Kristin's 13th Year!

For both of our daughters, Michael and I put a great deal of thought into training opportunities throughout their lives. One of the things that I believe God put on my heart years ago was the Jewish concept of "Bat Mitzvah". What a concept! Ushering in the age of responsibility, putting your childish ways behind you, beginning to participate in religious and community activity all on your own. In America we just hold our breath and HOPE that WE survive their teenage years... most 13 years olds biggest responsibility is "putting out the garbage"! Not in our house!

When the girls turned 13 we chose a number of adult women who had a position of influence with our daughters. These women each had a spiritual maturity that had earned them the trust of Michael and me to speak into the lives of our daughters. We asked each of these godly women to take a character trait out of verses like 2 Peter 1:5-8, 1 Tim. 4:12 (faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perserverence, godliness, kindness, love, humility, purity and being an example in life). The ladies were to meet with our 13 year old or write her a letter. They could take it to whatever level they wished, but overall, needed to communicate the biblical character trait and provide for me a written description of what was discussed. This would be used to create a scrapbook so that these concepts could be referenced in the future.

This was accentuated by a gift to each 13 year old of a charm that represented either the person or the trait. For Kasey we chose Pandora, and for Kristin we chose Brighton.

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Kristin just received her charm bracelet but Kasey has had hers for two years now and it is so very sweet to Michael and I that she can still walk thru her charm bracelet meticulously as to who gave her each and what trait they covered.

Either at their birthday (with Kasey) or at the end of this training time (with Kristin) we had a closing luncheon to wrap up the experience. This was a way to thank all of the dear women that participated as well as our opportunity to "have the last word" so to speak. We took this opportunity to have Michael address our daughters and challenge them toward spiritual maturity and to be passionate about their walk with the Lord. I took a few moments to address the families Christian Heritage. This was reflected a number of ways: in the inherited place settings, china, silver, linen napkins, etc. We also gave each daughter a study bible. Kristin's day was highlighted with the gift of her very godly great grandmother (Margaret Stark's) last bible. Kristin was named after this amazing studier of the Word. What a object lesson to hold a godly womens bible all tattered and torn, with years of writing in it with precious papers tucked in to the pages. Only one picture was found in her bible upon her death: one of her holding Kristin as a baby. So precious. Absolutely priceless.

These challenges got quite personal which brought many shed tears. With our oldest we had the luncheon in a restaurant but decided, since it was highly personal, that for Kristin we had the event in our home. This turned into an authentic English Tea which was so much fun! Lots of little tea sandwiches, crumpets and scones, devonshire cream and lemon curd... but more than anything it was meant to physically project Kristin's heritage and to make her feel like the guest of honor.

One thing we presented to both girls was a china plate. Kasey was given a plate from her grandmothers (on her fathers side) collection. Kristin was given the plate in the picture above which was her great grandmothers given to her on her wedding day, Dec 12, 1931. Grammie Bea passed away just last year at 104. Kristin had a sweet love for her grammie which made this plate hold deep meaning. The plates were NOT my idea. It came from a book I read called GENTLE PASSAGES by Robin Jones Gunn. Here is a synopsis:

Young Natalie, Robin’s eleven year old neighbor, was upset that her parents would not allow her to go to a particular movie with a group of her friends. Natalie felt that her parents were overprotective and could not understand her. Robin had been making chocolate covered cherries, and asked if Natalie would like to eat some with her while they talked. Robin then proceeded to dig through the garbage can and pulled out some paper plates stained from
hot dogs and baked beans! When Natalie asked if she had any other plates, Robin agreed that dirty paper plates really were not suitable to serving her guest. She went to a china cabinet and pulled out a beautiful china plate. She explained that these were very special plates of which she was “probably too protective.” Natalie agreed that Robin was right to be careful of such valuable
plates. At this moment, Robin went on to say, “that’s why I want to keep them clean and ready so I can use them to serve others.”

The story continued with the conversation between Robin and Natalie, and Natalie came to an understanding that she was like the china plate. Her parents were protective of her because they wanted her to be kept clean and set apart, so that she would be ready to serve others.
Robin and Natalie read together from the Bible, 2 Timothy 2:21 “If you stay away from sin you will be like one of these dishes made of purest gold– the very best in the house- so that Christ himself can use you for his highest purposes.”

Here is the complete verse from the Living Bible which is what I used at the Tea Party:

2Timothy 2:20-21 (TLB)

In a wealthy home there are dishes of gold and silver as well as some made from
wood and clay. The expensive dishes are used for guests, and the cheap ones are used in the kitchen or to put garbage in. If you stay away from sin, you will be like one of these dishes made of purest gold- the very best in the house- so that Christ himself can use you for his highest purposes.

These plates are hanging in each of our daughters rooms... a bit of an odd decoration for a teenagers room, but yet a wonderful, personal challenge to each and a daily reminder to keep their eyes on being used for God's highest purposes. We wrote these verses on the back of each plate and a special message from us.

