Our Merry Christmas!

This guy tried a Shocker candy.
We celebrated early because he is on call for work the next few days.
We had a sweet celebration and are all still in pjs. We are off to watch a movie and eat more candy. There are so many costumes because after Halloween I spend a whopping $20 and load up on dress up clothes for my kids. This year we decided to save it all for Christmas. The kids loved it. Daniel had been asking for a Monkey dress up costume. He loves it so much he told us he wants to take a nap in it. The boys all loved their Pendragon knight costumes and started sword fighting right away. The girls are beautiful in their white lace gloves and medieval dresses. Ashley's big gift was a tea set from Vision Forum. We are so pleased with it. She loves it as it is so delicate and has roses all over it. Abi received Heelys and is starting to get he feet under her. John's big gift was a Ripstik and he loves it. Daniel had been asking for the Vision Forum RC Amphibious car-he was so pleased! Isaiah is our big boy riding a skateboard. I am off to re-join my family.

God sent His richest blessing to you all in His Son Jesus Christ--the true reason for this holy-day season. If you do not know Him, then your Christmas is meaningless. Our prayer is that He will call you to Him, that you will love Him and live your lives for Him! If you don't know what I am talking about, grab a Bible and start reading the book of Luke.
Merry Christmas!

Cookies!

The clan and the candies

I thought about titling this post Half-Baked but then realized that is some kind of reference to drugs, of which I do not take part. So, Cookies it is! I spent several hours getting gingerbread dough made and then cutting out shapes to assemble a house and train. Peter cut out the last thing---a dinosaur of course.

It's done! We have about 30 gingerbread people to go with the house, train and Behemoth.

By the way, the icing writers are fantastic. Just don't let the two year old have full liberty when using them. Somehow Isaiah got a hold of the red writer. The next thing we knew he was covered, hand were red, lips painted to perfection and just enough in and under the nose to resemble a terrific nose bleed! I didn't get a good picture of that, just the smiling, already cleaned up boy:

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We had 18 inches of snow and some huge snow drifts. The kids began working on an igloo last night but didn't accomplish much today as we went to breakfast at Papa and Gramommy's and then they rode around with Peter helping some family and neighbors dig out. Breakfast was fun as Papa and Gramommy made egg in the hole (you may know this as eggs in a basket) using a reindeer for the hole. What a fun Christmasy surprise! We also started our Christmas celebration with Dad and Mom yesterday, opening stockings and sharing a few gifts. Peter is on call on Christmas Day so our snowy celebration was perfect yesterday. We had my sister, her husband and their daughter there. We were missing my brother as he couldn't make it over from downtown. I was just informed that the igloo only needs a little more work before it is inhabitable. Since we spent part of the day helping others, we didn't get to do our own driveway. Dad just walked his super-duper-imported snow blower down the street and took care of it for us. We are now doing a 5 minute pick-up around the house as it has totally fallen apart between yesterday and today. Then it's on to reading and snuggling on the couch. We feel so blessed that our Sabbath was surrounded by God's blessing of beauty and a sweet reminder that when we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful to wash us white as snow.

Busy, busy.

The Daddy-Husband-Pilot is at work.
The holy ones are currently lying on the floor surrounded by books.
The Wife-Moma just finished reading several of said books to said holy ones
We are busy living life, rather than writing about it! I know you understand.
However, a quick update as to what the happenings are around here...

We arrived home Monday morning (so early it was really Sunday night!) after a wonderful week learning more about our Lords creation at The Creation Museum and His word at the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference. We enjoyed the museum so much that we decided to purchase a year long pass even though the facility is located an almost 10 hour drive from our house. Want to come along with us next time we go? The SOS conference was wonderful and so affirming as to what God has been showing us in His word this year. I mentioned at the beginning of the year that we had committed to reading through the Bible in a year. We have read everyday but with five little ones just recently started the New Testament. We are all loving it and learning so much. If you have never read the Bible cover to cover, I highly recommend it.

