Lots of Helpers

Twizel to Dunedin

February 21, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

Day 5 of our trip was New Year’s Day. We had a leisurely morning with our friends in Twizel, including a late breakfast eaten on the lawn in the warm sunshine (little did we know that was almost the last sunshine we would see for a week!), and then got on our way down the road sometime around noon. We headed south; our goal was to reach the home of other friends in Dunedin. Up until this point, we were retracing routes we had driven other times, but this day everything was new. We drove through a lot of very dry country, broken with lakes here and there that stretched for miles along the road; I am guessing they were all man-made, for generating electricity.

See those clouds coming in? The first hour or two that we were on the road the weather was nice. It was cloudy, but that kept it from being too hot. Then, the heavens opened, and it started pouring! When we finally stopped to eat lunch (around 3:00), it was pouring so hard that we pulled into an empty carpark and pulled the vans up so that the sliding doors were facing each other. Esther and I made sandwiches in our van and then radioed to the other van to open a window so we could pass the plates through. We were so fogged up inside that we couldn’t see each other, but if we opened a window we got drenched quickly!

This was one of the few times that Little Miss rode in our van. The girls enjoyed reading books together.

We saw a sign for the Aviemore Hydro Station and made a quick decision to have a look. First, we crossed the river on the road that goes over the dam, and had a look down from the top.

Then, we drove back across. See the tracks on the sides of the road? It looked like a crane goes on those, and can open the trapdoors in the middle, probably for servicing the power plant.

Then, we looked at the power station from the bottom.

This was a very interesting feature. A fish ladder led to a spawning stream—a man-made channel duplicating the conditions in the wild in which trout lay their eggs. The spawning stream doubles back on itself; it’s apparently a kilometer long altogether.

I grabbed this photo of a ram in the paddock beside the drive down to the power station. My boys saw me taking the photo and called on the radio to inform me that it was a merino. I was impressed by the horns!

An interesting planting of trees we saw on a hillside, after it started raining.

One thing I really wanted to see was the Moeraki Boulders. It was drizzling, but not hard, so we stopped when we reached them, and walked about 10 minutes down the beach to see the famous sight.

These boulders are concretions, formed by something rolling around in sediments and building up layer after layer.

Mr. Sweetie

Miss Joy

Simon

Simon, me, Mr. Sweetie, Elijah

Mr. Diligence, Mr. Sweetie and Little Miss

Then, it started raining harder, and we were already late for tea with our friends in Dunedin, so we hurried back to the vans as fast as we could.

Book Review—Bookers on the Rocks

February 18, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

About the Book

Book: Bookers on the Rocks
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance

If it ain’t broke, why’s she so intent on fixing it?

Tessa Booker hates romance.

For twenty-five years, Tessa Booker has insisted that romance is something Hollywood cooked up to sell books and movies. Yes, she knows the word existed before movies. She doesn’t care. That’s her story, and she’s sticking to it.

So when Ross gets a gentle nudge from Mallory Barrows to look into what Tessa’s doing every day while he’s at work, he discovers a romance in the works–one that sounds a little too “ripped from the pages” of his life!

Who is this woman, and what has she done with his wife?

Armed with advice from 101 Ways to Romance Your Wife and a copy of the manuscript he printed while she was napping, he’s determined to figure out what’s up with his wife… and if maybe a little romance wouldn’t be a good thing after all.

In a twist of the “on the rocks trope,” this book introduces the next island in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.

The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren’t just for summer anymore.

My Thoughts:

It’s not often that a novel steps on my toes. I appreciate stories that make me think and that stick with me—Bookers on the Rocks did! I have read it twice now, and I’m still mulling over what I read in it, trying to figure out how to apply the things Chautona wove into the story to my life. My problem is—I’m a lot like Tessa was at the beginning of the story, and I don’t know how to change that!

What I took away from this book is the need to be romantic with your spouse, even after over 20 years of marriage. Speaking from experience, I know how easy it is to take the other for granted and just go through life, living in the same house, doing things together, but not having that “spark” that was there at the beginning. Bookers on the Rocks has shown me that it’s time to add some romance back in! Now, how to do it? That’s the big question! I highly recommend this book to all married women. It’s a good one.

