Quote I know, I know not everyone likes rock but I do and this song has me pretty excited about the rest of the album.  I pre-ordered it on i-Tunes already...give it a listen if ya want.

YouTube - Three Days Grace - Break
Three Days Grace Break (c) (C) 2009 RCA/JIVE Label Group, a unit of Sony Music Entertainment

My oh my it seems that I can’t get used to being back!  We had delays and rushes galore to get back home but we finally made it.  None of us have been able to sleep that well and I count it a blessing that I finally slept all the way to 5:00 AM!  All the rest of the days I’ve been up at 4:30 and been unable to shut down and sleep some more.  Even driving again seems weird, I’m used to the other side of the road and everything being different…even a trip to Wally World seems kind of weird still.  Honestly I could have easily handled some more time abroad.  It was a grand experience for us all.  For those of you that prayed for us I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  May you reap the reward and never find yourself without prayer when you need it.  Our trip was a mix of very, very hard work and frantic sight seeing to view everything we could whether that would be a made dash to Northern Ireland past Belfast to view the Giant Causeway and Dulduce Castle or driving many hours outside of Edinburg to see Loch Ness and some fantastic castles there or just having time around Dublin to see Dublin Castle or Edinburg Castle…it was all too wonderful to even begin to explain.  God kept us safe and opened many doors to go to new places next time.  Right now our hearts are set to return to Europe again…this time with a visit to a pastor we met from Wales and a trip to Ghana now could likely include a visit to Nigeria where I’ve never left the airport in Lagos.  Exciting times my friends!  I’ve gone through the myriad of pictures and instead of meticulous arrangement that could take me much longer to accomplish I have chosen to share pictures here and there as I find them in my folder from my camera and explain each one as I can.  Ireland has wonderful people and tremendous beauty though admittedly I’d about had my fill of cold and rainy weather and Scotland has beauty beyond compare and amazing history though there too the weather could be bad…not all the time but sometimes.  I love the accents, the sense of humor people have, the cities that are so old…everything about it.  It’s amazing to eat at a place that is older than the Declaration of Independence!  Without further ado let me begin showing the pictures!

  You can’t walk the streets of Dublin without seeing something that catches your eye…often times for me it was old churches….hundreds of years old in their stately beauty .  They would be in the middle of busy sections of the city where I wouldn’t expect to round the corner and see them.   I love the feeling of old Europe and the way the little cafes and houses look .  We found a little antique shop that had an interesting facade that looked like stacked library books .  The little sign above the shop even looked like it came from another time and on each side of the store were cobble stone streets and a narrow alley or two .  I saw the most beautiful Irish girl in the door of this store …wait, that’s my wife!  Have you ever heard of the diverse colored doors of Dublin?  Well, they were there and they are indeed wonderful…I love doors for photography anyway…well doors like this anyway …all of it cries Ireland to me.  The street lights often have flowers on them…God knows there’s enough rain to keep them watered .  I loved how the people seemed quiet and soft spoken…believe it or not and this is a busy and rainy street in Dublin where Gabby is examining a flower shop on the street

Oh make no mistake about the rain my friends…it could rain and I think the cold months must be miserable but we didn’t let this dampen our spirits…we were in Ireland after all !  Call me simple but things like this on the wall even interested me …I could spend a day just capturing things like that on film!  I know this is a far more modern thing but I liked this fountain none the less and besides what else could I do while I waited for the money to be changed inside the bank?  This is a building near Temple Bar…such a wonderful building don’t you think ?  I look down the narrow alleys and wonder what mystery could be there if I walked through and took a look .  You’ll have to guess about what is down the next narrow alley of this blog my friends because the next batch of pictures deal with Dublin Castle and I don’t want to split them up from the rest.  Let me just say again it was a privilege to witness the sites of Dublin…I loved every moment of it.  We hit the ground running and had constant meetings and had little time to really enjoy all there was to see but what time we did have both in meetings and out…I loved it all!  More to come next week!

This was the first flight in all the years I’ve traveled abroad that I’ve ever been able to sleep and then take it easy taking a shower and getting to the airport.  I hope that we can expect that again in the future!  We had no problems getting our luggage on board and had time to eat a bit before flying which was really nice.  I think we were all excited to visit Paris since nobody had ever been there before.  Honestly I was a little nervous since I know there’s been some tension between the US and France over the last several years.  The highest tension point turned out to be from a very crowded flight between Minneapolis and Paris.  Was it an angry passenger that felt we had taken their seat?  No, so then was it a person that just wanted to fight with me for no reason?  No, even worse:  someone didn’t seem to think that deodorant was necessary on a crowded and therefore heated flight it certainly was…yuck!  The fight seemed to be over fairly quickly which was nice.  I had very little time to take many pictures in Paris , it was a beautiful airport though and the fact is people were really good to us and I appreciated it greatly.

The flight to Dublin wasn’t really that long but it was very crowded and seemed longer than it was.  We met the pastor and several others that became our friends before long.  The meetings started up pretty much immediately and they were all really good.  We started to really enjoy meeting new people, pastor’s sons were really funand our driver Edward became a real joy to hang out with.  Here is Pastor Thomas and Edward with the kids and I.  There were many Nigerians and Ghanaians in the meetings so it was exciting and new to us each and every time.  Here’s a shot of me and the kids outside of pastor’s house.  Gabby enjoyed the children and made lots of new friends.  Joseph’s arrival on the scene picked up the pace and thrilled us all.  His teaching is always dynamic…fact is he’s one of the greatest preachers I’ve ever known

Fact is Lovely got much, much better coverage of the meetings and I hope to share some of that later but for now I don’t want to leave you all hanging.  I have tons more pictures that I hope to share as I can.  I had terrible trouble signing on here in Ireland for some reason but I think I’ve got it now…perfect timing…we fly out to Scotland tomorrow…doesn’t that figure?  I have thought of all my blog friends and appreciate your well wishes and especially the prayer.  I love you all.  I’ll share more as I can.  For those of you on Face Book you can see far more pictures etc.  I like Spaces much better but I could get on FB when I couldn’t here so that’s the way it was.  It’s a semi cloudy day here in Dublin and it’s quite cool.  I’m just blessed to have been able to see so many wonderful things!

Typing those lines really gets me.  I’m always excited to go on a new adventure but at the same time I so deeply love America.  We have everything set and leave tomorrow at 1:00 PM our time.  We have a team so we go up to the airport quite early to get everything checked on well in advance.  I am not sad at all to be going with a team of people.  I’ve done my traveling alone and it’s just not the same.  I was only a very young man when I went to India by myself.  It was one of the longest flights I’d ever been on.  This is nothing like that but the elements of what I know will lead to trips to Africa are there.  Complications have risen with the meetings we will be holding in Ireland that could use some real prayer.  The churches we will minister in there have Ghanaian pastors and are attached to African Joe, our dear friend from Ghana who we’ve ministered with in the past.  He’s also been here in our church.  For those of you who don’t know I pastor with my mom in a little church here in Montana.  The miracle of our travels never ceases to amaze me.  Here were are in a tiny little church yet we’ve been all over the world and ministered.  Some of our music that we’ve also taken all over the world live has been taken to many countries we haven’t even been to.  God is able to use the little you’ve got and use it to be of use to many.  I think this is similar to the miracle of the loaves and fishes that Jesus fed people with.  There didn’t seem to be enough to feed one person let alone thousands then God adds His ability and just look what happens!  We will be touching down briefly in Minneapolis…it will be a mad dash with barely and hour to get from domestic to international flights…that one is the biggest challenge then we will fly on to France for just a moment before going on to Dublin.  We will be in Dublin and hit the ground running.  The day we get there we will meet with the pastor and his elders and then the meetings start the next day.  Our sound man and I will have to go and get the instruments we need that we will play then leave to the church when we go on to Endinburg in Scotland.  The meetings extend for nearly a week and others may open up as we get going.  I hope to have some time to breath and see some of Ireland…it seems a crime to not be able to check some of the country out.  We will meet African Joe there and I’m so excited.  It’s been some years since I saw him last and this seems like a huge reunion!  Please remember us as we travel.  I’ve come to the decision that I may not blog when I’m in Ireland and Scotland because we are so busy with the schedule and I hate not being able to comment to everyone that comments on my blog and the time differences etc.  I guess all in all this means I’ll blog again when we come back after three weeks or so.  I will be schooling my kids again in the middle of this because summer will be well and truly over so that also plays into how often I’m able to blog.

I can’t leave without putting some pictures so here we go.  We almost always go into a nation and meet other people who can end up being contacts to other places.  We met Neil from Sri Lanka in Tokyo.  India has always been close to my hearts since I lived there for a time and Sri Lanka has always held my interest.  Neil was on vacation in Tokyo, he worked with the Sri Lankan government…really a great guys .  We also met many people from the Philippines.  This is me with a friend who’s name is Marvin .  I really got a kick out of him!  Guess what?  We saw not only cigarette machines and the standard pop machines but there were also machines that carried hard liquor!  Can you imagine that?  Have you ever seen Madeline?  I think Japan has there own version .  We also visited Indian restaurants and enjoyed the all time classic lassi…oh so good !  You have to acquire taste for India food but I’ve not only learned to live with it but love it  !  The kids did just fine ! Of course Gabby was popular.  This is the restaurant owner with Gabby .  Have you ever had Indian ice cream ?  It’s a treat not to be missed and very different from what we know as ice cream .  Gabby gets fashionable ….or something.  Mom and I are big lovers of chestnuts and we found some of the most wonderful roasted chestnuts at a little stand in the train station we often frequented …don’t they look good  ?  After a while the people who worked there got to know us .  This trip Gabby won’t have her stroller because cobble stone isn’t easy to push a stroller on so let’s pray that either she has the energy to walk or I’ve got energy to carry her if need be.  She’s bigger now then she was just a short time ago.  I know some don’t like sushi…but if you love it you will never find better sushi then what they have in Japan .  Years ago when I first traveled I would have said there’s no way I’d eat it but to have never tried it and ignorantly proclaimed it’s disgusting doesn’t hold much water with me any more.  I love authentic Japanese sushi !  The shopping in Japan is never dull nor are the various restaurants and their wonderful presentation of their fares …yep, food porn again !  I just couldn’t leave without having some food pictures !  I even miss the crowded stations besides if it ever got too stressful there was a comforting reminder of home right there and Lovely is at home wherever she may be if she’s got her camera and Gabby is always a subject …willing or not LOL!  Now we are Europe bound…who knows the friends we will meet?  I know that the doors to Africa will open…that surely is next…mark my words.  For now I wish you all the best, I appreciate your prayers and encouragement.  God bless and keep you all !

