Happy 18th Birthday to my oldest son, Drake!!
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
Food poisoning and balloons
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| Edyn loom knitting a hat |
A few months ago I had heard that there was going to be a small hot air balloon festival about 30 miles from us. I was so excited and wanted to bring our kids. I had never seen hot air balloons, and it's always been a dream. The festival weekend came around, Friday night thru Sunday night, and it was so exciting, and FREE to get in. You just had to pay to park and at $15 for all of us, I was in. I had done all of my research, as usual lol. I planned, talked to my husband, planned some more because, I wasn't interested in anything but seeing the balloons take off. I could care less about arts and crafts or music, just give me the balloons!! The website said they would take off on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. This meant we had to get everyone up, dressed, and out the door by 630. It was 30 miles away, and we new we had to park and walk. Well I should have known to get everyone up by 3 a.m. for us to be on time. My kids were moving as slow as molasses up a tree! We didn't pull out of our driveway until 6:50 a.m. I was not a very happy camper. All I could think is we are going to miss it. Then I got on Facebook to check the event again to see if anyone had posted about parking. Oh, well if my stress level wasn't at a 10 from being late, it was at a 15 after I got on Facebook. Comment after negative comment were complaints from the night before.
"Parking is terrible!"
"Completely unorganized!!"
"GET THERE EARLY!!"
Well goody. This looks like it's shaping up to be a great time. I told my husband, I am about ready to turn around and save our gas after reading these comments. We kept going and arrived about 7:20.
The line of cars looked like a hurricane evacuation. I thought well great. Not trying to be negative Nelly, but maybe we can at least see a balloon float over our car while we sit here in this hot mess. All of a sudden, the cars started moving and flowing right into the gate. This may be happening after all!! We parked, jumped out and walked I know 4 miles uphill, but we made it just in time to see the balloons filling up and getting ready to take off!
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| Beautiful sunrise on our way |
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| Edyn loves this pic she took and edited herself |
We watched all of the balloons take off, and walked back another 4 miles uphill to our car. It was well worth it for me. I can't wait until my husband takes us to the one in New Mexico!
In an effort to get healthy, I decided to go plant based. It wasn't something I wanted to push entirely on my family, but it's something I wanted to do personally.
I knew that I would have to still cook meat for my family, but I also know that I am the one that meal plans. My family has been eating healthy and eating less meat, even if it is by default lol, They are really learning to embrace all kinds of fruits and veggies. I am going to shamelessly beg my husband for a Vitamix. It can be my birthdayChristmasValentinesdayorjustsimplybecauseI'mawesome gift from him.
I really don't care, I just know I want a red one. **hint dropping right here** On a plant based diet, there are quite a few soups that I love to make. For most of these soups, you will need vegetable stock. I was buying this stuff left and right, and thought at $2 a box, I'm going to have to take out a loan! I realized I had everything I needed to make my own. The kids wanted to help so I of course took them up on it.
There's those sweet small hands again.
We did the math together and we ended up making the equivalence of 7 boxes for the same amount of money as 2. Next time we will make even more!
Last but not least, we got to find a Geocache while we were at the park one day. If you aren't sure what Geocaching is, it's like a big scavenger hunt.You use GPS to find coordinates to the cache.
They come in all sizes! Sometimes they are small with nothing but a log, and sometimes they are big with little trinkets or toys in a big container. Those things are called swag! Here's the link to Geocaching.com if you would like to learn more. We absolutely love doing it as a family. Believe me after you find one, you will love it as much as we do! Be sure to watch out for Muggles!
Here's a video of our favorite Geocaching Youtuber! We love the Geocaching Vlogger!
That about wraps up what we've been up to. I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
-Tasha
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Great Scott!! It's back to the future day! Wordless Wednesday
After today, the entire Back to the Future trilogy will take place in the past. My daughter decided she was going to dress up futuristic since that's the way we are supposed to be dressing per the movie!
For more WW posts or to link up your own, just click the link below!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
The Coming of the King Prayer Garden
One of my favorite things to do is to drive around aimlessly. I love to turn the music up, and just drive. A couple of Saturdays ago my husband came home from work and told us to go get in the truck, we were going for a drive. I was in! I didn't know where he was taking us, but he did tell us to grab the camera.
