The winter that never ends

Spring Fever

I don't remember such a cold, bitter winter...even back when I was a kid. It's simply been brutal. Three (3) times I saw -20 (give or take a degree)

February 16

Can't have a campfire...no problem.

Finally on the last shot of -20 the thermometer gave up...found it later in the snow.

I think I could just take 1 picture and then put several dates to it.

I was really intrigued with the flakes.

There is a promise in the Bible.

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." Genesis 8:22 (NIV)

So, sometime spring will come...maybe next week.

 

Step Right Up for the Carnival

Our 3rd annual carnival

Guest blog by Autumn (10)

(Editor's note: The neighborhood children created a carnival out of their own ingenuity. This year was their 3rd try at it and despite the weather it went quite well.)

2 years ago we children decided we wanted to do a carnival of our own. It has gotten bigger and bigger. Last year we had 15 this year we had over 20. Anyway, I thought I would share some stuff that we did.


Here is a very small part of us rushing around before the carnival.
We had a lot of stuff and not enough staff, so we were really rushing.

Party in full swing!

This is one of the booths: The Animal Balloon Stand

Here is the goldfish game. You got to flip over a card for every ticket. If you flipped over a card with a bug sticker on it you got a small prize, and if you got one with a goldfish sticker, you got a real goldfish. We ended up giving them all away.

                                                           Not sure what she's doing.

                                           Here is the food booth. We got an endless line and I had to bend over the                                                                                 whole time:(

                                       

Here is the sign for the booth. You guessed it. We ran out of popcorn. We had a little problem. The snow cones were not the fastest things to make so they had to wait for their order a while especially if they ordered corn dogs. We had to microwave them.

Here was one of our biggest hits: The Claw Machine

Is It My Day?

Your Day

It's very unfortunate that I missed taking a picture of the highlight of this bike ride. We found a snapping turtle along the path. My son had never seen one.

This evening I once again heard this question, "Is it my 'day'?"

Several years ago I started this ritual with my children where I would take each of them out for some individualized attention. This has got to be an eye-rolling, "Daddy-do-we-have-to-go" kind of thing, right? WRONG! Couldn't miss it if we wanted to. It's more like, "Daddy, is it my turn?"

I must confess that sometimes I am tired and I don't feel like going away 1 more night this week. Somehow I always come back with a little new insight into my child's life and that I never regret.

What do we do for the "special time"? We go for a bike rides, in poor weather, which is normal over the winter, we hit McDonalds for a hot chocolate or ice cream. For the younger ones, the swings at the park are perfect. I make a point of not spending much, if any. Sometimes the "special time" is a little lame like a shopping trip to Wal-Mart, but hey, they chatter to me all the way there and all the way back. Some of my children require me to bring up the topics and don't have as much to say, others...well I wish they would let me answer the last question before they ask the next one.

I have learned to keep my eyes open for something that might interest my children, for instance my oldest likes the Main Street Mercantile and the Tin Ceiling Gift Shoppe so one Saturday we went shopping. One time we happened by UPB and noticed the helicopter (ambulance) had landed. The security guard that was hanging around to make sure no one gets too close took us up to the chopper and my son got to see what they look like.

Yeah this was a while ago.

This one was from some time ago, too...2 years to be exact. It was just as fun then as it is today.

Don't know if this picture qualifies. This was with Grandpa
 to watch the fire trucks.

Oh and big brother was along too.

Got any ideas for me? Post them below.

No Regrets

Post by Remembering Jared Gehman.

Over the last 2 weeks I have been thinking about a statement made by a father of a young man who just died in a tragic accident.

When he learned Jared had died, Nelson's immediate response was to turn to Dorita and say: "We have no regrets. He was living life to serve the Lord."

What I am referring to is the story of Jared Gehman. This young man met an untimely end during a mission trip in Grenada. How can his Dad say this? Knowing this family I can definitely say this was not a flippant statement this is how they live life.

Having no regrets about life does not "just happen" it begins intentionally in the beginning. You certainly cannot plan the end of your life and I am sure if Jared or his family had any thoughts about the planning of Jared's life they certainly would not have planned it this way.

This week the children found a bird that fell out of its nest and they thought they would feed and care for it. But alas caring for a bird without its mother is not an easy task. Yesterday when I returned home from the office I found an ominous marker beside the lilac bush.

Um, so how do birds and Jared go together? Luke 12:6-7 says, "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings (pennies), and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." Jesus is giving a comparison of how important even a little bird is to God but people are way more valuable and so if God gives notice to a little bird then His notice of Jared is so much greater.

What am I trying to point out here? Our lives are extremely important to God and life is not something to be taken for granted, ever. When tragedy hits can I say as Nelson said, "We have no regrets..."?