Source: Let’s hear it for our BFFs – Bacterial Friends and Foes
Though my skin cringes at the thought of trillions of bacteria living on, in, and around me, they are important for our health. Great information!
Category Archives: Family
Family Support is the #1 Factor in a Child’s School Success
Sunday Markets
The fountain at Place Monge on Sunday Market day
In France, one of the things we truly enjoyed was the Sunday market held in the Place Monge town square. One could buy ANYTHING needed for eating, drinking, or giving. We only hit one Sunday that had a simultaneous flea market going on, but the rest of the days, there was no lack of choices for purchase. Fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers were squashed in among stalls of stinky cheese and fish, raw meat and poultry. Lucious homemade breads competed for the winning fragrance award with occasional ‘meals made for you right now.’ The entire experience was a delight for the senses. Taking home the goods – mouthwatering sustanence.
flowers at Sunday Market
Meat vendor at Place Monge
vegetable vendor at Place Monge
Market fare from Place Monge
Many years ago, in the Yakima Valley, a Sunday farmer’s market was hatched. Of course, being at church most of each Sunday, we did not frequent the market. In fact, we boycotted it simply because it should be held on Saturdays (our opinion) so market workers and go-ers could attend church on Sunday. Granted, I don’t believe our boycott gained any new members of a church anywhere…
With our recent life change of full Sunday church responsibilities to experiencing ‘house church’ at a local park on Sunday mornings, we decided we would check it out – to see what the rest of the valley does on Sunday mornings. It seems that many residents take pride and joy at what is locally available, fresh from the fields, and the hands of gardeners, farmers, and crafters.
Sunday Market in Yakima
Pleasantly surprised, we found a plethora of aromatic and tasty produce, fruit, home produced crafts, and food items. Mixed in was a variety of ethnic food stalls (I love the panset and lumpia) and shoppers galore.
Checking out the goods
An added bonus is musical entertainment. Steel drum music was such a wonderful accompaniment to the outing.
My grandbaby hits the Sunday Market
Our boycott was in vain. We encountered people we knew, interacted with community members, and socialized under the hot sun. Purchasing fresh produce and showing off our grandson was at the top of the list of prizes for the day.
Hayden with Papa at the Yakima Sunday Market
I guess the boycott was a misguided waste of time. The Master Gardener did not stick Himself in church and stay there all day on Sundays. He was out among the people, where ever the people were…Perhaps more productive to relationship building and reaching out is to be where the people are…not where we think they should be, but where they actually are.
A challenge to myself – where are the families in my community on any given Sunday morning? Maybe it’s time I found out…and made some new friends.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
I seem to be stuck. Not your usual opening Christmas greeting statement! I am in between computers, trying to mesh both mail systems, and get my address book complete to the new mail system (in Vista, does that explain anything?). So, our Christmas email newsletter sits in queue, waiting for someone to fix something…I apologize to those of you who think we have dropped off the face of our beautiful planet Earth. Nope. Still here. Just stalled.
So, in liu of being able to get that email out, we wish each of you a very Merry (late, but heart felt) Christmas and a truly blessed, wonderful, spirit filled Happy New Year! May our Lord reign and rain down on you with seasons of spiritual growth, deepening, compassion, trust, and love.
From our snow covered sage to your landscape of love
All Hitched
December 6, 2008
Leaving the Church
It’s official. Chelsie and Collin are now married. She was a beautiful bride, the groom was handsome, and the dad (AND -aka- officiator of the ceremony) only cried just a bit. A full church enjoyed the ceremony and dessert reception which followed. It was so nice to see family and friends come together for the happy occasion – even if I didn’t get to visit with them (or even complete one entire thought!). It’s pretty weird that Chelsie is not Quantrell anymore…The mess is cleaned up (we did that part very very well), the presents unwrapped and put to use, the flowers are drying, the cool cake is gone, and Peeps and Collin have begun their new life together.
Congratulations, you 2 of our hearts. Forever keep our Lord Jesus at the center of your marriage and relationship. May He bless you for many years, and as your dad said, FOREVER, FOR ALWAYS, NEVER TO PART as long as you live. 🙂
I DID NOT Steal Those Toys!
The Hill Clan
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a child. Not too young, but still the oldest in a family of four offspring plus two parents. We all lived, incredibly, crammed into a single-wide mobile home. You can picture it, lovely white and gold toned, kids and pets crawling all over the place.
