Hills Alive 2008

Last weekend was the big Hills Alive free summer music festival. I did go for a few hours each day. The weather was nice, in 80's, not like most previous years at 110 degrees. There were thunderstorms around but they split and went around the festival.
It was huge! Over 20.000 people for almost every Christian band or speaker. This picture is from Greg Laurie giving a wonderful message of Gods love and forgiveness.
Other groups were Mandisa, Brandon Heath, Tree 63, Toby Mac and many more.

You can see the big stage, even had a big screen up this year so those far away could see. I know they didn't have any problem hearing, LOT'S of big power full speakers!
Many blue balloons were released, one for each child that was sponsored for Mission of Mercy.

This is in our big city park, many stand up close to the front but most bring their lawn chairs, blankets and even awnings , coolers with water and snacks etc.
It is amazing how many people come. They have 4 big stages with different groups, bands, speakers and the Kids stage had a lot of fun things going on. Even a Christian illusionist.

There was also many Merchandise and food Vendors. One was called the Manna Hut.
There was soda, Ice cream, hot dogs and much more. A lot of free Christian flyer's and merchandise was given out. We hope that some who just came out of curiosity had the opportunity to learn of Our Great Loving Saviour.

Favorite Places (My Cat)

We have a 15 yr old cat. Can you spot him at one of his favorite places?

Up high where he can watch the world. I think it makes him feel big and important.

Oh No! He spotted me and now he needs to beg for food, attention or a treat!

He also likes to catch the early morning sun rays by laying on top the roof of our house.

He loves to lay on our patio chair half under our patio table.

The front step to the south side of our house is another favorite spot.
Now he is upset, "there she is with that camera again, can't I rest in peace?"
Unfortunately, he doesn't always stay in our yard.
I am always amazed to see him walk the top of our chain link fence. He dose a very good job! Especially for being 15 yrs old.

See, I told you, that cat has some other favorite places besides in our yard.

He loves laying in tall grass!
He loves to roll in the tall cool grass.
He can look so Innocent and sweet!
Here he is sitting on the banister of our patio. He dose this mostly at night.
And for some reason, he loves to lay under the Christmas tree like he is one special gift.

He also loves to be on my lap but only when he thinks it's his idea. He is a very independent cat. His name is Sammy Silas, named by our youngest daughter when she brought him home as a orphan kitten over 15 years ago.

My Favorite Places

I thought I would share some of My favorite places with everyone. Top of the list is Worshiping at Church. What a joy and freedom it is to worship, learn the true word of God and receive His Body and Blood through Holy Communion. It is wonderful to know our church family Loves the Lord and each other.


Another favorite place is spending time with family, especially when it is celebrating a new grandchild's baptism. We enjoy many fun times together, even if we live miles apart we make the most of the time we are together.

I love spending time on the farm visiting my parents. They also live miles away so we need to make the most of our time. It's a special thought when we think of spending eternity in Heaven together, FOREVER and EVER!

This is beautiful Roughlock falls. I have always loved this area

since the first time I visited Spearfish Canyon.

The Canyon has gorgeous high rock walls and curvy roads with lots of pine and other trees. They are very colorful in fall and attract many sight seer's.
I also love walking paths through tall trees. Another favorite place is on our boat fishing. It is so peaceful and quiet.

The lakes are so beautiful.
Sun sets and sun rises are also a favorite for me. I think of the wonder of Gods marvelous creation. The sun He created rises and gives us light and His Son Jesus rose from the grave to declare victory for all who believe. He is also the light of the world!
Take time to think of some of your favorites and even share them in a comment.

You won't want to miss my next post, it will include some of my CAT'S Favorite places!

IT"S SOMEONES BIRTHDAY!

It's a big man with a big fish!
He's a hard worker, Here he is volunteering at their church. He loves the Lord and is always willing to give of His time and talent's. He is the head of the family and makes sure they all know what is priority, That is GOD FIRST!
He helps a lot at home. He is a loving family man!
Here he is with the kindest smile!

Here he is with the hardest laugh!
He is a tall man and even looks taller when walking with his young son. Someday his son's may be just as tall as he is!
Gentle , loving and proud to be a father of 4 and only 80 days untill #5!

All dressed up for church and with his two lovely daughters.
Since it is July 14th, I thought you might need to cool off a bit and look at this big snow man he helped his children to make.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
You are a great dad, wonderful husband and a living example of Gods love.
Happy, blessed birthday! We love you very much and always will!

The Blow-Out

A little over a week ago I was working out in our back yard when all at once I was startled by a loud BOOM! WOW! It sounded like something had blown up. My Husband even heard it in the house and came out to look around. I wondered if it had been something in the garage or maybe in our old "GRISWALD" van camper. After looking around for a while, we didn't see a thing that could have caused that loud explosion noise.
Back to our old van camper. It is small but really convenient for fishing and small camp outs. It looks nicer on the inside then on the outside. Oak cabinets.
This is from the front to the back. There is stove, sink, fridge, bathroom, couch that changes into a bed and a lot of other neat fetchers. .
This picture is towards the front of the van. Lots of storage and you can see the microwave toward the upper left.

BACK TO THE LOUD BOOM! A few days latter my husband discovered this sight! You guessed it, the spare tire on the back of the Griswald camper had blown up. We had a blow-out and we weren't even driving!
It looks bad doesn't it?
I can definitely tell how that would make such a loud BOOM sound.
Here it is on the back of the camper. We have since replaced all four tires on the camper and have a much newer, better shape spare tire. We are ready to travel!

