Greer Family

2011-05-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

Hi all! It's been a while! I hope I can make up for it with this. I've been doing a bit of music lately. Check out the new song I wrote!

"AMEN"

Amen means: Truly, Confidently, Surely, Verily, Certainly, So Be It, It Is Right, I Believe It.

It is a hearty approval, a ratification, an agreement, an assent, an interjection/assertion of what is true. It is a declaration that something is a complete unchanging absolute truth. It is the truth that we must conform to and align ourselves with. It is spiritual.

It is the duty of Christians to Promote, Affirm, Proclaim and Declare the Truth.

Psa 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psa 119:13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psa 63:3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Psa 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
1Ch 16:8 Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

It also means to believe.

Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

The Hebrew word here is Amen.

Jesus used the word Amen to denote a saying of particular worth or value. Amen is sometimes translated as "verily" or "truly."

Mar 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
Joh 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Joh 13:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me

Quote - "Faith can only be born after hearing God speaking first to us. Only then we can say; "Amen - it shall be so." If you remember this, you will be saved from presumption and counterfit faith."

Let us say "Amen!" to these words from God;

Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. - AMEN.

Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. - AMEN.

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. - AMEN.

Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. - AMEN.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. - AMEN

Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. - AND ANOTHER AMEN.

Song lyrics:

Chorus:
Amen, amen. You are worthy, amen.
Amen, amen. You are holy, amen.

Verse 1:
We will say that You are true,
and that only good you that only good You do,
we will say that you are right,
and in You will we delight.

Chorus:
Amen, amen. You are worthy, amen.
Amen, amen. You are holy, amen.

Verse 2
We agree with what You say,
that You are the only way,
to the Father, You the Son,
shall make God and mortals one.

Chorus:
Amen, amen. You are worthy, amen.
Amen, amen. You are holy, amen.

Bridge:
And the words upon our lips are the very ones You gave,
so we know the we are right when we say You save.

Chorus:
Amen, amen. You are worthy, amen.
Amen, amen. You are holy, amen.

Keep on loving Jesus y'all!

2011-05-07T11:33:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine asked me to make her some wooden salad tongs. The woods I used are Lignum Vitae and Brown Ipe. I made them so they are versatile enough to be used as both salad tongs or soup spoons.

More Of You Jesus?

2011-04-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

"Give me more of you Jesus."

I heard the phrase in a worship song yesterday morning at church. What do we mean when we say that? I think we mean to say that we somehow don't have everything we need from God. Like He's holding back something better. "Yes Jesus, give me more of you, the part I did not get the first time."

A popular worship song has the lyrics:

"More love, more power,
More of You in my life"

More love? Like the cross was not enough? More power? As if the power that made the universe is not enough? More of you in my life? Like God is a vacillating lover, who cannot decide if He is "all in?" He never gives but 100% of Himself.

2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue:

Why do we ask to get what we have already been given?

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

I need to stop asking for "more", like God has been holding out on me or something. He has already given me everything! I'm His child after all! I just need to say "Thank you Father, Thank you!!" Ephesians 5:20 "giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,"

Why do we ask God to do something He is already doing? "God, please don't lie to me today", or "God, don't stop being righteous today." What pride! What arrogance! Will God lie? Never. Will God stop being holy? Never. So to asking for Him to come, like He went somewhere! He said He would always be there, so I just believe it.

The truth is, He is with us, if we are His people. He said He would be. Matthew 28:20b "and, see, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen." Hebrews 13:5b "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." Psalm 23:4 Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

It's like standing next to your wife and asking her to stand next to you. Or maybe like asking your wife to marry you. She is already standing next to you. She is already married to you.

The reason anyone needs to get "more" of God in their life, is because they believe He has not moved in all the way. He's either there or He's not. He is either your King or He's not. He is either dining with you or He's not. None of this half way stuff.

Thank you Jesus. You've given me everything. You gave me you.

T.J.

Octupus Lemon!

2010-11-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is real. It's about 9 inches tall and 3 inches wide. Our neighbor gave it to us the other day and I think he got it from the local exotic fruit nursery. Should we keep it as a pet? :) God's creations are AMAZING!

EDIT: I found out it's called a "Buddha's Hand Citron".

Greer Family Travels!

2010-09-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

It has been soooo long since this blog was updated, so I thought it was about time to change that! :)

This last weekend we had a great time up in Fresno, CA!

On Friday we met a family that my Dad had been in contact with for the past month for the first time. Actually, we had met some of the children before once, but it was the first time meeting the whole family.

On Saturday both we and the above-mentioned family went to help our friends the Callis's work on their GrandMerry's house painting, putting in wood flooring, drywall etc.
Afterwards we went Contra dancing! It was so fun! I have not sweated that much since I we put in attic fans last summer in LA. :)

On Sunday we fellowshipped with both of the above-mentioned families at the Callis's house church. That was great to visit with the church there again! Just before church began I got to take some engagement shots for my friends Jimella Callis & and Andrew Ostgaard who had just got engaged a few days before. You can check out the pics here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/112306445532028237895/AndrewJimellaSEngagementPhotos#

All in all, a fantastic time! Lots of good conversions and lots of wonderful people!

-T.J.

2010-01-21T17:45:00.000-08:00

My son gave me a wonderful surprise today!! And in my favorite tea cup too!!

"You have filled my heart with greater joy" Psalm 4:7

Life has no blessing like a caring friend!

A little work, A Birthday Wish and a Merry Christmas!

2009-12-12T22:27:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since we've posted here! The last three months have been a whirlwind. We have been SO busy- that's a good thing! In these economic hard times, we are thankful to God for the work He gives us to do. The attached pictures are some of our recent work, and also a more recent photo of the family together.
Today also just happens to be our #2 son's 21st Birthday. So Happy Birthday to TJ, and many more! You have brought music to our household! We Love you!
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season of REJOICING in GOd and remembering the Birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!May His love fill your homes and hearts!

My Boys!

2009-09-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

As a mom, I see my boys in all kind of situations- from bedhead in the morning to worn out dog-tired, sweaty hot and stinky in the evening!! My most favorite times of all is when they get dressed up and lookin' good! Sometimes, it's only for special occasions.But that's OK with me! I try to get pictures of them as often as I can, and sometimes a special occasion is just the time to pull out the camera and "shoot" them!
Below are a few recent shots:

Ben, our oldest

TJ- my favorite second son!

Mikki- young man growing up!

My handsome guys!(all four of them!)

My creative candid shot! It actually turned out! (I was so surprised!)

I sure do love these guys! MY boys!

Signed, Proud Mom

Mom & Dad's 25th Anniversary

2009-08-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

25 years ago on August 4, 1984, our Mommy and Daddy said their "I Do's"!

To celebrate, the boys set up a "surprise" Anniversary party with Mom's family, who live local to us, to meet up at a restaurant for dinner and such with Mom knowing about it. And she was VERY surprised!(don't you love it when these kind of secret plans work out well?) After dinner, Dad got down on one knee(in the restaurant!)and proposed to Mom again. Of course she said yes! Then we told her we would be sending them both to a three day trip to Catalina Island!

Thank you Lord for this milestone in their lives! It is sad that in the day and age not many couple make it to 25 years. Lord, build up all our family's!

I wish you both 25 more years together, following God more wholly and loving each other more deeply every day!

Love you Mom and Dad!!!!!!

Mom and Dad about five years ago

JUNE- Already?

2009-06-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

JUNE? Already???

With half of the family sick for the past couple of weeks, plus our work schedule and preparing for visitors here, well,.... I guess I've just lost track of time!
Sorry!

Psalm 147: 1-11

"Praise the Lord
How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.
The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp.
He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man;
the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love."

Mother's Day Thoughts

2009-05-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

What joy the birth of my sons has brought to me! As I held each one of them in my arms and kissed them for the very first time, it was truly LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! Lots of fond memories fill my heart today as I am remembering MY first Mother's Day!

Many times I have felt like my job as stay-at-home "MOM" has been of small significance and not very glorious! I have sulked in the fact that women "out there" in the world get so much more praise from society in their professions. Many women have lots of degrees and education, they make more money, they appear more "blessed" from a worldly standpoint.

Then I am reminded of the timeless worth of the job of "MOTHER". For, what degree of education can replace a hug and a kiss, what amount of money can buy Love, what value can be placed on the care of and attention to all the details of raising a family. No job can ever replace the joys of being there for a baby's first step, first words, teaching your little one to read, watching and caring over your children as they grow into youth and then into adults. Truly, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world", in that being a Mother isn't just about having children. It's about molding and shaping the next generation. And more importantly, it's about teaching and training the next generation to be godly genuine Christians!

I am so thankful to God for this amazing privilege!

I am certainly not a "perfect" mom, and my young men are not "perfect" children (although I think their pretty fine!), but I am so happy that God chose to put us all together and call us a family!

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me and giving the the chance to be called "MOM"!

Psalm 5:11

2009-05-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

Psalm 5: 11 (NKJV)

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.

Hymns vs Praise Chorus

2009-05-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

The following is TJ's input to the Greer Family blog:

Do you know what the difference is between a hymn and a praise chorus?

Here's a little example for you; (It's a really old example, sorry if you've seen it before!)

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

"Well," said the farmer, "it was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns."

