Snippet 'a Sanders

This Spring and Summer we kept visiting our darling in-law family and sis and bro-in-law every few weekends, helping to build Noah and Dorothy's new home (so exciting!).

 All the men are amazing and the house is really looking beautiful. They are true craftsmen.
"Meanwhile, back at the ranch", we girls kept doing things like shopping, swimming, talking, staying up late, watching movies, eggs, playing Catan, cooking, visiting...someone must attend to these things. :)
Going to Rora is like a vacation-only, at home, because that is what it feels like. I guess wherever family is, it feels a lot like home. Their hospitality is such a blessing, and every minute spent with these two Sanders families is a joy-filled one. (Miss y'all a lot!)

Yard sales galore!! One weekend this whole community was having a huge sale, so we attacked at dawn, and then posed thusley with our prey. Observe the entire bolt of beautiful green plaid fabric for 10 dollars. *delighted sigh*

Here we are, in Hawaii.
Dorothy poses with Wahine Nani, a kindly native who shared her coconut flakes with us.

"Ab, are these veggie puffs for eating?"

So good to sit on the dock and listen to Abbi strumming on the eukleia, the baby jabbering and us laughing over our singing...

A short walk from the lake to house site. Enoch is so adorable the way he walks with such focus.

"As they were walking along, a strange old woman came out of the wood, voice raspy, barefooted and asking abruptly for "only a shilling, me good lady, only a shilling!!"
Upon seeing the lad, however, she began to call loudly, holding out a crusty hand, limping closer so that Denolia became alarmed.
"Hello, little boy!" She rasped through blackened teeth. "What is thy name, little one? Come, come here, child!!!! Come and see me!!!"  
As they ventured nearer, however..."                  -The Woods Woman, page 1,384
                                           
( ;P Grace, you are splendid, cape and all)

And we're here! Ni Hi did a great job helping.

Dorothy and Enoch watch Daddy build.

This house is going to be really spectacular. (Grace is seen, above, contemplating a Zorro act across those braces.)

Enoch with his Mama and two grandfathers, who are building the home he will be a little boy in. That is so special.

Trip the Second! We stop in Columbus at Country's for supper. Daddy, you are so sweet!!!

The soporific effects of BBQ are known throughout the regions. Here we are, after BBQ. Ah.

Wow!!! It's coming along!

Aunt Marfa and Enoch walk together down the hill...

The Lady of the House!

(Romance blossoming to the right)

From the top balcony.

Grand Daddy and Enoch.

Some of The Uncs

"See, my boy, this is the powder room, where you will find great comfort in days to come..."

Poog in Window

It's so amazing seeing the rooms come out of the wood.

Little E  looks like a hero off an action flick when he and the bad guy finally come face to face.

"Don't move, jerk. Tell me where the girl is."

It is amazing that all these little boards nailed together actually hold up people and furniture and whatnot. When you scale it down, it's seems like nothing more then a stack of tooth picks with needles sticking all in them. Carpenters are SO awesome!!! (I know the 9 best carpenters in the world, by the way.)
  
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man 
who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 

 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
Matt. 7: 24-27

Uncle Paul, can you see that tricycle from here?

Uncle Andrew and the Specimen! Caught you with a mouth full of  water. :D LOL.

Stead,

Sam,

And Johnny 'O are seen above, above and above, munching, munching and standing, respectively.

More romance....

Then it was off to Zaxby's! We hath dicovered deep fried mushrooms. Wow-azers.

And then Enoch helped Grand Daddy read the newspaper in the evening...What beautiful times together.

Oh. Just the Way You Are by The Piano Guys is playing right this minute and it is so intricate it makes you want to cry....

And so I finish this post. Piano Guys to end the day, and the faces of Sanders, people we love lots.

Goodevening, kind reader.

Love!

A.G.M.

Celebrating Martha

Even though her 20th birthday was back in January, we celebrated her 20th year with a special 'surprise' (LOL....) birthday party for her in March. Even though she ended up knowing, we had a blast planning and scheming, and enjoying the whole weekend with out of town company that came in for the occasion. We love you, Martha!!

