A Day At the State Fair!

Trust in God

Where God guides
He always provides.

-Author Unknown

I found this quote in the back of one of my Mom's old bibles. She had forgotten that she had put it there and couldn't remember where she got it. I don't know who the author was who said this but I also haven't done any research on it. This quote though is a constant reminder to my family that God will not lead you somewhere and then just leave you hanging. We must always trust our futures to God.

-Victoria

Cool Olympics Tracker!

Go USA!

-Spencer and Victoria

Olympic Medal winners at NBC Olympics.com!

We're back...

Yes, we where gone on a trip down to Florida for a week, so that is my excuse for the absence of posting. Hopefully now I'll be able to write more. :D

-Victoria

The Chapman Family On Good Morning America

This came on last Wednesday morning. It is really amazing how God has used this family and all that they have been through!

-Victoria

The 2008 Summer Olympics have begun!

Did anyone watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics last night?
We enjoyed watching all of the amazing things that China performed this year. All of the technology was really interesting. We could see China's desire to truly do better then had ever been done before.
Then came the march of Nations, several nations we know well such as Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan and America but there where others as always that we really wondered where they where and how to pronounce them. (The Olympics are really great for testing your geography!) One thing that struck me was that with each nation that marches in you really get a glimpse into their culture. You get to see their complexion and their costumes, the way they carry themselves and how large they are as a nation.
The lighting of the torch was truly amazing. Seeing the man up so high for so long was truly awing to me since I am terrified of heights.
Some people might think it's silly to get this excited about the Olympics. But they only come once every two years...and the next summer Olympics will be in four years. But for now we have the rest of the Olympics to look forward to watching! Go USA!

-Victoria

Do you watch the Olympics?
If you do, what are you most looking forward to seeing?

The Louisville Slugger Museum

Yesterday we went to the Slugger Museum. This is where all the bats are made for baseball players. We went several years ago with Mee Maw and Grandpa but we had never been with Daddy. So yesterday we where able to go as a family.
We got to go on a tour through the plant where the bats are made and see them in the different stages, which was very interesting. We where able to see the different woods that bats where made out of, maple and ash. At the end of the tour we where given a miniature bat to take home.
After going on the tour we where able to see a special exhibit that had baseballs signed by different presidents of the United States. The oldest ball was signed by Teddy Roosevelt.
We went through the museum and learned about different players and their loved bats. There was a room set up like the baseball field and the announcers booth was off to the side. We where able to go into the dugout and sit there also.
The boys had a lot of fun going to the museum and I learned a lot about baseball.

-Victoria

Due to camera problems I wasn't able to take any pictures. ;)

Men O' War

This is a really cool movie made by Isaac Botkin author of Outside Hollywood. He and his brothers and sisters did this over a course of five weeks as a teaching tool for San Antonio Film Academy:





Hope you enjoy!

~Spencer

Zach Hunter: A Modern Day Abolitionist

Zach Hunter has challenged so many people of all ages with his passion to end modern day slavery. Before hearing about Zach Hunter I had no idea that there was still a large number of slaves in the world today. Zach has written two books Be the Change and now Generation Change, which was just released last April. I've read Be the Change and would highly recommend it. The first time I read Be the Change I had a hard time putting it down! Zach is an excellent writer and is great at communicating his message.
Ever since before Generation Change was released I've been wanting to purchase it and read it. Now over at bookschristian.com for a limited time if you buy Zach Hunter's newest book, Generation Change then bookschristian.com will donate a dollar from each purchase to Zach's organization, Loose Change to Loosen Chains. I'm hoping to buy this book at this time.
Now is a great chance to be able to read Zach's book and at the same time help to free slaves! So while this opportunity is still available I would suggest you purchase a copy of Generation Change...and while your over there you might want to get Be the Change too. :D
In this interview Zach shares about his passion to end modern day slavery, how you can help to end slavery, and about his organization Loose Change to Loosen Chains.



-Victoria

Learning how to make stewed tomatoes

This morning we went over to some friends house and they taught us how to make stewed potatoes.

Step #1 Picking the tomatoes:

First we went out to their large garden and picked the tomatoes that we would be using. We all picked probably about 2 bushels.







Step #2 Washing the tomatoes:

Then Sahlin, Spencer and Evan made a line and washed the tomatoes. I was informed that the first bucket would soak the tomatoes, the second would wash most of the dirt off and by the last bucket the tomatoes would be totally clean. :D





Step #3 Boiling the tomatoes/pealing the outer layer off/cutting the stems off:

I can't cover all of these combined steps since I was occupied with parts two and three. (Which is where this picture was captured.) Boiling the tomatoes in the hot water then transferring them to the ice box caused the outer layer to peal of easier. These steps were especially challenging for Spencer since he really doesn't like tomatoes.
Mommy and Mrs. Cassandra stayed busy boiling the tomatoes then cutting them whenever we had completed our steps.

Step #4 cooking the stewed tomato recipe:
Here's a few of the tomatoes in the sink waiting to be cooked.









Step #5 Fill the jars/put them in the pressure cooker to seal:

Mrs. Cassandra and Mommy boiling the jars.







The jars of tomatoes being sealed in the pressure cooker.








Thanks Mrs. Cassandra for teaching us! We had a great time! Stay tuned because hopefully in a few weeks we'll learn how to make salsa. :D

-Victoria