A few months ago, just out of curiosity, I googled the distance from my new house to Valley Forge. I probably didn’t even know Valley Forge was in Pennsylvania, but I knew it was the site of the Revolutionary Army’s famous winter encampment of 1777-78. Much to my delight, I discovered that I live only an HOUR away! One hour!

My first thought was, “Awesome!” My second thought was, “Oh no, just how cold is this winter going to be?” because that winter of 1777 is infamous for being snow covered and freezing. I did not realize I was living quite that close to such a location.

The perfect opportunity came to drag my entire family over to Valley Forge just a week ago. They were a reluctant lot I am sorry to tell you, as they did not share my zeal for American history in the cold.

I am also sorry to report that I do not in fact live only an hour from Valley Forge. Either Google maps was wrong, or I remembered incorrectly, but the trip turned out to be more like an hour and a half. Ah well, it was a lovely trip through pretty countryside anyway. Maryland and Pennsylvania, once you leave the large cities, are beautiful states of rolling hills of farms with barns and silos.

It was cold and windy the day that we went, with snow from the last snowstorm still on the ground, which all added up to make it the perfect day to visit such a place.

We pulled into a large parking lot of the Valley Forge National Historic Park, bundled up tightly in our coats and gloves, and headed down a windy path to see General George Washington’s headquarters. I should also mention that right away we were all having a good time. My family can be strongly resistant to heading out on adventures that I want to take them on, but once they get there, they always have fun.

Valley Forge is a national park, and everything we saw was free. There is an official visitor’s center, but it was closed for construction until spring, so we did miss out on that.

You walk down this long, windy sidewalk ramp path to the large building at the bottom. At first, we thought that was Washington’s headquarters, but it is not. The first large building is actually the old Reading Railroad train station, and it has a plaque or two up about that.

Going places as a family is always amusing. I heard Alan command the boys, “Don’t throw snow. There are small children ahead.” I think someone who wasn’t listening still threw snow, which thankfully didn’t hit anyone. It was old, hard, and crunchy snow. Alan also had to say, I mean he truly had to say it because someone must have tasted it, “Don’t eat snow that is this old.” Sigh. The things we have to say!

Then we went inside the old train station, and it has several information stations about Washington’s winter at Valley Forge, complete with documentary/ reenactment videos. The boys watched the videos with a surprising level of interest. Although, at one point, John David did look up at me and ask, “Can we just go? I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Daniel, who is like our little general, he is so thoroughly interested in all things military and police, soaked this up like a sponge. He actually came home and asked to watch more YouTube videos about Valley Forge.

I read a plaque to the boys about Billy Lee, and John David waved it off saying, “Okay. I know,” to which I said, “No. You did not know that Billy Lee was the only slave that Washington freed.”

There was more information there than our troop had patience to take in, but we browsed it all, and then marched on to the actual headquarters.

One of the best things to me about the headquarters is that this is the actual building, not a reconstructed symbol, but the real deal. This house is around 250 years old, and by American standards, that is a rare find.

“…it is very certain that half the army is almost naked, in a great measure bare-footed.”

Johann de Kalb to Comte de Broglie, Valley Forge, Christmas Day 1777

The Huts

General Washington instructed all the men in his army to construct for themselves huts according to this exact pattern. They had to be uniform, and these were much nicer than tents for keeping out the cold. A whole forest was taken down to build these, and when the war was over, local farmers quickly deconstructed the little houses to use the wood, and the farm land became farm land again. Washington later visited the site and was pleased to see that it had not been permanently ruined but was once again usable for farming.

After this, we hiked back to our car. During the hike, my feet reminded me that I do still have plantar fasciitis and heel spurs. Oh well, you can’t keep a good man down, right?

We loaded up in the car and drove up an area that was either a seriously large hill or a mountain, but it was the center of where the regular soldiers camped that winter of 1777-78, and it was the extremely cold, shaded, unmelted snow side of the mountain too.

Driving Through the Entrenchments

I would say things like, “What mound? I mean, I don’t really see a mound, but whatever.”