And, so the weekend begins!
The C. family came in Wednesday (love them, so much!!!) and we all behaved admirably through out the weekend, attending to chores and ice cream and other duties. They bless our family very, very much.
Here we are, dancing in the kitchen while dinner is being prepared. Blastful.
(as you can see, we have that Spanish flare of elegance...moveimiento, senoritas! Mariah, I especially like your stance in the first picture. That's very becoming. "The bird!!! Ohh, ohhh. The Squiggle!")

One of the best meals on the earth, Auntie's chicken picatta with her salad and French bread. The only thing better is everybody in the kitchen making it! (well, Aunt Lisa is the one who makes, it, with a little help from  her girls. It is soo good.) 

Andrew most always slices the chicken. Mariah presses fresh garlic for sauce, and Alyssa always sits at the bar and gives advice and directions to the one spinning the lettuce. That's always helpful. "Yes, one more turn. That's right. Exactly...."

Andrew's like, "Would you please not handle the fabric?"  (One of my favorite lines to use around the house.)

Edwin is our poison control center. Every bowl must be tested for non organic ingredients. ;P

The Sanders are here!!!! We love that family. 

Andrew and Grace demonstrate good posture for us in the above photograph. 

This was so precious. Abs was spinning Ariana around and she was just a-cack-aling. Abbi is so wonderful. (look at Ariana's smile in the middle picture! Oh. my. word.)

I like to call them "theese cakeths". 'Tis near manna, I'm sure.

Saturday night everybody who was there played WW11. Yes, my friends. What authenticity! This seriously is FUN. (Kenni, Bridget was sorely missed. Or was it Gretchen? :) You are fabulous)

Sunday morning Enoch was cracking me up. He was waiting on his waffle that his Grand Mama was making him, and Dorothy was like, "smile for Auntie, Enoch!" and he gave me the top picture, LOL. Good grief. Then, "Exuse me, Aunt Poog? How many more minutes until we breakfast?" This little boy is, ah-he's just SO nearly edible.

Saturday morning found all we ladies and our picnic stuff jammed into three cars and starting off to Pebble Hill for Martha's picnic!

We are so blessed in her.

Mama, Katie, Dorothy, Martha and I were all in the Suburban together on the ride there, and I think that was one of my favorite times from the weekend...we talked about the Lord and His mercy to us...about Martha, and how much we love her...about Grand Mama, and her being the one who gave us all the gift of life, through carrying Mama and, then Mama, us. We sang some hymns as grass and pine trees flew by in a blur, and laughed with tears over how much joy there is and how much we loved Grand Mama and how much Jesus loves us...isn't is really, unspeakably amazing to be His!? And to be together, on our way to a whole day with wonderful people as we celebrate Martha, and her life that brings so much honor to the Giver of it...and there were M&Ms, too.

Then...blama-da-blama!!! The Suburban tire blew, (shredded, really) and we found ourselves 14 damsels in distress with no man, so we abandoned our carriage and all stuffed into the two remaining vehicles!! It was actually kind of fun. :D

Rachel has been rather mechanically minded since she married Wesley.

"We could perhaps use this lid as a spare until we reach out destination. It is similar in shape and even has a handle to attach it with."

Party stuff transfer!

All crammed in! Poor Darth had to squeeze back there. She did manage to get her seat belt on though, brilliant soul. More like a noose belt, but it worked!
(  ;) actually she is stuffing pillows in)

Almost done....

And we're here! Isn't it stunningly beautiful!? This is a really special, beautiful place.

Our wonderful guests were already there to greet us, like good guests always do, and we hugged all around! Then, while a few of us set up our picinica, and I added my special touch to the van and it's keys (won't go there) everybody explored the beautiful gardens and pathways, talking with friends.

Darth and 'Yana! Dee, can you believe you're holding Rachel's little girl, and she's your niece!!!? Time is so amazing.

Friends...

"We will attack now!!"
"Sire, I plead with thee...
"I beg thee my league-may not the sandwiches be buried here, among these slopes?"

Alyssa Rose!!!

Abbi bosses the girls while Marty pouts and Grace stands defiant. 
"No, ma'am, we're not going back to Noah's ark. We've already seen the hippos..."

Sustenance

They almost look like triplets. :)

Martha Harriet and Mama Love

Mama said a blessing over Martha and gave thanks for the people gathered and the food prepared.
It was 'dericious!

All the gifts and the letters and songs were simply beautiful.

