Dana, This Is For You

Dear Dana,

A couple of weeks ago we hung out with your family and missed you thoroughly. It wasn't the same without you. For goodness' sake, when are we going to see you again? I think we all have Vitamin D deficiency. (Hope that term doesn't have a copyright. :)

Til then, enjoy the photos. *big hugs*

On Friday, we tried to walk off a huge supper, but didn't get very far, on account of

stopping to sniff the flowers

and inspecting ... milkweed plants?

... oh.

Talk about instant fame.
This caterpillar finally curled up into a tight little ball from stage fright.

Temperamental photographers.

How strong is this limb, I wonder?

We're about to find out.

One giant leap for mankind.

Good pic, Naomi. :)

An intense game of Cranium,

evident by the third-time-emptied bowl of gummies.

Puppet and puppeteer in Cranium.

"No, move your arms like this."

"Try to cooperate."

A day or two later, we went down into the gorge.

Waaay down.

Just a safe hike together. Your mom even came along. What could possibly happen?

(You will catch me if I fall, right?)

Little did we know what awaited us around the corners.

Terrifying rock-falls that used every last muscle in our bodies to survive them.

Taking the wrong turn that meant taking more wrong turns that meant living on what berries we could find for several hours.

Dangerous bandits lurked in the bushes.

Thankfully, a handy cave was nearby, where we ducked in until the danger was past.

Here's Sarah trying to look positive.

On second thought, maybe it's a good thing we didn't have much to eat; or else we would've never been able to squeeze through the odd cracks in the rocks.

Friendly travellers before us left encouraging, though misspelt, messages.

But always, these formidable shadows chasing us.

The most unnerving part.

One especially bad patch of quicksand claimed Sara's sandal.

She jumped clear at the very last moment.

Death-defying jump--

what was behind was worse than the ravine in front.

Amongst the life-threatening circumstances, there were things that made it all worth-while:

simple ferns,

white water,

blue sky,

green shirts and cool sunshades, ;)

jelly bean breaks,

and the cutest bumps on a log you ever done seen. ;).

This is what your mom looked like all day. :)

Great pic, Janice and Celtie! :)

This is what happens if you eat too many green jelly beans in the middle of nowhere.

Hi!

Dangerous ivies that some fiend had woven around the handrail on the stairs.

But we did make it back to the van in ten pieces.

(For those of you who don't get the point of tall tales, you just did. If I had said we went for a nice, invigorating hike in the gorge, no gory details added, you'd be asleep by now. :D)

After all that excitement, we went back to the Currey's house, where Mrs. Currey, bless her, fixed up a huge, tasty meal. And they introduced us to

sparkler candles for Sarah's 24th birthday!

(Happy Birthday, love you heaps, and all other related phrases, btw :).

FORGET ordinary candles. No turning back--how could we have been blind for so long?

Smiling,
Jenn

Happily Now and After

On May 21, 2011, Adam and Dana were married. The wedding was so sweet and joyous! A pleasure to attend ... well here, take a look at the pictures and catch a sense of it yourself.

A start on the creativity-filled day.

Whirlpool of light

Mmm ... is it ready yet?


Great job, Naomi.

Mr. Currey: "Where's ... oh, no, they're already married!" :D))

Cute couple watching the photo shoot.

A little angel in bare feet. Too bad it's blurry.

Adam and Dana

Like strawberries and cream. :)

God bless 'em.

Lights and rose petals.

Mr. and Mrs. Currey

The man of the hour.

Christa--no snoring during this maid of honour's speech.

Check out the new ring.

Something along the lines of chocolate and coffee coming right up.

Have at it, guys; you deserve it.

So awesome.

Mmm ...

Cinderella.

The fragments that remained.

Don't care what people say; babies belong at weddings.

All right already, there was a spare moment in the action.

Definitely belong.

Happiness is bare feet and a cup of tea. :)

Second helpings always taste better than the first.

They couldn't stay out of the kitchen for long.

Virginia Reel. What. A. Blast!

Goodbyes, complete with Silly String.

See what I mean? There was so much more that I didn't grab in photos. If the day had a repeat buttom, I'd push it.

