Heading Toward Home.

We are on our way home! Its now 11:30AM and we are traveling north on I-65. We are soon going to pass near Birmingham AL. Sometime in the early to mid afternoon we plan to dine at a Cracker Barrel. The weather is sunny and traffic is moving right along. We are not yet sure if we will use Maynard's place as a motel on the way through. I figured if we got near their place by 9:00PM or earlier we might just keep on going home but if its after 10:00 we might just stay overnight at their place. Many thanks to Jon and Dawn for a very memorable Christmas away from home. The visit will certainly be remembered and your hospitality was wonderful. It was sad to have to say good bye. More updates to follow...

In case you are curious how I am able to update while traveling, I will copy the chat I had with a friend below...

Hey there Beka....

We are about midway through Alabama on I 65
I have your Verizon wireless broadband card in the other laptop and shared it out to my 2nd laptop through a network switch that I brought along.
This allows more than 1 laptop to be online at the same time.
Conrad is on the other one playing Rook online with other real people.
The website for internet multi-player rook is here> DuelBoard

Beka(10:28:20 AM): That's pretty cool. I'm glad it's working for you. Is it fast enough for you?

Rm65 (10:30:00 AM): Well, I have not found it to be much faster than dial-up but its certainly better than nothing and the portability of it is still worth a lot.

Beka (10:30:34 AM): That's what I like about it.

Rm65 (10:31:23 AM): I really appreciate the use of it on this trip. Being online sure helps the miles to go by faster...

Beka (10:31:35 AM): Enjoy it!

Christmas Day.

Christmas day has been very enjoyable. After a light breakfast we had a time of singing Christmas carols and read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Then it was soon time to begin preparations for lunch. A few friends from church were expected to join us. The meal consisted of deep fried turkey, baked sweet potatoes, collard greens, sliced ham, mixed vegetables, cranberry salad, pie, ice cream, and cake. After the meal there was more time for games, puzzles, and some playing guitar and singing.

Injecting seasoning and preparing the turkey.


Cooking underway...


Partaking of lunch...






Jesse found a new friend...


Another rook game...

A New Couple!

I know this is a quick post right after the last one but I just couldn't resist!
Here is the happy new couple. Click to enlarge the picture...

Katrina and Deaniel...

Christmas Away Part 2.

Sunday afternoon...
We managed to arrive at Jon and Dawn's arround 1:00am Friday night after leaving Maynard's at around 8:30 that morning. We certainly didn't break any records getting there. Frequent stops and a few wrong turns were part of the journey. The big holdup was a tractor trailer wreck on I-65 in AL. I think it even caught fire. No wonder it stopped traffic for about an hour!
The following day was simply gorgeous. Bright sunshine with temps near 70. We spent some of the day working on a big pile of trees that were destroyed during the hurricanes that took place around here the past few years. A big fire was started to burn up most of them.
We really enjoyed church this morning with the service being about Christmas. We enjoyed the message that spoke of Joseph cooperating with the plan of God that brought Jesus into the world. The challenge was given that we need to allow God to invade our lives to bring about His purpose. Sometimes our plans/goals can get in the way of what God wants to do in our lives. Joseph surely had ideas/plans that got interrupted or at least put on hold.

Here are a few highlights.....

Plenty of games to play...




Even a rook game broke out...


The traditional jigsaw puzzle was under way...


And of course plenty of great southern food! This was called "southwest soup".


The bonfire...




A beautiful sunset...

Christmas Away From Home Part 1.

This is the first official entry of our Christmas away from home. We arrived late Tues night 1:30AM (Wed morn) at Maynard's. We have had a relaxing and enjoyable time thus far. We plan to leave tomorrow morn for Atmore, AL. Hopefully we can get going at least by 8:00AM. It will be a 12-13 hr trip.
Below are some highlights from here at Maynard's.

Dinner is under way...


I bet grandpa and grandma back in DE would have loved this...




Brianna with grandpa...


Aint she a sweety!


Kristan lost a bottom front tooth tonight...


Brendon and Karl.


Maynard's have DSL and wireless router. Huraay!


One of their dogs recently had pups...