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

About the Author:

Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

More From Chautona:

Who Needs Romance? My Marriage Is Great as It Is!

Writing a book about a couple who are in love, devoted to each other, and don’t have marriage problems is… challenging. Let’s face it. Most books about married couples, especially ones “on the rocks,” are going to have fights, an affair (at least of the emotional variety), or some big thing threatening to send them straight to divorce court.

Mine doesn’t.

In fact, Bookers on the Rocks shows what happens when couples become too comfortable in their routines—so comfortable, in fact, that they become blind to each other’s needs. If you asked Tessa Booker if anything is wrong in her marriage, she’d say no. If you asked her if she wanted anything different, she’d say no. The age old, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.

Still, if you look at stories in Scripture, you see deep love and even romance in some places. Elkanah, who loved his wife enough to say, “Am I not more to you than ten sons?” Jacob who worked fourteen years to marry the woman he loved. Solomon and his love for the Shulamite woman. While the first two do not make me squirm, Solomon does. That book… oh, that book.

What I think Song of Solomon does is remind us of the Lord’s wooing of His people and how invested the Shulamite woman was in being delighted in her beloved—in all of him. If that isn’t a picture of how we should devote ourselves to our Lord, I don’t know what is.

In Bookers on the Rocks, I explore the possibility that those of us who aren’t naturally romantic might just be missing a vital ingredient in our marriages. A body can look and feel perfectly healthy for years—even decades. But if some essential nutrient is missing in a person’s diet, eventually that body will show it in some way. A lack of calcium can create brittle bones. No one sees the problem until a slight stumble turns into a nasty break.

Did it change how I view my marriage? No… not yet. Then again, yes it did, too. I’m more… aware of what is going on in my marriage these days. I doubt candlelight and roses will ever become a thing in our relationship, but translating what romance might mean and look like to my husband has become something I do think about from time to time. That probably means more Wienerschnitzel and less broccoli, but hey. He did a lot of dishes, dinner, and diapers (my perfect three Ds of romance) when our kids were small. I can endure a hot dog or three thousand, right?

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

Book Review—They Turned the World Upside Down

February 17, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

Welcome to the Blog Tour for They Turned the
World Upside Down by Charles Martin, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE
BOOK

Title:
They Turned the World Upside Down
Author: Charles Martin
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: January 5, 2021
Genre: Christian Life/Spiritual Growth

In the aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection, the testimonies of those who had followed him
were so bold and so powerful that they turned the world upside down. What would happen if we
lived with that same kind of faith today?
Walk in the shoes of the disciples, as New York Times
bestselling author Charles Martin brings their stories to life with his
storyteller’s perspective.
In the first century, believer didn’t just mean someone who heard and agreed with
Jesus; it meant someone who acted on that belief. And when the outside world saw the faith of
these new believers, they declared “they turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).
That’s the kind of believer Charles Martin wants us to be. The kind who understands that the
truth of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is so powerful, it reshaped history. The kind of
believer who lives with that same world-changing faith today.
In his second non-fiction work, he uses his talents as a novelist to walk you through the lives of
the disciples in the aftermath of the Resurrection and as they spread the message of the Gospel
and “turn the world upside down”, leading up to Paul’s ministry in Thessonalica. In his beloved
lyrical style, Martin illuminates key moments from Scripture and shares stories from his own life
as a disciple.
With the same depth, sensitivity, and emotion that have made his novels beloved to millions,
Martin will helps you engage with your faith in a new and inspiring way.

My Thoughts:

I have a confession to make. This is the first time I have ever signed up for a blog tour and not been able to finish reading the book before the deadline. I started reading They Turned the World Upside Down as soon as I received it, and have read it every chance I had, but I’m only 72% of the way through right now. It’s a long book—and a busy time of the year!