Peter is on reserve for Christmas so we will celebrate with the children a few days early. This has my mind reeling with what needs to be wrapped and possibly purchased. The following week my cousin is getting married and Daniel will be the cute, tux-wearing, flower girl escorting ring bearer. It will be a fun time.

That's it for now. Blessings to you and yours. Possibly more on the conference later. It was really good!

The Wrestlers

My man and three little men had their first private wrestling lesson this week. It was so fun to watch them. The boys have the whole "heal toe knee" thing down. They can do it from one end of the mats to the other, each of them saying, "heal-toe-knee" as they go. What a fun time for the boys and fellowship for us all. Their fantastic coach happens to be my State Champ cousin. It pays to know people. :)

All I want for Christmas...

I was going through my phone videos and found this one of John. I thought it was a good way to kick off the Christmas countdown. Just for the record I am the "mean Moma" stating that I didn't think he would get that for Christmas! This video is from last year. He had justed turned five...iPod!?!?

Thankful

We were able to spend the morning with Peters side of our family as his parents are in town. Then Peter left for work and I took the children to the Thanksgiving celebration for my side this afternoon. Some of us had turkey at both celebrations, some of us did not. I will not name names.

As I sit here pondering my day, my children are laughing and playing throughout the house. They have run up and down the stairs too many times to count.

I am thankful for many things:

• My husband who is willing to lead this family and works hard for us.
• My children who are healthy, laughing, playing and absorbing God's Word.
• My extended family on both sides...parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins.
• Another birthday.
  

We truly are abundantly blessed. I hope you had a chance to give thanks today and every day for our Lords gracious provision, endless mercy and saving death.

Ahh the sound!

My washing machine is spinning and I am grateful. It broke a few days ago and with hubby out of town I had to hunt for a Mr. Fix It. After several calls to Sears and Appliance Doctor (both of whom said they could fit me in after Thanksgiving or sometime in December), I hit the jackpot with a company that could come out pretty quick. My washer is working and I have already started the first of what will turn out to be 10 loads or so! What luxury in which we live.
I am so blessed.

Kid Quote

As we are drawing:

Mommy: Daniel, I know what that is! It's a Teepee. That's great.

Daniel: No it's not. It's an Indian House!

Adoptive Mom

God's original plan for my kids was not what it is currently. God's original plan doesn't involve sinful, selfish and depraved people. It involves not eating from a tree and being fruitful and multiplying for His glory, to worship and fellowship with Him. My precious children are here with me because of the self-gratifying nature of this sinful people. And I rejoice because someone else's failures became my reward. I get to be their mom. I get to kiss their hurts, tuck them in, hear them sing and raise them for the glory of his Creator. But I ache. I am fallible. I am faced with the fact that I cannot make it all better all the time. I cannot be Jesus. I can show Jesus, love Jesus and walk within the boundaries of His word. But I cannot take away all the hurt that my children may feel. I can ask the Lord to protect them from the pain and I can teach my children to lean on Him to heal their wounds. That is my job. That is my calling--raising my kids for His glory and His alone. The Lord is faithful to restore what the locusts have stolen. He is Jehovah-Jireh (The Lord will Provide). He is Jehovah-Rophe (The Lord Who Heals). He is Jehovah-M'Kaddesh (The Lord Who Sanctifies). And in the midst of it all He is Jehovah-Shammah (The Lord is There).
Peace be with you all tonight.

What do you do with birthday balloons?

My boys

When I went to bed last night, this is what I found already occupying the space. My precious little boys. 2 and 5. I am so blessed to be their Moma.

Daniel is 5 today!

Happy Birthday Daniel! We are blessed to be your Daddy and Mommy! You are sweet joy to us and we stand amazed at your precious spirit, serving heart and continued growth as you learn more about Jesus! We pray your next year is blessed. We pray that you continue to grow in Him as you gain wisdom and understanding through the fear of the Lord.
Happy 5th Birthday sweet, tough and handsome boy!
We love you, Daddy and Moma

What are you doing for Halloween?

