Soap, Hiking and Skirts

About a month ago, Mommy tried making laundry detergent and we were very pleased with the results! It is a good way to know for sure what's in the soap and, how to do these things in general! It's also so much less expensive!:) Monday morning, we made another batch. Timmy helped grate the soap.;)

Melting the soap mixture......

Pouring the soap mixture into 3 gallons of water........

Stirring......

Mommy got this idea from a lady(youtube) who recommended putting the recipe on the side of the bucket to have it handy.....good idea!

Ryan always said that when he got to be "old enough" he wanted to take his siblings  on trips. Last Thursday was the first outing to Palomar Mountain for a picnic lunch and hike.:) 

We had a full car- Ryan, Daniel, Isaiah, Natey and I.:)

For lunch we enjoyed sandwiches, sweet tea, and seafood salad......

 We really like sourdough.....;)

We sat under a tree facing this lovely view, Doane Pond......

This fellow hung around while we were eating and was very noisy.:P

This picture has a story behind it.;) (After lunch we were cleaning up and Isaiah and I (who were the last to head for the parking lot) walked up just in time, to see Ryan (farther up ahead) calling to Natey to come help him quickly, as he was losing his grip on the water pack. Natey, whose mind was far away, didn't realize the situation and picked up his pace a bit, while holding the bag of potato chips and humming to himself. Again Ryan called encouraging Natey to hurry! By this time, Ryan had lost the battle with gravity and the water pack fell! Only then did Natey realize what had been happening.;) He ran up to help but, by the time Isaiah and I reached Ryan, no one could pick up the waters as we were all laughing too hard!;)

"Ashley! I asked you if someone had the keys before I locked the car!!!??"

 (Our other adventure: Thinking I had slipped them into Ryan's pocket, Isaiah and I responsibly locked up the car, only to find out after lunch, that Ryan did not have them! After looking around the area and in the guys pockets we decided they must be in the car somewhere. We spent the next twenty minutes trying to get them out! Ryan had left the driver's seat window down a tad, so after many failed ideas and attempts (and there were several!) the guys, using a stick got the door unlocked. There in the back we found the keys safe underneath a jacket.:P Praise the Lord!!! There was a lot of laughing during the whole thing as well. I think we are finding that it's better to laugh out the stress and tension than get mad these days! Things are going to happen and we have to realize the Lord is teaching us something through every single one of them! )

With everything loaded up we drove around to look at the campsites they have there for future reference.....

We ended our afternoon with a nice long hike to Wier's Lookout-a beautiful trail! Even on this trail we had some adventures with plenty of laughing and lessons to learn from! It was a really good time and we spotted some deer! Here we are tired and ready to go home!

On our drive down from the mountain we saw more deer so Daniel snapped a shot..

Back-seat riders......

Thanks Ryan, for the fun trip!!

Mountaintop view........

Ryan kindly stopped to let me take picture of the view from the cliffs...... 

" Palomar Mountain, There and Back Again-A Sebo's Tale, By Ryan Sebo.......;) "

I am very pleased to share with you these last two pictures! A few months ago I started working on some matching skirts for Mommy and Evie, along with some other projects, as a surprise! I have been using the past several Sunday afternoons to work on them in private and have had help from many different people. This past Sunday evening, I brought home the first part of the gift (these skirts) and was very happy to see Mommy and Evie wearing them Monday!:)

Both Caytlin and I had a matching outfits with Mommy when we were little, so we wanted to keep the tradition going! Plus, Mommy and Evie were in need of some new skirts!:)

Daddy was very pleased with this picture as he helped me many times, sneak things out to the car on Sunday mornings to work on the skirts. -It's HARD to surprise Mommy, but always worth it!:D

"I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
                                                                                                                                       Acts 20:35