"Praise choruses?" said his wife. "What are those?"

"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like hymns, only different," said the farmer.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife.

The farmer said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you "Martha, the cows are in the corn"' - well, that would be a hymn. If on the other hand, I were to say to you:

Martha, Martha, Martha,
Oh Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows
the white cows,
the black and white cows,
the COWS, COWS, COWS
are in the corn,
are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn,
the CORN, CORN, CORN.

Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well, that would be a praise chorus."

The next weekend, his nephew, a young, new Christian from the city came to visit and attended the local church of the small town. He went home and his mother asked him how it was.

"Well," said the young man, "it was good. They did something different however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."

"Hymns?" asked his mother. "What are those?"

"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked his mother.

The young man said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you 'Martha, the cows are in the corn' - well, that would be a regular song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you:

Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense
Hearkenest they in God's sun or His rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.

So look to the bright shining day by and by
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animals make my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.'

Then if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well that would be a hymn.

Softball Barbies!

2009-05-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

While playing at the park the other day, I saw this team of young girls playing softball. What struck me as funny was their unusual uniforms- black and HOT PINK polka dotted knees highs!! And while the girls were cute, it seems sad that sports have now come down to a fashion statement. The looked like little barbies, with helmet, glove and bat accessories!
(My guess is that you'd never see a boys team dressed like that! )

Mikki turns 14!

2009-05-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY, MIKKI!! (May 2)

A day at the local park provided me an opportunity to get a new picture of Mikki for his birthday post. With kite, frisbees, and a cheerful fetching companion. our dog Lizzy, we had a great time!

We Love You, Mikki!

Catching up!

2009-04-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Howdy!

TJ reminded me this morning that I needed to post "something" on our blog again, since it's been quite a while! Sorry about that! I guess I just lost track of time! We've been busy around here, but if you actually asked what we've been up to, I probably would end up saying something like, "Oh not much, same as usual." It's hard sometimes to give an answer, when in reality we HAVE been busy on so many different projects. But we do so many different things, I don't know how to describe it all!

Let's see, our family recently went to visit our Springville community of friends. Ben and TJ helped one of the young men up there in doing something akin to "barn-raising." The young man will be getting married in May, and still had a lot to do to get the new house ready. So our boys wanted to go and help him with drywalling and other jobs. It was wonderful to see them all in action, working to bless the young man and being blessed in return! That was about three days of work, and they really got a lot done!! And had a lot of fun in the process, too!

We recntly finished our garden for this year, and things are growing along nicely! I love to look out my kitchen window and see all of the plants! My tomato plants alone have grown at least five inches! YAY!

We also got some new chickens again! This involved building a chicken coop, which I am so glad for this time! They have their own little yard to run around in and are safe for times when we are away from home. No coyotes this year! We got six chickens which were almost ready to lay, and sure enough, the day after we got them, we got our first egg!! We will be getting some baby chicks in the near future! They are always so cute and fun to watch!

We have been practicing some new songs, and are preparing for some *hopeful* travels this summer and fall, Lord willing.

Our family business is doing well, and God is opening some new doors for us! We'll see what develops from all of that! God is Faithful, and we are so thankful to HIM for that!

Not much of a post this time. Mostly just catching up on what we've been doing here.
Thanks for stopping by long enough to read through it! Leave a comment if you like, 'cause we always like to hear from you!!

Our Blessings to You!!

The Dear Deer Family!

2009-03-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

While visiting at our "dear" friends house one day, we were so surprised to see this "deer" family walking around behind the house! Five big deer were enjoying nibbling on the young tender grass there. Amazingly, they didn't run off quickly, but meandered their way along as they saw us watching from a distance. What magnificent animals they were- able to move along the steep terrain with such ease and always on the alert for danger. A rare treat to see considering this was in the city.

I am reminded of the verse in Psalms 42:1

"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul thirsts for Thee, O God."

Come Away, My Beloved

2009-02-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

Today I was reading in a book called "Come away, my beloved" by Frances J. Roberts. I thought this was a beautiful piece(old English) on Resignation to God:

"Incline thine heart unto Me, and let thine ear be attuned to My voice. For lo, I would speak to thee, and I have an urgent message to give thee.
Go not about to establish thine own designs. Lo, I have already set in motion My divine will and purpose and I would not have thee interfere. I am jealous about My children: Lo, they are Mine, saith the Lord; and ye shall not intrude in any way such as would hinder My plans from working out. Yea, ye may do many things, but only that which I direct thee to do can have My blessing upon it.
Resign all into My hands-- thy loved ones as well as thine own self. Be obedient to the still small voice. Thine own imaginings may speak more loudly, but wait upon Me always. Ye shall see the wisdom and the glory in this in due time. Fret not about carnal things, but concern thyself first and always about spiritual values. Truly, My promise is still: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all the other needful things SHALL BE ADDED unto thee."

I thought this was a good reminder, in summary, to:

Give everything to God
Wait on Him, Seek Him first
Don't worry about your life and the things here
Everything NEEDED will be given in its time!

Thank you, GOD, for your wonderful promises and faithfulness!!

MacD's visit cont.

2009-02-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

In continuation of the MacDonald's visit with us...
(For some reason I can't get my computer to cooperate with me in rearranging these pictures. So they are in reverse order. Sorry!)

These are pictures of our combined Wednesday evening concert. Both families sang, separately and together at the ending.

The Greer Family Singers

The Mac/Greer Quartet: Carol and Bonnie MacDonald sing with TJ and Ben Greer
This was their debut together! They sang "Crown Him"

The MacDonald's Brass Ensemble

The MacDonald Children
Carol, Bonnie, Vincent, Peter, Nathan, Matthew, Daniel and Hannah

More pictures to follow-check back soon!

Caption Contest

2009-02-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

I've never done a "Caption Contest" on this blog as of yet, so when I ran across this picture, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of ideas you all could come up with for this picture!!

Now, I've been told that there are some lurkers out there who check out our blog, but don't leave any feedback. So this time, I'm hoping you'll get bold enough to join the fun! Leave us a note with your valued thoughts!!

And for those of you who don't recognize these crazy characters... Ben Greer on the left, Vincent MacDonald (middle), and TJ Greer on the right.

Boys will be Boys

2009-02-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

Boys will be Boys! That's what they say, anyway.

So, we're sitting around yackity-yacking on Sunday night. Next thing we know, we hear all of the boys (men? 5 0f them) laughing and running into the bathroom, slamming the door behind them. Like a bunch of cackling hens(roosters?), squeals of laughter and giggling behind the doors, they emerge from their secret adventure with their hair plastered with styling gel, looking like they just had the worst "bad hair" day since Samson in the Bible got his hair cut off. Everyone was laughing as each of them presented their new "Doo".

(It must have been the sleep deprivation, as most of us didn't get to bed earlier than midnight for several days in a row! )

(And, having no girls in the family, I naively thought it was the "girls" who were supposed to do this sort of thing! So much for stereotypes!)
I think they must have used about a whole bottles worth of gel!

THANKS, GUYS, for the entertainment!

We love you!

MacD's Continued

2009-02-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

MacD's Continued...

After the Sunday morning concerts at Calvary Chapel, we all headed out for a yummy pizza lunch with the pastor and his family. From there, we went directly to our next evening concert.
Both families sang there. Below are a few pictures:

Bonnie playing the accordian

Mikki gives his 6-minute sermon
Our family singing

Since the MacDonald's had never had "Starbucks" before, we treated a few of them to a "First"!
Carol's cup says "Carol's 1st SBUX Drink"!

Somehow, the younger set always seems to have endless energy. Despite an already very full day, they came home that night and filled our house with music, laughter and fun!! Below, my living room full - complete with "Jam Session"

Looking in my front window, I couldn't resist taking their picture from our neighbor's point of view!

Matthew and Peter have an interesting way of playing the mandolin!

Even after the jam session, the "boys" gave us all a good laugh with their crazy antics!

Stay tuned for that story!

The MacDonald Family Singers

2009-02-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

Our friends, the MacDonald Family Singers, arrived on Friday, Jan 30th, and it's been "full speed ahead" ever since. We have had such a great time together!
We spent Friday relaxing and unwinding from their drive from Arizona, riding our motorcycles around the block, singing, playing and generally having a good time! Saturday we all headed over to the beach in Oceanside - some by car and van, and some on bikes via the bike trail! It was their first time to California and the Pacific Ocean, and we were all thankful for the beautiful sunny day and warm weather.

The Biking Crew

Mr and Mrs MacDonaldBelow, a shot of the "kids" who walked the Oceanside Pier, where they encountered a few not-so-friendly pelicans, watched a surf competition, saw Catalina Island off in the distance and a seal playing in the water, and saw where Mitch and Amy's names are carved into the pier boards!

Mikki and his sandcastle partner, Hannah!

Hail, Hail, the gang's all here!

Sunday held two morning concerts (both services)at Calvary Chapel Oceanside! The family enjoyed a warm welcome by all of the folks there, and had given away about 800 CD's by the time they were done! A new record for them! And they also got standing ovations both services, which was very unusual. Bonnie's yodeling song was a big hit, too!

Below, Carol and Vincent rehearse their piano duet before the services.

Keep checking back for the continuing saga and more pictures of their visit here, including Sunday evening concert with our family.