For the most part, I’m finding this book very doctrinally sound. The author challenges all of us to live sold out to Jesus. He points out the way the disciples’ lives were radically changed when the Holy Spirit fell on them, and challenges us to allow God to change us in the same way. I am quite challenged with this book. I do have one quibble with it, though. If I read it right, which I may not have, but I think I did, he seems to say that there needs to be a dramatic proof of receiving the Holy Spirit. He points out that when the Holy Spirit fell on people in the book of Acts, they spoke with new tongues and prophesied, and believes that the same thing should happen to us. I’ve been mulling this over for the last few days, and I believe that speaking with new tongues might not always be speaking an unknown language, but, possibly, no longer swearing, etc. Prophecy is not necessarily foretelling the future, but preaching Jesus. Taken that way, I wholeheartedly agree that those signs will follow the coming of the Spirit—but that’s not what I read in this book. On the other hand, the chapter about the Kingdom of God is great stuff. Here are a couple of quotes I highlighted: My question for you is, while you are willing to be saved, are you prepared to be goverened? and When you come to Jesus, you give up your rights. These are teachings that are not very popular today, and I applaud Mr. Martin for writing about this.

I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR

Charles Martin

Charles Martin is a New York Times
and USA Today bestselling author of fifteen novels and two nonfiction books.
He and his wife, Christy, live in Jacksonville, Florida.

CONNECT WITH CHARLES: Website | Facebook | Instagram
| Twitter

TOUR
GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a print copy of They Turned the World
Upside Down and What If It’s True?!

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight
February 16, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on February 23, 2021. Winner will be
notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture
of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY
HERE

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

Hooker Valley Track

February 14, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

On New Year’s Eve, after we walked up the Tasman Glacier Walk, we drove around to the other side of the mountain to the carpark nearest to Mount Cook. We have walked the Hooker Valley Track two other times, and loved it each time. This time, I decided to stay in the van and let Miss Joy have a nap on the bed. Mr. Imagination and Little Miss didn’t want to walk, so they stayed, too. I let them stay—on condition that they play quietly, outside the van so they wouldn’t bother their baby sister. She fell asleep quickly, and I enjoyed getting to read and do some writing in the breeze that blew through the open windows of the van. The other two played with four toy animals that Simon had bought for the four youngest children at our friends’ shop that morning. I’m not sure what all they did with them, but they kept busy for an hour! Then, Mr. Imagination saw an avalanche on the mountain facing us, and was so excited that he forgot about being quiet. That was the end of Miss Joy’s nap! I was thankful that she’d had a good solid hour, though.

This is the mountain we were facing. See the nearly horizontal wall of snow stretching across the left side, near the top? There were several avalanches from it during the afternoon, and when we left there was a huge notch that wasn’t there when we first arrived. I think it was made by the avalanche that ended up causing Miss Joy to wake up.

After Miss Joy woke up, the three children played together on the bed for awhile with their animals, and then we decided to start walking on the trail to meet the rest of the family.

Most of the rest of the pictures are from other people’s cameras, since I didn’t go far on the trail.

105a-IMG_4759

This is the first (of two) swing bridges. The little ones and I went just to the other side of this one, sat on some rocks there for awhile, then came back, and about that time the first members of our family joined us.

The second swing bridge.

Do you see the shape of the lower slopes? They were gouged out by glaciers.

Mount Cook!

There were a lot of very interesting flowers.

I’m not sure which glacier this is, although my best guess would be the one at the base of the mountain in the first picture in this post. Maybe Esther will comment below; she went on the walk and knows more about the scenery than I do!

Back at the vans! There was another avalanche, which the boys were looking at. See Miss Joy on the bed?

Our last glimpse of Mount Cook for this trip.

Back at our friends’ house, Mr. Imagination found these two pine cones. He was intrigued by the size difference. The little one is about an inch and a half long.

Tasman Glacier Walk

February 10, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

Day four of our trip dawned bright and sunny! We got around rather slowly that morning; it was nearly noon before we left our friends’ house in Twizel. We stopped at their shop in town and bought a number of things, including straw hats for a couple of us who didn’t want to add to the brilliant sunburns we were already sporting from our day at Cave Stream and Castle Hill! Then, we headed up along Lake Pukaki toward Mount Cook. We were delighted that the high cloud allowed us to see the beautiful mountain in the distance.

I always enjoy the mountains along the way, too. They line both sides of the valley.

The lavender farm was in full bloom. This photo doesn’t anywhere near do justice to the vivid color.

