tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131127932024-03-07T01:37:44.460-05:00Fiffer and FamilyFifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-43525510241248229632009-05-07T22:07:00.037-04:002009-05-09T22:59:14.646-04:00My Living Room and Beth Moore!OK so you are wondering what in the world my living room has to do with Beth Moore, and the answer is absolutely nothing! But that's my title because I have two different things to talk about!<br /><div><br />We'll start with my living room since I am doing <a href="http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/">Kelly's</a> tour of homes. I put a regular picture (how it looks today) and a Christmas picture but it's the time of year that I love my living room the most! </div><div></div><div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 268px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333464187325248722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhGsYy5kRWv1w5k-jcysAZCAtuBKlPdzFl958zEpFSefTMrkyJ8b8kXqfuZYRrt_oQYVidZr4P850Nf6cQpDmLeFw4hVZeCuqqh7J3rPLBfdjN_-GoXcXJY-XIdoN_rpTkGCz0A/s400/DSC_0032.JPG" />So if you remember from last week we live in a 200-year old farmhouse. Most of the house has been restored and updated but one room, our living room, has not been touched. We have lived here for 12 years and always talk about redoing it, but so far it hasn't happened. In some ways I love the primitive look of the room, but in other ways I don't really think it matches the rest of the house. One thing I don't like about it is the blue trim paint color. I have nothing blue in my entire house so don't think the room fits with my main color scheme of camel, golds, greens and deep red. Plus one thing you probably don't know about me is that I am an awful decision maker, particularly when it comes to choosing paint color. So I'd love your thoughts and ideas for when we eventually redo it. I sometimes think of putting stone on the fireplace and getting a nice mantle rather than the barn-beam mantle we currently have, but then I look at it and realize that ours is so primitive looking that it is unique, which I kind of like. </div><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTY28qTWRJ9ECaGRJJeGAUCksnuDTdR_UGbcGa69pJ55uCv5yOIKyMlb0ocnPbM3YsvJPspl721otHQxYD0Z6_1Tz26JTr0t25TRoQY4oMrYW76IhNe82VzpiM_bRUqF5T8DlUw/s1600-h/DSC_0012.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 268px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333278182996439442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTY28qTWRJ9ECaGRJJeGAUCksnuDTdR_UGbcGa69pJ55uCv5yOIKyMlb0ocnPbM3YsvJPspl721otHQxYD0Z6_1Tz26JTr0t25TRoQY4oMrYW76IhNe82VzpiM_bRUqF5T8DlUw/s400/DSC_0012.JPG" /></a><br />The one time of year that I love, just love, my old-fashioned living room is at Christmastime! After the gifts are all put under the tree, the stockings are all stuffed, and Santa's cookies are sampled, Alan and I sit there and take it all in and say, "He came!" And if any little kids happen to be peeking around the corner at that time they might well catch Mommy kissing Santa Claus! Don't miss the empty plate and letter to Santa in front of the fireplace...sweet days that are pretty much over since our youngest is 11 now!<br /><br />I love to use our living room as a get-away...it's on the opposite side of the house from our busy kitchen/family room so it's nice to go to to relax, read a book, or have some peace. It also happens to be the warmest room in this drafty old farmhouse so many a winter day finds us in there in front of a cracking real-wood fire.<br /><br />I love the fact that we have no television or computer in our living room (they're in the family room and kitchen) so it really is a primitive room in every sense of the word...how many rooms have absolutely no technology in them anymore?! However else I change our Living Room, that's one thing I'm keeping the exact same!</div><br /><div>Then in contrast to our restful getaway of the living room we have the crazy chaos of our Family Room, which adjoins the kitchen. The one thing I am proud of in this room are the walls, which I faux painted myself in three shades of green. It actually is a much deeper color than shows up in this picture. I love how it brings out the rich cherry of the old woodwork in this room. The doors on the big cabinet are usually open, because our TV is hidden behind them! I was really pleased with how well the contractor got these new doors to match the 200-year old trim in the rest of the room. And don't miss our old yellow lab Gracie, a permanent fixture in that room!<br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3Nj8HP0QGut_PMYJPRluClW8MuXkSJIZEuOWrCxQOLri5vohU3JSS7W67NV7_M4HAXe9U7V5VE1OoFSXfk1s5mszS6M3Wtnr2ofzp8ekgo36bTUh8OjO8X-g6SeJ9nlBxRF0CA/s1600-h/DSC_0035.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 268px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333468644468372050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3Nj8HP0QGut_PMYJPRluClW8MuXkSJIZEuOWrCxQOLri5vohU3JSS7W67NV7_M4HAXe9U7V5VE1OoFSXfk1s5mszS6M3Wtnr2ofzp8ekgo36bTUh8OjO8X-g6SeJ9nlBxRF0CA/s400/DSC_0035.JPG" /></a><br /></div><div>Here the doors of the cabinet are open so you can see both the opened and closed look and see how nice it is to hide the TV sometimes.<br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2nRP2-Az3ZILvjxAgBXtctIiMwLEVJE265EuVUNpQHv0LapXFfIGz-DZiM_zpwqfL7NqRyYVcPWY_Nv_u2iKQ3dyQe8Ip_tCSIpld4YPIMKVp9_Bmp6ch6BjDAK_Dy6UY0xXCHQ/s1600-h/DSC_0021.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 268px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333465516817653810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2nRP2-Az3ZILvjxAgBXtctIiMwLEVJE265EuVUNpQHv0LapXFfIGz-DZiM_zpwqfL7NqRyYVcPWY_Nv_u2iKQ3dyQe8Ip_tCSIpld4YPIMKVp9_Bmp6ch6BjDAK_Dy6UY0xXCHQ/s400/DSC_0021.JPG" /></a>I love my tray tables over in the corner. You wouldn't believe how often they get used, particularly on Tuesday nights when we have Taco Night while we watch American Idol...a family tradition! (Hey when you have three teenage daughters you've gotta make family traditions however you can!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWAPsqYf0hypLMADIKu4IQyFRuVd_L0sGz8KiNLfkketA8e7fzvZX5NO2H-Etgiz7A1j2fLM0MK-xKL1P8rCPSbxph79_muxjJuhq5ukOHFGJoOnulKwhekYbtKVWU1pqkW3blQ/s1600-h/DSC_0023.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 268px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333469832021131730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWAPsqYf0hypLMADIKu4IQyFRuVd_L0sGz8KiNLfkketA8e7fzvZX5NO2H-Etgiz7A1j2fLM0MK-xKL1P8rCPSbxph79_muxjJuhq5ukOHFGJoOnulKwhekYbtKVWU1pqkW3blQ/s400/DSC_0023.