January

2009-01-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

Wow! This month is flying by FAST!

As mentioned in our previous post, we have been very busy! We are happy to say that we have been doing some remodeling in our house (kitchen and front entry), and now have some new countertops, a new sink, stove and range hood, freshly painted walls and refinished cabinets, and have neatly organized shelves and cabinets!! Hooray!! It feels nice to have "clean" and "organized" back in the house!(We've missed them!)
We are also clearing out clutter (bye,bye!) from all the rooms and shop and yard. Then comes getting our garden ready, among other jobs.

Our company, the MacDonald Family Singers from MA, will arrive this week and we are excited to get to sing and play with them!

After that, it's back to work on some big projects we have scheduled. We're so thankful to God for giving us work to do! It sure beats sitting around doing nothing! And we enjoy the adventure of new things on the horizon.

We are blessed!

2009-01-14T22:55:00.000-08:00

We are blessed!

God has been providing a lot of work for our little crew to be doing as of late. Our schedule is very busy, which keeps us away from the fun stuff like blogging. But we'll get back here again soon.
Our family will be hosting the MacDonald Family Singers here in a couple weeks while they are is southern Ca. We'll be sure to post a blog about their visit. We're looking forward to hearing them sing, and especially playing with them!!

What have you been up to lately? Please post a comment and let us know!

Blessing to you from sunny(80 degrees) southern CA!

Happy New Year

2009-01-05T21:03:00.001-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It may be a little late for this post, but at least we were thinking about it! Computer died right around Christmas time and I am so late on all of my regular computer activites.
Alas, the New Year has come, and with a busy start already!

Hope you all had a safe and sane change from 2008 to 2009.

May this be a year filled with the love of God resting on our hearts,

and His blessings upon His children!!

His mercies are new every morning!! Great is Thy Faithfulness, Oh Lord!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

To all of our friends and loved ones out there in bloggerland...

Our wish for you today:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thank you, Jesus!

You came as a child, humble and meek.

You grew as a man, our example

You died as a Savior, our sins to bear, the Ultimate sacrifice

You live as a King, victorious, Almighty

Praise the Name of Jesus- Holy, Faithful, Wonderful!

We love you!

TJ

2008-12-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY, TJ!!

Named after his grandfather, Thomas D. Greer, TJ's name means "twin". He is our organizer and is our best cleaner. Noone washes our dishes as methodically as him! TJ loves music and is often heard singing a song or playing his guitar or the piano. He is a faithful son and friend. He has a wonderful sense of humor, which is often expressed in the bantering among he and his brothers! TJ loves "little people" and is often found with someone's child in his arms whenever possible. We are so blessed that God has put TJ into our family.

Fun Facts about TJ:

Favorite food: Healthy food, 'cause "it doesn't ruin your voice!"

Favorite food: Mom's cooking, 'cause she makes the best!

Favorite food: Spicy

Favorite dessert: Donckels Brand Belgian Truffles from Sam's Club, 'cause they melt in your mouth!" (Now, how does that go with "healthy food", I don't know!! He just likes them!!)

May God bless you as you continue to grow in His love by giving your heart more fully to Him!

We love you!

The Family

2008-12-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

Yay! A new family picture!!

Last week we finally had an opportunity to take some new pictures of our family. It' s been quite a while since we did anything official!

We were at the beach for a BEACH NIGHT with friends, so taking a few candid shots was easy. We had a perfect opportunity with a little help from willing friends with cameras(thanks Chris and Eden!!). It was fun!

We are in the process of updating our family website, and we got some really good shots, I think!(Plus, photoshop is a lot of fun to work with for editing pictures if you know how to use it!)

I found it!

2008-12-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

I found the most beautiful tree of the Fall season!

It's leaves were all at those perfect autumn colors which combine to let everyone in sight know that winter is just around the corner. Rusty, golden, orange and maroon leaves painted it's branches! I even liked the ring of fallen leaves on the ground under it!

(A moment of applause and thanks to God for another grand job well done!)

And just wait 'til you see what He's got planned for next month!!

Gaither Lovin' Life Concert

2008-11-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

Bill Gaither & the Homecoming Friends Lovin' Life Tour Concert

Last night, on Mitch's birthday, we were scheduled to help as volunteers at the Gaither concert in Anaheim. We had done this last year when the Gaither group were here in San Diego and Anaheim. It was a lot of fun last year, as we worked in Jeff and Sheri Easter's booth, and we hadn't met them before. Such sweet folks! Anyway, as it turned out, they had enough help after all, so we were able to stay and watch the concert instead!! What a treat!!

The other fun thing was that we got to meet a few new people that we hadn't already met before. This year's roster included Jeff and Sheri Easter and family, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, Lynda Randle, Janet Paschal, Gordon Mote, Kevin Williams, Lisa Daggs, Gaither Vocal Band (minus Guy Penrod, who is on break for a while) so Jason Crabb is sitting in for him, Russ Taff, and Bill and Gloria, of course!

Below are some pictures of the concert and our family:

Jason Crabb with his cute dimples(which I'm sure he'd love to hear that!)LOL!

We hadn't met him before.

First time we'd seen him LIVE, for one, and in a suit, for another!!

Lynda Randle- We hadn't met her before either, but enjoyed chatting with her for a time. She was here last year, too, but we missed seeing her at her booth . She's a Charming gal with a friendly BIG Smile!

TJ talking with Jeff Easter.

Below Jeff and Sheri with daughter Morgan singing in the final showcase

Below, we were so glad to finally meet Kevin Williams. He was here last year, but we didn't get to meet him then. He is the guitar player on most all of the Gaither Homecoming videos, and Amy really enjoys his sense of humor! TJ and him talked "shop" about guitars, of course!

Kevin on stage and on the big screen, all at the same time!

TJ and Mikki enjoyed some friendly banter with Marshall and Wes from GVBAmy and Janet Paschal

The lovely Janet Paschal sings next to Ernie at the finale.

Amy really enjoyed chatting with Janet. She has a warm and endearing personality!

Ernie Haase and Signature Sound on stageBill leading the performers during the second half of the night The audience holding up their little battery-operated lights that you get when you enter the door. The lights are for you to express your enjoyment or agreement with the song or performance. There were a lot of lights flashing throughout the night!
So nice to see when Gloria joins Bill on stage. She's still got it!!

Gordon Mote next to Gloria

Another great evening with these folks!

As a side note, please pray along with the Easter family for Sheri, who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. She has one more treatment yet to do, but bravely continues to still perform. She wasn't able to come out to meet the public afterwards, which we missed seeing her again, but certainly understand the circumstances. She did a great job singing on the stage though!!
Blessings to you Sheri!

Mitch

2008-11-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!! We love you!

King for the Day!

One of Mitch's favorite Bible verses: Hosea 6:6
"For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings"

One of Mitch's favorite foods: Chili Relleno Burritos

One of Mitch's Favorite activities: Hanging out with friends and family and talking and singing about God

Little know fact about Mitch: He nearly died in a motorcycle accident-

Thank God for His mercy, 'cause we wouldn't be here without you!

We hope you have a BLESSED day, Mitch!

(And we hope you enjoy the concert tonight!!)

Have you noticed?

2008-11-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed the beauty of God's creation all around you today?

God is such an AWESOME CREATOR, and He puts an incredible amount of details into even the smallest of His creations. Just check out the pictures below! Most people don't even notice the minute details of something as small as a "bug".

From the daily beauty of a crisp morning sunrise to the fantastic hues in the evening sunset, and all the variations of sky in between- He NEVER stops showing off His handiwork! Genesis 1:31 says "Then God saw everything that He made, and indeed it was VERY GOOD..."

The next time you step outside your door, I challenge you to look around you and find something wonderful God has made, be it large or small, and THANK HIM for it!

AMAZING!

Time for God

2008-11-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

Take time for God in your day...

An old song from the (60's or 70's?)goes like this:

"Love Him on the morning when you see the sun arisin'

Love Him in the evening 'cause He took you through the day

And in the in-between time, when you feel the pressure comin'

remember that He loves you and He promises to stay.

So, if you think you've got to worry

'cause it seems the thing to do

remember He ain't in a hurry

He's always got the time for you"

A job Well Done!!

2008-11-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

To continue our last post (and by request-Hello MR B.!), here are a few more pictures of the flooring job we recently finished.

This is the stairs with two coats of finish on, sanded between each coat,

and ready for yet another coat.

Now, the railings have been re-installed and all of the finish coats applied and dried!

So there you have it! A job Well Done!

Now we're on to our next project, which is also not typical of our usual work-Corbels!

Keep checking back- maybe I'll get some pictures of that too!

Blessings to you from sunny southern California!

Odd Jobs

2008-10-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

Not typical of our normal work, lately we have been installing hardwood flooring-solid jatoba to be exact. It has been quite a painstaking adventure. We had to prepare the subfloor which took a while, then install the flooring, then sanding, then finishing. More involved than we had originally planned. Six full rooms plus a hallway and the stairs. Below are a few pictures of the process. We still have a few more things to do to finish up, but we expect to be done this week.

YEAH!
Unfinished

Finally, some finish is applied and the beauty of the wood shows through

California Fires

2008-10-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

In our recent posts we have mentioned about the local fires near us. I have finally uploaded only a few pictures for those of you who have never seen our California fires. We get fires most every year, but some are worse than others.