As was often necessary, mom did deep cleaning. She had to, in order to keep up with the vast assortment of STUFF that accumulated in our small home. During these times of cleaning (and might I add, my siblings were really not good at keeping track of their belongings, and often stored them on the floor or under the bed or dressers), mom dug out closets, under beds, and behind bureaus. That being said, I was the thrifty type. I also was developing my super organized skills and methods of storing massive amounts of junk. (READ: packrat).
Mom always threatened us. “If you don’t clean it up and put it away, I’m going to through it away.” She was telling the truth. At the last possible moment, just before the dust pan scooped up the garbage stored on the floor by my siblings, I swooped in and rescued trash. I think I may have been one of the pioneers of ‘trash to treasure.’ I pulled out anything that was in good condition, unbroken, cool, or whatever I deemed save-worthy. I transferred my new stash items to my top drawer. Saved from certain garbage burning, I practiced recycling before it became popular to be green.
Occasionally, and my siblings employ much ganging up and coersion to share their twisted side of the story, I opened my top dresser drawer and offered specific collection items for sale (nevermind that it was back to their original owners). Inflation not being what it is today, I charged fair (scavenger rates) prices, ranging from a few pennies to nickels, dimes, or maybe quarters. Great deals, huh? After all, I needed to recoup my time and energy costs. And I had to support my horse. Horses are expensive! It was a win win situation. They got great bargains, I kept the landfill empty of good stuff, and I added the change to my cash flow.
To talk with them, one would think that I stole the stuff and hid it until it was open store time. NOT SO! They are way younger than I am, so they do not remember correctly. I was like a vulture, waiting until mom had her back turned from the pile of soon-to-be-disposed items on the floor, and I played search and rescue. Who can complain about that? I was practicing humanitarian social responsibility plus keep the world green goals.
This is to set the record straight. Back in the dark ages, when I was a kid, I practiced recycling and helping mom keep the garbage can less filled with good stuff. I did not steal the toys and assorted items from my siblings. Really. I believe I even remember a few items being given to me by a brother or sister, and then they wanted them back later. Can’t blame me for wanting to turn a profit. Let’s call it storage unit fees.
So we’re even, right?
Way Back When
Look what I never published! It’s only a few months old…
My 2 Favorite Mission Friends
My bad! I haven’t blogged for numerous days…but who’s counting?
Kevin and I are preparing to head to Richmond, Virginia and Oklahoma City for appointment week. This week will be chuck full of meetings and gatherings and sharing…and commissioning for service overseas. It’s a bit overwhelming! One thing we will do is to prepare our testimony, which we will share at the appointment service. I was thinking back…
Way back when, our two children were preschoolers! Even before that, in high school, maybe middle school, I have had a love of the French people and the French culture. The extent of that was to perhaps visit the country one day, maybe study there during college (mission trip to France, yes, studied during college, no). Like my mom likes to say, I was born French, just in the wrong country.
Fast forward a few years. Bub and Bubbette (my dad’s nicknames for the 2 little Q’s) were not yet in school. I needed something to do with the kids on Wednesday nights at church, as nothing was offered. Our pastor suggested we try Mission Friends. Cool. That began my journey with missions. What awesome curriculum for preschoolers (and mom’s who teach it!). We studied cultures, foods, languages, people of the world, and missionaries and their families that lived and worked around the world to share the love of Jesus. With each lesson I prepared and taught, I fell more in love with being obedient to the call and serving wherever the Lord called. I didn’t instantly know that I was being called, but rather, grew into it. I’ve always felt a pull towards Western Europe, but thought it would be ‘in the future’ trips exploring cities and countrysides.
My babies!
A few years later, after writing for Mission Friends and Mosaic, the call to go myself, instead of just reading of others going, continued to grow. I went on several mission trips. Each trip confirmed the direction I needed to head. Kevin and I both went to Paris on a mission trip, where we served alongside workers in the city. That trip and the relationships we built confirmed the call for both of us, not just going, but the place and the people. Whoo-hoo!
To make a really long journey of manageable length for this blog, now we are getting close to heading across the water to live and work in east Paris. On June 27, in Oklahoma City, we will be appointed as missionaries. Please pray for us ~ it will be exciting and awesome! And we’d prefer not to experience any of their world famous tornadoes. In the northwest, we are used to volcanoes, wind, heat, rain, snow, dust…Not tornadoes. Show me the safe place please.
