Last Camping Adventure of 2014!

I heard that our pleasant Fall weather is about to come to an abrupt halt in a few days. Something about Polar Vortex, frigid temperatures or something?! I am choosing to ignore these warnings, and to keep my head in the sand, er, leaves. 

One way of denying what is coming, is to relive a bit of our Fall adventures, like our Thanksgiving camping. We have been camping at this time of year for at least 14 years. At first we camped on our own, with friends visiting etc. but they never stayed. Until we started camping with Jenn and Jay. They went with us once, and that was it. They were hooked.

And so for the last 9 years, Jenn and I eagerly pick out our campsites (always being too late to pick out the two we want....you'd think we'd have this down pat by now. Maybe next year?!) and plan the menus. And every year it has been so. much. fun. How we love this family like crazy and thankful for each of them!! So what better way than to spend of all weekends with them on Thanksgiving weekend.

9 years ago, there were 4 adults and 4 kids. We are now at 4 adults and 8 kids (Owen has a friend that has come with the last 3 years and looks to be hooked as well). Yup. Loads of fun! Here, I am sure the pictures will prove it. Between the biking, the playgrounds and fun at the campsite, so many memories were made:

We go to this park every year, and the last few years, Keziah collects acorns and puts them all in this hole in the tree "for the chipmunk, Mom."

Keziah finally conquered her fear, and climbed up and over this apparatus:

Any guesses as to what is going on in *these* pictures?! :o) Hint, we are across the road from each other....one site is electrical. One is not.

Yearly badminton duels. We forgot the net but no matter. I knew there was a reason why we take so much rope with us camping. And yes, making very clear boundaries is also imperative.

Mmmmmm! Pie iron pizzas over the fire!!!

Someone was quite mesmerized by the fire.

Enjoying a yummy Thanksgiving meal altogether. So many blessings in and around this table.

The weather was fantastic. Cool but sunny....

 ...until Monday morning, in which we woke up to rain. That's why we bought a large trailer!! So we all have somewhere to go! With space for the kids to have their own game, and adults have theirs, we are nicely spread out while we wait for the rain to end.

So glad all those shoes were outside of our trailer - can you even imagine the stench if they were also in the trailer?!!?

And that's a wrap of our camping adventures for 2014! We haven't dared to try winter camping yet - have you?! Once the kids are older, we will have to give it a try.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend (my Canadian friends) or will have one in a week or two (my American friends). I have no idea when other countries celebrate (or even if they do) Thanksgiving, but I wish you all many thanksgiving days, giving thanks to our Heavenly Father, the Giver of so many undeserved gifts.

Before and After!

And you thought I forgot about this newly established theme. Pfffft. Nope, haven't forgotten at all! Life, like everyone else's, just seemed to have picked up speed, which means blogging kind of takes a backseat. But life is good!! It is full. It is adventurous. It is fun.

Blogging for me is a night time activity, done in peace and quiet where I can put my thoughts down. However, my nights have been quite full with meetings etc. My days are definitely quieter than my nights, but I do not like to blog when my littles are up. It requires too much thought and concentration for me and so to be interrupted just would not go over well. Hence, the nighttime blogging.

But here I am! I have a night free AND I feel like blogging. I have some catching up to do (i.e. Thanksgiving camping etc.) but I start tonight with a BEFORE and AFTER.

I took these pictures back in September, but I thought I'd better share them before it gets too cold out there, 'cause who knows, maybe they will inspire you to get this task done while it is still do-able, weatherwise.

This task, like many "cleaning" tasks, had been in the back of my mind for pretty much, well, all summer. There just always seemed to be an excuse to *not* do it. And for the most part, it never really bothered me that it wasn't being done. Until I had to share this space with someone else. Then it was embarrassing and I would 'promise' myself that I will do it before the next weekend. I did that for 12 weeks. And then finally buckled down and got it done.

So what am I talking about?

The Car.

That's right - taking out the vacuum cleaner, dust cloth and a pail of hot soapy water to finally, finally clean that car of ours. And it wasn't that bad of a task to do - especially when you have such a willing helper!

Thankfully, we do not do a lot of eating in the car, so there really weren't a lot of crumbs to deal with. And I didn't have to use my fingernail to peel off any old pieces of candy, smarties or once-soggy fishy crackers from the carpet. We also didn't find any stale bread crusts or chewy french fries under the seats from 6 months ago. But don't worry. We found lots of dust!!

Yup. To clean the car was definitely way overdue! And so, away we went, scrubbing, dusting, and vacuuming everything (and despite what the pictures may show, I did do my part as well ;)

Within the hour, we were left with a sparkling and pleasant-smelling car!

I can see how fast I am going now.....I can no longer use the dust as an excuse: "No, sorry, officer, I did not know I was speeding. Let me just blow the dust off my speedometer for a minute....."

And now I know which way to turn the dial to get some heat!

So, why did it take me all summer to do this?! Who knows, but it sure was nice to no longer be embarrassed in the church parking lot, knowing that so many were passing my car and could see in, thanks to the lack of tint on my windows.

It felt good to get it done, even if it only lasted 3 days. The sand vacuumed up from the summer has since been replaced by leaves.

