Capturing Memories

I have a terrible memory. Awful really. I'm not just talking about the busy days with three little kids when I could not remember if I had brushed my teeth or what I had eaten for lunch...if I had eaten lunch. I mean long-term memories. The important things in life that you never want to forget. For example, I have no idea where we went on our honeymoon. I know it was a short cruise...but no idea where. I have no memory of my high school graduation...now granted that was a long time ago...but I can't remember my college graduation either.
Now this has always been a weakness of mine. I can remember in high school my friends and I joking about how terrible my memory was. It is not so funny now. I kept diaries from 6th-12th grade and religiously wrote in them knowing one day I would not remember my teen years. I have also journaled since having Lydia. I did not journal when Joshua was born because I thought that the memories and details of something as momentous as having my first child could never be forgotton. I was wrong. His first 22 months are a blur. Another strategy I used was taking photographs. This is where what we folks with psychology degrees call Obessive-Compulsive tendencies kick in. I have photo albums for every year of my life since 1985 (I started young...like when I was one or something...). Anyway, you can ask me for a picture from any month between 1985 and September 2010 and I can get the album (labeled on the outside of course) and turn the the pictures for that particular month. They are in chronological order categorized by events. Many are individually labeled with the names of folks in the pictures and the event (I wanted context...not just pictures).
This has developed into a love of mine. I am in somewhat of a dilemma in the age of technology as I have all of my digital photos stored on my computer, on Snapfish, and backed-up with an online company call Carbonite. However, there is just nothing like holding a photograph in your hand or flipping through an album and reliving all the memories. Somehow the thumbnails on my computer (also stored and labeled first by year, then month, then day, and tagged as well) is just is not the same.
In our new house the albums are more accessible so my children love to look through them and ask questions and hear stories. It has been time well spent. And although I can't tell you where we went on our honeymoon, I can look up June 2000 and find the pictures!
With all that said, here are some memories that will be logged in the October 2010 pages! Our family at the annual B. Family pumpkin patch...

The B. Family grandkids!

Dinasaur World with some great friends...

the Declaration of Independence

With elections around the corner, Ive been thinking about history...the importance of history, whether it be the fall of the Roman Empire, Biblical history or American history, we have so much to learn from those that have lived before us...the good and the evil.

Over 234 years ago our Congress adopted and signed the Declaration of Independence. It was a document to declare America's independence from the British Empire. The document is quite lengthy, and unless you are an 8th grader required to memorize it for a US history class (which I think is a terrific idea), then you can probably only quote a small portion of it...say for instance the sentence that reads..."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

This has been deemed as one of the best known sentences in the English language.

That leads me to September 17, 2010 at the Congressional Hispance Caucus. Our President, while giving his address quoted a portion of the Declaration of Independence...editing it a bit..."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." he said. He was reading from a teleprompter.

My neighborhood Bible study...which has grown and is now not technically a "neighborhood" study but a group of girls who love the Lord and who I have grown to love over the previous nine months...has just started a study entitled Return to the Garden:Embracing God's Design for Sexuality. No, I will not be blogging the contents of this study.

We began our study with Hosea 4:1-8. In describing the people of Israel, the Lord says, "there is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery, they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed."
Why? How did a people end up this way? Let us learn from this history lesson to avoid the same outcome. He gives us the reason in verse 1..."there is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land. "

Go back and compare the two quotes from the Declaration of Independence.

...the phrase has been going through my head all week..."no acknowledgement of God in the land." Then I was horrified. Grieved. Angry. Listening to our leader intentionly leave out the phrase "by their Creator" when giving a speech.

I experienced many emotions but despair was not one of them because if you keep reading the Scripture you will see a love story unfolding. A love story between a Creator God and his people. A people he loves so much that although they stray and turn their backs on Him...He longs for their return. More than that, He has provided a means for their return through His own Son.

Am I mad at Obama? No.
No. I am not mad at him. I pray that he becomes the leader that I think America deserves and most importantly one in which the Lord would boast.

Fall Vacation

Fall break was last week so we took a mini-vacation to Northern Kentucky. We visited the Creation Museum (http://www.creationmuseum.org/) which was incredible. That will most definitely be a post coming soon. The Museum has a petting zoo.

We also visited this great little treasure hidden in the hills of Covington, KY called Totters-Otterville located in Johnny's Toys. There are so many fun activities for the kids to do. We stayed all day. Here are just a few of the things they played...

Lydia caught every pink fish in the pond!

The Veterinarian Clinic was well staffed with our three there to take care of the animals. Joshua has always wanted to be a vet.

Their grocery cart looks like mine usually does with boxes falling off the top. I menu plan which means I only go to the grocery one time a month...except for small trips for items like fruit and milk. Last month I could barely push my cart and I had to carefully tuck the last few items into the sides, otherwise, they would have fallen off the top! I will have to have two carts when they are teenagers!

Okay, the coolest part of our trip was the hotel room we stayed in at Wildwood Inn. The hotel has theme rooms. We stayed in a two story pirate ship. Honestly, I don't know who liked the room more...Steve and I or the kids.

Personally, I think our Captian was quite good looking.

This is our room from the loft area...with a few members of the crew playing on the bed.