Ten Swamp Dogies

Our Last Post

2009-05-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

Due to lack of space on this blog, we have started part 2 of the Pollock Family Adventures. If you want to continue following this crazy family, then click on the "New Blog" link. If you're just plain tired of our shannanigans, then we'll say, "Happy Trails To You, Until We Meet Again."

Click Here

Great Balls of Green Stuff

2009-05-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well, It's finally time for the Harvest of our garden

down by the lake. We had LOTS of Cabbage, broccoli and onions,

unfortunately there's not a whole lot of stuff to do with cabbage so we just made an

over abundance of sauerkraut and chow chow:)

(Are you impressed I can actually spell sauerkraut? It was momma. You know I can't spell German. I have a hard enough time with English:)

Li'l Mary the onion picker.

Mary and James had the job of picking all the oinions in the garden, ha ha.

(Ok, well Christiana helped a little:)

The hard workers, hardly working.

Guess What?...

Yep, another cabbage dweller (a Cottonmouth).

The joys of Living in Florida:)

EEEEE, I Love cabbage.

hi ho hi ho, the cabbage we will throw...

The way you pick cabbage when you're raised in an orange grove:)

I think that thing weighed about 100+ pounds when full:o

Don't forget to

count your many blessings.

All in a days work

Oh and while we were picking the garden the boys found a heifer that had just

had her first calf . She had had it in the swamp and the calf was stuck in the mud and couldn't get out, so, Cowgirls to the rescue;)

The pitiful little thing was covered in mud so we got it washed off and took it back to the momma,

unfortunately, it caught pneumonia and died a few days later.

Have a nice day!!

P.S. Ariana did help us too, but we didn't have any pictures of her cause she was behind the camera the whole time.

posted by:LIV:)

Brown Acres is The Place To Be

2009-05-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time again:) We've had our field plowed and ready since Feb.,

but because we have had a lack of moist droplits from the sky, we've been a bit delayed

with the planting:( We finally got a little rain but not enough to plant the whole thing

so we just planted the lower part of the field .

Daddy and James working on the tractor.

(The way we start all planting days:)

How bout that hat:

Fertilizing the dust of the earth so we can grow luscious.........

......WEEDS:)

"Ok people, we aren't supposed to be growing Weeds here. We want Morsels for me mouth, "food". Well I guess we could eat weeds if we really got hungry enough, which we might have to do if we don't get some rain!

Here's lookin at you, kid.
ME!! Happy = tractor, dirt, planting, tractor, dirt......

Life is Good

Thank the Lord, We are SO blessed!!
The substance in which plants are brought forth.

Morsels for me mouth.

James, learning from the best farmer I know.

Off to "Cowboy NeverLand".

posted by:LIV:)

This and That

2009-04-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a few Random pictures from the past month.

(:Enjoy:)

Mary Practicing the piano.
(Practice makes perfect)

Me having loads of fun teaching Mary:-D

Our Handy Dandy Helpful Sweet Mrs. Stokesies, multi-tasking:)
What would we do without her? ALLOT MORE!!

Our personal barber, puting Gabriel to sleep.
Aka:Cousin Kel

And her Audience/more customers:)

(Something is seriously funny)

Daddy & Leirbag making screens.

Johnny about to go canoeing.

Ariana Practicing for the nursing home.

The ACO Painting Co.

The Before Picture.

Sorry we never got an After pic, but it is now

a fishing room.

(And looks really good)

Self shot.
Opening another can of paint, obviously.

Our supervisor

Um...Art

Adding a little color.

Cleanin' out our Pool

As Summer time is drawing near,

We clean our pool with joyful Cheer:)

Florida = Hot

Hot = Lots of Sun

Lots of Sun = Dehydration

Dehydration = Lack of water

Lack of water = Drought

Drought = Summer

Summer = Swimming Pool?

Our job lies straight ahead:(
"Help! That waters FREEZING" "Please Johnny, no"
She's conquered something ?!?

---------------------------------------

Daddy playing "Jenga" with James
Our trusty garden Fertilizer/Worm killer/mulch spreader (all over the place):)

El Abuelo Y La Abuela Pollo

Mary Playing with the Trains.And the newest member of the Farm
Our Mouse/Lizard trap. Aka Bessy (cause Mary says she looks like a milk cow.)

Posted By: Christiana

Lets Go Fly A Kite

2009-04-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Looks like a perfect day for kite flying.
(If you zoom in on this Pic. you'll see our kite)

"A Curious Bystander"

As Liv prepares the string, Popeye (aka: cow that thinks he's a hog) is wondering what kind of yummy morsels Liv has to offer him.

"Listen here buddy, this is NOT food, and you are NOT hungry"

Just relaxing in the cow pasture.

(The only place to fly a kite without electric lines.)

SNAKE SKINNING

(Warning: Thabeth Tuba and Mrs. Stokes, you might not want to look at the rest of this post.)

There's a problem!!!

"No Problem"

While out in the garden picking broccoli, the littles spotted a Cotton Mouth Moccasin hiding, waiting for prey. Ariana used her handy dandy tool (the hoe) and took care of the problem. Living by the swamp, we see many of these venomous snakes. They like to hide, and they blend in well, so you really have to be on the lookout for them.

Just because it is dead, doesn't mean it's harmless. It can still inject it's venom in its prey long after its dead.

DON'T TOUCH!!

Liv, processing the snake for skinning.

"Whoa, is it just me or is there a snake at my feet?"
The End
(Btw: The snake in this pic is NOT alive. We might be crazy, but we're not stupid:)
posted by mom who thinks these snake pics are gross.

The Pollock's Chicken Hatchery

2009-04-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

Liv decided to experiement with this "rigged" incubator.

She finally got the temperature just right.

Now, in 21 days, if all goes well, we should have some chicks.

21 days later....

things are really happening....

and the experiment worked.

Isn't the Lord so good to us. He even cares about the little things.

Black Star chicks.

The blacks are hens and yellows are .......(can you guess)?

Awwwww

The end to a good day.

A Special Delivery

What's in the Box??

100......

balls of fluff. (aka broilers)
They just love the chicken tajmahal, that keeps growing and growing and growing.
Sugar for the water. SWEET

"Hey, what's that bright light ya keep flashin at us?" (peep, peep)

(Momma's humor)
Jon taking care of the "egg suppliers"

Heave, Ho, big Jon!

Time for bed. Peepnight. (Mom's humor, again)

Pics by: Christiana

Camera by: Ariana

Chicks by: The Hatchery somewhere in Missouri

Computer by: Uncle Leonard

Post by: Momma and her humor, ha ha.