Here are some pictures from this past weekends tea party. Not all of the ladies could attend as three of them are on the west coast and one just had a baby but as many as could attend did.

Here are some pictures of the table just to give you a glimpse into the day...

The tea cozy was my Mom's (who was not able to be there) but ironicly, we were able to visit Scotland this past year!

Kasey made the scones! She did a GREAT job!

Here is Michael (the only guy at the tea parrty!) presenting his challenge to Kristin. He also shared some points that he gleened from his bible study from that morning. It was VERY sweet.

Michael, Kristin and me!

Auntie Pammie from CT!

me, Kristin and Coach Foxen (volleyball and softball)

Kris and Aunt Cindy from CT!

Auntie Bev from Westerlo!

Stephanie, Kristin's middle School Sunday school teacher!

Grandma and Kristin...

The whole family... Kasey included!

Bottom line, both events were deeply personal and I hope made memories that will last a lifetime. The people that I've talked to seem to think that this was extraordinary. I say it was not... what it was, is INTENTIONAL.

So many birthdays go by with cake and ice cream, a silly song and lots of presents. I love parties... and believe me, my kids have had their share of parties, but I want more for my girls. Michael wants more for his girls. We only have a few years... it is our JOB to speak truth over them, to train them to reflect Christ, to talk about scriptural things as often as possible and to empower our children with as many tools in this life as they will need to do more for the kingdom of heaven. We believe that begins and ends with scripture. Did these events take planning? Absolutely. Did they take extra time? Yup. Will my girls ever look at their charm bracelets as just jewelry? Never. It came with a lesson... a lesson for life...and love... and godliness.

Only a few short years and our training of our girls will lessen substantially. Tea parties are of utmost importance for today. They are memories and lessons that will carry our children into their future and to set the spiritual bar for them that is higher than the status quo. How else will they become more like Christ under our watch? And anyway, Tea parties are fun... and we ALL will remember them forever!

The Devastation of IRENE...

We've weathered a few storms in this area but I HAVE NEVER SEEN a storm as devastating as this one... Heres some shots of the storm and the day after...

Dukers Copper Roof rolled off like a sardine box...

Dukers guest house... and Rte 143 road colapse starting...

The town next to Westerlo... Clarksville...

This is our friends, The Richardsons, driveway... the culvert pipe is downstream...

Jerry Boons farm... and our road... Rte 143...

Our pond at max capacity... it was about 4 feet down... we didn't think it would fill until next spring...

Dukers Driveway after the storm...

The road colapse in front of Dukers...

The road collapse at Jerry Boons..

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Westerlo Town Park...

My girls trying to float in a "bucket"...

THe Final Days of the EPIC Adventure 2011!

These last few days are packed with long drives, no reservations and dinner in Walmart parking lots but it's made a GREAT adventure!

This was the first night I didn't have reservations... and CLEARLY, there was a reason that I did so much research... we pulled in and 80 year old, Shirley, met us in the dirt driveway and said she'd walk us to our site... Here it is (we could hardly open the door!):

Never the less, we had a GREAT time! Mike took the girls out for DQ and I sat on Shirleys front porch chewin the fat...

We stopped at Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota which was our least favorite of all the parks but we got to see a glimpse of wild horses... that was cool!

We spent the night in our last reservation spot in Sturgis SD home of the huge motorcycle rally in August... the campground was called "Rush No More" campground... and it was a really sweet site... complete with paddocks with two foals, a nice heated pool and hot tub... it was also about 30 muntes from a Cabelas... BONUS!

Kristin has been working hard at getting her hunting license and in August will be taking her test for archery and hopes to be able to hunt with Michael this fall. So, with the anticipation of this, Michael bought is girl a sweet Bowtech Bow and all the fixin's. We even stopped at a second Cabela's for hunting boots... Kristin is formally PSYCHED!

The next morning, on our way out, we drove thru the Badlands... very interested to see what appeared on the terrain after erosion... we didn't spend a ton of time here but it was interesting to experience and added National Park #12 to our list.

Here was our view for most of the day...

This sign in Alberta cracked me up... it's a real place...

Yeah... there really is a place!

We're just TRUCKIN' across the upper part of the country... our final hours in the car... in total, we will have travelled over 8500 miles... filled the gas tank over 40 times, saw 12 National Parks and a handful of national historic sites, passed thru or stayed in 23 states and 1 Canadian province and been gone 23 days... all in all, PRICELESS! I'm humbled at having this opportunity and know we will treasure the memories that were made for a lifetime! We have such a rich heritage in this nation and such a beautiful landscape in which to live. I thank GOD for it all.

BANFF... a MAJOR destination on my bucket list. Check!

Thanks to the encouragement of Susan Hull and years of having Banff on my bucket list we FINALLY got to Banff and it was so worth it... Almost magical... (sorry Joanna Gehr who doesn't like the word). Banff is one of the Canadian Rockies National Parks. It seemed that every time I saw a beautiful picture of an alpine scene, it was taken in Banff...so, it was time, I took some of those pictures... I will say that pictures just can't capture the beauty of this park, but I'll attempt to share my pictoral perspective...

