Mustard Seed Ranch

I know that I don't usually include much writing in my blog but I wanted to share about our most recent experience as a family.

This past weekend Ryan, Noelle and I, in a family first, had the opportunity to go to Mustard Seed Ranch with a group of people from Rock Harbor to lend a hand in tending to the needs of this ranch. Although we went with the mindset that we were here to serve the staff and this ranch, we left with the understanding that they had poured so much into us.

The ranch is affiliated with the Orange County Rescue Mission and provides a safe place for emotionally hurting kids to go to bond with the animals in a way that it might not be safe to bond with humans just yet, because of the difficult things they have experienced in life. I can imagine that the staff really loves on them as well, now that I've met them. Many of the workers on the ranch are in a recovery process themselves and you can see that they live in community with each other, seeking God and loving one another. It is really an incredible place.

There were many moments before we left that I was concerned about bringing Noelle and thought what even is the point? I am so thankful that we did, because although she did slow us up a little, we still had wonderful interactions, got some good work done and had this wonderful experience as a family. I realized that it could potentially be a good thing for me to be stretched when it comes to mothering Noelle and not being in an environment that I could control and one that was hot, dirty and with animals :), but I didn't really want to be. God helped to prepare my heart and we ended up with great accomodations, room to play and had a lot of fun. I also saw how others enjoyed Noelle and I loved having her there to share in it with us.

I'm so thankful that Rock Harbor created some family friendly trips this summer and opened up the reality that even with a little baby there are exciting ways to serve and love others. In the back of my mind I thought that our trip seemed a little insignificant because there would be no kids there, it was only a weekend, and would some ranch work really make a difference? I left feeling like God made a difference in our hearts and with our presence and it was exciting.

Here is Noelle on the "Neigh, neigh" swing. It was made out of a tire and swang back and forth. How cool is that?

Ryan did some dirty work (really dirty!) and layed new floor for the two fattest pigs I've ever seen.

The Orange County Fair

Here are some pictures of Noelle's first trip to the fair. She was really too small for any of the rides but we did get on this one. Grandma and I played the fill the clown's mouth with water and pop the balloon game and won Noelle a monkey. She loved it and then stopped trying to chase down kids carrying stuffed animals.

N-O-E-L-L-E

I never realized that Noelle is such a difficult name for a baby to pronounce. She never really says her name but today she was going for it. It came out a little different each time.

Visiting Elmo with Grandpa!

For Father's Day I gave my dad tickets for us all to go to the sesame street exhibit at the discovery science center. There was so much for Noelle to see and do even as young as she is. The highlight was getting her picture taken with and meeting ELMO! I know she doesn't look very happy in the picture but she ran right to him and put her hands on his knees and gave him a kiss when we had to leave.