Visiting the Pumpkin Patch

Jackie, I need to go to Greenbluff to get 30 pumpkins for work.  I am doing pop by's and giving people pumpkins and asking them to carve out time for me as a realtor!  Wanna go?  Mike I have so much school work to do I should stay home.  Just come!  AND I did!  We had fun gathering pumpkins together and it was a nice break from weekend working!  

 Greenbluff is a big country party in the fall.  Pumpkin patches, pony rides, games, food and more!

Back for another load!  What beautiful country we live in!  The leaves are starting to turn their fall colors and it was a perfect fall day for some pumpkin picking!

 Families everywhere picking out the perfect pumpkin to carve!

 There were even train rides around the orchards!

 The truck is loaded and off we go!  We did stop and get some carrots and honey crisp apples at another farm!   Glad I went and the school work still got done!

Steve's Jersey Number Retired at Gonzaga Prep

Never a dull moment for sure!  Mike and I attended the Gonzaga Prep game to receive Steve's retired jersey!  It was quite a night!

34 was everywhere!

Steve even spoke at the game.  That was so emotional.  He loves this school and what it stands for.

As we received the jersey the crowd started chanting, NO WHITE FLAGS, NO WHITE FLAGS!  A stadium full of people chanting that brought tears to my eyes!  What a moment!  Later the students made a huge 34 on the field.  We were on the field so I didn't get a picture.  The homecoming theme was heroes! Real life heroes!

There is a story here.  The young man on the left came up to us and told us how much of an inspiration Steve is to him.  He said he prays for Steve every day.  He wanted us to know!  His friends came up and echoed the same thing.  The guy with the giant P on his chest asked if we could pray together for Steve.  Of course we said, so we held hands over the condiments at the food stand and he prayed for Stephen.  No one was worried about praying in public or around friends.  Best moment of the night!  They believe in a powerful God that can work miracles.  So good to see! Thank you to all of you for a very special moment that topped off a memorable night! NO WHITE FLAGS!

It's Good To Be Alive, Jason Gray

What a special night for me.  Not because I got to meet someone famous and get an autograph.  Nope!  I got to say thank you to a man who wrote a song that I try to live!  I still remember the first time I heard, IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE.  Tears of joy ran down my face.  It wasn't long after I had my ruptured brain aneurysm.  How do I say thank you to God for a miracle.  A miracle that allows me to experience life with my husband, to see my family grow.  To see my children become wonderful parents and grow into the fabulous adults they are!  Grandchildren!  They will know me not as a memory but as a living breathing grandma!  Hopefully, I will know my great grandchildren too!  I get to ski! Not only did I live but am able to walk, talk, sing, laugh!  I can still do all the athletic events I do with my Elite Athletes Only Different friends.  I am totally back and more.  This song was it.  This is how you say thank you!  It is a life well lived and not taking a minute for granted!

So this is how it happened.  Better than expected.  I bought VIP tickets for the Steven Curtis Chapman concert so I could say thank you to Jason Gray.  Jason Gray wasn't at the VIP session.  No offense Steven but I bought the ticket to the VIP to talk to Jason Gray.  I just thought, no this isn't happening!  He is right in the other room.  I asked the gentleman that introduced the VIP session if Jason Gray would come to the VIP and he said probably not but he might sign autographs afterwards.  Not good enough for me.  I told him a brief version of my story and told him I really wanted to just say thank you.  He told me to talk to the people that come in with Steven Curtis Chapman.  If you know me you know I have no fear about talking to anyone these days.  So I did talk to Will. I told him why I wanted to talk to Jason Gray.  He said, "I will see what I can do."  He returned and gave me a positive head nod.  After the VIP he took me to this nice patio area and guess who was there!  Yep.  One on one.  No VIP crowd.  I got to tell Jason about my aneurysm, how I first heard the song and how perfect it was for my life now.  He put his hand on his heart and said thank you to me for sharing and that it blessed him.  We took a couple of pictures (no autograph) and I asked him as I was walking away if he was going to sing, IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE.  He flung his arms out and moved them around in a silly way, along with the rest of his body!  He said, "Maybe!" with a big smile on his face.  It was the first song in his set!  It is GOOD TO BE ALIVE!  Not just for me but for all of us!

Thank you to Jason Gray for taking the time to meet with me before the concert and thank you to Will for making it happen!

I recorded part of IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE with my little point and shoot camera and it turned out pretty good.  Click and listen!

 Click to hear It's Good to Be Alive at the Concert

Steven Curtis Chapman!  Talent all around that night!

Laura Story!  She has such a beautiful voice.  A gift from God for sure!

You can't tell me God didn't have his hand in this meeting!  He did and I thank Him for it! Almight powerful God that can move mountains can surely arrange a meeting like this!  IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE! IT'S A MIRACLE THAT I AM ALIVE! Thank you God and I will do my best to have a life well lived!

Soccer Star Lucy

Lucy starting soccer.  She has watched Layne and not it is her turn to get started.  Lucy is fearless and loves to run.  Should be fun!

 At this age they do a lot of fun games to practice.  Just getting the hang of how things work.  Yes, Lucy wore her hat the whole time.

 This was a drill where the coach ran and all the kids followed her.  Do you see any kids behind Lucy? Nope!  Lucy was keeping up with the coach and there was a gap behind Lucy.

 More instruction and the hat is still on even with all the running.  Looks cute!

 At little ball handling practice.

 Break time!

 Now Layne has to be the spectator!

I cracked up watching this.  Two kids put a purple scarf on their back.  It was a chase game.  Try and catch the purple scarves.  Here they go!

 Scarf number one was captured.  Lucy is still running and no one can catch her.

Still running and starting to get tired but so is everyone else.  She ran and ran and no one could catch her.  Finally, the scarf fell off.  Whew!  I am not sure anyone would have caught her at all if the scarf didn't fall off!  It was fun to watch Lucy get started playing soccer!  She will be a star someday and not just in soccer!