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While we were at the Marriage Conference, Sean’s cell phone starting buzzing like mad!  What is going on he said (he was trying not to answer it and let it go) but it just kept buzzing.  Finally, he turned it on to see who was calling. TONS of people, all saying “Don’t come home!  There is no power, big storm, stay put!”

This was a big storm that droped 16″ of VERY WET snow all over the state of CT.  Now, 16″ is not abnormal, but 16″ of wet snow in October is a different story.  The trees still had leaves, the earth was soggy from fall rain. So as the snow piled on, the trees went DOWN. Whole trees, huge limbs, everywhere.  It truly looked like a tornado hit our state.

Workers from multiple states were here for days on end, serving our local families to regain power.  So many of people in CT on our well water, which is powered by an ELECTRIC pump.  So they were not only without power, heat, etc.  But they were without water. Our town was out for an average of 10 days. Some longer.

Needless to say, we didn’t come home.  There we stood in the parking lot of the conference center….hmmmmmm Lord, what do you want us to do with our time?  THERE WAS THE WHIDDON’S VAN RIGHT NEXT TO US……the kids were making plans before we could blink!  Hold, let the Dads talk it out! Well, it didn’t take long and we were on our way to the Whiddon’s house. We had already talked about “some day” we have to have a visit….. I mean it’s right on the way!!! ha ha- it’s the TOTALLY OPPOSITE direction But that didn’t matter, why not?!  When else our we going to have this opportunity?  So on we drove….south…south…south…passing “boiled peanuts” signs, “peach signs” , “Pecan signs”…..all the way to south GA.

What WONDERFUL HOSPITALITY.  Without a ruffle of a feather, the whole Whiddon clan rearranged their bedrooms, their plans, their meals, everything to double the number of people in their home for days. THANK YOU WHIDDONS!!!!!!  We are so grateful the Lord gave us this opportunity to get to know you better.  What a joy.

Everyone had a blast, from farm animals, to cooking, to lengthly- indepth conversations about Biblical eldership, whatever it was, the time was equally edifying.

Trying on “Big Girl Cowgirl Boots”, reading stories, shooting BB guns, and digging in dirt……good ‘ol fun!

THANK YOU AGAIN WHIDDON FAMILY!!!!!

This October was the LONG AWATED “Gospel Center Marriages for a Glorious Church”, AKA marriage conference.  The kids gave Daddy a “vacation” to this conference as a Christmas Present last year!!!  10 months later……..WONDERFUL, simply WONDERFUL!!! We can’t think of a better way to take a “vacation” AND teach our children the glorious picture of marriage that God has designed.

To learn more about the Marriage Conference, or to order the DVD’s from the event go to this link here:  ”Gospel Marriages”

We asked everyone what was their favorite event…

Daddy- all of it,preaching on Ephesians 5, and especially Church on Sunday

Mommy- Paul Washer- simply the BEST gospel presentation EVER EVER EVER- I could listen to it over and over and still be amazed at the power of his word choice!

Jacob-speakers Doug Phillips (Jake said “it just makes sense when I listen to him”) and Paul Washer

Sophie-meeting Abigail in the “resource/book area” (a young girl her age with similar interests and personality)

Josiah- speaker Kevin Swanson for SURE!!! (any of you reading who know our JOsiah and know Kevin S. are CLEARLY drawing the connection!!! )

Jamie- lunch with a LOT of friends and hot cocoa in the hotel room

All the other kids LOVED it, but mostly hanging with friends they know.

Here are the kids enjoying our room with a view at the Conference Center:

We met a wonderful new friend, Tiffany, whose family is built by birth and adoption as well!  We had a LOT to talk about.  Then, she led the kids in a sing-a-long on her “gee-tar” …she’s southern We look forward to keeping in touch and maybe even planning a visit….maybe those southerners would like a home-school field trip to see “New England”.

On our way down to the conference we stopped at our friends the Thrash’s.  The are so very hospitable and welcoming.  We had savory meals and sweet fellowship.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed their chicken yard. I am pretty sure Sarah was ready to move in and leave us behind! She LOVES the Thrash family!

Then, on the way home……well, that’s a whole other post because we got “side tracked” due to a snow storm in CT and ended up in GA (right next door)…more on that in the NEXT post.

So, on our way home to CT, we stayed at our friends the Halbach’s in VA. Meg and Chloe prepared delicious meals for all of us (thanks girls!) and the kids had fun playing games with the Dads outside. We had a wonderful time just talking and enjoying each other and sharing music together (you should hear those Halbach’s sing, and Meg & Chloe on the piano- I thought their fingers might fall off they were so fast!)

Then, we decided to head a little more north to NY to see Jill’s family. Nat’s dad had recently passed away and there was a memorial service, we pulled in just in time to change and head out the door to the church.  The church was the same church that Sean and Jill got married in, that was fun for the kids to see.  They had a great time just hanging with Nauna and Nat, then we all went to the Syracuse Zoo.

Then……….we finally got home to CT after two weeks!  The “state of emergency” after the early snow storm was an amazing sight to behold! It was like flash-backs to living in KC, MO after a tornado! More on that in ANOTHER post!

Feeling like sharing some yankee love in honor of Columbus Day………

Ok so I must add this initial disclaimer. If you are from the “north” this may not come as “variety” to you, I am pretty sure that narrows down the list to my sister-in-law, Michelle, our friends the Nelsons, and my immediate family.  But since most folk we know are of the mid-west or southern persuasion, we thought THIS would add some variety to your “side dish” at dinner time.

