Anaginosko - Anna-Marie's Blog.

Random Pictures

2009-04-04T11:55:00.004-04:00

For my birthday my immediate and extended family brought me a very good Canon camera. Here are some random pictures I have taken. Thanks to all my family that put in money to buy it!

Our Kitten

2009-04-04T11:36:00.005-04:00

On Thanksgiving Day, our parents surprised us by getting a kitten. We got to enjoy playing with it for a few weeks, then, sadly, we had to give it away. Here are a few pictures I took with my new camera.

Wilderness Adventure

2008-07-22T11:21:00.003-04:00

While we were in Hastings my Grandad took us all on a "wilderness adventure". A friend of Grandads owns some land out in the country in Hastings and he runs horse treks and jet boat rides. He also owns some cabins by the river that we stayed in for one night. Rachel and I went on a 3 hour horse trek through the hills, it was a lot of fun. That night we went out shooting rabbits and then went eeling. The next morning we all went on a long jet boat ride. It was a great time and we all had tons of fun, thanks Grandad!

At the end of our horse trek.

Me carrying Matthew across a little part of the river so he didn't get wet.

We borrowed my uncle's 4 wheel drive for the trip as we needed one for the roads. Mum had great fun with it.

When it got dark we went out and shot some rabbits and then used them to lure in the eels.

Us in the jet boat.

On the way to the hut. This is a typical New Zealand road. Notice we are driving on the other side of the road.

Grandad, Rachel, Joel, and Matthew outside the hut that we stayed in.

This is the view that we had from the hut.

The boys fishing for trout.

Kuratua

2008-06-29T14:59:00.005-04:00

While we were in New Zealand we went to a bach (cabin) in Kuratua that mum's sister and family owned. Kuratua is a really nice place in the North Island. It's mainly all baches, people own them and then go and live there for a few weeks when they can. They bring boats, because Lake Taupo is just down the road and so they go out on their boat and fish and water ski and biscuit (tubing) and everything like that. So that's what we did. We stayed for about a week and a half, and we got up every morning and went fishing on the lake, then that day we would biscuit or go for walks or just do nothing. It was a lot of fun and a good way to get to spend a lot of time with our cousins before we left.

Me and my cousin sitting by a lake. This isn't Lake Taupo, it's just a smaller lake that we walked around.

This is a really nice place that not many people know about. You have to cut through some bush to get there but it is worth it. As you can see the pond is clear blue, and usually there's tons of trout.

Matthew with his first trout that he caught in the boat. We all had turns going out with my uncle and catching trout. One morning I caught seven which was cool. We kept two and cooked them for lunch. We had quite a bit of trout for meals since we caught quite a few good sized ones.

I'm Back!

2008-06-29T14:50:00.002-04:00

We are all back in America after spending about two and a half months in New Zealand. New Zealand was great fun, we all had an amazing time but it is nice to be back into normal life.

Well, my grandma and grandad came back with us from New Zealand. They stayed with us for about 3 weeks and then headed up to Canada and Alaska. We took them around Kentucky and went to all sorts of different places. I will do separate posts for photos of all that we did. I will also try and get some more photos of us in New Zealand.

Pictures from New Zealand.

2008-04-12T04:52:00.010-04:00

These are a few pictures from what we have been up to in New Zealand. We have been here for 5 weeks already, the time has flown past! We have 4 more weeks until Dad comes, and then two more weeks here with Dad.

These are our cousins, Tori and Lauren.

Maccy Memorial. We went here with our Aunt who just recently got married. This is where she got her wedding photos taken and as Matthew was the page boy and was there for the photos, we thought we would go and take a look.

Us kids and our Aunty Leanne who's wedding we came over for. We spent a day cruising around Wellington and all the cool beaches.

Us kids looking out at the Sea.

Our Grandad took all of us kids to a Rugby game against the Hurricanes and the Sharks. It has been a long time since we have been able to watch rugby, so we really enjoyed going to the Westpac Stadium for the game. It was a draw, 13-13.