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Here's something unique about our farmhouse...we have a cupboard door that is accessible from two different rooms. That's because when the house was built this Family Room was the Dining Room and our current mudroom was the kitchen. So the food would get passed through these cupboard doors.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI-4R3WtIMGZo4xPAfFDO3gHSImpXi2_V05j-xLw1xF1rxLdtOh9qc59cs_LWNAyPJ3vCxLY8SryZzlIKr4ZJJ4g4xPjyvx3OOcp4VLgkf7tI51NztsV5qr8TVwoFjf3Sxui_34A/s1600-h/DSC_0038.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 268px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333776338167260242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI-4R3WtIMGZo4xPAfFDO3gHSImpXi2_V05j-xLw1xF1rxLdtOh9qc59cs_LWNAyPJ3vCxLY8SryZzlIKr4ZJJ4g4xPjyvx3OOcp4VLgkf7tI51NztsV5qr8TVwoFjf3Sxui_34A/s400/DSC_0038.JPG" /></a> </div><div><div><div></div><div></div><br /><br /><div>OK so enough about Living Rooms...switch gears with me now to hear about the other big news of the day -- I MET BETH MOORE! Oh yes I did!<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiopuFppsxKieHAFC4rAZG4LfXwQxsSrDm_va0m8Ew-W0whtgSk8zyPxwQDutSTqRvgMYjty9KBee6Hw_DU1U2Smup79W5pTUUIeomRYHQSXcAOMIkucxWkeF9aIUHQN7u90_eYqQ/s1600-h/DSC_0254.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333278465605358194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiopuFppsxKieHAFC4rAZG4LfXwQxsSrDm_va0m8Ew-W0whtgSk8zyPxwQDutSTqRvgMYjty9KBee6Hw_DU1U2Smup79W5pTUUIeomRYHQSXcAOMIkucxWkeF9aIUHQN7u90_eYqQ/s320/DSC_0254.JPG" /></a><br />This year Beth is the National Chairperson of this event and we got to have her give the keynote speech here in Lancaster! When I first heard she was going to be here I thought it was going to be simulcast from Washington, DC but no, she was here in real life!<br /><br /><div>I really wanted to meet her so I went early and actually ended up sitting maybe 7 or 8 rows behind her. A fair number of women were sneaking up there getting pictures taken with her and I really wanted to also, and I definitely could have, but my wise husband kept reminding me that she was there to worship and to leave her alone. It must be so hard to be a celebrity, being watched all the time. Godly celebrities like Beth really need our prayers. </div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRymZUGofoC2bsPmxd4cQSboElQZ6eRAWtq1NKtN763O-90MTeWf3ohGbiUTtSmFNzfMgoMbaJBsb_XcI43CrOx7CN3Mp6z50dXnyUZPaTYJsqjcDJwZTgePrqbq8_lGIZdhixQ/s1600-h/DSC_0259.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333285067785682274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRymZUGofoC2bsPmxd4cQSboElQZ6eRAWtq1NKtN763O-90MTeWf3ohGbiUTtSmFNzfMgoMbaJBsb_XcI43CrOx7CN3Mp6z50dXnyUZPaTYJsqjcDJwZTgePrqbq8_lGIZdhixQ/s320/DSC_0259.JPG" /></a><br />Beth rocked the place with her talk! It amazed me how little she used her notes. Is that cool or what -- it just goes to show that she has her words in her heart, as the Lord is giving them to her, not all written down just for her to read. That's what sets Beth Moore apart in the way she can bring a sermon!! It was REALLY awesome having so many men in the audience and she acknowledged that and gave an encouragement to the men to be prayer leaders in the family. </div><div></div><div></div><br /><div>Beth had a tough act to follow after a 5-year old girl prayed like you wouldn't believe. I mean this child knew how to pray like nobody's business! She got a Standing O for her prayer and really I think it was a Standing O to God, for bringing up a little child like this to lead the people. "And a little child shall lead them..." Oh yes she did! Oh that we would raise up more children like this enthusiastic little girl!<br /><div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXjLw_D-3hrM16t8iZDbs4-JpAk478mZSFWT5uzc7qLCnxfuWRloPIK5dL8H-1WqGXIrLVO428nH5sz9s8gkTOcGXKzjo946_ykZhNUwDUW_AC0T0ucPOSutJwP6hn8TQqNR8-g/s1600-h/DSC_0236.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333278854822111458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXjLw_D-3hrM16t8iZDbs4-JpAk478mZSFWT5uzc7qLCnxfuWRloPIK5dL8H-1WqGXIrLVO428nH5sz9s8gkTOcGXKzjo946_ykZhNUwDUW_AC0T0ucPOSutJwP6hn8TQqNR8-g/s320/DSC_0236.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div>Travis Cottrell was there leading the worship and on this beautiful May night it was pretty neat being out there with thousands of others singing our hearts out. It was A-MAZ-ING to gather together to pray for our country, and oh yes, does our country need some praying for right now. I was saddened to read that for the first time in many years our president did not attend a prayer gathering on this National Day of Prayer. It was a beautiful night after many days of rain and the sun was shining -- and the SON was shining! How wonderful to be in the midst of so many of God's people! </div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1p6KJDzFsRdrkpdcJ_Gdh1qNChC0-tW5YBpI9xBwK52NliDTNzi3AUgKPcWA-ahp0f4ibeUsH9ZWEz5UDrc4bSalfgJbQbVhkyryFG37LdmrO2hQyPNNaD-aYHQzmXELwFrdjw/s1600-h/DSC_0240.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333279085845986082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1p6KJDzFsRdrkpdcJ_Gdh1qNChC0-tW5YBpI9xBwK52NliDTNzi3AUgKPcWA-ahp0f4ibeUsH9ZWEz5UDrc4bSalfgJbQbVhkyryFG37LdmrO2hQyPNNaD-aYHQzmXELwFrdjw/s320/DSC_0240.JPG" /></a><br />This was Beth right before she went on to speak...she had just come off a very stressful week being in our nation's capitol and I think she was enjoying being in the presence of so many of God's people! She even said "Lancaster" correctly!! (For the record, it's not pronounced LAN-CAS-TER, it's LANG-kiss-stir!" Because I'm sure you wanted to know that!)<br /><br />Beth's husband Keith was even with her. Here's a picture of him laughing on the Jumbotron after she told a story about what a manly man he is.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUo_HkMasOJOAvncHgjqu8CI9P3NoOwjDofXitAzELnPlFDGqTZbpXE4LswFriDEPE9sxVK8IC0gKqOOdcdnvmPMbOyqq9AgZzvYt0l2AEo3AbU7pkNq0HcW0SonxrCHLw9dFPw/s1600-h/DSC_0274.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333279407408651026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUo_HkMasOJOAvncHgjqu8CI9P3NoOwjDofXitAzELnPlFDGqTZbpXE4LswFriDEPE9sxVK8IC0gKqOOdcdnvmPMbOyqq9AgZzvYt0l2AEo3AbU7pkNq0HcW0SonxrCHLw9dFPw/s320/DSC_0274.JPG" /></a><br /><br />One thing I give Keith a lot of credit for...after Beth spoke I was heading to the restrooms and passed the backstage area where the media was interviewing her. While several women hung around waiting for Beth to come out, Keith was standing there with several other men. A lady asked him, "Hey, Keith, can I get a picture with you?" And in the nicest way, he said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'd rather not." And as I thought about it I thought it was really cool that he doesn't want his picture taken with all kinds of random women. Just like I wouldn't want my Alan to be photographed with women everywhere he went. Because we all know how the media can distort a totally innocent picture into being something its not. And sad to say they try their hardest to dig up dirt on celebrities, especially Christians. So I give the Moores a lot of credit for being above reproach in this area.