Camping for Sukkot

Well, so we wished! We had hoped to go camping over the weekend for some of the time of the feast, however we found out a little too late that dogs were not allowed in the yurts. (Which there is a picture of one above) Pretty neat little way to camp, heated little huts, they have beds inside and a clear dome top to let in light. Wonderful way to go!! So, instead we came down just for the day of the sabbath and had a wonderful time! The day was beautiful and clear, although a little cold. The kids went on a nice hike through the woods with Jeff and enjoyed just playing around the campsite. We ate, sang, danced and read scriptures of course! It was certainly a different and memorable sabbath!

Time for the Feast of Tabernacles!

Here is our beautiful sukkah all dressed up and ready to welcome the Sabbath! Scott did a great job putting this up and the kids and I had a wonderful time getting it all decorated!

Here are some of our friends and family celebrating the feast with us.

And of course we cannot forget the kids! We set up the playroom with a craft table, here they are decorating little prebuilt sukkot they could take home after.

We had a wonderful time! Lots of wonderful friends and family came to bless us and ultimately and more importantly blessed God by celebrating this very important and festive time of year! We ate lots, shook the lulav and celebrated before our God all the wonderful things He gives us! I can't wait for next year!!

Hebrew

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10-26-06 / Tree (עץ eyts, Strong's # 6086: When we think of a tree an image comes to mind but, when the Hebrews who wrote the Bible think of a tree an action comes to mind. This is one of the foundational differences between Ancient Hebrew and Modern Western thought. The Hebrew word eyts represents a tree but more the action of lifting up with support, the function of the trunk and branches of the tree. Other words related to this one also have this same active meaning. The word atseh [str:6096] is the spine, eytsah [str:6098] is a council and etsem [str:6106] is the word for bones.

Hebrew

10-24-06 / Amen (אמן amen, Strong's #543): World wide this is the most famous of all Hebrew words. But, do we know what it means? This word comes from the root aman [str:539], pronounced ah-mahn, and means to be firmly planted in place such as can be seen Isaiah 22:23 which speaks of a "nail fastened to a secure place." The noun form, amen, pronounced ah-mehn, is used in the Biblical text by persons who are affirming a statement. In other words, they are saying I am firmly agreeing with what has been said. The next time we say amen, let's think about what we are agreeing to.

Oh YEAH, It's my BIRTHDAY!

WOO HOO! I had the BEST day ever! Let's see....I will start from the beginning, or rather the night before. The night before my birthday my longest time girlfriend Julie, took me out to dinner and we also hit the thrift store and had a blast rifling through the racks for bargain treasures, and we found plenty! It was a wonderful evening topped off by dinner at Red Robin, YUMMY! I got home and my kids were already in bed, I told them I wanted to sleep in for my birthday so Jordan was to help take care of his sister if she needed something she could not do for herself. They were to shut my bedroom door and not bug me. And they did just that! It was 9:00AM when Scott called to wish me a happy birthday, waking me up! Ahhhh...so nice. Sleep. Great birthday gift. (Does that mean I am getting old, I think perhaps.) 9:30AM, someone is knocking on my door...who could that be? I am still in my jammies, haven't even brushed my teeth yet and there is company? YES! It was my good friend Chloe! She is standing out there wishing me a happy birthday with a hot from her oven pan of cinnamon rolls! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT??? So, I hug her and run off to brush my teeth so I can talk to her without killing her! We sit down to the best and most yummiest cinnamon rolls ever! She runs off and next my mom calls! We planned to head out for lunch and shopping for the afternoon. My dad and her were going to buy me a new winter coat and we were going to go and shop for it together. We meet up and head out for a wonderful lunch at Barry's cafe who makes the BEST chicken salad sandwiches! Then off to the mall! The first store we went to I found my new winter coat! So cute, it is a charcoal pea coat with a hood. Love the traditional style and I am so thrilled to have a new coat! We then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping around until Scott found us in the mall when he got off work. For dinner we headed off for the Spaghetti Factory! I love going there, it reminds me of being a kid and going with my parents. We ate lots, opened gifts and then headed home. The pictures you see above are of me in the restaurant opening my gifts. I received candles, a new datebook and a new camera! It is PINK! I have to share that story as well. Scott, being the smarty pants that he is tells me he got my gift and that I would never guess it. (I am quite notorious for being able to guess gifts and it makes him crazy, oh and I will say this, totally off track but, he also just bought a new generator a few days ago and he kept teasing me that was going to be my bday present, what a butt) So, he, thinking he is so smart, wraps it, then puts tissue paper in clumps around it to disguise the shape, then puts more paper around it, sticks it in a gift bag, tapes the top of the bag shut. Thinking I cannot figure it out due to it's crazy shape now. HA! I pick it up, feel it, shake it, sniff it, find it's outline, feel it's weight (you know all the traditional gift guessing requirements) and then it hits me, I take the bag, hold it up to my face and start making shooting sounds, like from a camera! HA! HA! HA! My daughter, who loves to tell what gifts are, just gives me this crazy look and by some miracle, did not give away that I was dead on! Scott, although not giving it away, said he about "crapped" as he put it when I hit it on the head. Still irritated that he could not get one by me! Mwaaaaa mwaaaaa mwaaaaaaa!! Ah, it was like the icing on a cake! Could not have been happier what that one! Now, if that were not all enough, my in laws came over tonight and took us out to dinner, and gave me a beautiful blown glass pumpkin, so pretty! They also brought an incredible chocolate cake, and as I already made one, we had two slices each! Now, that is truly a very Happy Birthday!