Training for War

During that winter at Valley Forge, the men fought disease like small pox and shortages of clothes and food, but they also trained to become a better fighting Army. Washington brought in a man named Baron von Steuben to train his Army. Here is what von Steuben had to say about them, according to the Valley Forge historic park website:

the entire system of drill, evolutions, maneuvers, discipline, tactics, and Prussian formation into our Army. I should have been pelted had I attempted it, and should inevitably have failed. The genius of this nation is not in the least to be compared with that of the Prussians, Austrians, or French. You say to your soldier [in Europe], “Do this” and he doeth it; but [at Valley Forge] I am obliged to say, “This is the reason why you ought to do that,” and then he does it. 

— Baron von Steuben to Baron de Gaudy, 1787-88

Then we came to this one area that had a cannon and a pavilion with information, so we all got out there and checked it out. This one was highly visible. You could easily tell where the giant trenches had been dug. The soldiers dug all sorts of things, but most of it was restored to normalcy after the war. In this particular area, it was left alone.

This park would be a wonderful place to go walking, as it has miles of paths, well tended and paved, but we were not looking to make a whole day of it, so we mostly drove.

After seeing the cannons, we drove around to see a few more historical markers and then headed back home, with a nice stop for ice cream on the way, of course.

Want to learn more or plan a trip to Valley Forge for yourself? Click here to visit the official park website.

The post 46 Photos and Facts of Valley Forge National Historic Park appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Last week, while Amber was here visiting, we decided to spend a day in New York City. We made time for a couple of things while we were there, and the 9/11 Museum and Memorial was at the top of our lists. It did not disappoint.

Take the subway to the One World Trade Center stop, and it puts you out in this fantastic white building. It looks sort of like an ice-skating rink, but it’s just a subway stop. It felt so up high and overwhelming in there, I had a short-lived panic attack getting onto the escalator. Amber was all, “Oooo, let’s get on the glass elevator!”

“No,” I staunchly refused to get onto that elevator, which isn’t like me. I was all sorts of clammed up. New York City stresses me out anyway, plus I don’t love heights. I was frantically looking all around for quick exits, but there were none. All I knew was there was no way I was getting on a glass elevator. This place made me feel like I was falling, and I have no logical explanation for it, other than to say it was just an odd panic moment.

We arrived to the museum around 4pm, but that was okay because it is open until 8pm on weeknights and 9 pm on Friday and Saturday night. We were there on Saturday evening and hardly even had to wait in line.

Also, it’s worth mentioning, since many of my readers are military, that admission is free for active duty and retired U.S. military members, Of course, several 9/11 related groups such as 9/11 rescue workers and 9/11 family members also get free admission.

If you go on Tuesday evening, after 4 pm, EVERYONE is free.

Otherwise, general adult admission is $26, and it is worth it.

No plans to ever make it to New York City? No worries. I’m going to show you most of it right here.

When you first go in, you go through metal detectors and bag checks and proceed into a large hall with stairs and some steel remains of the twin towers. You immediately pass through a dark hallway with photo displays of people’s faces reacting to the scene of 9/11 taken on that day.

Most areas of the museum allow you to take pictures, but the most emotional, personal part of the museum does not. This is the section that has photographs of every single victim of that terrible day, and it has audio recordings of people talking about the victims as well as slideshows of some of their stories.

According to this CNN article, written in November 2019, 2,753 people died at the World Trade Center site in New York City on September 11, 2001. That is remarkable considering that this sign in the photo above reports that 50,000 people worked in the towers everyday. Those rescue workers, 403 of whom were part of the numbered casualties, did an incredible job of saving lives.

Victims ranged from age 2 to 85 years.

Every single one of us has a 9/11 story. It changed America. We all know exactly where we were when we first heard the news.

If you know me personally, or have read the blog long, you know Alan served in the War on Terrorism for 3 tours of duty overseas. One thing that burned me up the most was when Alan brought home a silver lighter the souvenir stands in Iraq were selling back in 2003 to celebrate what had happened to the U.S. on September 11. The lighter had a picture of the twin towers with a picture of the airplane on the flip-lid. When you flipped the lid, the towers lit up like they were on fire. Oh, and Osama bin Laden’s photo was on the box. Seeing this display glorying over what happened on that day was infuriating.

