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!

Minnesota!

Earlier this month we left on a two day trip to Minnesota for my brother's graduation from Bethlehem College and Seminary (BCS). The first day we drove through five states: North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana, where we stayed for the night.
 

Me, "Aunt Alice", Lydia and Dad.

Goose and goslings on a pond in IN.

Early the next morning we resumed our journey after a wonderful time with family and a good night's rest...for the most part;) That day we went through three more states: Illinois, Wisconsin, and finally Minnesota! All of these states I love for all the flat, rich, farmland. North Carolina has farmland all right but there are many rocks and the soil is mostly clay. This was a beatiful change.

Wind mills in Wisconsin. They were so cool.

The next day we walked all over Minneapolis, got sunburned, and saw very many neat things including this Basilica of St. Mary...

Beautiful in all ways except the corners
 and hidden stairs,
(which were a little dirty;))
and the doctrinal error.

And this old house in a park that is now being used as a maintenance building. As you can see, the pond that was full two years ago when my parents brought Gabe up, is now... dry? over grown? It was puzzling to us. And it's Spring! Why wouldn't it be full of water?...

Here is Lydia dashing through the spinklers in the garden. It was hot and we all had fun cooling off in the water...

The famous cherry on a spoon...

Later that night was Gabe's graduation. The ceremony was really beautiful and very God-honoring. There was an orchestra and everything! Sam Storms gave a really great massage and John Piper gave the closing prayer (please someone say they know either of those guys!). Then was the reception with some really good food, though we were all rather tired after all the walking we had done ealier so could not enjoy it to the full extent : )

Gabe is the second to last on the top right.

The following day we did more driving and walking around the Twin Cities and saw more amazing stuff like another Catholic Church, this one in St. Paul...

Huge old houses. This is only one of the many...

The James J. Hill House. Mr. Hill died in the early 1900's
with about 63 million dollers.
He had 10 children.
I wonder if he was ever happy with all that money?

Como Zoo is a wonderful little zoo with some really neat things in it. The tallest of these trees is about 1 1/2 feet...

After church the next day Gabe brought us to the Minneapolis Institute of Art where we saw some real master pieces...

This was just amazing! It looked like the veil was not part of the stone but an added piece of cloth. The picture does it no justice...

Early Monday morning we left on our homeward trek...

Lydia and a sweet cousin.

The park in IN was very fun...

My family thought it was the funniest thing to see me in this swing...

Sunset...

Here are some of the beautiful flowers we saw on our trip...

We are praising God for His mercy on this trip, for the wonderful times had by all, and the memories we will never forget.