“Salt Potatoes”- an common dish eaten by salt miners in days past, now loved by many O’ New Yorkers!

Ingredients:

• one bag of “salt potatoes” (if you don’t live in new york, then your grocery store calls them “baby” potatoes- they used to call them “grade B” potatoes my first year I lived in MO, but then suddenly they we re-labeled with a new price tag as “baby potatoes” as if that made them sound fancier)
• 1 cup coarse salt
• 1 large pot boiling water
• melted butter

Add salt to water, boil, add potatoes, cook  until fork tender. Leave the potatoes whole- they should be about bite size.

Melt butter to dunk the potatoes in. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm a yummy yankee side dish! Seriously, I could eat this with fresh corn on the cob and be done!

Salt and Vinegar “chips”-  Since I spent most of my summer weekends pretending to be canadian with my friend Laura, I just LOVE vinegar on my “chips” which are really fried potatoes (any way you slice them is fine) Personally, I haven’t met a potato that I don’t like.

Ingredients:

• 1 large potato per person eating- sliced like very thick potato chips
• 2 cups vinegar (more if you are feelin’ really northern, eh)
• large pot boiling water
• salt and pepper
• olive or veggie oil

Add vinegar to water, par- boil potato slices- about 5 minutes.

Drain.  toss potatoes in oil- lightly

Lay out on greased cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with salt AND pepper

Broil on high 7-10 minutes (or more for extra crunchy)

Eat and enjoy. (oh, and to be more northern you can add additional malt vinegar before eating- but NOT ketchup)

Happy Belated Columbus Day!!!
 

The first weekend of October was FULL of blessings for our family!  Our friends the Johnsons came to visit.  They had family near by, so it was the perfect excuse to spend time together!  They are such a fun joyful, and faith-filled family.  We just LOVED getting to know them better! The guys worked together to build an extention on our goat barn to keep them dry in the wet fall and winter days!  What a HUGE blessing to have Mr Johnson and his experience in building!  We even had the goat vet stop in for a quick lesson in farming and vaccines- that went smoother than anticipated- phew!  As if the weekend wasn’t complete, God gave us James Staddon to enjoy as well!  He was “in town” so he spent a few nights here and brought blessings with him wherever he went. We took him sight seeing to get some “New England pics” and he blessed all the kids with a testimony of his recent time in Mexico at an orphanage.  To top the weekend off, the day after everyone left, Jacob celebrated his 12th birthday!

We all had a BLAST teaching the Johnsons how to play “gah-gah”  (don’t ask us where the name came from), but it is a FUN, simple game for all to play….here are the winners and a few “action” shots of the game!  We let it get down to two or three “winners” instead of one, that way a little person always won too! Note: that “light footed” Hope is in ALL of the winner shots…..she was FAST!

Then, James shared his testimony with the kids.  James hooked his laptop up to our flat screen (thank you Nauna for that gift a while back – it is soooo great for schooling)  James talked about the Big Vision of the Orphanage as well as the great importance of being faithful in all the daily living NOW as a kid.  He encouraged all our kids to work at being obedient, neat & orderly in household and school things, faithful and diligent workers, making the most of their schooling so they would be VERY prepared for ANYTHING that God gave them later in life.  Encouraging them that God would honor that and use it to bless their future!

Some great fun playing in the dark with glow sticks (a fun gift from the Johnsons)!!!

Some more great time just being together!

Jacob’s 12th birthday!  What a great day!  He even had a special visitor, Dr. Finn a dear friend from church, bring him hot cross buns as a birthday treat!!!  He’s a pic of Jacob in his new threads from his great Nana!  What a blessing for future music opportunities!

In the end,  each person had something to bless the other people with.  We all gave something to the other and THAT is a simple yet WONDERFUL way to MULTIPLY BLESSINGS!!!!

See Sophie’s blog to find out about her “new additions”

http://shadymaplegoatsfarm.blogspot.com/

Recently, our dear friends eldest son, Joshua, got married to Lisa.  Oh it was such a beautiful day!  Families gathering from all over to support, encourage, love, and sincerely welcome this beautiful union.  Joshua and Lisa patiently waited for God’s timing, even on the day of their wedding!  The rain started to come, but no one fussed.  We enjoyed each other while we waited for it to pass.  Then, at just the perfect time, the wedding began.  How beautiful to see young people wait patiently for each other.  To see them value purity and faithfulness!  What a testimony!

The pictures speak for themselves:

Of Course the kids (and adults) had a great time playing around and providing MUCH laughs as they “decorated” Josh and Lisa’s car  Of course, we won’t name names of who did what…..but a picture IS worth a 1000 words!!  And while most of the kids were “decorating” the car, Jacob found yet another instrument that he LOVES….the hammer dulcimer!

And last, but NOT least, we would like to THANK the Hollbach Family for the WONDERFUL hospitality!!!  What a Joy it was stay with them!  Everyone was so welcoming and hospitable.  Each child taking time to spend time with our kids.  Reading books, playing with chickens, playing piano, or just talking. We look forward to more times in the future. Just some of the Hollbachs are in the picture below- you can tell who they are from their HUGE, beautiful smiles…we really need to get better at taking group pictures!