Moments at the aquarium

WOW! It has been years since I was at the aquarium! They have remodeled and I love the changes they made! This was our most recent filed trip and it was a blast! Atira really did not like the idea of touching a sea anenome, but she did it! I am very proud of my girl! However she had no problem posing as an octopus! Jordan really enjoyed the hands on part of the exhibits, touching the star fish and other creatures. I personally loved the jelly fish that are circulated around in a giant "O" shape of plexi glass. Pretty cool with the fancy colored lights! It was a very fun and memorable day with our friends.

A Hebrew Moment

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05-12-07 / Holy (קדוש qadosh, Strong's #6918): Most of us have certain items in our homes that are used only during special occasion such as a set of fine china dinnerware or a special suit or dress. Something that is set aside for a special purpose is what is meant by the Hebrew word qadosh. The furnishings in the tabernacle were qadosh and would never be used for anything but for use in the tabernacle no more than one would take fine china on a camping trip. The nation of Israel was also qadosh, they were set aside from the other nations by God to do his work in the world. The word qadosh has been translated as "holy" but this word has taken on a new meaning of its own - a person who is pious and righteous, and this is not the true meaning of this word and demonstrates the need for getting back to the original meaning of Hebrew words.

Brickcon 2008

This was a very fun adventure! We attended the Brickcon 2008. Lego enthusiasts from all over come to the Brickcon to show as well as enjoy other enthusiasts creations. Behind the kids in the below picture is a city creation with two trains that went around the city.

This picture is of Lego Disneyland. The fun things about this was that the guests were characters such as Spongebob, or a bunch of Star Wars characters, very well done!

This is a trojan horse lego creation.

And this is the TITANIC! It is HUGE!! This went from the entrance doors to the exit doors! Really incredible. This was a super fun day, we were glad to be able to go. And of course, since we were all the way in downtown, we had Dick's for lunch!! YUM!

This was a rather gruesome little town, it was being overrun by bad guys so the princesses on the top of this building have weapons and are shooting people!

Check it out the Space Needle! This was about 7 fee tall and took over 30,000 legos to build it! The guy worked on it for nealy 4 years! (Of course we had to have our picture taken with it!)

Hebrew

		08-24-07 / Rejoice (גיל giyl, Strong's #1523): A very common song from the book of Psalms is This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (118:24). Rejoice is an abstract word, a Greek form of thought. The Hebrew word giyl, translated as rejoice in the above verse, is related to other Hebrew words like galgal [str:1534] meaning a wheel, galal [str:1556] meaning to roll and galiyl [str:1550] meaning a turning. Each of these words are related to "going around in a circle." From an Hebraic concrete perspective rejoicing, giyl, means to spin around in circles.(A good example of that is the circle dancing known as Davidic Dance, where people form a circle and dance together. This is done at most festival gatherings as well as to celebrate the weekly Sabbath)