Travels

This summer I have had the privilege of traveling for work. I say privilege because due to the locations I have gotten to spend some time with some very special people in our lives. I got to go to New York to meet my newest niece Colette. I wanted to share some pics of her sweet family and my time up there. Also, I have gotten to see Grandma Sutter and Uncle John twice now this year. That has to be some sort of a record for us. I have even get to see Aunt Ruthie and some of her daughters each time. I realized I didn’t get a picture with MaraBeth and Rebecca last time, but I guess that means I just need to go back again, right? Grandma is always so sweet and generous when I visit. She knows that I carry my luggage on the plane, so she carefully picks out items that she knows I can take home. While there on my most recent trip, I got to try some of her famous Cucumber Salad and as is the custom, I got to see some deer right in her backyard. She said the most she has seen at one time is TWELVE!

I went to visit Sam, Ashley and Colette and excitingly, Ashley’s sister was delivering a new baby that weekend. So I got to meet the newest member on their side of the family. Baby Charlotte was so tiny and precious, and she had a proud big brother, Aunt, and Grandma all there to welcome her arrival.

Next time, you’ll get to hear all about our dinner and playtime with the Ericsons. Man, do I have a cute picture to share with you….guess, you’ll just have to come back to check it out. Hope you have an awesome week!

Advertisement

Catching up….

I just noticed that it’s been awhile since I posted something meaningful. Sorry about that. When tax deadlines roll around, it’s a bit hectic…add to that Jon travelling for work, and being all important now (did I mention he got a promotion at work….SO proud), it’s been a crazy time at the Sutter house. I have some catching up to do, so we’ll start with Camping. On Labor Day weekend, Jon and I did a first in our marriage. We went camping all by our lonesome. Our little family loaded up and headed out to Saddler’s Creek State Park. This was our fourth time camping there, but our first time alone. I checked the forecast at 3, and it was ALL CLEAR! No clouds, no percent chances of rain (I like to call this foreshadowing if you haven’t picked up on it). Well, as I mentioned, Jon has been working crazy hard, so we did not leave our house until 6:30, and the park is an hour away. Usually, that would stress me out, but this time it was just us, and we had no schedule, so it was perfect….and how couldn’t it be…Jon bought me my favorite sugar cookies as a snack.

We got to our site, and we were quickly losing daylight, so Jon and decided to break up the tasks. I put up the tent, while he made fire and got started on supper. He would periodically help me unload things once I got the tent up. Thankfully, we got the tent up JUST IN TIME. The wind started swirling, and the drops started falling. Jon quickly rushed the girls into the tent and found safety. The storm continued for about 45 minutes. Our tent was literally blowing over above us. A little unsettling at times, but it was a nice time together, and we just chilled out until the storm ended, and then ventured out for supper. I think Jon’s fire survived the storm (must have been a good one).

As you can see from the pictures, we spent the time RELAXING. We took the girls swimming. I FINALLY finished my book that Jon bought me for my birthday, and we of course played some games and slept. There’s no need to mention who won the games again this weekend…Who are we kidding, I won again at Phase 10 AND Yahtzee. How could I forget the people that we met…The campsite next to us was occupied by a couple from North Carolina who were there for a bass fishing tournament. It made me miss my cousin from Michigan, because he and his wife are into fishing in tournaments, and I know they would have loved meeting them (and of course hanging out with us). The man was very kind to Jon. One evening, they went fishing at 10pm or so after the man had been up since 3. He was teaching Jon how to try different baits and what the best techniques were. While down there, he shared a lot of his story with Jon. He was a cancer survivor (at 50 or so), and he told Jon that he would have never made it through without his wife. He said there were days that he couldn’t move, and he didn’t even have the strength to get to the mailbox. He said it was at those times that he wanted to give up, but his wife encouraged him so much to keep going that he was there that day speaking to Jon. They had been married 24 years I think when we met them. While I don’t know their spiritual background, it was definitely encouraging to hear the effect a wife can have on her husband. Obviously, I hope to never face the trials they did, but I do hope I can support Jon the same ways that woman supported her husband.

Well, on that note, I’ll sign off and leave you with some pictures. Until next week.

Been a little slow lately

So, you’ll see over my next few posts, I’m playing catch-up. There is so much to tell you and so little time. I wanted to share some sweet pictures today of the sweet dates I had yesterday for lunch. Oh how I love them, and the excitement and hugs when they first see me will NEVER get old. I miss them when I leave them….

Max on Life by Max Lucado

So, if you haven’t been reading my blog very often, one of the things I do is review books periodically for a website called booksneeze. It’s really my sneaky way of getting free books. Just kidding. It’s not too sneaky since that’s what they’re about. You sign up, read a book, write a review, and then get a new book. If you don’t ever review the book, you just don’t get any more books. I have been a little lax in the department of reading, but this has helped me read more this year and to actually broaden my reading horizons a bit. So, without further adieu…

Max Lucado’s Max on Life is a great resource for new and growing believers. I even believe it would be a great resource for maybe a strong Christian to break down difficult answers and scriptures while training new believers in the Word. Max touches on common questions relating to marriage, hope, life after death, prayer, children, work and money, and more. Each question and answer is about one page long, so they are not too overwhelming to get through even if you try to read the book from cover to cover. This book will serve more as a resource though for those counseling others.

Based on what was written above, this book surprised me a bit because the answers to some of the topics seemed very vague or circular. This was not the case with all of the questions, but with a small handful of them. It also would have been nice to have more scripture references included with each question. The way the book is currently formatted, it appears that Max’s opinion on life is more important than God’s opinion on life. I know from reading other Lucado books, this is not his intention, but unfortunately, it appears to be that way in this book.  Overall, this was a good book, and I would recommend it to others. I just do believe there could have been better decisions made in the formatting to acknowledge that Lucado’s are only that of a man’s and that God’s ideas are supreme over any man’s interpretations.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”