Hail to Autumn!

The days are quickly becoming shorter and a nip in the air has arrived. Golden and ruddy hues dance among the trees the field herbs are drying up. Today hails the first of Autumn!

"Autumn is a second Spring where every leaf is a flower" Albert Camus

Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”




In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil. And at no season, save perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb colour effects as from August to November.- Rose G. Kingsley



May God in Heaven bless you richly with plenty of harvest, peace and contentment and joy and love in your homes!

Happy Autumn 2007

Sutherland Nature Santuary

A cool breeze was blowing, the clouds were drifting across the sky, and the early September morning was turning out to be perfect for a nature walk as the Bryson and Sauvé families met at the Sutherland Nature Sanctuary in Hadley Michigan. We had been invited to come for a hike by our mutual friend Mr. Reiche, who helps to manage the 75 acre sanctuary. Just before we started out we had the privilege of meeting the friendly chief caretaker of the property, elderly Mr. Ed Dunsmore. He was there when Mrs. Sutherland first bought the land and decided to make it a nature sanctuary 40 years ago.


Once our walk was begun it didn’t take long for the “Oohs” and “Aahhs” to start. Our first wildlife discovery was a handsome common Garter Snake which I caught and we all admired.




As we continued our trek, we came upon many beautiful spots, including a pond, meadows, a little stream which was home to numerous frogs and creek chub, and our favorite spot where the path ran down a long corridor of tall straight pine trees planted in rows.

Another area of interest presented itself where a tornado had touched down recently. Huge trees had been uprooted and we children had a great time climbing on the roots and trunks of these former “Skyscrapers of the Forest.”



Timothy Bryson and I were able to play “elevator” on one of the many saplings which have plenty of room to grow now that their giant neighbors have been laid to rest.
“Elevator” is a game only for those who are not afraid of heights and are capable of shinnying up a small tree. To begin, you must find a suitable tree that is able to bear your weight without bending immediately, but is also not too stiff. Then, simply shinny up until you feel the tree beginning to bend. Go up a little farther and then, holding on with your hands, let go with your legs and “WHEEE” you will come gliding down to the ground. Upon setting foot once again on “Terra Firma,” release your hold of the tree and it should spring back into place. But now back to our nature walk.
The highlight of the morning was another wildlife wonder which I discovered during the first half of our adventure. I was walking along just ahead of everyone else when I heard, and soon saw an anxious mother Cardinal flitting among the bushes. Looking around, I quickly discovered the reason for all the fuss!

An adorable baby Cardinal, who was just getting his feathers, was sitting on a branch just a few feet off the trail.

I quietly called the others and we were all laughing at the funny looking little guy with his hilarious hairdo.


To sum it up, we all enjoyed ourselves immensely and are looking forward to going back as often as possible. Many thanks to Mrs. Sutherland for establishing such a wonderful nature sanctuary and opening it to the public, and of course the biggest thanks to our Lord for His beautiful creation which we enjoyed that day and hope to enjoy many more times in the future.
~Josh Sauvé

Last Week...

...We had our new family picture taken Sunday afternoon.

Christianna and I were the first ones out by the tree, so we practiced and played around a little before everyone showed up.

The boys were first to set up and after probably 20 shots they finally stood still long enough for the below image! =)

Mom and Dad, who by the way celebrated their 26th anniversary on Wednesday.

Faith and Baby. Notice Babe is now a one-eared Corgi? Well actually her other ear is still there but due to a Hematomas (rupture of blood vessel, extreme and prolonged swelling) her right ear will not stand up anymore and has taken on a crumpled appearance. The tip of it is actually trying to stand up but unfortunately the rest of the ear may never fill out again. That's ok though cause she is still a very special dog and we love her no matter what she looks like!

This is before we tried to get a siblings shot. Don't ask.

Lastly, we capture a sisterly picture.

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Beautiful Anniversary flowers

Tuesday morning the Bryson family and ours headed into town for the grand re-opening of our public Library! Though we missed being photographed by the newspaper we still got this photo taken and of course all of us Sauves made sure we signed up for new library cards and even checked out several books!

On Wednesday while Dad and Mom were enjoying a tour of a miniature railroad and lunch in downtown Oxford, Christianna and I helped our friend Theresa collect and clean concord grapes and make juice and jelly. Praise God for yet another bountiful harvest!

Saturday was blessed with a visit by our Aunt Kathy(dad's sister) and cousin Megan from Utah. Though our time was short it sure was enjoyably filled, with lunch, Charity and Aunt Kathy comparing research on our family's genealogy and Megan and I sharing photography adventures and hunting up some "country" shots for her to take home.

While Megan and I were taking pictures Christianna and Josiah headed out through our back acre and found this little guy along the path! A tiny baby Snapping Turtle!

Brother and Sister

Cousin Photographers

What a blessed time it was to be able to see Aunt Kathy and Megan again. As we were thinking about it we haven't see Megan for nearly 12 years! We thank the Lord for His blessings in allowing them to come over and pray that His grace would be upon them all the rest of Dad's family out West.