<br /><br />When Beth came out I actually had a 2-second chance to say hi to her and tell her I'm a "siesta" who prays for her! And if you think a siesta is a long nap, you haven't been reading her blog. <a href="http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/">Check it out</a> -- it's one of my favorites!<br /><br />So that's the latest from Lancaster County tonight. Blessings to all!<br /></div><br /><img style="WIDTH: 151px; HEIGHT: 41px" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" src="http://i40.tinypic.com/akx1ud.jpg" width="162" height="42" /></div></div>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-27691736503095087352009-05-04T12:31:00.007-04:002009-05-08T00:28:48.814-04:00Rainy Days AND Mondays<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0zXRGHm6RiLIOTsesEVR6qvMB2CSMMBihp_6eGoT46MbC21BQ7Mk615k2ueIxlS8XXJTukl3ZLXDoSnBKPXNM7MhqZXrD0ESalZGDi8qqHHCMys7Hl2yygz0Yqpm2C4oFAZ-Mw/s1600-h/DSC_0063.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0zXRGHm6RiLIOTsesEVR6qvMB2CSMMBihp_6eGoT46MbC21BQ7Mk615k2ueIxlS8XXJTukl3ZLXDoSnBKPXNM7MhqZXrD0ESalZGDi8qqHHCMys7Hl2yygz0Yqpm2C4oFAZ-Mw/s400/DSC_0063.jpg" /></a> </div><p align="left"><br />On this rainy Monday I thought you'd enjoy a picture my 13-year old Caroline took. This girl loves photography and has so much iniative and motivation and just plain moxie that when she wants to learn something, she does it. She even created her own photography website, where you can see more of her work. Check it out <a href="http://www.loganphotography.weebly.com/">here!</a></p><p align="left">Caroline has willing models in her 18-year old sister Emily and Emily's boyfriend, who love to pose for pictures as much as Caroline loves to take them. In fact, next week is prom and already the girls are pre-planning the poses they want to capture, so many poses that their photography session may last as long as the prom itself! </p><p align="left">So at least this rainy Monday gives me an excuse to stay inside and get a little cleaning done. Because, you know, the kitchen has stayed pretty nice but the rest of the house...oh my. Suffice it to say that if someone walked into my mudroom right now they might just think our house had been ransacked. Well, actually it has -- by one 16-year old Elly looking for her volleyball shoes and kneepads 2 minutes before we had to leave for open gym!<br /><br />Actually Mondays aren't so bad. I get a chance to have a fresh start from an action-packed weekend. I love fresh starts! You get to do things over the way you would have done them the first time. My neighbor Beth and I always laugh and say "I'll take a do-over on that one" when we react in a way differently than we wish we would have. She always says that each of us should have been born with 3 do-overs that we could use when we really screwed something up. Like waving a magic wand to erase what just happened and get our "do over." Of course we agree we would have used up all three of our do-overs before we were 18 years old! </p><p align="left">Speaking of "do overs," when my kids were young, there were too many times I'd react in a way differently than I wish I would have. Sometimes the busyness and stress of life would cause me to yell at them for things that didn't deserve yelling. And then I would feel so sorry and ache at the hurt in their precious eyes. And so I coined this phrase called "Mommy Bommy." Which I explained to them meant, ''You sweet kids did nothing wrong and it's my own sinful nature that caused me to react differently than I would have liked to. I love you all as much as a mommy can love and am so sorry." And of course I would ask their forgiveness. Because I thought it was important for them to know that parents are sinners and it is only Jesus Christ who can claim perfection. </p>It was in those "Mommy Bommy" moments that I most desired a do-over! But here's the awesome thing about God...while we can't truly have a "do-over," there is complete forgiveness in His amazing grace and He will give us a fresh start whenever we ask.<br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" align="justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" align="justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" align="justify">"Create in me a clean heart, O God; </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" align="justify">and renew a right spirit within me." </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" align="justify">Psalm 51:10</div><p>So excuse me while I go spend some time with God, asking Him to cleanse my heart and give me a fresh start this very rainy Monday morning!<br /></p><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" align="left"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"></a></div>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-59508892441788967212009-05-01T17:31:00.001-04:002009-05-08T00:27:25.789-04:00The Kitchen Tour!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWlow_BXRwjnJsSJt-qb1OJRqv0GFFvDUKyhu9sVL8RwV64FGYizkMmc1M3P7J5zalbmEba6LbEC_udaJF4-1rd5L1lugKrC18T_wVZxakKdp5n9sVuB3pRonAKwTNbwcdxwRxw/s1600-h/DSC_0182.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330980155642145954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWlow_BXRwjnJsSJt-qb1OJRqv0GFFvDUKyhu9sVL8RwV64FGYizkMmc1M3P7J5zalbmEba6LbEC_udaJF4-1rd5L1lugKrC18T_wVZxakKdp5n9sVuB3pRonAKwTNbwcdxwRxw/s320/DSC_0182.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsXRNltXDYOth9FXJ_wQG1V3vRwxf3qfh5-H4gLmVFwm9eJgPauTKkmKMqobVTH8j-vFOCle5s5pFQOHc5WcQXRJennQ0h69sXJ6ZC11BIi72Jjy39U1dwjDiI5GsUIvRowUZFw/s1600-h/DSC_0202.