I couldn’t help but think about things like that and memories related to 9/11 as we toured the museum. It’s amazing how much you kind of forget.

You pass by this large wall with the blue tiles and the haunting quote several times, and you don’t think too much of it, and then boom. There’s this plaque that reads:

Wow. That took us by surprise. Suddenly, you look at the wall completely differently, in a whole new light of deep respect and awe.

Our Best People

What struck me most watching the ladder truck videos and seeing the walls of photos of the victims was just how many of them were rescue workers. So many of the people in the photos had on a fireman hat or a police uniform. They didn’t take just anyone from us. No, they took some of our very best people.

At the end of the museum, you walk through the area with these timelines on the wall and the final column mentioned in the photos above. The timeline doesn’t seem like an emotional thing to gaze at. That seems safe, but by this point in the tour you’ve already faced all of your memories of the event, all the victim stories, their photographs, and the firefighter video, and this was the tipping point for me.

I looked at the timeline, which stretched on to the present day, and I thought, “Yes. Yes. It DOES stretch on to the present day.” On September 11th, 2001, it never occurred to me that I would be directly impacted by the events of that day, other than the same fears everyone else felt back then of, “What will happen next? Where will they attack us next time?”

In 2001, I didn’t realize that a year later I’d be married to an Army lieutenant who was actively training to go join the war effort, a war that was precipitated by this day in history. Standing before this 9/11 timeline, I thought of all the deployments, of the soldiers who never came back, of the day my child ran to the wrong man at the airport because it’d been 15 months since he’d seen his daddy and he didn’t know which one he was.

There was no power to hold back the tears. I stood there and cried. Amber was dealing with these same emotions, I’m sure. Her husband also served overseas in this war. She came over and put an arm around me. And yet, I didn’t leave angry. I mean, yes, I was angry for a few minutes, but that’s not the overriding lesson or feeling of all of this. It isn’t, “Get mad. Look what these people did.”

The lesson is, “Look at how each world event shapes each one of us. How are you going to respond?”

It was sad. I cried at this museum, big ugly tears of dealing with a past I try not to think about. It must be 100 billion times harder for the families who lost loved ones.

But let us not forget why the sacrifices we made. We fought so that this would never happen again, and I am ever so proud of the small part that we got to play in supporting Alan in the War on Terrorism.

They could take away our buildings and even some of our best people, but they couldn’t take away who we are, a nation of good, God-fearing people. Do you remember the way we all pulled together in those days? All those prayer circles we had? I remember standing around Denny Chimes on the University of Alabama campus praying with people, many of whom had probably rarely prayed before, some Christians, some Jews, some just searching, but we all felt the same on that day. We were uncertain as all get out, but we were a determined and united people, and we turned to God for help.

America needed that capture, and I was thankful we didn’t have to drag through any court proceedings because he was dead on the spot, how it should’ve been, if you ask me. I also thought it was fitting they put this display at the end of the museum. We didn’t defeat all of the terrorists. Is that even possible? But we caught many, and we got the mastermind behind 9/11 that day when our special forces took down Osama bin Laden.

By the time we were through with the museum, Amber would probably agree, we were both emotionally, mentally, and physically shot. Also we were hungry. It was nearing 7, so a pretzel from a street vendor would just have to do because we had a bus to catch.

It had been an urgent matter to me to see the 9/11 Memorial (as in the fountains, not just the museum) earlier that day, but by the time we finished the museum I had totally forgotten about the memorial. We walked out the doors of the museum. Amber said, “Hmm, I wonder where the memorial part is though,” and I saw it, half of it. I was in front of Amber, and it was so close I almost could’ve tripped right into it. There was a ginormous water fountain with reflection pool, in a perfect square. The names of the victims are engraved around the fountain.

We gazed into the first fountain for a few minutes before realizing that actually there are two, one for each tower. They give the impression of two giant square holes, standing where the towers once stood. They aren’t as large as the towers, but they are in the exact locations.