I took the first picture only a few miles from where the fires were located. The flames were pretty tall- taller than the trees in some areas. With so much dry brush as fuel, it didn't take long for a small fire to become a BIG fire! We were also fortunate that no homes were burned this time around. Last year's San Diego county fires were very destructive, with 2000+ homes damaged! We were fortunate to have not only ground coverage by the fire departments, but also air coverage from planes like the one below. I think I heard it takes only 12 seconds for some of these planes to refuel by scooping in the nearby ocean or local lakes. Amazing! We watched these planes flying nearly all day.

Great job, pilots!! And thanks for your hard work!
A smoke-filled skyline for an otherwise beautiful sunset.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;"
Psalm 46: 1-2

Random thoughts

2008-10-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

A strange and sobering thought occurred to me recently ...

When I was the same age as my oldest son, Ben, is right now (22),

I was already married for one year and was about two months pregnant with HIM!

I don't know why that idea popped into my head,

I just thought it was an interesting tidbit of trivia!

More Food for thought

2008-10-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

More food for thought!

Seating Arrangements
Where will you be seated in eternity? Smoking or non-smoking?

Which Way?
Man's way leads to a hopeless end -- God's way leads to an endless hope.

Two Ears
Since God gave us two ears and one mouth, He must have wanted us to do twice as much listening as talking.

Stand
If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

Praying
When you pray, don't give God instructions. Just report for duty!

Forbidden Fruit
A forbidden fruit will create many jams.

Best Formula
1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.

The Lord is My Shepherd

2008-10-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

I heard a cute joke today...

The Lord is My Shepherd

A Sunday School teacher decided to have her 2 nd grade class memorize Psalm 23, one of the most quoted passages in the Bible. She gave the children a month to learn the chapter.
One little boy was excited about the task, but he just couldn't memorize the Psalm. Although he practiced and practiced, he could hardly get past the first line. The day came for the children to recite Psalm 23 before the congregation. The little boy was nervous. When his turn came, he stepped up to the microphone and proudly said,

"The Lord is my Shepherd and that's all I need to know!"

Another local event

2008-10-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

Today's local event,( and I do mean LOCAL!) is that the area where we live is getting a new valve installed on the water lines, which means we'll have our water turned off all day. Now, normally that could be disastrous (OK, well, incovenient anyways!), but it just so happens that God knew this and has graciously made it that we will be away from home for the day on a jobsite where THEY have running water!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Now that's providence!

Our bathtub and kitchen sink are both filled with water right now for "just in case", but I expect that by tonight when we return home, it'll be all fixed and showers as usual. And we didn't have to do a thing!!

Another reason to say "Thanks, God!!"

A local day in southern California

2008-10-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

While there's always something to talk about, today, and this whole week, we have a full schedule!! So, I haven't been at the blog to post much of anything lately. Just not enough hours in a day, it seems. Hopefully, we'll be back in the very near future to let you know what we've been doing.

An interesting thing did happen around here (locally) today. I had planned on posting the pictures I took, but that could take days, so I'll just tell you about it instead:
We started a new project today which is located across town. From the view at the house, we could see all across the valley here- quite a nice view! Earlier today we noticed a fire on Camp Pendleton, which is not so special for southern California 'cause we get fires out here a lot! It didn't seem like much of a big deal at first, and it was small at the time. However, as the day progressed, we started noticing the sky was getting all smokey, and the winds were carrying the smoke for a very long ways- perhaps even as far as Palm Springs area. We saw news helicopters flying around the sky, and before you knew it, that fire had grown pretty large. What seemed like it should have been out relatively quickly has turned into an all day and all night BIG fire! We watched as roughly eight airplanes were flying around the sky dropping fire retardant and water. It was amazing to see those guys in action!! The daylight clouds have given way to nightime glowing orangey sky! This has been going on for at least 8 hours now!
Being a typical Californian, I drove by closer to the action on the way home! (Needless to say, I wasn't the only one doing that either! I ran into a crowd of onlookers!) The fire flames were easily as tall as a two-story home! Fortunately so far, this has only been wild brush fires burning on Camp Pendleton area and not houses burning, like earlier this year! We can only now just begin to see from our house the flames cross over another crest on the nearby mountains.
We'll have to wait until morning to see how things progressed throughout the night.

TaTa for Now!

Today's food for thought

2008-09-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 14:4 says

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,

but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest"

You may think this is dumb, but I sometimes find myself complaining about my house and my family. I only have five people to deal with here(we know many of you who have a LOT more than that), but it's amazing to me how often we have to pick up the same cups, shoes, tools, instruments, etc. When my guys are busy on their work schedule, they obviously don't have a lot of extra time to keep everything "ship-shape", so the house suffers neglect, and my patience level starts to deteriorate. I get grumpy with them about picking up after themselves. I look around at piles of this or that and wonder why we own so much STUFF!

Then this verse comes to mind, only my version reads more like this:

"Where there are no boys and hubby around to make messes for me to clean up after, the house is empty(and I'm not ready for that yet!), and it's because they are busy and actively doing work that the house is a mess. When they aren't busy, they have time to help keep the house clean, but then the bills start piling up instead.

Their strength and energy is what pays the bills!"

It's all about choices. Everybody has their part in this life. No one is an island unto themselves. And what I do affects others, as much as what they do affects me.

So, when I let the little inconveniences be what I focus my attention on, then I miss out on the bigger picture. In this case, while I don't like the messy house, I LOVE my family! THEY are my most precious gift! And they are worth FAR MORE to me than the messes they make along this journey we travel on together. Not to say they couldn't learn to be more pleasing to the only female in our home (that would be "ME" of course!!)

THEREFORE (at least for today), I'm choosing to enjoy my family AND the mess!!

My house is clean enough to be HEALTHY,

and dirty enough to be HAPPY!

I'm sure when all is said and done, and I stand before God one day, He won't care about how many times I cleaned up after my family nor what my house looked like each day, but rather, did I do it with a GOOD ATTITUDE and LOVE?

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

2008-09-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today was an eventful day for us!

Our morning began with "mourning" as we had to say goodbye to our big pine tree in our front yard. The poor old thing has been there for over twenty years, ten of which we have enjoyed, since that's how many years we have lived here. It has served us well over the years, not only for it's wonderful shade, but also as home to many chirping birds and our old "Charlie"rooster who would perch on it's limbs every night. It was also home to our tree swing, which has been there ever since we moved in. That tree swing has swung dozens of people over the years and has given a lot of joy and laughter.

Additionally, this tree has brought many memories to our family, including Mikki's carpet tree house (our youngest son, and our little "monkey-boy" who climbed to the top and left a piece of carpet up there for his "special" place). This is also one in the same tree that TJ was trimming when he fell and broke his wrist!(Our only broken bone with all three boys, so far, Praise God!)

Alas, it's body has become decayed with dry-rot and bug damage, so it had to be cut down and turned into sawdust and firewood.

Final glimpses:

The last ride ever on our tree swing, and the last picture of our tree still standing!

Progress picture

The tallest branches getting whacked off!

The man cutting off all of the branches. At this point he said he noticed a lot of neighbors watching the process!

Getting down to the "bare bones" (Taming the Giant)

The last major cuts before...Timmmmberrr! (Below)

THUDDDDD! Below, cutting the stump off

Below, the tree cutting and clean-up crew! A bunch of Samoan guys from a local Seventh Day Adventist Church that were hired to do the job

And last but not least, the end result... BYE BYE OLD FRIEND! Our tree is all gone!

What took God twenty-plus years to grow and mature, man had it chopped down, cleaned up and turned into firewood in about three hours, start to finish!

We went to hear our friends, Greater Vision, sing in El Cajon tonight. It was good to see Gerald Wolfe again, as he had sponsored Mitch to attend Stamps Baxter years ago. Their group did a great job, as usual! Their new tenor is a very nice young man, only two years older than our Ben!

It was very odd to pull into our driveway when we arrived home. It almost seems like we pulled into the wrong drive, not having our big tree there out front anymore!! Guess we're gonna have to find some other adventure to entertain our visiting guests now- no more tree singing!

Wimberly's Annual BBQ

2008-09-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

Every year, our friends Jerry and Peggy Wimberly open their home up to an open house style BBQ for singers and fans and families to come together and eat and play and have fun getting to know each other better. Yesterday was that day! And included in the event was a surprise birthday party for Terry Stockman of The Tradesmen, and for Peggy Wimberly, our lovely hostess!

Below are some pictures of the day's activities:

One of the birthday cakes
Bob Hughes of Crossroads during sing-along
A view of only part of the crowd!
Evidence gives us a song
Dick Hilleary and his wife, Reba

A mixed group from various other groups

Our TJ got to help by playing guitar!Harmony TrioOur dear friends, The Johnson Family Quartet perform a song written by Bonnie and Ben!And we enjoyed performing a few songs, too!!

Below is our debut with our instruments included!
Looking forward to next year!!