While we were in Hastings, a good friend of ours got baptised which we managed to see.

I'm in New Zealand.

2008-03-22T20:10:00.003-04:00

Well, you're all probably wondering why I haven't blogged for a long time and the answer is, because I'm in New Zealand. We are here for about 11 weeks, Dads coming for the last 2 weeks after he's finished semester. So we have been lazing in the sun, enjoying being home with all of our extended family.

The plane trip was absolutely horrible, it was way too long. We flew from Louisville to Chicago, which was an hour long, then Chicago to LA which was five hours long. That flight was really hard because five hours is a long time and it was a little plane. Then we had the long flight, 12 hours from LA to Auckland, and the last one from Auckland to Wellington which was only 1 hour.

We have been here for about two weeks already. We came for our Aunty's wedding which was last Sunday. It went really well and everybody had a great time. Matthew was the page boy and Rachel and Joel were on seating people. My cousin and I had to go up to the front and read something out of the bible which we were really nervous about but it went okay.

Grandad has been taking us kids fishing which is something that we all love and Grandad has basically been fishing all his life so he is a a great person to go with. Rachel and I went with him and stayed over night for two nights, and fished for three days. Above is a picture of a 2 pound trout that I caught on a fly rod.

Anyway, we are heading to Hastings tommorrow to visit friends.

Day sixteen in Israel

2008-03-04T10:58:00.005-05:00

Day sixteen was a free day and then a directors reception at our guides place that night. So dad and I and a few others from our group went to the Holocaust Museum and dad went and got a haircut by a Frenchman.

Going back to our hotel on the public bus. This was a huge experience, as the driving is horrible and they don't stop letting people on the bus even though it is clearly full!

This is the outside of the Holocaust Museum. It was a huge place as you can see from the picture. We were unable to take photos from the inside, sorry.

This is dad, a New Zealander, getting a haircut by a Frenchman, in Jerusalem.

Day fifteen in Israel

2008-03-03T14:46:00.010-05:00

Day fifteen. On the bus at 7:30 and off to Sepphoris, Beth-Shean, "The Garden of Eden" for lunch and up onto a hill so we could look down on Nazareth. That night we would be returning to our hotel in Jerusalem. This would be the last day of our great Galilee trip.

We stopped at Sepphoris and saw the Mona-Lisa of Galilee. Joseph the father of Jesus possibly came to Sepphoris for employment as it was flourishing more than Nazareth.

Mosaics in Sepphoris. Probably date to around 300 AD, this one tells the story of Dionysus, he was the god of fertility and the god of wine in Greco-Roman mythology.

This is where we stopped for lunch. They call it the Garden of Eden, it had naturally heated pools that some of our group swam in. It was a beautiful day also.

This is on a hill overlooking Nazareth. Dad is looking out towards the Jezreel Valley in this picture. Jesus would have gone up their often as a child.

Nazareth.

Beth-Shean. It was amazing walking down the main street and seeing all the columns beside you. It was easy to imagine what it would have been like in those days.

The bottom of a pillar that had fell during an earthquake that destroyed the whole city in 749 AD.

Dad walked up to the top of the Beth-Shean Tel. This is him with the ruins behind him.

Day fourteen in Israel, Part Two.

2008-02-29T09:21:00.010-05:00

Day fourteen, part two. On the bus at 7:30 again, and after we had gone on a boat on the Sea of Galilee, we went to Gergesa, Qazrin, the Jordan River, Capernaum, and we went for a walk down Arbel Mountain.

We found a crypt at Gergesa (sight of the demoniac in the tombs) that had a gate over it, but it wasn't locked so dad and I and some other guys went in. This is dad in a tomb. Notice the bones to the left of dad's shoulder.

This is Gergesa, some church remains.

Above is a reconstruction of a village that is similar to how a village would have been in the time of Jesus.

