What NOT To Do With Your Microwave

The internet is great for letting you watch things you'd NEVER actually do, right?

Friends Come In All Sizes

I received a blessing yesterday when I was with a group of people from church and got to talking to a young girl who just turned eleven. We talked about everything from her baby cousin who recently died, to her favorite I Love Lucy episode. After a while, her little brother came over and said, "You're talking to a 25-year-old?!?" She responded, somewhat indignantly, "I like her!" It was so sweet!

Slight Miscalculation

Oops.

The Raleigh Ringers

My sisters and I had the privilege of attending a concert given by this group last night. This video is from a different performance, but we did hear this song, among many others. It was absolutely amazing!

Chemistry Fun

Here's a video showing experiments that explode, burn, change color, etc.

Vacation Part Four

We spent a day just enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Ozarks.









We then went to Hot Springs, Arkansas where you can stick your finger in a pool of very hot water...


...and where you can see the historic bath house, where some of the old implements for hot water medical treatments look a lot like torture devices!



Our last stop before heading home was at a historic town with lots of reconstructed buildings. One of the most fascinating things, though, was this massive magnolia tree.


Oh, and the gorgeous chamber pot.

Vacation Part Three

After leaving St. Louis, we went to see a cave, and got a nice guided tour.

We spent a day at the Ozark Folk Center, a place with lots of old-time crafts being demonstrated. We enjoyed it very much.

We got to ride a mule-driven merry-go-round, which was slow, but relaxing and quite a novelty.

Cigar-box fiddle.

Washtub bass.




Loom weaving.




Soap-making.






We finished our day with dinner out...



...and a fun concert, with various bands, dancers, and singers.



John, taking in a moment of country life.

Vacation Part Two

We headed back to Texas through Missouri and Arkansas, and stopped in St. Louis to see the Arch.



John outside the very small tram door.


It was a very exciting ride!




Here we are at the top, looking out the observation windows.


We also went through the museum below the arch. Becca is good at mimicing statues and doing funny stuff for the camera!


We were blessed to stay at the home of our friends, the Servens. They made this fantastic bonfire, which was great fun. It also helped us get our minds off our troubles, since we were down in the dumps because our van had been robbed in St. Louis that afternoon. Someone broke a window and took some electronics, money, and other items that were inside. It was a troubling and very inconvenient occurance, but we're just thankful no one was hurt. We were able to get a new window the next day, so we were able to continue our trip. We left St. Louis a little sadder and a lot smarter.

Vacation Part One

We returned on Sunday from a family vacation. It was a road trip that included both visiting friends and family and doing site-seeing. I missed the first part of the trip because I was working, so the first activity I was there for was a family reunion in Nebraska. Here's a picture Seth took of the cross on the hill at the church camp where we had the reunion.

Becca and Laura paddleboating.

The girls.

Us with our grandparents. We took a LOT of family pictures. Our smiles started to freeze!

Anna and Seth, who got so confident with their canoeing that they went exploring and the camp supervisor had to go looking for them because they were gone so long!