390 Years Ago Yesterday

390 years ago yesterday... yes, 390; the Pilgrims first set foot in Plymouth, Massachusetts. I have been to Plymouth a couple of times and it is one of my favorite places to visit. I love history and that place is full of it!

It's a shame but most people today don't know very much of our nation's history. At least, they don't know it accurately. These people that we commonly refer to as "Pilgrims" endured harships that we can't even imagine. Not only did they come for religious freedom, they came as missionaries to a new world.





I toured the replica of the Mayflower one of the times I was in Plymouth vacationing with friends and let me tell you; it was no luxury cruise ship! 102 passengers plus crew all packed onto one tiny ship for a two month voyage across the sea. It is so small and cramped it's a wonder that any of them made it over here alive. When we walked off of the boat I looked at the girls and said, "The Pilgrims are my new heroes!" To endure such hardships they must have had very strong convictions in their reasons for coming here.





Gov. William Bradford (who's grave I have seen), wrote in his book, Of Plymouth Plantation, that despite many setbacks they, "committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed." Because of their "resolve" to carry on, you and I are enjoying a life in this "new world" as they termed it, benefiting from their sacrifies. Just because they survived the two month journey (which not everyone did) didn't mean that they had it easy from then on. They went on to face many more obstacles the likes of which we will probably never have to see.

So as Christmas approaches this week let's be thankful that there were those who came before us and thought of posterity more than their own comforts. Let's also think ahead to what will be said of us... 390 years from today!

Merry Christmas

One of my favorite times of the year is fast approaching. I love the Christmas season. The combination of family together, the beauty of the Christmas tree decorated and beautifully lit, the good food that I eat too much of, the snow on the ground (hopefully) and yes the presents under the tree all leave me feeling warm and cozy inside. And although I have been called a grinch because I don't like most Christmas music... it's still one of my favorite times of the year.

Sometimes it's hard to keep perspective in the world we live in. Christmas for many people has become just another money-making holiday that is so commericalized that most of the world has lost sight of the true meaning of the season.

These days we live in a society obssessed with political correctness. It's not politically correct to say "Merry Christmas". Instead we're supposed to say "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" or replace Christ with simply an "x", lest we offend anyone. I've never been politically correct and I'm not about to start being that way now.

Why is it that anything that includes the name "Christ" in it has to be found as offensive? I believe it's because the name of Jesus Christ is powerful. And what the world needs most is to know Jesus Christ intimately as Lord and Saviour. The devil knows his time is short and he is working overtime to keep people from the truth.

Christmas is all about Jesus Christ coming to this earth in human form and redeeming us from our hopeless state. And I'm sure that Satan loves it when the world forgets about that. Whenever I'm at the store or anywhere where people say "Happy Holidays", I have made it a point to say "Merry Christmas" instead.

We as Christians have been given the ministry of reconcilation (2 Cor. 5:19) to tell the world of what Jesus has done. What better time to do that than right now during this Christmas season? In Luke 2:14 the angels are announcing the birth of Christ and the Bible says, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" The word for "peace" here in the Greek is, "eirene" and means, "A state of rest, quietness, and calmness; an absence of strife; tranquilty and includes a harmonious relationship between God and men, men and men, nations and families."

The world we live in is in desperate need of this message. Let's take it to them and fulfill the Great Commission. Merry CHRISTMAS!!!

I've been wanting to post something but not much has gone on of note so I decided to just do a short post with one picture.

In the fall of '02 thru the spring of '03 I attended Rosedale Bible College. There I met lost of people and walked away with some amazing friendships. Anyone who has ever gone to school at RBC can testify the strong friendships that are formed there. It's something special no doubt.

This week Mom and Dad were out of town so I've been hanging with my good friend Kristi Bender who I met while attending RBC. It used to be that a group of us girls would get together at least once a year for some sort of trip. It's getting harder to do that as time goes on. I'm glad Kris only lives 45 mintues away because we get to see each other quite often that way. When we're together we're usually wishing everyone else could be here too. It's hard telling what will happen whenever we're together. If you don't hear from me again it's because Kristi killed me for putting this picture up!


Thank you, Rosedale Bible College.

Wedding Part 2

This was my bouquet for the wedding. I thought they were so pretty and that it looked cool with the blue paint from the barn in the background.
We took pictures at an old homestead and this old barn made for a great backdrop.

I was so excited when Amanda told me that the entire bridal party was driving away in sports cars! Each couple had their own to ride in. Pontiac Trans Am's have always been a favorite of mine. So, I was elated when I got to ride in this! Just for the record... they are really fast!
There were several old buildings on the homestead that we took pictures against. This one of all of the bridesmaids with Amanda is one of my favorites.