Dad and I with the Jordan River in the background. It was fairly warm that day which was nice.

Me standing on a bridge that goes over the Jordan River.

Capharnaum. This was where Peter lived and where Jesus often visited and stayed.

Dad by a statue of Peter, notice he has the keys.

This is on top of Mt. Arbel, the mountain that we would be walking down. Behind Dad is the Sea of Galilee.

This is what we walked down to get to our bus that was waiting at the bottom. This mountain was full of caves that we explored.

Day fourteen in Israel, Part One.

2008-02-29T08:54:00.006-05:00

Since day fourteen was such a big day I decided to split it into two parts. So these are all photos of our boat ride. Our guide suprised us by planning a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee for us. It was a lot of fun even though it was freezing and really windy. When we got out on the sea the owners of the boat pulled out an American flag and hoisted it up next to the Israeli flag. Then they played the anthem and everybody stood up and sung, it was great. They also showed us how Jesus would have fished, out on a boat like we were. Here are some photos.

This is on the boat looking out toward Mt. Hermon. If you look closely you can see it, the white range of mountains, behind the hills.

The Israeli and American flag.

The boat that we went on.

Dad and I on the boat. As you can see it was very cold.

The owner of the boat showing us how they fish.

All of the seagulls that hung around wanting food.

Day thirteen in Israel.

2008-02-28T09:56:00.010-05:00

Day thirteen. We were staying in En Gedi so we woke up and could see the Sea of Galilee out our bedroom window. We were on the bus at 7:30 a.m and headed off to Hazor, Dan, Caesarea Philippi and the Golan. It was very cold that day but we went to some very interesting places.

Our bus with Mt. Hermon in the distance.

This is at Hazor. It was freezing cold! Hazor was a large city about the same size as Nineveh or Babylon. See Joshua 11:10.

Dan. There was a lot of water and little rapids. Dan is the biggest spring in the Middle East, and the biggest source of the Jordan river.

At Dan. An excavation in progress. The original name of Dan was Laish.

This is at Caesarea Philippi. Behind us is the cave of Pan, one of the Greco-Roman gods. Notice the rock, it was here that Christ talked about building the church upon the rock.

Me on the Golan heights when the sun was setting. We were up there looking down on Syria.

This is a deserted Israeli military sight on the Golan. These are the stairs that led in and out of it. It was a lot bigger than I expected.

Day twelve in Israel.

2008-02-27T09:26:00.008-05:00

Day twelve, we were on the bus at 7:00 a.m. Today we would go to Ceasarea, an aquaduct on the beach, Mt. Carmel and Megiddo. We wouldn't be returning to our hotel in Jerusalem that night, we would stay in a holiday resort in En Gedi, right on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

This is a tomb that was on the side of the road. These were reasonably common around Israel.

This picture is self-explanatory.

We went to Caesarea, a palace right on the Mediterranean that Herod built and named it after his boss, Ceasar. I am standing on a fake chariot which is located on the hippodrome (chariot racing track).

Me on top of a smaller aquaduct.

An aquaduct that Herod built. This was probably the most amazing thing that day. It stretched on and on.

This is on Mt. Carmel (where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal). We all found a seat on the rocks on the edge of the mountain, we had an amazing view. The man in the picture was our guide, Dr. Wright.

This is on Megiddo looking out towards Nazareth. You can see Nazareth, its the town on top of the range of hills.

Day eleven in Israel.

2008-02-26T13:54:00.004-05:00

Day eleven was a free day, although we had the exam at about noon and then class from 2:15 to 5:30. So dad studied in the morning and me and my roommate wandered around for a little bit. The class was on Galilee because the next day we would go and stay in Galilee for three days.

Day ten in Israel.