Homeschool Family Camp 08

2008-09-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

HOUSE CHURCH/ HOMESCHOOL FAMILY CAMPOUT '08
Shake Campground in Mountain Home State Forest

Immediately upon arriving back in California at 10:15 PM, we went from the airport in San Diego, dropped off our friend who picked us up, stopped by home for not longer than 1/2 and hour- just long enough to throw our sleeping bags, pillows, and a couple mattresses in the back of the van, and pet our faithful Lollie dog(who was so excited to see us after ten days that she was squeeling!), then off we flew down (or should I say up) the road to central California for the fifteenth annual Homeschool Family Campout(another "first" for us). We drove through the night (about 6 hours)to arrive just in time to find a few campers already up and preparing their morning hot water over the fire!

Three Little Happy Campers!!

Meal Preparations Crew
And don't forget the Clean-Up Crew!! Above and Below: A game of Mad Gab!!

Hanging out, playing games and talking
A missionary family from Nigeria (Africa) were there visiting. They gave a beautiful and dramatic Bible reading with hand motions. We really enjoyed talking with them about their work, and sharing stories about differences in foreign cultures, religious beliefs, and other interesting things. Sunday worship meeting

Having missed the last fourteen annual campouts with this group, we didn't want to miss out again! So, even though it was a long drive and we were tired, it was GREAT to visit with old friends and make some new ones, get in some mountain hiking and other "playing", eat good food prepared by loving hands, worship the Lord with fellow believers, and enjoy the scenery including the DEER family (not DEAR family!) which crossed our path on the way home!

It was nice to get home to a good hot shower and our own comfy beds!!

We are thankful to God for His provisions and care for us during our vacation!

And thankful for so many new "firsts" to get to share with you!

Jammin'

2008-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to get together with other musical people and do some jammin'.

We enjoyed a few times of doing just that!

At Camp:
And at the Cinncinati Airport!!

We were standing in line at the coffee shop in the airport (yes, a Starbucks!). A man was standing there with a case that looked like my mandolin case, so we asked him about it and he told us it was a mandola. As we stood there talking, the idea of jamming came up, so that's just what we did!! We played about three songs before he had to catch his next flight.

Of course, there were lots of onlookers to our impromptu session. A group of Canadian youth were there for some event. Their tourguide came up to us afterward and said that she told the kids that we were there to welcome them with our "American bluegrass" music!! I thought that was pretty funny considering we were playing gospel songs! Anyway, it was a fun experience!!

VOLLEYBALL!

2008-09-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Guess what! I did end up finding more pictures of the volleyball crew!

Andrew numbering off the guys!

We had so many players we had to break up into three teams.

Then came the fun part-SPEED VOLLEYBALL, where the third team rotates onto the losing side after each point! Makes for a fast moving game, and you better pay attention to when it's your team's turn on the court!!

The girls numbering off

Finding your team members!

Allison's an obvious team 3!

Above: Here's a whole bunch of players

Below: OK, everybody, make a funny face!

SILLY PEOPLE!!

Too Many Fun Activities

2008-09-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

There were just too many fun activities to do at camp!

Below are just a few examples:

Mr. Wissmann plays a "mean" game of air hockey with Bethany

I'll not say who won!!

Mikki, Amy, and Mitch had some sore muscles after shooting clay pigeons. This was another "firsts" for us. All of us were able to hit at least one!!
Indoor Hockey was a hit for young and old alike
"Take Two" (otherwise known by the Wissmann's as Take One) was played by many.
The first Kayaking crew
This was also a first for us as we had never been kayaking, nor down the Mississppi River, nor in the state of Wisconsin, which was the beginning point for the kayak trip!!

Mikki kayaking solo on the lake at camp
Above and below- The Mighty, Mighty, Scoop-Noodle Challenge

A very fun game for all ages!! Best when played with LOTS of people!

Archery
Climbing the wall
This was SOOOOO Funny watching Ben, TJ and Mikki on the Zipline!!!

For all you daring folks out there, this is the ride to go on!

There were lots of other things to do, but I didn't get a chance to take photos nor post all of the ones I did take. I think we must have played at least a hundred games of volleyball while we were there. We got some really sore muscles by the time the week was done!! Needless to say, we had a great time doing things we don't usually get to do, and playing with all of the other families who attended. I do have two pictures I'll try to post later of the volleyball crew. What a bunch they were- I think we stayed up til after midnight a couple of nights!

Bible Memory Verse

2008-09-19T14:57:00.002-07:00

While at camp, everyone worked on memorizing PROVERBS 2:1-6 including hand motions. Rachel and Ruth Wissmann usually led the verses and taught the hand signals.

My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you,

so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding,

Yes, if you cry out for knowledge, and lift up your voice to understanding

If you seek for her as for silver and search for her as for hidden treasure
Then you shall understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God
For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding
There was one day when two of the Wissmann boys had to fill in for their sisters in leading the verse time. It was a pretty funny sight to see these guys up there, bless their hearts!

Iowa Trip PT 2

2008-09-19T14:57:00.001-07:00

Continuing from the last post....

After the church service on Sunday morning, we headed down the road to our camp destination- Village Creek Bible Camp, located (to our surprise) in Northeast Iowa, only a few miles from both the Wisconsin and Minnesota borders. Official start time was the dinner meal at about 5 PM. After dinner we all met together for family introductions and an evening concert by the Wissmann Family. Family introductions were in the form of a game, whereby each family lists three interesting things about their family-only two of which are actually true, one which is false. The panel of "judges"(camp staff) would then weigh the three options and try to guess which one was false about each family. There were some really clever answers being given!! It was an interesting way to meet new people!!

Our panel of judges:

What a blessing it was to see the Wissmann family again! They had visited California some time back, so we had met them before, be it ever so briefly. We really enjoyed hearing their family singing and playing their instruments and ministering in thier own unique way!!

Mrs. Wissmann playing the hammered dulcimer

More to follow, so keep checking back in for the next

exciting adventure of

Greer Family visits Iowa!

Coming to a blog near you!!!

Our Trip to Iowa, PT 1

2008-09-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

Our family just got back from our vacation to Iowa. We had a great time away from work and home here in California! But we did find ourselves busy every day with something new and fun! Lots of "FIRSTS" on this trip!
To begin, none of us had ever been to Iowa, so that was first of our "firsts". It is a very beautifully green state (at this time of year), with lots of corn fields and dairies. Soft rolling hills and colorful gardens seem to splatter the countryside.
We had also never met in person the Bontrager family whom we stayed with for a few days before camp started, although they feel like family to us now!! We enjoyed getting to know each of them, hanging out around their farm, doing "choring" with them, and their wonderful hospitality. And we ate really good while we were there- too many good cooks in the kitchen! (Thanks for all of the lovingly prepared great food, Bontragers!) Included in our visit with them was a fun tractor-drawn hayride out to their campground on their property, where we had a good time fellowshipping with other families from the church and we ate a yummy potluck-style BBQ!
Among the odd jobs we helped out with around the farm was laying down a new roof on one of the barns. Actually, we didn't have time to finish before we all had to leave for CAMP, but the guys did get a good start on it( Good teamwork!). Most amusing was watching their Dalmation climb the ladder up to the roof! Silly dog!!
We also built a closet for their boys room, Ben repaired some wiring problems in their bus, Amy washed and rode the horse, Mikki helped feed the calves, the boys went fishing, TJ enjoyed climbing their silo- about 80-90 ft high. We watched a baby calf be born! We had a fun time playing music and singing together.
We had the fun experience of riding in an Amish buggy with a friend of the Bontrager's. That was a real treat! (Thanks, Sam!) I had thought to post those pictures, but decided against it, so as not to offend our Amish friends who may not like their pix being posted.
We also had Cheese Curds, for the first time. They are made fresh at the local cheese factory. I call them "cheese squeekies" because they squeek against your teeth when you chew them!

It was our privilege to be "roadies" for the Bontragers, who performed Sunday morning at a church on the way to camp. We helped them carry and set up their equipment, then sat back and enjoyed watching them do their thing! So sweet to watch a family ministering together!
Later that day, we finally arrived at Village Creek Bible Camp, where we would spend the next few days enjoying the company of about ten other families, as well as many fun and unusual activities! More on that later...

We're Back!

2008-09-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful time of vacation at two different Family Camps, we are back!

More details and pictures coming soon,

but for now, this family is off to bed for a good night's sleep at

HOME SWEET HOME!

PB&J

2008-08-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

PEANUT, PEANUT BUTTER- AND JELLY

That's it! Nothing more to say than that.

TJ didn't like the subject of my last potential post so I deleted that one.

Now, my mind is a blank. And I have no ideas to offer except

Peanut, PEANUT BUTTER and JELLY!

First you get the peanuts and you crush 'em, you crush 'em...

Does anyone remember that old camp song?

I can't remember all of the lines, but I do remember that by the time you get to the end of the song, you finally get something to eat!

We're getting ready to go camping, so I just thought I'd throw that one in for today!

Hope you're having a great day!

Blessings to you from overcast, but soon to be sunny, southern California!

We're seeing spots

2008-08-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

Little did I know what we were in for when the idea of redoing the "boys" room came into play...

Dad set the stage when he told me he wanted to remodel the boys room.

First off was getting rid of the clutter items that have for so long been stored in their room. Second was the dismantling of their two three-tier bunk beds, to be replaced with three twin beds, thus opening up the room and giving it a more "airy" feel. Also, this will allow for them to learn how to keep their beds made and room cleaner!