I also thought this picture of the guys with the cars parked like this was neat especially with the mountains in the distance.

Wedding Part 1

This past weekend I was a bridesmaid in my friend Amanda's wedding in Pennsylvania. It was a blast! I admit I was nervous about the dress and everything but it all worked out. Mom did some last minute adjustments that helped (thanks Mom) and everything went well. This first picture is me with Amanda's sisters, Tina and Heidi at the salon waiting for our hair to be done.
Makeup! I never wear makeup!
Last minute preparations!
Amanda and I right before going into hiding before the wedding. Stay tuned for more wedding pics in the next post.

Dad's Birthday

We got a surprise recently when JT and Kori showed up with the girls for a few days. It was over Dad's birthday which made him very happy. Unfortunately Mom and I had to leave while they were still here because I was in a wedding in PA. I'm not sorry about that but just wish it wouldn't have been when they were here. Stay tuned for posts about the wedding. It was a blast!
Soap loves to pose for pictures. That's more than I can say about Emma!
Papa gets some quality "Emma time"
Emma enjoys 52 card pickup!

Blinded

Finally! Something to blog about! Since August I've been saying to Dad, "We need to get our blinds set up." And since August we've been putting it off. Now it's November and every leaf in Michigan is on the ground and bow season has been open for 41 days and neither one of us has been hunting yet. So today we finally got around to getting our blinds set up.


With a little help from our trusty 4310 John Deere we cleared a couple places to put our blinds.
Opening day of Michigan's shotgun season is November 15th. It's pretty much a statewide holiday except in the Detroit area. No comment on that. Anyone who forgets about the 15th remembers quite quickly. After the inital shock they remember that it isn't the beginning of World War 3, just the opening day of gun season.


It's always especially fun for my family because after coming in from our morning hunt we head over to our cousin's house where a lot of the extended family gathers for "deer camp", bringing a variety of food, games and bull crap (bragging is a family talent) about our morning hunts. We eat, talk (quite loudly I might add, another one of our many gifts) and hang out for awhile and then leave in time to go back out for the evening hunt. After the evening hunt we head back to our cousin's to hear more expertly crafted tales about everyone's evening hunts. I look forward to it every year. Somewhere I have a picture from last year's deer camp that will give you and idea of what goes on. I'll have to find it.

Here's a picture of me being happy that my Primos Ground Max blind is finally in place and ready to use. Unfortunately it's in the 60's this week, not exactly ideal temperatures for hunting. But, regardless of the temps I will for sure go out on the 15th if not before. Stay tuned for stories from the woods!

Stress Relief

Since JT, Kori and the girls have moved to Colorado I haven't had as much to post about lately. Plus, summer being over I'm not out about in the fields and driving around and seeing interesting sights to take pictures of and blog about. The girls were usually the my subjects for most of my photography so I haven't been taking many pictures.

The other night my friend John came over to do some shooting and wouldn't you know I forgot to take my camera out with me! So, all you get is this tiny picture of John shooting that I took with my phone. Maybe next time I'll remember the camera!

Pizza Hut and Bad Friends

My bad friend Amber, who moved to Tennessee, decided to come home this weekend for a visit. Her, my sister-in-law Kori and I have somewhat of a tradition of going out to Pizza Hut every so often for dinner. My bad brother moved his family to Colorado and therefore Kori wasn't here for Amber's visit or for our night out at Pizza Hut. That makes Kori bad for marrying him. Amber and I took this picture to send to Kori to remind her of all the fun she's missing by not being in Michigan. Bad Kori!

After dinner we went to Gander Mtn. because I wanted to look at a few things. By the way Kori, I told Amber about you thinking their slogan was "Hunt, Fish, Kill" instead of "Hunt, Fish, Camp" but that's what happens when you're in Colorado and not here to defend yourself. We ended up goofing around which usually happens when we're together and the following picture is proof of that. Most of you didn't know but Amber is part Eskimo, however, since moving to Tennessee she is having a hard time with the cold weather and she has to wear this hat to stay warm.

Bad Amber will be leaving to go back to Tennessee this weekend. Bad Kori is still in Colorado and we don't know for sure when she'll be coming home. I'm still here trying to come up with ways to have fun all by myself. Thanks a lot you bad friends.

Worth The Wait

So I haven't been able to blog much lately because as soon as we got home from vacation we discovered that our computer had crashed while we were gone. Then my laptop did some stupid thing where it just decides that it doesn't want to start. And now that it's finally working I can't actually take it anywhere to get highspeed because I'm afraid it won't start up again. So... I can't get anywhere to upload the rest of my pictures at this point in time so I decided to do a random post about something else.

