Buffalo River Trail with friends

I'm practicing and preparing to be a grandmother. Not because we're expecting grandbabies anytime soon, but because I miss little ones!

Whenever we get the chance, we borrow small children. And their parents. Some of my favorite people belong to my wonder twin, Lauren. We've been looking for a kid friendly trail so we could hike together. First stop, Rock-N-Java for some early Saturday morning coffee.

Our destination for this autumn day was a gentle portion of the Buffalo River Trail near Tyler Bend. Lauren's kiddos did a fabulous job, and watching the adults parent so sweetly brought me great joy.

The weather was beautiful, the snacks were plentiful, the sleeping preschoolers were adorable, and the friendships were encouraging.

October: Joy in the Process

"We must never put our dream of success as God's purpose for us. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end. His purpose is that I depend on Him and on His power now. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God." ~Oswald Chambers

So many good things happened in the second half of October...opportunities to "depend on Him and on His power now".

All-Region Orchestra auditions...it's so fun to be on the giving end. We were the ones trying out almost forty years ago, but now we get to serve the kids.

Our coffee and calendar dates continue to fuel our marriage and our goals.

The evenings are cool enough now for a fire pit and s'mores.

I love volunteering for the orchestra program. Stamping music for the directors frees them up to do other things.

My gym buddy keeps me accountable, and sometimes we match, too :)

Fall is in the air

We cleaned up our little garden in anticipation of the coming frost. 

The long beans produced bountifully this year, which made Katherine especially happy since they taste like home to her.

The afternoons were beautiful for walks with Grandma, and sometimes my dad joined us.

The cool mornings are my favorite time to be outside, and our bike rides along Tucker Creek give me a delightful sunrise view.

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

We didn't get an anniversary trip this year, so we combined a weekend away with Aaron's birthday celebrations. 

First stop, Serenity Farm Bread in Leslie. The combination of their handy location, delicious sourdough, and a bathroom make it one of our favorite places to stop.

Then we checked in...The Wee Nook was exactly what we needed.

Cute Highland cows.

My morning "Jesus and Coffee" canine buddy.

A beautiful and quiet place to work through "The Art of Marriage" series together.

This is an excerpt from one of the videos :)

We explored some new trails each day. First, we tried Big Creek Cave Falls. Not much water was flowing this time of year, but it's still fun to tromp around.

We stocked up on local apples, sweet potatoes, and winter squash at Friend Orchard just outside of Harrison. We almost didn't stop, but I'm so glad Aaron made the U-turn. We came home with three different kinds of apples, and because they were "number 2" not "number 1" apples, the price was cheaper. Next time we are up this direction, I will check to see what else they are harvesting!

We also enjoyed a brunch splurge at Sweet Honey Cafe and Bakery in Harrison.

We followed brunch by exploring Hideout Hollow Trail.

The leaves were just beginning to turn vibrant, and it looked like this trail would be an amazing place to visit when more water is flowing.

More and more, we're once again considering trail through the lens of "kid friendly", and this trail certainly qualifies! Not too long and not too steep.

 

Quick Trip to NW Arkansas

We made a super quick weekend trip at the end of September to visit the newlyweds.

We stayed with some former missionaries in their cute little studio apartment they named "The Nest". It is indeed a place to rest and refresh, and we're so grateful for this family that has adopted Olivia.

I had my walking route already planned to go by beautiful City Lake before church.

After church, we heated up the big pot of chili we brought with us and enjoyed hanging out with some of our favorite students!

Happy Birthday, Katherine!

All Katherine requested for her birthday was for the Gebauer girls to come spend the weekend and attend the inaugural Arkansas Renaissance Festival together.

Early Saturday morning, we piled into the van and drove north.

The location was lovely and well laid out.

We watched knights jousting,

and Claire and Aaron did some combat of their own.

At the end of the unseasonably warm day, we arrived home, sweaty and tired. So we cleaned up, grabbed a bite to eat, and played Seven Wonders. What a treat to spend time with these ladies again!

Katherine's birthday was a few days after her friends left. We strongly believe in eating birthday cake even if you have already received your gift. Voila! A mouth-watering apple torte to celebrate the last of our teenagers.

Favorite things in September 2024

1) This is my new favorite mug (which is really Katherine's mug) that we picked up on one of our many road trip stops at The Coffee Parlor. The mug states "coffee is my love language". Truth :)

2) Katherine was reading Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile" for school, so we bought this delightful World of Hercule Poirot puzzle as an enrichment activity. What a fabulous puzzle! Piecing together the various characters and clues made me want to go on a Poirot reading binge.