Mr. Imagination loved riding with Miss Joy. One of their favorite games was to play with wet wipes. They would scrub their faces and necks for a long time—cheap entertainment!

We pulled off to get some pictures of Mount Cook on our way up Lake Pukaki. Esther and I, in the lead van, decided not to stop, but the other van wanted to. They pulled off at the official viewing place, which was crowded with tourists. We told them we would look for a place to turn around, but couldn’t find anywhere for a couple of kilometers. Then, we found an old pull-off, with no one there and a great view! We called the other van on the radio and told them to join us. Then, while we were waiting, Esther and I got the idea that this would be a good place to take a family photo. We wanted to do that sometime on our trip. We checked out the lighting in several places, and found a spot that worked, so she got out her tripod.

This was the view from the official pulloff. Gayle snapped it with his phone.

078f-IMG_20201231_120142

I got individual pictures of the children, too, and grabbed this shot in the process. This is Mr. Sweetie, Miss Joy, Simon, and Elijah.

080-IMG_7201

Esther took this one while we were figuring out lighting and backgrounds.

086a-IMG_4728

Everyone wandered around under the big tree for awhile as we got things figured out.

086b-IMG_4734

Lots of helpful advice about the perfect location for a photo!

086c-IMG_4736

One of the final results! I don’t think this is the one we ended up printing, though.

086d-IMG_4742

As we kept driving, the mountain showed up more and more clearly.

087-IMG_7209

The other mountains are gorgeous, too!

When we reached the carpark for the Tasman Glacier walk, we decided to eat lunch first. We found a little meadow where we could spread out our picnic.

The walk to the viewing spot for the glacier is up a steep hill—a moraine. You find out just how physically fit you are—or not!

See the glacier at the head of the lake? It has a thick layer of dirt and rocks on top. Mount Cook is in the distance to the left.

While we were standing there, I heard a man, who looked like he was about 40 years old, tell his child that when he was born, the glacier was just below where we were standing—you could step onto it from the top of the hill. That’s hard to believe!

A close-up of the glacier.

See the Paradise Duck at the edge of the lake?

Looking down the valley. You can see a sliver of Lake Pukaki in the distance.

One of the Blue Lakes—which are actually green!

Another view down the valley.

Tasman Glacier Walk

February 10, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I always enjoy the mountains along the way, too. They line both sides of the valley.

The lavender farm was in full bloom. This photo doesn’t anywhere near do justice to the vivid color.

Mr. Imagination loved riding with Miss Joy. One of their favorite games was to play with wet wipes. They would scrub their faces and necks for a long time—cheap entertainment!

This was the view from the official pulloff. Gayle snapped it with his phone.

078f-IMG_20201231_120142

I got individual pictures of the children, too, and grabbed this shot in the process. This is Mr. Sweetie, Miss Joy, Simon, and Elijah.

080-IMG_7201

Esther took this one while we were figuring out lighting and backgrounds.

086a-IMG_4728

Everyone wandered around under the big tree for awhile as we got things figured out.

086b-IMG_4734

Lots of helpful advice about the perfect location for a photo!

086c-IMG_4736

One of the final results! I don’t think this is the one we ended up printing, though.

086d-IMG_4742

As we kept driving, the mountain showed up more and more clearly.

087-IMG_7209

The other mountains are gorgeous, too!

When we reached the carpark for the Tasman Glacier walk, we decided to eat lunch first. We found a little meadow where we could spread out our picnic.

The walk to the viewing spot for the glacier is up a steep hill—a moraine. You find out just how physically fit you are—or not!

See the glacier at the head of the lake? It has a thick layer of dirt and rocks on top. Mount Cook is in the distance to the left.

A close-up of the glacier.

See the Paradise Duck at the edge of the lake?

Looking down the valley. You can see a sliver of Lake Pukaki in the distance.

One of the Blue Lakes—which are actually green!

Another view down the valley.

On to Twizel!

February 7, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

After we visited the Aviation Museum in Ashburton, on the third day of our trip, we headed southwest to Twizel. We have friends who live there, and though we’ve been to the area a couple of times already, we always enjoy the walks near Mount Cook, so we decided to spend a day there. The drive is always interesting, too. I forget, in between, how dry inland South Canterbury is! It almost feels like a desert.

