Aaron and Lauren Mae

Laughter

My parents with Aunt Gertrude at the family reunion

Charlie

With Julie moving to Africa, I needed someone to eat the leftovers. So, I got a dog. 

A mystery

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV

Langs

 The Langs came over yesterday and we updated their family photo. Jimmy told about his parents recent photography session. His parents look great in their separate portraits but not together. I think that may be genetic (at least in the case of the youngest generation). 

Light

One of the few times when none of the bulbs is burned out.

So long...

My sister is leaving this morning for the first leg of her journey to Africa. I might cry all the way to work. 

Red

Problems

With Brian taking Calculus II and Physics, and Libby taking Trigonometry and Chemistry, there's no end to problems needing to be solved. 

Plant survey

 One, two...

 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten...

eleven, twelve, thirteen...

 fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four...

twenty-five...

twenty-six...

twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty.

Disturb us, Lord,

to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope and love.

Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrive safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of Heaven to dim.

Amen.

~Sir Francis Drake

'Shrooms

Blue

What sisters are for

What are sisters for, if not to fix your hair when it gets mussed up while you roll on the driveway after church?

Mandarin oranges

The grocery store had a sale on mandarin oranges recently. I wanted ten cans, but they only had seven left. I bought them all. 

Fall Cookie House

Most of our trees are evergreen, so I "borrowed" our neighbor's tree for this shot. 

Prayer tea

Our friends graciously hosted a prayer tea yesterday afternoon for Julie. Julie is preparing to leave for Africa in a few days. After we chatted, sipped tea and nibbled coffee cake, we prayed for God's protection, provision and guidance as Julie spends a year on the other side of the world.

Peace

like a river

Ready for winter

Bethany's birthday

I was invited to the Langs' "Little House" last Saturday to celebrate Bethany's 10th birthday. We ate whoopie pies, played games and made clothespin dolls.

Schedule

Another reason to be thankful for cell phones--the camera.

We have a complicated carpool schedule this semester. We switch vehicles, passengers and destinations throughout the week.

Here's a sample:

Tuesday morning I picked up Amanda Byler at her house and we drove to SVSU together (Amanda is overseeing nursing students in a simulated lab. Yes, her arm is in a sling. She just had surgery on her shoulder). 

A little later in the morning Brian and Libby met up with Caleb Byler and they rode together to Delta.

Then, in the early afternoon, after I finished teaching and office hours, I drove to Delta and picked up Libby. 

That evening after their classes finished, Brian and Caleb drove from Delta to SVSU to pick up Amanda and they all returned home.

Yesterday, the schedule was totally different.

In the morning I picked up Amanda, then I picked up Libby. We dropped Libby off at Delta, then Amanda and I continued to SVSU.

Later, Brian drove to Delta. After Libby finished classes she took Brian's car to drive to her babysitting job.

In the early afternoon, I picked up Amanda and drove to Delta to meet up with Brian. From there we dropped off Amanda, then I dropped off Brian. 

It's a crazy schedule--one which makes me grateful for cell phones. 

Laundry

Raindrops

Inspiration

I had an inspiration and dug out my old camera and charged its batteries. I'm cautious about taking my Canon Rebel near water, but since my Minolta has been gathering dust anyway, I decided I would risk kayaking down the river with it. 

It was a good decision, though I kept running into sandbars when I squinted through the viewfinder. The bald eagle which Betsy and I have seen twice failed to make an appearance and most of the trees were brown and yellow instead of red and orange. But still, it was beautiful and I enjoyed the trip even more since I was photographing the scenery.

Blessing

Throughout... Scripture the idea of blessing remains linked to the idea of flourishing toward an intended fullness. ~Gallagher and Hawthorne

Lazy T

Logan watches as the sparks fly from the campfire on Friday night.

Last week our church held for our annual campout at Lazy T Ranch. It was on the chilly side Friday night, but pleasant the next day for our canoe ride down the Pine River. 

Pumpkins

Request

Dealing with the insurance company regarding on-going medical bills resulting from the accident is creating much stress, anxiety and frustration in our lives. Please join us in praying that these issues would be quickly and easily resolved. 

Biking

This picture might not look impressive, but considering it was taken from the back of a moving tandem bicycle, I consider it a success. 

Bread

Color tour

 Another teacher and I took twenty international students on a color tour to Tawas last week. We stopped at the cheese factory on the way and ate lunch at a pizzeria overlooking Lake Huron. It was fun to introduce them to Michigan beauty but, I think the colors of the trees within three miles of my house are even more spectacular than those we saw on our tour.