3) Aaron gave me my first little trim with his personal hairdo equipment. Most days I'm thankful just to have hair again, but some days I feel like I've had an 80's perm.

4) Katherine is navigating home school and concurrent college classes so well. I often find her reading for school with a guinea pig on her shoulder to keep her company. Maybe Misha is there to console her as she reads books like "All Quiet on the Western Front". Twentieth Century World History can be heavy and dark, and having a furry friend always makes life better.

5) I listened to "Strong and Weak" (yay for libraries!), and now I want to buy the book so I can go back through, take notes, and ruminate.

Waiting. And Stuffed Peppers.

"Biblical waiting looks to the Lord. Unfortunately, our waiting doesn't always lead us that direction. We often fill the gaps of life with something else. This struggle with waiting shows us where we place our trust when we're not in control. Waiting reveals what we hope in. That can be good or bad. And it's usually hard." ~Mark Vroegop, "Waiting Isn't a Waste"

Waiting is a huge part of our lives right now. Aaron is waiting to get back to the Solomon Islands, or at least to be able to work via Zoom with the translation team. I'm waiting for my next round of scans during the first week of December. I'm also waiting to see how my role develops as it seems that I will be staying in Arkansas longer than anticipated. Just being in the orchestra classroom once a week instead of every day has given me the "gift of availability". I get to use my time and energy to do things like attend my grandmother's family reunion.

She is the oldest of the remaining siblings, and this family is modeling so beautifully what it means to stay in touch and show up for each other.

Being home more also gives me opportunities to cook more, which is good for our bank account and our bodies. I also really like to cook, and I enjoy sharing when I can. My favorite farmer, Shaky K Farm, had some beautiful, colorful peppers, so stuffed peppers with my mom's meatloaf recipe filled our bellies. To help combat my anemia, I've been buying local ground beef from Flying C Ranch that has 10% heart, 10% liver, and 10% kidney mixed in.

Mama's Meatloaf

1 lb ground beef

1 chopped onion

1/2 chopped bell pepper

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 egg

1/2 cup oatmeal

Mix all together. Press into peppers and top with a thin layer of ketchup. Bake at 350 degrees F 30-40 minutes until meat is firm and juices are clear.

So many of our orchestra students do extraordinary things outside of rehearsal. I love going to cheer them on whenever I can. On an early Saturday morning, I got to go hoot and holler for one of our string bass players who set her personal best running cross country.

I'm trying to read and/or listen to more books, and this book about waiting encouraged and challenged me in this season of life. I highly recommend "Waiting Isn't a Waste".

Sam's Throne aka Perseverance and Endurance

"...we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3-4

"Different translators of this passage offer two related but different English words to express Paul's intended meaning -- endurance and perseverance -- whose connotations vary ever so slightly. Endurance tends to suggest durability or sustainability in the face of hardship and the resilience inherent in that process. Perseverance implies a somewhat more active posture in response to the hardship. Both indicate continuing on our current path despite our circumstances."

~Curt Thompson, "The Deepest Place"

When I got my cancer diagnosis last year, the oncologist warned me that it would be a long, hard year of treatments. What I didn't realize was how long my body would take to recover from those treatments and how often I would need to return for tests and scans. Endurance and perseverance have been my companions during the chemo and radiation, and they continue to motivate me in the healing process.

We keep testing my stamina with beautiful hikes like Sam's Throne Trail. It's like two small trails combined, one on top and one down below. The rock formations are stunning, and so is the view. On our way to the trail, we found a farmer's market that had some produce I haven't been able to find in our hometown. So, we picked up some fragrant cantaloupe and some plums. And when we got home, some of the plums found their way into dessert for Sunday lunch.

Autumn Fruit Kuchen

from "Breakfast with Beatrice"

Serves 12

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fruit Toppping:

14 to 16 purple plums, halved and pitted

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter, cut into tiny pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour an 11-inch round tart pan with a removeable bottom or a 9-inch square cake pan. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until smooth; beat in the eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla, flour, and salt. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Press the fruit evenly into the batter, sprinkle with the sugar, and dot with the butter.

Bake for 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm or cool on a wire rack. Serve with a topping of slighted sweetened whipped cream, if desired. The kuchen can also be frozen, well wrapped. Thaw and reheat in a 300 degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.