• Spending Time with Grandpa & Grandma

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    Brina and Karlie with my parents!

    My parents stayed at our house the second half of their trip to SC.  The girls were excited that Grandpa and Grandma were going to church with them on Sunday.  In our rush to get out the door we did manage to snap a quick photo before heading off to church though.

    After church we headed over to my brothers house for lunch and some time to play before Dad and Mom had to head out for the airport.  It was a super fun weekend.  We are thankful for some time to spend with my parents.  The girls have wonderful memories with their grandparents.   The weekend went by too quickly, but grateful for the time together.

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    Uncle Lee, Grandpa Russell and the four kids setting up the Thomas train track.  They had a lot of help, but it was super neat to watch once they were done!

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    Grandma Penny building legos and playing with the kids.

  • Welcoming the Kids Home from Camp

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    Brina and Karlie are back from a weekend at church camp!

    We were excited that the girls had the opportunity to go to church camp.  They had a blast and learned a lot during their weekend away!  Thankful for a great learning experience with friends from church.  Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures from their actual time at camp even though they took cameras.  They said they were too busy having fun and going to all the activities to remember taking pictures.  So the pictures of their camp experience consistent of these “welcome home” pictures.  We surprised them with walking balloon animals.  When we asked them what one activity they wanted to do together as a family they picked go swimming in the pool!  It was great having them back home again!

     Camp, Swimming Pool, Ladybug, and Dog Balloons

    We had a little surprise for the girls when they arrived back in the van!

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    Brina was so excited about her walking ladybug surprise.

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    The girls one request for a special activity the day they got back was for all of us to swim in the pool.  Brina loves lounging on the seesaw.

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    Playing on the water seesaw!

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    Brina Bee having fun in the pool!

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    Splashing around in the pool.

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    Karlie walking her dog balloon!

  • Vacation: The Beautiful Island of Dominica (Part 2, Pictures)

    We recently had the opportunity to go to the Caribbean Island of Dominica.

    Here are some of the pictures from our adventures throughout that day!

     

    Jeremy & Amber wanted us to take a picture of them behind the bars at the end of the port, ha! Too funny!

    Per their request we took a picture of Jerm and Amber reaching through the bars on the end of the pier.  It was a pretty funny sight to see as we were walking down the pier, they crack me up.  If you notice to the left you’ll see the barb wire on the outside of the bars.  Always an adventure.

    One of Dominica's oldest and biggest churches!

    Dominica had several beautiful churches on their island.  This one was the oldest and largest.  It had a lot neat flowers around, an iron fence with crosses on top along with several other neat features.

    Local school girls blowing us kisses, super cute!

    Dominica is well known for their schools, some of the surrounding islands will send students to Dominica to study.  All the kids wear school uniforms to school.  Above is a group of girls from school blowing us kisses as we drove by.  Cute kids!

    This was a huge tree in the park! You can actually walk through the vines inside the tree!

    Above is a large tree we saw in the park.  The tree was so big you could walk through part of the tree at the openings.  We noticed a lot of neat trees during our time in Dominica.

    This large tree dropped onto a school bus (and flatten it) during a hurricane. Thankfully, no one was injured!

    A few years ago during a hurricane this tree fell onto the parked school bus.  Thankfully the kids were in a safe shelter during the storm not riding on the bus.

    A house made out of trees and vines, the black spot is the door opening to the house!

    In the middle of a park they had a “tree house” literally.  It was a spot with a lot of dense trees and vines that they made into a hut.  It was pretty neat.  The black hole in the middle is the doorway.  If you are looking to have an “on the ground” tree house this is a great idea, no more falling out of the tree house!

    Volcanic lava rock along the hiking trail in Dominica!

    A large volcanic rock on a railing as we were hiking through the rain forest.  Dominica has active volcanoes although it has been many years since an eruption on the island.  Thankfully!

    An orange fresh water land crab right next to our hiking trail!

    I honestly did not know that there were fresh water land crabs!  We saw a couple on our hike but this guy was pretty courageous, he came right out in front of us.  He didn’t run and hide when he saw us either, he just moved to the side.   I would say he was about a 4 inch land crab which from the couple we saw was pretty big.

    Dominica's rain forest had a lot of huge beautiful trees, vines, and flowers.

    There were parts of the rain forest that was more dense.  Here is one area that we could see up to the clouds.  The line across the middle is a vine, the vines were so think you could swing from them and everywhere.  They had amazing foliage, trees, flowers, ferns, plants, etc….and everything was big due to all the rain they receive.

    One of the Trafalgar waterfalls in Dominica!

    One of the Trafalgar waterfalls at the end of our part of the hike.  You could actually bring your swimsuit and towels up to go swimming at the pool at the bottom of the waterfall.  It was gorgeous!

    Another waterfall in Dominica!

    This is the second waterfall, they call the two falls “twin waterfalls” because they come out of the mountain almost side by side.  There is only a little bit of greenery from the rain forest and lava rock between the two waterfalls.

    Crew at waterfall in Dominica!

    Here is our crew that went on this excursion.  We had fun hiking, looking at the amazing creation, and learning a lot of interesting facts about the Dominica rain forest.

