Now It's a Tradition

Jeepfest is held annually on Labor Day weekend. This is now our third year attending and as one person pointed out, once you do something three times in a row, it's a tradition. And so it is--and we're glad. :-) It seems that another tradition has been formed--a work retreat for Nikolas held at the same time. This is the second year that he's missed Jeepfest because he's in the mountains with his coworkers. Nikolas misses enjoying the event, but really, he's not losing. The team has a cabin in the woods near the lake where they enjoy beautiful scenery, good food, water sports, and fellowship. We get the benefit of the photos he sends of the mountain beauty he's enjoying, and we try to bring home a t-shirt for him. :-)

Jeepfest is an event of trail rides, obstacle courses, and mudruns for Jeeps and people! We enjoy soaking up the scenery, visiting the vendors, scoping out Jeeps to appreciate, and cheering on the runners.

The day was beautiful, weather wise, and quite pleasant. On the way home, we stopped at our favorite coffee shop for a drink and ran into friends. We sat for a spell chatting and then returned home to connect with Bethany, who came home for the holiday weekend. What a blessing to have a great event to wrap up the summer with. :-)

Natural Treasures

Summer isn't over just yet, so we're trying to squeeze a few projects and outings into our days. One outing we recently took was to a working gold mine.

The mine has a small history museum offering a self-guided tour to visitors.

After the tour, we had the opportunity to learn how to pan for gold and then to give it a try. After about 20 minutes of panning, it was clear to my why people were so excted to add some industry and efficiency to the process--panning is tedious and tiring!

When the panning was completed, we moved to gem mining--that process was much easier! The children marveled over the rocks that showed up as their sand washed away and enjoyed learning what each color they saw represented. We got a variety of gems, which just added to the excitement. It was actually just as fun to match the rocks to their name as it was to secure them.

When all of the work was done, we took the time to check out the mine store where they offered to turn our raw gems into cut (and even set) gems. They had jewelry already created to buy as well. Other treasures in the store were colorful geodes cut for display, gem trees (quite pretty), and many other trinkets. Exploring the store was a great way to close out our trip. The drive was long, but everyone agreed that it was well worth the time. :-)

Meet Dorito

John had a birthday. He's 53 now. His birthday came on the heels of much activity in the house--July has been a very full month ya'll! Due to scheduling, we celebrated his birthday in two parts. We had cake and gifts on one night, and then we played games (despite the heat--thank God for a good breeze!) and I took him out to lunch on his birthday proper.

John received some great gifts, but one stood out more than the others. Jozsef, Nikolas, and Bethany teamed up to get John a very unique gift. Meet Dorito. Inspired by a commercial and a good sense of humor, John now has an office mate. And as it turns out, Dorito has captured the heart of all of the children. :-) It's great when humor can be appreciated and family fun can be had in multiple ways.

Happy Birthday John! May Dorito be a long standing companion and may God bless you with many more years!

Bladesmithing

Connor is a hands on guy. He loves to explore and learn, especially with his hands. He will have an idea, reasearch it, and then attempt to create it himself. We are interested in seeing what he chooses as a career path. In an attempt to help him pick a field, and because he loves watching Forged in Fire, we enrolled him in a bladesmithing class.

Directly after returning from beach camp, Connor spent two days at The Forge (a place Nikolas discovered while he was out and about on jobs) learning how to make a knife from scratch. Connor was the youngest guy in the class, but that didn't phase him, and if nothing else, the guys respected him for being there. Connor had an excellent experience and came home with a solid, good looking knife. :-) Good work, Connor!

I'm so thankful he was able to have such an experience. He might even go back for the next level class. :-) Thanks to Nikolas for not only finding The Forge, but for helping to get Connor there and back again. What a full and wonderful week for Connor! :-)