Sledding with the Pecks...

Jordan and I prayed for snow and here's the answer to our prayer.

Thank You Lord, for answering our prayers! My thumb is up for Jesus!

So... I was just about to be picked up for Sunday School, and I didn't have time to go look for a shovel, so I found a broom nearby and thought I'd sweep a path to our van. It worked pretty good too, seeing how the snow was light and fluffy.

"Ohhhhh!" says Jenny. "We had snow much fun sledding with the Pecks!"


"No, seriously." Benny agrees. "It was drop dead fun!"


Smiles were found all around!

But first we had to patch our hill.

Patch the hill?" you ask?

Yes. It needed to be patched because the ground was showing and it would pop our tubes and slow us down! For the next time you need to patch a hill, here's step by step instructions.


1. Fill up your sled or trash can lid with as much snow as you can pile on.

2. Dump snow on bare spot. Pack down firmly.

3. Then fly, little birdy... fly.

Jordan and I tried to snow board. I can say one thing: It's a LOT harder than skiing. But it's still pretty fun if you can stay up!

Here's what I call "Yankee Ingenuity". The only problem is the Pecks thought of it and they are from the South...

Cardboard sledding!

It worked pretty well until the cardboard got too wet.

Isn't this the best part of sledding? The thrill we all get walking back up the hill is just... wow. We all grunt, groan, complain and then one of us in the group will say, "Well, at least we're getting good exercise." An echo of "sures" and "you're rights" surround us, and then we all...

... die at the top of the hill. I did squeeze out a last smile before the picture was taken.

Ode to New Hampshire Winters...

Yesterday was so much fun! I was able to sled for the first time in a long time! The Pecks invited us to go sledding here in Lincoln, so we loaded up the van with tubes, saucers, snowboards and skis and had a blast! After that, we found a huge pile of snow and made several somewhat safe tunnels and crawled through when completed. It was so fun and reminded me of my childhood in NH.

I had forgotten how warm and cozy you can feel if you dress warm enough while playing in the snow. Only my face was cold while sledding down the hills.

New Hampshire gets approximately 100" of snow a year in the White Mountains where we used to live. Dad and I would take advantage of the "Two for One" special here at Canon Mountain. This isn't the greatest pic, but I found it the other day and it made me miss skiing! I learned to ski at the ripe ol' age of 4... and skied for the next 10 years until we moved to the flat lands of Illinois. We moved to IL on April the 24th, and the last time I skied was April 4th. We still had lots of snow in NH at that time. It was funny coming to IL and seeing not a drop!

Here's "my" skiing mountain in the distance. Canon Mountain, to be exact.

A little closer...

And here I am in the summer... at my favorite mountain in the world!

You ever seen the NH quarter? Well... here's the guy that made it all possible. He did pass away several years ago... but he still lives on in my memory.

Traveling on the back roads (actually... most roads in NH are back roads!) is always fun and exciting in NH.

I was out shoveling our driveway one afternoon, and our neighbors (we lived right next to the guys that plowed our whole surrounding areas) saw me and asked if I would like them to plow it for me. Uhh... ya?! Here's Josh and I enjoying a big 6 foot pile of snow. (That's a six foot fence in back of us)

Awww... cute!

This is Mt. Washington... where the highest winds ever were recorded. 231 MPH!

This is on the way to my grandparent's house. Another view of Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range.

Hehe... sometimes we'd wake up and couldn't see our vehicles!

Merry Christmas...

I wrote this poem several years ago, and I thought I'd post it today... Christmas day.

My Favorite Part About Christmas

What do I like about Christmas?
To be truthful I’d have to confess
That the candy, music, presents and lights
Are some of the things I like best!

The Christmas spirit’s in the air!
There are smiles on each face I see
Merry Christmas! Joy to the World!
These expressions sound forth with their glee

But wait! I have done it! I’ve forgotten the reason!
The reason of this time of year
True joy doesn’t come from the parties or presents
Or even from family so dear

JESUS is our answer; He’s the one that brings us joy
This tiny little infant, this sinless baby boy
Why was He born? He was born to die
A painful death for you and I.

How can this thought bring us such gladness?
Pain…grief….death? They only bring sadness
But this babe that was born triumphed death and the grave
Living again, He’s mighty to save!

From the manger, to the cross, to the grave, now to glory
This is my favorite part of the story

Let us remember the true reason for Christmas!

God Bless!

Brittany

Monday - Day Five

Monday was busy for us. We had to get the hotel room spotless and clean and everything "unnecessary" packed into our van because we were leaving in the morning, and our friends the Babineaux's were coming to stay with us for the night. They also have Silver Dollar City passes and spent a few days in Branson after we left.

Before the Babs arrived in Branson, we decided to go to the Titanic Museum ... which was really neat! The only thing I didn't like about it was that I couldn't bring my friend and companion... my CAMERA!!!! I couldn't believe it! But I could get a picture of the outside and here it is!

Before we went in, we each got a card like this. This was my card and the person that I was, while in the museum. Yeah... I got to take a picture of my card.

I was Charlotte Wardle Drake Martinez Cardeza

These people were all real passengers aboard the ship Titanic. At the end of the museum, you can see whether or not your person lived. Remarkably, our whole family... all seven of us, survived!
After the museum, we went back to the hotel and waited for the Babs. When they got there, we took the girls to a $1.00 jewelry shop up the road and bought some fun stuff.

The Pecks introduced us to Cold Stone Creamery a few weeks ago, and I was happily surprised to see one close to where we were staying. So after we got back from jewelry shopping... we went to Cold Stone!

At Cole Stone, you can choose from several different ice creams. They also have lots of additional items to put into your ice cream, like candy bars, gum balls, fruit, nuts, etc.

Once you pick out your special combo, they mix it together...

