Happy Fall Time!

Isn't Autumn glorious? I hope you're doing fabulously, and that your Summer has been beautiful. Ours has-the Lord is our ever faithful Father, helping us in joy, change, adjustments, life and in every kind of moment that we're given here. He is our Joy, Life, Love. 

Oh my word, it's been an amazing Summer. 2013 is nearer the end of itself than the beginning of it. I almost can't believe it's September. So many things have happened in each month, that flew by like wind, but I suppose that's true of every year. How are you? Thinking about so many of you, often.

Just as I was sitting here, the sun came out from behind banks of clouds that it's been hiding behind for the past four days...it's beautiful!!! It always has been. I love the way it makes shadows on the ground. In the woods it's especially beautiful-every swaying leaf is mimicked in a darker green and then the path in front of you almost dances, between bright yellow sunlight, filtering through the deep green spaces that sway and swirl, and green, leading you down to where you hear the water flowing...

May you be blessed this morning as you enjoy being His.

Much love!

-AGM

 P.S If you don't belong to Jesus, seek Him, and give yourself to Him, please. Drop a comment if you like, we're always here. Love to you. 

 Dorothy, Noah and Enoch came down for the weekend this Summer...Here we are, breakfast on the back porch! 

 In the kitchen with the Family-O!

Then...Dee got to come the next month!!! For a whole luscious week!! :D While Noah was out of town for the week, we got to have her and Enoch (and the forth coming Tiny Baby) here and it was, well, just really, really good to be with her. Here's Dorothy and Rach off to town for lunch out. (It's so fun watching them be friends together at all different stages of life. It's a true blast.)

And Grand Mama watched the two wee specimens, who were both crying in unison as their mommies drove off. So cute! Mums had them happy in 2 minutes, though. Swings and animal crackers and Grand Mom love.

 Playing Rook with Dorothy and Martha's at Rachel's, (one of the best things to do for fun, ever, pretty much) and laughing over a hysterically amusing and adorable niece. She entertained us all by rolling and doing baby summer salts...she cracks us up. "Enchanting little ritual. Something you uh, learned at the Abby?"

 Love you, 'ana!!!

 Movie time!-if we can decide what to watch, LOL...in the mean time all the joking is making you roll...

 Katie and Rose Darling Baby! This child...she has barrels of personality and brings so much joy to her Mama and Aunties and family...

 Cards, Cookies and Chocolate-the three C's that have chemistry.

Game Night in the barn with the whole clan...Above is Martha and Admirers.

 'ittle Men. Play at your own risk.
(hahaha...that is tho' fuuunny! You're tho' punny!!)

Wesley takes the dice in his shaking paws, muttering quietly as he tumbles them out onto the board of doom. Father watches in silence as, in slow motion, they soar several feet, landing somewhere over Africa with a laud crash, scattering Samuel's carefully placed rows of footman across the earth and onto the floor....

"Hey. Watch it, buddy." Sam breaks the silent adrenaline. "Kept the dice inside the building, OK?"

 Par-par rolls in triumph!!! He is 'de best.

Here are three samples of the extreme cuteness toddling around the house for the week. (this child appreciates freshly ground flour, unaccompanied. Healthful soul.)

We had so much fun, Dee and babies. Thanks for coming. Love!

 Sarah!! We miss you, SO much!!!

 And here's Luke, being held by his favorite Aunt Birdie, whom we love and had so much fun with the other day.
LOL, he's like, "Ahhhh!! My WORD, Auntie-wook at your eawwing! It so 'parkly...

 ...ohhh, yeah, loooking good..."

The gorgeous flowers that came in the mail!!! Aren't they stunning? B&D, you brightened up our day, for like, two weeks! They lasted forever. It was the most beautiful thanks you note I'd ever gotten. :D

And....this Summer Daddy was so extreamly wonderful and redid our dining and laundry rooms, plus the kitchen and the back hall. It is bliss now! The few weeks we were working on them were fun, hectic and quite a feat of daring and drama. Below is the first floor in three stages of exciting terror during the reconstruction stages:

Oh, my word, it was hilarious. Almost quite literally...

But, here's the dining room, set to rights, finished and looking ravishing! Thank you, Daddy. :D
And the Lord, too, for His kindness, and especially in giving us some amazing specials at Lowes. He is so sweet to us.

 Morning we started moving back into the dining room!!
"Do you want the job or not, snack shack?"

 There was some regularly enchanting fits of horse play.

 Mike was amazing with cutting in with the tile. That boy is a silent genius wit such things.

Beauty amongst chaos.

  "Are, are we done? Is, is everybody gone now? Eh. Good. My cheeks are killing me...A little break? OK."

Me and my bestest friend!

 

 The horseplay continues. (It may not look like it, but I can breath and it was funny)

 "She's tied up!!! Hahahaha!!!"

"She was like, "Eh! Ugh! Untie me!!!"

 Polyurethane Portrait (Isn't this cool?)

  

 (This stuff can very possibly kill you, by the way, the stuff to the right) 

Our sustenance for many a morn.

"Well said, Painta'."
"The head, your highness."
(Marth really was a beastette with the painting. The pantry is so refreshing to open now, all white and fresh!)

It's so wonderful to have 5 sweet Oxen about. They are enormously fabulous when moving heavy furniture about, among other things. Love my boys! So much.

Mama and Lukie at a birthday party the other night. Have you ever seen a more gorgeous Grandmom!?

And...I now give thee, the coolest picture of the year 2013. 

If you can find something SO incredible about this picture, leave me a comments and tell me what you see!!! Blow it up!

Toodles!

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.