We stayed right in the National Park and it was possibly the largest campground we have stayed in with amazing views and literally 2 miles from downtown Banff... which was kinda like Jackson Hole or Vail, CO... upscale but so cute...

The highlight of Banff is across the river and up the hill... to the Banff Springs Hotel. It's a castle...with a GREAT view! We went in it, and almost got lost! just amazing!

This was the back patio of the hotel... we brought the beauties with us...

Here's me and my stud-muffin... I think we're already planning in our little minds a long weekend gateway to this hotel... as we left a Scotsman came out and played his bagpipe which resonated thru the mountains... another peaceful moment...

This was the waterfall at the base of the hotel... they were starting rafting trips right around the corner from this site.

We caught this guy while driving to Lake Louise. Nice bear...

There seemed to be views like this around every bend... yeah, I have already filled an 8GB card...soon to fill a second... almost 3000 pictures... I'm a freak about pictures...

SO...oh my... I thought Banff was pretty? Then we came to Lake Louise, still in the National Park, just north... here's the view from the parking lot...

Here's a panarama of the lake... the wall is actually slightly curved but the focal point is right in the center... hard to see in this picture but it's a series of 6 glaciers... the main one being Victoria Glacier...

The water at Lake Louise (and most of the lakes in glacial areas are a teal blue green... not clear, but an amazing blue green... it's from what geologists call "flour" which is tiny rock sediment from glacial runoff that suspends in the water. When the light hits it, it looks blue green... Kristin has declared that it's her favorite color!

I stopped counting the people I asked to take our picture... but it was usually a split deal as they wanted a picture of them too!

My brother Dean had a book on great hikes and it included a hike in Lake Louise called the Plains of six glaciers trail. It started at the opposite end of Lake Louise and was 7 miles round trip. Michael wasn't a big fan of longer hikes on this trip so I dismissed the thought... so we walked the length of the lake... I was actually feeling a bit weak as I have had a little stomach bug for the last few days and I realized that I had eaten very little protein... we had two water bottles, no food and two out of our four walking sticks and when we got to the far end of the lake, mike says..."let's do the 6 glaciers trail!" WHAT? I was so excited, but prayed that God would give me some strength back... within about 10 minutes, with nothing but a prayer, I was back in business and we started the assent to Voctoria Glacier... It took us about 2 hours but it was SOOOOO worth it! At the top of the trail (as close to the glaciers that you could safely get) was a tea house.... they helicoptered staples like flour and sugar once a year... then int'l students work there all summer and hike in and out every five days to bring fresh food... I'll tell ya, we almost gave up a few times.... we saw FOUR avalanches off the melting Victoria Glacier and finally made our destination and I'll have to tell you, lemonade and PBJ and Tuna sandwiches on freshly made bread was the best food I had ever tasted... we even had home made hummus and chips.... it was awesome! Truly! Here's the pics from the hike:

This was one of the small avalanches from Victoria Glacier (top part of the mountain). The CRASHING sound that it made was AWESOME! They say it takes 20 seconds to actually reach the Lake Louise hotel at the other end! You had to see it to catch it as by the time the sound reached you it was too late!

Here's the TEA HOUSE with four VERY HAPPY HIKERS!

We ate on the second floor on two tiny tables... they even made chocolate cake from scratch without electricity...

They make the wheat bread FRESH every day and literally cut it in slabs for their sandwiches... We definitely concluded that they were the best sandwiches EVER... this of course was based on the fact that we had no food on the trek and were starving and in need of protein when we got there...

Finally back at the lake level... this hike is a MUST for anyone traveling to Banff... Thanks Dean for the use of the book that lead us here!

I was a tired girl after this climb... but it was a GREAT tired.

I couldn't help to take more pictures of this lake... and had a new appreciation for Victoria Glacier...

This was on bow Lake en route to the ice fields in northern Banff...

We caught another black bear on the way home...

These two bull elks we caught coming out of the woods... so we pulled over... they proceeded to get swo close to the truck that I COULD reach out the window and touch their antlers... of course, I didn't becuase Michael said it would break EVERY rule inside a Natl Park if I did so... but oh, I wanted to...

We concluded our evening with a drive up to Two Jack Lake and Lake Miniwanka... we caught a herd of Big Horn Sheep up there... this guy basically ASKED me to take his picture...

We left the next morning at 7am in our first real rain storm... seemed appropriate for our mood... it was the most western and northern part of our trek and after Banff, we were heading home...

I read thru a Psalm this morning that seemed appropriate for Banff.... it was Ps. 33:8-9...

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let the people of the world revere Him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

I really don't understand experiencing the breathtaking places that we've been in the last three weeks and not see God's hand in it all. "...even the rocks will cry out!"