Camping 2012

Our camping spot at Stockton Lake--were there for four nights

Daddy and his little girls

The boys doing rip-stick stunts! They made good use of the asphalt that ran past our campsite-

Woo-hoo!



Yep, even Daddy can stay on the thing!:o) (At least for awhile)




So much fun in the water--here we're enjoying it with some cousins- we would take the boat out and find our favorite "swimmin' hole".



One evening we had a bunch of company for supper while camping-- Pop, Benny, Damien and Kaiti. Kaiti says she was happier in this picture than she looks...she said "I was camping, of course I was happy!":o) I'm hoping we have more pictures than this of our camping trip on another chip somewhere...if we do, I'll try to add some more later by editing this post, so check back sometime!:o)

Haiti Trip

In June, Nathan, Chad, Aubrey, and three other young people from our church flew down to help with the mission work in Haiti. Here they are on the trek up into the mountains to minister to the people there.

At the school in Pelerin, where the team passed out filled plates of food that had been prepared, to all the children.

At the end of the first day of work...they were building a new headquarters for "Just Mercy" the mission outreach to the Haitians that our church helps support.

After three days of work...and to quote the Just Mercy newsletter, "all the rafters were on and the Haitians were amazed!  They had never seen a framed building, much less any structure be built so fast." The two guys walking apart from the crowd getting water at the well, are Chad and Bill, the main man of the mission and a long time friend of ours. I want to add to this post sometime after the pics are put back on the computer...yes, we had some technical difficulties and lost a lot of stuff off our PC; so someday... Who knows, maybe I could even get the guys to contribute more too:o)

Twenty Wonderful Years!

  Celebrating twenty years of marriage...

October 5, 2010

         What a special and wonderful day that was when we pledged our love and our lives to each other and entered into the covenant of marriage before God and many witnesses...And what a beautiful journey we've enjoyed together since that day!

                             Two souls with but a single thought,
   Two hearts that beat as one~                                               





"There's a miracle called Friendship  That dwells within the heart;

And you don't know how it happens  Or when it gets its start...

But the happiness it brings to you  Always gives a special lift;

And you realize that friendship  Is a most precious gift."

***********

Happiness is being married to your very best friend...

Thanks for being that friend to me, Honey Bun!:o)

(We have this little poem hanging on our wall, a gift to me from

Nathan before we were married...it's even truer now than then!)

 



"Love withstands the test of time."
Nathan & Krista
Forever...

We also have this hanging on our wall, a gift to Nathan from me.
The day before our sixteenth anniversary we got the call that
 Nathan's Mom had passed away at only sixty years old,
after a sad illness that left her getting more and more helpless.
Nathan left quickly for California to be with his family so we didn't see each other
at all on the day of our anniversary. But much sadder than that,
was the sweet marriage that was cut short between Nathan's parents.
Their marriage is an inspiration and blessing to us yet!
So this was the inspiration behind the words above~
Even with all the help and care she needed because of her illness
she remained her dear, sweet self and Nathan's Dad so lovingly
and devotedly cared for her to the end...
not like he had to, but like it was his privilege!
*************************

To celebrate our anniversary we took a little trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas

On the way there we took a trip down memory lane as well...

We stopped at Jolly Mill where we had our engagement pictures taken~





                                                                     Then...

                                                                 And now...

                                            Oops! Wrong girl! No, actually we each
                                                             posed with Kaiti-:o)

 

                                                    At our cabin in Eureka Springs

We got a nice two-bedroom w/kitchen and living room cabin in the Ozarks where we stayed a couple nights~ Believe it or not, it was decorated in CATS!
(To make us feel at home, I guess:o)

                                             Yes, we took our little ones with us!:o)
                                              Never been too big on babysitters...

    We strolled/shopped around the quaint little town

   of Eureka Springs and enjoyed the beautiful gardens

It's impressive how this town has been built into the hills and hollers of the Ozark mountains and how it's streets snake and curve around through the hills and the buildings are built into the sides of them like some insect nest or hive.

                                                             At Blue Spring

                                                                Beautiful Gardens!



                                                  And beautiful scenery!

A natural bridge on the hike back to Pivot Rock-
Nathan and Jensy on it and Kaiti behind it-

Pivot Rock~

Isn't this a strange place for a rock to sit...

More than likely placed there by

by a big flood many years ago!:o)

The day after our anniversary we met the rest of our boys in

Branson at Silver Dollar City and had a

wonderful time there with them too.

"Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."



Black Walnut Festival

Just a quick post here: We went to the Walnut Festival last Saturday...

Here are our little ones with some of their little cousins-

We noticed all kinds of security standing around,

Policemen and the guy with the suit, shades and earpiece...

Then we realized it was for the Governor, Jay Nixon!

My sister and Damien got to pose with him!

Hey, Democrat or Republican, it's not every day

you get to pose with the Governor!:o)

Little Jensy dear at the festival-

And this was taken at the garden of our garlic harvest awhile back-

It was just too cool a picture to pass up!:o)

Nathan does grow such wonderful garlic!

