Courting ~ Day 3

Thursday, July 16, 2009

I woke up feeling very sick this morning. I just knew I wasn't going to make it through the day unless I had carrot juice, so Josiah rode his bike to the grocery store to buy carrots, and Russell juiced them for me. They are both so sweet! Russell hates carrot juice; if only I had a picture of him juicing them... (chuckle) Well, that's certainly not the last time he'll be doing it.

Our plans for the day were to drive 3 hours to Belgium and go kayaking. Here are Lydia, Josiah, and Russell looking cool in their shades. =D

And then I had a surprise for Russell. He asked Mom to hold his coffee mug for the picture. She snuck it inside and we transfered his coffee into "The Boss" mug. I bought it for Russell the last time we were in Belgium. When I saw it I just had to buy it for him, seeing as we have a joke between the two of us about being "the boss."

He thought it was pretty cool.

It's so fun to surprise people you love!

We took a quick break on the road. Here's me, my mamma, and my bodyguard. Seriously, Russell is the "bodyguard," especially during street preaching, and he takes his duties very seriously. For being such a big guy, he's a teddy bear at heart.

We're best friends!

We eat together...

Frown together...

Smile together...

And laugh together!

And that wasn't planned. I think we were made for each other!

The courting couple contentedly kayaking. Well, Russell did most of the kayaking. He knew I wasn't feeling well and wouldn't let me help him. I think he's awfully sweet!

I love this old castle. When I was a little girl we spent our family vacations in Belgium. We stayed in this small city, Durbuy, with my Oma, who is now in Heaven. I never would have dreamed that I would one day float down this peaceful river with my future husband. Wow. Oma would have loved Russell; he is so much like my dad, and she adored my dad.

We stopped to rest in the shade of the trees.

Just thinkin'.

If you open up this picture it's pretty neat!

Russell made his way to a quiet spot away from the group to think and pray. He didn't realize I was watching him.

This is why I love Russell.

He looked up and smiled when he saw me. It was special.

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that WAIT upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." ~ Isaiah 40:28-31

"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. WAIT on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: WAIT, I say, on the LORD." ~ Psalm 27:13-14

We waited for each other...and it was worth the wait! =)

See Russell's picture post (HERE).

More Vacation Pictures...

I didn't get pictures (with my camera) of the last two days we were in Belgium, but I took some pictures with Lyd's camera, and she's got lots of them up on her blog. I can't believe how excellent her camera is. Anyway, here's the link to her posts. My sister has got a great sense of humor. She had me cracking up as I read her posts. Hope you enjoy 'em too. 

I Y my family!

http://lydia-joy.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-escape-part-1.html

http://lydia-joy.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-escape-part-2.html

http://lydia-joy.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-escape-part-3.html

http://lydia-joy.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-escape-part-4.html

http://lydia-joy.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-escape-part-5.html

Belgium Vacation 2009 ~ Part 3

Dad gave Josiah the bb gun he ordered for him from the States. Josiah was thrilled. The two boys--one young and one quite a bit older (chuckle)--had a blast with the gun (no pun intended), shooting out into the woods out back. Mom and I made and packed sandwiches, since the plan was to leave to go shopping in the afternoon. Those plans changed, and we ended up eating lunch at home. Then it was decided that we would drive into La Roche.

I still remember the first time we saw this awesome view! We drove up on the mountain ridge overlooking the valley and little town snuggled below. You can see the river, a bridge, a huge church (I believe it was the only thing left standing after WWII), and a fortress on the hill. It is SO neat! On the ridge overlooking all this is a tank from WWII.

WWII tank

We have an old picture, taken years ago, of the three of us on this tank. We were tiny then. Dad has always used that picture in his slide presentation. He wanted an updating photo, so Joe got up there and gave us girls a hand climbing up. What a view from up there! It was very cool!

Josiah is all boy (thank God!). He loves tanks and guns and is a WWII buff just like our dad.

Dad and Mom took pictures from below.

Then we drove into La Roche. Dad and Joe tried to find the gun store to buy more bb's but to no avail. They got back to the van and we drove on to a Carrefour (like Wal-Mart) in Marche. All our allergies were driving us crazy. I don't know how the roof of my mouth can itch and hurt and be swollen and sting all at the same time. It is the most disgusting feeling! Lydia and Josiah's eyes were driving them crazy. Josiah amused us by telling us his different ideas for hayfever-inflicted eye relief--his anti-itch ingenuity. =D He said putting hot and then cold water in your eyes helps. Then he suggested lemon juice. Then we stopped at a gas station where they had a really cute Cola poster. Josiah thought gas might help stop the itching. Then we continued driving and Josiah presented mint water as the solution. Then if none of the above succeed in working we could always poke our eyes out. Brilliant!!! =D We had fun laughing about it, anyway. It helped keep our minds busy. The AC helped, thank God!

We arrived at Carrefour. The place is so neat! It's much like stores in the States because it is so huge. The parking lot is big and paved!!! Parking lots are made of bricks in Holland. That just seems like a lot of needless work to me! Well, I bought a present for a friend. (chuckle) I just loooooooove secrets...especially when I'm the one who knows the secret. =) Mom saw purple slippers, machine washable, which she insisted I get. My old ones are falling apart. Lydia bought two tea cups for her hope (she would say hopeless, which I know is not true) chest.