This is what I picked... and it was delicious!

So I want to know... why doesn't it ever look like the picture? They gave me chocolate ice cream, with a spoonful of peanut butter, several quirts of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, and two Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Whoa... it was good!

Here I am enjoying it!

And here is Jenny and the Babineaux Girls enjoying their's as well!

We took up every seat in the place... how embarrassing! But once we realized that people were standing up while eating their ice cream, the boys gave the people their seats. That was very nice of them. *Smiles*

Then we went back to the hotel, played lots of pool, Jenga, ping-pong, piano, checkers and then soaked our feet in the hot tub. Then we went back to the room and played some fun games.

Here were are playing Mad Libs. This is a great game to play in a group, and it even gives a chance for younger kids to learn their nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs! Here's how it works.

You have a story with several nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. left out. Here in the picture, Heather is the one "creating" the story. She would say, "Jen, give me a noun" and Jen would pick, "lip gloss". The boys like to pick the gross or weird words like "toilet" or "pimple" but we usually keep them in, because it does make the story pretty interesting.

So here's our finished product. The words in red are the words that we added in... without knowing how they would fit in the story. Heather read the story when it was finished and we laughed... and laughed... and laughed some more!

Dear Mr. Babineaux,

Happy birthday to the most slimy cheese stick in the whole wide toilet. I hope all of your turtles come true on this pink day. May your year be filled with joy and hiccups. I hope you know how proud I am of what a fluffy young lip gloss you have become. I can hardly believe you're turning 12 years old! My, how the cows have flown. I have enclosed a check for 13 dollars. I hope you can spend it on something that will make you feel blubbery. Or perhaps you can put it toward that newfangled pimple you've been saving for! Happy birthday, my darling plate.

Hugs and Teeth, Your Aunt Jenny

We went home the next day... and had a great trip to Branson. Thanks Mom and Dad, for bringing us! We all had a blast!

Brittany

Wordless Wednesday...

Sunday - Day Four

Because there aren't very many good, independent, fundamental, Bible-believing Baptist Churches in the area, we had our own special services in our hotel room with the Pecks… complemented by a wonderful home-cooked breakfast (if packaged sausages and bagels count as a home-cooked meal - we DID have eggs, orange juice, apples, oranges and cheese too).

We learned about a special key to relationships - the Key of Humility.

Our family has enjoyed reading the Mally's book called Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends and would recommend it to any family with children.



Here's James with Kaylen



After breakfast and devo, we all drove to the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield and had a fun time taking pictures and looking around.



So I was on top of the stairs taking a picture when all of a sudden this group of people started waving at me. I didn't want to embarrass them... so I took their picture.



You won't believe it... but that group of people who were waving at me decided to follow me around... ! And to be honest, I really enjoyed myself.



Four wheelers are amazing. If I'm not careful I think I could begin coveting one. But I'm still holding on to a strand of hope that maybe my future husband will own a four wheeler. But... that might not be in God's plan. *Smiles*



Fish aren't really "my thing" and I really think I would die if I ever found out I was swimming with this fellow named Garr. At least that's what the sign said his name was. You fishy people out there are probably groaning.

But I do know some things about fish. For instance, if you want to make a good impression in a photograph, don't hold your fish far away from the camera like I did when I caught this beautiful sunfish.



Instead, hold it closer to the camera. It just leaves... a bigger impression, I guess.

BIG

BIGGER

BIGGEST

And if you want to make something look really big... just put something really small next to it.

Here's that group again. Nice people...

You know, they were funny. They just had great sense of humor in all situations.

Ahh... we also met an Apalone Spinifera, also known as a soft shelled turtle. Turtles are so cute! Except snapping turtles. Once I had to shoot one that was trying to eat our dogs. *Smiles* And my grandparent's friend had a chunk of his forearm taken off by a snapping turtle. So yeah... I'm not too big on snapping turtles either.



We decided to go to Wendy's after for a bite to eat before the Pecks had to travel home, and the Fetters drove up from Marshfield to join us for lunch.



That group FOLLOWED ME to Wendys!



Ben wanted to take a picture of mine and Jordan's eyes. Cool!



The finished product.



We had a great time there as well, and said our sorrowful goodbyes to the Pecks… whom we would see in three days. Funny… but no worries… there were zero tears shed.

After the Pecks left, us and the Fetters headed over to the Children's Science Museum in Springfield. It was actually really neat!

Here's Johnny and Abby digging for dino bones!

Elijah (and myself) loved this huge chime thing... I played several songs on it and had a fun time!

There was a "newspaper office" there that allowed the kids to take a picture of yourself through a computer camera, and write a little article about whatever you wanted.

Here's my article that I wrote. And yes, I realized after I printed it that I spelled penalty wrong! Oh well... at least it's the Gospel... and I hope people get saved through it!

Mr. Fetters had 6 granddaughters, so him and Kaylen just clicked... I dunno though... Kaylen does look a little bored.....

Ah! Now there's a smile!

Dad enjoyed being on TV. Right now I think he's in a deep political discussion about the absolute audacity that the global warming people have... thinking that they can somehow reduced the temperature of the earth. Isn't that... GOD'S job?

"Illinois will be flooded in 10 years because of those ice caps that are going to melt... JUST KIDDING!"



Now this was kinda fun and exciting...



Joshy rode out on a cable on this sweet bike... his balance was incredible. Mrs. Fetters is wondering, "Is he gunna make it, Pete?"



Talent... pure talent!

Okay, here's the secret. There's a weight at the bottom to keep him from falling off. NEAT! It cost him $3.00... but I think it was a $3.00 well spent!

Kaylen snuggling

The Three Mad Scientists!

We ended off the day by going second hand store shopping. We had such a great time with the Pecks and Fetters. I was happy to see the Fetts again!
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