Sermon of the Week

2009-04-10T19:33:00.000-07:00

The Pineapple Story

by: Otto koning

http://server.firefighters.org/catalog/2005/19043.mp3

Heroes of the U.S.S. Colhoun DD-801

2009-04-09T14:52:00.001-07:00

-Perhaps our country has lost it's respect because we have forgotten the cost of sacrifice-

Our family had the rare opportunity of being able to honor the brave men of the U.S.S. Colhoun DD-801, which was instrumental on several of the island invasions in the Pacific Fleet, the last being the invasion of Okinawa.

The Colhoun was of the Fletcher Class, outfitted with modern radar. It was stationed second of fifteen in the fleet pickett line of defenses.

Only one other ship, The U.S.S. Bush (also a Fletcher Class Destroyer), stood between the Colhoun, the Japanese Armada and the 800 suicide planes, known as the kamikaze's, which were reported by U.S. Intelligence, to attack the fleet on April 6th. This information happened to be very accurate.

The fleet had been harassed day and night by smaller bands of suicide missions, which had been taking their toll on the fleet, but the brave men of the U.S. Navy did not cower from such a demonic foe.

On April 6, 1945, the USS Colhoun received a distress call from the USS Bush that they were under heavy attack and needed assistance. When the Colhoun arrived the Bush was dead in the water with a Twin-Engine Bomber sticking out of it's side. With many other swarms of enemy aircraft heading their way, they fought valiantly through the day until their ship was also dead in the water, but even still they continued to fight into the night until the skies were clear of enemy planes.

We give thanks to the brave men of the U.S.S. Colhoun( DD-801).

It was an incredible blessing to be able to spend time with these heroes.

We caught up with the survivors at "Fantasy of Flight." Living history that these men have seen and lived.

Reunion at "The Victory Ship" in Tampa.

"It's just good to be here."

Our hope is that these young men will learn from history and be prepared

as history does repeat itself.

"They were flying at us in 4 different directions, or was it 5?"

It was wonderful to hear from eyewitnesses and not a fabrication

from a news reporter or someone that wasn't actually there.

"One day I'm gonna be on a big ship like this."

Thank you, Lord, for their lives.

Tommy gave thanks to the Lord in prayer and remembering the past.(Uncle Jim's sons, James and Vance.)

After the names were called and the bell rang for each of the 35 men that gave their life....

a ceremonial wreath was thrown into the water to honor their lives, one more time. We do remember and thank them.

The survivors with our family.

Uncle Jim with his family.

End to a wonderful reunion.

May we never forget the sacrifice that so many gave for our freedom.

Posted by: Ben

Orlando Tea Party

2009-04-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Psalm 33:12

We the People .........

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. – Patrick Henry

Freedom Never Dies

Standing for Right
Betsy Ross (Liv)

"The Lord Giveth and The Government Taketh Away"

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. – Thomas Jefferson "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"
Taking a stand

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ." -

Patrick Henry "When the Government fears the People there is Liberty,

When the People fear the Government there is Tyranny"

There were approx. 6,000 at the rally.

The scroll was 60 Ft. Long.

It will be sent to Washington.

F.B.I.

(Free Born Individuals)

The next Tea Party will be held in over 1,800 cities across America and will be on April 15th.

click above caption for more information

And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 18, 1781

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14

NO KING BUT KING JESUS.

2009-04-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

(:APRIL FOOLS:)

by LIV:)

Sad News:(

2009-04-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

Due to Hackers stealing our identity on the web

We are sorry to say that we are going to have to close the blog:(

We will still try to keep up on everyone else's blogs with friend's computers, but seeing we won't be having Internet it won't be as much as we use to.

It's been fun, sorry it had to end this way. but.....

Soo, farewell to all and keep up the blogging!!!

Love,

The Pollock Family

The Brockett's Visit

2009-03-24T17:32:00.001-07:00

The Brockett Family migrates South. In 20 hours they went from 7 degrees to 75. Wow, I think I would migrate, too!

We had such a wonderful time while they were here. Thank you Brocketts, for blessing us with your visit. Here are a few of the 750+ pictures we took that week.

Enjoy

From Apples to Oranges.

Pure Florida Gold!!

How many people can REALLY fit on a trampoline?

I think there's room for a few more.

The all new LOUD game of Pit/Spoons.

How bout some 4-square?

These people are serious about this game!! Football in the cow pasture.
Makes for an interesting game. Thomas looks determined.
Amadu looks confident. Looks like Tom's confidence ran out:( Mary looking for someone to tackle.....
She found Jordan..... And Adama.
Making a Joyful Noise in our Hearts to the Lord.

Out for some boating adventures.

(Could be dangerous, but so is just about everything we do.)

Stopped at Subway for lunch on the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

(Wow "Eskimo Overflow", are you stuffed?)I would NEVER act silly like that :)

("Oh Really, see the last post, The Caption Contest")

Having DessertWe arrive at God's beautiful ocean. (Melbourne Beach)

(If you're wondering about the jackets, it's cold and VERY windy.)But never too cold for swimming....

But, on second thought, maybe it is.

James and Adama digging a hole.

The littles did go in the water.

Sometimes, ya just gotta do what ya gotta do.

The sand was blowing in our eyes, mouth, ears.

Well, you get the idea, it was really blowing.

Time for some beach foursquare on unlevel sand.

Playing on concrete after this was a breeze.

"Sunflower Maiden of the Beach"

(Liv made the wreath from some wildflowers)

The Precious Hitze family met us at the beach.

The are missionaries to the Baffin Islands.

We think it's cold when it's 50? It gets 70 below there and the ground never thaws. Brrrr.

It's been a great day.A trip to "Ft. Matanzas" in St. Augustine.

Christiana's Art Work with the pics of Mantanza.

Ariana and Hillary, looking into the fort.

On the shore at the inlet where the Fort sits.

After seeing the fort, we go to the Atlantic,
but this time it's perfect weather.

The other "Fort Matanzas"
Amadu, The Aged One.

A Group of Aged Ones

Well, what do we have here.

Could it be, foursquare, on wet, packed sand?

The "Ball Chaser"
(He needs to work off some of that energy)

HELP!!! SOMEBODY, HELP!!

WHEW, That was close. You don't EVEN realize how close that was.

Mercy reigns this day!

On a walk(?) to see the sunset.

The Pocketts and Jord.

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Ps.8:1

posted by: Mother P

The Winner

2009-03-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of you who joined the "Caption Contest". You're all great sports and we loved all the captions. It was hard to choose a winner. Keep in mind that the judges had no idea who wrote each caption.

Third Place - Uncle Hans - "Love Will Find A Way"

Second Place - Adam - "Christiana, you're never going to catch one trolling like that"
"Oh, you're so old fashioned Jon - alligators always see a bobber"

The winner's caption is revealed under the picture.

The winner will receive a framed picture with the winning caption and a one ounce piece of silver.

Thanks again, it was fun :)

Caption Contest Countdown.....