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330979905949592402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsXRNltXDYOth9FXJ_wQG1V3vRwxf3qfh5-H4gLmVFwm9eJgPauTKkmKMqobVTH8j-vFOCle5s5pFQOHc5WcQXRJennQ0h69sXJ6ZC11BIi72Jjy39U1dwjDiI5GsUIvRowUZFw/s320/DSC_0202.JPG" /></a><br /><div><div><div>This post is dedicated to my sweet 13-year old daughter Caroline, who has a heart of gold. We saw Kelly's blog today and thought it would be fun since we love seeing other people's kitchens. However, we had one major problem in doing that. Our kitchen was not what you'd call, ahem, photo ready. In fact it rarely is. Just keeping it real here! We have four children, and three of them are teenagers. Our kitchen is the center of our home...we live in it! And I generallly have papers, papers everywhere (one of the "joys" of homeschooling, for sure!). I wish each of you had a Caroline in your home. She's not the kind of kid who needs to be asked or told to do anything -- she sees a need and takes care of it. So after seeing Kelly's post she said "Let's do it!" We put some fun music on and went to work -- the two of us got the kitchen ready for pictures and in doing so we were able to give our kitchen one big Spring cleaning! And now it is looking fine and what a joy to prepare a wonderful meal to enjoy when Alan gets home from work. On second thought, the kitchen's so clean I think we should eat out! </div><p>We live in a 200-year old farmhouse in the heart of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and I love our old brick house. The only problem with it when we bought it was the kitchen was a TINY galley-style kitchen and the six of us would continually bump into each other. So after saving up for it for 7 years we had plenty of time to read all those kitchen magazines and dream about what I wanted. Finally in 2004 we did it! It was hard to make the addition blend in to keep it looking like it was always part of the farmhouse but I was really pleased with how it turned out. And it's so funny now, when people come to our home for the first time they say, "Oh this is what I love about old farmhouses -- the huge kitchens!" And I smile and show them what the "real" kitchen was for this old farmhouse - a tiny room that is now my mudroom, which I'd love to show you pictures of, but then you'd see all the papers I just took out of the kitchen to make it look so sparkly clean! Haha....Kelly, maybe sometime you could do a tour of mudrooms so I could get that photo-ready as well!<br /></p><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEQGe9QFmv1pAHxINhVFV7DdKWuJF27bg07j0wGxWWLG-Pff8EaAbSzNFM4IFQHUFuqM3CtoUes7-0f73UmG25AOg4EWmnBTv4nDzo1DsGfxv6EGVBeD6PZ-zl7-XYjZmwrLMWg/s1600-h/DSC_0198.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330979561825881426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEQGe9QFmv1pAHxINhVFV7DdKWuJF27bg07j0wGxWWLG-Pff8EaAbSzNFM4IFQHUFuqM3CtoUes7-0f73UmG25AOg4EWmnBTv4nDzo1DsGfxv6EGVBeD6PZ-zl7-XYjZmwrLMWg/s320/DSC_0198.JPG" /></a><br />I love my black buffet...bought it and the frame above it from Ballard Designs. Since I don't have the type of fridge that you can cover with pictures I love posting them all on our bulletin board. I save the pictures from all the Christmas cards and love to be reminded of my friends & their families when I see their pictures.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpZaLnJ9DLAfKUPwxAtGpzQMhqCuDJB_Ncbx5qPq7jKfHohTsmT40owASANkCeknpA2WK_OyEFA4_-zIOa1L0aBfbCTpEkDsrKzhAILWN-8Fw8_JhfkHsxFB3XMDwD2vtcfwWew/s1600-h/DSC_0189.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330978783897928930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpZaLnJ9DLAfKUPwxAtGpzQMhqCuDJB_Ncbx5qPq7jKfHohTsmT40owASANkCeknpA2WK_OyEFA4_-zIOa1L0aBfbCTpEkDsrKzhAILWN-8Fw8_JhfkHsxFB3XMDwD2vtcfwWew/s320/DSC_0189.JPG" /></a> Coleman wrote "Bless God" on our blackboard a year or two ago and I can't bear to erase it. So many people say "God Bless" and I always tell my kids to Bless God!<br /><br /><div>Enjoy this May weekend everyone!</div></div></div></div></div></div><br /><div>Fiffer </div>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-58595936697828893372009-04-30T08:57:00.000-04:002009-04-30T13:43:07.547-04:00Almost Four Years Later...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-sePqrk4oq8079KI_KNnlfbHuO9h7DCz-cH8S9R1fTZvQW4dz1uPP5Rv8mKyXJL9c7SF7oMKYQVxV4I_fKt2udactZ1OF9viw0GbwLQzoQHe2nYHuXCXkvXgmCmdVFbPU2uYew/s1600-h/DSC_0827.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330468500504990386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-sePqrk4oq8079KI_KNnlfbHuO9h7DCz-cH8S9R1fTZvQW4dz1uPP5Rv8mKyXJL9c7SF7oMKYQVxV4I_fKt2udactZ1OF9viw0GbwLQzoQHe2nYHuXCXkvXgmCmdVFbPU2uYew/s320/DSC_0827.JPG" /></a><br /><br />So much for my comment almost four years ago that you ought to check back now and then because I might continue writing! Obviously not...though I thought often about keeping a blog I just never seemed to fit it into my day. Between laundry, cooking, homeschooling and (limited!) cleaning my days are full. And then when I do have a break I struggle with having the kids see me with my back to them as I sit here at the computer. Lately I have been impressed with how fast time is flying so while I totally admire those bloggers with mega-followers, I don't aim to be one of them.<br /><br />That said, I am moved on a regular basis as I "drop in" on some bloggers. God is using the internet to reach MANY with the gospel and to me that's mighty cool. People who might not be able to reached by talking about God in a one-on-one situation can be reached through the words they read on another's blog. Through reading of the trials others are going through, I honestly think people start to "get it" about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus.<br /><br />I wish I could link you to some that I am inspired by on a regular basis but honestly I don't know how. I'll put it on my "to do" list to learn how! So much to do, so little time! But for now, the laundry's calling and my husband wouldn't be too proud if he came home and saw that I mastered the blog thing but didn't have time to fold laundry! Know the feeling?!<br /><br />FifferFifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118941464331494022005-06-15T12:37:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:19.480-05:00East, West...Home's best!So here I am, sitting at the desk in my kitchen with a cup of coffee, overwhelmed with memories of an incredible trip. I never imagined things would go so smoothly, and feel more in love with my family than ever before. As we get back into the daily routine, I'm missing them! Amazingly enough, we never got sick of each other. I didn't look forward to a family of six sleeping in one motel room for over two weeks, and yet, it was nice. There's something pretty wonderful about all going to bed at the same time and talking about the day as we fell asleep. Two weeks of vacation was wonderful! And yet, I come home so refreshed and ready to get back into life! Because although the "mountaintop" of vacation is awesome, it truly is good to come down off the mountain (figuratively and literally!) and get back to a pretty wonderful life!