As we started driving we were getting into the hilly part of Texas. 39 years, and I have never see this part of our state! It really is beautiful.
As we neared the town of Kerrville, you could see a beautiful cross on top of a hill. It was amazing! I had no clue what or where it was, but I knew I had to see it up close! I didn't realize this was where he was taking us. My husband had passed it many times on his way to see a customer, and he new we would love it.
As we approached the entrance, you could see a sculpture of huge nails.
To the right of the nails is a parking lot. More beautiful sculptures and works of art. We loved this one of "Mary, Mother of Jesus."
There's another one called 12 stones on the other side of the parking lot.
After you enter the park, you drive up a long and winding hill until you come to another parking lot and the main garden. This is at the top of the hill after you park.
Let me just say, until you see it in person, you just can't comprehend the size of this cross! As you enter the garden, you are greeted by this beautiful "Fisher of Men" sculpture. This sculpture depicts Jesus Christ at the Sea of Galilee calling Andrew and Simon Peter to follow Him to become fishers of men. It had such a holy feeling here. As soon as I walked up I could feel the presence of God. There were so many groups and individuals praying, that it almost felt disrespectful to talk.
As you walk down the path to the "Empty Cross", you can see that the "Path to Heaven" is made up of 77 scriptures in different languages. They are all in logical progression.
After we were there a few minutes my husband realized the entire garden was in the shape of a cross. I didn't even realize it, probably because I was just so caught up in the entire place. I took this pic from the Internet.
To the left arm of the cross is "The Great Commission" sculpture. This sculpture depicts the World, the Word, and the Rock. Jesus Christ is the Word and the Rock who created the World.
Right in front of the cross is "The Coming King" sculpture. It symbolizes when Jesus comes back in all of His glory as a warrior and king!
Towering at the back of the garden is the amazing cross that stands 7 stories high. It truly is a work of art.
Everything about this cross intrigues me. This next part is taken from their website. I wanted to copy and paste it so that you could understand every detail of this magnificent cross.
“The Empty Cross”™ is a seven story Cor-ten steel sculpture by artist/evangelist, Max Greiner, Jr. This stunning sculpture was donated to THE COMING KING FOUNDATION by Max and Sherry Greiner, and Monte and Beverly Paddleford, owners of Eagle Bronze Foundry in Lander, WY. This unique contemporary sculpture was installed on top of a 1930’ hill top above IH-10 on July 27, 2010.
“The Empty Cross”™ is believed to be the most symbolic cross sculpture in the world because of its Biblical symbolism. The massive open hollow cross symbolizes the Resurrection, the Door, the Narrow Gate, the Strong Tower, the Mighty Fortress and the Light of the World, who is Jesus Christ. God sees mankind through the cross while mankind can only see the true God by looking at the cross.
The Carbon Steel skeleton of the cross was covered with a Cor-ten steel skin. After scouring by sandblasting, a reddish brown patina was released, symbolizing the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Biblical numbers are used in the design of“The Empty Cross”™ sculpture. The $2,000,000 cross measures 77’7 inches tall with a 40’ cross arm. It weighs approximately 70 tons, including the steel in the foundation. The foot print of the cross sculpture is approximately 10’ x 10’ square, like the Holy of Holies. The interior space is 7’ wide. Four plaques inside this sacred space explain the scriptural path to salvation, filling of the Holy Spirit, healing and miracles. Thousands of visitors to the cross have been supernaturally touched by God, many claiming life transformation, miracles and divine healing.
The part of the garden that touched me the most was "God's Rock Garden." The garden suddenly appeared at the entrance of the garden not long after it opened. People started writing their prayers on rocks and leaving them. The garden was not planned by man, but a creation of the Holy Spirit.
Gavin writing out his prayer on a rock
I didn't take pictures in the rock garden, because I didn't feel right doing it. If you would like to see some, here is a link to the webpage. As I placed my rock, I couldn't help but see some of the heartfelt prayers of others. It moved me to tears. I couldn't read them all. I would have lost it. Some were remembrances of loved ones. Some were pleas for a family member. All you could really do is pray. It was such a touching experience.
I can say that this is one of my most favorite places I've been in a long time. It is definitely a Holy experience, and I for sure want to go back soon. If you get a chance, take a drive down I10 to Kerrville, TX to see this gem. You won't regret it.
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