2009-03-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

Time is running out in this life AND in this contest. As you can tell if you've been on this blog much, that your caption doesn't have to be anything spectacular, just a simple caption in plain English (or whatever you call what we speak. Some don't call it English):)

The judges, Mr.P and Gabriel, will be judging the winner Friday evening, March 27th. They have not read any of the captions, nor will they know who wrote each one. We will announce the winner on Friday, after the voting takes place.

So come on and join in on the fun. You'll be glad you did and so will we.

Caption Contest!!!!

2009-03-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

We need a caption for this picture.

For all of you who don't normally comment, or have never commented before, we want to here from you! (We wanted to hear from you before, but this will make it much easier:)

Soooo, leave your caption and the one with the best caption for this pic wins a prize.

Winner will be picked on March 27.

"Je semble m'etre egare', jeune pe cheur.
Pourriez - vous me diriger vers le Tour de France?"

(I seem to have lost my way, young fisherman. Could you direct me to the Tour de France?)

Sermon Of The Week

2009-03-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Fellowship

By Robert W. Reed

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=108081150266

Work/ Music/ Birthdays

2009-03-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

It's time to build onto the barn....

It sure makes it nice with this machine.

Some things still have to be done the old fashioned way.
First part is done.

Now we have to wait for the sawmill to continue with the rest.

Now onto some fun.....

We enjoyed meeting the Wissmann Family and seeing them in concert.

What a precious family!!

Liv, trying to be sophisticated :)

We can see right through that, girl!!!

Stopping for ice cream at McDonalds. (Good ole junk food)

Now it's time for another PARTY. Did somebody say party?

A party just aint a party, unless you have a fire of some kind.

How bout this?

Whoa, it's a little steamy around here!!

This is the life.

Stay tuned for more...

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY JONATHAN

2009-03-01T09:18:00.001-08:00

Jonathan (Gift of the Lord)

Daniel (Integrity, Spiritual Discernment)

Ready, Aim, FIRE>>>>

Jon always enjoys meeting new people.

Here, he is visiting with Tammy, one of our International friends.

Green Acres??
This may sound strange, but Jon's favorite thing to do is work.

A little Rodeo Ridin....

Working with his friend Benny.

Butchering "something"

I can't do a THING with this hair!!

Ready to dig in to some juicy steak from one of the cows.

Lookin for Jon? Uhh, haven't seen him:)

Doin a little target practicing.

Yummy morsels for hungry cows.

One load down and 100 to go!!

Preparing the Ground So long folks.

Now, back to work.

We are very proud of you Jon for your diligence, fun loving spirit and a deep desire to have your conscience clear before the Lord. We love you greatly.

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY, MARY

2009-02-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

Mary (Spiritual awareness, Blessed one)

Elizabeth (Oath of God, Consecrated one)

(Mary in her "Sherbert Bowl Bathtub" in the hospital. 3lb.4oz.)

We are truly blessed to have Mary, as she came so close to not being here.

Thank You, Lord, for her life, what a blessing she is!!

Mary's has always LOVED to climb, anything!!

And if we can't find her, we always look up :)
Friends
Another friend :)
Out for a day (or 2 or 3, one never knows) on the boat with dad.
She LOVES to travel, especially surrounded by "junk food" and the ones who own it.
She can't climb in the water, so Liv helps her out.
Packing squash with her friend Stacy.
Instead of sledding down snowy hills like most people do in winter,

we just slide down hills of dirt.

Mary loves to cook.

Making Apples Pies.

She's an outside girl for sure!Having some painting fun with her little brother:)

That's supposed to be camouflage so you can't see him.

Enjoying the outdoors.

Mary LOVES all kinds of animals, especially baby ones.

She and James are our "egg collectors".

We love you sweet girl!!

Cannin and Gardenin

2009-02-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

Well, the time has come to Harvest our winter garden:)
So that brings us to the Canning Kitchen.

Liv Loves Leens(I mean Greens)
Btw: We washed those before we canned them:)

Our wonderful garden of Musterd Greens, Collard Greens,
Broccoli, Onions, And way too much Cabbage!

Pickin some Collards

Another look at the garden

Um...

A boiling pot of delicious morsels:) yum:)

Art

Ari Loves her job!

The key to canning is boiling water

The Stack, or should I say one of the many stacks.

Green Beauty

James helping wash, but.....

The cows Love when we can cause they get the scraps.

They just don't share very well :P

"Can I have more?"

The Other Garden

Liv the sprinkler, sprinkling the resets from the first garden.

Liv can you see,

By the big green tree,
Where the waters runnin free,

And it's waitin there for you and meeeeee,

Water, cool, clear, water, coooool water...

The Joys of working

(:Hoeing :)

Ariana's Art

*Thanks for stopping by*
Y'all come back now, ya here:)

Posted by
Christiana Pollock

Street Preaching

2009-02-15T18:35:00.001-08:00

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

Luke 4:18

The last few years our family has been burdened to take the message of the Gospel into the streets.

For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.

Luke 9:56

One that goes out into the street, must have that burden in their heart, or they would never be able to tolerate the discouragement, vileness and the wicked schemes of satan and his followers to make you feel as if you were wasting your time. But each and every time there is that one and sometimes several of those that God allows you to share His truth with. THAT makes it all worth while and helps you to realize that you're not wasting your time and that if you had chosen not to go out, those certain ones would not have heard God's truth.

And that brings us to Wimauma and New Beginnings Baptist Church that we had teamed up in prayer with for two weeks prior, about this day.

Even with all the past preparations of Prison Ministry for 11 years and Street Preaching that I had done, I was fearful when we arrived at our destination in Wimauma, Florida. I was quickly reminded by the Holy Spirit that fear is contagious and through Scripture, many armies were defeated by fear alone. As soldiers of the Lord, we must remember who has already won the victory and what King we are serving!

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

1John 4:18

I quickly made a decision for the young boys to go with my eldest son, as we divided up in teams. I decided to stay with my daughters in the park as the others went door to door. No sooner had I made that decision in my mind that every man on the bus repeated what I was thinking, which was confirmation. One of the young men that was familiar with the area advised us that there were drug houses and many gangs in the area and it just wasn't safe for them to be alone.

After praying, we talked to a group of teenagers that were gathered at the entrance to the park. We asked them, "If you were to die today, where would you spend eternity?" They answered as with one voice, "We would spend it in hell." I thought to myself that if this is any indication of how the day was going to go, it is going to be a rough one. I was very surprised how it turned out.

The ladies set up in the center of the park, where their voices could be heard to as many people as were there as we had done many times before. What was different about this time was that there was no other music (bars playing LOUD rock music, concert bands playing LOUD rock music) to compete with. Even the gangs that were in the area, had no worldly music playing. So for the hours that we were there in Wimauma, all you could hear was the sweet melody of God's Word being sung. I'd never seen the impact that God's music truly has on demons, until this day.

And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

1Samuel 16:23

We could talk for hours about the effects that rock music has on young people and the conclusion would be that none of it is good. The truth is that God's music does make a huge difference in men's hearts to receive the Gospel.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.