<br /><br />Before I give a few final comments about the trip, here's how our last day went...We had a great visit with Dwight Robertson at Kingdom Building Ministries on Tuesday morning. I could really see a couple of the kids going out to the "Laborer's Institute" someday...we were all really impressed with the whole organization. We actually made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Had a two hour layover at O'Hare, during which time Caroline threw up. But after that she seemed better and the rest of the trip was uneventful. Oh, except for a lady passing out in the aisle during the flight...kind of scary, but she was fine. Then the worst part was that when we arrived in Harrisburg, they couldn't get the gate to move out to the plane, so after a 15-minute forever wait we had to go down the emergency steps. Being "home" but stuck on the plane was frustrating, but soon enough we were off and there was my mom, waiting to pick us up!<br /><br />If we had to do it over, what would we change? Well, besides little things here and there, the only thing I would have done differently is to come home after two weeks. That was long enough...the last two days were fun but the thing we wanted to see more than anything else was home! Was 2300 miles of driving too far? No...not really. (But maybe I should ask Alan, since he drove 2275 of them!) And yet, I wouldn't have wanted to do it any faster than we did. Staying two nights in the same location wasd always nice. The only thing I can think of that I may have skipped would be Silverton (the Old Hundred Gold Mine!) and Ouray, they were not that huge of a deal. But to get from Durango to Colorado Springs we almost needed to go through those towns, and it was an experience (notice I didn't say a good one!) driving over the Million Dollar Highway! I also would have found a way to whitewater (if I did it at all!) through the Glenwood Canyon on the Colorado River. The area where we went rafting was nothing spectacular as far as scenery is concerned.<br /><br />And the highlights of the trip? Definitely the four-wheeling at Red Canyon in Utah and the horseback "steak ride" in Rocky Mountain National Park. But also all that time in the car was pretty special. We played games, told jokes, sang songs, and laughed a lot (except when the girls realized we were on our way to the Grand Canyon!) At one point we eavesdropped on a conversation Coleman was having with Emily. He likes thinking of things to invent, so said to her, "Emily, tell me everything you like to do and I'll tell you some things I could invent for you." Alan and I listened, and looked at each other and smiled. Long car trips make for captive audiences, and we had some great family conversation during those times.<br /><br />We are home happy but broke! Our expenses shaped up as follows, listed as a percentage of the total...lodging 30%, car rental & gas 23%, food 20%, attractions 19%, and souvenirs 8%. The souvenir percentage would have been much higher had the Four Corners jewelry stands not been closed when we went by. Darn! Can you believe I came home without turquoise jewelry?! Alan did get me a pretty silver bracelet on the Navajo Reservation, though, so I'm not complaining too hard!<br /><br />Here's the good news...all those expenses went on our credit card and the bill came today. Alan asked me how much it was and I said, "Don't worry about the amount...think of it in terms of how many frequent flyer points we've accrued towards our next trip!" He looked at me and rolled his eyes! I think he might cancel the credit card!<br /><br />I close this journal with thanks to God for a vacation of a lifetime...not a day goes by that I don't feel blessed beyond measure. After two weeks of fun & adventure, I come home refreshed and looking forward to cooking, cleaning and taking care of my precious family.<br /><br />Thanks for "coming along" with us on our trip. I know so many of you kept us in your prayers, and we thank you for that...so many little details "fell" into place, and I know that wasn't by chance. So happy trails for now, and may God bless each of you this summer!<br /><br />P.S. I may continue writing on this blog from time to time, so bookmark it and check back from time to time (but not too often!)Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118731993214822782005-06-14T01:56:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:19.054-05:00Two days of fun in Colorado SpringsWe drove through pouring rain on Friday afternoon on our five hour journey to Colorado Springs. When we arrived in town Alan saw gas for just $1.99 per gallon, much cheaper than the standard $2.25 to $2.50 we’d paid on our trip. I asked him if we needed to fill up, and he said, "The tank’s pretty full...we’re down to only three-quarters." Coleman only heard the last part and yelled, "Oh no, just three quarters left for our <em>whole</em> trip! What are we gonna do?!" He didn’t know we were talking about gas, and thought that was all the money we had left. We laughed and assured him that although money was getting low, we had more than 3 quarters left!<br /><br />It was about 7 PM when we arrived in Colorado Springs. I had booked a room on Priceline and ended up with a really nice Doubletree Hotel for just $45 a night! We called my cousin Sandy, whose son Justin was playing in a basketball game at Manitou Springs High School, so we headed over to watch him play. After two weeks away from home, it was wonderful to see relatives, especially ones we don't see very often. We made plans to get together with them again on Sunday.<br /><br />After the basketball game we were starving hungry and really in the mood for Chinese food. We couldn't seem to find any, but saw many Korean restaurants, so figured that would be close enough. As Alan ordered "beef & broccoli," they said, "This is not Chinese food," and pointed to the menu where the first thing listed was "beef intestines." Um, no thanks! Our search for Chinese food continued, and we finally found a place, just as they turned their lights out. We ran in quick and convinced them that we were desperate for Chinese food! We got it to go and really enjoyed our Chinese feast when we got back to the room. Coleman quite possibly won the award for biggest eater! His appetite has been huge on this trip. When we go out to eat, he’ll often order what he wants, and then add "Actually, I’ll take two of them!"<br /><br />Colorado Springs is a really nice town. On our trip, we’ve been in a lot of neat towns, but most have been built solely on tourism, with gift shops galore. But Colorado Springs seems more like a "normal" city than other places we’ve been, plus still has a lot of fun attractions. Also, it is swamped with Mexican restaurants which is fine by me!