I don’t know why staring into water is soothing, but this was yet another awe-inspiring reminder of that day, and it felt like a perfect way to close out our tour. It is all definitely worth visiting when you are in New York City.

I hope this answered many of your questions about the museum and memorial. A list below provides my sources of information for this article, in addition to the tour itself. You can click on those links to learn more.

September 11 Fast Facts, CNN.com, November 13, 2019, CNN editorial research

Memorial Pools Will Not Quite Fill Twin Footprints, NYTimes.com, December, 2005, David Dunlap

One World Trade Center, en.wikipedia.org

911 Memorial and Mususem, 911memorial.org

The post What to Expect at the 9/11 Museum and Memorial appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Look closely to see the olives!

After Nazareth, and before Capernaum, we headed over to Tabgha, to see where Jesus called his first disciples and later performed the miracle of feeding the multitudes with the one basket of bread and fish.

If only these flowers would fit in my suitcase…

Tabgha

This sign below provides a nice overview of what happened here:

I love the historical value here! They had these sites marked from as far back as the days of Jesus, and the mosaics I will show you today were created around 480 AD!!! Y’all! Wow! That’s so long ago!

History and the Bible

People often want to compare Christianity with science, which is baffling because Christianity is not science. Those are two different fields. I mean, yes, I believe God created the world because I look at creation, and I don’t think amazing things like life on earth just happen on their own. I guess in that way it’s related to science.

However, the actual study of the Bible and what happened in it is not a scientific topic. That is history. It is a historical account, and there is so much evidence to back up the existence of Jesus that whether or not he lived is not even debatable.

In fact, when you consider the humongous cloud of witnesses around the time that the Old and the New Testaments were written, it is nothing but strengthening to your faith.

Now whether or not Jesus was the son of God, that’s a matter of faith, so we could debate that,  but whether or not he walked among us, that is well documented history.

For more on that topic, see this post.

I regret not stopping longer to soak in just how much happened in this place! That’s the thing about touring. It is always a hustle to stay with the group, and having lost my group one time already (back in Jerusalem), I wasn’t in a hurry to lose them again.

an olive tree

The list of things that happened here is astounding. Holy ground.

This was our last day in Israel. I didn’t want to leave!!!

Below the altar is the rock where Jesus divided the loaves.

site of the miracle of the loaves and fish–Look at the mosaics in front of the rock. You see the fish? These were created in 480 AD!!

I don’t recall if that front right part of the tile that is colored differently was damaged or if that was a mosaic map. I think it’s a map.

As you can see, only portions of this amazing floor survived the test of time.

Some of it has been repaired and restored over the years, but you would not believe how much of this is ORIGINAL!

My mouth hung wide open when he was telling us about this!

From the letters and the types of birds, archaeologists determined that Egyptians created them.

Do you know what this is!!??? Squeeeeaaaaal!!!

That is the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus walked on the water, where Jesus taught from a boat, where the disciples fished!

On my next Israel post, I will show you more of the Sea of Galilee and we’ll go into Capernaum. It was our favorite part of the whole trip. I cannot wait to share it with you.

Here are a few more photos, and a few quotes from the famous Sermon on the Mount, preached near Tabgha.

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons^[a] of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.         Matthew 5:1-11

It really was the trip of a lifetime! For more Israel photos/stories, see below! To read the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, go here.

Can’t get enough Israel? Click here to snag my book about the whole trip, with over 180 full color photos and stories.

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The post 22 Inspiring Photos of Ancient Tabgha, Where Jesus Performed Miracles appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Jerusalem Tour Part 1: The Mount of Olives and Old Jerusalem

Day one of our Jerusalem tour took us from the Mount of Olives down into Old Jerusalem. We walked through the Jewish Quarter, saw ancient ruins from Roman roads, and wove around to the Upper Room where Jesus had the Last Supper. I’m going to show you all of it.

Psalm 122:3-5 

When you step out of the tour van onto Mt. Olivet, it looks like the photo below. Standing there on the Mount of Olives, you can see an incredible view of the sprawling city of Jerusalem:

There was so much I did not get to see, because Jerusalem is huge, and you cannot see it all in one day.