Christmas

Nothing puts me in the mood for Christmas quite like good Christmas music! I am making use of "AOL Radio". They have a beautiful station on it called "XM Classical Christmas". Yes, XM Radio is part of AOL's service and AOL is free if you have broadband or another dial-up service. You will find quite an assortment of artists on there. A couple you might recognize is "The Kings Singers" and "Choir of Kings College". For those of you still on dial-up it might still work but not sure. I guess you could try it and see.

Meetings To Remember.

How does one begin to summarize the week of meetings we have just been
through?  It was a week that will never be forgotten. Even our
evangelist (bro. Lavern Swartz) said "I will leave here different than
when I came". What a great job he did in reminding us that "God is
good...all the time!" and "All the time...God is good!". Some
highlights also included the reminder that God loved us enough to
provide a plan for our lost and helpless condition. Yes, our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ IS THAT PLAN! The Christian life is all about a
relationship. The most important relationship we will ever know. Our
walk with Christ and Him living in us and through us! His resurrection
gives us the power to be victorious over the bondage/grip of sin.
Praise be to God! "How can you set there like that?!" and "Are you with
me?" What a week it was indeed. So many lives changed. I was so blessed
when some dear people we have been praying for made decisions for
Christ on Sunday evening. Lets keep them in our prayers that satan
would be hindered in his attempt to discourage them and bring doubts.
Even though satan is still a real enemy for us, I am glad he is
ultimately a defeated foe.

powered by performancing firefox

Helpful Internet Tips.

Recently I have ran across some new internet related items that you should consider. I will list them below..



   #1. The new Internet Explorer version 7 is out! It is greatly
improved and includes a lot of features that Firefox has had for a long
time. The main reason to upgrade to IE 7 is mainly for the added
security. You can get the new IE 7 by going through the "tools" tab on
the top of Internet Explorer then click "windows update" then choose
"express".

   #2. Firefox version 2 is out! Firefox is largely responsible for why
Micro$oft has pushed ahead in coming out with IE 7. This of course
means that Firefox has been great competition against IE 7! Click here
to get the latest version of Firefox>  Firefox!

   #3. A Free Internet Filter is available! I have recently came across
a decent free internet filter called K9 Web Protection. Click here to
download>  K9

powered by performancing firefox

Random Thoughts...

    How do I go about summing up the past few weeks? Not an easy thing. Currenty I have been doing a little deer hunting with the boys. It just doesn't seem like deer season with temps pushing 70 degrees! This week will be very busy with revival meetings starting this Monday night. Lavern Swartz will be our visiting minister. I trust/pray it will be a good week. I am sure it will be worth the effort. We had 2 recent birthday celebrations this month already. Brendon turned 16 on the 10th and Byron turned 11 on the 2nd! Both of them have been a blessing to our family. They are each unique in their personalities. Brendon, of course, is all pumped about getting his drivers lic soon. His schedule right now makes me weary just thinking about it. His days are just crammed with school, basketball, dirvers ed, youth activities etc. etc. I hope he finds his way through it all in one piece. Byron is our little "brainiac" who seems to devour school work with ease. We are not sure if he will keep it up with all the tough stuff ahead but I am sure he will give it his all! He is also very organized and particular with his stuff. Not sure where he gets that from. Can't be from me. Just take a look at my work truck. No, please don't! As far as work goes, we have had a busy year. I feel blessed in that regard because construction has slowed a good bit recently. Seems like houses just are not selling like they were and a lot of guys are struggling to keep busy. Makes we wonder if its just a matter of time till things slow up for us. I am glad God is in control of it all. Yes, even the outcome of the recent elections. It would be easy to get discouraged by it all if we look at things in the short term. The Bible predicts that in the last days things will get worse and even terrible before they get better. It also promises a glorious future for those who endure to the end! Thanks be to Jesus who has made it all possible. Now is not the time to be getting all down and depressed. This sin-sick world we find ourselves in will soon be over. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords will someday bring an end to all hatred, sin, and suffering. Oh what a day, glorious day, that will be....

powered by performancing firefox

Testing A New Blog Editor.