Well, it’s been a strange feeling to have time move incredibly quickly yet seem to drag at the same time.  We have finally hit that time where we will be finalizing everything and getting on the plane soon.  We have been in contact with the pastor in Ireland and that all sounds good.  Hearing his voice reminds me forcefully of Africa…that accent and those mannerisms that are so very Ghanaian.  We are trying to tighten everything up at the church so people keep some momentum while we are gone.  Last night was really exciting.  We’ve been having some really wonderful praise and worship.  I had a strong vision of a meeting we had in Africa so many years ago.  It was way out in the outskirts of Accra, Ghana where there was a little bible training school for upcoming ministers.  We arrived late…an occurrence that isn’t rare because of what the Ghanaians call “African Time”.  The meeting was in full swing with them praising God with everything they had in them.  They were leaping as one…six hundred people leaping in a single mass.  The floor was dirt so that red African dirt was rising in a cloud that was at least waist high.  I have seldom been so moved at a sight in my entire life.  The grim note to this is that I am reminded of our dear driver and companion Ado.  He was just recovering from a terrible bout with malaria.  He was telling me what a wonderful football (soccer) player he was.  His charming smile and unforgettable face still is branded ever in my mind.  I remember him leaning out of the car window scolding someone that was hanging precariously from a bus near the car then he sheepishly turned to my mom and said “Oh, sorry mum”…as if we could understand him since he spoke in the local dialect which we didn’t know.  I hear his voice still…but now we found that he had died…not sure of the specifics…he was a young man who had married not too many years ago.  None of us will ever forget him.  We will meet you on the other side my brother  .  It’s a sobering thing to go away from a place and know that when you return many of the things you grew familiar with have all changed.  People you’ve known have passed away…so much is different.  I can’t escape a sense of urgency to return to Africa.  All that we do seems to lead inevitably back to where we first started on the mission field.  Much tragedy has visited those we love so dearly but now we will meet with our friend Joseph Baise.  He says that I am American Joe and he is African Joe.  Our church is called Eagle Ministries International…he says that he is a black eagle…I smile at this but sense that he is seriously a part of us.  Destiny is drawing us back…I find it amazing that we are being drawn to where they say humanity started… the cradle of civilization…it is a return…it is a new beginning.

I have only one more post that I will make from this country since next Friday we leave for Ireland and Scotland.  How amazing that is to say!  I want to continue with the pictures I’ve got from our journey to Japan because we have a deep love for that country as well.  I will never forget that place either, I know we must return there as well.  Is it strange to you or is it just strange to me to visit China town in Japan ?  I found it strange but fascinating as well.  What a tremendous entry to this section of Tokyo .  There are some amazing looking restaurants to witness and it does have a distinct Chinese edge to it .  There are theme parks that I’ve seen trying to imitate being in other countries but there’s really nothing like really being there .  We very often saw groups of students wandering around…could they be playing hooky ?  Gabby didn’t know what to think, poor little thing.  We went from store to store just to see the wonders of each little shop .  Sometimes the outside of these places was as enchanting as the inside .  Row upon row of exotic sights greeted our eyes as we walked on enjoying a beautiful day .  This dragon looked hungry and I was too however my taste buds relish the challenge of a new dish more than the others in our team…maybe you can see why …burn ‘em up LOL!  Seeing lanterns like this in Walmart just isn’t the same .  It surprised me that the Japanese flag wasn’t displayed more prominently around the city but it looked proud on this ship .  This was a wonderful harbor and port , I can only imagine the goods that the ships bring in .  Still the flowers grabbed my attention .  It was fall but you’d never guess by the weather and the plants growing everywhere .  Ah, such delicate beauty !  I wonder if the locals thought we were crazy taking pictures of it all …well, I’ve seen the Japanese tourists in Yellowstone National Park…so I guess we’re even!  This ladybug seemed to be a rebel…not a spot to be seen !  I know, I know, more flowers .  These looked like they were puckering up for a kiss !  We brought the children to visit a school not far from my mother in law’s house…it was really interesting to visit the classrooms and see how school is there and then have our picture taken with a teacher from America and another teacher from the school .  Here is Lovely, Gabby and I eating after a church meeting .  One day we visited a small market to see the sights and hear the sounds.  It’s a whole new perspective on fish and sea food for this landlocked compadre, I can tell you  !  It was very early and people were busily shuffling about buying or selling their wares .  There were fish I’d never even dreamed of .  Variety is the spice of life they say .  Well now, these things look a little like …uh, moving on…try not to think about it….  Where was I?  Ah yes, produce !  Wonderful produce !  These just had too much personality to not photograph !  We spent tons of time just seeing what we could see.  Sometimes you take the shot other times it takes you and this one took my heart somehow .  How could I not notice the manga?  My goodness I’ve never seen so many comic books !  I think this is one place I’d do just fine without a car…everyone walks, bikes or rides the train , .  It’s not so bad once you get used to it.  Here are some kids we saw on the way home one night …just to cool don’t you think?  Here is my skeleton hiding in a sakura blossom shirt …and here’s another blossom .  What do you think?  You figure you live in a big city ?  This is not like where I live …but I still love it! 

Ah, a visit to Shibuya…you will indeed get your eyes full here LOL!  What some ham?  I’ve seldom seen such a mass of people in my life !  We went with our friends whom we had brought tee shirts to…they wanted to return the favor so here we were !  We found a wedding chapel which was pretty amazing in itself but more than that there was an actual wedding going on !  We saw the family gather and the priests who officiated the wedding !  Our friends didn’t quite share our enthusiasm but they were very patient and good to us as always…meet Hisau (don’t know how to spell that) and Hitomi and their two children .  Finally we left the wedding behind, thankful for the chance to see it .  Back to the busy streets and people strange to my foreign eye …notice the anime style dress?  I thought that sort of thing was only in Japanese cartoons!  This dog thought we were the weird ones though .  It had been quite a day and it was time to go home .  So much to see in this land of the rising sun but what made it the most wonderful for me is that God had done it and I got to experience it all with my family…including my little girl who seemed to enjoy every moment of it !

It’s been a quiet week for the most part but I’ve felt like I was standing on the railroad tracks with a train coming lately.  I believe that much of this has to do with our approaching trip (fifteen days at the time I’m typing this).  The good news is that in spite of any anxieties I may feel I also am very aware of God moving things along.  It’s never trouble free but God’s grace always remains sufficient and I will never deny that.  We have been in contact with Pastor Thomas in Ireland and I can’t help but love the sound of him.  I know that this is an appointment of God and I truly believe that this is a significant trip that will certainly lead back to Africa and beyond. 

Now I want to continue the photographic journey in Japan.  I miss that country dearly and can’t help but love it even more every time I see these pictures.  It’s a blessing to share these here.  Visiting the markets in Japan always was an enjoyable adventure.  Not only the seafood was marvelous to see but also the various vegetables.  These are actually radishes and this?  This is a Fuji apple …who would have guessed it?  LOL!  We come from a state that really doesn’t much utilize public transportation and our population density is mostly nonexistent so imagine the shock in seeing some trains filled to capacity and beyond…guys with white sticks come out and push more people in during the very crowded times…my mother in law was once actually lifted off her feet jammed into one of the trains and injured her ribs…yes, it can be that crowded.  This day however it wasn’t that bad .  You won’t find anyone without a cell phone…perhaps this is the new samurai sword and the business suit is the new armor (that’s my mother in law in red looking on.  I never tire of seeing the occasional kimono .  So…how would you like to find your way on this map ?  My mom arrived in Japan and we were waiting for her .  She came with our dear friends and fellow ministers .  I loved showing the beauty of the city .  The old style houses with the gargoyle edges on the roof .  Our friends weren’t quite so comfortable with the local dishes so we occasioned McDs every once in a while .  Lovely busied herself with pictures of the people ..even students weren’t able to escape and always the flowers seemed to beg for a picture .  I think what amazes me is how you can be in such a modern city and yet still see things that are very much like things I’d seen in India.  Local people don’t seem to pay these shrines much attention but if you talk to them they often fear the spiritual activity around these areas .  Here’s some of my favorite shots that Lovely took, and this one .  This wasn’t a Japanese garden…everywhere you looked was like this .  They took such pride in their little gardens and hedges and the people have such a personality all their own .  The food has the care in presentation that you’d expect at only five star hotels no matter where you go   and let’s not forget the other delicate deserts or the stuff you can bring home for yourself or friends or perhaps this .  It was a new thing to have no Walmarts to go to, just local little markets like this one , I didn’t mind a bit!  Traveling anywhere could be a challenge but it was a great thing to experience…at least in my opinion and if you get worn out…well, there were a few comforts from home that we could indulge in .  Gabby didn’t have any coffee and you can see how she faced the middle of the day some of our fellow Japanese commuters thought that was a grand idea .  We used the ever present and very popular Suica card to get wherever we wanted to go.  If it ran low on money you just popped in some Yen and recharged it .  One day we were commuting to a distant church (that’s me cut off in the blue, RD, Danielle and my mom)and we ran across some cute little rolls for breakfast .  I’m sorry to say some of these rolls were seriously injured during our meal.  This old woman had never seen anything like RD…well we haven’t either !  Mike took the time when traveling around to meet other kids when he couldand he fit right in though he didn’t have a cell phone because he did have his DS which was also popular .  Gabby just…well Gabby spent a lot of time catching zs when the weariness finally overtook her .  If we needed to recharge there were plenty of things to delight in .  Gabby liked to play with the neighborhood kids on occasion.  This is Mike with one of our Filipino friends (Ate Annabelle) .  I know there’s lots of food pictures here but can you blame me ?  Okay onward and upward.  I have a real affection for the Japanese writing…I find it beautiful .  Lovely takes shots that always inspire me even when it’s of simple things like this .  We spent at least as much time walking as we did on the train…great exercise and the weather at the time was glorious.  We would find things that delighted the heart.  We found many Japanese young people having a large picnic and they allowed us to take their picture .  Mike and his older sister Danielle walking the walk .  Another roadside shrine .  I think Mike would have done well with the young ladies if we had more time there .  He always enjoyed passing the schools and seeing what the students were up to ..Gabby shared his interest .  People we passed were friendly and graciousbut for now it’s time to walk on until the next blog .