<br /><br />On Saturday morning we swam at our hotel for a long time. Then we took showers and struck out for Focus on the Family’s headquarters. We’ve been Focus on the Family supporters for a long time and really appreciate their ministry. First we went to the Welcome Center where there were a lot of fun things for the kids to do and a huge bookstore for the parents. Then we went on a tour of the Administration Building. It was really interesting, and would have been more so if it was a weekday and we could have seen the employees in action. <a href="http://www.family.org/">http://www.family.org/</a><br /><br />On our way back we toured through Garden of the Gods, an area of rock formations. Although they were neat to see, they didn't compare to the mammoth red rocks we had seen in Utah, so we drove through the park to see them but didn't get out to hike.<br /><br />I forgot to mention that our hotel was right beside a 20 screen cinema called Tinseltown. We were all in the mood to see a movie. The problem was that the boys wanted to see Sharkboy and Lava Girl, and the girls wanted to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a definite chickflick. So we parted ways, the boys putting on their 3-D glasses to see their movie, and the girls joining throngs of other girls at our movie. We spotted just one man in the entire theater, poor guy! Our movie was about four 16-year old friends who found a pair of pants at a thrift shop...oh, actually, forget it, it’s too long a story and you can see it if you want to! It received pretty good reviews, and wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either. Most of all it was fun to be at the movies with my girls. I am so thankful for the "sisterhood" they share.<br /><br />On Sunday morning when we woke up Coleman wasn't his usual chattery self, and we knew something was wrong. His head hurt, his tummy hurt, and he had absolutely no energy. Alan and the girls went out for brunch while Coleman and I stayed in the room. He got back into bed and fell asleep, waking up every now and then to throw up. Poor kid. After a couple hours, he woke up and said very cheerfully, "Guess what? I’m fine!" And he was.<br /><br />Next he announced he was hungry...and you'll never guess what he wanted. A corndog, of all things! Even when I am feeling fine a corndog doesn't appeal to me, but it's really what he begged us for. We were headed for the town of Manitou Springs, and found him a corndog there. He gobbled it up and from then on seemed perfectly fine!<br /><br />Manitou Springs is a very artsy kind of town and we didn't like it much. Mostly it seems very New Age, with several psychic shops on the main street. We felt uncomfortable there, and didn't care to spend much time there. We did stop at a place that had been recommended to us called the Penny Arcade. It was full of old-time pinball machines, really old ones! Most of them cost a nickel or dime to play. The more modern ones were two games for a quarter. We had a lot of fun there. I told Alan if I was the owner of that place I'd sell those pinball machines on ebay and retire! Really these were extremely vintage machines and surely are worth a lot of money.<br /><br />We headed back into Colorado Springs to have supper with my cousin Sandy and her family. We spent a few hours with them and laughed so hard at the similarities between our families. It was a great time that passed way too quickly. We left there wishing we didn't live a couple thousand miles away from them.<br /><br />It was 10 PM as we arrived back in Denver for the final few days of our trip. Hard to believe that just two weeks and 2400 miles ago we were here! We checked into the Red Lion Hotel that I had booked on Priceline. Before you think I get all kinds of incredible deals on Priceline, you should know it doesn't always work that way. This hotel was supposed to be a three-star, and maybe it was at one time, but it was extremely dated. Definitely a huge notch below the other places we've stayed, but oh well, it was only $45. Really we were only there to sleep, and got out of there early on Monday to head to Water World, one of America's biggest water parks. <a href="http://www.waterworldcolorado.com/">http://www.waterworldcolorado.com/</a><br /><br />Water World was a blast! Waterparks are always so much fun. We laughed so hard on the way there as I told the kids of a childhood memory of my family at Wet &amp; Wild in Florida. My dad & I went down a huge waterslide...a straight drop in about two seconds into a small pool at the bottom, the kind I would never consider going on now! Anyway, at the bottom the lifeguards always hurry you out of the water so the next person can go, but my dad wouldn't get out. He kept saying, "Tell your mom to bring me a towel!" Turns out the force of him hitting the water had ripped his suit in two! The lifeguard was so frustrated that he wasn't getting out of the water and my mom was doubled over in laughter as she brought him a towel! The kids all decided if they saw a ride like that one they might just skip it in honor of Gippy!<br /><br />There were so many fun rides at Water World, and the weather was nice, although it was pretty breezy. The sun was bright, though, so we kept slathering more sunscreen on, having learned our lesson last week at Glenwood Springs. There were a lot of family raft rides which we all loved. The most fun ride was a long trip in an innertube down a lazy river with a lot of waterfalls to go over. Now <em>that's</em> my idea of whitewater rafting!<br /><br />Tuesday morning we will stop at KBM, a ministry we support. <a href="http://www.christianity.com/kbm">http://www.christianity.com/kbm</a> (If you click on their website you can get a free subscription to "The Laborer's Journal," one of the best devotional magazines I've ever read.) Anway, the head of the ministry is Dwight Robertson, a great guy who knows Alan's family from their days in Indiana. We'll visit there for an hour or so and then head on to the airport and our flight home. On Wednesday I'll post my last entry of this trip journal from "home sweet home." Gets me excited just thinking about it!Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725152781536852005-06-14T01:30:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:16.984-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Focus.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Focus.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The kids at Focus on the Family headquarters. <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725099080661552005-06-14T00:58:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:15.399-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Cousins.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Cousins.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />My cousin Sandy and I in her front yard...check out those mountains she can see from her living room. (The snow-covered one is Pikes Peak!) <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118724959986166952005-06-14T00:55:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:14.509-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Beers%20Family.