Ethan's Birthday!

Today is Ethan's 12th birthday!!!

Ethan is:

Energetic

Trustworthy

Happy

Athletic

Nice guy 

We love you so much Ethan

and are proud to have you as a part of our family!

You are a special blessing as a son,

a wonderful brother,

and a close friend! 

 We hope you had a great birthday!

Ethan announced today (in all seriousness) that he
was almost 13!  We all had a good laugh
about that one!

Winterizing!

We have finished getting things ready for this winter!  The peanut hay is stacked, the spigots are wrapped and covered, the water heaters are out, the animals are all moved to their winter areas, and the firebox has been filled! 

Vacation

 We just got back from vacationing at Folly Beach, South Carolina.  We wanted to visit Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum, near Charleston.  Patriot's Point is home to the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier, which is on display so that you can walk through it.  It was commissioned in 1943.  You can go all over the ship, from walking through the hangar deck, to sitting in the captain's chair, exploring the engine room at the very bottom, to strolling across the main deck where the planes take off and land!  It was quite an experience!  I never imagined it would be so big!   

The USS Yorktown

We were able to sit in one of the planes in the hangar
deck of the Yorktown.  Ethan is sitting in the plane. 




Poppy  imagining what it would have been like!




One of the planes on the main deck.

 Also located at Patriot's Point is the USS Clamagore, a submarine commissioned in 1945.  Talk about cramped quarters!  It's amazing to think that people spend months at a time in such a small space (and under water too!)


Savannah sitting at one of the tables in the mess hall of the submarine. 
 This area was used to feed about 70 men!



We also visited Fort Moultrie while we were there.  Built in 1776, this fort saw action all the way through WWII until it was finally turned over to the National Park Service in 1960.  Fort Moultrie was also the site of the beginning of the Civil War when the Confederates (Fort Moultrie) fired on Fort Sumter.     

                             

Gram and Pop at Fort Moultrie

                                        

From left to right:  Dad, Mom, Ethan, Kelsey,
 Jordan, Noah and Savannah at Fort Moultrie

Ft. Moultrie

And, of course, you can't visit the ocean without getting in, no matter what month it is, right?  So we spent three days at the beach!  The water was just a little cool, but we all had a blast!   Mom even went in the water once!

Noah on top of the giant sea turtle that
we built!  We had fun watching people's
reactions as they passed by it!  One
 little boy even stopped to pet it!



Ethan on top of the turtle.



We saw hundreds of dolphins!  They would swim within 30 feet of us.

Ethan getting buried!

On the flight deck of the USS Yorktown

Another on the flight deck...

Looking out from the hangar deck,
we saw a dolphin swim right beside the boat!

                                     

Drum Roll Please....

Okay!  The answer to the puzzle that I posted last week is as follows.  (If you would like to read the puzzle again before looking at the answer you can click on this link)

"The Lost Art of Critical Thinking"

THE BRIT OWNS MOBY DICK!

The Norwegian lives in the yellow house.  He eats apples, drinks water, and owns The Grapes of Wrath.

The Dane lives in the blue house.  He eats pears, drinks tea, and owns Call of the Wild.

The German lives in the red house.  He eats bananas, drinks milk, and owns To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Brit lives in the green house.  He eats apricots, drinks coffee, and owns Moby Dick.

The Swede lives in the white house.  He eats strawberries, drinks root beer, and owns The Scarlet Letter.

Was it what you thought?  Supposedly, this puzzle was made by Albert Einstein and only two percent of the people who try to solve it, figure it out correctly!!! 



Posted by Kelsey

Twin Sisters

Katelynn and Elaina
(Our Twin Cousins)



Twin Sisters

Twin sister, here beside me,
hold on to my hand tight.
For we know not what lay ahead,
but next to you I'll be all right.

When you fall down, I'll help you up,
you do the same for me;
You'll get a bandage for my cut,
I'll kiss the boo-boo on your knee.

Twin Sister, here beside me
together we will walk,
Together we will cry and laugh,
together we will talk.

One of these tomorrows,
our childhood will end.
So promise me, Twin Sister
that you'll stay my dearest friend.

Someday in our Lord's good time,
I know we both must die.
I will go to meet my Savior Jesus
in His home up in the sky.

So promise me, Twin Sister,
that you will belieive in Him as well.
Jesus loves you, dearest sister,
He wants to save your soul from Hell.

Jesus wants you, dearest sister,
to spend eternity with Him.
Won't you receive His gift, Twin Sister,
repent of your sins and let Him in.

And someday, Twin Sister,
when we meet Jesus in the sky,
We'll have no fear, we'll have no dread
we'll have no need to cry.

I'll say "Twin Sister, here beside me,
Hold on to my hand tight.
We know our Savior waits ahead,
and with Him we'll be all right."



Elaina and Katelynn

 Posted by Jordan