But I challenge you to get this task done, if you haven't already, before it is just too cold to haul out the vacuum cleaner and a pail of hot steamy water that will only stay hot and steamy for 2.5 minutes. Go. Get it DONE!!! And while it may not stay clean, enjoy checking this off your to-do list before the snow flies. :o)

From the Archives

It is nearing the end of October, with this coming weekend welcoming November. Eek! Last week I had to scrape the car as it had a good layer of frost on the windows. And while driving down the road, it looked like snow in some spots. It's coming, it's coming!!!

But before Winter comes and all that comes with it, we have Fall yet and need to finish up October.

The last day of October is Halloween - at least here in North America. There are many countries in the world who do not "celebrate this holiday." Holiday??! Who am I kidding? However, by the decorations that are being put up, the displays in the store and the giddiness of everyone around us, one would think that is most certainly *is* a holiday.

Two years ago, I, the Halloween Grinch, wrote a little piece on my blog about Halloween. Two years later, my line of thinking is still the same, and so I thought I'd repost it. I don't know who my "readership" is, and maybe it hasn't changed in two years, and so you've read it already. But in case it has changed and there are one or two new readers, and you are one of them, this may interest you. Or not.

So, here it is: Why We Don't Participate in Halloween

While most look forward to October 31st, we can't *wait* for the days following, when we may buy candy at half the price it was, as well as stock up our dress-up box!  See? We can have fun, too! ;)

Colours of Fall

The season of Autumn is in full-swing here. The colours are vibrant, the nights are frosty and yet we've been spoiled with some warm temperatures during the day.

Keziah has not been able to go to school the last two weeks due to her surgery (which I am sure you read about on her blog), but due to her feeling so good, we decided to take advantage of some free time and go for some hikes.

Enjoy the pictures, knowing and praising God for showing off His marvellous creativity and might, as He displays this through the changing of the seasons.

After our hike, Keziah came back with quite the red tongue :o)

God, Please Continue to Keep Our Land Glorious and Free

It sure has been quite a week here in Canada, particularly in a city that is 5 hours from where we live. I am sure most, if not all, of you have heard of the events that have transpired around our government buildings on Wednesday. It definitely has made us sad yet alert and thankful once again for the men and women that serve in our military. May we continue to pray for all those who serve this beautiful country that we live in. To read a bit more, here is a link

However, our prayers don't stop there. We also pray for these radicals, the men and women who are so lost in their way that they feel the strong need to take not only others' lives, but also their own. What is so sad about all this is, while what happened in Ottawa is tragic, events like this happen daily in other countries! May these countries remain in our prayers, as well as the leaders that are in positions of authority. We pray for the terrorist groups as well, the many that are around the world who feel they are above and beyond the law. May they see that although they are convinced that they have control and are on top, there is still One higher than they. And that is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Psalm 2 New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 2

¹ Why do the nations conspire^[a]
    and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
⁶ “I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

⁷ I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
⁸ Ask me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You will break them with a rod of iron^[b];
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

¹⁰ Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.
¹² Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

 

(Nathan just called me half an hour ago - he happened to be on an overpass on the way to a conference, and stopped as he noticed the processional of Nathan Cirillo's body was passing by. Too hard to describe in words, he said, but man, are we both proud to be Canadians. Here are some photos of the processional)

Made it!! And Some Camping Pictures

It's over!! No longer are we a family of 7, but we are now a family of 4 again. Phew - I am tired!!!! But it went well. Actually, it went well for everyone but Lincoln. He had a tough time this last week, sharing his space, his toys, his sister, his mom, his everything. While he had some enjoyable moments with his cousins, I believe he is thankful for things to return to normal.

Before we head out for our next camping trip, I still have our last one to post about! I know, rough life, eh?! Getting behind in camping pictures blog posts.....;)

A few weeks ago, we were in for a beautiful and warm weekend, so off we went, not far from home, to enjoy some family time. Little did we know that everyone else wanted to spend time with us as well! Strangers even!

While our site was open, and trailers were all around us, the plus of our site was that we had lots of picnic tables to use!

Keziah felt the need to build a bear trap.... (and no, there are no bears here. Catching neighbours was probably a lot higher of a chance. Note, that is not Nathan's truck but from "next door"... :o)

But I do believe we didn't have the worst site at this park......this one takes the cake. Yes, that's a stoplight you see. A stoplight for a very busy road. Hmmmm. So peaceful. Not.

But this park definitely had some very beautiful spots to explore and experience, like some old ruins (a wedding was set up) and caves, where the kids looked for King Saul and David :o) :

 I always knew this boy was strong!!! But didn't know he could hold up such a heavy rock!)

Even though the weather was so warm, we didn't go swimming. Would you?!



Enjoying some time at our campsite.

The picture of roasting marshmellows is so typical: Keziah's is 3 feet above the fire as she doesn't want it burnt, and Lincoln's is in the dirt. Sigh. I love these kids so much and how they are so different from each other!

We came home from church on Sunday to a very empty campground. We were pretty much the only ones left that stayed till Monday!! It was *so* nice!!

Overall, while it was not quite what we were expecting, we are thankful to have had a weekend to spend time outdoors, taking in our awesome Creator's works with the colours He has on display.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we would like to wish you all a blessed and thank-filled weekend. Just knowing what God has done for us gives us reason for thanks. All glory, thanks and honour to Him!