I don’t have a lot new to report about our current events for the trip to Europe.  My new passport arrived finally which takes a real load off.  We are getting the clothes we need and finding luggage that will fit in the new restrictions for travel now.  It’s a far cry from the days of seventy plus pound bags we could bring to Africa back in the day.  Here is a matter for prayer on this current trip.  We are limited to one fifty pound bag…for three weeks in Europe that’s not much really and as we’ve checked it’s the same for Africa now.  Ghana had some of the strangest food I’ve ever tried.  It can be a challenge to manage with the limitations there are today.  I would appreciate prayers on this.  We did here from the pastor in Ireland and he sounds really great, I can’t wait to see him and African Joe…it won’t be long now!

I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish my series on Japan before we leave to Europe but I’ll keep plugging away.  I really enjoyed the pictures on the disk I copied today so let’s have a look shall we?  Japan’s love of all things floral shows everywhere and we were taking pictures all along any path we walked.  One day we walked to where my mother in law was working for fun and Gabby was in rare form keeping us entertained.  She had found her tongue and so we practiced raspberries for fun.  Hearing her laugh is still music to my ears.  Our kids hit it off really well with the neighborhood kids though they didn’t speak each other’s languages…smiles are universal.  Halloween had come along and though Japan didn’t really have a reason to celebrate such a holiday it had fallen into fashion at this point.  Hitomi and her children are here with Danielle and Mike…she was right next door to us.  One of my favorite places in all the world is surely Kyoto.  It was a very long drive with our friends but it was worth it.  I lost one of my contacts during the trip but saw all I could through the eye of the camera lens.  Such peace resonates here.  There are shrineswhich draw people to say a quick prayer for luck…many students seemed to be in need of something.  Gabby always drew people’s attentionand this opened up further photo opportunities.  The students wanted to see my pictures so I gave them a look.  Kazu who did the driving found his name on this panelalong our beautiful walk.  Tell me…does this say Japan to you?  Mysterious paths were everywhere.  Ancient and beautiful things were presenting themselves wherever we looked.  Law requires that the original style of home is still built here which kept it feeling like we were somewhere thousands of years old just as it used to be.  It is unusual to see statues to other gods if you’ve not traveled much.  I just love the architectureand didn’t get tired of feeling like I was so privileged to be here at all.  It was like a dreamI didn’t want to wake from.  Kazu and Anna were the best traveling companions everand the kids never once made us wish we could go homein fact it’s because of them I’m so thrilled about Europe.  Driving all night and exploring all day would normally have finished me off but I didn’t even feel it because the wonder that surrounded us.  Someday I want to go here for the cherry blossom season…even if it’s crowded.  I could handle a house like this!  Lovely can read more and more Japanese, it’s a beautiful language to hear and to see.  Me and the kids again.  Gabby had a wonderful attitude.  The narrow streets of Kyoto.  We met some young people visiting from Hokkaido so of course we took some pictures , they were really nice.  I don’t know if this is modern or ancient art.  This looks like a scene from a few hundred years ago.  Kyoto is filled with many little shops that seem more than a little whimsical.  We stopped to have something hot to drink and Gabby again managed to be the life of the party.  There were many good luck charms to be found and beautiful dolls.  Kazu graciously told us about everything we asked about.  So, what’s on the menu?  Danie takes a little breather while we wait for breakfast…it was like nothing I’d ever eaten or drunk before but I enjoyed this experience too.  This is for you cat lovers out there.  Aren’t these cool?  Word has it that if you stumble here you get terribly bad luck…no Kazu and I weren’t really stumblingLOL!  The streets were narrow though.  Anyone for a green tea or sweet rice ice cream cone ?  Back to the temples.  All of which take the breath awayespecially if you’re a tiny little girl on your first trip abroad.

I still can’t get over how blessed I am to have it be summer at last .  It has been one of the coldest winters I can ever remember and just being able to go out and watch the sun set is a real treat to us .  I don’t know how long it will be nice this year before the cold hammer falls again but I’m going to enjoy all I can for now….not one complaint about it being hot …not from me!  This is the dry season here normally but I never know if that will hold true one year from the next .  Storms pass by but don’t do much these days and so what should I do but take advantage of the wonderful light this leaves us with in the evenings ?  Why take multitudes of pictures of course !  The prairie behind our house seems to be really thriving right now with wild flowers and weeds being very green for this time of year .  Gabby loves to go and blow on the puff palls out there .  The lilies in our front yard are doing quite well and for once haven’t been eaten by the antelope…surprise surprise!

I have a few shots left to share from our camping trip so I’ll get right to it.  Our cabin was located near window rock…obvious to see why they call it that don’t you think ?  Near this cliff we had another wonderful walk in the mountains .  It was about two miles to hike into Grotto falls.  Along the trail window rock showed itself more than once .  We are known as the Big Sky country and up here the amazing blue of the sky is all the more evident .  I wasn’t sure how well Gabby would hold up for such a long hike..we were prepared to only go part way but she not only kept pace but led the pack with her sister .  The day wore on and the cool temperatures faded like the fog and it actually got quite warm .  I like this particular mountain range in the Galatin because I’m always reminded of the Yellowstone Park area that has so many good memories for me .  This trail could be so shrouded in trees that you couldn’t see much but the forest then it would open up to one spectacular view after another.  The kids never griped but thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the hike .  I like the interesting rock on the cliffs and the deadwood that also was never the same twice .  The trail winds on and always there’s something to see .  Finally we came to an opening where there were hundreds of pack rats to see…are they cute or what ?  Joining the excitement were many chipmunks .  Over the years hikers had built various sculptures of piled rock..some more unique then others but all of them were really cool .  Finally we came to the falls .  Mike felt that we’d really accomplished something !  These falls weren’t as tall as Palisade Falls but it was very vigorous and beautiful .  Finally it was time to head back to the car.  It’s the same trail but the different direction made everything look new all over again .  Look at the pac man cloud .  I saw this flower and entitled it “lonely” in my photo album…lonely it might be but it is beautiful still .  This was my favorite trail of the camping trip .  Lovely and I were falling behind taking pictures so a bit past this stump we took a well trodden short cut and got back much earlier then the kids and mom and dad.  These little daisies were near the beginning of the trail …I’ve seen daisies before but the wild ones are particularly special somehow .  An all time classic wildflower is of course Indian Paintbrush .  I hadn’t seen much of it where i could get to it on this trip but dad found this one so I got to make it the star of my little photo shoot on the last day of our trip.  Small wonder it’s a state flower in Wyoming.  It’s also called prairie fire in some places and that seems fitting.  It was a great trip and hopefully the first of many time come.  I hope you enjoyed the journey.  God bless.

We are finally back from our four day stay in the Hayalite basin in the Galatin National Forest area.  I’ve not been there since I was a kid about my ten year old son’s age.  Let me just say that it has not lost any of it’s beauty .  My dad found out that there are cabins that is used by the forest rangers that can be rented.  They are sometimes fairly rustic, this one had only a wood burning stove and no running water but the view right outside our door couldn’t be beaten ,  You can close the gate and then have so much of this wonderful area completely to yourself .  I was just glad to have a decent roof over our heads and then be able to walk a few feet and see things like this .  I am a detail man when it comes to nature so of course I noticed the little things like the awesome smell of pine and the finer things right under our feet .  We had a babbling brook right near the cabin that was from the snow melt…trust me when I say washing up here will wake you right up !  Each day we would look down the road that brought us here and wondered what adventure would await just around the bend .  There were trails everywhere to explore and each one held incredible beauty that evidences the Master's creativity .  I always remember my grandpa’s fascination with wildflowers…this has taken me and swept me away.  The kids didn’t have any computers or anything electronic (except my daughter’s i-Pod) but they didn’t care one bit .  It’s hard to think of such things when you can see this !  We enjoyed the bridge we had to cross to get to the cabin and visited it daily.  The first day we noticed that we had two visitors that were watching us curiously next to the water gauge measuring the stream’s ups and downs.  This was the first time I can ever remember the fire danger actually being low…it rained a lot and the storms were spectacular.  We witnessed actual lightning strikes but it only raised puffs of steam in the very wet conditions.  The rain has allowed many mushroom to thrive and the wild flowers were like nature’s own fireworks everywhere we looked  .  I had almost forgotten the wonderful smell of pine and the wide variety of spectacular trees there are here in Montana .  I guess it’s really true that the hills are alive with the sound of music !  If this green doesn’t strike a chord in your heart I don’t know what will !  There were some mosquitoes but really mostly the bugs we saw were interested in the same flowers we were !  The kids got to play with snake grass…this is an old tradition every kid should know about !  August might dry up the streams we were enjoying but for now they are flourishing .  Evenings often had terrific thunder storms and then in the morning you could watch the mist rise as things attempted to dry off some .  Once the rain stopped the promise of a new day beckoned .  I have to wonder if the greens of Ireland and Scotland will be more than this …not the rainbow…right near our front porch!  Having a cabin helped let us see the beauty in a way that sleeping in a tent would never allow .  I used to hate having only a tent to retreat to during a storm…the cabin changed all that .  Now when the weather got soggy we’d retreat to a warm refuge with a wood burning stove and lanterns to play games and laugh the day away and then venture out to see what artwork God had left for us to witness .  There was always something that captured our eye and filled us with wonder .  Sometimes it was “that” tree or the moon rising in just such a way or a magnificent peak that was giving glory to God with it’s snow capped peak .  I was surprised to see snow still there on these mountains and after some storms there would be a new skiff of snow .  The moon often could be found shinning brightly even during the day .  I never knew what this shack was really for near the bridge but no matter it still looked beautiful when the sun melted off the morning dew .  We actually did manage to have some nice camp fires though it sometimes took a bit for the wood to dry and actually burn .  I’m actually a texture man when it comes to photos…I like different looking textures that grab me though I’m not adverse to taking that classic shot either .  I like the moss that made some trees or rocks look like they had a green beard much like Tree Beard in “The Lord of the Rings” and I love the damaged bark on the trees that could be found because even that seemed to be the work of God’s creative hand .  Mushrooms could be tiny and still hold my interest .  Some were interesting for their unique shapes while others were beautiful for their uniformity and sheer numbers .  Walk with me my dear friends…what mystery will we see next ?  Will it be a white tailed deer in a thicket ?  Perhaps a fog encrusted peak with the sun making an angelic glow ?  Do we ever get tired of seeing these works of God ?  I don’t think so !  Each wildflower is unique and each angle of even the same object holds new wonder in it’s own right .