Dad and Joe went to a nearby sports store, where Dad managed to get hurt. By the end of the trip everyone but myself had injured themselves. Last time we were in Belgium I managed to hurt myself bad enough for that time and this time. There is something about vacations that is seemingly quite hazardous to our family. (chuckle) We are so tense from the ministry that when we get a vacation we fall apart, quite literally. (chuckle)

As we pulled into the little road leading to our chalet, we saw a hedgehog walking round and round in circles. Something was wrong with it. =( Poor thing. We got home and the guys shot the bb gun, Lyd played a garden computer game, and Mom and I got dinner on the table. We had breakfast--eggs, toast, turkey-ham, hash browns, and orange juice. It tasted great. The guys went back to shooting, Lyd played her game, and Mom and I took a walk down a path through a woodsy area.

The nature was so pretty. We saw lots of wild flowers. We walked and talked. Finally the road led up to a private house, so we headed back. It was still a nice walk. I enjoyed it. We didn’t see the hedgehog in the place he had been earlier.

I picked some wild daisies.

Once we got home we watched the last part of Little House. That is a good movie. It really shows the hardships the pioneers endured. They were so brave. I never would have made it. Well, physically I might not have, but I think I have a pretty strong will and will power.
Mom made us a yummy dessert--cookies, peaches, heavy cream, and cookie crumbs on top, soggy from sitting in the fridge for a while. Yum! Mom is great...not just because she makes good food. She is the most unselfish person I know. I especially notice on trips like this how well she takes care of her family. Our comfort is her ultimate goal. If I could be half the mother Mom is… She is such a dear! God has been good to give me a mom like her!

Belgium Vacation 2009 ~ Part 2

We slept in and didn't leave De Kleine Beer until after lunch. We planned to go kayaking, and the weather forecast seemed to indicate that Tuesday would be the best day. Surprisingly, the weather forecast was extremely acurate this week. The Lord gave us nice weather. The morning started out cold, but as the day wore on it was just perfect for being out on the water. It could not have been more perfect!

Mom and I shared a kayak; Mom was worried I would get too tired paddling myself, which I would have. The rest of the family had their own. It looked like more fun to have a single kayak, but I got to sit up front, which gave me the opportunity to take pictures and video. I did much better at maneuvering our kayak in the water this year than I have other years. I thought like a duck, and suddenly I was doing just fine! (chuckle) I'm kidding!

(Lydia got a picture of me taking this picture.) This was the area we pushed off from. We started out in Durbuy and ended up in Barvoux, I believe. We were out on the water for about 2-3 hours.

Kayaking through Durbuy, the smallest city in the world.

The old castle...

We really had a lot of fun. Josiah kept bumping us. Not bumper cars, but crashing kayaks. =D Then we rammed him back, and that was fun.

Just as we started out, Mom and I spotted a green and a blue dragonfly "dancing" on the water. They almost looked silky. I've never seen them so pretty before. We saw many of those during our journey down the river, including this sorta-ugly dragonfly. He seemed to like our kayak a lot and hung out with us for a bit.

We stopped along the way, on a rocky little slope by a cow pasture. Dad pulled up our kayaks. Then he rested in the grass, and Mom got out some grapes and cheese crackers. The three of us kids waded in the water and skipped stones. I saw some little fish in the water.

Our allergies started driving us crazy, so we got on the water again. Amazingly I didn’t have any problems out there. That was so nice! Thank God for that! It could have really been miserable for us. I think we all truly enjoyed the outing and even talked about doing it again the next day. Lydia got hurt as she pulled her kayak up to the landing area. I don't know why there wasn't somebody there to help people.

By the time we arrived at our chalet we were all going crazy from our allergies. Mom and Dad headed out to pick up a few groceries from the store, and I got a refreshing shower. That really helped. After showering, changing, and eat tacos for dinner I felt like a new person. It was late by the time we had our dinner, so we spent the rest of the evening watching the next part of the Little House on the Prairie series while eating bluberry pie and drinking tea.

Belgium Vacation 2009 ~ Part 1

We went to Belgium this week for several days. It was wonderful to get away! Here are some pictures from Monday...

This is the view from the hilltop where the Ourthe & Somme headquarters is located. While Mom and Dad signed in and got the key to our chalet, the three of us got out of the van to stretch and get a look at the beautiful scenery. There is something about those rolling hills that stirs something inside me. I love it! Belgium is much more like the States (NY) than Holland, which is extremely flat. This countryside, the cornfields and cows grazing, reminds me of NY countryside. The drive from where we live in Holland is about 3 hours, but the good thing about growing up is that it seems shorter than it did when we were kids.

Do we look happy? We were! It was so nice to get away!

And to think Josiah was once my little brother. Well, he's still younger, which is something I'll never let him forget no matter how tall he gets. (chuckle)

Seeing as we didn't have anybody to take a picture with the three of us together, Lydia positioned my camera on some little stone in the sidewalk, set the timer, and we all hoped a car wouldn't come. =) We got sort of a neat angle there.

Posing with the sign... For years we've spent our family vacations renting little chalets in Belgium from Ourthe & Somme. We've made many nice memories.

After dinner we sat around and relaxed. We were all very tired...I guess from sitting in the van? =) And here is Josiah...getting tired of having his picture taken but trying to be patient. (chuckle) Poor kid.

This is the balcony off the living room/dining room. If Dad, Lyd, Joe and I hadn't been suffering from hayfever, we might have eaten outside. I enjoyed having my devotions out on the balcony on Thursday morning. I was up very early and got a chance to see some wildlife--orange squirrels scampering from tree to tree and the birds singing merrily. I really enjoyed that.

That night we had a beautiful sunset. This was the view from the front windows of the chalet.