Grand Champion!!!

Both Laura and Mary showed today in Fitting and Showing competition. This is where the girls show off their handling ability of their sheep. They did figure 8's, show stances, answered questions about their projects. Laura got a high blue but not high enough to return for the Finals. Mary got a purple ribbon that brought her back to the Finals for the Junior age group. At the Finals, Mary was so good that she got Grand Champion. Here is a video of Mary receiving the Purple Rosette. I was so proud of her. She has really worked hard in her Sheep Project. This also meant that Mary competes against the Intermediate and Senior age Grand Champions for the overall Grand Champion. Mary got beat out by the Senior winner. They both did a great job today!!!!!!

This Week at the Fairgrounds

"Thy lovingkindness O Lord extends to the heavens, Thy Faithfulness reaches to the skies..." Psalm 36:5

The Lord is so faithful. We had such a great time at Cannon Beach. We had some wonderful family time with healing and reflecting on missing our dear Susan. We have been coming to the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center now for four years. It was Susan's initial desire to come here when friends offered us a family trip any where we wanted. Susan wanted Cannon Beach. And we just love it. The kids can't wait to go back each year. And we are all signed up for the same week next year. The legacy lives on. God is faithful and we are blessed. Here is a picture of the family (Nathan, Michelle and Jake unable to be there) at CB, taken by a great friend, Debbie Coleman. The other picture is in nearby Seaside, OR. We rented two peddle cars and tore up the town. What fun, we had a blast! For most of the week we had sunshine.

On Thursday at the beach, Laura was accidentally kicked in the jaw which caused her to bite into her lip. Laura and I immediately went to the ER in Seaside where she had eight stitches in her lip. A visiting plastic surgeon from Astoria "just happened to be there in the ER" when we were attended to. That was definitely an answer to prayer. So he carefully stitched her up and hopefully without scarring. God is good! She was also so good about putting all the right medicines on it to help in the healing. Yesterday, Laura had the stitches taken out and things look good. Pray for that there would be no sign of stitches or scarring.

GREAT NEWS! On Friday, Hannah found out that she was accepted into the Nursing Program at North Idaho College. We are SO PROUD of Hannah. She has been so patient and focused over the past four years in studying to be a CNA and taking the required prereqs for this program. She was on a waiting list and the Lord honored Hannah's persistence by opening a door. God is good! Susan would have been so, so proud of Hannah. That was a special moment when we heard the news.

So now onto to this week. We checked in the two lambs that Mary and Laura have as 4H projects. We had a set back. Laura's lamb only weighed 102 lbs which is under the limit to be able to auction off the lamb at the fair this weekend. Mary's weighed 113 lbs. The limit was 105. So this is part of a life lesson. Things don't always go the way we want them to. And that is OK. The Lord will bring a buyer to us since we don't really eat lamb. Today, the girls will show their lambs for Quality and then on Thursday, they will show in Fitting & Showing. They have been so excited about the Fair and working their animals. This too has been a legacy of Susan's. She was in 4H since she was probably Laura's age. All of the children have been in 4H thanks to Susan's passion for raising animals. It has been a great program to teach the kids life and animal caring skills. We will put pictures on the blog of the fair events.

Back Home Again

We made it back just fine on Saturday. No car problems. And Thank You Lord for working air conditioning in the cars. It was 109 degrees F in the Pasco WA area on our way home. We certainly miss our cool comfortable breezes of the Oregon Coast. Here are some beautiful pictures of the girls and of Haystack Rock and beach.

From Cannon Beach

"...Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." II Timothy 1:2

Greetings from Cannon Beach!!! We are into Wednesday here at beautiful Cannon Beach about 70 miles due west of Portland, Oregon. Today was a beach day and what a day that God gave us. Like I always say, each day is a good day, it's just that some days are better than the others. And today was exceptional. Sunny, blue skies and just a breeze on the beach, 78 degrees. This is a picture taken from the Crescent beach area looking toward Cannon Beach and the famous landmark, Haystack Rock. We walk to Haystack Rock each day before breakfast, about 2.3 miles round trip. What a great way to start each day. We have been loving the teachings and music along with the food and activities. Leah even came over from Pendleton on Monday morning and had to leave tonight to report back to work on Thursday AM. We have been having wonderful, family time together. Thank you for your prayers. I noticed that the flags around here have been at half mast this week. So I wondered why, so I checked it out. The state of Oregon is honoring the eight fire fighters from Oregon that lost their lives in the helicopter crash in California a couple of weeks ago. What a tragedy. Pray for the families of those that lost their lives and who were injured.