One day we hiked into Palisade Falls .  The basalt cliffs has lost none of their majesty and I was so grateful to God to be able to share this view with my family and now with you .  Each angle again held a new breathtaking excitement and I wouldn’t think of not sharing this with you !  The height of the falls allowed a person to turn around and also witness another amazing view and rockslides made for unique backdrops which had tenacious trees not just hanging on but thriving .  Can you imagine what the view must be on top ?  It was a trip that got us all rained on so we returned again another day and were not disappointed .  I actually climbed up to a shallow cave and took some pictures through the opening though it was hard to view the falls from in here, I still liked the shot and once I left the cave I got a shot of the top of the falls . 

We just can’t get enough of the mushrooms .  Some were actually brown while others looked like a sesame seed bun for a hamburger .  Walking the trail you can see mysterious thickets that pictures can’t seem to do justice to.  I can’t even describe the mysterious light that the fog could bring  or the incredible light a blazing blue sky could cause to make everything different yet again but whatever the lighting brought I was most glad to have my family along there with me .  We even found some wild roses that were blooming !  Remember I’m a texture man?  I like textures like this and I like textures in the variety of pine we had to see .

Our second trip had me messing with my camera settings to attempt to capture the beauty in a different way .  I love the angelic effect that was in the water even in the lively stream that cascaded from the falls themselves .  The trees stood as silent guardians of this place and in the midst of it all the falls roared on never silent yet never annoying .  Somehow it all reminded me of Japan…notice this bonsai like tree on the cliff side .  We finally came down from the heights taking pictures here and there as we went .  This mushroom seemed sad to see us go .

We got back to camp and noticed that some bugs have no shame at all .  I’d ask these long horn beetles to get a room but I think this is their room !  Dad caught only one fish worth mentioning…a beautiful cutthroat !  We ate it the same day with potatoes fried with sweet onions…a classic handed down from my grandpa on my dad’s side..oh my was it good!  I will continue the story next week…this is quite big enough for now!  I hope you enjoy the pictures…I love to bring you along!

Well, I know it’s a bit late but I want to say we had a rather bland 4th of July, the weather was really bad so we missed the firework show…well, we saw it from our house but it’s just not the same.  I saw that the violent storm that passed over before the show actually killed someone.  I lightning bolt struck a 27 year old guy and it was right in front of his kids.  The bolt hit him in the forehead in fact the picture in the paper showed his mother holding his baseball cap with the hole.  It was tragic and sad to have that happen.  He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  I’m an avid storm watcher so it sure made me think…in fact I have some pictures of the storm.  The kids enjoyed lighting their own fireworks during the day .  The firework stand gave us lots of punks so for once we didn’t run out .  Gabby in particular couldn’t get enough of the whole procedure .  I was glad there was a breeze because if you’ve ever smelled smoke balls they…well, they stink !  We also had some parachutes… it’s fun watching the kids try to catch the falling parachute .  Mike had a smoke grenade that Gabby and he traded off and ran around the yard with .  There was also a good deal on firecrackers so we had some fun with that…hey, I had to get involved it says close adult supervision on the package !  Lovely bought some nice festive cupcakes that Gabby tested to make sure they were safe .  Don’t these look nice ?  Lovely added the cherries and put them on a nice plate and then Gabby and the kids dug in .  It was just as we were getting ready to go to the firework show that the storm warning came up .  You just never know how bad the storms around here are going to be .  This one had obvious rotation and there have been some funnels spotted at the airport…notice this swirling circle of clouds …that’s not the sun…that’s just a hole in the middle of the storm…this thing is the one that killed someone..I was glad we didn’t go to the show.  Nature provided quite enough fireworks this year .

Our trip has been coming along with slight changes being made here and there.  We are going to buy the equipment we can’t bring with us and donate that to any church in need.  I feel good about this plan actually.  We will only stop for about an hour in Paris and London but I’m still happy to just set foot there.  London is new to my family…not me but still it’s cool and Paris is new to all of us.  We are quite excited about this whole thing.  We will be at a rented cabin for four days as of Sunday and then just about one month to go before we leave to Europe…hard to believe!  Thank you to those that have prayed…it works!

Now I want to continue with the pictures from Japan…there are many gems here at least to me.  Please enjoy!  These next shots are from Kyoto…a very ancient and beautiful city.  We went with some dear friends we met named Kazu and Anna Takihashi.  They were our guides on this trip several…and I do mean several hours out of Tokyo.  They kindly offered to let us drive with them in their car and Kazu kindly used his company discount for the hotel or we never would have been able to afford such a trip.  This is the bamboo forest that we walked through…such amazing peace and beauty there .  There were many temples and fantastic buildings to see .  The drive was also wonderful though very long…there was much to see .  We never tired of seeing the sights and walked wherever we could taking pictures all the way .  It’s so incredible to see such an ancient culture still thriving to this day .  The buildings in many areas are kept as they were hundreds of years ago because zoning laws require it to be so .  Anna and Lovely got along very well .  We had no trouble hanging out together and seeing the sights .  I lost my contact and couldn’t find it for a whole day but we really prayed and finally found it but what I couldn’t see well I saw through the camera lens anyway and I still loved it .  There were prayer bells hung everywhere that you could ring for luck .  I couldn’t get over the bamboo that was everywhere .  There were shops you could buy really amazing things and temples and shrines around every corner .  There were many quiet paths you could follow and along a stream there was a sight that I felt fit Japan so very well .  I know we’ve got birds like that at home but this to me was just perfect.  I love the language as well, it too seems artistic and beautiful .  I love how you can walk along and never know what will be around the corner .  The Japanese love their tea (and so does Lovely).  We found many bushes picked clean…I wonder just how fresh the tea was we were drinking…after all this was freshly picked .  This picture is actually from our second trip to Kyoto with my mom and our friends …that’s Anna and Kazu in the front…Gabby absolutely loved Kazu and it seemed a very mutual thing.  He remains one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  Often the crowds are everywhere but we arrived very early in the morning and the second time we went there with my mom it was raining enough to keep the people at bay…I didn’t mind the rain one bit .  This little shrine had a symbol that looked like a swastika to me but it had no relation to that .  Notice the crane on the end of this ancient temple .  There were fortunes you could pick up at certain places but many Japanese wouldn’t touch them because they aren’t always good ones …other times such places had prayers for health or financial gains or good luck with love etc.  These little birds had a nest that I noticed and couldn’t resist taking their picture .  I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a place any more exotic .  The flowers there are all lovingly cared for or are thriving in the wild .  These narrow alleys were very typical in Kyoto .  Detailing was evident even on the roofs of buildings .  There were graveyards everywhere and the atmosphere was always very solemn and peaceful .  Sometimes there were places near shrines that had access to cold, clear water that you could wash your hands with…another good luck symbol others just had fortunes you could take or perhaps requests or donations you could add to prayer boxes .  I love trees anyway but Japan had many that appeared to be large versions of bonsai trees  .  The second trip was very wet indeed but it didn’t dampen Lovely’s spirits one bit  .   Check out this interesting plaque and statue near this temple  .    There were secret gardens everywhere .  Lovely and I love doors too…so we have some pictures of doors…I like this picture in particular .  Here are some dippers at a hand washing area near a shrine .  This is a very ancient temple that we went to see .  I saw things like this along the side of the road often  .  Here’s another shrine…notice the heavy rain .  We walked through these “tori” gates and it was one of the most surreal feelings I’ve ever had  , this really was an amazing thing to walk through .  Gabby loved to meet new friends…she didn’t mind what language they spoke .  This was a sight I saw as we walked along…it remains one of my all time favorite pictures from Japan .  it was fall in Japan then…the weather couldn’t have been more perfect  .  There were stone lanterns everywhere…I would have loved to have walked this at night  .  Note the incense holder  in front of the grave stone .  The countryside was so very beautiful …these were tea crops again…it all reminded me of Switzerland with it’s incredible neatness with the flair of the Orient mixed in.   This place was known as the Golden Pavilion…it’s a wonder to behold as you walk along a forest path then come to a clearing and witness this …I couldn’t get enough of it …they neatly trim the trees and shape them so it’s like a huge bonsai garden.  Here is Kazu walking along the path with Gabbi, she loved to “march” with him , here’s the front view.  Somebody not to mention any names  was making quite the impression on the locals .  How would you like to walk down this path ?   Here’s Kazu and Anna again with Gabby .  Lovely and I were enjoying our trip too …to double your pleasure..divide it with someone !  Gabby was an excellent walking companion.  Fact is she liked to lead the crowd !  It was a place of exquisite beauty and we always wondered what was behind the closed doors what was hidden where we couldn’t see ?  This gentleman was selling mushrooms that he made of tissue paper…he liked Gabby too …it was really her trip…a wonderful first for her and a joy for us to witness such incredible grace.  You can witness traditionally dressed people everywhere and it really adds to the wonder of it all .   Here’s Gabby witnessing the Golden Pavilion …it was a very warm fall day. Note this phoenix on top of the Pavilion .  Kazu was a great guidebut an even better friend .  We left the wonders of Kyoto  and headed back to the city of Tokyo…none of us will ever forget the time we had. 

