11:29 am on Wednesday, June 28, 2006
The other day we went over to a friend’s house for supper. After we ate, the little boys enjoyed some fun in the swimming pool; especially when they found some frogs…..those poor things! Eman and Gabriel would put the frogs on their heads then jump into the water! As you can see in the pictures below, the boys look like they are having fun, but I’m not quite sure about the frogs. LOL!
Hmmm….some face!
Gabriel with his friend on his head.
Cheese! That is Gabriel’s million dollar smile.
Hey, where did they go?
Manuel’s frog hanging on for dear life!
10:12 am on Tuesday, June 27, 2006
When we were at our Grandmother’s house for Father’s Day I couldn’t resist taking these pictures. Her yard is full of beautiful flowers! She keeps it looking so nice!
Deep crimson roses!
Vibrant colors!
Isn’t this an unusual flower?
I loved this little yellow rose with the little droplets of water on its leaves.
10:25 am on Monday, June 26, 2006
A couple of weekends ago the Sanders Family went to visit our cousins the Booths, on Momma’s side of the family, in the Mountains of Georgia. They built a house there and moved in last fall. We hadn’t had a chance until now to see their beautiful place.
As you wind up their driveway you pass by a rippling stream that cascades over some rocks, then it flows down under a little bridge! How quaint! I wish I had taken a picture of it to post, but it would have been utterly impossible to lug my camera down with me when Anna and I went to explore in it. Well, anyway, we had a wonderful time visiting with family!
We arrived Friday afternoon and got a tour of their beautiful house! Oh, and the view from the kitchen is beautiful! As you are washing the dishes, you get to look out at the view down the mountainside and farther out you can see distant mountain peaks! Breathtaking!
With a family our size (10) and the Booths (13) you’re bound to have some excitement and fun! LOL! Friday night was filled with games that left you out of breath, mind-frazzled and laughing uncontrollably! Well, what is family for anyway? The Booths taught us a new game they call “tinker toys”. Then we settled for a slower pace game (or two) of four on the couch. It is a Sanders’ family favorite.
The sun came up bright and early Saturday morning assuring a clear and warm day ahead! We started off the day with some delicious pancakes and waffles for breakfast. They were topped off with some fresh wild blackberries that the younger ones had gone out and picked earlier that morning!! After the breakfast dishes were done Uncle Bobby led us in some daily devotions and Bible reading time!
The rest of the day was filled with many adventures such as canoeing in the lake, riding horses, eating watermelon, playing games, hiking up a mountain and many wonderful conversations! God is good!
10:25 am on Monday, June 26, 2006
Saturday morning we all (except Momma and Aunt Gina who stayed at the house to catch up with one another) walked down to the lake and went canoeing. I don’t know how many canoes we had, but it was enough that everyone could go out on the lake at the same time! I wish I had some pictures of us all out there! What fun! We had races across the lake and some even attempted to play tag! Daddy and John, who were in a canoe together, won the race. Some of us came out quite wet, but all unharmed!
The “feathermen”. They collected these feathers on an island in the lake.
Sarah bringing cool water to drink from the house!
Daddy and Uncle Bobby.
Ethan out by the lake.
Returning the canoes back to the barn.
10:23 am on Monday, June 26, 2006
After our canoeing we headed to the horse barn. The Booth’s own one horse, Summer. Then some friends of theirs who have their horses at the barn too, let us ride two of theirs, Josie and Blaze. The little ones took their turns first riding around outside the barn, then the older ones got to go out in the pasture and gallop around. Blaze hadn’t been ridden much, so when Paul got up on him, the horse reared and fell on top of Paul! There were gasps from the onlookers (especially his sisters), but thankfully he wasn’t seriously hurt. Paul got back up on Blaze (determined now not to let the horse get the better of him) and galloped him around like a pro in the pasture!
Look at Gracie!
Paul riding with Eman atop Josie.
Gabriel was as cute as could be! He wanted to ride all the horses!
Ethan and John riding around.
Wheeeeee!
Taking a rest in the shade.
There goes Rebekah in the lead, hair flying and all!
Miss Lydia!
Noah mounting up on Summer.
Noah flying through the pasture.
Andrew and Eman playing on the rocks.
A beautiful view of the pasture.
There goes our momma!
10:19 am on Monday, June 26, 2006
Traveling in style.
Going sightseeing. LOL!
10:18 am on Monday, June 26, 2006
Around 3:00pm we had a late lunch of hamburgers and hotdogs! Then later some of us decided to take an adventurous hike up the mountain. We couldn’t be gone too long because we needed to be back to pack up and leave. So we told them that we would hurry and try to be back in an hour. Well, we started off on our 5 mile hike with John as our guide and Sarah, Grace, Andrew, Ethan, Luke, Daniel and I following and Noah taking up the rear. For part of the way there were dirt roads, then it got into a steep upward climb as you held on from tree to tree ascending to the top and climbing over fallen trees. What fun! John said that there is usually some sort of path, but it is all overgrown right now. I really wanted to get some pictures of us as we climbed up the steep part, but I had to put my camera away because I needed the free hands. We tried to keep up a steady pace so that we would have some time to stay at the top before having to head back down again. I believe we made pretty good time!
Just starting off.
Noah and his “ark”!
Climbing, climbing, climbing…..
There were wild blackberries everywhere along the path! Mmm..
Stopping for a snack. Luke was our berry picker.
I loved the hardwood forest! It reminded me of our family property up in Michigan where we go camping.
Going along.
This is right before we turned off into the woods for our climb upwards where I had to put my camera away.
10:16 am on Monday, June 26, 2006
We finally made it to the top! There was a cross up there and we climbed up on it to see the breathtaking view. We stayed as long as we could taking it all in! Standing there up on the cross, looking out over God’s creation, you questioned how anyone could ever imagine that it just happened by chance! To God be the glory forever and ever!
As we were getting ready to make our descent down, we pondered how we managed to go on a five mile hike in June without water! We came to the conclusion that we weren’t going to make it back down without some. So, swallowing our pride, we went up to a gentleman who was grilling out his supper and Noah, being the oldest boy, said, “Sir, we’re sorry to bother you, but we forgot to bring some water and we were wondering if you could spare us some before we hike back down the mountain.” He was so nice and got us all paper cups with some water! We didn’t know how thirsty we were until we had quenched our thirst! We thanked the man graciously and were very refreshed. We made a fresh start down the mountain and made it back in half of an hour. It was a wonderful conclusion to finish off our weekend of fun.
The cross.
All getting up there to see the view.
It was a little hazy that evening, but you still could see pretty far!
John, our guide, who got us safely to the top!
Gracie and Andrew.
Noah and the beautiful mountains.
Hey, look at that!
Abbi on top.
The whole group except Sarah who took the picture.
John did a wonderful job of looking out for his sister on the hike!
Noah helping Grace down off the cross.
A verse on the base of the cross.
9:16 am on Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Don’t forget to vote today for Judge Roy Moore, Tom Parker, Alan Zeigler, Hank Fowler and Ben Hand!
1:35 pm on Monday, June 5, 2006
Hmmm….some face!
Gabriel with his friend on his head.
Cheese! That is Gabriel’s million dollar smile.
Hey, where did they go?
Manuel’s frog hanging on for dear life!
Looks like ya’ll had fun! Miss you!!!