The Summer Comes to a Close

The summer for has now come to a close as classes began last week. The summer went by very quickly but it was a good summer. It culminated with a trip to Montana. Being out of the city was wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed being in the mountains. It was also wonderful to visit family and spend time with them.

School is now in full swing as I am reading aplenty and already writing my first research paper. This semester I am taking Greek Exegesis of Matthew, Church History I, Pastoral Ministry, and Typical Problems in Biblical Counseling. They will be good classes and I am excited for how God will use them to continue to shape me, mold me, and prepare me for ministry.

The following are several pictures from our trip to Montana. Enjoy the pictures!

Tess is being potty trained! She was very proud of her first box of pull-ups!

Mom made these dresses for the girls while we were there.

All the girls got to ride with Papa Tim on the little motorcycle, dubbed "Lil' Putt Putt"

Dad and I on top of a beautiful mountain in Idaho. Great 360 degree view. Rode the motorcycles near the top and then hiked the rest of the way.

Kate performing her fire skills on a camping trip!

Papa Time and Kate.

Camping in Idaho.

Dad and I rode for ten straight hours. Needless to say my rumpolia was quite sore at the end of the day. Beautiful ride though. This picture of me is a point in which we crossed a river in which this is the only access by road. We saw three moose on this trip.

On a day hike.

One of the hikes we went on had a lot of cedars. This one Rose fit right inside of!

We camped on the top of a mountain where there was an old fire lookout. The view was beautiful but the thick and fine dirt was a bit of a problem with the little ones!




Rose and Kate each getting ready to ride Lil Putt Putt.

We got several loads of firewood while we were back there! It was a good workout and great to run a chainsaw again!

Blessings,

Shane

A Month in Pictures

The last month has been very busy and the summer is going by extremely quickly. Here at Southern, they offer what are called J-terms. A J-term is a semester long class crammed into a week. You do all of the work before the class begins and then you are in class from 8-5 during the week the class is offered. It is a very intense learning environment and provides a different academic perspective because you study one topic for an entire week. Last week I had Christian Philosophy and the week before that I had New Testament I. Both were very good classes. June was spent doing school work full time in order to prepare for the classes. Consequently, I didn't put any pictures on the blog. So, here are a smattering of pictures over the last month!

One day, we went to central Kentucky and visited Fort Harrod. This was the first settlement in Kentucky and it was established in 1774. The fort has been rebuilt and it is outfitted as it would have been back then. They also have several volunteers throughout the fort doing work that would have been done in the 1700's. We had a lot of fun there and the girls really enjoyed it!

This would have been the school room for the children in the fort and the outlying areas. Notice the giant fireplace!

This is the dining room.

The outdoor kitchen area where they would cook food for those in the fort.

This graveyard lies just outside the fort and it is the oldest one in Kentucky.

One Saturday morning we went and picked berries and peaches at Huber's Farm.

An evening walk out at Cherokee Park.

The girls have been doing great learning to swim thanks to Aimee. Kate now jumps off the diving board and swims all over the pool without a life vest!

Last Monday we went to the sprinkler park located in the Zoo. The girls had a blast!





One day, we went up to Indianapolis to spend time with my uncle. He took us to a very nice sprinkler park and the girls had a great time! It was a fun day.

Well, that is all for now! Currently, we have VBS going on at our church so we are going over there every night. The days have been relaxing though. We are also getting ready to drive to Montana. We leave Sunday after church and will return on July 28th. Please pray for safety as we drive! We are very much looking forward to the break from the city and some time in the mountains and with my family!

Blessings,

Shane

The South

The South. A place I had never been before. Some of my perceptions were accurate and some were not! I definitely learned some things while we were down there! The United States is a fascinating place and one thing I am learning this year is the great amount of diversity within the subcultures of each area! What one subculture sees as absurd, another sees as normal.

We travelled down to Mississippi to visit our friends Will and Sarah and their newborn baby girl in June. It was a quick trip, but well worth it. The drive was fascinating, our time as a family was very good, and our time with Will and Sarah was a blessing.

The drive was about 8 hours, but much of it, (about 3 1/2 hours) was spent on country roads through Alabama and Mississippi as there are no interstates near where we went. What this meant was that there were about 50 different ways to get there as country roads cross every which way. We just had to guess which country road was faster. This depended on drivers in front of us, the number of towns the roads went through, and how curvy the road was. For example, the route we took home was shorter in mileage, but about 45 minutes longer.

