Mountain Musings

Theology of the Family conference

Our annual trip to Asheville, NC took place in May instead of October this time, and spring was another beautiful time of year to visit Ridgecrest Conference Center:

Our lodgings looked out on the rolling hills near Black Mountain:

Since Mom stayed behind at home with Granny, we tried to send her plenty of pictures so she would feel somewhat included in our days:

Mom always loves catching up with various friends who also are attending this conference, so that was a part she was sad to miss. We ran into many familiar faces and met several new ones, too.

These 2 Jonathans caught up on each other's lives:

We heard tales of these young ladies' exciting travels and business ventures:

Our first evening's session was delivered by Paul Washer, who spoke about Fallen Families...a very sobering but encouraging message to start off the weekend:

Meanwhile, Mom back at home picked our quickly-ripening strawberries for me:

During lunch in the dining hall, we chatted with a sibling group from MI and got to know them better:

Free time one afternoon allowed for several of us to drive off-campus to enjoy a short hike together:

Catawba Falls had an upper and lower falls, and we spent some time exploring and relaxing:

My friend Hannah and I, who is also participating in the Spring100 challenge, added some miles to our totals.

As the conference came to a close, we said goodbye to various friends old and new:

2 brothers took a break from their Army duties to spend the weekend with their family:

We made dinner plans with friends from TN and found a local recommended BBQ restaurant.

It was an enjoyable time sharing conversation and a meal together.

When we returned to the conference center, the rest of the night was spent in fellowship with different groups of people who had gathered for an evening of music and talking.

These young men joined in piano and voice for a new version of "Only Trust Him", which was a fitting closing for the event:

We arrived back home to Virginia and regaled Mom and Granny with stories of our time away.

What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to him belong
Who holds our days within his hand?
What comes, apart from his command?
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ, in which we stand.

~Hannah

Shenandoah Valley Landmark Tour - Part 3

Good morning! Our final day of the Shenandoah Valley tour brought us to Staunton, to first explore the Frontier Culture Museum. Even though our family had visited this site in the past it had been quite a number of years. It was a beautiful day for enjoying the outdoors. After our group was given some historical background on the various European settlers who came to America and established homes in the Shenandoah Valley, we were free to walk around for a self-guided look at each of the represented settlements.

Above is the Irish farm, with its stone walls and picturesque buildings. Sheep grazed in an adjacent field.

A variety of animals were living throughout the museum as examples of what the settlers raised. The kids loved this hands-on part!

We took some photo opportunities and even played a game of checkers on the American farm.

A gobbling turkey was the subject of lots of attention...and imitation. ;)

Some of us tried our hand at cutting freshly-made noodles, as the interpreter explained the process.

Dad was interested in taking a closer look at some of the pieces of furniture, as he considers starting a wood-working business in the near future...

Soon we headed out to our next destination: Polyface Farm for a hotdog roast and farm tour with Joel Salatin.

Mr. Turley grilled up the lunch, and Mr. Salatin chatted with attendees as we anticipated beginning our tour.

Our group piled onto 2 tractor-pulled wagons for a hayride out into the fields.

A storm was brewing, but we managed to finish the tour without a drop of rain. Below is the woodland area where the Polyface pigs are raised:

We stopped at various significant spots around the farm as we listened to Joel speak of his farming methods, and in keeping with our tour's theme, of some aspects of farming from a historical angle.

He demonstrated how the chicken pens are moved daily and expounded on the lush forage the animals have available.

After the tour, everyone browsed the Polyface farm store for some souvenirs to take home.

That evening we were all invited to visit the home of Bill Potter and his wife for a closing evening of food and fellowship, including a trivia contest from the week's talks.

 

We were even welcome to wander inside the house to browse the thousands of books in every room. The evening was a fitting close to our historical week.

Hope you've enjoyed this overview of our time on the tour. We enjoyed discovering some new facts about the beautiful area where we live and meeting other people eager to learn. Have any of you traveled through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia?

Be sure to check out Landmark Events' other tours around the country!

~Hannah

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Shenandoah Valley Landmark Tour - Part 2

Day two of our Shenandoah Valley tour began in the small hamlet of Port Republic, VA. We drove past the Kemper House, where, as we later heard the story told, Stonewall Jackson was sleeping before making a narrow escape from the Union army in the streets of Port Republic.

Our group gathered at the foot of this hill, known as "The Coaling," which was the scene of an intense fight between Union and Confederate armies.

