Freebies

Friday was our day of FREEBIES!  The kids had the free day off of school (That always makes me smile).  So, we decided to go to the Discovery World museum in Milwaukee.  This summer the kids won tickets for the whole family to go there for free!!!!  It was such a great time of learning.  The whole place is set up to be very hands-on.  Lots of pulleys, gears and innovative designs for the kids to watch and play with.  There was a bed of nails to lay on, a hamster wheel to run on, a car to drive, you can weld, do the flight simulator, be a part of a 3-D space movie, see many famous guitars, learn about the Great Lakes, watch your hair stand up with electricity...all that and so much more.  The coolest part for me was the Aquatarium where you can pet Bamboo sharks, and stingrays, and sturgeons...that was super amazing!  We had such a fantastic time there.  We played some tunes in the music park outside and walked over to the Art Museum to watch the roof open.

After that we came home and carved our free pumpkins (Thanks to People's Bank and Piggly Wiggly).  

Our night ended eating roasted pumpkin seeds around a roaring fire...These are things that I missed in Indo.

Here are some pictures:

SMOKE

The other day we were all outside as a family.  I was cutting the grass; others were picking up sticks or helping Garth rake leaves.  It was so fun!  I love it when we are working on a project together.  The leaves were burning and creating much smoke.  So much so that at each pass with the mower, I had to walk through the tunnel of smoke.  During that time I could not see what I was cutting.  I knew that I just needed to keep going forward and keep the mower straight.  If I did that I would be cutting the grass that needed to be cut.  Once out of the smoke I could look down and see if I had stayed on course.

I think that is how it is sometimes with God’s will.  He tells us to go a certain way, or to keep going down a path.  We may not be able to clearly see why He has us there but we need to keep moving forward, keep trusting that it is right.  Then, one day, the smoke has cleared and we can see clearly just why He had us there. 

Trust is much easier when we can see it all before us.  But God wants us to learn to trust Him in the midst of the smoke.  Even when it goes on and on and on.  One day it will be clear.

Update on the Erickson's

My Mom celebrated a birthday by having surgery on her knee.  Praise the Lord all went well and now she is home recuperating.  The 2 older kids were able to be a part of See You At The Pole in the Bay. That was a really neat time to make a public stand for what they believe.  Cale was picked to lead the school in the Pledge of Allegiance during a program they had honoring the veterans in the area.  Funny, because when we came back from Indo, he didn't even know the Pledge.

Garth's Dad and Step mom came to visit us from New York.  We had such a wonderful time with them.  We filled up the minutes with all sorts of fun things: Wyatt's soccer game, a picnic, a trip to the pumpkin patch, a bonfire and lots of quality time getting caught up.  The weekend went much too fast.

Here are some pictures:

                    

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Sunshine

I love the way God watches out for me!  Today I was on my way to pick up my son from soccer.  The sun was majorly in my eyes, so I slowed down.  A few seconds later a deer ran out in front of me.  Because I had slowed down, I was able to miss it.  What could have been a big nuisance, turned out to be a huge blessing!  Thank you Lord for that bright shiny sun!!