         I have found a new plugin for Firefox that makes updating my blog a little easier. Its called "Performancing" for Firefox!  Maybe this will help me keep my blog updated more often! By the way, my niece Kendra just got her own blog going! I am elated to say the least! She sure has a lot of interesting stuff to keep us posted with. There are very few dull moments on a dairy farm. Click below for Kendra's brand new blog and give her some encouragement in this new endeavor.

   >> Chadkenlog

One more thing, have you all checked out the new version of Firefox? Version 2.0 is simply awesome! How can it get any better?

powered by performancing firefox

powered by performancing firefox

Late Season Crabbing...

One would think that the crabbing will soon be tapering off. Even though we knew the morning would be very chilly and near frost conditions, we bundled up and headed out to give it another try at Wye Mills. I was figuring that this might be the slow crabbing trip that will show us the crabbing is nearly done. I was wrong. We nailed down another two b-bulging, lid busting bushels in less than 3 hours of crabbing! We used the trot line method in about 7-8 feet of water but its likely this method will begin to fail. The crab pot/trap method will work better as the water temp gets colder. As good as it went, I am thinking we might just have to try another trip next weekend. Once again, here are pics that reflect another great day on the water....

Lid Busting!


B-Bulging!

Crabbing Still Good!

The crab season is soon going to be tapering off. Its a sad reality that comes with autumn. We decided to give it a try again today after much deliberation last night. I really didn't have time to go with the way my work schedule has been but sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do! We got our lines in the water around 7:30 and started after them. The first run proved to go very well. A good sign that we might be in for a good trip. A good one it was! We were ready to wrap up the lines at around 10:45AM after 2 (lids barely fit) b-bulging b-bushels! Certainly one of our best trips of the year. I sure can't wait to get back out again before the water gets chilly and the crabs head for winter hibernation out in the black muddy bottom of the Chesapeak!
I posted an official report on my favorite crabbing site. Click here to check it out> Blue Crab Archive Forum

Here are pics of the results!

The lids barely latch!


Baskets to overflowing!

Sunday Morning.

Wow. Its been way too long since my last post on here. No real good excuse other than laziness I guess. Had a real good service in church this morning. We had our "pre-communion" time of sharing. Its always a special time mixed with joy and sadness. Its obvious that life continues to be a battle for all of us. I continue to thank God for a great bunch of fellow travellers that help me in my walk with Christ. I just want to say how much I appreciate our church and school. We are SO BLESSED and I am afraid I take it for granted far too often. I still feel we have the best thing going and hope the Lord keeps us strong and steadfast in the truth of His Word. It would be so easy to compromise our beliefs and convictions and take the easier road. But we all know where that road leads! May the Lord renew and restore those who expressed deep struggle and defeat.

Missy and Jason's Wedding.

As some of you know, the wedding was to take place outside at our church. Due to the rain and wind of tropical storm Ernesto, plans were changed and the wedding was quickly set up at the place meant for the reception. I was surprised at how well the adjustment went and must say that the service went very good after starting only 1/2 hour later than scheduled.
I have received numerous requests for pictures of this wedding and I apologize for the delay. I was not at the official picture taking session. The pictures below were taken during the wedding and reception. Some were done without the flash.



















Jason talking to the wedding cake maker.


"The Cake"





The Happy Couple.

The Crocodile Hunter.

Most of you have heard the news of the death of Steve Irwin. He was also know as the "Crocodile Hunter". I came across a really good article related to this story. It will really make you think. Click here> Article

Wye Report 8.25.06 (good news/bad news)

I got my new prop installed and we went crabbing at the Wye last Friday. Chad and Kendra were along and we ended up with 2 b-bulging b-bushels! That was the good news. The bad news is...the boat motor is still messing up. It still has this annoying jerk in the motor when in gear and at half throttle or full. I finally gave up and took it down to a marine place to have it fixed. I am beginning to think that only Japanese built motors are the only trouble free motors.... PERIOD! If I have anymore problems with this Evinrude, that last statement will be confirmed in my mind. I might just have to go out and buy me a Honda or Yamaha outboard!
Here are a few pics from the trip....

Hangin on to my hat...


Conrad was up to his usual antics...


Take a look at a crab factory! This female is about ready to unload her eggs. Of course we tossed her back in the water.


The end result... 2 bulging bushels!