A Month In Review: June

Shalom Dear Friends and Family!

Happy July 4th!!!  I hope you had a beautiful spring, and a wonderful start to SUMMER!!!  This past month really flew by for me.  When I realized we were nearing the end of the month, I questioned myself whether I should take the time to do a blog post or not, because I had a lot of other things calling for my attention.  But I decided to go ahead and take the time ... I hope y'all feel special now!  I figured that I had made a decision at the beginning of the year to post once a month (to the upmost of my ability), and just because I've made it halfway through the year, does not mean I can skip a month now:)  So here we are!

We were thrilled when the 500 copies of Shining Stars were delivered to our door!  We quickly set to sealing, labeling, and stamping them to be sent out to the subscribers the following day. 

In the picture below, we were almost done ... YIPPEEEEE!!!

This is typical Abigail and Lydia! 

One time when we were trying to get Abigail to give us a normal, pretty smile for a picture, she told us she had better not, because it would not be a correct representation of herself:)  You just got to love her ... she makes us crack up all the time!

And a normal shot!

It has been really pretty here with all the wild (and planted) flowers.  I enjoy seeing the tiger lilies come up every year.



I love this picture of Abigail.

At the beginning of month, Ima flew up to visit her mother in DE.  She was gone for about a week.  On that Shabbat when she was away, we went to our friend's house to visit.  As you may notice, most of the pictures on this post are with our fellowship friends.  That is because we did a lot together this month, and that seemed to be the only time our photographers really got the camera out!

Eliyah is such a beautiful little girl.

We almost always go for walks together!

I could not decided which one of these pictures to post, so I decided to do both! 

I can't tell you how many times I have seen these faces when Abigail and Finley are together!

This one is sweet!

On the second weekend of June, Tommy flew in from Israel to Washington DC and Ima picked him up.  The following week they drove down here in a car my grandmother gave Tommy.  It was really nice seeing him again after 6 weeks :)

Lydia and Tommy.

We had lots of puppies last month.  We had Beagliers ...

... chocolate Labradors ...

...and Coton  De Tulear puppies!



  

I like this picture of Hannah ... she has always loved farm life, and this picture is so fitting!

I enjoy seeing Abigail's pictures as she practices photography!

The Shabbat after Ima and Tommy got back, we had a rather large Shabbat meeting. 

Here we are going for another walk :)  There were SO many babies and children on this walk, it was SO much fun!

  

Ruthie and Eliyah.  

Isaac walking Sophie.

Madison, Cadence, and Aliyah.

Talking to George and Mike (the donkeys)! 

Now talking with our neighbor Barbara and her grandson Cole.  Cole was so cute ... I was holding Ezra in a Moby baby wrap and Cole (4?) wanted to see him.  So I bent down so he could see him and he asked me, "Will he come play with me?":)  It was so cute ... but I had to tell him he was too small:(

  

The following pictures are from the going away party we had for the Eatons.  It was a sad evening as we said good-bye.  We love you all and miss you A LOT.

Madison, Cadence and Lydia.

Hannah holding baby Ezra!

We enjoyed watching these two grow up together:)  There were lots of training sessions ... but they are both so cute!

 

Andrea with her oldest daughter, Madison.

You just gotta love this little guy's smile!!!

Me with sweet little Rohan.

The children (and fathers) hit golf balls for awhile and then the children started playing Kadima.

Lydia with "Chubs" (a.k.a. Ezra).

And me holding Ezra.

This last week we went to a state park to go fishing, swimming, and canoeing.

Samuel behind a waterfall.

Each time we go there, I am amazed by the rock banks ... no wonder they call it "Rock Island".

Passing some strangers:)

Tommy took a fishing pole and decided to fish out of his canoe ... but he didn't get anything!

Okay, I had better go now.  I hope you have a blessed July.  As we remember the Independence we have in our country, let us not forget to pray for those in other countries, who do not have the freedom to openly worship our Creator. 

Also, please remember the families of Gilad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah (the three kidnapped teenagers in Israel) as their bodies were found on Monday.  Please pray for comfort for the families as the mourn the loss, and for all of Israel.  Todah (thank you)!

Shalom!



A Month In Review: May



Shalom Friends and Family,

I hope you all had a pleasant month!  Ours was very good ... but full.  The most surprising thing about last month was, we didn't get very many pictures!  And that is a shock in the Washburn family - we are known to take pictures of "everything" :)  Well, I need to correct myself, we did get hundreds of pictures ... but most all of them were of our dogs and puppies ...  and I'm not going to post those here :)  But hardly any just regular pictures!

