The Giant Swing

 I am going to tell you about our “Giant Swing” and how it came to be.

            Around Christmas of 2007 Gabriel decided it would be a great idea to have a big swing that could be changed into different types of swings: trapeze, board, log, or tire. So he set about convincing all his little sisters to ask for it for Christmas. He also started designing it and persuading Dad that it would be a perfectly great idea. So, after many months of careful planning, and Dad’s approval, he was ready to buy the supplies: cable, rope, nuts, screws, links, and all sorts of swing essentials.

 Finally the big day came to put the swing up. The tree he had selected is a huge oak that we assume to be around 100 years old with the limb he wanted to used being about 40 feet up and hanging over a flat area that we used to call the “Camp Site.” If you've ever been to our land you know we don't have many flat areas at all. :) On this large branch he would hang the swing, but the only problem was that our 32 foot ladder would only reach safely to the base of the branch! This was no problem for Gabe!  With many safety ropes all over him he climbed up the ladder as far as it reached, then shinnied up and across the branch so he could begin hanging the swing.

Once up there we hooked a rope, that was tied to the branch, to a bucket so that we could send things up to him and he could send things back to us. Gabriel worked hard on that swing for many hours until we had a trapeze dangling from the sky! Of course we still did't have anything high to swing off of so Gabriel nailed boards to a tree as steps and made a place about 15 feet up to jump from. After several months of jumping from this and crashing into a large tree at the other end, and after a terrible fall a newcomer made, and after Gabriel wasn't satisfied anymore with how the first jumping place was, he decided to make a new, higher, more stable jumping place where you wouldn't crash into any trees, unless you were a really bad jumperJ. A few more safety devices, changes, and years later, we are still enjoying this wonderful “Giant Swing” just as much as we ever did! Gabriel never has gotten a good tire swing attachment, but we don’t mind all that muchJ. And every time he’s gone up the tree to check on things since then, he has decided to leave off the safety ropes. They were just a nuisance!

Our paratrooper turned preacher friend
trying out the trapeze.

Gabe hooked our baby swing up
 so Lydia could have a ride.
(2007)

Lydia on her first high jump!
(2011, age 6) 

Anniversary!

Happy 27th Anniversary to the best Dad and Mom ever!!! I love you!

And you're still just as cute as ever! ; )

Notice Dad's choice of glasses hasn't wavered:)

A Poem

We found this in one of our Grandpa's old College year books. I think one of his fellow schoolmates wrote it. Pretty cool. : )

The Farm That Isn't Mine

Once upon a time I had to write a descriptive paragraph in school and this is what I came up with! It is about farm life and I have no idea if it's true since I've never lived on a farm. ; ) But I do love them and hope to live on one someday!

The Farm That Isn't Mine

I am glad to live on a farm. I love to hear the roosters crowing, the dawn has come. I love to feel the soft plowed dirt beneath my feet. I love to see the corn and wheat fields waving to the clouds, soaring on the wings of the north wind. I love to see the horses grazing in their fields, their tails swishing the flies away. I love to hear the zing-zap of the cow’s milk going into the milk pail, a cat walking by, purring for a sip. I love to see the clothes hanging on the line, snapping at anything that comes too near. I love to see the baby goats skipping in their pens, their mamas eating the sweet gum leaves overhanging the shed. And I love to see the farmhouse sitting on a hill with pear trees holding hands guarding against any predators. But the best is inside the farmhouse where the family is. It’s where the fun begins. The parties are made. The crying ends. It’s where we snuggle on the sofa and watch movies together. It’s where the meals are cooked, eaten, and put away. It’s where friends gather on a cold day to sip hot chocolate with marshmallows, the baby crooning to be held. Do you hear it? It’s where laughter fills the air and joy is the norm. It’s where we all go to bed knowing that work was done and done well. We sleep satisfied and wake to another day.

So, that's that! What did you think?

 Yesterday we had our first bonfire of the year. It was a hot day to have a fire on!

 We were glad for the water that was falling off the trees! Hopefully the leaves above didn't get to badly scorched. ; )

We went to Cherokee Cove last weekend and had a blast! Did you know that you can eat Sassafras leaves and that they are much better for you than lettuce? And they're good, too!

A view from one of Cherokee Cove's mountain trails.

The "Buddy Swing" is so fun!
(I'm the one with the pinkish shorts.)

Enjoy your day!

Berries!

Behind our land is a logged area of several acres that we call "The Desert." Now that a few years have gone by since it's been logged there are wild blueberries and blackberries. So we have been out there a lot in the hot sun picking!