It has been a huge effort to get things in order for this trip.  The tickets are indeed purchased finally.  We were kind of excited to realize we’ll be landing in France before going on to Dublin.  I’ve never set foot in France and Paris is a great city from all I’ve heard.  The complication has arisen over our music equipment.  The times for huge suitcases has past and the expense of bringing equipment is so enormous that it’s put us in a quandary.  Right now we are trying to decide whether to just leave it or see what other options there could be.  We checked with every possibility and the real problem lies not just here but with the flight between Ireland and Scotland.  We have to take a smaller airline for that flight and every pound over 44 lbs. is five dollars…that adds up in a hurry especially since they made the requirement for their airline 6 lbs. lower then what every other airline is using so you get gouged big time as it is.  44 lbs. for an overseas trip is far lighter then any of us has ever traveled however this is not to a “third world” nation and the hotel we will be at has an iron and hair dryers for the ladies so we don’t have to bring that which helps.  Problem is it can be quite cool and rainy where we’re going and with space already limited there’s little room for extras and certainly not rain coats.  Yes, they say the devil is in the details but we’ve really had the favor of God and I believe that will continue.  It was an utter miracle that we got the tickets already.  God won’t bring us this far to drop us now.  We’ll be heading out on the 21st of August and be gone for three weeks, I’m stoked!

I was rather disgusted with myself because we went out and took some pictures and I’ve been messing with the manual setting on my camera.  I enjoyed going out with Lovely and Gabby to do this but after I looked at the pictures most were pathetically inadequate.  There was the usual flourish of activity by the pond with the red winged blackbirds.  I tried to get a good stylistic shot of this one with his mouth open singing his strange song but he was moving so much it blurred some.  Ah well, here it is anyway .  It’s been so cool with some bouts of rain so the prairie grass is beginning to look some like a vast green ocean.  The fuzzy grass out there is so beautiful in the wind .  There’s some beautiful flowers blooming out there…this is overexposed..ugh, but still an ice flower .  Even the buds are getting ready to explode like fireworks on the 4th of July that’s fast approaching .  The photo shoot ended with a glorious sunset…again I’m not quite happy with these pictures…it just doesn’t do justice to what it looked like in real life: , and lastly .

Now onto Japan!  I’ve been digging through archives and will sort of take you day by day through the photos.  We were so tired when we got to Japan, we had many miles to travel by bus and car still to get to my mother in law’s house but Tokyo is a fascinating city.  We gazed in wonder at it all.  Even the language seemed so exotic and beautiful.  We even took pictures of signs outside the little stores….Lovely couldn’t read it then…doesn’t this sign have personality ?  This was a burger place we visited…they were so amused with us taking pictures of them .  I thought of Bob when I got these shots…only he dresses his dog up like this right…right ?  Nope, there are other strange individuals that do this !  Mike loved petting this little dog and the Japanese seem to love their animals…there’s even wedding chapels for dogs…what next?  Gardens are everywhere, you can be in a very busy section of the city then round the bend to see a wonderful and very well cared for garden.  This plant had what looked like little paper lanterns on it , I know they may well have such plants here but it just seemed to fit there somehow .  This lazy looking Japanese kitty was actually quite mean, the owner warned us that he bites and scratches…who would have guessed ?  My mother in law lives in Kawasaki City a suburb in Tokyo…we all loved how they seemed to be a self contained city within a city.  This was a gardened area next to a graveyard not far from my mother in law’s house .  The children were impossibly cute but I’m not sure what they thought of us and I’m not sure what Gabby was thinking either !  Can you imagine using this writing all the time ?  This was a sign outside a kindergarten.  Little schools were everywhere .  Our kids really got a kick out of watching the children at play, they all had uniforms of course.  This little girl was on her way to school  I think…not yet old enough for a uniform .  This street crossing seems right out of a page of what I had always pictured Japan to be .  I love how there are still little mom and pop stores along the streets .  This is our friend Ate Ester, Gabby had just met her here…she’s actually a Filipino and not Japanese at all .  Wonderful gardens and streams with pathways near them were everywhere .  Fishermen were often beside these streams trying to catch fish .  I hope none of these signs were warning us of anything important .  I found so much peace walking these paths .  I felt at peace and truly happy there .  Tokyo remains one of my all time favorite cities.  Everyone had to go about their hustle and bustle but for me and my family we were enjoying one of the most pleasant trips we had ever been on.

I didn’t post on Father’s Day so let me just say something about that now.  It was an excellent day and not all of them are.  Have you ever noticed how holidays can be trouble magnets more often then not?  I am always cautious because I’ve had some really bad ones.  This was exceptional for many reasons.  My family is always good to me and always makes sure that I know I’m loved.  It’s not about buying me something it’s that simple hug and an “I love you dad”.  The sincere comments like that make me feel that I’m the most blessed person in the universe.  Lovely prepared us a fantastic grilled shrimp and muscle dinner…this this photo doesn’t make your mouth water then I don’t know what will !  It was so amazing that that a few days later we did it one more time!  The weather is funky with it being really beautiful then sometimes a front comes through and cools it way down.  Fact is we’re looking at something like that today.  It’s 96 right now but a windy cool front is coming…I wonder if it will look something like that last one . 

Fortunately the weather held for a special even this Father’s Day.  My dad brought us all to a local car event at a large church here in town called “Burn the Point”.  This was the third annual event that is held on Father’s Day but it was the first time I went.  My dad is a tremendous classic car junkie.  He’s like a kid in the candy store at things like this so try to picture him looking at the goodness at this event.  The level at which some of these vehicles are customized is really amazing.  Check out this one that has barbed wire fence for a back bumper …notice as well that the rear brake lights are made of shotgun shells!  The trouble they go through even on the wheels is stunning.  If you look closely here you can see my reflection… .  The inside of this vehicle had so many things to check out…the handgun gearshift, the antique tractor chair, the steel steering wheel with the gun barrel coming out of it…yeah, it was pretty cool .  Not everything was old and customized however…this Lamborghini was over two-hundred thousand dollars of goodness  .  Could you imagine this kind of front end on my car ?  Maybe I could call it the Morbid Mobile!  This vehicle was customized everywhere too.  I didn’t notice until later that the smoke from the burn out was all around as I took pictures .  The paintjobs were out of this world.  Detailing was not just on the obvious parts of the car either.  The one that had these orange flames had even the underside of the car painted and you could look at it via mirrors that they put near the car!  The engines were not above customization either…this little red one was really something to see .  They had a pickup done up so beautifully, Toxic was stenciled on it but to me the ghost flames were anything but toxic .  They seemed to have a Camero or two around and we were excited to see them in action.  Seeing these cars parked was cool but the anticipation of seeing them in action was building!  Just look at this engine ..it’s just not right seeing it sit there all quiet and shiny! 

We brought the kids over to see what all the action was on the other side of the church.  They were chaining these awesome cars up to a tow-truck and then letting them peel out for 30 seconds .  The sweet Camero came up and didn’t disappoint , in fact …it didn’t disappoint at all !  I saw some little kids cry…it was noisy and there was so much smoke that at times you could see your hand in front of your face but Gabby absolutely loved it…she’s quite the fan of my dad so maybe that was part of it but even aside from that she’s a brave little thing.  She asked for days afterward if we were going to see the “cars smoke”.  The last one to give you an idea was a ‘02 TransAM…it was so much fun…I know, I know, I’ve been told I sound like a true redneck…well what can I do LOL!  Check it out

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I know that I promised some pictures of Japan but I just couldn’t fit them all this time.  Today we had a visitor at what’s become antelope central now.  This is right near our house…within about five feet of the house…days like today draw them to the shade of the tree…isn’t this a handsome character ?  He was panting up a storm but I think he was still quite majestic .  They have little ones now…in fact several of them have twins…they are really cute but I’ve not gotten close enough to get them on film just yet.  I hope this was a fun little walk through our Father’s Day and beyond.  It was a very good day indeed!  God bless you all.

Life isn’t always kind nor is it always a bowl of cherries however it’s not all dark and evil either, there’s beauty out there,  Sometimes i think I’m a broken record because I always say that.  I can feel an old cliché coming on…something about being handed lemons so make lemonade or something like that LOL!  Well, some good things have come our way so you could say we’ve been making some lemonade.  Quite suddenly I was awakened by my mom this week and she said she had some news.  My first instinct was to tighten up my body like I was preparing to get hit but the hit didn’t come though I did feel the wind get knocked out of me.  We had just received word that someone had received some money and wanted to pay for our airline tickets to Europe…yeah, you heard me right…just like that the biggest single expense of this trip was taken care of.  We still have to arrange work schedules and manage living expenses which is no small thing but undeniably this is a massive step in the right direction.  We intend to meet African Joe in Ireland by the 28th of August.  Our joy is really overwhelming though the warfare against this trip just kicked up a notch too.  My dad just had another fit that is very painful and difficult to deal with and some of the job situations here are tenuous at best…asking for three weeks or so off is hard…especially in this economy.  I had to send away for my passport since it expired a couple months ago…I realize that I’ve not been without one since being just 18 years old.  I guess I will be getting the new one with the computer chip…I wish I would have had that on the way to Japan…signing in at a kiosk sure would have been easier…everyone else did it that way but I had to do it the old fashioned way. 