Thankfully, our tour’s very first stop was on the Mount of Olives.

I stepped out of our little bus and breathed in the holy air. Wow! Jerusalem! The Mount of Olives! Wow! This is where Jesus hung out! He came HERE to pray. I think this was his quiet, sanity place.

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.⁴⁰ On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁴¹ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.⁴⁴ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.^a]                                                       

Luke 22:39-44

Would you like to see the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed that blood-sweating prayer?

They built this Church of all Nations in the midst of it, which makes it much easier to locate.

If you look in the very front of this picture, and also to the right of the church, you can see the olive trees and stones. This is the Garden of Gethsemane, located on the Mount of Olives.

When I took this photo, I was just snapping. I had no idea what I was photographing, except I knew I wanted these beautiful churches. Later I went online and did my research to find the garden.

The oldest trees in the garden are much larger than the ones in the photo above. That’s only a sliver of it.

By the way, they built the church on THE ROCK they believe Jesus knelt on to pray.

This is the REAL Garden of Gethsemane. According to this article, among many others, they proved this through research. These olive trees planted here are the oldest in the world. Most of the trees are not quite old enough to date back to Jesus. However, they were all carefully grown from the same tree. They discovered this using DNA research. The caretakers preserved a lineage of trees that was there when Jesus was.

Some sources report that there are 3,000 year-old trees in that grove that are not much more than stumps now, but still, pretty amazing.

I would have loved to have walked through that garden, but alas, it was not on the standard tour.

4In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east;and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

Zechariah 14:4

The Bible tells us that in the end times the Messiah, Jesus, will return to Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives.

Jesus wept and lamented the future, “set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side . . . crush you to the ground . . . and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognise the time of your visitation from God.” (Luke 19:37-44)

Not 40 years later, that prophecy was fulfilled. The Romans burned the temple and destroyed Jerusalem.

Jesus wasn’t the only one to weep on the Mount of Olives.

David also went up the mountain weeping with his followers in 2 Samuel 15:30.

DaddyO did some research for me. It turns out this church is Church of Dormition.

I went into this whole thing expecting a moving, spiritual experience.

The thing was that there were lots of distractions. We had an excellent tour guide to listen to and pictures to take. Plus, you are pouring sweat in June, and you must stay with the group. Therefore, pausing for reflection or prayer? That didn’t happen much, I am sorry to tell you.

We all piled back into our bus, made a stop by a souvenir shop, and then headed on over to Old Jerusalem.

Our group was a hodgepodge of folks from Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, and the States. Who knows where all we were from? Thankfully, everyone seemed to understand English.

There is also a Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. They say it is similar to this one. I bet in Israel it is even more powerful.

It was actually awesome to be in the Holy Land on the Sabbath day.

In Hebrew, it is not “sabbath”, it is “shabbat.”

Shabbat is not just a nod to the law of Moses, either. They take this thing seriously. Everywhere you went, everyone would joyfully greet each other with, “Shabbat shalom!”

Shabbat is their day of rest, which is important, because they work hard the other 6 days of the week. On Shabbat, they do no work at all, according to their tradition, not even to push a button.

Therefore, there was always one elevator in “shabbat mode”, which means that it automatically stops at all the floors.

We entered Jerusalem through the Zion gate. Our first stop was King David’s Tomb and the Upper Room, where Jesus and his disciples had the last supper.

And here is the part that surprised us: the upper room is above David’s tomb.

My jaw dropped open when she told us that.

David’s tomb has rules. Men visit it on one side, women on the other, not together.

Remember, Jerusalem has been sacked many times over the years, so these are not the same buildings as the ones standing during Bible times. You see these beautiful buildings? They were built by the Crusaders around 1099.

People were leaning everywhere, praying, in groups and out loud in the Upper Room.

It was so noisy, I could not carry a thought in my head. Our tour guide couldn’t either, and she chased them all out.  Yep. The whole incident reminded me of Jesus chasing the money changers out of the temple, only she didn’t turn over any tables, and these people were only praying, though they were terribly noisy.

Our tour guide had a name that sounded like Molly. She was a former officer in the Israeli Army, and she was quite likable. Molly was sharp and quick, with an answer for any question about the Holy Land, past or present. She knew her stuff.