2008-02-25T20:22:00.004-05:00

Day ten was a free day. So dad and I and another guy from our group decided to get on a train to Tel Aviv and then walk to the Old City of Jaffa (biblical Joppa). We didn't realise that it was such a long way to Jaffa so it took a long time walking there and then we took a taxi back. We couldn't go in to Simon the Tanners house, it was under construction, like most of Jaffa at that time, but we had fun walking around the streets.

This is supposedly Simon the Tanners house although it only looked about 100 years old.

This is on the way to Jaffa, you can see Tel Aviv behind us.

Dad and I with the Mediterranean Sea in the background.

Day nine in Israel.

2008-02-25T10:00:00.008-05:00

Day nine in Israel. On the bus at 7:15 am. Today we would leave Arad, go to Masada, the Dead Sea, walk through En Gedi, and go to caves at Qumran. Then we would go back to our hotel in Jerusalem. It was a very exciting day, we went to lots of cool places, especially the Dead Sea.

The path that leads up to Masada. Dad and a few others had a race up it.

Our group listening to our guide at Masada.
This is on the other side of Masada. I went down on the Gondola thing you can see and dad walked down the "Snake Path."

Me standing by the Dead Sea.

Look closely at this picture and you will see all the salt on the boat.

Dad floating in the Dead Sea.

This is En Gedi. There were lots of Ibex along the way. As you can see from this picture it was really dry in some places but in the next picture you will see that some places are really green and wet.
Dad and I at En Gedi. There were a lot of little waterfalls and the whole place was really beautiful.

Day eight in Israel.

2008-02-05T11:13:00.000-05:00

Day eight. We were on the bus at 7:30 a.m. Today we would leave the Youth Hostel at Beer Sheva and stay over night at a Youth Hostel in Arad. It was a very full day again, we went to Tel Beer Sheva, Tel Arad, Nahol Zin where we went on a very nice walk through it and Mizpe Ramon. It was very fun and interesting day.

This is dad by a horned altar at the ancient site of Tel Beer Sheva.

Dad and a few other guys from our group sitting where the Elders would sit, just inside the gate. We are at Tel Arad.

This is me at Tel Arad. At nearly all of the ancient sites we went to there was always a big water cistern that we could go into and look around. So this is me going into one.

The ruins at Tel Arad.

The rest of these photos are at Nahol Zin, which is biblically The Wilderness of Zin. We took an hour walk through it and then up the cliff to our bus that was waiting on top. Nahol Zin is near Kadesh Barnea, where Israel wandered for forty years. It was very beautiful and there were lots of Ibex around which I have never seen before.

An Ibex. They were not very scared of you, so you were able to get quite close.

It was very beautiful, with a river running through and lots of trees by the water although it was still a very dry place.

Nahol Zin.

Day seven in Israel.

2008-01-29T14:05:00.000-05:00

Day seven we were on the bus at seven a.m. Today we weren't going to be coming back to Jerusalem for the night, we were going to be staying in a Youth Hostel in Beersheva. It was a packed day, we went to Sataf National Park, Beth-Shemesh, Azekah, Lachish, Askelon where we went to the Mediterranean Sea, and then to Beersheva for the night. Here are some pictures.

This is where Samson grew up. We are at Beth-Shemesh looking across the Sorek Valley. They have dug up lots of pottery that is 1600 years old, I took a piece home with me.

This is Dad pointing to the Elah Valley where David and Goliath fought.

This is the Sataf National Park in the Sorek Canyon (west of Jerusalem). We walked down to the ruins you see on the right and then down some more, and of course we had to walk all the way back up!

Dad and I at the Mediterranean Sea in Askelon.

This is dad at the Mediterranean Sea.

Day six in Israel.

2008-01-29T13:52:00.000-05:00

Day six was a free morning off. In the afternoon was the exam for those that wanted to do it and then a class. In the morning I went out with some guys from our group while dad studied for the exam. We went on to the wall and walked around the Old City on the wall. Then we got off and had lunch at a pizza shop, then went back to JUC for class. Sorry there are no photos, I didn't take the camera that day.

Day five in Israel.