Thirdly, we got new bedspread and sheet sets. Now this was where things got crazy. With three different personalities to have to contend with, I decided to go out shopping and see what I might find that would match the color scheme I was thinking of using, and would be OK for all three boys to have to live with each day! By chance I found a really DARING(BOLD) pattern ON SALE at the store, and bought them to bring home and show the guys for their approval or disapproval. Well, sure enough, TJ (our colorful one) liked it at first glance! Mikki liked it too, and Ben said he didn't care about the bedding so much, but that he cared about the painting. So, we kept the daring bedspreads and began the next step-Painting!

TJ helped me pick out some colors at the store. Then came the fun part- deciding
which colors where. From there, Ben stepped it with his creative mind and gave us the following wild design work...truly a unique painting experience indeed!

The aqua-ish color on top, with mocha-ish color on the bottom. No simple lines here.

Ben's handiwork- you can barely see the pencillied-in design on the walls

Did I say dots, or spots?!
Only one wall gets the full dotted look! The other walls are more random. And, of course, this is not the finished picture, as we are still finishing up details. And I didn't get a picture of the room with all the beds made and new bedspreads yet. But here's the jist of their crazy new room.

And by the way, I never got to paint my own room growing up.

Our walls were always white!

(Maybe now I know the reason why????!!!!)

Anyway, it has been a lot of good fun seeing spots appear before our eyes!!

Looky, Looky, Looky what we got!

2008-08-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

How Does your Garden Grow?...

By the looks of today's harvest, it grows pretty well!! Mikki and I were pleased to bring in this bountiful spread from our garden this morning:

On the left side is a basketful of green beans and our first yellow crooked neck squash, behind that is a vase of pink roses off of one of our bushes, in the middle is a dish of fresh peaches from the property behind us, to the right- a huge bucket of fresh tomatoes off the vine, some sprigs of parsley, in the front are some fresh mint, serrano peppers-both red and green- and some freshly baked and still warm oatmeal chocolate chip coookies. The biggest surprise was our first watermelon, already splitting from being ripened on the vine, And Oh so sweet!

Wow! What a great way to start the day!! (smile!)

Thanks, Lord, for supplying such a nice selection of delicious treats!

PRAISE

2008-08-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

"And when they began singing and praising, God routed their enemies"

2 Chronicles 20:22; Acts 16:25

Praise renews your sense of your worth to God.

Praise lifts your eyes to Jesus and almost unconsciously you cast your burden upon the Lord.

Praise washes away negativity, self-pity, self-centeredness and discouragement.

Praise changes circumstances as God responds to it.

Praise will change the atmosphere of your home.

Praise gives God's overview of how He has been working, and how His answer is nearing.

Praise is holy and God-pleasing.

Praise cleanses your heart. You can be preserved in purity by the spirit of praise.

Praise clarifies your vision. Satan delights in painting things black. He magnifies molehills into mountains, darkens your sky with gloom, and makes difficulties seem like impossibilities.

Praise drives away frustration, tension, and depression.

Praise renews the awareness of your part in God's plan for this world.

Praise will transform your prayer life.

Praise cleanses your heart of Satan's suggestions of criticism.

Praise clears the atmosphere, washes your spirit, multiplies your faith, and clothes you with God's presence and power!

Praise is the strategic way to victory.

Luther wrote..."When I cannot pray, I always sing."

I will bless the Lord at all times.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalms 34:1

Just checking in

2008-08-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there, you're as welcome as can be...

(Do any of you actually remember those words from the Mickey Mouse Club? Ugh, we are getting old!!)

It has been a busy summer for us! How about you?
We haven't had a chance to put a new post for a while, so I thought I'd better just check in and let you know we're still alive and kicking!

Lots of projects to do besides our normal work schedule.
Here are just a few on the long list:

Clean out the garage
Reorganize our tools-an ongoing project, as they are used daily
Clean out a lot of clutter from in our house and shop
Repaint the "boys" room
Do some of the house and car "fix-it" projects that have been put off for a long time
Create new machinery for our current wood project

May not seem like much, but all of this has kept us busily working throughout the summer.

Happy Anniversary to Mitch and Amy-24 years now, as of August 4th!

So what have you been up to?

Travelling? Work? ANYTHING new and exciting happening in your lives?

We'd love to hear from you!

Bearing Fruit

2008-07-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

SUMMERTIME FRUITS!

With it being summertime, some of our favorite fruits are in season. We LOVE to eat freshly picked strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries...and don't forget watermelons, apples, apricots, peaches, pears and plums. Yum, yum, yum!! Makes my mouth water just talking about it!
We have many times gone peach picking and come home with our whole trunk full of those delicious little fuzz-balls, only to spend the next day or so afterward canning and jamming and making peach pies, peach butter, peach cobbler, peach whatever! It's quite the ordeal, and a lot of work. But we sure do enjoy opening our own canned fruit at the holidays, and the accomplishment of knowing it was our hard efforts that made those treats possible!

Did you ever stop to think how often the Bible uses words like Fruit, gardening, farming, sowing , planting, vines, watering, gleaning and such to describe our lives here and who we are, and what we are to look like and be like as God's People?

I wonder if God enjoys watching us grow and bear fruit in season, as the Bible talks about Psalm One. I'd almost bet He sits up in Heaven and oohs and aahs about our growth at every little stage!! I get so excited watching my plants grow, knowing that one day I'll get to eat what I planted-Just like a farmer rejoices at the crop- not just at harvest time, but each step along the way. First he sows the seed, then waters, then tends to them as they sprout and grow, carefully watching for anything that will come and destroy all of his labors, and finally after all that time of nurturing and tending, he is able to harvest the field or garden, and enjoy the fruits of his labors.

I think God is like that too. Can you imagine the smile on God's face when He sees His little ones struggle through a season of hardship, only to come out with some new and wonderful "fruit" on the other side of the pain and suffering. I'd even bet God cries when He sees our sorrow and hurts as we struggle along in our journey through this life. He really cares about all of the details in our lives. I learn so much more about God through gardening- He is the Ultimate Good Farmer!

Phil 1:6 says "He who has begun a good work in you will be FAITHFUL TO COMPLETE IT!"
Whatever you are going through, remember, God is faithful to complete the work He starts!
You are the plant that He is raising and tending...

He wants you to bear good fruit!

2 Th 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."
Call out to God with all of your daily cares. He is a very good listener, and has your best interest in mind!

Col. 1:10 "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord, and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God"

Are you bearing fruit for God this summertime?

Something to think about!

Long time no "C" (connection, that is!)

2008-07-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

A funny thing happened on the way to the internet...

Our satellite ISP has been with Hughes.net. Well, we haven't been connected online for some time now, due to a satellite failure, and therefore haven't been able to post a new blog for a while.

This has been both good and bad!

One good reason for me is that we didn't have a post about me on my birthday -July 6th!! That means I didn't have to have my picture taken, nor think up anything to say about myself, nor divulge my real age! I guess that means you'll just have to wait until next year to find out about me! (Not that that's any loss to you, I'm sure!)

The bad thing about not having our internet was that it put critical business related correspondences on hold for a while. Frustrating to us but, fortunately, our customers and others were patient during the process!! Smile! Another bad reason is that we haven't been able to check out other's blogs lately. Hopefully we'll be able to catch up on the goings-on in BLOGLAND!

How did you spend your Fourth of July?

Did you get to watch any firework displays?

We enjoyed a lovely display timed to a local radio station. They did a great job and had a very exciting and colorful finale!

Blessings to you from SUNNY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!

Time Flies

2008-06-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

PHEW! What a week! What a month!

I don't know about the rest of you, but time sure seems to fly by fast around here!

I can scarcely believe it's already middle of June with the Fourth of July(what I consider to be halfway thru the year marker) right around the corner.

Oh, yes, and HAPPY SUMMER to all of you, as today is the first day of summer, officially- my calendar said so! Maybe that's why the weather was a whopping 111 degrees here yesterday, and probably equally so today. There is a slight breeze blowing, kinda like standing in front of a blow dryer! You know it must be summertime when even at 9 or 10 PM it's still over 80 degrees!

There's Plenty to be thankful for during these hot days, however:

The warm weather has our garden and flower gardens in full bloom, and everything is growing like weeds, including the weeds!
We are all in relatively "good health". A HUGE blessing, considering some of the stories we have recently heard of friends in the hospital and or injured in one way or another.
We have work to do- and lots of it! God may not plop a big chunk of cash-money into our laps, but He is always faithful to provide for our family the opportunity to work and earn our living. We are thankful for His provision.
Our cars have air-conditioning, our house doesn't. But it costs so much these days to just go driving around aimlessly just to get cooled off! Kind of funny I think. We are thankful for our portable swamp cooler for the COOL-ER air it provides for some relief! (Aren't humans just the most finicky creatures?) Too hot, too cold, too this, too that, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!
Out of the blue, coincidently, or by providence, (whichever way you choose to look at it), I received three phone calls in a row, one right after the other, from three friends I hadn't talked to in a while. I was very blessed and surprised! That doesn't happen often for me, so I thought it was great! THANK YOU, LORD for friends!
Our house wasn't hit by earthquake, flood, major power outages, tornados, landslides, monsoon, freezing or famine- at least not yet! The fires were close enough earlier this year, so I'm thinking that we can be pretty thankful for that as well. Our cozy little country home down our rutty dirt road... aaaahhhh, paradise! Or at least HOME SWEET HOME!