We don't do it. Usually we hide in the basement, lights off out front, gate closed to the porch, eating candy and watching a clean movie! This year we had planned to host a Reformation celebration, talk about Luthers 95 thesis and eat good German food. However, my husband is working. We were invited to a bonfire out in the country where noone but God and those invited know where we are! So, we may do that or we may do the usual. Either way we have a strong conviction that light and darkness have no fellowship together. Before we had children we would pass out candy and tracks. No more. We do not even frequent the stores that are decorated. We have been known to not go into certain stores for the entire month of October. Instead I would drive a little further to pick up whatever we needed.

Our almost 5yo son has a birthday this Thursday. Last year we went shopping for fun plates for his party. Where do you think we went? Yep, to the dreaded, fully decorated, Party City! I wasn't even thinking about the fact that it too would be decorated (I had already driven 10 minutes pass the store we were boycotting due to their decorations). We took a step in the door and a human sized half zombie-half man yard ornament "spoke" to my then 3 yo son. I covered my sons face, turned around and hurried from the store. My son has talked about it for an entire year!

We need to be aware of to what we are exposing our children. For us, it is not enough to "play down" Halloween. We just have to call it what it is and do something else. I understand the shying away from the "what are you going to be" or "do you want to hear my best witch laugh?" UGH. Umm, no thank you and Jesus loves you!

She Likes Scripture

It was right after breakfast when we noticed she was missing. Someone must have let her out to "do her business" and there she remained while we ate our oh-so-yummy scrambled eggs, sausage links and apple butter topped toast. Breakfast was over and it was time to let 'Minnie' have a couple bites of leftover eggs. "Minnie! Minnie! Come here Minnie!" She was nowhere to be found. After realizing we had not seen her since before breakfast we decided it was time to find her. We donned socks, shoes and bike helmets and proceeded to cover The Island in two different directions. Girls one way and Daddy with boys the other way, all yelling, "Minnie!" Mommy driving the Jeep and checking with neighbors. Over an hour passed and still no dog. She never goes that far so this was highly unusual. We checked at Papa and Gramommy as perhaps she wanted better food? No dog. We decided to give up and just wait as we were hopeful she would return. Daddy looked downstairs, Mommy looked upstairs checking each room thoroughly...one...more...time. No dog. No barking. Nothing. We decided to start Family Bible Time and in ran the dog, straight to her water for a big drink and straight to the door to go out for her "business," then back in to curl up and listen to Isaiah (the prophet, not the son). If only we had started Family Bible Time sooner...

Daddy and Daniel project

Remember the bike Isaiah decided to try on a couple weeks ago?

Today it was revamped for our growing Daniel! Daniel bought it from John after trying it out yesterday. Today Daddy and Daniel sanded and painted it to make it brand new for our almost 5 year old. They found white, blue and glitter paint in the basement, so they went with it. The frame is white, the fenders and handle bars are blue (Daniel's favorite color) and the entire thing has a couple coats of gold glitter. They finished the look with some of Daniels favorite stickers from his collection. We consider it a good combination of Daniel and Go Navy! After all was completed the two of them reassembled the bike and hit the road for a long ride around The Island. Daniel tackled big hills and was so brave. Daddy and Daniel had a fun time.
What a sweet blessing to watch two of my favorite people have so much fun together...

Sanding and taping!

Thumbs up Dude!

Ready for our big bike ride!

We are giddy from giving!

Yesterday we drove ourselves to the Amish Market to have a hearty breakfast and pick up a new 50lb bag of Hard Red Winter Wheat. We discovered our Amish waitress was getting married in 12 days. Peter and I engaged her in conversation for a bit and then we both got a certain look in our eye. We were thinking the same thing. Just this past Sunday our Pastor decided to show Dave Ramsey's video about finance. He told a story about a couple who started their own Waffle House ministry. They decided to pray and ask the Lord to give them a waiter or waitress who really needed money and then they would leave a huge tip. Peter and I knew we were being told to give our waitress a big tip. It was so fun and so fulfilling to walk away seeing the huge smile on her face. What a blessing it is to share what is not really ours anyway! God owns the cattle on a thousand hills!