It was quite a change coming back here after being in Israel.  While in Israel, we would go to, or walk by, the beach more days than not.  We lived 5-10 minutes walk away from it and we had to pass it to go to the different congregation activities, etc.  It was hot there ... the sun was bright ... there were blue skies ... and we went swimming some days.  We came back to TN and it was COLD and gray!  Quite the change!  Now we have beautiful spring weather, but it is odd because we already had spring ... in Israel :)  But it was not green there, like it is here! 

The past month was full of work ..... spring cleaning, catching up from being away for so long, taking care of dog stuff and our different home-businesses.  As well as fun things like ...... going to a friend's birth, parties and meetings ..... I think I'll stop there!

Here are the few pictures we do have to share.

We went and took lunch to Abba and Sam one day ... they were working beside a beautiful large creek.  FYI ... the water was FREEZING :)

Abba ve'Ima ("ve" is "and").

On a different day the children built a castle on a rock.

Almost matching … I really like this picture!

Ruthie.

Abigail

(she and Lydia were dressing up)!

  Lydia.

I like this picture of Sam mowing the lawn .... actually, I think he was just taking his dog for a ride!

I was so excited when we got the call in the middle of the night that our friend was in labor ... but a little disappointed when we missed the birth by ONE MINUTE!!!  I still had an amazing time and was very blessed to be there!  Below is me holding Ezra ... the day of his birth.

Samuel and Ezra.

I really like this picture.  Almost every time we tried to get a picture ... he would close his eyes :) 

He is such a sweet, peaceful little guy!

I hope and pray your coming month is filled with much joy, peace, and lots of laughter!  Shalom.



A Month In Review: April

Shalom Friends and Family,

 

I am sorry this post is a few days late ... truthfully, I am still experiencing some jet lag from our flight back to the States, and I did not realize we were in May, until today :).  I did not have time to make a long post, but hopefully you will enjoy these few photos!  We had a wonderful time in Israel and we patiently, but eagerly, await the next time our Heavenly Father sees fit for us to return to that beautiful Land!

 

This is one of my favorite pictures.  I love the colorful flowers and the stone.  The Hebrew on the stones says, "City of David." 

Palm tree shadow on the Old City Wall in Jerusalem.

Tommy with a group of soldiers at the Kotel (Wailing Wall).

Beauty in a dusty land.

I always enjoy seeing this windmill, because it reminds of a series of historical fiction books ("Promise of Zion," by Robert Elmer) that my father would read to us children.  The windmill is mentioned in several of the books.

Palm tree.

One day our group went to the Independence Hall Museum in Tel Aviv. This is where David ben Gurion and the Jewish leaders declared Israel's independence.

This verse was on one of the walls.

A beautiful sunset in Rishon Le'Tziyon.

American football is not very well known in Israel ... but believe it or not, there are 11 teams in Israel.  Some friends of ours own a hotel in Tel Aviv and their hotel sponsors one of the teams.  So, when "our" team went to the national championship game, some of our family, along with other friends ,went to cheer them on!

Lydia and Miriam.

Sisters!

The Pastor's son plays on the team as well ...

Samuel and Cole.



A baby pomegranate. 

One night (late at night!) we went out with a friend for frozen yogurt.  We had such a good time together.

Someone had painted large wings on a wall, so we all got our pictures by them.

Abba and Ima.

Us children and Linoy.

Beauty!

Our family went together with a couple friends, to see the sunset the evening before we left.

Thanks to Roland for taking these pictures.

Abba and Lydia.

Making many sweet memories together.

Abba and Ima.

Now, here are some "then and now" pictures, to show you the change in 8 years :)

 

This is Yona's (Jonah) whale in Yafo (at least, the monument of it!).

 

Last month ... in the same place!

Eight years ago we planted an olive tree ...



Now, it is WAY taller than any of us :).

 

I hope you have enjoyed. Shabbat Shalom and have a blessed month!

A Month In Review - March

Shalom Friends and Family,

Due to us being in Israel and the busy schedule we have, I am unable to post like I've been doing the last couple months.  Life has been wonderful here and we are having a blast!  I just want to share one picture that was taken this week of our family ...  and hopefully I will be able to post more pictures later.

Shalom and have a blessed month!