Koch Version of "Tree Hugger."

Josiah...He actually did pretty good. I don't think I could even get that high! (p.s. it is a whole lot harder than it looks.)

Seth...he did pretty good as well.

And then Marcus...Being my brother I will always root for him more than anyone else....

HE DID THE BEST!!!!

(Sorry guys, but he did!)

He calls it his "inch power."

*chuckle*

Around the Camp fire...

Around the camp fire...

Caitlin would whittle a pipe for Jacob, and Josiah would try it out. (There is a funny story here. Caitlin did not like him actually putting it in his mouth...but he continued to do so, so what she did was rub the end with soap, and when he tried it again....well...lets just say he tried to make no facial expressions, though it did not work very well. :)

Around the camp fire...

Little Liberty would be constantly smiling for cameras...

We would be roasting marshmallows...

...Havin' a good time...

...Smokin' pipes...

...lookin' "cool"....

...Singin' Songs...

....And enjoying the breath-taking beauty.

Elk Lake, God's Creation

I don't know why, but my camera, and the canon rebel, S..something, could not get the amazingly beautiful moon on the lake...did I mention there was lightning in the background? It would have been one of the most beautiful pictures I've seen, but this one will have to do. (even though you can hardly see anything.) The moon was behind the mountain, and there were other mountains in the distance, that had lightning over them, and the moon showed it's reflection so perfectly in the lake. 

Here are some morning pictures I took. I want to get a photo editing program soon, so I can bring the color out a little more.

Beautiful, eh?

I like the tree in this one.

There are so many lakes around Elk Lake, that are only minutes away. This one, Hosmer Lake, about 3 minutes away, had SO many fish in it, it was amazing!!! We even saw an Atlantic Salmon! They were the biggest trout you will ever see, but the only problem is, is that you can only fly fish...ya, huge bummer hu? Explains why there are so many, that are so huge, right?

Hosmer Lake was one of the most beautiful, and relaxing ones I've been to. So much wild-life, and new things, that you don't see every day.

I liked the Lilly pad flowers. :)

I LOVED this photo! There were around 10 or more, mom ducks with lots of little ducklings following behind. :) I call this picture....the Homeschooling Mom Duck. *smile* like it?

I tried to get creative with my little camera...though it did not work really, here are some of the pictures I took of the little flowers on the path.

Well.....I must say, I liked the way this one turned out. :)

.....~.....~....~....~.....

More pictures are yet to come!

Elk Lake Camping Trip

On Monday, at 5:00am, my family and I, along with the Woltersdorf Family, hit the road. Where? Elk Lake, in Oregon.

This is the lake, next to Elk lake...the one we fish in. It was really beautiful. :)

 

Levi and Israel...so cute. :)

A Bird...don't ask me what it is called, that would be a question for Caitlin. :) I take the pictures. ;)

The King of Camping.

Where would we be with-out a clothes line?

Praying for the food...I absolutely adore this picture!

Jacob and I in my little, "one man" boat. ;) Jacob had an absolute blast. :p

That's a Levi Picture alright! *lol*

Awwww, he is just so cute!!! This was his very first camping trip, and he did pretty well. :)

*chuckle* Also a Levi Picture. :)

I really like this picture. It gives a calming look. 

This is a picture just before one of the Thunder and lightning storms. They were so cool. It was always sunny in the morning, into the afternoon, then in the late afternoon the dark clouds would form and there would be a thunder and lightning storm. (It was not this way last year, so it was kind of neat.:)

The crawdads were plenty as well. :) I only caught one...which was one of the very biggest I might add,  and as soon as I picked it up, I threw it at Hannah and Josiah on land...who caught it, and tada! Misson accomplished. ;)

Now this one has a funny story as well. While we were all roaming around, moving rocks, and catching craw-dads, Papa yells, "I found a Shrimp!" All heads turn, and repeat, "A SHRIMP?!?!!?"

Well, turns out it was just a "shrimp" of a crawdad, much to the disappointment of the kids. ;p

:p I love the look on their faces. :)

Eating the catch of the day...

I was brave enough to take my camera into the boat, to take some pictures. (But was not brave enough to even take my bigger camera on the trip...so all of the pictures from the camping trip, are from my older small camera.)