I think I'll put a marshmallow on a stick outside and see if it'll get roasted in the hot sunshine.

If so, I'll make S'MORES! Yummy!

That is, if the chocolate hasn't already melted!! Then that would be

sad :(

and messy,

and well, maybe even a little disgusting! (smile!)

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER EVERYONE!!! ;)

Our beautiful coastline

2008-06-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

The other day I was out running errands. It was a beautiful day here in sunny southern California, so I thought I'd stop by the beach and take a picture or two. Below, these shots are taken at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA. from the parking lot overlooking the beach. Peaceful, easy waves flow along the sandy shores soon to be invaded by the summer crowds.

Psalm 40: 5

" Many, O Lord my God, are your wonderful works which you have done; and your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them , they are more than can be numbered."

WSGMA Spring Concert

2008-06-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent the day visiting with our friends at the
Western States Gospel Music Association' s annual Spring Concert.
It was a fun day (noon to 6pm) of listening to the west coast version of southern gospel style singing! There were about ten groups performing. Our family didn't sing at this ocassion, but it was good to see many of our singing friends. We helped with parking, door monitoring and other various odd jobs.
Here are only a few pictures of the day. I am only able to post five pictures at a time.

Herb Henry with Dennis Zimmerman of Singing News Magazine

Our Mikki with Bonnie Johnson of Johnson Family Quartet

Jerry Unfried of RSV, Revised Standard Version

Above and Below, Closing ceremony

Finale Choir conducted by emcee Dick Hilleary

GREAT JOB EVERYONE!! See you next year!

Ben

2008-06-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

We didn't get a chance to post yesterday, May 31, because we were gone all day to the WSGMA Spring Concert. So, sorry Ben for not getting this out on time!

BEN turns 22!

Twenty-two years ago it was love at first sight as we were blessed with our firstborn son!!
And he continues to be a blessing to us each and every day!

May 31, 1986 Home-birthed in Oceanside, CA.

Benjamin means "son of the right hand" or "first born son"

Nicklaus means "ruler of the people" (leader)

Greer means "shepherd"

Words to describe Ben include :

our "right hand" man, loyal, productive, creative, technical, ingenius, fun-loving, adventurous, witty, responsible, Godly character, and a good friend.

Fun Facts about Ben!

1. From TJ- Ben likes WWII culture.

2. Ben likes ICE CREAM and COFFEE! And even coffee ice cream!

3. He "retired" at 16 from years of running our CNC machine.

4. He is really gifted in the area of technical details.

5. Ben currently sleeps on the bottom bunk!

6. He is a good swimmer and likes to surf.

7. He has been to China, Mexico and Nashville!

8. Ben tore out Grandpa's engine on his car AND put it back together again at age 9!

9. Ben sings tenor, lead and bass!

10. He doesn't like dressing up in a suit and tie!

Last but not least...

11. Ben is a FUN guy, but he's not a fungi!!! :)

We love you Ben!

May the Lord bless and keep you, make His face to shine upon you, and give you courage and strength to grow in His knowledge and grace this year.

The funny things they do

2008-05-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

My "boys" are a constant source of entertainment for me! They keep me laughing with all of their crazy antics. Today's game of tennis became a new sport! I'm not quite sure what to call it.

Our family often will find some form of exercise that we all can do together- biking, hiking, surfing, to name a few. Lately we've been going to the local tennis courts. We often bring the dog, who loves to get in our way, and also fetches the tennis balls for us (when she feels like it!)!

Ben on his Landroller skates

Mitch and Lizzy take a break!

After our usual rounds, the guys start a version they created called "Speed Tennis". It's by far more active than the other rounds, and requires constant moving and switching places on the courts. (IF you want more "rules" you'll have to request them on your own!). Anyway, we played that for a while until we all got worn out.

TJ had double protection!

Ben and Mikki decided to don their roller skates and skate around the park, while I took the dog on a walk. Mitch and TJ continued to play tennis. Pretty soon we're all meandering around the courts again, when a new games starts up, only this time, it's not exactly tennis. With Ben still rolling around the tennis courts on his Landroller skates, TJ and Mitch start shooting him with the balls, and thus becomes something of a "Hit the moving target" game. Needless to say, the game caught on pretty well and everyone was laughing and running and trying to hit the balls while Ben bravely fought off his "attackers". Then Ben decided to get a racket and, while rolling, try to hit them back. We are really bad shots, fortunately and noone got hurt. But we sure did get worn out. Even Lizzy took a tired break!

Alas, a day in the life of the Greers here in sunny southern California!!

Colossians 3:23-24
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."

The Fruits of My Labors

2008-05-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

I have been spending a lot of time this year trying to beautify my house, and I am pleased to be able to share with you some pictures of the fruits (or, in this case, flowers!) of my labors!

More to come later.

FAIREST LORD JESUS

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,

O, Thou of God and mand the Son!

Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor

Thou my soul's Glory, Joy and Crown!

Fair are the meadows, Fairer still the woodlands,

Robed in the blooming garb of spring

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer

who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,

And all the twinkling starry host

Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer

than all the angels heav'n can boast.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations!

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and Honor, Praise, Adoration

Now and Forever more be Thine!

What's in a Day

2008-05-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Today was one of "those" days. It wasn't a glamorous day, and not really a dull day either.

Mitch likes to get up early and get some Bible time and computer time in while it's quiet. So that's what he did. When everyone else was finally up and going, we went out for a walk/jog down to the local bridge (which happens to be a historical landmark) and back home again, just to get the blood pumping and a little exercise in before our car ride. We did some quick chores and got ourselves ready for our dentist appointments, which now includes making sure we have our passports with us. (You have to have a passport to get back into the States. ) Dental appointments don't happen very often around here, since our dentist is in Mexico, and it's usually an all-day event to get there and back. Well, today was the day! We all had our cleaning done, and a few extras for those that needed it. Pretty uneventful, excepting the long waiting line at the border. One hour, which isn't so bad. Just the inconvenience of sitting there bumper to bumper having to fight for every little inch with the other irritated drivers who want to crowd in on you. And the street venders giving you the evil eye for saying "No!" to their "deals". We made good use of our time by family talk and listening to the Wissmann's CD! We are thankful that God protects our trips there, and we're even more thankful that the traffic was light on our way home during "rush hour". Totally not usual here in southern California.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention we got gas in Mexico for about USD$3.20. Now go figure, gas on the other side of the border, the US side, was USD$3.81 to over $4.00 per gallon. Does that seem right to you? It ruffles my feathers. My sister in Oklahoma is also paying way less than ours. And many of the oil refineries are within a day's drive from us. The politics of all that is unbelievable. But I guess that's another story, another blog, some other day!!

Upon arriving home, we were met by our faithful and happy dogs, and more chores, such as watering the lawn and garden, getting the trash out for tomorrow's trash day, preparing for dinner (which included a trip to the grocery store for ingredients), then actually getting the dinner and juice ready. We try to drink a freshly-juiced vegetable drink every day. More computer work to do. And, of course, checking the emails and blogs. Now that's not really a chore, is it?! I love doing that one!!! Wish more of you would email or reply to the blogs- what's up with that?

Have any of you ever clicked on the bloggers to find a trail of people who know each other through blogging and otherwise? I am amazed at how many of you read and comment on each other's blogs. How do you meet? Are you all families or are most of you single? I relaxed last night for about 2 hours by reading a number of different posts and comments from various websites. There are some very interesting people out there. And some very interesting posts too! Not enough comments, but fun to read those that do! Bless those faithful few!

Not too much more to say for today. Hope your day was blessed!

Maybe you could reply to this post with a comment on what's your favorite way to spend the evening?

I'm looking for ideas!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

from our famliy to all of you Mothers and Grandmothers!

Without you where would we be?

Proverbs 31: 28

" Her children arise up and call her blessed;

her husband also,

and he praiseth her."

A Verse for today

2008-05-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Psalm 92:1-2

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,
and thy faithfulness each night."

Mikki

2008-05-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, MIKKI!!

Today our youngest son turns 13 years old. No more "babies" in the house. sad sigh :(
Only young men now!

From Mom- My, how the time has flown since you were born, my son! I remember how your favorite position was to lay across my tummy when you slept as a baby! You are still my cuddly bug, and I love when you snuggle up next to me with hugs and kisses. Now you are growing into a young man, and learning to be a diligent and hard worker. You are my yardwork and gardening partner, chef-in-training, animal husbandry helper, and assistant laundry care, as well as my travelling buddy, companion and good friend!

You are also Ben's technician friend-always ready to help tear apart some tool, appliance, plumbing, electrical or whatever project, and sometimes even pretty good at putting it back together again! You are TJ's "hold the end of this" and Daddy's "go get me a____" person!

You are always up for a good game or activity, you are adventurous, fun-loving, and full of energy! Being still and quiet just isn't one of your most obvious traits yet!!

Your name means "One who is like God" and we chose this name for you on purpose. We hope that you grow in God's grace this year, and become in your heart and actions a man after God's own heart.

We love you very much! Happy Birthday to you (in four-part harmony, of course!) !!!