Notice my wardrobe.

If you are touring holy sites, be sure you have your knees and shoulders covered. It’s a matter of respect, but also rules. They give you a shaw if your shoulders are uncovered. If you are showing too much leg, they provide you with a long skirt thing.

In Jerusalem, the only place we went that was strict about it was the Wailing Wall. In Capernaum, only the monastery said anything to women with bare shoulders.

The Upper Room and Surrounding Buildings, to Include the Dormition Abbey:

“This is Dormition Abbey, so called because it is the site where Our Lady “fell asleep”. In the basement is a beautiful mosaic mural of her sitting, before her death, surrounded by the apostles in prayer. Oral Tradition has it that they did that for nine days which is the basis of the modern day novena prayer.”

That is fascinating. I wish I could have visited the basement of this monastery.

Also, this white tile is so prevalent because it occurs naturally in Israel.

Therefore, they are able to build large cities with all matching buildings. It has a lovely effect.

This was so exciting! We don’t have buildings in America that are that old! You can even arrange a tour to go through these tunnels that run under Jerusalem to see way more of the ancient ruins.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!! On the next post, we’ll see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. If you want to read all about our trip to Israel, be sure to check out my ebook of the whole story, for sale on Amazon.

Shalom!

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The post 47 Beautiful Photos of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives to the Upper Room of the Last Supper appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

The beach is my favorite place to go in the summer, but it can be expensive and dangerous for a family full of pale skinned people. This year we actually managed to take a thrifty trip to Miramar Beach without getting sun-burned!

Alan and I are always dreaming up fun things to do together as a family, and our efforts are often met with …….resistence.

One of our fellas actually lamented, “I don’t want to go to the beach. I just want to stay home and hang out at the house.”

Sigh. Well, perhaps we were hasty in taking a beach trip the very second that school let out, but that’s life. Children are still at the mercy of the parents’ summer schedules. We are at the mercy of their’s the rest of the year.

When I was a child, I would have never said, “I don’t want to go to the beach!” I don’t think I ever did go to the beach until I was around 13 years old, and it was something I was exceedingly grateful for.

That just goes to show that the more accustomed to wonderful things that a person is, the less we appreciate those wonderful things.

John David was not the beach-resistor. He couldn’t wait to go, but once he got there he was soon disenchanted and ready to head to the pool.

Have no fear. The moment the reluctant boy sat foot on the beach, he never complained again. In fact, Alan took all the other boys to the pool after an hour, while I stayed at the beach with Joshua until I began to worry about our sun protection.

Look closely to see a small boy in a yellow shirt, stealing a float from an older brother. He made the snatch, and he fled the scene. Joshua and I sat and laughed.

To be fair, it wasn’t stealing exactly. We share the floats. He decided it was his turn. Caleb, who was using it as a basketball net, but was pausing to fetch his ball, didn’t notice until JD was safely on the opposite side of the pool.

I was extra careful about sunscreen this year, and it paid off. I brought 0 sun-burned people home from the beach. Hallelujah! 5/6 of us are as fair as fair can be. This was an accomplishment.

My sunscreen strategy was simple.

1. Try to keep everyone indoors between 11am and 4pm.
2. Re-apply every 1.5 hours.
3. Wear a cover-up as much as possible.
4. I wore a seriously ugly hat, and so did Alan.
5. Put swim shirts on the kids.

Egypt wasn’t built in a day, so we settled for the Sphinx and a pyramid.

WWII airplanes flew over in honor of Memorial Day.

Thrifty, thrifty, thrifty

Our other big objective this year was to spend as little money as possible on the vacation. I think that’s always been a goal for Alan, but in the past I secretly didn’t care. This year I cared just as much as Alan.

Our thrifty strategy was also simple.

1. Our condo was free. Alan’s grandparents let us stay at their place, and that’s why our family has gotten to go to the beach so frequently over the years. (Gigantic thank you to Alan’s grands!!!)
2. Only eat out once/day, and that will be a lunch.
3. Buy enough groceries to have plenty of snacks and easy to assemble meals so that no one will even ask to eat out. Success!
4. The condo has a pool. The beach is right across the street, so there is no need to pay for any other activities.
5. Rent a Redbox movie instead of going to the theatre. (Remember, we have to hide from the sun for several hours/day.)

