Sunday Scripture

61 Wherefore, go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit.
70 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other servants; and they were few.
71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.
72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

Jacob 5:61, 70-72 (Italics added)

"ounnized"

So, I just posted a comment on a blog. You know how it has you type in the goofy letters so it can be sure you're not some spam program throwing out some unwanted advertisement? Well, the letters I had to type were "ounnized". That almost looks like a real word. I wonder what it is to get "ounnized"?

Sunday Scripture

4 For he said: Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was in the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine enemies, and thou didst turn them to me.
5 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my field; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me.
6 And again, O God, when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me in my prayer.
7 And when I did turn unto my closet, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me.
8 Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou wilt hear them.
9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations.
10 Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been cast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst visit them in thine anger with speedy destruction.
11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son.

Alma 33:4-11

How it Works

On our trip out west last month we did "sunshine hours" to help the kids get thru the long drive. This is a long and history rich tradition that any of the kids would be deliriously happy to tell you about if you asked. The idea is simple. They behave for an hour and they get some kind of prize. Himbeere got a prize and demonstrated how it works. Hold it thus. . . . .

And squeeze!

School looks

This afternoon Himbeere was showing me the faces he uses at school.


And this one is when the bell rings at the end of class.

Another One in Marching Band!

Its been a few years since we had one in high school marching band. Heidelbeere was our last one and she graduated a while ago. But Maulbeere has been in band for the last couple of years and this year is a high school sophomore. That means when she signed up for band this year she automatically ended up in marching band. She wasn't too thrilled with that at first but I think after last night's game, which was the first one she had to go to, she may be a little more warmed up to the idea. I think she actually had a little fun. First the band stood in front of the home side stand and played some opening numbers, including the national anthem. That was cool.
When they were done with the pre-game music they took their place in the stands. She found a couple of friends to sit by and seemed to enjoy herself. It was nice to have a guaranteed seat. The game was well attended; it was against their rival. The crowd was so big that some of the late home fans ended up sitting on the visiting side.

Then, just before half time started, they all went down to the side lines and lined up to go out on the field during half time.

Maulbeere had actually sprained her pinkie in gym the day before the game so she wasn't actually playing. When she had asked the band leader about it he said to take her place and just fake it.

So out she went and faithfully stood in with the band. No one was the wiser. And it the end everything was okay. The band sounded great and the team won.

High Adventure

It was a holiday and everyone had been pretty good about getting their chores and stuff done in the morning. But the clincher was Brombeere needed to get some homework done and needed the house to be quiet. Besides, this may well have been Stachelbeere's last rock climbing expedition before leaving for his mission. So we piled in the car and headed to Castle Rock. I don't know if that's the official name of this rock formation but that's what we call it. It is at the north end of the Castle Rock flowage on the Wisconsin River, on the Juneau county side. The kids like it. Its not the most challenging of the different rock formations we climb on, but it is the tallest.

Just a little bit up the trail, looking back down to where we parked the car. You can just barely see it peeking through the trees.

Starting up the trail.

It didn't take too long to reach the top. And the view is pretty nice.

Lots of trees. Most of the area around the flowage is undeveloped. Nice.

On a clear day you can see forever.

It was a very good time

Well, as usual, I'm real slow getting to this and a number of others in the family have also posted stuff about the recent marriage in our family. So I'm only going to put up a couple of pictures and comments. It has now been three weeks since the marriage and life has pretty much returned to normal. All the festivities have finished and are over. But the warm, pleasant glow lingers. This was a real good thing - I really love this kind of wedding and celebration. So many of the weddings we've been too that aren't done in temple are so lacking. They feel like . . . well, I won't go there. Let me just say I couldn't be happier to go to this kind. These two did it right. A song comes to mind.



My love must be a kind of blind love
I can’t see anyone but you

Are the stars out tonight?
I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright.
I only have eyes for you, dear.

The moon may be high
But I can’t see a thing in the sky.
‘Cause I only have eyes for you

I don’t know if we’re in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue
You are here, so am I

Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes for you


This was a good day.

Wuss Camping

The other day, back in the middle of June, we got looking at our schedule and realized that the only weekend we would be able to go camping was the second weekend in July. Summer filled up way too fast and we wanted to get a camping trip in so that had to be it. So we made reservations at a campground near where Brombeere works and made our plans. We decided to take it easy this year and this campground had just built some new cabins so we booked one for a couple of nights.

It was nice. No tent to pitch. Didn't have to bring so much of our camp gear since the cabin had a kitchen, including stove and fridge. This really was easy-street; the cabin had a TV and A/C. The TV we could have done without but the A/C was sure nice.

Some of the time we ate out on a picnic table out front. Other meals we took inside the cabin. Pretty comfortable, I have to admit.

They had a small swimming hole with lots of swim toys in it. The kids liked that part. So we spent plenty of time in the water.

While we were there we celebrated Stachelbeere's birthday. We started outside for that but when it came time to light the candles the wind was too much, even tho it wasn't real bad. But it was enough that we couldn't get the candles burning. So we had to move inside to finish up.

That went lots better. We sang, had cake and opened presents. It was a good time.

We lit a fire and cooked marshmallows. We had all the stuff for somores. Those are always yummy. The kids played lots and really enjoyed themselves. At the end of the second day everyone was more than happy to go to bed.

Family Night

Tonight Blaubeere came over and brought the little feller. For family night we did "toe painting". That's like finger painting only you use your toes. So we spread a big sheet of plastic, hoping to contain the mess (ha!) and got started!
Some also did the traditional finger painting but most of the activity was with the feet.
The little feller is growing up enough that he wanted to pour the paint himself. We concluded that "a little" is a relative term, based on age. His definition of a little was quite different than his mom's definition.
When all the painting was done those that survived were hung on the clothes line so they could dry and end up flat and straight. There were some that didn't survive. They would get so wet with paint that they would tear.
And then the other thing you have to watch. There were some hanging over the rail on the deck and a certain someone backed into one without noticing. Something of an occupational hazard, I guess.