Rejoicing in God's goodness,

Jenn

Vera' Busy!

We are very busy working at the greenhouse and with after-work jobs for the moment, but will return as soon as time allows... :)

Sarah

Little Blessings

Take time to ...

... see the hummingbirds.

A coworker discovered this little guy resting in a pot of bacopa while she was watering. He nearly got a shower. One of his stilts was broken, so we relocated him to the store where he sat on the counter and looked about, fell in a bowl of sweetened water offered to him, buried himself in the heliotrope blossoms also offered to him, and finally took off on a wild, skittery flight through the greenhouse.

Poor Flicker died a short while later; but he died a celebrity.

Thankful for the little details that make life worth living, :)

Jenn

Motorcycle Race

Last October, Uncle Rob took us to this really great motorcyle race at Cadwell Park, in Louth, Lincolnshire. It took an hour to get there, but was well worth the trip.

I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, but I think this was the classic bike race.

You can see what a beautiful area the Park was set in, and a rough idea of how much ground it covered. We moved around some, so we could see the race from different angles, including the varying turns and climbs.
Hot pursuit
Popping a wheel on the rise

For some reason, I'm unable to get Blogger to upload any of my own videos, so I went to Youtube and found several to give you an idea of what it was like. This one is interesting, because you get to see what the track is like from aboard a bike. And yes, the numbers are miles per hour. :)
A blur of speed
Leaning into the turn
Older and newer bikes
Many different styles

Good footage-this clip shows the entire race
Looking around the grounds produced tents of the racers and their bikes.
Nice English Flag :)

Flame 'em

Fueling up after the race; we guessed Baked Beans.

Spectator watching the race

A certain uncle inspecting a bike. Didn't realise he was being documented...

The truth sets in... hiding from the press.

(His feet give him away. It's hard to find an equal to those! Heh, heh.)

Now comes the best part, the sidecar race! I told Jenn that if she'd drive, I'd be the passenger. Whoohoo! (For those of you who have never seen a sidecar race, the idea is for the passenger to move his/her weight over the particular wheel and keep the bike from tipping. A very basic definition, I know, but I'm not up on all the terms.) This was the winning team, and yes, the passenger was a girl and the employee of the driver. ;)

Leaning right over the edge

View of a sidecar race; couldn't find any better videos.

Not much selection.

Rival in close pursuit

Getting ready to go waay over. That leather isn't just for looks.

A look from aboard a sidecar. There's quite a bit of unneeded footage at the end when they forget to turn the camera off, but the perspective is interesting. We had a great time.

Wandering Heart

Recently, or maybe I should say, not so recently, I've been reading through the book of Hosea. I started it at least two months ago, but haven't been able to leave and move on.

If you've read the book, you know it tells the story of a godly prophet, Hosea, who is commanded by the LORD to marry a prostitute, Gomer, and stick by her. God wanted to give Israel a poignant picture of how they had been unfaithful to Him, yet He still continued to love them. Go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms... for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. Hosea 1:2

As I've been reading, I've seen how I can apply the same story to my own life. One of my favorite hymns, Come Thou Fount, has the following lines for its last verse.

O to grace how great a debtor,

Daily I'm constrained to be.
Let Thy goodness like a fetter

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, LORD, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love.

Here's my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

The story continues: She said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Hosea 2:5. Gomer didn't realize just how good she had life with Hosea.

In what do I seek to gain satisfaction that God alone wants to fill? What is it that, though not necessarily wrong is placed before God in order to bring comfort? For me: craving delicious food, losing myself in a good book, enjoying comedy and having a nap are among the various things I'll do to bring myself comfort. None of them are wrong, but when used to to seek comfort in place of God... I'm wandering from Him. Sigh.

God responds with His proven method for wandering ones. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. Hosea 2:7





When I try to get fulfillment out of my favorite hobbies, the LORD often says, "No!" and removes the comfort. So frustrating, lol! When I finally understood what He was doing, then I was able to praise Him for keeping me in His path. God is so good! One of my favorite verses is Philippians 1:6. Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

I hope somehow this is a blessing to someone.

With love, Sarah

Have a Blessed Resurrection Sunday!