I challenge you to do the same. I promise, it feels so good!

A few photos from last month...

Peter took his vacation week at the beginning of September.
Besides the boat trip with Papa and Gramommy, we also did this:

Abi jumps from the piling in the front yard.

Ashley and Daddy building the drum bone.

The children jumped from the pier at Papa and Gramommy's as well
but the only photos I have are of the climb back up!

**John is here while I am posting these photos and we are both wondering where the photo is of him. He thinks he was too cold to jump so he stayed on the pier. :)

Swine flu vaccine

Isaiah, The Dude

No, he was not actually riding this big bike. Although he would sure like to! Our Isaiah loves the outdoors and is constantly asking (sometimes literally pulling me by the hand to follow him) to go out or ride his bike. The bike in this photo is big brother John's bike. It was a beautiful day and a bike ride was the just the thing. Peter strapped Daniel to his back and I had Isaiah in the baby seat on my bike. The kids loved it. We need to do that more often.

September Boat Trip

Here are a few photos from our boat trip with Papa and Gramommy.
It was so much fun. We really need to do it again.

The straws and lids can hurt the animals.

We took the kids to the zoo yesterday. The lion area was closed except for one section. The elephant house was closed for renovation. Supposedly there were orangutans somewhere to be found. The ape house was empty. The hippo had been sold to Minnesota. There were birds aplenty. We saw 2 zebras and 3 cheetahs. Mostly the cheetahs were pacing the pen watching the zebras. We never saw any feeding action. Not unless you count the time when we were going to see the lobster eat an oyster and we waited oh-so-patiently as the volunteer dropped the oyster right behind a rocky area where we couldn't see. We definitely saw our fair share of snakes. We caught a wild praying mantis but left it there as we didn't want to steal one of the main attractions of the zoo. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and the kids loved seeing the animals that were actually AT the zoo. We finished our visit with a yummy soda. We paid and they handed us 32 ounce cups. When we asked for lids and straws (after all we have five kiddos drinking from these big cups) they informed us without apology that the straws and lids can hurt the animals. Peter and I were shocked! Is this written on a sign somewhere? We feel cheated. We didn't know. We wouldn't have bought them...okay, we would have. But what we really wanted to know was...Exactly WHAT animals were going to be injured by straws and lids?!

Kid Quote

Today's kid quote comes from 2 1/2 year old Isaiah...

Abi to Isaiah as she begins to "throw" him on the couch: Are you ready?! Liberty!

Isaiah: No! I'm the baby. I'm the baby. I'm the baby.

Love it when the youngest uses his knowledge of being "the baby" to his own advantage.

A birthday boy and the last few months!

Our birthday boy:
John T turned 6 on Saturday!
You are joy to us John!
Happy Birthday smiling, "sticky fingers," cowboy John!

I have been extremely behind on updating this blog!
This is a quick run down of what we have been up to...

June: one week in Texas, one week in California visiting family

July: one week in Boston for Reformation 500

August: hosted a missions fellowship in our home, hosted a missionary, started school, Isaiah's adoption was finalized (insert shouts of joy!), went to Pennsylvania for a weekend of family fellowship and missions MAF, Peter started a week of vacation at the end of the month and that took us into...

September: spent a night on my parents boat with them at a cool resort, went apple, peach and blackberry picking, did not labor on Labor Day, took a one week whirlwind road trip to Georgia for a Jesus in the Quran conference, visited family on the way home, visited Liberty University (where I was attending when Peter stole my heart) and our pastors son, a visit from Oma and celebrated John's birthday and still more to come!

Tim Hawkins - The Government Can

Lost tooth

John lost his other front tooth. Needless to say my older kids are singing a famous Christmas song about him. What do you think his apples will look like now?

Other things lost this week include one female hamster. Yet to be found. I am a little freaked out every time I pick up a load of laundry from the floor. Where could she be hiding? No sign of her anywhere. Perhaps she has fled the property due to my inability to really love her. I wonder how long before the other one leaves.

