"the other side"

last weekend aaron, noah and i went to "the other side"--i.e. east of the cascade mountains. it only takes a few hours to cross the cascades, but it's a different world over there. it's sunny! it's hot! it's drier, more deserty, but well irrigated and fertile. it's apple country, and great hiking, and a mini germany.

we spent the afternoon on the gibbs family farm in leavenworth with danielle, woody and napiqua. the farm is nestled into a beautiful green canyon, and it's quiet and spacious and lovely. the three gibbs boys and their families all live on the property, and each year they also have an apprentice farmer (which is how danielle came to the farm in the first place). now danielle is managing the farm, and she definitely has her hands full doing that and being a mom to five-month old napiqua. we ate yummy burgers (from a cow they raised) and salad mix (that danielle grew) with them inside their yurt, and talked about farming, logging (woody is a logger and they have a family sawmill), babies, high school reunions and building houses. we had a lovely time.

that evening we drove to field's point landing on lake chelan, and stayed at the holden village bed and breakfast. we had a cute little room with a travel crib all set up for noah. maybe my favorite thing about holden is that they have all these beautiful handmade quilts that lutheran ladies make and donate to the village. of course there was a quilt on our bed, but there was also a baby-sized one in noah's crib!

we wanted to stay at the bed and breakfast to help us get a feel for what it would mean to volunteer at holden. for those of you we haven't talked to lately, we're thinking maybe of spending a year at holden village, a lutheran retreat center at an old mine site in the mountains up lake chelan. we're still in the application process, and praying and thinking, but right now it looks like a good and exciting option. we'll keep you posted!

we met lovely workers at the bed and breakfast, and they were all very excited about us spending some time at the village. i felt encouraged by them--particularly by the two middle-aged women running the b and b. they both expressed that they've had full lives and now want to devote the rest of their lives to serving the lord, in whatever way he shows them. i want to share that kind of devotion, and particularly that openness to being led. i still feel like i need the safety of control, of choosing my own path. but ultimately i think my life would be more full if i did a little less choosing and a little more praying, listening, being open, being led...though it's always hard to know exactly how.

also, i want to make a quilt for noah!

and aaron wants to make a porch swing for our porch.

on the way home, we stopped at the smallwood "petting farm" and orchard, where we fed some animals and did some lounging in the sun. also, now i want a radio flyer for noah!

and of course you can't go to leavenworth and not eat "wurst."

go here to see more pictures from our weekend.