Monday, July 27, 2009

Stop

Stop. Take a deep breath. Smile. Even giggle. Now don't you feel so much happier?

After a crazy weekend and a 7 mile bike ride this morning, and loads of laundry
to do afterward, this remedy popped into my tired mind, and what do you know...it worked! So I encourage you to try it, even if your life hasn't been hectic lately. Have a nice rest of the day, I know I will! :)

Jillian


"Happiness quite unshared
can scarcely be called happiness;
it has no taste." -
Charlotte Brontë



“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet,
simple things of life which are the real ones after all.”
- Laura Ingalls Wilder



"If monotony tries me, and I cannot stand drudgery:
if people fret me and the little things of life set me on
edge; if I make much of the trifles of life, then I know
nothing of Calvary's love." ~ Amy Carmichael


Proverbs 17:22
"A Joyful heart is good medicine
But a broken spirit dries up the bones."

Friday, July 24, 2009

Beauty of Creation

Today we walked along the Swan River Trail, right along the lovely river. The temperature was lovely and everything green and fresh from the rain of last night. God has made so many beautiful things in this world, not the least of which are my sisters, who I think very beautiful. I love you Laurel, Jillian, and Hayley


The dam in the background creates a lovely waterfall.


Lost in her own thoughts.


Taking in the scene.


My mother and aunt soaking in the sunshine.



I love our gate and path.



These are pictures of the storm clouds from last night, the blue is so rich and deep. We saw lots of sheet lightning and heard rolling thunder. It is fascinating to watch.


Clouds over the mountains.







Monday, July 13, 2009

A Delightful Saturday

Saturday morning, at the table, our family was finishing up breakfast when my dad suddenly brought up the subject of the "Dickens Train." We all had no inkling it even existed, and as he explained what it was to us, we all said we thought it sounded neat and didn't even give it a second thought (at least I didn't, anyway :) Then later that morning, Caitlin googled it and looked into it. After a little consideration, we decided to go that afternoon. Now, for those of you who don't know, the Dickens a Christmas Carol Train tour is a train, of course, that is taking a 40-city tour of the United States. It is a sort of "teaser" you might say, for the upcoming animated 3-D movie of 'A Christmas Carol" By Charles Dickens. I was disappointed that it was animated, but the train was loads of fun! So, here are some photos from that wonderful afternoon:

The outside of one of the train cars.

The line was pretty long, but the wait was worth it.


This is a picture in the costume car of Scrooge(animated)
next to one of his "Costumes".


Sorry you can't see this one better, there was a whole car with TVs
that were showing stills of the movie. This is what they called Scrooge's magic sitting room.

Some Christmas carolers in full costume came and sang for the
people waiting in line. They did wonderful!

There were several artifacts borrowed from the library in London
of some of Charles Dickens actual writings. Here are some others:





This dress and Mr.Fezziwigs costume and picture were a couple other
items in the costume room. I just love Mr.Fezziwig and all that he does.
He's my favorite character!

Some of the Clay models and figurines. They were pretty neat!







A model of the suits the actors wore to catch all their movements
and turn them into animation characters.

In the last car, posing at the Christmas table.

After that, we headed over to Rebecca Farm for an outdoor concert by
the Glacier Symphony. They played a lot of movie themes, which is neat
because I really like sound tracks:

This is only about half of all the people that were there.

The concert violinist doing his solo.

Some of the cellos. I wish I could play cello.

The violinists. At least I know how to play that!

They played the Pirates of the Caribbean theme and the conductor put
on this hat and wig and did a little jig. I thought it was quite funny!

The pond that we sat near at sunset.

They had what they called an instrument "petting zoo" and let anybody who wanted to try out the different instruments they had set up. I got to try the cello, which was neat, but I did not get to try anything else out. Hope you enjoyed this lengthy post.

Jillian


Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Fruits of Our Labor


Yesterday Jillian and I converted 12 or so lbs. of strawberries in 16 jars of strawberry jam. Thankfully it was not very hot yesterday and a cool breeze kept the kitchen a comfortable temperature. I really enjoy the whole process of canning. Through the winter we will be able to enjoy to the fruits of our labor. The pleasure of working in and with the Creation of God has a satisfaction that only can be shared by Christians.
It has been a wonderful crop so far this year and we know that everyone we have shared the strawberries with has enjoyed them. They keep getting sweeter!



From flowers on the bush...
... to sun-ripened fruit...


...to glistening ruby jam!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Flowers









Since I did not get around to emailing Ridge these photos for his contest, I decided to share them with you and hope you enjoyed Gods wonderful creation. I'll post soon about our Independence day doings!

Jillian

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Remembering.........

Gettysburg


I think it is important that we take the time to remember that great battle that was called by some "The turn of the Civil War". On July 1-3, they fought with everything they had, giving all their energy and strength for this battle. Anyway, just thought it would be a good reminder to everybody. I encourage you to gets books and films and remember our forefathers, it's always so intriguing to learn or relearn all that went on there. Also remembering.....

Independence Day




http://compuball.com/Inquisition/av/images/DeclarationIndep.jpg


Well, it's kind of hard to forget that one, but just to be patriotic, remembering the cost of our freedom, and what these brave and heroic men did. Ahhh, history.....


Jillian