This is what we saw from the front seat, soon after leaving Ashburton. I think we had some tired people! The white cord, by the way, is a curtain-hanging cord. We strung it around the van, and hung pieces of fabric on it with clothespins at night when we slept in the van, for privacy. It worked well—but if we weren’t careful, like this day, it would fall down when we put down the sun visor.

As we traveled farther inland, the landscape got drier. (Toes are a great entertainment when you’re bored!)

This is the Burke’s Pass area.

We decided to stop for a few minutes at beautiful Lake Tekapo. The water is so blue! That is from glacial melt; there are tiny bits of sediment suspended in the water, and they make it reflect the blue of the sky.

40-066h-IMG_4679

This church, on the shore of Lake Tekapo, is one of the most-photographed sites in New Zealand.

My beautiful girls! Esther was quite sunburned, still, from the day before.

Mr. Diligence took a picture of us trying to get the picture above.

Little Miss loves to pick flowers, anywhere and everywhere.

Miss Joy just wanted to play in the water.

Mr. Diligence

This is one of the several canals we crossed. They carry water for hydroelectricity.

Nearing Twizel—flat and dry!

Here is Lake Pukaki! Mount Cook is usually visible at the far end; this day, it was cloudy, so we couldn’t see the peaks.

Our friends have a pet bird, and our little ones loved it.

Ashburton Aviation Museum

January 31, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

When we were planning our trip, Esther and I decided that we wanted to go to The Book Barn, a huge used book store. We knew that the men and boys in our family, for the most part, would not be interested, and would be bored waiting for us, so she looked online for other attractions in the area. She discovered that Ashburton has an Aviation Museum, and the website made it look and sound very interesting—and it didn’t cost too much, either. So, on the third day of our trip, we split up. Esther and I and Miss Joy went in one van to the book shop, and everyone else went in the other van to Ashburton. We met them there for lunch, after they had been at the museum for a couple of hours, and then we took a quick tour through, as well.

Before we got on the road, we had a look at a project our host family’s grandfather is working on. This is the empty tomb, built into a hillside, and on a hilltop nearby, he plans to erect three crosses. Inside the tomb, facing the empty place representing where Jesus’ body would have lain, will be a bench to sit on, and Christian literature.

Miss Joy fell asleep immediately after we left.The father of the man of the family with we had spent the night owns this church, the Church of the Open Door. It is not used for services anymore, but he maintains it as a place for people to come in and pray or meditate any time they want to. He comes every Sunday to clean it.

A close-up of the prickly pear around the front.

Inside the church.It’s always fun to see this giant fish when we got through Rakaia.

The museum! It is at the Ashburton airport. The museum occupies three hangers. This photo was taken from the top of the restored control tower.

Little Miss wanted to show me the hospital plane. It was what she was most fascinated with.

Inside was a stretcher and a place for an attendant to sit.

Little Miss under the DC-3.

07-062-IMG_7184

Going inside the DC-3. This plane is fully operational, but it would cost a million dollars a day to pay for insurance to fly it.

24-063a-IMG_4640

The DC-3 was probably the one Elijah was most fascinated with.

Someone was amused at this sign. They didn’t think they wanted to have to be rescued!

This helicopter was used during the Korean War to transport wounded soldiers away from the front. A stretcher was strapped on to each side, on the outside, with a hood to protect the wounded man from the blast of air while flying. The helicopter’s tail is in another part of the room; it was too big to leave on.

A jet engine.

A sprayer plane, used to spread fertilizer on hilly farms.This may have been the first plane ever flown. It was built at the same time as the Wright Brothers’ plane, and possibly flown first, but didn’t get the publicity theirs did.

The restored 1940s control tower. There was an airforce base near here during World War II.

Mr. Imagination’s favorite thing at the museum was this manual typewriter! He was fascinated by it.

We really enjoyed our visit to this museum. It was definitely worth spending time at! Two days a week, one of which happened to be the day we were there, volunteers come in to work on restoring the planes, and you can talk to them. The founder of the museum was there when we were, and Gayle and some of the boys spent a lot of time talking to him.
Here are a few seconds of video footage that Mr. Diligence got inside the larger hanger.