Joshua and Daniel were all about the net fishing. They caught quite a few tiny fish and crabs.

Would you like our meal ideas that made this possible? It was so simple it’s almost embarrassing to list them.

Breakfast

cereal, eggs, and Pop-tarts

Since they are normally not allowed Pop-tarts, this is a humongous treat. I was curious if pop-tarts were any better than donuts, so I looked it up……They aren’t better, just different.

By the way: 1 Krispy Kreme glazed donut = 22g carbohydrates and 11g fat

1 Blueberry Pop Tart = 38 g carbohydrates and 5g fat

Cocoa Pebbles cereal =  25g carbohydrates and 1g fat

Eggs                    = 0.6 g carbs and 5 g fat

……Sooooo that’s why we don’t normally do pop-tarts. One of my boys gets crazy hyper from all that sugar. At least with the cereal, they get the protein from the milk to help my conscience. There’s no way I’m COOKING 3 times/day. Breakfast has to be easy.

Eggs are the clear winner, but not all of us can eat the eggs. I have a son with an egg allergy. Sad, right?

This one is allergic to nothing, and he likes his eggs dyed green and served with sausage.

Lunches and Dinners

Micro-wavable hamburgers. We are sort of fanatical about these because they are delicious, they are real, and they are brain dead easy to make quickly.

We also served egg sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, yogurt, and hot dogs while we there. It was only a 3 night vacation.

Next year maybe we’ll do a no-eating out at all policy because that would have saved us another $90, believe it or not. $90 was how much we spent on the groceries for the whole weekend, and yet that’s what it costs to take our family to a restaurant, other than fast food.

And by the way, it was a free of incident beach year too! There were no ER visit, no jelly fish stings, no rain days, and no sunburn. Ah, yeah. We fall more in love with Destin every year.

I’m 1/2 daredevil like Caleb.

I used to swim to the sand bar, and I CANNOT go to the beach without getting drenched from head to toe. It’s not possible. I don’t know how you do it. Moana was right. It DOES call you.

…..but I’m now 1/2 skiddish. I’ve been stung by jellyfish a few times, and y’all, that HURTS. Plus, I see fish and shadows, and I start to panic. Ah, if only I could have stayed young and dumb.

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

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I guess you know which stocking is mine.

This might have been the easiest Christmas in 14 years of April and Alan family Christmases. We only had to travel two hours, and we woke up on Christmas morning IN OUR OWN HOUSE. Have you ever??? I mean, we had almost never!! Do you do this? Do other people do this every year??  It was so nice!

I mean have you read my other Christmas stories???

Our Nightmare Before Christmas

The Funeral, Christmas Trip

New Years in San Francisco

Well, I’m happy to tell you this is NOT one of those stories. We did go and see our families, but we were able to do all of that and still be at our own house on Christmas morning.

Around 7 or so a.m., we heard Boy #1 begin talking to Boy #2. They simply chatted calmly in bed. Some of the boys woke up the other boys. I don’t remember who got up first, but a miracle happened…..

No one came and jumped on us…..

They gathered themselves in the living room, just the four of them in the living room to patiently wait for their parents to get up.

Whaaa???? We were so pleased with all this that we didn’t make them wait. We went ahead and joined them.

I love watching my children open their presents. Christmas is a whole other level of special for children. When is it that we lose that? Let’s get that back.

Yes, he’s actually CLAPPING. He’s so excited. There were a few To: Caleb and Daniel presents this year. They may look ages apart, but it’s actually only a 3 year gap. Some kids are tall. Some kids are shorter.

SO HAPPY

Be sure to see the 50 second JD video on Facebook, and share in the excitement.

We all went to church together. It was nice, though nothing topped the Christmas Eve service.

Christmas Eve service

There was something about the meaning in lighting these candles and taking communion with so many fellow believers that made Christmas more real to me this year. We sang Silent Night, and I wanted this moment to never end.