11Corinthians 10:4

And one of those weapons is music...

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord...

Ephesians 5:19

It is sad that so many churches, while sharing the truth of the Gospel, bring in a spirit of confusion with the wrong kind of music, weakening all that are there.

It truly was a joy to share the Gospel, while hearing the melodious sound of "Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus", while sharing with the many men and ladies that passed through the park that day. What I thought was going to be a hard day, was one of the sweetest.

As we all came back together, we heard testimony of 20 first time commitments to the Lord and 2 were from the group that we met at the entrance to the park that said they would spend eternity in hell.

Hallelujah, What a Saviour!!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:16

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Corininthians 1:9

Posted by: Ben

Cowboyin

2009-02-12T09:25:00.000-08:00

Time to get ready for spring planting.

Load up the tractor and lets move out!

We dug out some of the pond since it was dry,
and we're going to spread the peat in the garden.

Field corn will be planted this year.

Four wild hogs, living on their own.
We've been feeding them corn and they will be in the freezer in the fall.
The Lord provides all our needs.
Thank you, Lord.

The moon in the middle of the day!

(Can you tell I'm enjoying my new camera)?

Hey, can I get on...

"Sure, why not?"

"Thanks, Gabe"

Wire belonging to Bob
(Inside joke:)

Relaxing on the job?

Feed me, PLEASE!!

"Hey, I think its time for dinner!"

James told us this the other day:
"I wanta be just like daddy when I grow up. I'm just waiting to grow up"

When your using your tractor to plow, and dont really
want to bring it back every day, ya gotta think ahead.
We put the hay up there so we can back the truck up and roll it off on the back of it!
(pretty ingenious, huh?)

"Wonder if we're gonna get some of that sweet smellin hay?"

"Guess so, yum, yum"

Sweet Mary feeding the cows.

"Mary where are your shoes?"
"Momma, you know we don't have shoes."

NOBODY hides from me, heee, heee, heee.

Cowboy Art

Florida Art

(I'm still enjoyin my new camera) :)

NOT the camera again!!

Time to call it a day.......

Posted by: Ariana

Oranges

2009-02-12T07:02:00.000-08:00

Oranges,
such a delightful fruit!

The pickers have picked and now the beautiful oranges are gone :(

We picked and juiced gallons and gallons of juice before they disappeared.
Too bad orange season doesn't last ALL year.

Christi enjoying her job.

Squeeky clean

Here comes the juice!!

Ahhhh, refreshing.....:)

This should last us for a few days.....

Mmm, mmm, delicious!!

*Oranges*

This is all the fruit that's left

and this is all that's left of this post.

Posted by: Ariana

Happy 17th Birthday Ariana

2009-02-02T11:48:00.002-08:00

Ariana (Holy One, Pure in Heart)

Christine (Devoted Follower of Christ)

Mathhew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Enjoying the Rocky Mountains

(Breckenridge, Colorado)

Cooling off in the HOT Florida sun :)

Replenishing supplies for her chickens.

Deep Sea Fishing

(Gulf of Mexico, Florida)

Coloring with the littles

(New York)

Hunting (She got her first hog this past year)

(Kathleen, Florida)

Ariana and Sarah

(Our summer garden)

Butchering a cow.

(At the ole' homestead)

Civil War Ball

(Mrs. Stokes Barn)

Practicing with "Bound 4 Heaven"

Sing unto Him a new song; play
skillfully with a loud noise.
psalm 33:3

Loving her momma

At Liv's Medeival Party

Enjoying God's Creation in the Great Outdoors.

Ariana's favorite thing to do.

You are still our Ariana Precious Heart
and we love you!!

Happy 12th Birthday Thomas

2009-02-02T11:48:00.001-08:00

Thomas (Twin, divinely blessed)

Samuel (Instructed of God)

Prov. 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways achnowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

Reapin the Harvest

(Our Summer Garden)
Thomas with the Thomas's
(Branson, Missouri)

Civil War Reenacting
(Brooksville, Florida)

Resting with the Whooping Cough
(Gatehouse, Kissimmee Florida)

Ready to go fishin?
(Upstate New York)

Friends

(Arkansas)

Thomas's new ride

(Creation Museum, Ohio)

Thomas and his critter

(Not sure who the other person is in the pic)
(Cypress Gardens in Florida)

Thomas always knows how to relax:)

He likes to take vacations, too, which is a good thing in this family!

PLEASE!! NO MORE PEAS!

Tom with his brother and best friend

We love you, Thomas and pray that you will be used mightily for the Lord!!

Sermon of the Week

2009-02-02T06:08:00.000-08:00

The Worst Sin I Have Ever Committed
by Reg Kelly

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=417081452501

A Visit from the Hommes

2009-01-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

The Hommes family came all the way from coooold country to visit little ole us. Just Kidding, what actually happened was they were here in Florida and came to see us while they were here. I like the first explanation better:)

Momma was sooo happy to be reunited with sweet Josiah!!

Christina and Josiah blessing us with beautiful music.

Yay for Liv's Apple Pie's.

Are these "The Twins"?

By the look on Jon's face, I think I know who's winning.

The Mommas and Josiah.

The Dads sitting by the fire.

It was 50 degrees and we were freezing.

The Hommes thought it strange that we had a fire blazing in the fireplace.

It was 7 when they left home!

Christiana, Sarah and Christina setting up
Settlers of Catan

The Hommes family blessing us with wonderful music.

Oranges, Tangerines, Grapefruit Anyone?

Hello Up there!

(I'm sure Michaels heard that before from us short people.)

Mrs. Hommes picks her first orange from the "Orchard" :)

We love you Mrs. Hommes :)

The Yungin's pickin

"Fresh Florida Oranges, Try Some"

Is This Direction?

2009-01-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

While we were at Bob Evans for dinner, someone (that we've never seen before) came up to Ben while he was paying the bill and asked him if he wanted a magazine. He thought it was a little odd, but when he looked on the cover, he couldn't believe what he saw, as we had just been talking and praying about where the Lord would have us go, whether here or someplace else to minister His will. :)

Sermon of the Week

2009-01-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry we've been kinda slack on putting a sermon every week,
but we'll try to be more consistent.

The Last Hour
by David Cloud
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1124082040187

Trip to the Rockies (part 2)

2009-01-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

Time to go "up".

The most beautiful scenery we've ever seen!

Breckenridge, Colorado

Sunset over Pikes Peak, behind us.

It was amazingly cold from one side of the mountains to the other.

We stop for the night at a lodge in Fairplay, Colorado.

Cozy and Warm

Inside = 70 deg.

Outside = 12 deg.

We choose inside :)

Mary was enjoying the fire.

The boys are eager and ready to find the perfect spot for fun.

On our way to find the perfect "free" ski/snowboarding slope.

They stayed here all day climbing up this mountain and then

skiing down. They got their excercise that day!!