Following appointment week, we head home to prepare in earnest for living in another country. The house is gone, but too much of the stuff remains. You know, yard sale, storage unit, giving away belongings, lists of what to take (or not)…We will be at our church in Union Gap (13+ years) until December 28. We leave for orientation and training January 26th-ish, with hopes of being in Paris, going to language school, around the beginning of April!
The great news is we have years of experience…in English! The bad news is it will take us old folks longer to learn a new language! (We were informed of this wonderful tidbit.) That’s ok. I’m sure you can teach 2 old dogs new tricks – and words.
Look at how young they were!
They’ve Closed My Starbucks!
Chelsie at her Starbucks
This is it. One of the last happy days before our flagship store of 15 years was closed! What a going out party! Our best, most favorite, family Starbucks was one of the unfortunate ones that had to be closed. Nevermind that it was the first in Yakima, had the best workers (especially the beautiful one above, my baby), and had a great community. Tears were abundant as baristas hung out and worked together for the last shift. But what a party!
Let’s just say, I love Nicole’s plan for happy hour…basically from 4:30 until closing (free drinks!). Throughout the day, customers had delivered flowers, so the tables were all decorated with fresh flowers in miscellaneous (ie coffee pots, vases, urns) containers. One customer brought pizza for lunch, another brought a carrot cake decorated with his phone number. Cookies, donuts, and pastries were brought out of the case and passed around. Calories were not an issue. Neither was caffeine. Photos were displayed, along with a poster board showing each barista and where he or she was being transferred. The only horrible thing was that this was the last night the store was open.
Amidst the tears, there was plenty of laughter. I had to really laugh at the dismantling of the store…which commenced promptly at 7:00. Furniture and things that had to go were walked out of the store and deposited in waiting vehicles. And then that was it. The store closed. Now it is just a shell – contractors have already removed the counters, shelves, signs…Blah. It’s the saddest corner of the whole parking lot. Empty, quiet, and dark. I know Top Foods took a hit with the store leaving. They had a great partnership. Just give me 10 minutes with Howard. This is one unhappy chick.
Now, in order to see our favorite baristas, we have to travel to 4 other stores, hoping to catch them while they are working. (I almost got in trouble today, as it’s taken me quite a while to catch up to Stephanie – sorry Steph!). Bittersweet. But wonderful memories. For more pictures, look for me on facebook.
Peeps, make me a grande, nf, xhot, 3 pump chai…to go.
Upon Further Reflection
One Q catching a future Q
My BAD. And my mis-snake. The Quantrell’s DID NOT visit Bass Pro. I guess there is not a Bass Pro in Washington state, at least of which we know. That being said, we did visit a store with outdoor huntsperson items…Cabella’s!
“A wild and crazy northwestern family, the Quantrell’s, was recently spotted at a local rouge cou (red neck) watering hole off of I-5. Cabella’s was the site of family fun and silliness for this colorful family. Members of the clan were spotted gazing at the fish in the aquarium walk through, shooting laser guns (weapons) at a staged shooting range, trying on country style clothing, romping up and down stairs, walking through the ‘stuffed animal – aka game – museum’ and trying to name and classify as many wildlife as they could. Other customers were seen heading for the nearest exit or slowly backing away from this rowdy group. Employees reported that in all honesty, the Quantrell’s were just out for a good time. No damage was done.” ~Northwest Reporter
So, as you can see, we actually visited Cabella’s. It is a wonderful store, off of I-5, with absolutely nothing around it, except SEVERAL long roads, round-a-bouts…, and northwest greenery.
Looking for a good time? Take a trip and gander (not to be confused with Gander Mountain, another outdoor store, of which we do not have in Washington state) at the wildlife. Perhaps you will be fortunate enough to encounter the rare, nomadic Quantrell clan.
Taylor hits the target
The Quantrell’s Visit Bass Pro!
Wow! Check out that cute family (in the header photo)! In this order: Kevin, with antlers sprouting from his back, Shrimpette -aka – Angie, the shortest, vertically challenged family member, Taylor – the mechanical wizard, tallest, Army boy stationed near this Bass Pro, and last, Peeps, I mean Chelsie, also sprouting some mysterious antlers, just like good ol’ dad.
We love our family! God has blessed us greatly with wonderful kids, not afraid to be zany and wild. Well, not as ok with it as mom, who can still embarass them in public (isn’t that a mom’s job? OUI!).
So, if you too want some cool family photos (too bad the other wildlife had to be cropped to make us fit), head to your nearest Bass Pro, and take advantage of the Red Neck (Rouge Cou) dream come true.
Ooo-ahhh.
Love, Laughter, and Life 