2008-01-29T10:41:00.000-05:00

Day five was a lot of fun. We went to lots of cool places like the Emmaus Road, Nebi Samwill, (where we had a great view) and Jericho. We passed lots of Bedouin camps as we drove along. The Bedouin are people that live out in the middle of nowhere, looking after the sheep and goats and living without any electricity.

This is dad walking on the Emmaus Road, the road that Jesus appeared on after he rose from the dead.

This is looking on to a Israeli village from Nebi Samwill.

This is a Bedouin camp. You see a lot of these as you drive along in the bus. Usually there are lots of camels and donkeys walking around the camp.

New Testament Jericho.

Day four in Israel.

2008-01-25T19:18:00.000-05:00

Day four was our first field study day. Instead of staying in Jerusalem we got on our bus at 7:00 a.m, and headed off toward the Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Herodian, Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity.

Dad and I with the wilderness in the background. This is the wilderness where Christ was tempted and where the Good Samaritan parable came from.

One of the many Bedouin boys that came to say hello with their donkeys and camels.

Herodian, a palace that Herod built.

Our group standing on the Mount of Olives looking to Jerusalem. The gold dome is the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.

Me with the Garden of Gethsemane in the background.

Dad touching the place where Jesus might have been born.

Day three in Israel.

2008-01-25T18:08:00.000-05:00

Day three: We were allowed to sleep in, we had to be at the bus at 8:00. Today was our New Testament Jerusalem Walk. We walked around the Wailing Wall, which was an experience but was amazing. Here are a few photos:

Us at the Wailing Wall.
Dad with the Wailing Wall in the background.

The remains of Robinsons Arch on a 1st century street. Robinsons Arch was a entrance into the Temple.

Dad teaching me on the exact same steps that Gamaliel taught Saul.

Day two in Israel.

2008-01-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

Day two: In the morning we were up and about at 7:30 am. Today was our Old Testament Jerusalem walk in the morning, then class in the afternoon. We went to the pools of Bethesda and Hezekiah's Tunnel. Hezekiah's Tunnel is a tunnel that King Hezekiah dug for a water way and later used to escape from the Babylonians. Here is an inscription they found in the Tunnel.

The tunneling has been completed. And this was the way the breach was made. While the masons were wielding their picks, one gang towards another, and while there were still three cubits to be cut through, a mans voice was heard calling to his mate; for their was a fissure in the rock running from south to north. So on the day the breach was made, the masons struck, one gang towards the other, pick against pick; and the water flowed from the spring to the pool, a distance of 1,200 cubits. 100 cubits was the height of the rock above the head of the masons.

The tunnel is open to the public to go through but it is filled with water. Most of our group went through the tunnel, but Dad and I went through a different tunnel called the Canaanite Tunnel. This was dry but very, very narrow.

Me at the Pools of Bethesda.

Dad and I with the ruins of the Pools of Bethesda in the background.

Looking down on the Pools of Bethesda.

Dad and I at the mouth of Hezekiah's Tunnel.

Our group waiting to go down to the entrance to Hezekiah's Tunnel.

Me, my roommate, and another lady from our group sitting on the ruins of the steps of the Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the crippled man.

These steps are not open to the public yet, but our guide knew the man in charge so we got to go. These are the actual steps leading from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple.

Day one in Israel

2008-01-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

Day One in Israel: In the morning we went to JUC (Jerusalem University College) to have orientation and the course introduction. Then we went on a Old City walk around Jerusalem.

This is called the "Dung Gate" even though there is not a gate. It is an entrance in and out of the old city.

This is looking down onto the Kidron Valley from the city of David. The village you can see is an Arab village.

This is a typical street in the old city, except this isn't as bad as the others because it doesn't have shops on the left hand side. As you walk down these streets, you get yelled at from the shop owners to come and buy stuff, and you constantly have to move out the way for boys with carts that don't wait for you to move.