I wish you all a safe summer with no blow outs!

Music in the Park

For many years now,every Wednesday during the summer months, our city has Music in the Park. You can see how popular and well attended this is. The band shell is in a beautiful park and close to our Civic Center. If you look toward the right, you can see part of the new addition to our Civic Center. It will be huge but cut down on the parking area.

It is put on by our city Municipal Band, with different directors taking part. It is a 1 hour concert, from 8 pm - 9 pm. There are boy scout troops who sell cookies, popcorn, and bottled water.
The sun was just going down as the concert started.
People of all ages come to these concerts. This older couple in front of us were so cute holding hands and keeping time with the music like they were reminiscing many evenings on the dance floor to the same great music.
Our city has two main High Schools. The couple who were singing [Some Enchanted Evening] just retired from the schools. He was the band director at one High School and She was director at the other. They are very talented people and we are blessed to have them as entertainers.
This was the last song. They always end with America The Beautiful. I think that is very fitting, what a perfect 70 degree quiet still evening.

SUGAR PEAS

These are my tall Sugar Peas. They are up to my eyes so that is almost 5 ft tall.

Can you see the peas? Finally , there they are! Just as sweet and tender as the seed package said they would be.

You can see how thick they are. It seems the more you look, the more you find!
I picked a good 3 or 4 cup's of sugar peas today. We will eat half for a meal and I might freeze the rest for a fresh meal in winter or maybe for stir fry! With the high price of vegetables, I figure if I can freeze even 10 meals of different Vegetables, it will save us quite a bit. Well maybe $20 or so. It doesn't sound like much compared to a tank of gas!

Knee High

A saying that I have heard my parents and others say since before I can remember is "KNEE HIGH BY THE 4TH OF JULY". They were talking about the corn. I guess that was a measurement that meant the corn was doing either "GREAT" or "POOR" Well hear is a picture taken just a few minutes ago and I guess our corn is looking "GOOD"
Better then my knees anyway! So anyway, " A HAPPY BLESSED 4TH OF JULY TO YOU ALL"!
So you remember about 11 months ago we were building our North 6" wide deck!

When my husband finished putting the old maple hardwood flooring on, I found out some old, couple colors pored together, oil stain and put it on the deck to get us through winter. And that it did very nicely.
Now it was time to purchase good oil stain and re-stain the deck. I also stained the glider bench and the wood rocker. I did this on July 1st.

Then yesterday the 3rd, I put a fresh coat of the same oil stain on our larger west patio.

Today or this morning I stained the 2 benches on the patio and our German wood keg. We found this keg about 22 years ago when we first moved to Omaha NE. We retrieved it from a deep creek area. It really didn't mean that much but we used it on our cement patio as a small table. When we received orders to Germany, we put the keg and other items in storage until we returned 3 years later. That is when we noticed the name and also recognized the name ZWEIBRUCKEN on the keg. This was a small village not far at all from where we had spent 3 years in Germany. How amazing that God would give us our German souvenir even before we knew we were going there. How all knowing and powerful. I have been trying to find a verse n the Bible that says something like "I know the plans I have for you" says the Lord your God. I can't find it so if anyone can, please let me know. There are many many Psalms that reassure us of His power,knowledge and the truth. I will share a part of my favorite PS. 139. O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
I just thought I would share a few more flowers and garden scenes.

This is the corner of our garden pond. It is quite small but I love it.
This is what we call snake grass. My mother has some. It looks a lot like grass so you have to be very careful when pulling grass from your garden. I always remember about 32 years ago when my mother has been in the hospital for a long time recuperating from a bad pickup accident. My father wanted everything to look extra special and nice for her when she returned home and not knowing, he pulled up or off the snake grass plants just on the North side of their house. My mother noticed , but out of love , she never said a word to my father about the plant. It came back extra thick and today I have some of it at my home.
It blooms very pretty and in clumps of blossoms.
This is a Potentilla plant. these flowers are tiny, about size of a nickle.
This is a different Potentilla plant or bush and these bright yellow flowers are much bigger, about like a 50 cent piece. If you can remember what size they are, you rarely see the half dollar anymore.

The Lettuce spinner

Have you ever seen or used a lettuce spinner? I hadn't even heard of one until I saw my daughter use hers. It worked great. To be honest with you, I was not even aware they made such a thing.

Well, this is what it looks like. Now I have my own.

I received it as a gift from my daughter.

The inside comes out so you can easily wash the lettuce, then you put it in the outside container.
Make sure the cover is on right, lining up the holes that you see by my hand. Hang on tight by the finger marks and turn the crank with the right hand.
Wallah! The lettuce is spun dry, fluffed up and ready to eat or bag for friends. This year has been such a good year for lettuce, I have certainly used this kitchen tool and don't know what I would do without it. I have given several bags of fresh lettuce to friends and neighbors. If you notice below, you can see this has been a good year for radish. Most years are too hot and dry. This year has been cool and lots of needed moisture.

I like to pick some of the onions while they are young and tender. Even the greens are great cut up in the lettuce salad. My favorite dressing for fresh leaf lettuce is one my grandmother and mom used to make. It is very simple and also good on cucumbers.

1/2 cup of cream

3 table spoons vinegar

3 table spoons sugar

You can also add a bit of salt & pepper to taste or I like Dill weed