Also here is a link to a Haystack Rock webcam site that is updated every three seconds. Maybe you will see us playing on the beach. Tonight at about 0930 pm there was a pretty sunset. So check it out for that as well. Of course at night, it is pretty dark so try in the daylight hours.
http://haystacklodgings.com/feed/

Going to Cannon Beach Oregon

"We know that all things work together for good to those who love God..." Romans 8:28

We are leaving for Cannon Beach today! This is always a highlight of our summer as a family. This is the fourth year we have been going over to the Cannon Beach Conference Center and taking in excellent biblical teachings, being with great friends and relaxing on the ocean beach. Actually we are first going to Pendleton Oregon to stay Friday night in hopes of seeing Leah who is stationed just outside Pendleton, while she fights fires for the Forest Service. She has been busy lately in that immediate area due to dry conditions and lightning storms. So she may not get off to see us tonight. But she plans on joining up with us in Cannon Beach for Monday - Wednesday. So all will be there except Nathan, Michelle and Jake, due to work. And of course, it will be difficult at times without dear Susan. There are a lot of memories there at Cannon Beach and the kids have all said that they will make sure and take walks with me on the beach to make it special. Aren't they great!! God is so faithful to give me such great kids. We are all looking forward to the whole week. I have included a picture of Sarah, Hannah and Susan from last year on the beach.

In my devotions today, I read about faithfulness. Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving other, or to anything else; just don't ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers. The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son... Wow! No complaining. That is hard. My prayer for this week is that me and the kids would be a blessing to others around us and that the Lord would then be able to use us for purposes of His will. I will write from over at Cannon Beach for updates! God Bless you all. Thank you for checking in on us as we continue through this journey.

A Tribute to our Creator

"Blessed be the Lord. Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall Thank Him." Psalm 28:6-7


I so love my children. I thank the Lord everyday for them all. They are special to me. I see Susan in each and every one of my children. And that is extra special to me. We continue to do well only because we trust in Jesus and make it a priority in all we do. It would be hard in our grieving process to do this without our saving salvation in Jesus Christ. The Lord is our Shepherd, there is nothing we shall want..... We had a great time at this years Creation Festival at the Gorge in George, Washington. And it usually gets well over a 100 degrees F, but this year, it was comfortable, even a little cool at night. But what a great time with three of my daughters, praising and glorifying our Lord Jesus. It was definitely a Tribute to our Creator. That is a theme each year as we celebrate Creation. We even had friends (Tom and Carrie) with us at times through the week. Hannah, Mary, Laura and I worked as volunteers in the Music Store. This is actually a tent with CD's and DVD's of the festival artists/bands. Worked with great people that made the 4 1/2 hours daily go by pretty fast and made it fun. Here is a picture of the white team.



Here is a picture of the three girls posing with the main stage and the Columbia Gorge in the background. This is a wonderful place for such an event. It really has beauty in such a dry and desolate place. We have been doing Creation Fest as a family for eight years. It has become a part of the summer.

Creation Bound

Last Tuesday, Hannah, my brother John and I, went out and rode the Hiawatha trail on the Idaho/Montana border. This is the first tunnel that is 1.7 miles long. This is a favorite trail of ours. Last fall, Susan and I did it. So there are a lot of memories. I rode Susan's beach bike, that has gears so I can get back up the hill without straining myself too much. What a cruiser though. What a Glorious day, enjoying what God has provided to us soo abundantly around here.

And Sunday night, we took in a Spokane Indians baseball game. The game wasn't very exciting for the home team fans, but we all had a great time on a beautiful summer evening. What a great time we have had with my brother John. He will be coming back at Christmas with his son Francesco. Pray that John survives the bus trip over to Billings for the next two weeks of his vacation.
On Tuesday morning, Hannah, Mary, Laura and I go to Creation Festival over at the Gorge Amphitheater on the Columbia River. This is the big Christian Music Festival on the West Coast, where us fans camp out for 4 nights and endure the extreme heat of Eastern Washington. We all will be working in the Music Tent during the festivals, so for those that plan on going, stop by and say hi to the Vetsch's.
Updates:

1. Sarah's hand is healing properly. It is still in a splint and she will stay away from the Physical Therapist, at least for a while. She won't be going to Creation because of her hand and she will need to take it easy in comfort back at home.
2. Aaron is off on a Youth group camp. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move in his heart this week. He returns this weekend.
3. Our time at Creation will be devoted to doing the will of our Lord Jesus. We are open to the calling. Pray that we step up and make a difference in the lives around us.
4. Pray for the home front here. Sarah and Jason will be at home working and taking care of the animals along with Diane.
5. Kayla will be at Kelly Murray's home for the week.