And thus ends the first post of the Camping trip... I took around 800 photos, and will be making a video of all of them soon...or when I have the time. ;) Stay tuned, more will be coming. :)

Mysterious attacks

For the past several days, more like a week, something had been eating our chickens, and spreading our garbage all over the parking lot. After the Fifth day, we had finally had enough and had set traps all around the Garbage area. That night, (The night of my date) I woke up by some strange screaming from out-side. I was about scarred out of my skin! After five minutes I finally turned on my lamp and woke Caitlin up, saying, "Caitlin! I think something is attacking the Chickens! Hear that screaming out-side?!?" With lazy eyes Caitlin replied, "Go get Papa." So I ran to go get Papa...(Mind you, it is 3:10am in the morning) And then he said, "It is probably something caught in the traps. You and Caitlin could go check it out if you want." I really wanted to, so I got Caitlin out of bed, and then we both tried to find a flash light. While we were looking, we got Marcus up, who loaded his new Air Riffle, and then Papa came too, with one of Grandpa's "new but never used" guns. We all crept out-side in complete darkness, save our little flash light, towards the garbage area on the side of the Garage. By the time we stepped out of the door, all of the noises had stopped, and everything was quiet. I looked over the garbage area, and then Marcus shouted, "There is a Raccoon under the quad!!!!" I looked under the quad, and sure enough there was a Coon caught in one of the traps. But as I looked, I saw another Coon! Two! I thought, we got lucky this time.

We all moved closer to the coons and then another shout went out saying, "There are THREE Raccoons!"

I was really shocked! Three Raccoons in one night?!?! Wow!

We all looked them over, with oohs, and awes, when yet another shout went out, and this time saying, "There are THREE more over there, not in a trap!!!!"

Caitlin shined the light toward the spot, and there stood the Mama of all the Raccoons. She was HUGE!!!!

...............................................

The story will be continued in person to those who want to hear.. (I don't want the ending to be open to all of the people browsing the Internet.:)

But this morning we found that the Raccoons had killed 2 chickens last night...destructive little critters! ;o)

Jessica's Date

Last night Papa took me out on a Date, to The Marrakesh, a Moroccan Restaurant. It was the coolest thing! You sit on Pillows, eat at small tables, and the funniest of all...you eat with your hands! I know, it sounds really disgusting, but they give you bread that you can, "sorta" use as utensils, and it is not too bad. All of the waiters were in full Moroccan clothing, and they decorated it as if you were in a tent in Morocco. Pretty cool stuff!

This was the ceiling, which makes you feel like your in a tent...

They did a wonderful job in decorating. When you step in from out-side, it is like stepping into a different Country, amazing!

Beautiful!

Well, now on to the meal. (Yumm) First off, they wash your hands in a bowl type thing, and pour warm water over your hands. Then you dry your hands on a towel that they give you sorta as your napkin. They serve the meal in 5 courses. The first Course was a lentil soup, which you drink like you would out of a cup.  And then they brought this Eggplant type of thing, that you eat with bread, as the Second Course.

Now this was the weirdest of all! Inside a crusty wrapping of Philo dough, was Chicken, eggs, and spices. And on the outside of it all was powdered sugar and cinnamon. Like I said, really weird, but it was so good, that I could have just eaten that as the main course!

Papa's hands got a little messy, *smile*.

Now the Fourth Course. I had Couscous Marrakesh. Which is Couscous rice, topped with seven different kinds of Vegetables, and Lamb. My, Oh, My was that good!

Papa had the "catch of the Day." (Sorry, but I forgot what kind of fish he got! But let me tell ya, it was really good!)

I could NOT finish my whole plate, as you can plainly see. :) Though it was really, really, good, there was just no way. So I had them save it for the kiddos at home. :)

Now on to the Dessert. (Fifth Course) Before you eat this course, they wash your hands again, but this time with rose water. So that your hands to not smell like the main Course, but smell sweet while you are eating your dessert. Wow- hu? They seem to think of everything here! I don't exactly know what the dessert was...but it was like a mix between vanilla ice cream, and pudding, with coconut on top. VERY good, as well. :) They served this with mint tea.

This restaurant was very enjoyable, and fun because you get to do/try different things than our normal way of eating, and such. Very different and definitely worth going to again!

(P.S. if you want to go there, make sure that you leave before 7:30pm, and if you want to know why, ask me in person. :)

The Restaurant~

And I just LOVED the door! So elegantly designed.

Well, after that we got in our Muscle Car and headed to Starbucks for a drink.

 What a wonderful night! I am so blessed to have a father such as Papa. A father who cares for me, takes care of me, protects me, loves me, spends time with me, and teaches me to be the godly woman I aught to be. I love going on dates with him, so we can talk about things, and just simply spend time together. It shows me how much he cares for me, and loves me, and makes me love him even more!