Gettysburg

A strange juxtaposition exists between the town and fields of Gettysburg.  Both are rich with history; however, the fields outside of Gettysburg boast some of the most solemn ground upon which my feet have tread while the town is much more fanciful and delightful.  I’ll walk you through our visit to Gettysburg as we experienced it, beginning with the town.

The Acorn:

This and many other acorns were among the first things we saw.  They kids started playing with them and I immediately became quite a target for these bourgeoning projectiles.  This image captures both the life and the history that I love about this part of the country and Gettysburg in particular. 

Color & Texture:

If you just whipped through the last images concentrating on my beautiful family, take a second look at the abundant colors and textures that exist everywhere in Gettysburg.  What an amazing place! 

We also really enjoyed the food.  We had lunch at a little French Bistro where the most delectable MonteCristo sandwich was served.  Julie and I savored every little bite!  OK, so this wasn’t quite authentic Gettysburg fare but it was amazing still and an important part of our day!

People:

 

A few times a year a large company of Civil War enthusiasts descends upon Gettysburg to share part of the history they love so much.  Indeed these people are full of passion and desire to discuss the important accomplishments of their progenitors.  They really love assembling, teaching, and sharing.  We spoke with a young man (probably about 12), clad in garb befitting the era; he explained how much he enjoys the history and that he is continually correcting his teachers on the finer points of Civil War history.  :)  I can’t overemphasize the the zeal of this people!  I even got to watch a simulated leg amputation; what an adventure!

The Grass:

We had so much fun playing in the tall grass.  Hearing the laughter of little children in such a solemn place was music to our ears.  If you want to look at other images of the day please check out the gallery here.

The Fields:

The feelings we experienced here were very much akin to those felt during our visit to Arlington National Cemetery; very solemn and hard to describe.  Instead, I’ll leave a few images and the words of the Gettysburg Address. 

 

  

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

-Abraham Lincoln

Playground Pictures

Rob took the kids to the park a couple of weeks ago and took some fun, playful shots. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few more pictures are here.

SpiderNate

Happy Belated Halloween!!

Our Trip to Penn State – Part 2

THUMBS DOWN: To the manufacturers of contact solution for not selling a bottle that complies with FAA standards for liquids.

THUMBS UP: Getting numerous comments such as “Wow! I didn’t even realize there were kids on the plane!” Yup, my kids are just that great.

 

 

THUMBS DOWN: United baggage handlers breaking our stroller.

THUMBS UP: Getting upgraded from a Dodge Caliber to a Chrysler Town & Country minivan.

THUMBS DOWN: To directions from MapQuest and missing roads from maps.

THUMBS DOWN: To the never-ending mile. They stretch on forever there and make car rides long.

THUMBS UP: To beautiful, peaceful Lancaster County, PA. The farms, the trees and leaves, the rolling hills, the many horse-and-buggies (No pictures of those. The Amish believe photographs are making “graven images”), the dark, and the quiet.

THUMBS UP: The homemade “grate nuts” and granola left for us from the Mennonite couple whose apartment we rented.

THUMBS UP: To the Mennonite couple inviting us to their Amish & Mennonite Church. We weren’t able to stay the whole time, but were there for Sunday School/Primary. It’s amazing how similar we are. If it weren’t for the men and women sitting on separate sides of the chapel and the bonnets and beards, I’d swear we were in our own church.

THUMBS UP: To the First Presbyterian Church members who were so kind to us when we wandered in off the street to find Nate a bathroom. They even offered us refreshments. Now that’s one thing we ARE missing at our own church.

 

 

THUMBS UP: To beauty and kindness everywhere

Our Trip to Penn State – Part 1

I have a mountain of laundry and am tired, but I want to make sure to get our vacation documented before I start forgetting some of the details.

We went to Pennsylvania to visit my Grandma Raines (my dad’s step-mom). It’s been 10 years since I’ve seen her which means she hasn’t met Rob or the kids. She’s always been so kind by commenting on our blog, sending emails, and sending gifts for Christmas and birthdays. I wanted to make sure the kids had some memories of her so when a killer deal came up, we went for a visit.

Grandma emphasized how much she dislikes having her picture taken, so we kept our camera put away. That’s why we don’t have any pictures of her. But we had a great time chatting, eating, and looking through photo albums. The kids had a great time exploring around her apartment and finding cool treasures (adding machine, magnifying glass, etc.).

