Red River Gorge

We enjoyed a lovely hiking Saturday a couple weeks ago with some dear friends of ours.

It was sunny and in the upper 60s.

Zero humidity.

Hannah likes this.

:)

 

The Daddys leading ahead.

Forging the trail!

Actually, they just looked for diamonds and turtles painted on trees.

The daughters following. :)

And do you see this suspension bridge?  It was at the very beginning of what we thought was our trail.

Some in our group (none in my family that I'm aware of...) are queasy about heights and were rather disappointed to discover that we'd taken a wrong turn, and never had to cross it in the first place! And not only that...had to cross back over!

 So much for following the diamonds and turtles.

But it was just a lovely trail! Full of wildflowers and fresh greenery.

Michelle, that deadwood pic was for you. :)

We hiked 8 miles...so these breaks were well-deserved.

Happy hikers!

This overlook was our goal. Pretty gusty and chilly...but well worth it!

"O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures."

Psalm 104:24

All Things

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."

1 Peter 1:3-4

Learnin' early

"I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;

with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations."

Psalm 89:1

While the boys are gone...

The girls will drink tea!

Yes, we drink it while they're here, too.

But we just love when we can skip the meat and potatoes and enjoy tea party fare in place of a "real" meal.

:)

A bit of soup? Yes? This was a most amazing Bacon Cauliflower soup.

Recipe below!!

No tea party is complete without scones of some variety!!

These are chocolate-orange. Mmmm...

And of COURSE!

What tea party is complete without a passel of GIRLS!?!? This is four of the seven that attended. They are ALWAYS up for some fun.

Creamy Cauliflower and Bacon Soup

1 medium head cauliflower (2 lbs), cut into florets

2 c. (ahem) half-and-half cream, divided

1/2 c. shredded Asiago cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2 to 1 c. water

4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Place cauliflower in a steamer basket; place in a large saucepan over 1 in. of water. Bring to a boil; cover and steam for 8-10 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly.

Place cauliflower and 1/2 c. cream in a food processor; cover and process until pureed. Transfer to a large saucepan.

Stir in the cheese, salt, nutmeg, pepper and remaining cream. Add enough water to reach desired consistency; heat through. Sprinkle each serving with bacon.

Yield: 4 servings

Oops.

Uh oh.

The title of this post says "oops", and there's a picture of the back of Hannah's car.  What did she do THIS time?

Let me tell you!

SO!

The plan was to get up early and hit a couple of stores before picking up a box of t-shirts from a lady who hired me to do some embroidery for her coffee shop. I was going to find everything I needed, zip over to the shop, and be home before lunch! Right? Right. Good plan.

First store wasn't open until 10am.

I'm guessing 8:45 is a little too early to hang around for the doors to open?

Second store took me forever to try things on and...well...those sales racks are just so distracting! And before I knew it, it was time for me to be at the coffeeshop, and I had to put everything back that I'd found, and walk out.  My morning is going so well...

But I got to the shop in time...

in time for there to be a flood of customers, so that the owner couldn't get to me for nearly an hour and a half!!!!! Had my laptop with me, but no internet.  OH! What was I thinking!?!? I could have played some Solitaire!  Man. Opportunity lost. *sigh*

But at last, we quickly talked over what I was going to be doing, and I walked out with a box of shirts...and was met by the sight of...

my car headlights.

ON.

Surely it wasn't a long enough time for the battery to die. Surely!

*vremmmbrererakljvermba*

(sounds of car not starting)

Or maybe it was.

So there I sat. In my dead car on Main Street.  But I knew what to do. No fear! I just called my own personal hero:

"DAAAADDDDYYYYYYY!!!!!"

Dear Daddy.

Mom has told him many times that he'll never be bored with so many girls around needing help and rescuing all the time. :) Hee hee hee!!!  But I am so thankful for his long-suffering and patience in things like this. He never makes me feel like I just did something stupid (even if it...was). Just rescues me and makes me feel safe and protected. :) I love my Daddy.

