I Really Needed This Today

"Thou art my hope in the day of evil." —Jeremiah 17:17
The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God's Word, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;" and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be "As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer's sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light. There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the "green pastures" by the side of the "still waters," but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, "Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen." Oh! say not so, thou who art walking in darkness. The best of God's saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of His children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God's full-grown children. We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope

In No Particular Order....

Crazy kids.
I believe these are called the Twin Navajo Rocks.
Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Autumn's asleep.
My two mountain goats. Ella didn't need her papa's help. He just felt better giving it.
Autumn is ready for her hike.

See the dinosaur prints in the rocks? (This is at the Mission)
James thinks he's hilarious.
Beautiful mountains in Colorado.
One of the natural bridges in Utah.
If you look closely you can see two figures on this natural bridge. That's James and I. You might want to click on the picture and make it bigger. It is really an awesome picture. Our new screensaver.

Just hanging out in the RV.
More beautiful mountains, with snow coming down.
Four Corners, Arizona. Well, I think we managed to be in all four states at once, so .....Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Patrick and Ella's favorite part of the trip. ("why do we have to take a bath, we were just in the big hot bathtub?")

A Summary of Our Trip (Pictures to be Posted Later)

Just some highlights to wet your whistle:
I had a total of 3 nights without sleep.
Snow, snow and more snow. We tried several campgrounds, closed for the season, found one, got stuck in the snow. Nice cowboy stopped and chained his truck to our RV, pulled us out. James caught 15 in. trout at boyhood campground.
John and Ruths: Dad and James tiled their floor. The kids could be found every morning in the "hot bathtub"(hot tub) with grandma Ruth. Hiked to Table Rock and dinosaur prints. Lost Ella.(she was found in a neighbors house, playing happily). Patrick got sick. Patrick felt better and attended the Mission Kindergarten. Ella got bit in the face by a dog. (she's ok). Ella gets sick, Autumn gets sick, I get sick. Autumn decides sleep is overrated and declares no sleep for parents either! Go rock hunting for petrified wood and other "treasures".Rain and Snow. All the kids are sick. Scrounge medicine from others because Mom didn'tpack any. Leave Mission
Trip Home: Tour the 3 Natural Bridges in Utah. Hike to one, climb the 160ft. bridge with James (illegal by the way, but we climbed the side without the sign.That makes it ok, right?)Spend the night in Canyonlands National Park. Climb the rocks (boulders, mountain) the next morning.
Drive through Colorado. Have to detour on 70, big accident in tunnel. Detour by ski slopes. Head up mountain pass. Hit big snowstorm. Try to turn around(go down mountain). Big rigs stuck, putting on chains, jackknifed, a real mess. Turn around AGAIN! going back up the mountain. Snow storm is picking up. white out conditions. Pray. Go very slowly. Jump out of RV and bang on ice on windshield wipers.Watch truck in front slip and slide. See car with tire blown out after slamming into side of snowed mountain. See truck with back windshield blown out because of winds.Finally get to top of mountain! and head sllllowlly down. Whew! We made it. It was a tricky and tense 2 hours.Dad has great driving skills. Finally make it to Denver, 3 hours late, to have dinner with Beka, Jonny's girlfriend. Continue ride home. Riding up front with Dad. He points at the back. Ella is standing in the bathroom (RV, remember) with water pouring out of the sink, on the floor. Only when I get back there, I think "where did she get all that lipstick?", not lipstick;blood. She is covered.Hands, face, shirt. See my razor. She was trying to shave her lips. One cut on top lip, two on bottom. Not serious. Cleaned up child and water. Explain girls don't shave faces. Hide razor.
Hours later: HOME SWEET HOME.

OOOOklahoma....Where the Wind Comes Rushing Down the Plains!

Autumn had to make sure and get some Mema time in.
William and Elana.
William REALLY missed his Mema.
Ella and I went to the playground every day.
I am pretty sure the wind is what pushed her under the chair.

These little purple flowers were everywhere. They looked beautiful.
I think all the wind made Ella confused.

Now, I know it looks like Autumn is hitting William, but trust me, she is just evening the score. Fortunately for William, I did not get his brutal attacks on film. But seriously, these two cousins had a good time playing together.

We Have Waited A Long Time For This....

Yeah! Patrick finally lost that first tooth! His teacher pulled it out and sent it home in a 'tooth taxi'. The new tooth is already very visible.