No ski lifts here :(

On our way back to the Lodge.

After talking to the locals, we found out where the "free" mountain

was that you could drive the skiers back up. They were soooo glad to see this!

We parked the RV and used the van for the shuttle.

Sometimes, they were shuttled back up by other shuttles.

The locals were very friendly.

On the other side of that mountain was the drop for 2 miles down.

Here wo go.....

Time for a break.

Ready to go again.

The littles had a blast sledding and making a snow fort.

We're getting the hang of it.

Dad checking out an area for the littles, but it was very deep.

He had to crawl out of it.

Jordan ready to take James for a sled ride.

Ready to ride back up.

Time for a quick nutritious snack.

We had a GREAT time!!!

Now it's time to thaw out.

The boys thawing out the FUN way.

We're supposed to be loading up, but........

"Hello everybody"

A Testimony:

After riding the Gondola, Mrs. Stokes found a full bulb of garlic half buried in the snow.

We thought it was quite strange and thought we'd better keep it, because of how unusual it was to find garlic in the middle of the snow like that.

Who knows all things? The Lord does and He knew that that night Mary would come down with a severe stomache flu and what's the best remedy for that? GARLIC

After chewing 1 clove of garlic she was fine.

Thank you Lord, you are so good to us and know our every need!!

Sweet sisters.

Some of the beautiful scenery.

You could say that again.......!!!

On the way home we stop by and have a good homecooked meal.

Yum, yum.

Time to head back home after seeing more of God's Majestic Creation.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Trip to the Rockies (Part 1)

2009-01-11T11:30:00.000-08:00

The night before we leave on our "Search for Snow" trip, we decide which

direction we will go. There are soooo many options, you know?

"This is gonna be exciting"

Doing last minute inspections.

You never know where this RV might go.

Uncle Jim bidding us, "farewell."

Uncle Jimbo's jar that we are to fill with snow and our mission is to do just that.

"O.K. Gabriel, I've had enough. It's time to duke it out"

j/k We actually stopped to patch a broken brake line. We had to order the part

to repair it. (Duct Tape, it always works):)

"Attack you, who me, NEVER"

"Some day little sister, some day"

"I'm soooo frightened"

"I'm innocent, I would never threaten the "Little Sister"!

Mr. Doolin sent us a special package to be opened on Christmas.

This is half of what was inside. The other half looked the same way.

"Thanks, Mr. Doolin, for the eight packs of oreos"

Mmm, mmm, good

Amen!

Cathy, Jord and Michael head to North Carolina to the Wilsons for Christmas,

while we head to Tennessee.

Liv cooks a wonderful Christmas dinner in the RV.

We stopped at a beautiful park to enjoy it.

Thank you Liv, you're always a blessing.!

Enjoying the trip and the time together.

The park was beside this lake.

(Don't remember the name of it)

Enjoying Christmas Dinner.

Having fun the Jonathan way.

Arriving at the Morgans in Tennessee.

Swinging over the river.

"Ya know James, this is really a nice place"

"Yeah Mary, maybe one day we'll have a place like this"

Enjoying the 300+ acres.

It was beautiful.

Liv visiting in the kitchen.

Ariana doing dishes.

Going to load a "Very Heavy" hammermill.

Mission Accomplished

Playing 500.

Liv explaining something to Janet.

"I am sooo glad to leave McDonalds"

Actually, I'm being blown away in Arkansas.

Cows are Out, AHHHH!!

Frank, Joe and Vic waded through the swamp most of the night to build the fence back for us.

A Friend really does love at ALL times. Thankyou to all the cowboys :)

Just finished eating at the "Hayloft".

Mountain Grove, Missouri.

Kansas

Miles and miles of Kansas scenery.

Liv & James freezing while the brakes are being checked.

All Systems, Go

We are in the RV freezing, how pitiful.

RV Activities

Why is this picture in here?

Our 150th visit to McDonalds.

Ugh!

Liv and her antiques.

Not much shopping on this trip, so when we stopped to get gas, guess what was

across the street.

Welcome to "Boot Hill" Kansas.

The Birthday Kids

December 30th, they both celebrate their birthday.

Birthday present from Cathy.

BootHill gift shop

The road leading to snow.

More RV activities

"I'm loving this"

Hey, I found some snow.

Colorado

"You know what snow means, don't you"?

"King of the Snow Hill" is about to be dethroned!

This is what 40+ does in the snow.

Colorado Springs

"I'm ready for the "white fluffy stuff"

The sun is setting in the West......

Our Trip continues, so stay tuned.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE ROCKIES

2009-01-01T09:16:00.000-08:00

Our "search for snow" was very successful!! We ended up in Breckenridge,Colorado, where there is plenty of snow! For the first time, we celebrated New Years Eve, WITHOUT fireworks, but with prayer and testimony in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. How incredible the Lord is and His creation, Magnificent! We've never seen a sunset so majestic as we did last night over Pikes Peak while we were driving up, up, up, through the Rockies where everything around us was covered in white. It's an experience we will NEVER forget!!

Wishing all of you a Blessed 2009.

Thank you Lord for all of your many blessings from 2008!!

Love to all,
The Pollocks, Stokes and Michael Doolin
The Travelin Crew

Btw: Pics will be coming soon.

Merry Christmas "2008"

2008-12-24T17:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone,

May you never forget Jesus, God's Only Son,

Who was born of a virgin so that He could die,

To show His wondrous love for us and in reply,

Will we believe on Him, so he can dwell,

In our hearts for eternity, and save us from hell?

It is our Heavenly Father who deserves all glory,

For His wondrous love for us he portrays in His Christmas Story.

God Bless You All,

The Pollock Family

Hope everybody down in Florida has a nice "Warm & Sunny" Christmas:)

We will see you when we return from our "Search for Snow."

Amazing Is'nt It?

2008-12-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

Doctors: The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000 . Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year are 120,000. Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171 (statistics courtesy of the U.S. Dept of health and human Services).

Guns: The number of gun owners in the United states is 80,000,000. (yes, that's 80 million) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500. The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .00018. (Statistics courtesy of the FBI).

So, statistically, Doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners. Remember, Guns don't kill people, Doctors do.

FACT:NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.

We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!! Out of concern for the public at large, I withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention

Plastic Makes You Spastic

2008-12-16T09:59:00.000-08:00

BUTTER OR MARGARINE??

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. The only problem was when they ate it on a regular diet it killed them! The developers of margarine had put a lot of money into the research and wanted a payback of some kind. They put their heads together and decided the white substance had no appeal, so they added yellow coloring and sold it to replace butter.

A medical study at Harvard Medical School shows that eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the SAME AMOUNT of butter. Eating butter increases absorption of many other nutrients in other foods. Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been with us for less than 100 years.

As for Margarine......

It is very high in trans fatty acids.

It has triple risk of coronary heart disease and increases bad cholesterol (LDL) and lowers the good (HDL) cholesterol.