Kid Quote

As relayed to me by my father, who heard the whole thing go down, when my John threw a bucket off the pier into the murky river:

Daddy: John, you know you are not supposed to do that, now jump in and go get it.

John, age 5: No, I can't Daddy, I can't, I am scary, I am scary!! (this is actually what he says when he means scared)

Daddy: You threw it in, you go get it. There is nothing to be afraid of.

John: I scary Daddy! I scary of the jellyfish!

Enter Daniel, age 4: He's not scared of the jellyfish. He's scared of the sharks.

Orphan

Tom Davis over at Notes from the field said this about the new movie Orphan:

I want to challenge my readers and friends to write 500 positive blog posts about how an orphan has impacted and changed your life. Post this on your own blog so that when people search for the movie, they are flooded with positive messages about adoption and orphan care.

Just finish this sentence: "Warner Bros. new horror movie Orphan proclaims that it must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own. Let me tell you about how an orphan changed my life..."

My adopted children are my own. I am continually surprised when I walk by the mirror and once again realize that they don't look like me! Most often I feel like your typical large family with 2 full shopping carts at Sam's Club. Then I realize. They are starring because we "have our hands full" and because we are a trans-racial family. I found myself telling my husband that we might be the only black people at a conference we recently attended. Then I kind of laughed. I am not black. But I am Moma to 3 who are black, 1 who is Mexican and 1 who is a perfect combination of the two. I will let you figure it all out from the photo above. So, how has my life changed by these wonderful 5?

These two full hands make one fuller heart.

Five good morning cuddles.

Five snacks, five times a day.

Five times the energy.

Five times the laughter.

Five times the smiles.

Five times the fun.

Five sets of arms to watch splashing in the pool.

Five sets of legs that run down to the beach.

Five toothbrushes lined up by the sink.

Five times five pairs of shoes left by the front door.

Five stories to hear about what happened while they played.

Five books to read during "mommy reading time."

Five different animals to keep, okay make that 11.

Five bicycles lined up on the driveway.

Five different sizes of the same kind of socks.

Five mouths chewing mint gum.

Five bedtime prayers.

Five goodnight kisses.

Five different ways to be

eternally grateful

to the Lord for

His precious gifts.

Since becoming ours, my children have grown to know the Living God. They have grown from shy and unsure to knowing they are loved. This love is not just from myself and my husband, but from Jesus, their Redeemer. The life they came from is not who they are, but it has an impact for Christ on where they are going.

So that we remember.

Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Throughout scripture we are told to remember. I write this today in order to remember that my Lord is faithful to speak...when I am willing to listen.

Every once in a while something happens in your life that will be a memory to share with your grandchildren. In my case the something that happened will be retold to my children and to my children's children in order to glorify my Father in heaven. For the past two years Peter and I have felt the urge to move from our home and settle in a place where the children can run, our family can continue to grow and we can afford to live a simple life. God has always spoken to us about debt as well. We purchased cars we could afford with cash that we had saved for this purpose. If we use the credit card then we pay it off, in full, when the bill arrives. We always make sure we have the money in the bank before making any purchase. We use the cash system for groceries and clothing and when it is gone, it is gone. We do not put something on credit in order to have it right now. So, we do not have any debt...or do we?

We have a mortgage. For years we have not seen our house as debt. According to culture it is a tax write-off. "You don't want to pay off your house because it's a tax shelter." But this is worldly advice, not Biblical advice. God was speaking to us about this, but we were not positive about what we should do. So, we fasted and prayed. We fell on our faces before the Living God and asked for guidance. God is so good! He answered before we even had a chance to ask! We have been reading through the Bible with the children this year and this is where God had us for the day of our fast...His timing is perfect. His will is perfect.

His answer to our question of whether we should sell our house was this:

Nehemiah 5:1-5
Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying, "We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain."
Others were saying, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine."
Still others were saying, "We have had to borrow money to pay the king's tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others."