Harvest Blessings

This year the Lord has blessed us with many amazing things. He has shown his power over the economic situation, moved us and gave us a wonderful new house. He has placed us among good, encouraging Christian friends, old and new, and has given us room to have a beautifully large garden.
One of the things we planted in our large garden, was pumpkins. Josiah decided he wanted to grow them if we promised to make pumpkin pies for him. So Faith helped him make four dirt hills and they planted his pie pumpkins. At first we were slightly worried that they would never come up but finally miniscule bits of green were seen to emerge and Josiah’s pumpkin plants began to flourish. Then we had another problem, the pumpkins were not setting on!! We would see baby pumpkins and watch them carefully only to see them rot and fall off. Finally after about 4-5 “false” pumpkins we had some set and they begin to grow. Problems over right? Well not quite, if you remember these are supposed to be pie Pumpkins. The pumpkins in our garden will not stop growing!!!! They are now larger than a very large Cantaloupe. Josh’s think that is wonderful and surmises that now we can get three pies out of one pumpkin. =)
It has been immensely satisfying to have salad and know that all the ingredients come from our backyard! Cans of pickles sit in our cellar and are mostly made from our cucumbers. One slightly disappointing thing was, because of all that intense heat this summer, our lettuce was quite bitter. Yet we are trying again though, hoping that the fall weather and lots of watering will make a difference.

We are very thankful for friends that helped us with our garden. The cucumber plants were from our dear friend Mrs. Klaty, the dill (for pickles) from our new (and wonderful) neighbors the Brysons. Mrs. Klaty also gave us some leftover pea seeds she had, and last week we had enough peas to have a dish for all of us for dinner!

It has been wonderfully fun watching the itty bitty plants we placed in our garden grow and mature. From little tiny seeds to 6 foot tall pole bean plants which have given us so many beans we are blanching and freezing kits and caboodles of them. The spindly little green stalks we bought have grown into great big full plants loaded with tomatoes which are the juiciest sweetest things (nothing like store bought tomatoes). Surely, the wonders of God’s creation never cease.

We thank God for our garden, and praise Him for the Harvest.

~CHS

The Glory of God Illuminated

The Glory of the New Jerusalem

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

Revelation 21:22-24

The glory of a flower amazes me so much. No matter how small or large it is, the beauty of God's creation shouts out His praise throughout it's rays of color and most of the time delightful aroma. Among all the beautiful flora that our Creator has made to bloom there are only a few that surpass the glory of the Sunflower! Radiant in color and brilliantly designed, it reaches up to the sky, following the Sun and in a way reflecting it's light.

It is an example of our life in Christ. If we are His child we should be constantly seeking and looking up to Him. Following the Way, the Truth and the Life and shining to the world His glory!

Though I'm sure someone else could more eloquently describe this flower, I hope you can still appreciate the beauty of it and the Biblical comparison and enjoy these images! -GES

Our first Sunflower to bloom! Check out those huge leaves!

High and Dry

Did you ever wonder what all the little creepy crawlies do when it rains? Well, I never did, but I sure found out the other day!

A lovely rain storm came blasting through our neck of the woods, sending down buckets and buckets of much needed H2O. Things had been pretty dry around here lately, and that rain was an answer to prayer.

Our yard was soon host to numerous small ponds and lakes, and the garden, with its raised beds and sunken pathways looked as if there should have been a Gondola floating here and there among the lettuce and tomatoes.

We children have always been drawn to rain, and most especially the puddles that it creates. As soon as all danger of Lightening had past, off came the shoes and socks, (if they weren’t off already :-) and away we scamper to dabble about like so many foolish duckies. I had taken up residence in a lovely little rivulet that had sprung up on the front yard, and was merrily wading up and down, enjoying the refreshing water and getting the hem of my dress thoroughly drenched.

But what was this!? Happening to glance down at my feet I noticed a most peculiar thing. An extra tall blade of grass was sticking up above the water, and clinging desperately to it was a very wet, very scared little Roly-poly! “Poor little thing,” I murmured, as I scooped him up and tossed him onto higher/drier ground. “It is a good thing Josh didn’t mow the front yard today.”

Just as I was about to continue with my aquatic adventure, I was stopped short, and quickly leaped from the water in surprise and horror! Hundreds of blades of grass were visible above the surface of the water, and upon further inspection, one could see that almost every blade was occupied by a wet little bug of some kind or another. And to think! Here I had been unconsciously splashing about, knocking the poor little things off of their towers of refuge!

I was thoroughly disgusted with myself!



Ants, roly-polys, spiders, snails, lady-bugs, and even a funny looking long-nosed fellow, all were perched on top of the grass, trying their hardest to stay dry. Grace was quickly called over, and she succeeded in procuring a few photos for your enjoyment.

So next time it rains, go check out the nearest grassy puddle, and perhaps you will find a few insects trying to stay high and dry!