Margarine increases the risk of cancer up to five times!

It lowers the quality of breast milk, decreases immune response and decreases insulin response.

Margarine is but ONE molecule away from being plastic!

It's like spreading Tupperware on your toast!

Experiment results:

After setting a opened tub or margarine outside for a few days, the following resulted:

1. Flies will not touch it.

2. It does not rot or smell any differently, because it has no nutritional value.

3. Nothing will grow in it, not even MOLD!

WHICH ONE WOULD YOU LIKE:)

"Antique Christmas Stroll" (Dade City)

2008-12-14T12:35:00.000-08:00

Each year in December we go to Dade City and enjoy a Christmas stroll through

the antique district and then go to the Village Inn afterwards. We always have

such a grand time. This year was no exception :)

This years crew.

(Minus Ariana who is taking the picture and Haley who is waiting to be picked up.)

Liv's present from Julia.

(I think she liked it, don't you?)

We're ready to find some "antique" presents.

"What about these?"

Or this....

NOT this!!

This is supposed to be a snowman??

Maybe a satanic one!!

CREEPY

Cute :)

Mrs. Stokes and her special doll :)

Liv enjoys the antique car show that they have this same weekend.

Okay, back to shopping.

The Town Square

Enjoying Java at the "Gathering Place".

And some yummy baked goods, made with all natural ingredients.

The "Gathering Place" is a christian Gathering place with live music, coffee, tea and snacks,

where you can just come, relax and enjoy (or not, depending) the music. The night we were

there, they gave us a plate full of brownies, muffins and baklava FREE!! Nice People.

The Gang topping the night off relaxed at the "Gathering Place".

Now it's time for dinner at "Village Inn".

"I've had a wonderful time, how bout you"?

We enjoyed sharing the night with you.

Hope you enjoyed it, too!!

Happy 50th Birthday

2008-12-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Missy Stokes!!

One thing is for sure, she is the youngest 50 we've ever known!!

She was VERY surprised. She thought she was on her way

to Bob Evans for dinner, when she opened her door and out jumped a bunch of people,

that scared her to death!!

Liv prepares the cake, while she was whisked off on an

all day shopping trip.

The finished product.

Best Buds

(If we look tired, it's because we ARE)

The Sykes

Preparing questions for the "favorites" game.

What are 10 favorites of Mrs. Stokes?

She so enjoys the children and believe me, she will have these cards FOREVER!

Mary and Jim.

Thankyou Mary for all your planning:)

The Graves family.

Tracy, it was fun shopping til we almost literally dropped;)

The Sweet Sykes Family

Gift from the boss.

Scrapbook of her life with the P's.

A Gift from Uncle Tom.

Dinners for a week from Covert Kitchen. Wow!

She loved her cake.

(She would love it, no matter what, because she's that kind of person).

A special gift from her son.

She cried and is so grateful for a son like Jordan.

He and Liv went shopping and prepared this basket the night before, so his mother

would have something waiting for her when she woke up on her birthday:)

A game of "Doodle Dice". (It's addicting)

We Love you Mrs. Stokes.

You're the Best

She is so grateful for her children and lifts them up before the Lord each day.

What would we do without her? She brings joy to everyones life. Is always

there for you, no matter what. She has such a heart for the Lord and strives

to please her Heavenly Father before anything else and we pray God's richest

blessings on her, Always.

WE LOVE YOU

Sermon of the week

2008-12-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

Anonymous viewers

have requested another week of

"The Tulip Wilts Under The Son"

Hope y'all enjoy it.

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY OLIVIA POLLOCK

2008-12-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

We love you, Olivia.

THE PARTY

When Liv was a baby, her parents, aunts, uncles, granny, etc., were on the

show, "Let's Make A Deal", so we thought it would be fun to do a remake for

her birthday.

Some of the contestants.

More of the contestants, the Discher family.

Some of our players had never seen the show before,

so,

before we got started, we played some of the shows from years past.

Ready to give away some MONEY!!

Each contestant picks a container of grits.

(A surprise was hidden under one of them)

I think he's a winner, or a REAL excited loser!

Now it's the birthday girl's turn to play.

Studying........trying to make her decision.

"You can trade your money to play the "scales" game."

She decides to go for it.

It was a good trade. She won an ounce of silver for her $1.

Hillary wants to play. (She's real good at games, ya know? :) )

Aunt Lee won a Wonderful, Fabulous, Marvelous

bag of dried beans :(

Michael won a candelight dinner.

(btw, that is NOT wine, it is apple cider)

Time for a new game and new players.

Grace wins a SHELL. (That's a rare thing in Florida, :):)

Ariana and Sarah are left to see what they can win.

Not sure what Sarah won, but....

Ariana was happy with her volleyball.

Now for the outlaw and the cowgirls.

Pick your favorite drink and see what's underneath.

Sam found a $10 under his drink.

Special guests, just arriving from a hunting trip.

So glad you came, David and Ju.

Which door do you choose?

1, 2 or 3?

She's going to trade her winnings for door #3.

What will she find behind that door?

And she wins a lovely jug of water!

Hills wants to trade, Hills wants to trade.

(Remember, she's real good at games)

She trades her set of flashlights

for

A bug zapper. OUCH!

Wah, wah, not everybody is a winner :(

Hillary is getting excited, wait, that's not Hills, she shrunk and ....:)

Something's fishy. He looks familiar :}

Hmmm, wonder what he said :>

Something is Hily larious

Momma said she's soooo glad that's a costume!!!

That's all folks.

Hope you enjoyed cooking up some fun :)

Twice Blessed

2008-11-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Twins!!

One of our cows that we had been planning on butchering for a while, went and had twins Tuesday:)

Ariana found them off in the woods, where she had been noticing the momma going. The momma doesn't have milk and has lost two calves so far, which is one of the reasons we were going to butcher her. After noticing our cow was not in the pasture, me and Ariana decided to go on a late night calf rescue. Usually when the cows disappear away from the herd, they are calving, so we figured there must be a calf somewhere out there. But we had a big surprise when we found two. If you can get colostrum to the babies within their first 24 hours of life, they have a good chance of making it.

Praise the Lord we didn't butcher the cow yet, we would have been minus the only twins ever born in that pasture!

One down and one to go.

The momma didn't want this one and left it in the woods and took the other one with her into the swamp, so we had to get her the next morning.

We named him Popeye cause he's got an anchor on his head.

Ariana is so tired she can hardly keep her eyes open;)

Mary with Popeye and Olive Oil

Time to wake up and eat....

and the feeding frenzy begins...

Sucking down the (spinache) milk ;)

Time for bed.

Mary tucking them in for the night.

Thank You, Lord.

Making Paper

2008-11-17T16:05:00.000-08:00

The other day we went to the "Stokes' Humble Abode"
and Liv and Julia (And a few onlookers of course)
made some "Homemade" Paper

Pullin the felt off the producing product

Then we decided to make "GREEN" paper.