And she got lots of the above Health Tablets. :D

Abbi, Becka and Grace sang for Martha. It was so encouraging to listen to, and really incredible watching these three sisters sing before the Lord together to bless His Martha...

Laughing over the notes....memories...
(Love seeing these girls laugh...)

Aunt Christine reading...

The whole Party

(minus wonderful Taylor, who was taking the picture...oh, and thanks so much for letting me use some of your fantastic pictures! Thinking of you...)

Ah, Angela and her cards. They never cease to wow!

Aunt Laura's words to Martha.

Listening and laughing.  

Each envelope and bag was filled with such love. The time together really meant alot. This day was like one of those spots in a life when you look back and remember it as an oasis and stopping point, to celebrate life and each other, and to tell God how much we thank Him for it all.

After that is was time for the games to begin!!

Here we are, with the egg toss. You draw a number, get your buddy, then stand one step away from her, toss it, take a step back, toss it again, step back, and so on until one or the other drops, eats, throws or crushes the egg.  It was blastful!!
I drew Aunt Christine's name, which was who I wanted to draw (because she's really fun) and we almost won, too. :D And Daisy and Grace got each other!  I love it. How did that happen!? :D Still laughing over that one toss...hehe....I love those two girls so much!

"Humph. Games? I've seen better organized riots."

 Ariana watches quizzically.

"What morons. Throwing those chicken eggs back and fourth at each other, endangering their frocks with yolk, when they could be sitting in their strollers, freshly diapered with a whole tray of cheerios before them...."

The Victors rejoice! Congratulations to Aunt Lisa and Katie!! (We had to calm Auntie down after about 10 minutes of cheering and victory dancing) 

Martha and Becka were exiled to the picnic blanket as second place winners.

 

The winning distance. Pretty good!

Prizes! Prizes!

Talking! (of course)
(Grace, all I can think about is "Abbi, Abbi!! Abbi..." LOL...you make me smile...)

"The Bird!!!! Whaa-hah-aahh!!" (inside joke) Love your hair like that by the way.

Dessert was fantabulous, made by Amanda-strawberry trifles in a jar, with a mint sprig.
Brilliance a la Panda.

Elizabeth was SO cute, sleeping soundly upright in Aunt Dee's arms.

These three look like snobbish royals here. 
"Bring me another trifle. At once!!" (Marty does not tolerate sluggish servants.)
Sarah then glares at the paparazzi while Martha simply ignores them.

It's really good to see everyone. Standing around talking is one of the best ways to enjoy an afternoon!

"And then I like, blew my nose like this or whatever, and was like, oh my word...!!"

Dorothy started clapping with delight over the story while Becka tried to keep lunch in place...

Hats are really, truly wonderful. Mama and Auntie wear them splendidly.
(real quick, while we're on the subject, check this out!!! I mean, it's big but it's incredible!! Wonder what it would look like on? Also this one. And in men's hats...'dis. Polka dots in little bits are so fabulous among the brethren.

Gabriella and I took at short stroll down to the pond. There were tiny lily pads in the grass that suctioned to your bare feet and it felt rather ethereal.
We did not see any alligators as planned, however.

The trees looked so enormously tall that day. It was almost shocking. I don't know why things seem bigger or brighter on some days more than others, but it does seem like that sometimes, doesn't it?

Martha flowers

It's amazing thinking about these two when they were little...

Taking a stroll around the plantation...

They were setting up for an evening wedding on the grand lawn and we got to see all the fun stuff! The scale was very interesting and I would have loved to have seen it with humans added and music for atmosphere.

A closer look. Love the shape of the velvet couch.

Continued strolling

Flowers!

Campbell and Mariah! It is such a delight watching these two be such dear, precious friends. I love them so much.

Reminds me of The Sound of Music!!

Happy young Mama

Oh, you should see the herb/kitchen garden behind them. Wow'azers.

Spanish moss, one of the most wonderful things in the world!!

The girls navigate the maze

Mama and Auntie under one of the huge crepe myrtles...

...and us girls under the arbor on the bench, a perfect way to finish off our wonderful day at Pebble Hill.

Camellias, I love.


On the way home we stopped by McDonalds for a frappe (why else do you go to town?) and sang and sang all the way home, windows down, hair blowing and together.

Happy 20th birthday, Martha.

We love you, so much.

Forever,

Adeline, for all of us