Dad standing in the ruins of what would have been a shop in 350-600 A.D.

This is looking out on to the Mount of Olives.

Hello

2008-01-15T13:52:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

I am writing from Israel again. We have been staying in a holiday resort on the shores of the Sea of Galilee for the past few days so I have not had a chance to go on the internet. The resort was very nice, great food, big rooms and a great view of the Sea of Galilee from our bedroom window.

This is a few places that we have gone to over the last few days.

On a boat on the Sea of Galilee, we learnt about fishing on the sea in Jesus' day.

Tel Aviv: one of the largest city's in Israel. We went there on a train on our free day.

Behorn Ridge

Caesarea: a place that Herod built that faced Rome.

A place with warm springs that people swam in. We had lunch there. Some people think its the Garden of Eden, it was very beautiful.

We went down to the Jordan river and one person from our group jumped in, but it was freezing so we wisely stayed out.

Lots of other places, like ruins of places that Herod built, or just old ruins that were from Jesus' time, lots of lookout places that we can go out on and have a 360 degree view of different places of Israel.

Tomorrow we have a free day. Then for the few days that we have left we are doing different sort of field trips, but we will stay at the hotel in Jerusalem.

Well I better go as I am very tired. We have been getting up at about 6 to 6:30 every morning, and then playing Mafia as a group at night. So as a result I am very tired, but as our guide said, "Make the most of your time while your here, you can sleep on the plane back home."

Anna-Marie.

I am in Israel!

2008-01-04T13:38:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, I am writing from Jerusalem. I have been here for about 5 days and am going to be here for another 2 and a bit weeks. I am sorry that this will have to be short, but I really don't have a lot of time. I will now try to list all the places we have been which we will be hard as we have been to so many different places but I will try. Here they are.

Around the streets of Jerusalem which is very interesting and different.
On Mt. Olives.
The Kidron Valley.
The garden of Gethsemane.
Hezekiah's Tunnel (I didn't actually go in as it was full of water, but I went to it and around it with some others.)
The ruins of the pool of Siloam. (I hope that's how you spell it)
Beth-esda pools.
Bethlehem.
The ruins of the Temple Mount and the Southern Steps.
Lots of other places.

Most of the time we go out on a bus and drive to different places and then walk around it and learn a lot! I have never learnt so much in one week. There are about 43 people in our group, 23 from the Southern Baptist Seminary and all the others are from different places. Some times we go out for a morning and then come in for a five to six hour class. Yes it is a lot of learning. But I really better go as it is late and we have to get up at 5:30 in the morning which is the time we have usually had to get up at in the mornings. But by for now and I will try to write another post soon.

Anna-Marie.

PS: I am sorry there are no photos, I have not had a chance to download them yet. I will try to get some photos on as soon as I can.

My birthday.

2007-12-06T09:28:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Dec the 5th, was my birthday. Because I am going to Israel for my birthday, we didn't really do much but it was still a fun and lovely day. A little family tradition is that dad always takes the birthday child out to breakfast on his/her birthday so we went out to Deny's for breakfast. Before that though, I opened my presents. I got a basketball from Matthew, a little horse ornament from Rachel, some lip gloss from Joel (Mum actually brought it of course), and the airplane tickets to Israel and 100 shekels, which is Israeli money. I also got 50 dollars from my Aunt. Anyway, Dad and I had a wonderful time at Deny's, and ate way too much. Then Mum and I went to the mall, and I brought some slippers because it is freezing! We also went to a horse tack shop to buy me some riding gloves. Then we came back and went to Rock Creek, where I had a riding lesson. We had shifted the lesson to Wednesday so that Dad could come and watch since my lesson which is usually on Tuesday and he works that day. We came back home and watched National Treasure and had my favorite dinner and dessert. During that time, a friend from church, came over and gave me a MP3 player, which I was very happy with, because now the 12 and a half hour flight to Israel won't be quite so boring. So my birthday was a very enjoyable day. I am having a few friends over on Friday to sleepover and watch a movie with me as well. Here is a video that Mum took of me riding on my favorite horse Kramer.