The Garden—January 2021

January 24, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

A week ago, the garden was about the most beautiful I have ever seen! Everything was in beautiful shape. Then, we had a week of rain. We got 185 mm (7 1/2 in) of rain in 5 days, and one of the days we had gale-force winds, as well. There was hail a couple of times, too. A lot of plants, especially lettuces, got badly bruised, and the peas got knocked partially off their trellis. The runner beans got broken off at the top of their trellis. Because of the rain, the stems of a lot of plants are very brittle, so when I try to straighten them out, for example to help a runner bean up its trellis, they snap off. It could have been a lot worse, though. In Motueka, on Christmas weekend, they had about five inches of hail! I’m thankful we didn’t get that.

Here are the tomatoes. The ones in front are the South Australian Dwarfs, which don’t do well with staking but put on a prolific crop.

Zucchini is in the row closest to us; the rest are pumpkins. We spread bird netting over the greenhouse for the pumpkins to climb up.

Inside the greenhouse. The cucumbers are nearly done. The pepper plants just to the left in the middle lived over the winter. We put a small, plastic-covered box over them so they didn’t freeze. They are loaded with chilis already, and I’ve been picking bell peppers, too.

Beside the greenhouse is this bed. I have dwarf (or bush) beans, and then runner beans on the trellis. We’ve had enough runner beans for a couple of meals already.

The other side of the trellis has cucumbers, and at the far end are some climbing zucchinis.

The peas have this trellis. The peak of it is about five feet high, and before the storm the plants stood up at least a foot over that. I’m trying to get them to stand up again, but I’m not sure it’ll work.

Corn, lettuce, beet root, leeks and onions.

I planted lettuces where the corn didn’t come up in this bed.

Lettuce, carrots, and potatoes behind them. I have dill all over the garden. We just weed out the excess, and have plenty for pickles.We found this giant in the garden when we came home from our big trip! Stuffed zucchini on the menu, for sure.

There were a couple of large cucumbers, too.

This was my harvest one evening. Yum! We eat well this time of year.

Castle Hill and Beyond

January 20, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

After we left Cave Stream, on the second day of our trip, we went to Castle Hill. We have been there two other times, but the boys have never been able to spend as much time exploring the rocks as they want to, so they wanted to go back.

Mr. Diligence took a few pictures while we drove between Cave Stream and Castle Hill.

There is our van ahead of the one he was in.We quickly separated into groups to walk out to the rocks. Lest you think this photo has been artificially colored, that is the way the sky looked that day! It was so blue I couldn’t stop looking at it!

We almost didn’t stop when we saw how full the carpark was, but then we found space in a second park, to the right here.

The boys, of course, hustled out to the rocks quickly and started climbing.

43-037a-IMG_4607

Mr. Diligence, Simon, and Mr. Sweetie

This is a tired baby! Esther and I soon decided to take her back to the van and give her a nap on the bed. Though it was quite a hot day, it was very pleasant in that van with all the windows and the side door open. There was a nice breeze, and it has a high roof, which means the heat isn’t trapped down where we sat. She got to sleep for an hour before we left.

Gayle and Little Miss did some exploring on their own, and had fun experimenting with the camera on his new phone.

Mr. Diligence had his camera with him, too, so here are perspectives from high up on the rocks. This is Mr. Imagination and Mr. Sweetie.

Simon and Elijah had to help each other up this section. It was nearly perpendicular to the ground.

Mr. Sweetie pondering life from the top of a rock.

Wild roses The adventurers are coming back! Esther zoomed her camera in to take this from the van. Left to right are Mr. Imagination, Simon, Elijah, Mr. Diligence, and Mr. Sweetie.

Soon after we left Castle Hill, we went over Porter’s Pass, leaving the high basin.

Then, we were suddenly down on the plains! The road drops fast as you come down from the summit of Porter’s.

We spent this night with friends. Their house was too small for any extras, so we happily slept in the vans in their driveway. After a day in the sun, everyone slept soundly, though our faces felt hot!

About the Book

Who Needs Romance? My Marriage Is Great as It Is!

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TOUR GIVEAWAY

Thank you!

ABOUT THE
BOOK

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR

TOUR
GIVEAWAY