But.....

When we pulled the screen out of the water

All the green floated out with the water. So we
ended up not getting any colored paper.

They're almost dry.

Ju pressing the paper

Art:)

Shredding up used paper to put in the.......

BLENDER!!!!

Then we put the pulp into the tub of water

The next day when the sun came out,
we hung the paper on the line to dry.

Perfecto... Except for the fact that it felt like cardboard:)

Practice makes perfect.

Posted By: Christiana

The Floor Project

2008-11-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

The following is what you do with a linoleum floor that's been glued down

over 20 years and you don't want to put tile on top of it!! The girls were

determined to get that floor up and just keep the wood floor underneath.

So......

Here we go.

"This isn't too bad"

Momma's thinking...."There must be an easier way!

Ariana has had enough. She has an idea.

"Let's heat the floor and melt the glue"

"It works great"

(We only burnt out two blowdryers):)

Christiana has a better idea.

"If the blow dryer works to heat it up, why not FIRE"

This actually worked great, but the smell was awful,

so back to the blowdryers we went.

Melted glue, after the fire.

Slow Going.

Floor Project Tools, (minus the fire)

More of the floor crew.

Look at the determined face.

Getting down to the last part.

Time to move everything out.

All the linoleum is GONE!!

Time to sand to the perfect finish.

Adding a little something special.

The finished product.

(Before it is sealed and varnished)

Thanks for watching.

Goodnight

The Fall Garden

2008-11-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

The Fall Garden has been planted and once again the Lord has

blessed us abundantly. Here's a quick update on how it's progressing.

Our Garden Foreman

He keeps us company while we work in the garden.

He's such a gentleman:)

What a beautiful sight.

A Little Work - A Little Play

2008-11-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

Since the market prices have been so low, we decided to buy more stock

instead of selling, which is what we usually do this time of year. So with new cattle coming

in, we needed to make another holding pen.....

"How many soda apples can one field produce!!"

"Have no fear, I've got just the tool to solve the problem!"

Since our unexpected "COLD snap", dad decides to be prepared

next time with plenty of firewood.

Jon's special "soda apple removal tool"

Ariana working on fence with Gabriel

Liv left the "soda apple" dilemna and decided to clean up the place.

Opposite of "cold"

Dad making dinner.

His "Udder Hot Dog Cooker"

Now for the "Play" part of this post.

It seems that softball, is now the game of choice.

Choosing Teams

"Let's Play Ball"

Christiana's ART

more of "Christiana's ART"

"Don't EVEN think about stealing that base!"

He FINALLY got dad out!!

She's so glad to play, with Whooping Cough and Bronchitis and all!!

They were too good, so we put them in jail!!

ha ha ha

Please read the warning above before proceeding.

(If you have a weak stomache.)

Ariana killed her first hog.

Dad didn't realize she had shot one, until he saw her coming across the

field with a hog on her shoulders.

Proud Hunter

Hope you enjoyed a little work and play with the Pollocks.

Back In The Hay Business

2008-11-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

Even with the state of our economy and elections and such,

The Livestock Still Have To Eat!!

Time to load.

260 rolls so far

The littles, doing what littles do, while hay is loaded.

Doing "pull-ups" the fun way.

Homemade jungle gym

The end to a looong day.

"Homeland Security"

See Y'all next time.

Happenings Lately

2008-10-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

The following is what's been going on at the ole' homestead the past couple weeks.

We've been cleaning out, really cleaning out and poor Liv gave up her

lightbulb collection. She had her "Bulb Art" consisting of 269 bulbs.

Mom says, "THANK YOU, LIV!"

Because of the "over abundance" of hogs on our property, we did a little
shooting while Jon and Lydia were here.
We came home with three hogs.

"Scrub'a'dub dub , three pig on a truck"

Preparing the smoker and.....

the pot for making lard for soap.

Jonathan and Jonathan

Grinding for sausage

Measuring

Now we're ready to spice it up.

Wrapping, labeling and freezing.

Yummy smoked ham and ribs for dinner!!

Julia says, "Yum, this is really good!"

Mrs. Stokes liked it, too!!

------------------

We decided to go to the "Gatehouse" for a little relaxation for all the

ones with the whooping cough. They were exhausted and needed a rest.

Drinking their "good for ya" tea to help with the cough.

(A mixture of ginger, fenugreek, fennel, garlic, constant comment)

As you can tell by Mary's face, it's NOT the "Southern Sweet Tea" they're used to.

We had a "Pool Tournament" while we were there, in the new game room.

It was a blast.

Now, THIS is the life.

Thanks Granny and Uncle Tommy for letting us come.

Enjoying some game time.

-------------------

After a couple days of relaxation, it's back to work.

Mrs. Stokes house needs paint.

"We're supposed to be painting the walls?"

Ya don't say!!

Jordan's NOT listening.....

Christiana wanted to help, even though she was coughing every 5 minutes.

Thank you, Christiana.

She finally got the idea and is painting the walls.

The painters taking a dinner break and the rest of the family came to

see the painting progress and of course, eat.

We're watching "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" movie (Veggie Tales)

Why?? I have NO idea!!!

Another beautiful sunset!!

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:

fear before him, all the earth. -Psalm 96:9-

Whip poppin and The Rodeo

2008-10-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Last saturday we went to the first annual "Cowboy Heritage Day" and rodeo in Kississimmee. About half of us competed in a "whip poppin" contest, unfortunately none of us won, but it was fun anyway:) Then that night, we older kids stayed for the rodeo. We had a blast!

The "Magnificent Seven Whip Poppers"

Everyone had to pop on concrete which made the whips

go alot faster, bounce on the concrete, thus causing everyone to get tangled.

Gabriel and lil' Abigail

Mrs. Stokes cookin up some grub in the solar powered oven.

She was such a sweet lady.

A bunch of rough cowboys......

Just Kidding.

Can't hold back those smiles for too long.

Time for the rodeo

(It was 14 different ranches against each other, 5 people from each ranch. Very fun)

Wild cow milking and it WAS wild!!

Lasso them dogies!!

Just hang on a little longer.

"Hey Jordan and Liv"

"Hey, Cracker Johnson"

1st one to flip the steer and brand him wins this round.

Gabriel and Jord got in on a little bull riding.
Hey, I think the bulls are tryin to fight!!

Here, let me break 'em up for ya.

OH!!, This is harder than I thought!!!

This just wasn't Liv's night to shine

and it wasn't the poor cowboy's, either :(

Hope you enjoyed the show.....

We've Been Tagged, TOO

2008-10-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

This is going to sound real strange, but we have become "tagged" from the Discher Family and are supposed to put 6 interesting things about our family, so here goes with the interesting things:

1. The Head of this household, Ben, has been blown up, shot, stabbed and sunk, all self inflicting. (He actually has the bullet from the shooting part, still in his leg, floating around.)