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Beers%20Family.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Our cousins Sandy & Bruce and their family in front of their gorgeous home.<a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118724980885813072005-06-14T00:43:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:14.818-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Bigger%20Car.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Bigger%20Car.jpg" border="0" /></a> We bought so many souvenirs that we had to upgrade to a bigger car...same black Ford Excursion, stretch style! (There was a wedding going on at Garden of the Gods, so Caroline & Alan posed in front of this cool car!) <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118724934407009782005-06-14T00:30:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:14.043-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Balanced%20Rock.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Balanced%20Rock.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The kids try to hold up this rock to keep it from falling! This is Balanced Rock, at Garden of the Gods. <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725306172374982005-06-14T00:01:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:17.981-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Water%20World.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Water%20World.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Water World <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725294153651612005-06-14T00:00:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:17.676-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Wally%20World.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Wally%20World.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />There really is a Wally World here...this picture's for my Dad! <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725081089419062005-06-13T23:58:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:15.148-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Caroline%20in%20raft.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Caroline%20in%20raft.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Caroline's ready for fun at Water World <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725122113204482005-06-13T23:54:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:16.185-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Emmy%20in%20raft.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Emmy%20in%20raft.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Emmy in raft, heading towards a waterfall! <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725138003512242005-06-13T23:30:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:16.650-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Floater%20Elly.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Floater%20Elly.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Here comes Elly, floating down the lazy river <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725109140668522005-06-13T22:58:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:15.746-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Elly%20Blue.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Elly%20Blue.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Elly Blue...in Old Colorado City we found this shop and of course we needed a picture of our Elly girl here. <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118725274594870582005-06-13T21:01:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:17.353-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Ready%20for%20the%20movies.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Ready%20for%20the%20movies.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Alan & Coleman with their 3-D glasses on, ready for the movies. <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118727981420450512005-06-10T02:35:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:18.262-05:00Next time we'll skip the gold mine tour!We left Durango mid-morning on Thursday and headed for Silverton and the Old Hundred Gold Mine. Now if you know anything about Durango you probably are thinking, "Did they take the train to Silverton?" It is the biggest attraction in Durango, a three-hour train ride through the San Juan Mountains. However, since we were heading to Ouray (pronounce Your-RAY) and had to drive through Silverton to get there, it didn’t make sense to take the train ride to the same location we had to drive to anyway. It isn’t cheap, either...would have cost our family close to $200. We debated about having some of us ride the train and some of us ride in the car to get to Silverton, but in the end most of us were into the one-hour car trip rather than the three-hour train ride. I’ve heard you see beautiful scenery on the way there, since it goes along the rivers and you see lots of waterfalls. On the highway, we were so high up that to see the streams we had to pull over and look down. Way down. Which was breathtaking not only for the beauty for also for the fear it struck in us!<br /><br />Anyway, we drove over what is called the Million Dollar Highway, or the San Juan Skyway. The drive was really pretty and not too treacherous, at least not yet. More about that later. We came upon a stream rushing down the mountainside which was a highlight. We wanted a family picture there so pulled over. A family was already there taking pictures of their kids and Alan thought they might like a family picture (because of course, we wanted one) and asked, "Could I take a picture?" And the father looked at him kind of crazy and said, "Well, if you really want one!"<br /><br />Anyway, we moved on and got into Silverton, an old western-looking town full of what else...lots of tourist shops. We wanted to shop but thought we would come back later after we’d toured the highly touted Old Hundred Gold Mine. This was five miles outside of town on a dirt road, and is a tour into an actual former gold mine. Mining is obviously huge in this region. (Hence the name "Silverton" because they got "silver by the ton.") On the mine tour you ride a third of a mile into the mountain and learn how the prospectors mined the gold. I had made it clear to Alan that I would not be going along on the tour...after nearly hyperventilating going through the one mile mountain tunnel at Zion, I knew my claustrophobia would do me in going into a dark mountain passage for an hour.