Christmas Message.

2007-12-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

Watch this Christmas message from our family to yours.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1161453335

Today

2007-11-11T18:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, so we had an interesting day today. We went to church in the morning, got home at about 1:15, then had lunch. Rock Creek Stables, where I volunteer at, was having a dinner at one of the ladies homes. This lady and her husband is the owner of the stables, so she lives way out, out on a horse farm. So any way, we were going to go so we got ready and then Yahoo'd directions. We found out it takes about half an hour to get there. Anyway, being New Zealanders and not really knowing our way around, we misread the directions and went completely the wrong way. So we had to come right back, and by now we were late, had to get petrol, which was a problem, because dad wasn't with us and mum hasn't really done it before. Then we finally got onto the highway, the right one this time. It took us ages to get there, and then when we got there, well, we couldn't see anyone. So we double checked the date, and realized that the dinner was next Sunday, not this Sunday. So we had to go all the way back home. So here we are now, eating lots of salad, because mum had made two huge salads for the dinner which didn't exist. So, we have had an interesting day.

I'm going to Israel!!!!!!!!

2007-11-07T12:35:00.000-05:00

As some of you probably already know, Dad is going to Israel at the end of December. And, what I didn't know was that I am going with him! I had my pacemaker check on Wednesday and because dad needed a medical report, all the doctors knew. Mum had called the day before, and said to not say anything, but I had two new doctors and so they did and I found out. I am really excited! Dad gets credits from the trip so its like a class. Dr Fuller it leading it. There are about twenty two other people from seminary going. We leave on the 31st of December and stay there for three weeks. I am really looking forward to it.

Golden Corral.

2007-11-01T11:45:00.000-04:00

On the way back home from Red River Gorge we ate at Golden Corral. We all really enjoyed it and ate way to much. Here is a video of us at Golden Corral.

Red River Gorge

2007-11-01T11:05:00.000-04:00

Last Monday we drove two hours to Red River Gorge. We stayed there all day and then drove back at night. It was a beautiful day and since it is autumn it was really beautiful.

This is us hiking up to the bridge. Because we don't have snakes is New Zealand we were all a bit worried about snakes, but thankfully we didn't see any. Afterwards we read this sign about snakes and then realized that they also have bears!

This is us sitting on the natural bridge. It was a three-quarter of a mile hike to get there.

This is me at another lookout. The natural bridge is in the distance.

Matthew.

2007-10-22T10:37:00.000-04:00

Matthew is going through a phase, and the phase is that he likes to dress up. So we found him a suit jacket and a tie. Now, all throughout the week he goes on and on about how he is going to wear his suit to church. He even hopes that it will be cold enough so that he can wear it.

Horse Riding.

2007-10-05T09:30:00.000-04:00

I have started volunteering at this horse stable down the road. We get the horses ready for the lessons, like tacking them up and cooling them down afterwards. We are there from about three to around eight. I am really enjoying it. They are also giving me free lessons in return. Here is a photo from my lesson.

This is a video of me riding Africa

Family Photo.

2007-10-02T12:59:00.001-04:00

This is a photo outside a building at the seminary.

Pink Guitar

2007-09-22T17:36:00.000-04:00

Rachel is learning the guitar at the moment, and last night she was teaching dad a song. I thought it would make a good picture since it was quite a little guitar and pink, so here it is.

House Sitting

2007-09-22T17:16:00.001-04:00

We house sat a really big house for about ten days. It was a great house, it had a pool table and a huge t.v. They also had two dogs that we looked after, and of course Matthew was really scared of them at first but got better after a while. This is a photo of him finally patting one of the dogs after a lot of coaxing. We were going to stay to Friday but the air conditioning broke and so we moved out on Thursday. We still had a lot of fun though.

