Chain O' Lakes on the last day of September

Beesley Creek is only ankle deep in parts so we pulled the canoe through.  

As the canoe was gliding through the creek we appreciated the old sea wall and bridge over the creek. 

The water was so clear and still had a touch of warmth. 

Beesely Creek.

Saturday adventures, great or small, are best when shared. 

Getting close to sunset.

Tranquil. Still. Peacefully. Perfect. Bliss.  

Outdoor therapy at its finest. 

Chain O' Lakes Paddle early September

Peeking at Pope Lake from the chain that links it to Marl Lake.  

This girl is strong, capable, and able to appreciate the tranquility of a good paddle. 

Technically the red kayak is Nate's and the blue one is mine....
but this is what usually happens when we're on the water. 

The captain of my ship and of my heart. 

Last Day of Winter

Today we spent a few hours stomping around the Waukau Dam area. It was technically the last day of winter but the sun was shining and it was pushing 50*. Farewell winter, we are ready for spring.      

Early Spring is the ugliest season. These little berries were the only pretty color I could find. 

Sparkling water means only one thing:SUNSHINE!

A Dad and his daughter.

Hunting for fish.

Here fishy, fishy. 

Proverbs 22:6

Our kids with Great Grandma Zemke on December 27, 2015. 

"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6,

As a parent, the words of this verse from Proverbs are never far from my heart. They're words applicable for parents and I am certain that God knew I needed them when he inspired them to be written.

Tonight as I consider them, however, I look back and give thanks for the parents who have trained their children in the past. Without doing some research, some of these people are nameless to me and yet have had a profound impact on me and my family.

More than eight decades ago children were born into the Reese, Zemke, Moore, Davis, Antholz, Smith, Hadlich, and Roske families. These parents brought their children to be baptized into the family of Christ. They brought them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. The next generation brought our grandparents into the world and they too were brought to faith through water and the word. God kept them in the shadow of his wing and blessed them with children who grew to become our parents. We are the product of our parents diligent training, teaching, rebuking, directing, and disciplining in keeping with the Proverbs 22 command. By God's great grace, Nate and I have three generous gifts of God, our children. It is our calling as parents to continue the example set before us, to continue to make faith in our Savior the mission of our time with our children.

Those first eight names listed above are the family names of our Great Grandparents. As of this week, only one remains on this earth. Seven have been welcomed into heaven, to live in glory everlasting. We are thankful for our time with them, for the memories we were allowed, and for the heritage of faith they passed down. Last night we shared with our children that their Great Grandma Zemke was home in heaven and, while there were tears, there was also peace. A peace that only comes from the certainly of faith in Jesus. Great Grandma wasn't young anymore and, as the Proverb says, she had not departed from what she knew. She knew Jesus, she knew she was going home, she knew perfect joy was a breath away. Joy in Jesus.

The Holy Spirit works to bring us to faith and to keep us in faith. Tonight I'm thankful for the generations that have come before us and the faith they have instilled in their children. May the the generations to come be just as faithful as they continue to, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it."

Update

It has been a long time since I posted anything new here. Time flies. Days are busy. I don't take as many pictures as I used to take. For the last year I've been working outside of our home. It's hard to catch up since I'm so far behind. I think I might take another stab at this whole blogging thing though. Family members have asked that I post again. The kids are growing so quickly. We still do many fun things that are worth sharing. This is sort of like a scrapbook online. We just took a huge cross-country trip and I have lots of beautiful pictures. I'm just going to start where I am and post what I can. I may go back in time and post things from the last year. When I do I will date them the date they happened not the date they're being posted. Posts may be sporadic and I make no promises to keep up with this forever. For now, it's good to be back. Happy Day.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Outside the museum

Black Hollycock and Blue Larkspur Georgia O'Keeffe 1930

A great quote explaining why O'Keeffe paints big flowers.

       

After coming thought the Raton Pass we stopped at a the first tourist information spot. Really what we wanted was a current New Mexico map. What we found was a flier for the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. Knowing she's my favorite artist Nathan suggested we stop. I hesitated knowing stopping would delay our arrival in El Paso but was convinced by the fact that we don't know when we'll be in Santa Fe again.
Looking back we're all glad we stopped. The museum isn't huge but it's beautiful. Actually the first beautiful thing we noticed was the city of Santa Fe. It's classic desert southwest in appearance. The buildings are stucco, the town square a some small festival with mariachi music and performing folks, and there were budding trees and blooming flowers making their first spring appearance. Inside the museum we looked at beautiful works of art. Georgia is known for her large scale flowers, desert landscapes, and abstracts. We saw examples of them all as well and photographs and a history of her work. We bought a few small prints that I've framed now that we're home.

New to Us All: New Mexico

Heading south on I-25. Do you see what I see? MOUNTAINS!  

Near the Raton Pass on the border of CO and NM

First New Mexico sign

Off we go into the wild blue yonder....

     

Colorado: Take One

Wait...I thought Colorado had mountains??

Jordan and the quietest guest, Stanley.

   

Our first night was spent with Nathan's brother Jordan. He kindly put us up in his bachelor pad. After 15 1/2 hours in the van a tent would have seemed homey so his spacious, comfortable lower level apartment was more than we could have asked for. His sweet girl friend Danielle and her puppies were over for the evening. The kids and puppies frolicked in the yard while the adults visited. We hit the road again the next morning with the promise we'd be back again on the following Thursday. 

Next Up: Nebraska

Our first day our goal was to get to a northern suburb of Denver and stay the night with Nathan's brother, Jordan. This meant traveling out of Wisconsin, across Iowa, across Nebraska, and halfway across Colorado. We didn't stop much or for long but here are a few shots along the way in state number two of the day.

Welcome to Nebraska

I spy a Water Tower Hot Air Balloon

Bridge? Nope. Over the Road Museum

Snow Geese Migration: There were millions of birds on the horizon and in roadside ponds

       

Entering Iowa

Ready to cross into a new state: Iowa

Hard to read but the sign says IOWA

Not sure what this is but the Iowa tax payers could complain 

Strange "Welcome to Iowa" art

A few short hours after leaving our driveway we crossed the mighty Mississippi and entered Iowa. The morning was actually beautiful. Watching the sun rise is a reminder that God has chosen to bless us with another day in his grace.      

Hit the Road Stanley

At 5:16am CST we hit the road. The kids were buckled up, duffle bags were loaded, snacks & meals were packed, the gas tank was full, the GPS was set, and we were off.

Who is the flat guy tagging along? That's Flat Stanley.

Where where we headed? Our ultimate destination was the Caauwe homestead in El Paso, TX.

Spring Break 2013.

At the hotel

   

Following our winter hiking excursion we headed to a hotel as a "winter get-away." We watched silly cable tv shows, played games, swam in the pool, cozied up to the fireplace, enjoyed the jacuzzi, and relaxed the day away. Nice way to spend a February day off of school.

Navarino Hike

"ice skating"

Lovely Lydia

winter walking      

my boys

 We planned to spend an afternoon snowshoeing at Navarino State Nature Area. Instead we hiked as we were short on snow. No one seemed to mind since being outside in the sunshine and fresh air even without the snowshoes.