"You beautiful fish, you!"

Our friend, Rachel, sent us this video, and it is great. A modesty spoof on OneDirection's  "What Makes You Beautiful."
It's really nice to know there are at least a FEW guys [though these guys happen to be mormon, grrr >( ] out there who feel this way. Plus, it's funny.



Enjoy!
Sam

"It's not a graduation." "It's a cermony!" "It's psychotic!"

 

Graduation pictures! We took them. Or, actually, a good friend of ours with a real camera took them. Thanks, C!

As most of you know Mari graduated earlier this year and I recently graduated (a couple months ago). It's very nice to be out of high school and starting to explore our new options. Mari is enrolled in a CNA (certified nursing assistant) and licensed Caregiver....school....thing, with the same friend who took these pictures. They've really been enjoying the learning, and will be having a grad party in another week. So you can look forward to a post about that.

And now, the pictures. Enjoy!

 

 

A personal favorite

Isn't she beautiful? The great scenery we have out here is a bonus too. 

Another personal favorite...such a pretty dog I've got

 

All three of us - a rare picture

All three of us AND Dad - even rarer. Ignore the squints.



So that's all for now folks. I know we haven't been posting much lately, and I'm not gonna promise that it's gonna change. Our camera sort of went AWOL so until we find it again (hopefully soon) updates will probably be few. Sorry.

We will try to find it in time for our next blog-worthy happening, which would be attending the Liberty Festival over the weekend, which celebrates the Revolutionary War, and in which several of our friends will be reenacting. Cool.

Until next time,
Sam

Camp "You know what camping is, right?"

 

I feel like a kid in second grade writing a, "What I Did at Camp" report :D.

So, we had less kids than expected -- ten. Still, enough to keep our hands full. A couple of people who were gonna come up and help had to pull out, so it was just me and my friend Riah. Here we all are:

 
 

They were all about 12, but David (in back) was so much older looking than them all

These kids came here from China knowing only basic English to gain the "American experience". Really though, it's a big witnessing opportunity for my grandpa. =] They've gone to Disneyland, the Grand Canyon, a horse ranch, and are attending a Christian school.

 

 

 

Lisa, Hettie and Carolyn

 

 

"Bob", Rainer and William

 

The kids all certainly had interesting tastes. They all had, in addition to our American foods, noodles at every meal. One "interesting" breakfast food we saw: Toast with American cheese and peanut butter. Also, in the above picture, was a soup of drinking water, a few noodles, fruit chunks and strawberry tops. Yup.

 

The girls beating the boys to the basketballs =]

 We were definitely kept very busy with all the cooking, cleaning and activities. But it was nice to go back to my childhood church camp, and the weather was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

The fuse ball and carpet ball tables were huge hits

 

 

 

The horny toad comes with an interesting story. Papa, Gully and  I were all on a hike, and Papa spotted a horny toad. Gully was extremely excited to catch it; they had been looking for one all week and had, apparently, never seen them before.

Papa: How are you going to carry it back to camp?

Gully: Oh...hmm...I know! *digs into pockets* Yes! *removes one single dirty sock* I don't know why this sock is in my pocket, but we can use it.

He proceeded to laugh about finding the solitary sock the rest of the way to camp. The things boys keep in their pockets...

 

 

 

One conversation Papa had with Gully was funny enough to report. (Background: Gully's mother is a very devoted Buddhist, and the kids have been learning about Christianity their whole stay here)

Papa: So, Gully, what is the biggest difference you can see between Buddhism and Christianity?

Gully: Christians...can eat meat.

Me: Do you like meat?

Gully: Yes!

So, it seems we have a convert, however insincere. ;-]

 

Seriously speaking though, this trip has had a big impact on these kids and their moms. Two moms and three children have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Praise God. Please pray that they would continue in the faith and that they would all become saved.

 

In Christ,

Sam

 

 

(this quote title thing is starting to get difficult...)

"Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that..."

I make lists a lot when I write. In emails and things. Mari likes to tease me for it... =]
And I have a list of random updates, tidbits, and pictures for you today. Yay for lists.

1. Our cousin, C, just this week left for the Navy. We went out for ice cream to say goodbye, and he managed to give us a summer cold before leaving =P (which were are all passing around to each other). We appreciate everyone who will be praying for him there!

2. We like to read. This isn't really news, but we have a bunch of poor quality pictures (for some reason...) with us reading from the last month or so. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

3. We also like hiking. We went on a nice hike just last weekend.

4. We may not be posting for a little while. Mari (our main poster) will be enjoying classes that will transform her into a CNA (certified nurses assistant)! Yay for Mari. And I will be a counselor at a camp (will post about it) pretty soon. It's a sad excuse for not posting since the camp itself is only three days, but any "vacation type thing" pretty much puts me in a lazy mood for a good week afterwards so I wouldn't expect any more updates until late August.

Sorry (but hey, this post is so long, it should tide you over for a while.).


On that note, goodbye!
Sam

Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!

Yay! The day we've been anticipating, waiting for with such excitement! Okay, truthfully, you all probably did what I did and almost completely forgot about it!

Well our winners are . . . .


*drum roll*






*drum roll crescendos*




*silence*






Duh, duh, duh, Duuuuuhhh!




Second Place award goes to Sarah and Lady L! We had a tie!

And First Place prize to theliane!

Thank you all for playing and entering. I had fun and I hope you all did too!

"Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!"

Happy Independence Day!

My siblings and I put on a play this afternoon, called The Vote. It was a lot of fun to do and interactive play, and I must say, Goldilocks played John Witherspoon and she memorized all of her lines perfectly!

Fun Fact about the Fourth: Did you know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom had not only signed the Declaration of Independence but went on to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on July 4th, 1826. Another Founding Father who became President, James Monroe, died on July 4, 1831 becoming the third President in a row to die on Independence Day.

I hope you all have a blessed and joyous Fourth of July! In honour of this day, guess what I've got for you! A game! Who thinks they know some history? If you're up to it you can play, and earn a point for our giveaway. (To check out the prizes read this post.) This will be everyone's last chance to earn some more points and then we will announce our three winners! I'm very excited!
The giveaway will close July 10th! The winners will be announced Thurs, the 11th!

Okay, rules:
Pick any ONE question you'd like to that hasn't been answered and comment with your best guess! For example, if you like question 6 and no one in the comments has answered it yet, then you can comment with both the question number (6) and the answer letter (a, b, c, or d,).

1.Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?
a) Benjamin Franklin
b) George Washington
c) Thomas Jefferson
d) John Adams

2.Which of the following was not one of the thirteen original colonies?
a) Georgia
b) Virginia
c) Vermont
d) Massachusetts

3.Which of the following did not sign the Declaration of Independence?
a) Samuel Adams
b) Benjamin Franklin
c) John Hancock
d) George Washington

4.Who wrote The Star-Spangled Banner?
a) John Philip Sousa
b) Francis Scott Key
c) Katharine Lee Bates
d) Samuel Francis Smith

5.The Second Continental Congress met in which city to draft The Declaration of Independence?
a) Boston, MA
b) New York, NY
c) Baltimore, MD
d) Philadelphia, PA

6. Which of the following European powers did not fight on the side of the colonists in the Revolutionary War?
a) Spain
b) France
c) The Netherlands
d) Germany

The title is a quote from the last verse of our national anthem.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

From all of us to you: 

"Independence now, Independence for ever!" (John Adams)