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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Saying goodbye to everyone after a great week, and leaving camp for the last time (it’ll be a new location next year), we were all in a state of contentment as we headed for Michigan to a friend’s high school graduation party when about 30 minutes later, we were stranded on the side of the road…  I’m still not sure what part went out – the idler arm pulley??  (I have been informed by my husband that there is no such thing as an idler arm pulley. However, he never did tell me what was the problem!) That ended up being a 2 1/2 hour stop.   Because of the storm and loss of electricity, the Auto Zone was closed and the closest town with the…

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There are so many facets to camp that it can be hard to express what it means to me. I love seeing old friends (people I’ve known since I was a teenager) meeting new ones and seeing my little ones excited to go because they so enjoy all the activities geared just for them. They even have their own church services (it’s geared to ages 10-14 but Justus at age 9 understands, too). Camps are a wonderful opportunity to set aside the cares of life and put your focus on the Lord.  And when you turn your heart towards God, He never disappoints.  This year was such a blessing to me but even more important, the kids who came to camp were filled, renewed, blessed and are committed to running and…

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At the youth camp there was always a lot going on. Volleyball, Basketball, Choir Practice, Sewing, Girls Only Talks on Modesty, Boys Only Talks, Campfire with Testimonies on 2 nights (one night it was just TOO HOT for a fire, so we stood around a fire pit that had wood minus the fire.  That worked, too. ) I didn’t get pictures of all these things but here are some of the other activities that went on. Plenty to do for all ages, that’s for sure! I love seeing Justus and Audrey’s enthusiasm when they are planning to go to an activity. They are very aware of the time and they make sure they get where they’re supposed to be at the right time. One afternoon there was a…

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After our trip to British Columbia, you would think it was time to stay at home. But no, after 10 days we were back on the road again heading for a youth camp in Ohio. I was so looking forward to it. I love to stay at home but I also like to travel and this is one place I really enjoy going to each year. After 40 hours of driving (not counting the 1 night in a hotel), we arrived at camp. It’s was a happy reunion - seeing old friends and meeting up with family members. The picture just above this of the 3 little girls is a favorite of mine. I volunteer in the Snack Shack and have a blast doing it. The kids are continually coming there for something and these little…

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We were able to see plenty of wildlife while in Canada. Deer, elk, bear, big horn sheep & mountain goat. I think that’s more then we ever saw when we visited Yellowstone quite a few years ago. In the top right picture, the one big horn sheeps’ head is cocked to the side because one horn has been broken off.  He could not hold his head straight and walk, it always leaned to the side.The bears were loving the dandelions that grew by the side of the road (all those yellow flowers are dandelions).  We are thinking that the brown bear we saw was a grizzly.  It’s strange that you think you could identify something so simple as that, but when faced with it out in the…

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Well, howdy, howdy. How has everyone been doing?  I took another blogging break because this time we took a trip to Ohio to a youth camp. …and we had a marvelous time. But that’s for another time.  I still want to finish posting about our trip to British Columbia, so I better get started, right. At the end of my last post, I told you we were going to visit a family, who we really didn’t know very well, but after our visit I feel like my family has grown.  Isn’t that the way it is when you’re part of the family of God? The dad is a retired park ranger and of course, a lover of the outdoors.  They took us one day to their…

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After our rainy night in a tent, the all the boys woke up and took a hike. We girls stayed behind in our somewhat, questionably dry tent to await their return.  Of course, it started to rain. I have mentioned that it rained a lot while we were in Canada, haven’t I? They hiked to Johnston Canyon Falls.   35 second video showing the amount of water that’s coming down the falls all day. It totally amazes me how it just keeps going and going. Another short video of Johnston Canyon Falls from a different angle, put to music.   A bit damp… and I’m not sure what’s going on with Wesley’s shirt.   That night we went to a family’s house that we kinda/sorta knew (we’ve even had 2…

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After leaving Vancouver, we headed for the gorgeous Canadian Rockies. Being from dry Arizona, it was amazing to see water everywhere.  Rivers, water flowing along the ditches of the road in many areas, coming down off the mountain in a waterfall. There was so much water that it got to a point where everyone almost quit looking when you said waterfall. Glaciers, snow capped mountains like this one.  And of course, there were the clouds. It was usually raining or threatening to rain.  The clouds were interesting to me; I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many low ones. There would be little solitary wisps of clouds suspended quite low.   Driving along, in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere pretty much means anywhere in Canada that is…

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I feel like I’m right on the edge of boring everyone to death with my trip posts. Hopefully you’ll be able to bear about 3 more posts on the subject. I wish I were like some who can take their trips and integrate them with sage advice or who can inspire others by their life’s experiences, but it’s just not happening for me, folks.  All you get are the facts with a little bit of photos added in to hopefully make it a bit more interesting. On with it! We only spent 2 days with Eric and Kylie but it was time to move along to Murphy & Tracy’s and partake of their warm hospitality. Once again, we were blessed by the love and hospitality we…

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More trip photos! I hope you’re not too tired of hearing about it just yet. After 4 days of travelling we arrived in British Columbia, Canada which was our intended destination from the beginning. We spent the day with this couple who gave so generously of their time to us and who shared with us many wonderful stories & testimonies of God’s amazing grace & power. After our time with this delightful couple, we headed for our host’s home. We would be staying with two special families that we had met when they had visited us here in Arizona. Eric & Kylie have been to visit several times and they really wanted to show us a good time for the 2 days we would be there with them.  The…

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