We know this sounds ridiculous to many people. But God spoke so very clearly to us through this passage. He knew that this would be our reading for that day. He knew we would be fasting, seeking Him. He knows the plans He has for us. Are we hurting for money? No. Are we able to feed the kids? Yes. Can we pay the mortgage? Yes. God has blessed Peter with an incredible job! But He also spoke very clearly to us to sell our house as "our fields and vineyards belong to others." So, our house is up for sale. We do not have a sign in the yard. We have not listed it with an agent. We have not put it in the paper. But it is for sale and should someone come knocking on our door asking us if we would like to sell our house, then the answer is yes. Because God told us to. By the way, the sign will go in when we have the house ready to show.

If there is something that the Lord has been talking to you about but you are not totally ready to hear. Please consider fasting and praying and really listening to His voice so that it may go well with you too!

Chick-fil-A

Tim Hawkins on Chick-fil-A

Black White Tan

Nicole C. Mullen's Black White Tan

Although Momma doesn't look like coffee, we are certainly Black White and Tan around here. We have found this song to hold a special place for all of us. I was not able to upload the song, so the video is the best we could do from You Tube.
We didn't film it, but I appreciate the girl who did!
The lyrics are posted for you to read along while you listen to the You Tube video.
Enjoy! I am sure you will see why we love this song...

*************************

Momma looks like coffee, Daddy looks like cream
Baby is a mocha drop American dream
All the colors of the rainbow are in her family tree
Woven all together in a paisley tapestry
She holds real tightly to her parents' hands
Baby loves that woman, baby loves that man
And her soul gives a smile 'cause she understands
Our love is black, white, tan
Yeah, yeah, yeah black, white, tan

Everyone is precious in the Father's sight
It don't matter red or yellow, black or white
He just loves ya 'cause He loves ya
I tell you this is true
You are not a color and a color is not you
So hold real tightly to your Daddy's hands
'Cause he loves that woman, He loves that man
And let your soul give a smile 'cause you understand
That love is black, white, tan
yeah, yeah, yeah black, white, tan

Na, na, na, na, na . . .

So hold real tightly to your Daddy's hands
'Cause he loves that woman, and he loves that man
And let your soul give a smile every once in a while
Let your soul give a smile every once in a while (repeat 2x)
'Cause love is black, white, tan
Yeah, I know God's love is black, white, tan
Yes I know God's love is black, white, tan
Little girl will tell you black, white and tan

In which they nap.

It was that kind of morning. The kind that told me I should not have awoken the peaceful ones. We HAD to get up at 7. Okay, this is not early by any stretch of the imagination, especially if you are a Mom. However, it was early after a long day of fun yesterday. So, I woke them up. Why? Because my dear, wonderful faithful husband hired someone to come deep clean the house for me. DID YOU HEAR THAT??? I said, "My DEAR, WONDERFUL, FABULOUS, FAITHFUL husband hired a maid for me!" Woo-hoo! Shouts of extreme joy and endless happy dancing ensue. But they had to come at 8am. So, I woke everyone up at 7. Do you know what I was going to do? Because I was bestowing the "fabulous mom" award on myself, I decided to take them to Chick-fil-a. DID YOU HEAR THAT? We were going to Chick-fil-a for breakfast because I had a maid service coming to my house!!! (insert whooping of children here) But then it started. You know it. The behavior that comes from not having enough sleep, having a Mom run you from fun thing to fun thing and having the need to just be in your own home for a time. But I pushed. I told them to shape up. They begged forgiveness. We had Bible time. We prayed. We went to Chick-fil-a and all went well. Until. Noon. That was the hour. It was high noon. Attitudes were in full swing, mouths were talking back, eyes were droopy with sleep. So I did it. I made everyone nap. I mean everyone: the 2, 4, 5, 9, 11 year olds and even the dog. And do you know what they did? They all slept for 3 hours. Do you know what a homeschooling Mom can accomplish in 3 hours?! I sorted and put away all of our school work from the past year, cleaned out the computer desk junk drawer, laid on the couch and pondered what to do next, started planning this next school year, made a few phone calls, texted my husband, emailed my mother-in-law, wondered what to wear to my husbands 20 year high school reunion, drank a lemon-lime seltzer, started more laundry and wondered when the children were going to wake up again so we could play. Now they are all dressed (princess dresses for the girls and swords for the boys) and ready for a daring re-enactment of Pendragon, Sword of His Father. All is right again.

