Ice Skating

On Thursday we all took a day trip over to Yosemite Valley. I wanted to go there for my birthday this year and go ice skating. I had never been ice skating before, which is sad since I lived in Montana for 10 years. We had lunch in Yosemite before going over to the outdoor skating rink. It was quite chilly, but once I started skating I was warm enough. It was a lot of fun but also very hard. I had the worst time keeping my balance! Everyone else made it look so easy:) There was one lady who was very nice and helped both Melissa and I a little at the beginning. Altogether we skated for about two hours then drove home in the dark. It was such a fun day. Now I want to ice skate again and actually get better at it.

A New Year

It is hard to believe that another year is already past. Looking back at 2006 I see a year filled with new experiences, new friends, fun times with old friends and family, and quiet happy times. There have also been times that were difficult, boring or painful.

Now I look ahead and wonder what the new year will hold. I have many plans, goals, projects, and ideas I would like to do.

There are two things I would like to focus on this year. One is to delight more in the Lord.

Psalm 37:4

"Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

I want to know Him, serve Him, and love Him better and spend more time in His Word. I also want to trust Him more and be content in every situation He places me in.

The second thing I plan to work on this year is using my time more wisely. This includes getting up earlier and wasting less time. I can be a terrible time waster.

Visitors

Last evening a family we met last summer at music camp was able to come visit us. The Curran Family is from Oregon. They have two daughters and one son. We had such an enjoyable time of visiting and fellowship. The Keulen family also joined us for a fun filled evening.

Even though the Currans were only able to stay over one night it was a good time and fun to get to know them a bit better.



Visiting at the dinner table


Getting breakfast ready


Enjoying breakfast together

I Really Am Still Here...

...even though I haven't posted for ages. I am just going to post a few random pictures and comments from the last month.



We stayed home for Thanksgiving and had some friends over for the afternoon. I gave pony rides to the little girls, we played games, and ate a wonderful turkey dinner.







Lately we have been getting ready for Christmas. We got our tree and decorated it and I have been making cookies.



A chilly winter morning at our house.



A while ago we recieved our Vision Forum Catalog in the mail. As I was reading through it I noticed that they are having a Jamestown treasure hunt. I found the first clue and solved it then didn't think about it for awhile. The other day I got into it again and now I am having a hard time getting other things done:) What have I gotten myself into? It is alot of fun but quite challenging.

Well that's what I've been up to lately along with other projects and ideas that I will hopefully post on soon.

Conference in Oregon

Well this post is a bit late. I have been meaning to post about this trip ever since I got home. That was almost two weeks ago.

This last trip to Bend, Oregon was the fourth time I've been to Oregon this year. It was a little different because only three of us went; Mom, Jonathan, and I. Dad had to work and Melissa stayed home to keep him company. We haven't really traveled without Dad before so this was a new adaventure for us.

This time we were there for the Berean Call Conference on the Seduction of Christianity. The speakers spoke on the affect phsycology, mysticism, ecumenicalism, marketing. and other ideas have had on the church today. There was so much information it was almost overwhelming. I took a lot of notes but I am really a terrible note taker, so they don't always make sense:) I think one of the most important things spoken on was the sufficiency of God's Word and the impotance of testing all ideas and teachings by the Bible.

We were surprised at how many people came to the conference. It was so encouraging. At the Saturday evening banquet we had the opportunity to meet a sweet family with three young children from Kentucky. It was enjoyable to talk to them. Another highlight was hearing the Booher Brothers play both Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It is always fun to hear them.

On the way home we took several detours to admire the beauty of God's creation in Northern California. Because of our many stops we got home later than planned. But the trip was safe and it was good to be all home together again.

I didn't take any pictures at the conference but did get some on the way home. My camera was acting really strange part of the time but then started working again just fine. I hope its not going to break.

Horseback Ride

On Tuesday afternoon we went on a walk with the our neighbors, the Stevens.

I convinced my mom and Mrs.Stevens to ride the horses, even though it had been a long time since either of them had been horseback riding. Celeste rode the other horse while the rest of us walked.

New Blogger

If you look at the sidebar on the right you might notice something different. I have changed my blog so that from now on my sister Melissa can post also. So look for her first post coming up soon! This is going to be fun!

The Girls

Callie, Windy, and Misty enjoying an afternoon out in the pasture.

A Crash and a Firetruck

After reading the title of my post you probably have all sorts of wild ideas flying through your mind. Well, they are probably all wrong. You also probably think that the crash and the firetruck have something to do with each other. They are in fact two different and completely unrelated events.

THE CRASH

The first event happened on Wednesday afternoon. I had just arrived home from work. I went over to my computer to check my e-mail when I noticed a strange blue screen telling me that it was shutting down due to an error. So it shut down and restarted. As it booted up it got as far as the Windows XP logo before... uh oh... there it was again, the blue screen! This occurred several times. I spent a very frustrated afternoon trying to figure out what to do, before giving up in fear of causing more damage. I have not been able to get on since then. I am hoping that there is some way to recover my files. I had been being very careful to back things up until earlier this year. So all my photos from January until now, a website that I was working on, and other design work and artwork has never been backed up. Right now I am still able to blog and use e-mail on the other computer. If anyone has suggestions for what to do when a computer crashes please let me know.

THE FIRETRUCK

OK, now for the second event. This one was unusual. I was sleeping peacefully when suddenly I was awakened in what felt like the middle of the night. It was actually very early Thursday morning, around 4:30 a.m. Outside my window it was very bright and a loud motor was running. When I looked to see what was going on I saw a huge firetruck with glaring lights parked in our driveway. What in the world was going on?
Now I think I'd better go back a few days to explain things. On Tuesday evening my grandparents from the Bay Area came down to visit us for a few days. Before coming down Grandpa had been to the doctor to have a cyst removed from his head. As I was leaving for work Wednesday morning the wound had begun bleeding and didn't seem to be stopping. Eventually the bleeding was stopped and it seemed to be doing ok. But early Thursday morning Grandpa woke up to find it bleeding a lot. My mom tried to stop it but was unable to so they called emergency. My room is back in the converted garage so I didn't hear any of the commotion until the firetruck arrived. Anyway Grandpa was taken to the hospital where the bleeding was stopped and more stitches were put in. Mom, Dad, and Grandma followed him there shortly after. They all came home around 8:30 a.m. We were all glad that it was not anything more serious. My grandparents are getting older and neither one knows the Lord so this was somewhat scary for them. Hopefully this event will help them to think more seriously about their relationship with God.

Apple Season

This afternoon we went with our neighbors to See Canyon to get apples. It has become almost a tradition we do every fall. We took a picnic lunch to eat in the beautiful garden behind one apple farm. At the apple farms we sampled the apples and then bought a large box of our favorites for fresh eating, baking, and making apple butter. After that we headed over to the Avila Valley Barn. We spent our time buying produce, looking at the gift shop, visiting the animals, getting lost in the hay bale maze, and eating ice cream. Apple season is always an enjoyable part of fall. I am looking forward to making delicious apple pies, apple sauce, and apple butter.


Posing by the old tractor


The ladies eating a picnic lunch


Enjoying our ice cream


The boys with their ice cream.