Hiking Practice

Last Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day, so Dad (Grant) decided we should go on a practice hike.   We piled in the boys' backpacks and the dog and away we went.  There is a beautiful place called Cascadia with an amazing waterfall!  The trail to the waterfall is only about a mile in...so it was a fairly easy trek. (2 miles total).

Little hikers, ready for action!

Isaac, Grant,(Sadie, the dog), Michael, and Zechariah.

That's Isaac (4 years old), doing a great job!

Michael is doing a good job too.  No pack for him on this trip, but he does have a small one we will try later.

Up, up, up!

We made it to the top!  See the pretty waterfall!

Hard worker, Zechariah, (6 years) is heading back down the trail.

Isaac, ready to head back down the trail.

Down, we go! 

Thank you, Lord for a wonderful family day.  What an amazing Father we have to give us sweet times on this earth to enjoy family and His beautiful creation.

"Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.  Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgements are a great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast."

Psalm 36:5-6

Food Fun!

Picture by Suat Eman

For the last couple of years I have begun a journey of learning more about foods and how to properly prepare them. Traditional healthy food, that usually requires some time...not time making it, but time to let it sit.  Fermenting (culturing), soaking, and sprouting all take time.

 My lastest venture is making water kefir!  We all love it!  It's a sort of bubbly sweet water that is filled with probiotics, great for digestion and a healthy gut!  You can add whatever flavor juice you want as well, to make it a treat.  I usually just add a little lemon and it's wonderful, like lemonade!  Here is a site to show how EASY it is to make! http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2011/04/how-to-make-water-kefir.html

As I type, I have buttermilk culturing, lentils sprouting, water kefir fermenting, and just made some yogurt (in the crockpot) that turned out perfect!

I took out a couple of big scoops, and you can see how firm it is!

Sprouted lentils for a salad I'm making for dinner, tonight. :)

All of this learning, doing, and actually having it work is another pleasure God has given me.  There is something to making food from "as close to the ground" as you can.  As a homemaker, I want to prepare the most nourishing food I can for our family.  We still go out once in a while, but this what I'm trying to implement for most of our  meals. There are some wonderful resources if any of you would like to learn more.  Two of my favorite blogsites are http://www.keeperofthehome.org/  and  http://gnowfglins.com/ . They both have great information and pictures...I like pictures! :) 

I have to say that learning and trying these new things are teaching me some important lessons. Patience and thankfulness for my food have probably been the most upfront things.  The Lord is so good to give us all the food we need daily...and how He created everything to work a certain way.  Watching how seeds sprout, to grow into more plants. How precious water is for cooking and drinking.  (Thank you Lord for the rain!) How living organisms (probiotics - good bacteria) is good for our digestive system.  The more I learn, the more I see how the Lord has made food to sustain and be used by and for our body.  From the largest things like our galaxies to the smallest things like bacteria, He is the Creator of them all and He made them work just the right way to reveal how brilliant He is!

"Praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD from the heavens;

Praise Him in the heights!

Praise Him all His angels;

Praise Him, all His hosts!

Praise Him, sun and moon;

Praise Him, all starts of light!

Praise Him, highest heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens! 

 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for He commanded and they were created." Psalm 148:1-5

  

Newport Beach Trip

We went to the coast last Friday and Saturday to see the "Lady Washington" and "Hawaiian Chieftan".   They are two historical ships.  They were amazing!  Grandma Karen and Grandpa Charlie also came with us (for Grandma's birthday!). 

This was the boys waiting to get on the ships! (They are the two in the background.)  The sails were not up... probably due to the weather.

Here Zechariah is figuring out how the cannon works.

Isaac the "helmsman" and Zechariah the "lookout".

The ships are in the background.  If the sails would have been up it would have been even more spectacular!

 When we got on the ship, I couldn't believe how many ropes there were!  It was a lot of work to sail!

Isaac is so pleased he has control of the cannons. ;)

I wonder what this rope does?

Everyone was happy, except Michael...he didn't understand why we wouldn't let go of his hand the whole time.

Here are the older boys and Dad braving the wind and the drizzle on the beach.  Mom and Michael were relaxing in the warm hotel. :)