How did your day go?

My day.

What I did not accomplish today:
laundry
paperwork
school planning
book reviewing
sewing
cabinet reorganizing


What I did accomplish today:
friend visiting
children playing
snack giving
lots of smiles
popsicle dripping
niece holding
husband phone chat
lots of swimming
sandy feet
meal sharing
laughter hearing
children baby hamster holding
now almost to bed

We fished. We failed. We fed.

We had big plans this evening to fish, fillet and fry. Ashley caught one and decided to "pet" it for a minute when it jumped right out of her hands and back into the Bay. I held another rod and felt a big one biting. I slowly reeled it in and tugged the line only to have the hook and bait fly up and out of the water with my Mom laughing a bit in the background. It was rather funny as we both thought it must have been "Nessy." So what did we settle on you might ask? Well, fortunately I had purchased fish sticks (no laughing please) to use as our substitute for our fish tacos. We slathered corn tortillas with sour cream-cilantro sauce, laid out those crispy fish sticks, covered them with cabbage, squeezed a little lime on them, folded them over, put them to our mouths, enjoyed the flavor and watched as our tortillas fell apart leaving saucy fish sticks on our hands with our fingers as the rescuing utensils. Then we did it again. And then My Guy remembered...last time we cooked them lightly in oil and you really need to do that to corn tortillas for the flavor and for the mold-ability. But my Mom and I agree, they still tasted really good. Mom also had sushi, edamame, cole slaw and pink frosted cookies for us. Yummmmmm. Let's do it again tomorrow!

Semper Reformanda!

From fabulous lectures and tours to meeting like-minded families, Reformation 500 exceeded our expectations! We were blessed to make new friends and look forward to having time with them over the years as we make every effort to attend every conference that Vision Forum offers.

The conference focused on celebrating the reformers such as John Calvin, John Knox and Martin Luther and what they did for us as Christians as well as focusing on what we could learn from them and how to apply that knowledge to our lives in order to shape the future.

The speakers we were privileged to hear included Doug Phillips, Scott Brown, Kevin Swanson, Dr. Joseph Morecraft, Geoffrey Botkin and Col. John Eidsmore. There were so many lectures we missed that we decided to purchase the entire lecture and tour recording.

Vision Forum does an excellent job is making their conferences come to life through the speakers. This time they included reformers from the past who "came to life" in order for us to learn their stories. There were 40 live reformers who told their stories as the children swarmed around them to get their autographs. Once the children had 30 autographs they could earn money towards a variety of items, one including a silver coin that was specifically made to celebrate this occasion. My boys chose swords and my girls chose money off at Behemoth.

We returned home with minds full of history and hearts desiring to apply what we learned in order to plan our vision for the future. Our desire is for our children to learn from the past as well so that they may apply it to the now and to help shape the future for the glory of God.

Peter surprised us with a limo ride to our hotel.
We didn't have to take our car seats as a limo is considered public transportation!

Ashley and Moma in the limo.

Funny kids in the limo.

We arrived at the hotel at 11am and they let us check in. What a blessing! Vision Forum brought in an exact replica on the Liberty Bell and displayed it in the foyer of the hotel. On July 4th we all gathered around as it was rung 13 times in honor of the original 13 colonies.
It was loud and so cool!

Fanny Crosby autographs the children's books while she sings a few of the
songs which she wrote many years ago.

We gather in Boston Public Gardens (adjacent to the famous Boston Commons) for the children's parade of 2009 on July 4th.
The boys use their new swords while they await the line up for the parade.

Our little colonists.

President Washington leads the parade.

The parade is over and we are tired.

Our prayer for you is that you would be
Semper Reformanda
within your family and your community.
Do not be comfortable with the simple Christianity in which you may be living.
Believe the Sola Scriptura and live it!