All the excitement actually happened just recently but shortly before that we were just home from church when my son called out that he had found something.  Lo and behold there was a beautiful butterfly just out of the cocoon…yes, this is where the title came from.  Perhaps it was our handling the butterfly gently or maybe it just wasn’t dry enough to fly away but for whatever the reason this butterfly stayed with us for a couple of days and was a delight to us all .  We received some new flowers as well after our concert with the special “K” ranch.  They gave us some flowers that they had been growing and it was delightful surprise.  Our butterfly (whom the kids decided to call “Laura”") was quite contend to be nestled in with our potted plants .  Okay, I’ll admit I was really enjoying every moment of this…and she was a perfect model (my gosh, I’m calling the butterfly her now too and I have no clue whether she’s a girl at all!) .  Things like this just bless me .  It’s not that it’s really complex or a million bucks in the bank but it’s an example of God doing something special .  It’s just for us and it brings great joy .  All it took was someone to appreciate that beauty because sufficient for the day are the troubles thereof but in the middle of all that there’s something so beautiful and this butterfly was a symbol like a rainbow that appears even before the end of the storm .  This is exactly how Japan came to us bringing a new hope when we thought hope was dead .  There’s always something to rejoice over .  Life hasn’t been easy but God has certainly been good

I know this is a short reprieve from my usual again but I want stress just how amazingly able God is.  No trip has ever been anything less than a miracle.  No trip we’ve taken has ever been in the middle of easy circumstance…it’s always tough, it’s always a challenge but in our weakness God has always been strong.  We are not fancy people nor do we know all the “right” people.  We’re just average people who have answered the call of our extraordinary God.  The series will continue with a lot of pictures.  Japan was better covered than any trip before.  We had digital cameras and loved every minute of photographing everything we could.  This next part of the series may take more time because of the volume of pictures.  I hope you enjoy sitting back and taking a ride to Japan!  To be continued next week.

It’s been a really incredible week here.  Our meetings went very well in spite of some really nasty cold weather.  People came from as far away as Michigan.  Some we had not seen in many years.  It was so good to see our friends from North Carolina that we’ve not seen since last year.  It was because of them and their prayer and faith work on our behalf that we were able to leave the Philippines when we did.  I feel that we can never thank them enough but it’s not at all a burden to be so grateful.  So much was done at each meeting that it’s hard for me to choose a favorite and it ended very well which is an wonderful bonus.  Today they went to breakfast and headed home.  I’m left feeling good about the whole thing and the better weather has arrived too which is nice.  I’ve been getting this new computer whipped into shape and that’s not been nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.  I thought I’d share a few pictures of my new machine.  The tower alone was more than I’d ever dare hope .  It has a nice large fan in the front and back and is quite as can be.  The blue backlighting is pretty cool, I never asked for that but think it’s pretty cool.  The backlit keyboard showed up about two and a half days later and that has been much better then I’d dare hope too .  For once the keys won’t wear off…imagine that.  Next on the out door end of things we got some new flowers that are doing well.  What started off as some buds , has begun to show what we’ve got to look forward to in fact today I got a few pictures of the mature flowers and I just am so blessed with them and my favorite:  .  Lovely has left little soil without something growing in it so there are many little flowers that are really enjoyable too .  This year too we have some white ones that I really like .  To top all of this off Lovely and I were looking at some websites that showed some Japanese food that we’ve been missing terribly and it inspired her to make us a special treat and let me tell you it tasted every bit as good as it looked.  She didn’t mean to get coconut shrimp but I thought it was a wonderful touch.

I have nothing else to report about our coming trip nor have I heard one thing more about Pastor Harry in his situation.  It is notoriously difficult to keep up with our contacts in Africa but I will do my best to keep updates coming as I get them myself.  The trip to Europe is heading our way very soon and we must start gearing up for that in a big way.  I believe that it is all in the hands of God and I grow more and more excited about it.  For a bit we can breath but it won’t be long before yet another adventure begins.

I now return to our regular broadcast.  Our family had been through so much after 9/11.  It was a time of change that was beyond what we could even begin to understand at first.  It felt like a death to things as we’d known it in some ways but in others there seemed to be life coming back around in a new and beautiful way.  Gabby was a forceful reminder of God’s ability to bring something beautiful out of tragedy.  Lovely had asked me many times to go with her to Japan but I had really resisted it.  I didn’t want to be in a situation where we had no money and had to stay with her mother in her tiny flat in Tokyo.  Something changed when she asked me again…it felt somehow not just possible but the right thing to do so we began to make preparations to go to Japan.  Night had fallen and the darkness was deeper than any we had known before but following that darkness dawn was breaking with a new and precious hope.  Japan seemed to be the perfect choice for us.  It’s relatively safe for us and an ideal opportunity to visit family and minister as well.  Lovely had been there before, in fact I had proposed to her over the phone when she was with her mother there before.  She had always wanted to bring us there to see it.  God was bringing the whole thing together in a beautiful way.  Somehow this was all a new beginning.  Gabby was about to join us on her very first trip abroad.  I will say in advance that it was for sure the most enjoyable trip I had ever known.  Doors to the land of the rising sun had opened up to us and we knew it was time to walk right through that door.

This has been quite the week.  We had to go and iron out some thing with our medical insurance which is never all that much fun and then in the kid’s computer bit the dust in a big way.  I decided to give them my computer but on the bright side I will be getting a new machine that’s far better than anything I’ve ever had.  The new machine will arrive on Saturday and the custom keyboard will arrive on Monday.  This is a tri-core processor with 6 gigs of RAM utilized on a 64 bit version of Vista…I guess I’m finally making the switch…this seems rather anti-climatic since the new Windows operating system will be released in October of this year…have you all heard about Windows 7?  I’m annoyed about the switch but I guess I’ve heard a lot of complaints so whatever.  There are two other big pluses on this machine:  1) it will have two 512 Mb ATI video cards running on a crossfire configuration…that’s unheard of power for me and 2) it’s got a 640 megabyte hard drive…more than I could even begin to have hoped for.  The keyboard is a back lit so the numbers and letters never fade…all of mine in the past have faded badly…not this time.  What was looking like a rough week turned into a blessing after all, the insurance is taken care of and the new computer will be here quite quickly.

I have really tried to enjoy the nice days when we have them.  This has been a gloomy month so far.  We had a forty degree drop in temperatures and had a cold drizzle for two and a half days but today is wonderful and I got some pictures from near the pond behind our house before things went bad and today the sun is shining brightly so I took some more pictures of our potted garden.  The blackbirds were in rare form so I took a few pictures of them for good measure .  I like this shot better .  Our resident mallards are always a pleasure to have nearby.  Don’t you think this is a handsome fellow ?  There’s still some of the old left over cat tails but they pretty much exploded on the twig .  Next we bought some sundials recently…no not literal sundials…I’m talking about the vibrate flower .  There are many more buds coming along so I expect this plant will be even more glorious as the days go by .  Next we have marigolds which are an old standby every year…we mix them with some other flowers in the hopes of keeping the aphids at bay …let’s hope it works this year or we’ll be stopping by the store to get some ladybugs to finish off the pests.  Our other flowers that arrived on the scene first are doing well in the cool and wet weather…they continue to be a delight each and every day .  These aren’t exotic but still give me great joy .  These flowers seem to have such a zeal for life and I admire that because I hear God in there every time .

I will be continuing the saga of our travels soon.  I hope to get my new machine up and running over the weekend and I hope there will be no bumps on that road.  We all returned to America after 9/11 with a feeling that we had barely escaped from the frying pan.  Difficult times came with the changes following 9/11.  Things were much more difficult as far as gathering funds to go abroad and many of the countries we had visited before were much more dangerous.  We seemed to have all the traits that made us feel like walking targets.  We were American, white and Christian and Lovely became a target being my wife and of course our children because they are half American.  Andy proceeded to radically alter his church once his father passed away.  He no longer believes in the Trinity and has everyone call him father.  I felt that we had crossed bridges that now where forever burned behind us.  Lovely and I lost a baby.  It was an entopic pregnancy and Lovely nearly lost her life to severe bleeding that they barely were able to control in surgery.  She has awoken in the night with horrible pain and then nearly collapsed on the floor.  I didn’t know how serious the problem was until we arrived at the hospital and got the reports back from the doctor.  Surgery took hours longer then they said it would and when I finally saw the doctor I about died myself when I realized how close I had come to losing not just our baby but my wife.  We were devastated by the loss and we were told that it was likely we could never have any more children.  Months went by as we languished one loss after another.  Hope bloomed fresh on Father’s Day when Lovely told me she was pregnant again.  She had kept it hidden from me.  I noticed our little Dachshund Gracie wouldn’t leave her side but didn’t think too much of it…there are many times when dogs are smarter than humans and this was no exception.  Finally December rolled along and we had Gabrielle Faith Cutler through emergency c-section.  I didn’t think I’d make it through that but I was there through the whole procedure…I witnessed them remove Gabby…it was kind of like watching and X-Files episode…seeing that little baby removed from Lovely as she was opened up on the operating table was another milestone for me.  Gabby was the miracle that seemed to breath life into our family again and drive away the clouds of despair.  Lovely had talked to me about visiting her mother in Japan for several years but I’d been very resistant but now in this new atmosphere of hope I felt that I would indeed travel there with our little party of five.  A new wind was blowing…perhaps all that had surrounded 9/11 and the trials afterward wouldn’t finish us after all.

I want to begin this post with an update or two.  Lately we received information from “African Joe” that one of the pastors we worked with in Africa lost his second wife to complications with cancer.  If this weren’t enough I guess he was severely beaten by someone while at the airport.  He is such a kind and gentle man this news grieved us all.  Please keep Pastor Harry Insaido in your prayers.  Next after a long time of not hearing from Andy he made contact with us via video call in Windows Live Messenger.  I believe God is really doing something but there’s a long way to go, it’s a painful process but I feel hope somehow too.  Mom talked to the pastor we’ll visit while in Ireland…he sounds really great and has been brought up in the things of God by African Joe…this is just sounding better and better!  That’s the recent news now onward and upward.

I think most everyone can remember where they were when 9/11’s horror found us.  I remember being the house that Lovely and I had found and rented for the missionary team that came with my mom to minister with us in the Philippines.  We were having a pastor’s convention at a camp located up in some hills not far out of the city.  It was a lot of work in the brutal heat but I felt very good about it.  The meeting place had only a thin tin roof that gathered the sun’s heat and radiated it down on us all throughout the day.  We still danced with the people during praise and then suffered the soar muscles from dancing on the concrete floor while we rang out our sweat drenched clothes.  We would get home at night completely exhausted yet satisfied with the work that was being done.  Local terrorist activity had been ramping up the entire time we were in the Philippines with everything from bombings to kidnappings and beheadings for shock and awe.  We began to feel unsafe in our home because it was a lot of foreigners in one place.  One night we came hone and I was taking a few minutes to compose and send e-mail.  I was on AOL then so I’d type up the mail then go on-line for a few minutes just to send and receive mail.  It would come up on the news page first and foremost.  There wasn’t cable modems there at that time so the page loaded up slowly.  It was shortly after eleven PM when the images of the twin towers loaded up on my screen.  I couldn’t breath as the the words terrorist attack came up and the horror of so many people dying at once because of a purposeful and cowardly attack on innocent people…this wasn’t the hell that war brings this was death brought by fanatics that know nothing of God rather they brought what the devil always brings:  death and destruction.  I numbly went up to the upper level of the house to inform the team that America had been attacked.  One of our team members was on the phone with their daughter talking about the attack.  It was a horrible thing to be in another country where some rejoiced over this attack and know that we were personally in terrible danger now more than ever.