2007-09-10T12:50:00.000-04:00

You will all love this. I just love it how the herd came back to get their baby back.

Matthew.

2007-09-03T14:06:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately Matthew has had Strep throat. Here are a few photos I took of him.

World Fair.

2007-09-02T20:44:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I went with some other girls from our church to a World Fair. It had stalls of crafts and objects from different areas of the world, like Thailand, the Middle East and India. Also it had lots of food from around the world. There was also Spanish dancing and singing and lots of other music. We met some other people from Immanuel (our church) there as well. It was a very fun and interesting night and it was great to hang out with friends from Immanuel.

This is looking out over the Ohio River. The big boat on the right is the Belle of Louisville, a big steam boat.

The music for the night was Reggae.

Look closely and see how long both guys

dreadlocks are.

These are some of the people from our church that we met there.

Point of Grace Concert

2007-08-29T17:12:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to a free Point of Grace concert. I have one of their albums already and really like them, and this concert was for the release of their new album. It was held at a church near us we one one of the group fellowships there. I took a friend and we met two other friends there. They had got their early and had seats in the front row so we joined them. It was a great night, as we all really like Point of Grace. They sung some new songs from their new album and some older, more well known songs. We brought their new CD and lined up to get it signed by them all. At the bottom of this blog is a video bar with some of their songs. Michael Passons from Avalon is now their piano player and he sung a song as well. That song is on the video bar.

Kentucky State Fair.

2007-08-26T17:40:00.000-04:00

These were all
the tigers
in the show.

This is a
tiger walking
across a rope.

On Friday we went to the Kentucky State Fair. It was a neat experience since the fairs in New Zealand are heaps smaller than this one. They had the World Championship Horse Show that we watched for a while and lots of other small booths. We were there from about 9:00 to 4:00 and we didn't get to see even half of everything that was there. They had alligator wrestling and trick dogs doing amazing tricks. They also had a tiger show that we watched and all loved. We would have stayed longer, but the temperature was over 100, about 43 Celsius. So it was really hot and we had to leave after a while. But it was a great day and we all enjoyed it.

Kentucky Kingdom, a really big amusement park was open for all the people at the fair. I had been before with a friend but the family hadn't gone before. We walked around it and went on some rides. There was nobody else there either which was really cool. I managed to persuade Dad to go on a roller coaster with me. I had been on it before and enjoyed it but Dad really didn't like it.

Mississippi Trip.

2007-08-19T18:31:00.000-04:00

We are on a newly built pier that goes out into the Gulf.

If you can remember on the news, this is the Superbowl that all the people lived in for a while. We all went into New Orleans and had dinner there. It was a great time but was quite sad to see all the devastation that is still there.

This is the team from Immanuel Baptist Church that we went with to Mississippi.

While Rachel and I were asleep in the van a friend took this.

As some of you probably know, Rachel and I went to Mississippi in May. We went with a group from our church and went to help another church. It was a great time and a great experience. It was also a great time to get to know the people that went with us and we also met some people there that we made quite good friends with.

Baby Sitting.

2007-08-18T18:40:00.001-04:00

Here are the two boys we babysat. David, is the little one on the left, and Daniel is the bigger one on the right.

Today Rachel and I babysat two boys, a 1 year old and a 3 year old. It was fun and I think we both enjoyed it. After, there was a cookout (BBQ).

Working with Horses.

2007-08-17T20:18:00.000-04:00

As many of you probably already know, I love horses. I rode a bit in New Zealand and had a few lessons. So coming here I have wanted to find someplace that I could maybe volunteer and I would get a few lessons. Dad and I went to a stable this afternoon, and asked if I could volunteer and have lessons. They said it would probably work out and so I am going soon to have a lesson and volunteer for a while. I am very thankful that God worked it out, I have been praying for a while that it would work out, and it has now. So I am very excited about it, as I love horses a lot. It is a very good riding school, the grounds are really big and tidy, and the people are quite nice.