And God knew I was going to run the battery dead, too! I had parked in the place behind an empty "fire hydrant" space, so Daddy was able to pull right up in front of me to give me a jump start, without any inconveneint pushing or pulling (!!) or finding of car owners to move their vehicles...especially considering it was Main Street, and a little busy!! :-O

 And though he didn't have a jump cable, the owner of the coffeeshop did! 

But I'm still trying to figure out what the lesson was. 

Well...I do know one:

Even the best-laid plans don't always happen!

"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." (Prov. 27:1)

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." (Prov. 19:21)

I got home an hour later than planned, without ANY clothing finds (had to go out later, 'cause goodness knows you can't let a coupon expire), and a box of shirts that took me nearly 2 hours to pick up. :P But as my dear Oma says:

"Write your plans in pencil, and give God the eraser."

In the end, you're NOT in charge of what happens, and you just have to learn to let go if it, and realize He is the one who holds the future!! Make plans, sure! But choose to "Commit your work to the Lord..." and trust that He has a perfect plan in mind, even if it doesn't look so splendid at first glance...and in time, HIS time, "your plans will be established." (Prov. 16:3)  Because plans and work put into the hands of the Lord, get changed around into HIS plans and work...which cannot fail to be blessed!

No, I'm not talking about my shopping trip any more. :)

And thank the Lord, He, too, is patient and long-suffering! And is always there, ready to help us in our foolishness...never berating or scolding. Simply setting us on the right path again, and whispering encouragement and love to us all the while.

He is so good!

And I'm never.

Let me repeat that, NEVER! leaving my headlights on again......

Lord willing. ;)

Stages

"The truth is that none of us knows the will of God for his life.

I say for his life--for the promise is "as thou goest step by step I will open up the way before thee." He gives us enough light for today, enough strength for one day at a time, enough manna, our "daily" bread. And the life of faith is a journey from Point A to Point B, from Point B to Point C, as the people of Israel...

"It is not difficult when you read the whole story of God's deliverance of Israel to see how each separate incident fits into a pattern for good. We have perspective that those miserable wanderers didn't have. But it should help us to trust their God. The stages of their journey, dull and eventless as most of them were, were each a necessary part of the movement toward the fulfillment of the promise.

"[This] may be only a stage of a life's journey, but even a stage is a gift. God may replace it with another gift, but the receiver accepts His gifts with thanksgiving. This gift for this day. The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived--not always looked forward to as though the "real" living were around the next corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow."

--Elisabeth Elliot

(Let Me Be a Woman, chapter 10)

Hearts set on Pilgrimage

Hebrews 11:13-14

"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowedged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland."

"God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accomodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows. But the enjoyment of God is the substance.

These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun.

These are but streams, but God is the fountain.

These are but drops, but God is the ocean...

Why should we labor for, or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?"

--Jonathan Edwards

Tyler got a Jeep...

A cool black jeep with HUGE tires!!!

And at the dinner table the evening he drove it home, we were all asking Tyler questions about it, deciding where we were going to drive it, how he was going to take us all sorts of places, how he was going to save me gas by driving me to work every day...those kind of things.

Then at a lull in the chatter, Hope piped up in her sweet and sincere tones:

"I'll trade you my Leap-Pad for your Jeep!"

Well, it was worth a shot!

Breakfast...

For a special Saturday morning treat...

What ARE those monstrosities in the oven?

Are you SURE this is going to be good?

Wait, I see something emerging from the fog!!

AHA!!

German Puffed Pancakes!

Of COURSE!

Mixing up some blueberry sauce whilst the pancake puffed...

A few topping choices...

And voila!!  A beautiful breakfast!

I know, I know...you can barely see the pancake under everything I put on it. :) But that's half the fun, right?

 

And so you all can make this marvelous recipe for yourselves:

German Puffed Pancake

6 eggs

1 c. milk

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 T. butter

Turn oven to 400* F. Put butter in a greased 9"x13" pan and put in oven to melt while you whisk eggs, milk, flour and salt. Pour over melted butter and bake 20 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

Serve immediately with whatever you desire.

:)