Davao was electrified over 9/11 separatist Muslim extremists were already fighting government forces and many had already been killed.  The city put soldiers on the streets and it’s a terrifying thing to be in the middle of that not just for yourself but with family…my own children who were also very young were there as well.  I don’t know how to describe how it is unless a person has been in another country.  The police and the military often bring no comfort because they have a reputation of being involved with various kidnappings and murder.  Seeing them everywhere and realizing that the weapons they have could be turned on you and your family as well as anyone else drains the life right out of you.  We immediately contacted the US embassy and our travel agent that informed us that we needed to get out immediately because there was no longer a guarantee that the airlines would honor our tickets…not the kind of news we wanted to hear.  Leaving the house now brought a lot of unwanted attention…some of this I’m sure was paranoia but not all of it.  going out for food or whatever made you feel like hiding every chance you got.  Seeing armored cars everywhere and wondering if those you’d left at home were safe while you went out was a crushing weight to bear.   I realized that our plan to stay in the Philippines was over and done.  Everything changed…the earth had stood still but now it was moving in a direction that was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.  The world had changed forever in a single moment. 

Pastor Andayan was dying…he had a terrible attack of pain and he gripped me while telling me:  “Joe, don’t forget the church here in the Philippines.”  That statement haunts me to this day, you see I can’t walk away.  I know that hard things have been there between Andy and I but I can’t surrender my promise to Pastor…I won’t let it go.  We made it home by a complete miracle of God…the news of Pastor Andayan’s death crushed me but salt to the open wound was the news that Anday had walked away from all we believe about God.  He denied the existence of the trinity and gathered a cult who now called him “Tatay” which means Father.  I sent him letters including one that said the bible says to call no man your Father for we have one Father and that’s God in heaven…no reply.  Our hearts were broken and all felt lost to us.  Years went by as we tried to live with the wound that would not close or heal.  Doors were beginning to open for travel yet not for the Philippines again….rather the land of the Rising Sun had opened an impossible door.  I’d resisted Lovely and her wish to visit her mother there.  It was a feeling that I just couldn’t bear it.  I felt something like this after the things that happened to me in India but now it had a fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me feeling to it but once you’re in the grip of destiny you hear the voice of God and you cannot resist so I followed that familiar call and couldn’t stop myself….here is a song…I know it’s not talking about the subject but I take it to express the terrible hurt I have mingled with a hope I am afraid to have concerning ministry: 

Here we are rolling around to another weekend already.  I see Memorial Day approaching and with that I see everything good thing around me as something that I owe to God and our soldiers who have fought and fight for our freedom.  I once again solute our soldiers for their sacrifice.  I recently bought an album by Queensryche called “American Solider”.  It is dedicated to American soldiers and it’s incorporation of soldier’s testimonies strikes a powerful chord with me.  I highly recommend it for those that may be interested.  I bought mine via i-tunes.

Before I get into the reason for my title I want to share some photos of the season here in Montana.  The last blog contained some pictures of a wonderful flowering tree in our neighbor’s yard in some really unusual light that a sunset brought.  I saw the tree in less dramatic light and want to share it with you .  These trees are everywhere now and the smell is so wonderful…it makes me very glad I don’t have allergies.  We’ve had some very warm days that are summer like then cool downs on the end of storms that pass through .  It makes me wonder what this summer will hold for us.  My daughter had her final ballet of the season and we got her a bouquet that we all enjoy now .  Doesn’t it just speak of spring and summer ?  This is my favorite picture back dropped by the sapphire skies that I love so much in Montana .  The trees are finally beginning to trust that they can put out their new leaves and I just love the color green they have .  The strawberries are looking good…hopefully we’ll get a few before the birds get to them .  This is a close-up of the flowering trees that are everywhere now…this is one of the two in our front yard . 

Next I’ve got some of my favorite that came from a walk Lovely and I took.  This sunset was dazzling from start to finish .  I know that when it’s like this I need to keep my camera handy and watch as it evolves but while that’s happening I capture other things that catch my eye…I just like this shot somehow.  These little blossoms are a real treat too.  I turn around and then look at this !  Lovely and I start our route occasionally looking for more sunset shots .  There’s a part of our route that’s very straight and from here I can get a few more good ones then at the top of the street there’s some nice trees and the sunset becomes just heartbreakingly beautiful .  I love the bench in this one .  Lovely sat and looked at it and I love how she’s outlined in the wonderful light !  We thought we were about done then but seeing this tree and the dilapidated hut we couldn’t let it go .  It was a glorious walk !  None of this would hold the same beauty if we couldn’t be free…again thank you Lord and thank you American soldiers for fighting for such beautiful things that we can enjoy with our families.

The title of this blog describes well what began to come between Andy and I on the mission field.  He had stars in his eyes the minute he started traveling and especially after seeing America for the first time.  He began to think to himself that maybe there was some money to be had with the ministry and why not?  He felt that he could use his tremendous charisma to involve himself with a big ministry that would bring him some real money and a life he’d always dreamed of.  Once he felt he couldn’t get that from our ministry….in spite of the things we’d one such as build a church for them he began to try to involve himself with any flavor of the month big ministry that came through.  I began to notice the trouble not just in Andy’s growing sullenness but when he began to not show up for meetings we had planned and using our vehicle without our permission to run these ministers around that we were in for some real trouble.  He would also involve people in various money making schemes using his position as pastor to involve them in products they not only didn’t need but couldn’t use for any practical purpose.  It grieved me to no end to see this and I confronted him on many occasions about it.  I couldn’t force him but I did warn him that I didn’t feel right about it and that as a pastor in particular he had a responsibility to his people.  These problems sharpened as time went on but there’ seemed to be nothing I could do or say that would change his mind so Lovely and I occupied ourselves with ministry that we could and finding a house for the ministry team that my mom was bringing in the months to come.  It’s not so easy in a third world nation to do this nor was it easy to continue to negotiate with the builders on my mother in law’s house that we were staying in.  Pressure with Andy and Steve in our house while it was so hot and dirty with the construction didn’t help.  I knew we were heading for a crisis but saw no way to stop it.

It’s funny how all things pre-9/11 were.  The difficulties were there but didn’t seem as severe.  The rising tide of trouble from the direction Andy was going while his father sickened was bad enough but I didn’t have any idea just how bad it could get.  Some missionaries were captured by Muslim extremists and beheadings and kidnappings were everywhere.  I grew more and more concerned for my family.  Times were changing even then.  Our life seemed wrapped up in construction and realtors.  It made the horrors of the beheadings they show in full detail on tv seem muted somehow…weird how you learn to live with such monstrous things…it almost feels like your new normal when you’re in it.  Even then I think we were in survival mode and used our very busy schedule like a sort of barrier between us and the bad things happening.  Busy or not we were approaching a line that once crossed would change absolutely everything.

Well, I got my tire replaced and it went well, it’s not a permanent thing but will do for now, I’m glad to have it off my back and be blogging instead of doing that.  I’ve been working on using my manual settings on my camera and seeing what I can do with that and it’s been kind of fun though it still seems like kind of a shot in the dark sometimes to get the photo I want.  I will share some of my experiments and you can enjoy them or not as you will.  Our weather is still struggling to decide what it’s going to do so most of our days are various shades of gloomy but when the sun shows itself through the clouds I rejoice in the glory of the blue I can see .  Sometimes we get about every kind of weather you can imagine in one day, cold, hot, cloudy, clear rain to sort of a light hail…schizophrenic if you ask me .  We have actually had some fairly strong storms come through but nothing nearly as exciting as I like…it looks pretty threatening though I’d say .  Weather like this can bring me inside to try to photograph one of the most difficult of subjects:  Gabby.  She doesn’t often cooperate and I have far less patience than Lovely does to capture her on film .  Sometimes I think that the only way to get her on film is to catch her sleeping which is rare too .  Every once in a while a gem like this comes along and I’m blown away seeing how beautiful she really is …here she was winding down after eating some cookies…I pretended to be fiddling with my camera and got this picture…boy was I pleased! 

Outside when it cleared off to give some beautiful sunshine I captured this picture of some of Lovely’s Mother’s Day flowers…I really like them !  Next we had an unusual sunset that inspired both Lovely and I to go out and take some pictures of the blossoming trees…it was a very strange light and honestly now that I see how it looks in the picture I don’t like how it turned out but this is my favorite of the lot that evening .

Next I want to relate an experience that happened to us in the Philippines that was such a blessing.  We would often go far out of town away from our house that was under construction and have a meeting in a village.  I loved doing that because these seemed like my kind of people.  They were simple and down to earth.  Relating to them wasn’t too difficult because Andy was a fantastic interpreter…one of the most gifted I’ve ever worked with in fact.  He used to tease me saying he was actually an “interrupter” but this was not at all true.  I learned some of the local dialect and loved to use that while he then switched to English on the fly…people really seemed to enjoy that too.  He was spontaneous and had a great sense of humor too.  Describing our little city here in America could be tricky…they understood…or thought they did about America but had never heard of this strange and wondrous state called Montana.  They would scratch their heads and chatter amongst themselves when I’d mention our state then Andy would say:  “It’s near California” then they would not their heads knowingly like they finally had it all figured out…I still smile at the old familiar situation.  How do you describe a place that has snow which they’ve never experienced and a country that has states bigger then their entire country?  It forces one to be creative and I liked being stretched.  I fully believe that Christ has a special place in His heart for such communities…he came from the small town of Bethlehem after all!  I appreciated the experience I had abroad because it helped give me context finding the little things here and there that these places had in common then related it to Montana.

