He Will Heal…Hosea 6:1

I read the following words from Spurgeon this morning and was greatly encouraged! I pray you are as well!

“I believe that God, who has appointed it, has also measured your trouble, set its bounds, and will bring it to an end. His gracious design is in all your difficulties. Do not think that God deals roughly with His children and gives them needless pain. ‘He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.’ (Lam. 3:33). ‘He has torn, but He will heal.’ Has God not helped you out of one trouble after another? Do you suppose that He will leave you in this trouble?

This particular water in which you are struggling, is intended and included in this promise, ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers; they shall not overflow you’ (Is. 43:2).

Ask for grace, that you may believe while you are still under the cloud. Regardless of how dark the cloud, it contains blessings. ‘If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth’ (Eccl. 11:3).”

Best Cake Ever!

About a year ago we found the following recipe in the news paper as an award winning cake. Ever since then, it’s become a family favorite! If you’re a fan of mint and chocolate then you’ll most definitely love it!

Chocolate Cake with Mint Whipped Frosting

1 Package (18.25 oz) devils food cake mix with pudding

1 cup sour cream

¾ cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ cups chilled heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

½ tsp peppermint extract

1. Place cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, eggs and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Divide batter between 2 pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 28 to 32 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. Cool 10 minutes in pans set on wire racks. Run dinner knife around edges of cakes and invert onto cooling rack.

2. Prepare frosting: In large bowl combine whipping cream, confectioner’s sugar and peppermint extract. Using electric mixer, beat until stiff peaks form. Place 1 cake layer right side up on serving plate. Spread top with frosting. Add second layer, right side up, and frost top sides of cake. Place cake in saver or cover with dome; refrigerate.

Decorating:

-Just for fun I always add a few drops of green food coloring in the icing so it looks like mint.

-If you really like chocolate, we like to take a Hershey’s bar (or any kind of milk chocolate) and shred it all over the cake with a cheese grater.

If you try it, be sure to let me know what you think!

"My Grace All-Sufficient Shall be Your Supply"

Fear not I am with you, O be not dismayed,
For I am your God, I will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
Upheld by my gracious, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call you to go,
The rivers of sorrow will not overflow,
For I will be with you, your trials to bless,
And sanctify to your deepest distress.
When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,
My grace all-sufficient shall be your supply
The flames shall not hurt you, I only design
Your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

-Charles Spurgeon from “Beside Still Waters”

The Gift of Family

As I’ve grown up over the years I’ve continually become more grateful for the Lord’s gift of family. Whether there’ve been tears of sorrow or grief, or joy and laughter, God’s used every season my family has walked through to draw us closer to himself and each other.

I was reminded of this precious gift while spending an entire month with them just about every second of the day. We very quickly realized once we left Jacksonville that there weren’t going to be many moments that we had “alone” time.

Some of my favorite times were…
-Staying up way too late in the back of the camper having “pillow talk” with my sisters.
- All of us huffing and puffing as we hiked a trail up to a gorgeous view or overlook of God’s glorious creation.
-Sitting around the campfire to stay warm in the freezing cold weather.

So many memories were made on our trip that I will never forget. I can’t even begin to name them all! I’m increasingly grateful for how the Lord uses each one of my siblings and parents to help sanctify and encourage me. I pray as years go on and my family grows bigger, that our relationships will continue to grow strong and bring much glory to our Heavenly Father.

Thank you, Lord for the wonderful blessing of family!

Last But Not Least....

Cody, Wyoming. The Black Hills. Driving Home!

Yellowstone & Grand Tetons

Oh The Joys of Pictures

Pictures from:
Seattle, Washington
Gig Harbor
Olympic National Park
Pacific West Coast

Glacier Pictures

The Beginning of Lots of Pictures

Here is the first set of pictures (they're also on facebook). Some of them you've already seen, but there are a lot of new ones too. I'll be posting more over the next few days.

These pictures include:
The first 3 days of driving to the Badlands
The Badlands
Driving to Glacier

Home Sweet Home!

We got back to good ol’ Jacksonville, FL yesterday around 7pm. As much fun as I had on our trip, I was filled with so much joy when we drove into our neighborhood and I stepped foot into our house. It was a wonderful feeling coming back to one of my most favorite places! I’m extremely grateful for the Lord’s protecting hand and for the gift of family. It was a trip of a lifetime!

During our 3 day drive home, mom and I came up with some fun facts and lowlights (since we’ve shared most of our highlights) of our trip....

Most asked questions:
What are we doing tomorrow?
How much longer until we get there?
What’s for dinner?