We chatted with fellow tour-goers while waiting for everyone to gather for our short hike up the steep hillside.

At the top of the hill, this was the view of the Shenandoah River plain that awaited us.

We paused to listen to Mr. Potter, dressed in his Confederate general's uniform, detail what happened here during the Battle of Port Republic.

The agenda for the remainder of the day was to head north to visit New Market. We browsed the exhibits at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War at our leisure before walking out onto the battlefields.

Everyone marched across the famous "Field of Lost Shoes" carrying flags and wooden rifles.

 

Time for a bit of reenacting of the battle! Dividing into North and South, kids and adults charged across the field with rifles in hand.

Dad acted as the Union's commander, Franz Sigel, and his troops rallied behind him in spite of their defeat.

Posing beside a cannon is always a must. :)

New Market Battlefield was hosting a large reenactment for the 153rd anniversary of the battle a few days after we visited, so our tour planned to return to New Market to attend this event.

When we arrived on Saturday morning, dozens of tents were now in place and hundreds of period reenactors were busy in the encampments, tending campfires, playing fife and drums, and holding artillery exercises.

There was a cavalry demonstration that took place before the actual battle reenactment.

As we waited for the battle to begin, we toured the historic Bushong farm and orchard adjacent to where the fighting took place:

That afternoon, the soldiers from both camps then appeared marching over the hill and the reenactment ensued, as the large crowd that had gathered looked on.

It was a full day, and very interesting to watch! Have you ever attended a historical reenactment?

Later, I'll post about our final day of the tour in Part 3.

~Hannah

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Shenandoah Valley Landmark Tour - Part 1

Last week we were part of a Landmark Events history tour, this time in our own neck of the woods, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. We began in Lexington and made our way up through Staunton, Port Republic and New Market, each day exploring some of the highlights of these towns and listening to stories of what happened at each location, all told through a lens of recognizing God's providential hand through history.

 

gathering on the green in Lexington

Historian Bill Potter led our group as we learned of key people and events, particularly during the Civil War era, as many battles were fought throughout the Valley region. Our first day started in Lexington, where General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's home still stands.

Stonewall Jackson House and Gardens

We wandered the gardens outside and toured the rooms of the house while hearing about the life of this famous man.

Thomas Jackson's Desk

 

touring Jackson's sitting room

Our next stop was the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, where not only Jackson's statue and gravesite is found, but also where many other notable soldiers and family members involved in the war are buried.

Bill Potter speaking to the Landmark tour group in the cemetery

 

Stonewall Jackson's Grave

We took photos, wandered the cemetery looking for significant stones, and enjoyed a conversation with Mr. Turley, who was an excellent tour facilitator.

Dad and Jonathan discussing history in a graveyard

We then continued on to Washington and Lee University, where Robert E. Lee is buried and commemorated.

walking toward Lee Chapel

 

Lee Chapel Window

 

Reclining Lee sculpture

Virginia Military Institute (VMI), also in Lexington, was our final destination for the day.

touring Virginia Military Institute

 

Inside VMI chapel

The 3 of us (Dad, Jonathan, and I) then raced home from Lexington to get ready for an ice cream social we'd planned for tour attendees that evening.

greeting families as they arrive

It was fun to welcome everyone to the Valley and to spend some time getting to know new faces.

enjoying the ice cream social

Young and old spread out on our deck and the grass to eat, talk, and play.

talking at the ice cream social

 

ice cream and fellowship

The event was such a success that we decided to host it again for tour group #2!

Dad and Hannah serving up ice cream

Watch for Part 2 for more of our Shenandoah Valley tour overview!

~Hannah

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Graduation at Liberty Hill Farm

This past weekend our family traveled to northern Virginia to attend the homeschool high school graduation of our friends' son held on the grounds of Liberty Hill Farm. What a delight it was to see our old friends again!