Don't they look good?! 

Of course, in order to pick blackberries you have to sacrifice a little blood sometimes:) Haha! The brambles do not give up their fruit without a fight! Here I backed up into a bush and it grabbed hold of me. "You stealin' my fruit?!" it said.

I'm sorry bush....but I want to eat them....

 The blueberries are a little kinder!

Don't they look so innocent?

 There is a bucket of blackberries. We got a lot that day!

 We thought we got a lot of blueberries here, but on another day when they were riper we filled the bucket above a little more than half way full!

 And we have made a few pies. Since I am not a big wild berry fan (though they are fun to pick) I think the topping is the best! : )

Do y'all like picking berries, or would you rather just buy them pre-picked and plump at the store? If you do pick in the wild, make sure you don't pick and eat poison berries! I've done that before!

Father's Day

We had a fantastic Father's Day! My brother invited us to Virginia so we could spend the day hiking or swimming with him. We decided to hike since it wasn't a very hot day. The hike was very beautiful and the weather perfect! 

Grassy paths...

Hilltop meadows...

Unique dandelions...

There we all are (besides dad and I. We were both taking pictures)

Ahhhhh...I love it!

Elisabeth fit into the picture so well.

Some of these look better when they are bigger.

We found this necklace on a post
and I thought it looked picture perfect;)

Some of the of the plants were so cool
 like this purple...uhhh...stuff : )

I thought this was cool with Dad and Jesse looking
and pointing in the distance and Lydia
not looking at the camera.

Coolness. 

There I am!

So lush!

We actually went on two hikes and this is on the second. This hike was on a stream or small river. Along this river freed slaves settled after the Civil War. There was still remnants of their rock foundations, mills, dams, and chimneys that were very neat to see. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of any of that, but further on was this cool bridge.

Finally we were done hiking and we headed back into town, stopping at the store to get ingredients for tacos! Which, by the way, were very good. Then Jesse says that we will go to a friend's house to make the meal because they were all there. So we stop off at the house he'd been living in to get his car. When we got here...

he jumps out of his car and we get out too, and then he says...."This is my house!" What?! No way! He'd kept it a secret all the time he was buying it?! Then we go inside to look around. Nice living room. Cool kitchen. And dining room....Then we look out the dining room window and what do we see but an in-ground pool!! That's where he had wanted us to swim! Haha! Anyway, we were pretty happy and so was he. His friends thought it was awesome he'd kept it a secret until we got there. This house is like right in the city and yet it still has two acres!
So, What did you do for Fathers Day? How was it special or surprising?
Have a nice day!

Birthday and flowers

I just had a Birthday and as is the custom, I had a butterfly cake! 

Yum!

Lydia loves to sit with the birthday girl
(or boy)

Take a deep breath!

 I was experimenting with flowers the other day. These are some of the best.

An old letter...

My Dad was reading from "A Godward Life" by John Piper the other day to us as a family. The chapter that we where on had this is part of a letter by Aristeides, teacher of philosophy, presented as a defense of Christianity to Emperor Hadrian in the approximate year A.D. 133 . I highly recommend the book, by the way.

Christ died and was buried; and they say after tree days He rose and ascended to heaven; and then these twelve disciples went forth into all the kingdoms of the world, telling of His greatness with all humility and sobriety; whence they who serve the righteousness of His preaching are called Christians, who are well known….

            Now the Christians, O King…have the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ engraven in their hearts, and they observe, looking for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. They commit neither adultery nor fornication; nor do they bear false witness. They do not deny a deposit, nor covet other man’s goods. They honor father and mother, and love their neighbors; they give right judgment; and they do not worship idols in the form of man. They do not unto others as they would not have done unto themselves. They comfort such as wrong them, and make friends of them. They labor to do good to their enemies (they are meek and gentle)…. As for their servants or handmaids, or their children if any of them has any, they persuade them to become Christians for the love that they have towards them; and when they have become so, they call them without distinction “brethren.”

            They despise not the widow, and grieve not the orphan. He that hath distributeth liberally to him that hath not. If they see a stranger, they bring him under their roof and rejoice over him, as if it were their own brother; for they call themselves brethren, not after the flesh, but after the spirit and in God…. And if they hear that any of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah, all of them provide for his needs, and if it is possible that he may be delivered, they deliver him.

            And if there is a man among them that it poor and needy, and they have not an abundance of necessities, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food. For Christ’s sake they are ready to lay down their lives.

This is what a true Christian should look like!