    Trafalgar Falls

    A picture of the twin falls.  It was  hard to get a good angle to take a picture of the falls and it was raining.  The picture is pretty but the look, sound and everything was even more amazing.

    Rain forest in Dominica!

    Greenery in the rain forest.  There were a lot of beautiful plants and greenery on our hike.

    Fresh fruit in bloom in the rain forest of Dominica!

    It was not uncommon to see fresh fruit hanging from the trees in the rain forest and all over the island.  Some of the fruits I recognized while others I did not.

    Dominica Sulphur Springs bubbling!

    The sulphur springs hike was pretty quick and we didn’t spend a lot of time hanging out once we arrived.  If you don’t know anything about Sulphur Springs then you will be surprised by the smell.  It was neat to watch it bubbling for a few minutes but we were glad to get away from the stinky smell it creates.

    Sugar cane field in Dominica!

    On the way back down from our hike to the Sulphur Springs we noticed several sugar cane patches.  This patch had been picked and some of the stocks were laying down in the water.

    Sulfur Springs in Dominica!

    Here is a picture of the water from the Sulphur Springs running through the island.  It was a beautiful sight with the springs bubbling down through all the rain forest greenery.

    Dominica coast line!

    Dominica had a clean coast line.  This location had a sidewalk next to the road with some green grass and palm trees.  It was close to the port as you can see from the cargo crates in the background.

    Village in Dominica!

    Here is a picture of one of the villages on Dominica.  This one was built into the mountain where other villages closer to the heart of the rain forest were actually built in the valleys due to all the rain.

    Fishing boats off the coastline.

    Dominica has a lot of private and family fisherman.  The small boats in the picture above go out daily and catch fish and seafood right off the coast.  The ones not on the water are placed under a tin roof as shown in the picture above.

    Interesting sign at the beach!

    There were several signs on Dominica (and other islands) that made me laugh.  In case you cannot read it says “Management is not responsible for drugs sold to visitors. – by Vendors  They are not part of management.”  I think they maybe had some problems with this issue in the past.  Kind of sad they have to put out a big sign.

    Amber and Jeremy at beach.

    Amber and Jeremy swimming at Mero Beach in Dominica!  Amber, Jeremy, Jake and I swim for a couple hours while Mom and Dad relaxed on the beach.  It was fun hanging out, swimming, and relaxing for a little bit.  Although Amber never did get her dreadlocks done.

    Beautiful Mero Beach!

    We stopped at Mero Beach for a couple hours to relax and swim after we took our hikes to the waterfalls, rain forest, and Sulphur springs.  The water wasn’t as turquoise as some of the other islands because of all the volcanic rock and black sand beaches.  The was a little less salty here due to the all the rain forest water that dilutes the salt in the ocean.

    Dad and Mom at the beach in Dominica!

    Dad and Mom relaxing on the  beach under the shade of the palm trees while we went for a swim.

    Beautiful beach at Dominica!

    It is hard to see from the picture but Dominica had beautiful black sandy beaches.  The sand really sparkled in the sunlight.  It was neat to see and I had a couple cups worth of sand still on me when we got back on the ship, seriously, ask Jake, Amber or my room attendant!     I had a little stash of black sand that came out of my sandals once I made it back to our room!!!  I had a lot fun exploring Dominica, it is a beautiful island!

    A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • Song: “Healing Begins” Tenth Avenue North

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFUHrXfuNU4

    It is easy to put walls up around us when we are going through a trial.  The tough times are when God is molding and stretching us.  Just because someone looks like they have it all together, doesn’t mean everything’s perfect, God knows our hearts.   Having the support and prayers of family, friends, and church body makes an eternal impact on our lives.  Do you have family and friends praying for you?  Are your walls coming down?

  • Recipe: Homemade Naan Bread

    We brought dinner to a couple church events this week and decided to do an Indian theme.  We had Biryani, Rice, and Naan but couldn’t find Samosa’s since our favorite Indian store had closed two weeks ago (owners retired).

    Here is a great homemade Naan recipe my cousin shared with me.  We love eating it  with Indian food or plain.

    • 1 – .25 oz package active dry yeast
    • 1 cup warm water
    • 1/4 cup white sugar
    • 3 tablespoons milk
    • 1 egg, beaten
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 4 1/2 cups bread flour (you can use either white or whole wheat)
    • 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
    • 1/4 cup melted butter
    1. Dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand about 10 minutes.
    2. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough.
    3. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface.
    4. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth, then set aside. (Let dough rise for 1 hour, it should double in volume).
    5. Punch down dough and knead in garlic (if you chose to use it).
    6. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball.  Roll into ball shapes and place on a tray then cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).
    7. While dough is rising the 2nd time, preheat grill to high heat.  (you can use a griddle if you prefer too).
    8. Roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle and lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes (or until puffy and lightly browned).
    9. Brush uncooked side with butter and flip over. Brush cooked side with butter and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes.
    10. Remove from grill and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

    Serve the Naan with an Indian dish or really any other meal.   A light bread with great flavor.  It is similar to a pita for those who have not tried Naan.  Enjoy!