Top 5 most popular places:
1. Glacier
2. The Grand Tetons
3. Yellowstone
4. Badlands
5. Mt. Rushmore

Lowlights:
-Stuck in traffic in Seattle A LOT
-We ate out twice and both times we wished we hadn’t
-Altitude sickness
-Trip to the emergency room two hours from where we were staying (in the middle of Yellowstone) with no cell phone reception.
-7 mile hike through brush our height
-Didn’t see a bear

Random:
-We made 53 gas station stops to re-fuel
- Did 33 loads of laundry
- Drove 9,000 miles
- Who caught the most Z’s while driving 9,000 miles: Drum role please…..Ryan and Amber!!!
- Spent 8 nights in Wal-Mart parking lots

Wildlife:
Buffalo- Yellowstone and Black Hills
Deer- Everywhere
Pronghorn/Antelope- Black Hills
Donkeys- Black Hills
Mountain Goats- Glacier and Black Hills
Coyote- Yellowstone
Jack Rabbits- Badlands and Cody
Wolves- Yellowstone
Prairie Dogs- Badlands and Black Hills
Big Horn Sheep- Badlands
Chipmunks- Everywhere
Elk- Yellowstone
Moose- Yellowstone
Turkeys- Badlands
River Otters- Yellowstone
Peacock- Port Townsen
Golden Eagle- Cody

Food:
Favorite snacks: pretzels (Went through 8 bags!), granola bars, and fruit.

Our Chuck Wagon meals: Spaghetti, Tacos, Grilled Chicken, Hamburgers, Hotdogs/Brats, Steak, Chicken Piccata, and Beef Stew. Most of these meals we had twice. If we didn’t cook, we had a sandwich or leftovers.

Lunch: Just about everyday we had a picnic lunch that consisted of sandwiches, sandwiches, and more sandwiches :). Most days along with sandwiches we had grapes and chips.

Breakfast: Everyday for breakfast we had cereal, oatmeal, toast, or fruit. Two mornings when we had time we had bacon, eggs, and toast.

More pictures coming tomorrow!

Our Last Supper!

We’ve had another long day in the van. We’re almost to Chattanooga, Tennessee and tomorrow we’ll be home! Tonight we had our last supper at Cracker Barrel! It was delicious and a much needed stop!

We're pretty tired in these pictures after two straight days of driving!

Wildlife!

Feeding the wild donkeys in the Black Hills....

A type of mountain goat

One of our encounters with a stuffed bear...didn't see an alive one.

Koyote in Yellowstone

The buffalo like to cause traffic jams

Female elk in Yellowstone

If you look up in the top right corner you'll find our "spider monkey" Ryan standing on a rock.

One of our many adventures through the woods =)

Chipmunks were everywhere, but oh so cute!

Pictures!

One of the colorful hot springs in Yellowstone

The Yellowstone Grand Canyon!

Momma and her munchkins

The Black Hills & Mt. Rushmore

The first day in the Black Hills we went to “Jewel Cave.” We rode an elevator 300 ft. into the ground and toured the cave for an hour and a half. It was 49 degrees! Was a very cool experience, but we were all glad when we came back up to the sunny and fresh air! That afternoon we took a quick peek at Mt. Rushmore because we knew we were going back to see it at night along with a video presentation. Once we got back to our campsite, dad, Victoria, Karah, and I went to a field close by and played a game of dodge ball and soccer.

Yesterday we went on a drive called “Wildlife Loop.” We saw some buffalo, prairie dogs, pronghorn, and donkeys. The donkeys were very friendly! With the parks permission, we were aloud feed them. In fact, they didn’t leave us alone until we did! They were a lot of fun, but some of them were a bit aggressive which caused dad to pull out his fist a few times! Last night we went back to Mt. Rushmore. They do a very nice outdoor video presentation and light up the mountain when it’s over. The grounds surrounding Rushmore are very patriotic!

We left our last campground this morning at 6am and are on our way back home!!! If everything goes as planned, we’ll be back late Monday night.

Day 21

We spent this morning at the Buffalo Bill Dam and white water rafted in the Shoshone River this afternoon. The weather was beautiful, but the water was freezing. It was a nice ride down the river…Not too rough at all!

The rest of the day we caught up on laundry and are packing up to leave in the morning for the Black Hills/Mt Rushmore. We will arrive by tomorrow afternoon and will be there for 4 nights. After the Black Hills we’ll be on our way home!!!

Blogger is having some technical problems with uploading photos so I’m still unable to share any. Hopefully whatever the problem is will be solved over the next few days. I will be trying from time to time.