Sunday, May 8, 2016

Odds & Ends from the Road

 Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum
 Noah Webster's home where he wrote his 1828 Dictionary 
to help Christians better understand the Bible. 
Gotta love a baby sister with a bow like that. :)
Trains at the Ford Museum
Can you believe both of our parents spent their formative years driving in VW vans?
Crosby getting her farm fix!
Walking through history in the train section!
Ronald Reagan's Presidential Limousine
Finishing our impromptu unit study on the beauty of old cars.
Back with our own wheels and our favorite (only!) bus driver, who is also one amazing speaker. :) 
Setting up mics, power point, laptops. 
The booth crew gets to set up shop, too. Yes, Carver is still behind that camera!
Christian....sound board...A LOT of options there??!
 "Rebuilding the Wall"
Daddy
 speaking on Nehemiah. 
Heading through Chicago at midnight.
So much fun to see how creative people are with wood!
Never a dull moment. Things look great upside down, too.
The boys got (stole) this idea from our friends
who inspired us with their push ups on the train tracks. 
Loads of fun chopping, skinning, and drying snakes in Michigan.
Watch for the forthcoming belt.
Family walks are the best. Charlie took this one. Middle of the river?!
AGENDA business moments occur in the most unusual places and at the oddest times of day. :)
Wherever we find a spot for a printer and Wifi will do!
Praise the Lord for outgoing orders to all over the US! 
Carver helped repair this sweet man's deck while we were pulling out one morning.
Home Sweet Home!
Snapped a picture of this great billboard as we drove by. 
In a family of 11 with boots, it is very possible you may find
a pile up like this outside your bunk. :)
Working on our Summer & Fall scheduling.
The ongoing relationship between men and meat starts early.
We girls just tag along with them for the fellowship.
So blessed & refreshed by our quick stop with this dear sweet family!
Kate (the mama of 8 darling girls, one happy brother and a baby on the way) is the author of "Delight-Full",
our favorite book about just thoroughly enjoying your baby.
On one hours notice, they whipped up chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and quiche! So much fun.
Daddy took the younger ones on a tour of the Studebaker museum while the gals took a
power walk. We try to get these in every day and love it when we know
everyone else is having a great time somewhere!
We sang and Daddy spoke for the National Day of Prayer in Fremont, MI.
Love our fellows. So handsome.
Teaching Crosby the Art of War afterwards.
Heading home
Celebrating Mother's Day. Our creative Carolina Katherine at work again. 
Peppermint Fudge. Gluten & dairy free. Top secret recipe by Cass. :)
Lina painted this lovely sign for Momma. Such a good reminder!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Week in the Sugarbush

After 9 weeks of AGENDA events we had a wonderful break 
in Upper Peninsula Michigan helping in our friends' sugarbush.
Kicked off our time with a jam session, where it became quite apparent that Cass needed new strings.
They were kindly replaced (all of them) and the strumming and singing continued!
18 of us all piled in for a happy trip to incredible Bond Falls!
Absolutely beautiful and so peaceful.
Hmmm. A picture's worth 1000 words?
Sisters having a lovely chat.
Brothers. Still have too much energy!
A most lovely spot for a date with 16 other people!
Tallest to smallest. Way too cute.
World Famous Mac N' Cheese
Worth the trip and the border crossing (ha) just to smell this cooking: three sticks of butter, 
bacon, half+half, heavy whipping cream, cheese, cheese, cheese, panko and pasta. 
The return to our leafy green smoothies was abrupt. And painful. :)
Yummy food + hard working hungry boys. Perfect!
Sweetness abounds.
Wild rounds of "Ruckus" and "Catan" after a busy day.
Very fun...marshmallows, fire, sticks, s'mores. Love it!!
Family devotions each morning. So blessed to share time in God's Word.
Snow! Yahoo!
Keeping track of the family businesses. Love the walkie-talkie. :)
Crosby and Bethany. Way too much fun.
Out in the sugarbush. Harvest ended because of the warm weather just before we got there. 
7500 taps to remove. Quite the family project!!
260 beautiful acres of this!!
And...a snake. Thankfully the snakes in 
UP are safe so Christian adopted this one for the picture.
One shift of tap pullers heading home. Sweaty, dirty and happy after 7 hours out in the bush.
Where the sap gets boiled.
Some of the syrup heading to maple sugar.
Bottles ready to be filled!
The other team: bottling newly harvested maple syrup.
If you need the world's best Maple Syrup, go to: PaulFamilySugarbush
 Maple Sugar
Soooooo delicious!!
Maple Barbecue Rub and Seasoning Salt, Maple Sugar and Maple Coated Pecans. YUM!
Lina and Cass took photos for their family band. 
Bowers boys got be cool musicians for one brief moment.
Frisbee. Sweat, run, yell, threaten, score. Such a loving game. :) 
Incredibly beautiful in the middle of nowhere!!
Sweetness!
You know you're loved when...folks wash your dirty bus!! 
Climbing around ice covered steps is no small thing. 
Happy everyone made it down. And back!
Most grateful for the Lord's goodness to us through these very adventurous friends!