I loved the journey too in our little jeep too.  Seeing the countryside of this foreign land that had no become our home never got old to me.  Seeing orchids everywhere like common grass was amazing, the palm trees and thick jungle was totally exotic to me and I felt so privileged to witness things that many never see…this was my backyard!  I felt alive and my family was here with me.  The children had adapted so well that it was amazing, they loved the culture, the food, the climate and our simple way of life brought a peace to my soul…though it takes time to adapt believe me.  The thought of living here didn’t worry me a bit.  I thought of this as we neared the place we would minister.  We were hoping to buy a turkey that we would have for a Thanksgiving that we never would spend in the Philippines…though none of us knew at the time how soon we would actually be going back to America. 

Finally the jeep stopped at a clearing in the jungle and we began to pile out to follow a trail in the tall grass toward the small village and the four poles that held the roof above our heads…there were no walls at the meeting place.  I was about to reach for my bible when I realized I left it back at the jeep.  Steve volunteered to go get it for me.  Some time passed and finally he came back…white as a ghost and shaking like a leaf.  I asked him what on earth had happened and he said:  “S…s….sn….sn….snake…a big snake!”  He said that he retrieved my bible and on the way back a very large snake curled in on itself so quickly that it looked like a big bike tire as it escaped through the tall grass.  Some of the people over heard this and said one word:  “Banocan”  I was not familiar with this word until later but knew that it was a dangerous thing.  They said that this snake had attacked people on that trail before and it was very aggressive.  We thanked God and moved on with the service. 

It was quite nice there in that area and as I taught my eyes kept being drawn to a gigantic mango tree that was split nearly down the middle.  It was so overburdened with fruit that the tree couldn’t sustain the branches anymore.  I had an open vision of Jesus next to that tree.  He lovingly approached the tree and began to pick the fruit from that tree.  Each fruit he turned over in his hand and carefully placed it in a basket he had with him.  Surprisingly though He took his time but the basket was quickly filling with fruit.  Immediately I understood the meaning of this vision.  The fruit represented mankind…the burden of sin had broken the tree but he had no desire that any would perish and therefore was harvesting the fruit which he loved dearly.  This is exactly why our ministry does what it does…we are carrying on this work and it is a tremendous blessing to be a part of it.

I finished my teaching and we ate with the people there…it was very enjoyable and felt so comfortable.  I don’t take offerings at meetings like this and so I was quite surprised when they said they had an offering for us.  I was about to refuse when they brought in the offering….it was a box absolutely full of mangos!  Immediately I took this as a commission from God and received the offering gladly.  My friends, this mission will always be in my heart, no matter what country we find ourselves.  The harvest truly is great but few are the laborers…send us Lord for we will surely go where you command.  I love the harvest and I love the Lord of the harvest.  Truly this was the richest offering I had ever received.

I think that one of the biggest challenges to me personally as a missionary to some very dangerous places was to involve my family into this adventure with me.  Lovely and I discussed this at length together before we were married and had agreed to travel as a family but discussion is one thing actuality can be something else altogether.  Danielle was born in Boise and thing were moving along for us to return to my home state of Montana where our son would be born.  Michael’s birth really felt like something we were prepared for.  We were excited and blessed at his arrival and felt that this would be our last child.  We were a party of four and that felt really solid.  I felt that we should take the chance to visit family in the Philippines and make our first journey as missionaries as well. 

Lovely was not nearly the fan of this whole idea as I was but I won out in the end.  Mike was very young as was Danielle at this point but they traveled remarkably well.  We were highly impressed with them.  They were able to carry Filipino passports because they were allowed duel citizenship which helped us tremendously in customs.  We brought our friend Steve with us who later would serve two tours of duty in Iraq but at the time we had no idea about any of that.  I say with all honesty that I’ve never had a better mission team in my life than my own family.  They seem born to that kind of life.  They didn’t complain about the heat, the conditions, the different food nor would I have guessed if I met them there that they had always lived there. 

We moved into the little house my mother in law wanted expanded…we would oversee the construction and deal personally with the contractor…an experience I will never forget.  Our house had a corrugated tin roof that magnified the heat and no fence at the time.  Fortunately the neighborhood was very good to us and we made friends who watched out for us.  It’s an amazing thing to live like that.  We bought eggs fresh from farmers, had milk brought fresh and even had pork that we bought directly from the owner of the pigs and then went out from that little house to minister all over the country to little churches and villages to minister.  I can’t describe the beauty of seeing this dream come true. 

Poor Steve slept on a mat in the tiny living room because the other parts of the house were not complete.  Things were in various states of disrepair for the months we were there but in spite of this we were happy.  Problems were beginning to be more and more evident with Andy however.  His father was obviously extremely ill and getting worse and Andy was attaching himself to ministries that I won’t mention by name but will say that they were indulging in some teachings and behavior that raised my eyebrows more than once.  I heard some of them come and belittle the people because the church was only a neepa hut and didn’t have air conditioning and besides this they said that according to prosperity should have a better vehicle…all the while they were borrowing our vehicle to hand out fliers for their own meetings.  I talked to these ministers personally and have to say it wasn’t right.  I think Andy really got a taste of what it could mean if he became part of such a ministry…and I believe that this is something that played a part in what eventually really came between us. 

I will tell of more stories of the adventures we had later on but for now I thought I’d share some pictures.  Here’s Lovely, Andy and I at the internet cafe trying to get an e-mail off to the US…it was a long old haul to get to the cafe so we made our time count…like our matching shirts  ?  Mike had no trouble with Filipino barbecue !  Lovely and Mike at the store…we needed lots of stuff to make our home seem a little more like home .  What do you do when it’s hotter than hot…well, you adapt and adopt a Filipino siesta of course !  Andy walks Danielle and Mike and their cousin down the road in front of their house…this one makes me miss those days .  What did our vehicle look like you ask…why let me show you .  I’m sure we could fit another person on what do you think?  Mike learns to defend his food while in the jungle ..okay it’s not the jungle it’s Jollibee…the Filipino McDonalds LOL!  Danielle was always too much the little lady to resort to such tactics .  What happens when dengue fever mosquitoes are spreading?  Send around someone to wipe them (and us) out…yes, they even came into our house…another reason to pray about our health !  It wasn’t all heaven or all hell but over all there was not a single day in which God wasn’t evident.  the adventures will continue but this is to wet your appetite for today.

Well, here we are again almost the end of the week.  Our weather has been all over the place but pretty much it’s been bad

I admit I get pretty annoyed with it.  We have 40 degree temperature shifts and sometimes I think my mood shifts with it!  That video is right out our front door.  Now it’s trying to improve some and I’m really glad to see that.  I was looking out past the backyard at one of my favorite views and enjoying the fact that it looks like it’s at least trying to be spring .  The birds…including my favorite western meadowlark sound cheerful and hopeful and the clouds…though it was misting this morning…are trying to clear away some .  I’ve so enjoyed seeing the flowers that others have…including of course Toodie’s garden and those that have such great flower pictures…gives me hope in our cold weather here that it will indeed change.  We have a little flower garden that we have been bringing in at night when it gets too cold.  I would like to share some of the pictures of that.  These little flowers seem so small yet brave to me…so willing to give their own brand of praise to God .  Here I see nature glorify it’s creator and it’s beautiful.  Pansies in particular remind me so much of my grandma on my mom’s side who passed away…it’s actually kind of bitter sweet .  My grandma’s name was Dorothy but everyone called her Dodi.  She was a tiny little thing in stature but so a sweet dear woman of God.  I feel that it’s a crime she didn’t get to see her prayers come true for me and her great grandchildren.  She’d died of Alzheimer's disease while I was in the mission field .  See the rain drying on the pansy in the picture?  Almost like a drying tear drop. 

Storms must needs be in life one way or another…without the storm that brings rain how would anything live?  I have two videos from my favorite storm site I’d like to share.  All credit to them for this amazing video.  Just when I want to gripe about bad weather I see things like this

.  It’s long been my dream to go on one of these tours though I don’t know when it will happen. 

I have got to continue my story now because it feels like it’s been too long.  Lovely and I made it home to American and barely got settled in before she went into labor with our first child.  We had prayed and already had chosen a name.  We were walking with my grandpa at the zoo in Boise when the labor pains started.  Lovely really didn’t show much pain but knew something was going on…me?  I was a first time dad so what the heck did I know?  We arrived at the hospital and they didn’t take us too seriously when they understood we were first time parents but after a quick examination they rushed Lovely into the delivery room.  Now for me this was a thing I expected to be a challenge because some of you may know of my dread of needles.  You’d think that after the multitudes of injections I’ve endured after all my trips I’d kind of get used to it…no such luck.  Back in the day they had many miserable injections…maybe that traumatized me rather than got me used to it LOL!  I went into that room not knowing really what to expect.  I figured our little boy was on the way no matter what.  It only took a very short time before the baby’s head showed…I watched in awe…fear about needles and such long gone as the miracle of birth happened before my eyes.  Soon the baby’s head and body came out and in a stunned moment the scissors were handed to me and I cut the cord.  They said Mr. and Mrs. C. you have a little girl…did they just say girl?  I didn’t care, I was counting fingers and toes and those lips…I can’t forget those perfect little lips…my God is she really ours?  I wept without even knowing it, I’ve surely never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life.  We adapted the name we had chosen to Danielle because we indeed felt as though we had been judged of God and came through the fire to get to America at last.  This was our first step to become our current party of five.  I remember sleeping in the waiting room because the hospital was very full.  The girl next to Lovely was having a baby on her own…the daddy did show up but she told him to get out…it was heart breaking to see that and made me realize just how blessed we were.  Storms come and go

but I know for sure I will every be grateful to God for as much as nature speaks of God so does my family.  I never see them and not God…they are forever mingled together.  Since I’ve dedicated my life to my family on a very up close and personal level.  I have home schooled my children because of our extensive travel and never regretted that decision though it’s cost us…the cost has never out weighed the benefits.  We travel as a family and are a missionary unit.  The nations of the world has been our classroom.  I’m eternally blessed in this.