We arrived and mingled a bit with the other guests:Here we are as we awaited the start of the graduation ceremony:The grounds were decorated beautifully, and we loved all the fresh flowers and seeing the creative place setting decor as we took our places around the table:Tables, podium, and gift table in the foreground:The birdhouse favors at each place setting contained a mini-raspberry muffin, and the vases were filled with a variety of flowers, including sprigs of dill....I loved them!After Samuel's dad introduced all the families, presented Samuel's mom with a huge bouquet of flowers as a thank-you for being his homeschool teacher for his schooling years, and spoke about Samuel's many accomplishments and future plans, the parents presented Samuel with his high school diploma. Congratulations, Samuel!While the ladies brought out all the food for dinner, others were invited to go on a farm tour to see the chickens, cows, ducks, turkeys, and sheep. This is either "Virginia" or "Carolina," one of Samuel's cows:Hannah and Sarah helped bring all the delicious food out to the serving table:On the menu: Liberty Hill Farm chicken barbeque on homemade buns, potato salad with Liberty Hill Farm homemade mayonnaise, coleslaw, and cornbread served with raw butter from Liberty Hill Farm milk: Here are more photos:Let's not forget all the homemade desserts, including raw milk vanilla ice cream, along with two graduation cakes, made by Samuel's sister, Treasure: Tom and Jonathan chatting during dinner time with other guests: We soon needed to get on the road home, but we certainly enjoyed our time at Liberty Hill Farm!

Thank you to our friends for a fun afternoon and evening.

~Deb

Family Encouragement Weekend 2011

Meeting other families, eating, and talking...

Singing and listening to messages and testimonies...
 

Playing games outside...

...and cultivating family harmony!

Read more thorough accounts and photos of the weekend shared by the Wilkes, Neely, Staddon, Hynes, and Martin families.

~Hannah

Family Strategies Audio Giveaway Winner!

Family Strategies: Practical Issues for Building Healthy Families is a new audio webinar to encourage Biblical thinking in several areas of raising children and building God-honoring family life, such as mealtimes, family worship, sibling rivalry and character training, hospitality, entrepreneurship, and more. Read further details and hear samples of the topics here.

This morning we used Random Number Generator to see which one of you readers would receive a free "ticket" to this series, allowing you to participate by downloading the 30 minute weekly episodes, hosted by Doug and Beall Phillips. The series begins tomorrow--Tuesday, March 1st, and lasts 20 weeks. Listen to the messages at your convenience.

And the winner is comment #13............................Jenny!

Jenny commented: My favorite topic to hear would be the one on Mealtime! I'm interested in being able to maximize on all our together time, and...well...everyone eats so we'd have a captive audience:)

Jenny, please email me (girotti at wildblue dot net) your mailing address so we can get the information to Vision Forum as soon as possible!

Thank you to everyone who participated! If you didn't win and are interested in ordering this series, be sure to do so by midnight CST February 28 to save $10 and get 2 bonus messages.

~Deb

Family Strategies Audio Giveaway

strat-e-gies: The art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.

Calling all Christian families--it's time for another special giveaway here on Mountain Musings (courtesy of Vision Forum)!

Family Strategies: Practical Issues for Building Healthy Families is a new audio webinar to encourage Biblical thinking in several areas of raising children and building God-honoring family life, such as mealtimes, family worship, sibling rivalry and character training, hospitality, entrepreneurship, and more. Read further details and hear samples of the topics here.

One of you readers will receive a free "ticket" to this series, allowing you to participate by downloading the 30 minute weekly episodes, hosted by Doug and Beall Phillips. The series begins this coming Tuesday, March 1st and lasts 20 weeks. Listen to the messages at your convenience.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling us one of the 20 topics you'd like to hear or that interests you the most. I'll start. I'd be interested in listening to How to Prepare for a Year of Home Education.

This post is now closed and giveaway winner has been announced!

If you are interested in ordering this series, be sure to do so by February 28 to save $10 and get 2 bonus messages.

~Hannah

Another Home Schooling Interview

Since Jonathan and Sarah graduated together from home school six years ago in 2004, the juggle of daily lessons, keeping records, math problems, and scheduling exciting field trips seem in the distant past and no longer a part of our lives. However, we enjoyed those years tremendously and are thankful our family had a very positive experience.

Sherrin, over at The Drew Patch, interviewed Hannah in April and asked about her homeschooling experiences from a daughter's perspective. You can find the interview here if you didn't get a chance to read it.

Sherrin also asked to interview me this month, and she's posted that interview here.

If any of my homeschooling friends can add any positive and constructive tips and resource helps for Sherrin as she anticipates homeschooling her children, please leave a comment about your experiences.

~Deb

Homeschooling for Life

Our regular readers know that we were a homeschooling family for 17 years, teaching all four of our children from K-5 until high school graduation...the last student graduating in 2004. Everyone agrees that it was a great experience!

Sherrin Drew, over at The Drew Patch, has interviewed Hannah and asked her to share some of her experiences on her blog.

You can find the interview here.

~Deb