So, yes, there is alot that's been going on and I haven't been covering it
very well on here...the boys birthdays that we celebrated at the lake...
the Homeschool Music Fest...school has started again, making days busier...
and so on and so forth. Hopefully I can do a sort of catch-up post
one of these days! So much to do, such full and busy days!!!:o)
Lord, teach us to number our days, that we might
apply our hearts unto wisdom!

Chad & Aubrey's Trip Out West

We left on August 2nd, traveling with some good friends from Pennsylvania,

and drove all night...Here we are driving over

a mountain range early the next morning.We got to the valley where we lived as little guys at about

7a.m. or so N.M. time. We lived at the foot of this mountain

for several years.

A mountain peak in the distance...

In MO we grow bugs in great quantities-
In N.M. they grow them for quality!
Notice this huge insect/scorpion thing that
Chad found in the bathroom. Our friend, Matt
in true "Matt drama fashion" is pretending to exterminate
him with a toilet plunger! Actually we let the big fellow go
outside--we understand he's rather old.


They've had alot of rain--notice the green hillsides.

Playing Dutch Blitz with our friends:o)

I wanted to think of something intelligent to go with this picture,

but there isn't anything intelligent about it!:-D

As you can see, Matt is a blast to hang out with!:o)

The wedding that we attended in Arizona-

The bride, Jenny and her family.

We all used to play together when we were little kids.

Jenny & Micah, the happy bride & groom~

Sunday, after church-

we had church with an old friend and her husband

from the valley...this is in their nice yard.

Hiking with friends~

Looking down on the Gila River out of a cave that we climbed up to~

Rachel, Aubrey, and Benjamin in the cave

Benjamin, Rachel, and Chad on their way back down-

The whole party standing in the Gila River!
L. to R. Carolyn, Rachel, Matthew, Hannah, Benjamin, Bethany,

Jeriah, Chad, Maria, Aubrey, Elizabeth, and Hannah B.

After the hike we met the rest of the group at a

picnic area and had supper-

Thanks for the great food, y'all!:o)

From Isaiah 35
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;

and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing:

...they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God."

A van load of us on our way to hike up

to a mountain peak not too far from the valley

A horny toad we found on our hike.

We used to love catching and playing with 'em when

we were little boys.

Beautiful scenery from the mountainside-

Hiking up the trail--

Part way up the mountain, it started raining and due to the

high elevation it was considerably cooler.

So we found a little cabin when we got to the top and built

a fire to warm us up.

From the fire tower you can see a great distance!

That lighter strip in the mountains is the valley where we used to live

and where our friends, who we were visiting, still live.

Benjamin, Bethany, Elizabeth, and Rachel on

the hike back-

Cactus--lots of cactus in N.M.!

Chad and Chris scaling a cliff-

They made it to the top!

Our friend's baby~
Hi Becky!

Another evening picnic after we got

down off the mountain~

Roasting hot doggies and marshmallows~

N.M. grows the most awesome roses-

They must like the dry climate-

But not all was fun and games, and hikes and picnics!:o)

No, we had alot of fun working too, and were glad to be able to help our

friends with a project they're working on.

They are turning this building into a coffee house/bakery.

They already bake for their living so it'll be great when they can move into

the new building, which they hope to have done by Thanksgiving.

And we didn't always work when we were s'posed to be

either! Don't tell the boss I said that!:o)

Yup, that's Matthew cutting up again!

Chad's favorite project on the job...

Building a privacy "FENCE":o)

Another Hike!!!

This time it was just some of us guys-

Chris, Jeriah, Chad, and Aubrey-
This time it was to the hot springs.

Just by way of interest, we found a dead elk

beside the trail- a young bull. We didn't figure out what had

caused it's demise. We're not posting a picture of that though!

Aubrey-

Chad-

No, don't try it Chad!:-D

This hike probably had some of the most beautiful scenery!

Chad and Chris in the Gila River

The hot springs- these were about 95 degrees

On the way to the City of Rocks we stopped to watch this

guy who had caught a black-tailed rattler. He was "milking"

it with this board.

City of Rocks State Park-

Another icon from our early childhood.

A species? of horny toad that none of us had ever recalled seeing before-

We got to celebrate our birthdays with our friends there--

Thanks for the wonderful cakes, you girls did a great job!

(No insult meant, if you helped, Benjie!!!:-D)

Hi down there!

Chris, Chad, and Benjamin

City of Rocks-

Helping in the bakery-

Chad & Bethany washing dishes, Matt slicing bread,

and Elizabeth & Rachel wrapping muffins or something.

Our last evening in the valley...

We had a great time traveling with and visiting with friends-

Thank you all for making our trip so enjoyable!

Also thanks to all of you who prayed for our safety on our trip-

And most of all to God...thank You for the privilege to travel and for

Your mercy and the blessing of coming home safely.