Thanksgiving in our new home.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving without any extended family to stress us out (not that we don't love and miss them, you all know we do, but it was nice to spend some time just the seven of us). I stayed up late Wednesday making my traditional pumpkin cheesecake. I also made stuffing, cranberry sauce (with fresh berries), yams, pear cobbler and peach pie. Debora made the turkey, the ham, gravy, sauce for the ham and broccoli. We ate leftovers for four days. We are very thankful for all that He has provided and we are optimistically looking toward the future.

Photos: Debora's friend came over to teach her how to cook Philipino food, Thanksgiving Dinner, Standing in front of our house in Union, Jumping on the trampoline

Moving in to Our Own House

Yay! We were house hunting for about two weeks (we can't live with the Benders forever). We looked at numerous places in Baker City, North Powder, Haines, Imbler, Cove, Union and Elgin. We only looked at one house in La Grande (we really didn't want to live in La Grande). We were looking for a place in the country with outside space for the kids to run and play. We also wanted at least a three bedroom with a big enough living room and kitchen to move around in. It seemed like every house was either huge with no outside place to play, or tiny and in the country with fields and forests all around. Finally we found a house in Union that we really liked. A good size living room and kitchen, a huge laundry room (with washer and dryer, so we don't have to buy our own appliances) and three medium size bedrooms with two bathrooms. It has a great big back yard with a garden and it is the last house on a dead end street with a big field next to us and a view of the golf course on the hill and a giant barn behind us. At the same time, it is only four blocks from the post office, six blocks from the grocery store and seven blocks from the library and park.

Anyway, we are mostly moved in. We found enough furniture to make it livable (we could still use a couch).

I (Jesse) found a job at the Mt. Emily Safe Center facilitating a Boys Council meeting for middle school boys. It is only part-time and I am looking for more work.

Still in Oregon

Well, here we are still in Oregon. Now that we have had the baby, we need something else to do. We don't really feel ready to go overseas again, so we are looking to settle and since we are here in Oregon it might be as good a place as any. So we need a place to live and a way to make money (a good job for Jesse). Let us know if any of you have any ideas. We are willing to relocate if we feel God opens up a door for us somewhere else (in this great United States).

Meanwhile, the kids are still enjoying the fresh air and playing outside (they have chalk on their faces and noses in the picture, because they wanted to be Indians - or rather, Native Americans). We went for a hike at Anthony Lake where they loved climbing on rocks and running around.

Here in North Powder, I have been selling things on ebay to try to make some money (I even read the ebay for dummies book). The user name I have been using is aspenjw so you can all look up my items and buy some if you want. I have been selling medical and dental items (the midwife's husband is a dentist and buys surplus lots of medical/dental equipment from the government - then whatever he doesn't want, I sell it on ebay for him). A few days ago, someone gave me 3 boxes of records that have been in storage for the last 20 years. Hopefully there are a few rare ones in the lot.

Josiah's Birth

Debora woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me that her water broke. Then on the next afternoon, 15 September 2009, at 2:26 pm, Josiah Jachin Parsons was born. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz at birth and was 20 and a half inches long. He was born in the water in a big plastic animal feeding trough that our midwife bought for just such a purpose (in case any of her clients wanted to have a water birth). He was born in the sun room off the back of the house in a very peaceful setting with birds chirping and the fresh air coming in the open window. Our best birth yet. Debora says that she did not have any fear during the birth (praise God), but that she still did feel pain (if we have a sixth, we will continue to pray for a painless birth). :)

Josiah, like all babies, was not very cute immediately after the birth, but now, at 12 days old, he looks a little more normal (some might even say cute). We took him to church with us today (his second time out of the house). It is pretty funny to have five kids in five car seats in the back of our car (Esperance has a booster seat still).

North Powder and Baker City

The drive to North Powder in our new car took 6 hours. Since there were six of us, Othniel had to ride in the front in his car seat and Debora rode in the front in the middle next to me. The other three kids rode in the back in their car seats. The two seats in the very back had to be folded down so we could fit all of our luggage in the car (and amazingly enough, it all fit, a testament to the size of the Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon). We only had to tie the double stroller and another car seat (for the new baby after he was born) on top of the car. A day or so after we arrived there was a Celtic festival in Baker City and a car show, so we went and watched the bagpipes and the kilts and the kids even got to try throwing (fake) logs and hay bales (pillows) in a Celtic kids competition.

The Benders have a big boat with a small motor and there is a reservoir about 1/4 mile away from their house, so we took the boat out a few times before the weather turned from summerish to cold. They also have a 12 passenger van, so on Sundays, we can all ride to church in the same vehicle. The back seat sits four, so one day all four of our kids sat in the back in their carseats. Now that Josiah is here we have five kids in five car seats.

Beavercreek

Matt from Beavercreek drove up to Orcas Island to pick us up and take us to his house where we visited with him and his wife, Tammy for two weeks. We went hiking at a Christmas Tree Farm where the kids and Debora had to cut cross country to get to the path I was on. We went wading at the community wading pool with friends. We thought that Joel and Susan Bender from North Powder would have to drive out to pick us up, but then Matt and Tammy gave us one of their extra cars. It is a beautiful 1992 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon that seats 8. We spent a day washing it and cleaning it and the kids really enjoyed helping. The kids got up early with me and put their Chinese outfits on so we could march in the Kiddie Capers Parade on the opening day of the Clackamas County Fair.

Orcas Island

After spending a few days in Bellingham (where we went swimming with Jesse's sister, Cassia and her husband, Ian and visiting a French cheese shop in Fairhaven), we went to Orcas Island to visit Jesse's youngest sister, Siloam and her daughter, Faith. The kids loved the 2 hour ride on the ferry, and we all enjoyed swimming at a resort where Siloam has special privileges, celebrating Faith's birthday and driving to the top of Mt. Constitution for the view.