<br /><br />So we got there and were met by a burly old prospector, looking exactly the way you would imagine. We got to pan for gold and silver while waiting for the tour. They "salt" the mine with jeweler’s silver so we had fun discovering all kinds of small pieces of silver. Soon it was time for everyone to put on their raincoats and hardhats and head into the mines. The kids were very disappointed that I wasn’t going along, but I was not about to be talked into it.<br /><br />The tour was less than an hour, and when they came out I saw few smiles. Any I did see must have been smiles of relief that the tour was over! As they told me how bad it was to go into that wet, dark place with water dripping all over them, I knew I’d made a wise decision. Alan said I would have flipped out with the tight confines they had to go through to get into the mine. When we got in the car, Elly said, "Daddy, did you tip the guy?" When he said no, she said, "Well, there was a sign that said, ‘If you liked the tour, tip your guide.’" And he said, "Well, I didn’t like the tour!" They were all feeling sick and hungry so we headed into Silverton for something to eat.<br />On the way, they told funny stories about the guide. For example, at one point he called all the kids over and told them to look way down in a hole while he shone a light down. When they finished looking, he said, "Know what that was? That’s the miner’s portapotty!" And then went into peals of laughter. You can imagine how amused the girls were!<br /><br />They had a cute sign hanging up in the miner’s shop. It said, "We gladly remove Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers here...just .95 cents + $5.00 tax!" Anyway, we left the gold mine and arrived in Silverton at 4:30 PM to find that the town pretty much closes down at 4 PM when the last train leaves to go back to Durango. Whoops, guess we weren’t going to do much shopping after all. We ate soup & sandwiches at the Brown Bear Café, which was said to have the "world’s best" French Onion soup. Turns out maybe it was "Brown Bear’s best" anyway...they are legends in their own minds. I never trust places that ask if you want "brown or white gravy," anyway, as they asked the kids what color gravy they wanted on their mashed potatoes. If they can’t even call it beef or chicken gravy, I’ll pass!<br /><br />Since the town was pretty much closed down, we headed on our way to Ouray. I was glad to see a sign that showed it was only 20 miles away, a quick trip. Wrong! This twenty-mile trip took us almost 90 minutes over the Million Dollar Highway. Hairpin turns like you’ve never seen before. You really couldn’t get going much faster than 20 miles an hour or so. This was treacherous driving! I kept telling Alan, "Hug that center line!" I couldn’t even enjoy the views because I didn’t want to chance saying, "Oh look at that!" and have him take his eyes off the road even for one nanosecond...there is just no margin for error. I know it was named the Million Dollar Highway because of the views, and yet in my mind it is named that because after people drive over it, they say "I wouldn’t drive that again for a Million Dollars!"<br /><br />Ouray is a beautiful town nestled in the middle of a huge mountains, and is referred to as the "Switzerland of America." Evening was approaching when we arrived into town, and the whole town is lit up with lots of white Christmas lights on many buildings. We stayed at the Best Western Twin Peaks, whose big claim to fame is that John Wayne stayed there for 40 days while filming "True Grit." In fact, they assigned our family to the actual room he stayed in. This meant nothing to the kids...their only concern was that they were not sleeping in his actual bed!<br /><br />One thing Ouray is famous for is jeep tours onto mountain passages inaccessible by car. After risking our lives driving the Million Dollar Highway, this tour option did not appeal to any of us! We did some hiking, though, and saw some gorgeous waterfalls. Then we enjoyed soaking in the hot springs at our hotel.Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118519094702347032005-06-10T02:07:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:12.892-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Mountain%20stream.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Mountain%20stream.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Hugging Caroline in front of a gorgeous mountain stream on the Million Dollar Highway <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118518900894598692005-06-10T01:41:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:11.968-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Family%20at%20stream.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Family%20at%20stream.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Family picture by the stream <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118518882917954752005-06-10T01:40:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:11.716-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Emily.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Emily.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /> Pretty girl by a gorgeous tree...or maybe I should say gorgeous girl by a pretty tree! <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118518914260655362005-06-10T01:39:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:12.207-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Gold%20mine%20tour...minus%20Mommy!.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Gold%20mine%20tour...minus%20Mommy%21.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Gold mine tour...minus one claustrophobic Mommy! See that hole in the mountain they're about to go in...now you know why I didn't go!<a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118519127451760812005-06-10T01:35:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:13.398-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Panning.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Panning.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Panning for gold! <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112793.post-1118518867323986452005-06-10T01:30:00.000-04:002006-11-13T22:10:11.383-05:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/640/Downtown%20Silverton.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/80/5936/320/Downtown%20Silverton.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Downtown Silverton <a href="http://www.hello.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Hello" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbh.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a>Fifferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06697178785945779599noreply@blogger.com0