A Team Effort

We're back from another family camping trip!!

We LOVE camping! It's a great way to spend time together as a family.


Camping is a family tradition that my own family had growing up. We spent at least one whole week out of every summer camping on the shores of Seventh Lake, located just outside Inlet, NY. The very special part of camping on Seventh Lake is that the state owned sites are boat (or hiking) accessible only. There are no roads leading in... no modern restrooms... no electricity... only two pit toilets located near the 2 sites with lean-to's (meaning you dig your own hole if you camp at any of the other sites)... it's truly CAMPING!!

I have the BEST memories from those family camping trips. It's one of my favorite places to be and someday I hope to take my girls there too.

But after our 3 day camping trip to Raccoon Lake, here in Indiana, something important has occurred to me. Camping is truly a TEAM EFFORT!!! That's the only way that I can imagine my mother ever got us there with all the necessary supplies for survival. We always had enough food & drinks for the week. We always had the right clothes. We always had toilet paper... ALWAYS!!!

And when I consider the preparations, the planning, the packing and foresight that mom had to have, I am in awe of her skills! (There were no Walmarts nearby folks!) While Mom & Dad always held to the motto that "we are a team" and Chad & I were always given tasks to pitch in on the work, I realize now that Chad & I didn't carry the "heavy end" of that load. NO indeed!

We were able to go on those wonderful family camping trips because Mom and Dad were... and are... a TEAM. They are a beautiful example of marriage. They work TOGETHER. They each SHARE the load. Mom worked hard to prepare for camping. And Dad didn't come home from his day job, plop down on the couch and expect her to wait on him... nope. He pitched in too. They WORKED TOGETHER. There was never his and hers - never! Not in jobs and not in possessions. It will always be OURS in their book.

And so we went camping this week and worked TOGETHER as a family. We drove in to our camp site and used the modern restrooms nearby (not quite the same as my ideal camping trip to Seventh Lake) but... We did the work TOGETHER and then we played TOGETHER.


Today is Mom & Dad's 38th wedding anniversary. And today I am so very thankful for my parents and their wonderful example to Chad & I then... and to us, our spouses and children now.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Mom & Dad! We LOVE YOU TONS!!!




P.S. I would be remiss not to wish my mother and father-in-law a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY also. Today they celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

(... some day I'll tell you readers about my good-man-Charlie-Brown's & my weird number thing ;) )

Rockin'!!

Last night we took the girls to a ROCK Concert!

We drove an hour with our tailgate down on the truck... never losing a single chair. We purchased seats on the lawn of the Verizon Music Center and thought we came prepared. Security informed us that chairs only 9" or smaller (think beach chair) were allowed. So we prepared ourselves to just enjoy the lawn. We paid a pretty penny to see this concert and were not to be deterred by the possibility of rain nor the prospect of grass stain.

We found a decent spot on the lawn and settled in. Another security officer appeared and hollered in my ear (it was a ROCK concert folks... think LOUD!) that we could move forward into the seats up to a certain mark. Hesitate?? NO WAY! We promptly found a great spot in the seats!


Even Bluebird & Ducky came along (they got in free you know!!! Flew in, I'm told!)



What a blast! It was four and a half hours of great Christian rock bands!

Jars of Clay!


R.Randolph and The Family Band!

We'd never actually heard of this band before but completely enjoyed them. Amazingly talented! We even came home with their newest cd!

They were followed by Switchfoot.

Crazy, wild but completely passionate!

Switchfoot fans... name that song... ;)


The girls were in to it!! Rockin!



And last, the band that drew us to this awesome gathering....

THIRD DAY!



But the really COOL thing..
...really awesome thing...
....the thing that the wagging fingers don't understand (they're too busy wagging those critical fingertips)...

WORSHIP!!


There was prayer!

There was fellowship!

There was sharing... a message!

There was Worship!

Hymns even (with electric guitars, drums, singing & dancing)...

