Thanksgiving for me always brings to mind Family Friends Food Thankfulness for the many ways we are Blessed   This year we flew to Pennsylvania for 10 days and spent Thanksgiving with my sister and her family as well as mom and dad. We had some interesting flight times.  We woke from our beds at 3:00 to catch our 6 a.m.morning special flight and would have spent the rest of the day in a fog except the airlines was kind enough to arrange a 5 hour layover for us in Chicago. So we decided to see if we could get all 6 of us people’s that were flying into the United Club lounge on 2 passes. At first it was a no-go but then the…

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There’s one thing on kids’ minds when they go camping and that’s Fire Early the next morning, Justus and Audrey got right to that. I can only imagine what it must have been like for the early Indians and pioneers who had to make gathering and cooking their food as a main part of the day.  So much work!  I wonder if they ever thought of becoming more organized and scheduling their days better? Somehow I just can’t picture that. Can you? After awakening from a cozy slumber and hearing the quiet sounds of twigs being snapped and the murmurs of Zachary, Justus and Audrey, I emerged from the tent to this gorgeous sight. Do you enjoy cooking when you camp?  I do. I get…

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It was supposed to be a simple 3 day getaway – a special time in honor of Serenity for her 8th grade graduation. I’d bring all the food; we’d camp out; costs would be minimal. Simple. Zachary’s “boss of the year” cleared him and Seth (who is working with Zach for a few weeks) from working Friday, so the plan was for them to arrive home Thursday night and we’d take off Friday morning.   Reality! After being gone all day, me and my wonderful assistant, Serenity, packed and prepare food till 11 p.m.  By 12:30 we were all in bed but up again by 4. Red eyes with grit in them.  That’s exactly how I looked and felt the next morning. Zion National Park…

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This is it – the final post of Zachary’s 10-day trip to Vanuatu. There was a church dedication while they were there   I thought it was really nice and quite interesting that the Presbyterian church came and sang at the ribbon cutting ceremony.  Actually, the whole village showed up for the dedication. The oldest lady of the village did the actual cutting of the ribbon and some official in Vanuatu came and spoke as well.   Leaving one of the villages they headed to this airport to catch their plane. Interestingly enough, the girl on the left in the blue shirt was a peace worker from Ann Arbor, Michigan. View from the plane   On one of their final days in Vanuatu, the Vanuatuan’s…

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As we wind our “trip” to Vanuatu to a close, we must make another stop, this time to the 24 hour marketplace.   In Vanuatu, they grow most of their own food. Beautiful!   For baskets, they weave coconut leaves. You can also buy the leaves for various usages. One use is to wrap up their lunch. After they carefully place their lunch inside a coconut leaf, they wrap it up like a package and take a “string” which is from a (coconut??) leaf and tie it together.     I find this amazing and beautiful. The flowers that grow naturally in Vanuatu captured Zachary’s attention. Who can blame him?  They are beautiful.     These flowers were quite interesting. They just hung like this…

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B&B Hut in the South Pacific?  Sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? The hut that Zachary stayed in wasn’t called a B&B by the locals but Zachary tells me that’s essentially what it was. It is located near an active volcano. At one time somebody came and stayed there for a whole year while they studied the volcano. So, should you be intrigued enough to take a trip to an active volcano that has no guard rails to protect one from venturing too far, Vanuatu is the place to go. I’m sorry but I don’t know the exact name of the island, but if you’re interested contact me and I will get right on that. Sincerely, Me Solar panels that charge a car battery so you can have lights at…

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The real reason for the trip to Vanuatu was a youth camp that our pastor had been asked to preach at.  Every day they were there, even before the youth camp started, they had church services, and that’s where the real conversations on a personal level occurred. The pictures I am posting of Vanuatu are with a focus on showing you the land and people. Chickens could be found everywhere, running around freely. Sometimes they roosted in a tree near the hut they stayed at. Zachary was very glad when supper consisted of a rooster.  Cock-a-doodle-do!!!   The kitchens were a bit more primitive than what we have here in America. The Kitchen Sink Outdoor Pantry They are set up for tourists with huts for…

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Jesus loves the little children All the children of the world… Some of the precious children of Vanuatu Little children are some of Zachary’s favorite people.  I love the little ballerina pink dress this little girl is wearing.  She looks like a princess. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19:14 Repairing the Roads Road Construction Crew A community effort and it looks like they’re all having a good time. There was a b-i-g pothole (you can see in the picture that it’s full of water) and the islanders were filling it with a clayey type soil. The footwear in Vanuatu is simple.  Shoes or no shoes. Here both the…

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