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life- in order that I may boast in the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." Phil. 2: 14-16

10 Special Things about Mikki:

1. His real name is Mitchell Albert Greer. He is named after his dad, Mitchell, and Amy's dad, Albert.

2. He loves strawberries, but is allergic to them!

3. He likes to study plants for their edible and medicinal properties.

4. He is the BANDAGE KING!

5. He has developed an ecosystem in our yard: He catches flies to feed to the spiders, then feeds the spiders to the chickens, then feeds the chickens to...well, you get the picture!

6. He knows all of the tools in our shop AND what they are for and how to use them!

7. He is the smallest boy we know in his age bracket!

8. He is the youngest southern gospel singer that we know of in southern California!

9. He can make all kinds of strange sounds with his voice-birds, cars, animals, etc.

10. He is very adventurous, and he likes to talk a lot!

A Family Favorite

2008-04-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

One particular section in the Bible that our family likes is the first chapter of Psalms.

It says:

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which brings forth its fruit in season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does will prosper.

The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

Our New Puppy

2008-04-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Our dear friend raises Australian Shepherds. This month we were blessed to have her give us this pretty little female, our newest member of the family. Her name is Lizzy, and we just love her! She is a fuzzy little ball of fur (this the nicknames such as fuzzball, wookie, and walking carpet!), and full of energy! I especially like her "eyebrows", which give her face such personality! We were told this breed especially likes to be with people, and we have found that to be the case, as she follows us around most of the time. Mitch likes the name "Velcro" for her, 'cause she sticks to us so well!! LOL!

Nose Kisses!

Finishing up the details!

2008-04-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

With the "old" small "ship" deck now demolished, progress has begun on the "new" "ship" deck.
It's a simple design, a little bit bigger than the previous one, with a little creativity added! The new style gives this deck a curved bow to which we added a place to hoist a flag, cleats to hold the rope, and a brass bell for signalling when the captain is aboard!
The homeowner is a retired naval captain ( highly decorated I might add!) who kept us entertained with his stories the entire time we were working there! A very delightful couple indeed!

Below, a long view of the now-painted second deck.

The completed upper deck, with slats installed for shade at just about 10 am daily, but still open and airy with a wonderful view of surrounding area. Also included was the new bench seat and seat back which runs around the entire perimeter of this deck. This allows for not only a comfortable place to sit and talk, but also a nice place for the many beautiful exotic plants the owners have!

I have yet to take the final pictures of all three completed decks, but will post them when I can.

New Railing

2008-04-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

Remember the "old" railing I showed you last post? Well, it's on its way out now! The new railing has a Japanese flare to it per the owners request. Ben in his creativity came up with the design idea and they loved it! So now he gets to built it!
And here's another view of the nearly finished upper deck, with the unpainted middle deck coming along. The small "ship" deck will get demolished soon.

The view off the newly layed second deck with yet unpainted "new" railing. A lot of work so far, and more to come 'til the job is done!

Deck Progress

2008-04-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

Oh! Here's the picture I mentioned before! TJ and all his might!

And this is TJ setting up the "dragon back" boards on the upper deck. These boards will hold the slats used for shading the entire upper deck from the hot California sunshine! You'll see more later how all the parts fit together.

Below is the same view as previous, only without the trash and well, without the deck either! Demo has begun on deck two!

Now this picture is from the ground looking up at the upper deck progress, and again a different angle of all three decks-upper in progress, middle with the "old" railing, and barely able to see that small lower "Ship" deck! But wait 'til you see what they do next!...

Hanging the Rock Post

2008-03-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

As we continue on our project report, today's subject is 'Hanging the rock post"! On yesterday's report (the one picture at night specifically), it shows the upper lateral beams that were hung. Now we have to place the support post at the corner of those beams...16 feet of 4" x 4 "metal tubing, dangling out in the open!! It was quite the performance!
It's hard to show in pictures the challenge this was. One picture I thought I had uploaded but couldn't find showed TJ hanging horizontally (literally), with his feet planted on the lower rock and with all his upper body hanging out horizontally holding on to the rope while the post was being hoisted into position waiting for Ben (at the top, and on the ladder) to get it scooted into place.
Below, Mitch is securing the post at the bottom where it connects to the huge rock.
More coming still...check back again later!

Decking Project

2008-03-31T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hello again! It's been about 3 weeks since our last blog. So where have we been this whole time? Working, of course, weren't you? The next few blogs will be a progressive report on our decking project, starting from the raw lumber and finishing up with the final product. There were so many details to this job that it was difficult to decide on which pictures to show about all the creative things we included. So here is a general overview of what we did! The project was three decks- upper, middle, and the "ship" deck.
The above picture is of the thick beams and poles we had to prepare ahead of time before transporting to the jobsite. Preparation included planing, routing and sanding, then treating the knot holes with sealant to keep the sap from weeping, filling some holes with putty, sanding again and finally two or three coats of special black weatherproof/fire retardant paint. Some of these beams were 20' x 4" x 12" and very heavy!
Below is a picture of the demolition process on the upper deck- tearing out the old dryrot boards and preparation for installation of the new boards. Below is the rebuilding of the pony wall, or in this case, the bench wall, because we'll be installing a new bench seat along the perimeter of the whole upper deck.
A view from the upper to middle deck, where much of the demolition was temporarily placed.
One day the guys had to stay past 6 pm to get some certain beams and posts in place. This was during those days when the sunset was somewhere around 5 pm. It was pretty cold, but they had to get this part done for safety reasons- faithful, hard workers that they are! This is the upper deck beams that you'll see in the pictures to follow.
Doesn't seem like much yet, but stay tuned... more coming!

Our Hope is in Him!

2008-03-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when we think about everything that is going on around the world, our nation especially, it gets pretty overwhelming at how much evil there is to be found. The following passage is a wonderful comfort to know that God IS still in control, and He loves those that fear Him and put their trust in Him.

Our Hope is in Him!

PSALM 33: 8-22

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

The Lord brings the cousel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.

From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth;

He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.

No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy,

to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and shield.

For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.

Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You."

Yardening

2008-03-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

Among other things going on over the weekend, we did some yardwork and preparations for this year's garden. Rototilling the plots for our raised bed gardens is always a chore, but a rewarding one when the job is done and the soil is nicely blended, ready for the next step. Can't wait to get our sproutlets planted! Mikki has been sprouting our seeds for a few weeks now, and they're looking really great! Corn, sugar snap peas, wax beans, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce mix are among the choices for this year's crop. Yummy!

Oddly, this morning I opened my Bible and it just so happened to fall upon this passage which I thought was pretty timely for today's post:

Malachi 3: 11

"And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field. Say the Lord of hosts..." And what is this picture below, you may ask? Why that's just the 300 or so foot water show we got to see from our local bridge on Sunday night! The picture details, of course, are not clear. Apparently a drunk driver hit a fire hydrant. We didn't get to hear any more details about the accident than that, but were impressed with the amount of water pressure that comes out of those things. (The tree beside the gusher is a really big tree in person.)

What we've been up to...The Continuing Story

2008-03-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

What we've been up to...Part 2

As we reported on yesterday's blog, here are the finishing pictures of our work at Riley's Farm:
Here we are adding the balusters on the stairway
Now the balusters and rails are in on the second story and lower deck.
This is the other side of the house where they(Riley's) will be eventually adding a waterwheel under the bridge section where our guys are sitting.

Ta-Da! So there you have it-our completed job!!

Colossians 3: 23:

"And whatsoever ye do, do it wholeheartedly, as to the Lord, and not unto men;"

What we've been up to...

2008-03-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

Riley's Farm

These pictures are of a recent job we did for our friends at Riley's Farm in Oak Glen, CA.

They do Colonial Reenactments and have all kinds of time-period activities for their visitors.

They are completing some building projects around their place, including this remodel of one of the houses.

They asked us to make some period-sensitive posts, handrails and balusters. So, Ben designed some profiles for them (as he is so good at), and we built them from scratch using special wood for outdoor application. From there, we installed them.

Some days were so cold during that last cold spell we had here in California, there was even snow on the ground, as seen in the picture below.
Here the guys are installing the base and shoe rails for the stairway.

This picture shows us installing the lower deck balusters.
We were only able to post five pictures on this post. So, tomorrow's post will show the final results of our work there.

And that's just one of our recent accomplishments! More Later...(smile!)

Creative Memories

2008-03-04T18:40:00.000-08:00

The title of today's post is a bit deceiving as it is NOT about "Creative Memories" scrapbooking! Instead, this is about a particular piece of woodwork our family made for a friend's 16th birthday. It is from our "creative memory" archive of projects we've done.

This Hope Chest was made of several different woods, including oak, brazilian cherry and cedar inside. The "creative geniuses" around here put their minds together and designed, built and finished it. Then we tole painted the outside. Not too bad, considering we'd never done tole painting before!

So, whadda ya think?

New adventures

2008-03-03T22:22:00.000-08:00

Psalm 100: 1-3

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture."

Today marks a new adventure for our family - the starting of our blog!

We hope those that actually take the time to read our blog will enjoy your time spent here, and we are looking forward to hearing from you too! Please bear with us as we fumble our way along in this learning process. And May God be blessed as we share our lives in these pages!