Too quickly, we were all headed back to our houses when so often I just want to curl up at the altar and soak it all in…

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”       Luke 2:10-12

…But it was back to Christmas as usual, and I can’t help but wonder. Are we entering a new phase of our lives?  There simply isn’t a BABY anymore. JD is 3 1/2 now. No one is a baby. Life is c-a-l-m-i-n-g down. No one wore a diaper, no one carried a sippy cup, and no one got out of their seat. No one even colored on himself.

Wow.

I think I might cry!

No one was sick this Christmas either. JD caught a cold, accompanied by a very pink eye, but even that ended in two days.

OH, and guess what! Once Christmas day was over, Alan took my minivan to the shop, and I now have a clean minivan, with a heater that heats, and a functioning defroster! Somebody get this man a trophy!!

I feel like we just had the perfect Christmas. I can safely say that because Christmas is fully over. Saying Christmas was perfect can’t possibly jinx it now.

Of course, I did find one baby to hold.

Ah, sparkling pretty lights. I may never take my Christmas tree down. Plus, I’m hoping Alan will do it for me. Hmmm…I wonder if Alan is hoping that I will do it. I seriously don’t even want it taken down. Let’s just leave it up until next Christmas!

Hallelujah! And may we never forget what it’s all about. This is an incredible excerpt from the Passion of the Christ. You do have to click the link to YouTube to watch, but it’s so worth it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDm-myjQgdM

Wishing you all a blessed 2017! May your kids behave. May your rain be snow, and may all your prayers be answered.

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”        Luke 2:13-14

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Fishin’ With DaddyO

These weekends were just as beautiful as the photos appear. Alan took our youngest two boys and went camping with DaddyO in Alabama. They fished, they cleaned the fish, they ate the fish, they learned about the importance of gun safety while shooting cans, and they got to sleep in a tent. It looks so good, it almost makes me wish I had gone too.

But then I remind myself that I don’t touch worms, I don’t clean fish, I don’t sleep on the ground, I don’t like being cold, and I don’t do well with bugs, and then I’m okay with my decision to pass on the camping.

A successful day of fishing! The boys are still talking about this.

Look at all those leaves!

After living on the California coast for two years, we have a fresh new appreciation for fall foliage. I can’t get enough of it!

happiest moment ever

Pick-up trucks are an essential part of a Southern campout.

I know. It almost makes me nervous too. But if you knew Alan, you’d know how good this actually is. I guarantee you those two little boys now no more about the danger of guns and gun safety and the purpose of guns than most adults do. Alan is such a thorough teacher. He is an amazing dad.

Pioneer Dad

Daniel shows off the target afterwards.

You see why Alan and Daniel called this “the man trip.”

You should’ve heard Daniel talking about this trip the day before. “We are going on a MAN trip. We’re going to do MAN stuff.  MAN stuff!” Can’t you just hear Tim the Toolman Taylor saying “far ra rar ruff!”

The big boys missed out on the camping trip. However, they all went with Alan to Providence Canyon State Park last weekend while I got a desperately needed day off! Here are a few photos from that!

They took turns being statues. I think Daniel was the Statue of Liberty.

“They said they would rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than President of the United States forever.” ― Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving. I want to tell you how thankful I am to be starting to feel settled in my new home. It’s been four months now, and the depression that came with moving has passed. I have a modicum of energy again, and I cannot tell you just how much I am enjoying these incredible fall colors.

I’m sitting here staring out the window. The trees in front of me are orange and red, mixed in with pine green.

It reminds me that if I am thankful for fall, then I must be thankful for change. No matter how we resist it, it is simply one of the seasons. We know it’s coming. Look for the beauty. If every change were as beautiful as autumn, that wouldn’t be so hard.

These recent changes in my life actually are a thing of wonder. The boys are growing. Our family is closer. I’m doing a little outside work for the first time in 11 years!! The places and faces I see everyday are new, but they will soon be familiar.

“It was November–the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines. Anne roamed through the pineland alleys in the park and, as she said, let that great sweeping wind blow the fogs out of her soul.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

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