Thanks, grandma Maria, for hosting our family. We truly enjoyed our stay and are so happy we had the opportunity to get to know each other a little better.

We love you!!!

(I have much more of our trip to blog about.)

Nebo Drive & Payson Lakes

Last weekend we piled in the car and drove down south to the Nebo Area.  We hoped to go a few weeks earlier to see the leaves change but couldn’t make it happen.  So yeah, the leaves were all down as we, or at least I (Rob) expected.  Every time we drove over a hill and beheld a valley filled with trees (sans leaves) I would chuckle a little because I knew Julie was agonizing over how beautiful it could have been…..if only…..  LOL!

We got out of the car at a few places along the drive to take a walk in the woods.  How fun it was to goof around with the kids.  We had a blast playing with sticks and rocks, throwing dirt and leaves, and jumping on logs.  Of course we made a lot of images. 

Nate has his mom's amazing eyes!

Eventually we made our way to Payson Lakes.  We played in the dirt, mud, sand, and water for at least two hours! The kids found a old broken paddle to use as a make shift shovel.  Instant FUN!

Here is one of Madeleine with her pile of rocks and dirt.  She worked on this for about 20 minutes.  I’m not really sure what she was doing the entire time; However, we can rest assured that it was satisfying.  :)

Here are a couple shots I took when I wasn’t playing with the kids.  We even found a few leaves for Julie!

I sure wish people would pick up their trash! Ugh!

 

Those interested can find a few more images in the web gallery.

Happy Birthday, Colleen!

 

Today is my sister Colleen’s birthday. She turned 24. She has two totally great sons, Jason and Xander. 

Here are a few memories I have of her or of us growing up together:

• When Colleen was only a few years old, she would write her name on everything…usually in permanent marker. We’d find her name on bed frames, the wall, tables, just about anything. What made it funny was that she would always deny it, even though it was her name. What’s even funnier, is this is how she spelled Colleen – ololloollo. It was like she was a computer coding genius at 3. I wonder what secret program she was writing?
• Colleen loved to tag along with me and my best friend. She was game for anything we wanted to play, as long as she was included. We played house, post office, school, Barbies, and anything else. She always wanted to be in the middle of the fun.
• I don’t know if she still is, but growing up, Colleen was very accident-prone. I take that back, I do know. She is still very accident prone. She had a huge, bloody scrape across her face for my sister’s wedding, she chipped her two front teeth riding her bike into a parked car, she has had numerous sprained appendages, etc. But she’s always been a good sport about it, usually laughing at herself as she tells us what happened.
• She had the prettiest, naturally blonde hair growing up. I was always jealous because mine was mousy brown. And I always thought my hand-me-downs looked cuter on her.
• She has empathy. Two great stories comin’ at ya. 1-When she was maybe 3 years old we were visiting my grandparents on a vacation. We were all eating ice cream in the living room. We found Colleen in the bedroom with my great-grandmother who had Alzheimer’s, hand-feeding her ice cream. 2-The second story happened the night I said goodbye to my boyfriend who was entering the MTC the next day. I came home and as soon as I walked in the door, Colleen came to me and gave me a big, long hug. Now, my family is not a family of huggers. I don’t usually care for it (except with Rob and the kids), but that night I did and I was so appreciative of her for recognizing the difficult time I was going through. She was the only one who seemed to acknowledge it, and it meant a whole lot to me.
• I seem to remember her always being in good spirits and enthusiastic, even amidst a difficult moment.

Some other notable things about Colleen now:

• Even with all the stresses of adulthood, she is still usually in good spirits and enthusiastic about life.
• Colleen and I have our differences. Many of them, in fact. But we’re always able to come together after a disagreement and just be sisters. She doesn’t hold grudges and does a good job at shrugging things off.   
• She is very detail-oriented. I am also, so I really value when someone else is. When she has the planning reigns, you don’t have to worry about her overlooking anything. She’ll have every detail worked out.
• One thing that I truly admire is her phone skills. I hate calling. She revels in it.
• She’s able to talk to absolutely anyone for any amount of time, even perfect strangers. It’s easy and natural for her. She’s always gracious.

Happy Birthday, Colleen!! I love you!!