29

Today is the 29th Anniversary of my enlistment as a Private in the United States Army Reserve and following the incident with my car I'm feeling rather introspective - lucky you. After earning my commission in the Minnesota National Guard and spending about 10 years in the California National Guard and now back in the Reserves I can honestly say its the people that I've met that have kept me coming back. Over that time I've had the opportunity to work with some of the most faithful, dedicated, intelligent, insightful and caring people that you could ever hope to meet. It's been the source of some of my strongest and longest friendships as well as some of my greatest challenges.

Thank you Brothers and Sisters in Arms for making the United States Army the great force for freedom that it is!

ouch!

F-250 versus miata, guess who won? Today on the way home from work I had an unplanned meeting with another low country driver. Fortunately there was a police officer there already for the stalled dump truck in the far right lane. It was a very low speed accident; the bumper, trunk lid and spoiler protected the rest of the car and nobody was hurt. I think there was a small piece of spoiler stuck to the brush guard of the truck though.

Accepted!!

For the past 16+ years we've been telling our oldest son that he is exceptional, but as a homeschooling student I don't thing he believed us. I can't imagine why he'd think we're biased.

For the past two years at Contra Costa Community College he's been on the on the dean's list every semester; still he didn't believe us. This past week he was accepted to all three of the 4 year colleges that he applied to - with merit scholarship offers from each. He was surprised, we weren't; we're just excited that he's starting to feel what we see - that the Lord has blessed him with great abilities and he has unlimited opportunities!

Congratulations Thomas!!

Africa Pictures

The girls near Capetown South Africa.

The last night before they came home was spent in a preserve for lions rescued from captivity but unable to be returned to the wild because of injuries.

Here are some of the students and our missionaries at one of the schools in South Africa after a True Love Waits presentation.

The stories are the same there as they are here, abstaining is as valuable here as it is there. Please continue to pray for the lives that will be changed for the better as a result of this trip.

Camp Pizza

This past weekend I was all set for a weekend camp out with the Boy Scouts but a nasty cold kept me and my son home for the weekend. Although we weren't able spend the night out in the tent we did follow through with one of our weekend plans - perfecting the Camp Pizza.

After an hour with Google and mixing, matching and cutting recipe's we came up with our first candidate. We set the following goals for our recipe:

1. Needed to be quick to fix so no yeast.
2. Minimal number of liquid ingredients.
3. Simple enough to put together in camp with minimal work space.

By the end of the weekend we'd worked out a pretty decent pizza that cooked up in about 20 minutes on our kerosene camp stove in an MSR aluminum pot.

Camp Pizza Crust (makes one 9" pizza):

Mix the following dry ingredients in a zip-lock bag:

• 1 c. All purpose flour (If you use wheat flour you will need more liquid).
• 1/2 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/8 tsp salt

When ready to prepare add the following liquid ingredients and mix/knead:

• 1/3-1/2 c. of warm Water
• 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil

Pour about 1 tsp. of Olive Oil in the pot and spread around the bottom to keep the dough from sticking.

Spread the dough in the bottom of the pot making a slightly thicker crust around the edges.

Camp Pizza Sauce (enough for two 9" pizzas):

• 1 6oz. can Tomatoe Paste
• 3 oz. (half can) Water
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1/2 tsp Basil
• 1/2 tsp Rosemary
• 1/2 tsp Thyme
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Spread the sauce on the the pizza crust.

Add toppings:

• 1/2 c. Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 sliced Green Pepper
• 1/2 sliced Red Pepper
• 1 sliced cooked Italian Sausage

Cover pot and put on stove to cook at a very low heat (flame should be orange not blue) and check every 5 minutes or so. Once the cheese melts it should be done.

Enjoy!!

Snow in Charleston???

It must be following me from Minnesota, we actually have enough snow on the ground to make a snowman!!

After the the East Coast was buried earlier in the week it was the South's turn for the weekend. The snow followed me back on my return from Atlanta and shortly after I tucked my car into the garage the melting snow started to freeze and stick - made it back just in time.

The challenge is that everyone I know, myself included, got rid of our snow shovels when we moved here so it looks like we'll be waiting for a thaw before we can get the walks cleared.

I guess we'll need to move farther south or import some snow shovels - now about that global warming ...

More touristing in our own town

This past January we once again took advantage of the tourist in your own town passes that we enjoyed so much last year.

This year the weather wasn't as cooperative regarding some of the outdoor opportunities but we had a great time anyway. My children took me to the Yorktown again where we visited the Medal of Honor Museum and read many of the inspirational stories of personal sacrafice over our nation's history.

We also hit several resturaunts and one of our new favorites is The Buccaneer in downtown Charleston.

While I was toiling away Elizabeth and the kids visited a number of plantations, a great out of the classroom addition to our history program.

Another Milestone

This past week our middle child and only daughter took one more step on the path to adulthood. For years her primary income has been as a child and dog sitter and she has done quite well; but she decided it was time for bigger things and will be going to work at Publix grocery store in the next week.

As a father it has been wonderful to see her excitment at being accepted into this new role. For years we've been telling her how capable she is but for some reason she thinks that we're biased so its great to have our opinions confirmed by an outside source.

Pets and More Scouting

Today our Boy Scout earned his Tenderfoot rank. It was great to see him and all the other Scouts recognized for all of the hard work they've put in. He also received his First Aid, Metalworking, Swimming, and near and dear to his father's heart - Small Boat Sailing.

Earlier in the day we took Seabreeze to the Low Country Paws and Claws Pet Expo at the Charleston Convention Center We had a great time and Seabreeze was very well behaved among all of the other dogs at the Expo. For only living in Charleston for a little over a year I was suprised by how many people I knew there (and that they were all pet lovers as well).

Voddie Baucham Conference

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Voddie Baucham conference put on by the James Island Christian Church with my wife and daughter. The subject of the discussion "what he must be to marry my daughter" provided some excellent biblical insight into what the Bible says about the important role that a father plays in helping his daughter find a suitable husband and in the character traits that she needs (from a biblical perspective) to consider as she considers this important decision.

Being able to do this with my daughter was great because it helped us come together on an issue that we were not fully aligned on before. If you haven't had an opportunity to hear any of Voddie's sermons I highly recommend him, his talk on Children of Caesar on YouTube is a great starting place.

Drayton Hall

This past Labor Day weekend we had an opportunity to visit Drayton Hall and had a great time during our visit. Elizabeth's timing was excellent as the visit coincided with several promotions that were going on. The end result was that we only had to pay for one admission for our family of four and recieved a treat bag for the dog as well. Drayton Hall is a preserved, rather than restored plantation so there is paint on the walls that dates from the 1800's and it shows. It's the only plantation along the Ashley River that survived the Civil War among other disasters.

The docent that guided our visit did a great job sharing about the architecture and history of the plantation from its beginnings through phosphate mining and up to the present day.

New Boy Scout

Last week our youngest bridged from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and earned his arrow of light award. This was a fantastic experience and we're really excited about his new troop.