Driving through Alabama was not what I expected. It was very beautiful! I was thrilled to see the forests filled with pine trees. I do miss the pines and firs so this was a welcome sight! There was also a large logging industry there, which I was unaware of. We saw a lot of logging trucks and logging companies. There were a lot of rolling hills and some beautiful river bottoms and vistas.

A long the way, I saw some very large snakes dead along the road. Yeech. At least they were dead. However, I also kept seeing other reptiley corpses along the road. I kept slowing down to trying to figure out what they were (Please withold your redneck comments.....I was curious). It looked just like an armadillo, but I didn't think they were down there. Finally, one was not as smashed as the others and it was clear: Armadillos were being slaughtered in great numbers by the vehicles that traveled the roads there. It was a tragedy for the armadillo community! However, it was apparent they didn't learn from the mistakes of others. Another reason to study history.

We did see some funny things down there as well. A couple of restaurants that looked appealing: Boar's Butt Restaurant and then another called Smokin Butts Barbecue. Hmmmmmm......apparently you don't throw a steak on the barbecue there. You throw a chunk of butt. We also learned the south likes their tanning salons....only they are very different from the typical tanning salon of the city or California. Anyone ever been to an express video and tanning store? We saw a couple of those. Or how about a floral and tanning shop? There was also another really random one, but I can't remember what it was. The funny thing was, we saw several of these combination shops. "Yeah, I'd like a dozen roses and a tan please." "Honey, go down to the shop and pick out a movie for tonight and while you're there, why don't you bronze yourself?"

We were very blessed to stay in a house on the base which was great. It was so nice to be in a house again! Three bedrooms is nice also! The base was an pilot training base so there were constantly planes going over which the girls really enjoyed. Jess and the girls also got to ride a horse we use to have named Frank which was a blessing.

Enjoy the pictures!
Shane

Kate and Rose in their bedroom. They really liked their little beds.

Frank and Tess and Kate.

Some of the Alabama countryside. Sorry....no armadillos in this picture.

The highlight of the trip for Rose. No joke.

Zoom in on this picture. It is worth it.

Thunderstorm Camping

We had told the girls we were going camping, but after a long day of rain, we chose not to go and see what the weather would do the next day. The next morning, Jess and I were up early reading our Bibles in a quiet house. We checked the weather and there was a strong chance of thunderstorms so we were thinking we probably wouldn't go when all of a sudden we hear Rose shout "Campin!" We looked at each other and said "Well, we're going to have to try to go now!" Rose was so excited to go! So we decided to take the chance and go!

We got out to the campsite at Taylorsville Lake around 1:00, set up camp, and then went for a beautiful hike. We have hiked quite a bit out at Taylorsville Lake, but this trail was our favorite because there was a lot of pine trees along the way. Reminded us of the mountains! As we were hiking back to camp, we could hear thunder behind us. A storm was following us in! We got back just in time and had a small thunderstorm. Dinner was cooking while the storm was going, compliments of a covered grill. When the storm finished, dinner was finished so we came out of the tent and ate. While eating, we could hear and see another storm coming. This one was turning the sky black! (See above picture) We finished eating and went up to use the restrooms. As we were coming out, I heard the growing sound of the rain coming as it blasted the leaf covered trees. I've never heard that before! It sounded like throwing a handful of gravel into a lake. That is probably a redneck description, but it is the best I got! The sound roared toward us until we were caught in a torrential downpour. We only had about 50 yards back to the tent, but by the time we ran back there we were soaked.

The storm settled in right over the top of us with a lot of lightning and loud thunder. It lasted for nearly an hour and we waited it out inside the tent, anxiously watching the seams. Fortunately, the tent faired well, even though a small river was flowing under the tent. To occupy the girls, we played Simon Says. To date, that is the longest Simon Says game I have ever played. But, it was fun and a good memory. The girls did great in the storm.

Finally the storm cleared and we were able to go outside and enjoy a beautiful evening. The moon came out and large clouds moved by, majestically silhouetted against it's light. It was a beautiful evening.

The next day we just relaxed around the campfire most of the morning. It was great! I hadn't camped in a thunderstorm since backpacking in Montana! All in all, it was a very relaxing trip and it went well.





The Girls Enjoy a Loooonnnnggg Game of Simon Says!!!!