A Walk in the Almond Orchard

Mandolin and Willow

This is Mandolin. She is a friendly and confident Kinder goat. She will be kidding for the first time around the end of this month. I am planning to learn to make cheese and also try making soap with her milk.





And here is Willow. She is a shy and skittish Pygora goat. She is a fiber goat and I will be shearing her this spring. I plan to spin the fiber and experiment dyeing it. Willow is the newcomer around here, I have only had her a week.

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.