2. When Ariana was about 7, she was taking after her father and pretended to be blown up, when during the "pretend explosion" she was stuck to the wall by a nail that protruded out of the wall. It took us some time before we were able to free her. (We were so proud of her for staying so calm.)

3. Liv had her ear pierced this year, (by a snake).

4. Gabriel, at age 2, was feeding hay to our "large" Brahma cow, when he was picked up (by the cows horns) and thrown about 15 feet which looked like to his death, but was, by God's grace, unhurt.

5. Christiana was our first "homebirth" baby, born on her father's birthday.

6. Jonathan was our biggest baby at 10 lbs. 4 oz., still our BIGGEST cut up. Mary was our smallest at 3 lbs. 4 oz., born 3 months early with lots of problems that the doctors said would never be healed and because the LORD is the great physician He has healed her from ALL of these and she is now in perfect health. Thank you Lord, YOU ARE WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE!!

Soooo, who wants to be tagged next??

2008-10-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS

TO OUR WONDERFUL PARENTS

ON THEIR 24th ANNIVERSARY

And said, For this cause shall a man..
Leave his father and mother,
and shall cleave to his wife :

and they twain shall be one flash.

We just wanted to say Thank You

for being such a wonderful example

of what a Godly marriage is supposed

to be, and because of your obedience

to the Lord in letting him plan your

family and not listening to the worlds

counsel, We are blessed to be a part

of the family. We pray that the Lord

bless you as you've blessed us, and will

give you direction as you lead our family.

WE LOVE YOU,

Your children

Reminiscing

2008-09-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Looking back through the years......

Thomas and Mary at the "Gatehouse"

Ariana and James

I don't think Thomas is thinking about handwriting, do you?

Ariana LOVES the babies

Miss Tammy, our friend from Korea.

NOT the barn, it's beyond help!!!!!

The funnest times is when you have something to show for it, like DIRT ON YOUR ENTIRE BODY!!

Sweet James

Standing for Right

Hello little fella's, sorry, but we have to eat you.

Say Cheese

This was James' favorite green shirt

Capt'n Jon

Mrs. Stokes and her best friend Thomas

Singing at church at Ft. Benning, Ga.

Fun, fun time

"Bound 4 Heaven"

A little practice makes better.

Gabriel and Jord out working together.

Jordan says, "HELP", I can't take much more of this!!!

I promise I will NEVER go out with you again!!

Queen of the garage sale.

(Just havin a little fun at one of the MANY yard sales)

It's almost orange juice time again, yum, yum.

Workin with the cows.

A Lonely Lass in Loads of Lorn, I mean Corn:P

Sometimes they need a little help.

He finally got it.

Running the water for the garden.

Time for dinner

Hope you enjoyed.

Be back real soon.

A Day At The Farm

2008-09-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Jonathan calling the cows

Building a hog pen for the, ever increasing, wild hog population!!

Time to call it a night on the fence building.

Mary hanging out laundry on the......

"Easy Tightening" clothesline.

Thanks, Liv

Ariana is happy about her "special" package she's going to pick up.

Wonder what it could be??

(The holes in the box are hint #1)

(The yellow bag is Hint #2)

75 "Black Star" pullet chicks.

She has to make sure each one knows where the special sugar water is.

They've been riding around with the postal service for 2 days.

They are happy to be FREE!!

This is "Bubba", Jon's bunny as of 4 days ago.

The white bunny is Mary's.

Her (I hope) name is Twinkles.

I informed Mary, if it's a boy we HAVE to change the name!!

Meanwhile, back inside, the girls decide to paint, (almost) the entire house.

Momma is grateful for her hard workers.

Liv does all the trim.

(A few days of this makes for a stiff back)

The finished product

Thank you ladies for all the hard work.

You did a super job and I love it!!

Our time with the Nepal family

2008-09-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

We were so blessed by a visit from cousin Jyoti and her husband, Rajendra and family. This was the first visit to the U.S. for Rajendra and the children. They have been missionaries for many, many, years and have such a heart for lost souls. We had such a wonderful time while they were here, getting to spend quality time with them. What a blessing it was!!

Rajendra Sharing God's Word at Church

(Jyoti is translating)

The men being Bereans

Child Prodigy:)

Sharing their testimony

Uncle Tom took us all to the Animal Kingdom Lodge

Sweet cousins

The only snake you'll ever see around Mrs. Stokesies neck!!

Enjoying our treats while watching the Disney fireworks show

Mmm mmm Good

Awwww :)

Sleeping soundly at Grand Floridian (Beach) :)

Jyoti teaching the girls a new song in Nepalise and English

At Grannys for a big breakfast.

James and Preshunsa doing laundry JOYFULLY

They had the best time together.

Preshunsa called James her "husband".

Forget Toys-R-Us, it's dirt and plastic spoons for them.

Sewing Day

Time to go find a "secluded" island so we can enjoy ourselves.

Time to load up for an adventure, I'm sure!

We found a beach about 10 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico.

We had the island all to ourselves.

When the tide went out, it made a huge sand bar with water in between,

which was perfect for the littles (and the bigs).

This was our view

Jordan and Rajendra

Time for a little "wave hopping"

All we need now is the boat.

Mrs. Stokes in the snow, I mean sand :P

Ben in "paradise". He LOVES the ocean!!

Heading to shore

"I've had a fantastical, stupendous, marvelous day!!

Nothing like seeing the sunset on the ocean.

Good night and God Bless

Trip (part 3)

2008-09-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

We are on our way to Niagara Falls and what a testimony of God's awesome creation!!!

The Whirlpool

(Before the Falls)

We have arrived at Niagara Falls
(the gang minus a few)

Julia is in paradise with all the colorful beads!

The gang on their way to

"The Hurricane Deck"

(Zoom in and you can tell who they are.)

They were soaked when they were done.

Time for a picnic in Niagara State Park.

(Right across the street from the Falls)

Hut 1, Hut 2, HIIIIKE

Boarding the "Maid of the Mist"

Sweet Brother and Sis

True Love

HELP!!!

Abigail, asleep on Jordan.

So Cute

Its so amazing it almost looks fake.

Back at the cabin, playing Scattegories

"Hey, that's a describing word."

A little Smores' to satisfy ya

Lisa and her family came to have smores' by the camp fire.

We so enjoyed the fellowship

Thank you Liv for the homemade (I mean campground made) blueberry pancakes.

Liv was our cook for the entire trip. (The girls helped also)

Singin in the Cabin

The Cloud family

"Maiden in the middle"

Jonathan, Christopher and Jyoti (brothers and sis)

Campground Ladies

(and a wee little man)

Campground Men

Campground Family Gang

Thank you Lord for allowing this time for all of our families to be reunited and for the

wonderfully rich time that we had while together.

May your name be praised, o Lord!!!