bethany, Stephanie's oldest sister designed the bridesmaids dresses..aren't they lovely?!

~The Reception~

It was a very full room.

Joe F. and John K. did a 'program' in which people had to tell stories about the couple in order to get them to kiss. Then Joe and John would rate the story and tell Joseph and Stephanie how many kisses they were to do!

Lovely flowers!

Joseph's sister and hid brother John sang a song they had written about their perspective of Joseph and Stephanie's courtship. It was quite funny!

Cutting the cake.



Me and Emily, one of Stephanie's sisters.

Stephanie throwing the bouquet.
At the end of the day Stephanie went outside, up some steps and threw her bouquet to the girls below. Then Joseph was trying to think of something to throw...and he ended up using his tie. The funny thing was that none of the guys wanted to stand there and catch it. So some of the them picked up one of the groomsmen and held him there and Joseph basically dropped the tie on him! Unfortunately I did not get a picture of that!

Waiting...

As Joseph and Stephanie came out of the church, someone set of firecrackers! When Joseph opened the car door...it was full of balloons. He got out a pocket knife and was popping them, which sounded like more fireworks. So they finally get in the car to leave only to find that it will not move at all. It had been jacked up in the front! Poor Joseph! They did finally leave amid much cheering, waving, and picture taking!!

~Alyssa