But the most important thing was ... the presence of the LORD! All else paled to His Presence.

No boundary lines drawn by denominations or theology or doctrine
Rather a gathering of people with a common love for Jesus, Lord of my heart,...King of Glory!

It was ROCKIN'!!!!



P.S. I've never seen a crowd that size exit a packed... PACKED parking lot in such a civilized manner. I pray the Lord's Glory seeped out of that place last night! :)

Going under water

Hair-tied-in-knots showed me her process for going under water.

This is the breathing preparation.

And now you hold your breath like this...

And I think this is sighting the point of entry....

And then you get in there quick before you run out of air and have to start all over....


And when you're done you pose for mom so her heart fills with mommy-love-and-pride.


::big grin::

Not to be out done!

My little Westie boy begged to be in the spotlight again!

He loves to pretend he's a "show dog".

And he also loves to watch "Animal Planet" when he stays at Gram & GDude's house!

It's NOT My Fault!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Meet Mr. Banks!


He'll be climbing aboard our trailer tomorrow morning and coming home to be doted on & loved by our girls!

What happened to the week?

Here we are... it's Friday and I feel like someone hit a fast forward button on my week. Did I miss a few days? I'm pretty sure I did.

Monday morning started with our farrier, David. The horses were mostly well-behaved for him. Mr. MaGee always has to test to see where the limits are. It's become more subtle than when he was a yearling. Now as a four year old, he is more devious about it. But David feels it all. MaGoof shifts his weight around in an apparent attempt to test David's weight limit. When he attempts to put most of his 1000 pounds in David's hands, David scolds him and he straightens up for a few minutes- gives acting a try while portraying an innocent angel pony-- then finds a new way to test the limits of David's strength. It's never overtly naughty... rather like he's messing around.

Of course, David's not so innocent. He's gotten me into trouble this week! .... more on that in a minute.

Tuesday was semi busy. A trip to town to review kitchen designs for the house we're currently renovating. Ugh! You gotta love the way designer creativity adds to the bill. In this case, the creativity was going to add over $1000 to the overall bill. We decided the creativity -while creative- was not practical. Scratch the creative and stick to the practical -- go for quality.

Wednesday morning I awoke to swollen hands, knees & feet topped off with red, itchy blotches and painful joints. This is not new for me. I've probably had this happen half a dozen times since high school. And yes... I have seen a doctor for it several times. It's always the same answer... "we don't know", "you must be allergic to something. Think about what you ate", "take some Benedryl". I go home, take some benedryl and slip into a coma for the next 12 hours. I'm a freak of nature. Who knows? But I suspect my missing week has to do with this mystery relapse and benedryl. I've eaten nothing out of the ordinary and haven't done anything that I don't do in my daily living. Why the sudden flare up? No clue! I'm a freak!

I am better today and ready to get in trouble. I'm blaming it on David, our farrier! As you may know, we have 4 horses... one of those being a miniature stallion. When the 4 of us ride, we have 3 horses to ride. Do the math! We're short a mount. So David "innocently" inquired whether I might be looking for another pony. LOL I haven't been actively shopping but I have been watching. I figured that taking my time would allow the right pony to come along. So, of course, I could only answer, "actually... yes, I've been looking". Well! You guessed it! David knew of a very nice pony that one of his other clients has for sale. (Jason thanks you David!!! LOL)

Finding a horse that fits your needs and is known by someone you trust is always a valuable thing. And even better... your farrier who handles the horse/pony regularly. So this afternoon we'll be meeting this pony. He sounds like a gem... a been there, done that gentleman who is well rounded and versatile.

::giggle::

I'll keep you posted... and maybe even have pictures to share later!



P.S. Hair-tied-in-knots told us Wednesday that she had her outfit all picked out for when she gets to meet the pony! She very promptly put on said outfit as soon as she was out of bed this morning. Riding breeches & a "horsey" t-shirt! ::more giggling::