I have always had a thing for Fender guitars. They are just classic. I love the look and I love the way they play. For years I've wanted to have a nice Strat. Last year I bought myself a used 50's classic Strat off of Craigslist and I LOVE THIS GUITAR! It was even the color I wanted; go figure! It was a long time coming but some things are worth the wait! This summer I decided to by myself a hardshell Fender tweed case because I felt the guitar deserved it! Plus, I wanted one! :)
I have also always wanted a Fender bass but never had the money to buy one which is why I settled for the Ibanez that I traded in tonight.

Lately through a series of circumstances it appears I will be playing bass more often again. I had a 5 string bass and an acoustic that I didn't use very often that I'd been trying to sell for awhile but wasn't having any luck. I finally just decided to see about trading them in and putting the cash toward the Fender bass like I've always wanted. So that's what I did tonight after one last attempt at trying to sell them both.

Before I went into the store I prayed that God would give me a good deal on a trade-in and that's exactly what happened. They offered me more money than they did before when I checked about a trade-in earlier in the year. So tonight I finally purchased my Fender bass. It's a Fender Deluxe P Bass Special. In my opinion it's the best of both worlds. Jazz neck (fast and slim), P Bass body (smaller and lighter), combination vintage pickups, satin finish neck and a ton of tonal range. Chrome Red with a maple fretboard, what more could you ask for? Only one problem... it's on back order. Apparently everyone else thought the same thing. But, I suppose after all, it's worth the wait.

Church and Applebees

Sunday we went to church at Charis Christian Center which is the church located next to Charis Bible College where my brother is attending school.

Mom wanted her picture taken in front of the Andrew Wommack ministries building.


After church we went for lunch at Applebee's. Sophie was all smiles which for her is a little unusual as usually she is quite blah!

Shopping in Woodland Park

After stopping for a few more photos with breathtaking backgrounds we headed back from Mueller State Park toward Colorado Springs. JT and Kori went home because the girls were sleepy but Mom, Dad and I stopped in Woodland Park to do some shopping.

Like many towns in the west Woodland Park has an arch made of elk antlers.








We stopped at a shop called The Cowhand so Dad could try on another pair of boots.







Then we stopped for a few more pictures before heading back to the hotel.

It seems like everywhere you go Pike's Peak is there looming in the distance. It always looks different depending on where you are and how the sun is hitting it. It definitely looks the coolest when there is snow on top.


This picture of Mom and Dad was taken right before we left the State Park.

A Day of Adventures Part 2

Here are some more pictures from our day at Mueller State Park. JT just had to climb this hill to see the view. He took Emma with him and when he finally got to the top he yelled back down, "I'm dying!"





You will notice in this picture of Sophie that her legs are covered in dirt. That is thanks to Emma who wasn't satisfied with the throwing of the leaves and decided she need to throw dirt all over her sister.











































Not sure why Mom is wrapped in a blanket. She must have been cold.




















Another family picture at a pretty spot along the trail.


















Sophie enjoyed the view atop Daddy's shoulders as you can see by the waving of her arms in exaltation!

A Day of Adventures Part 1

Yesterday we went to Mueller State Park to take some family pictures and see the scenery. We went on a very short hike that nearly killed me. I hadn't been feeling well and the hike nearly did me in. I survived and we had a great day and got some cool pictures. The only bad thing that happened was poor Emma got her hand shut in the back door of the Jeep. Ouch!

I didn't think this picture would show the snow-capped Rockies in the background because through the lens they were barely visible. They are approximately 100 miles away from where I was standing when I took this picture.

We took several family pictures as we hiked hoping to get one good enough to put on our family Christmas cards. I'll post more of those later.

Sophie had to be bundled up in Kori's sweatshirt. It made for a great picture!

Snow on the Peak!

When we woke up this morning there was snow on top of Pike's Peak! It was so beautiful! The sun was shining on the snow and it made for a gorgeous site! Absolutely breathtaking.


"I will up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1

Today we went driving around up by Pike's Peak. We didn't go all the way to the top but it was pretty neat just the same.

Later on we met JT, Kori & the girls for pizza at Old Chicago Pizza. It was very good!







I really liked the Broncos logo on the wall.


Emma enjoyed playing with the pepper.



While we waited to be seated
JT tried to get Sophie to walk around.


More adventures tomorrow!

This is what the atrium looks like at the hotel we are staying at in Colorado Springs. It's by far the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in!

We get to eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Some choices include: eggs, sausage, potatoes, fruit, muffins, pastries, cereal, made to order omelette's, waffles and more! I wish I would've been hungrier this morning!