Our last walk with Josh.

On last Monday afternoon we went for a last walk with Josh before he left that evening.

We took Baby along for the walk and she was the most thrilled dog in the entire world. She just couldn't stay put!!

God could not have provided a more beautiful day. Sunny and clear, just chilly enough to wear cozy sweaters.

Here are a few pictures from are excursion.

Baby dog!

Brother and Sister.

Some interesting fungi on a tree.

A little "tree house".

Doesn't Faith look like she's sitting in the water?!

You are here.

Our last picture with Josh for a while. May God bless him and bring him home safely.

~Chs

Farewell Party.

Joy, laughter, sorrow, words of wisdom, and prayer were all a large part of the gathering at our house last Friday as we celebrated a new journey in Josh's life. For those of you who do not know, after much thought and prayer Josh chose MP (military Police) as his MOS in the National
Guard and on the 17th of November traveled to Fort Leonardwood MO to begin his basic training for the Army National Guard. So last Friday as his time here drew to a close we invited some friends and family over for a time of fun fellowship and encouragement to Josh.

The little boys absolutely love Josh,

and consequently Josh spent quite a bit of his time, that evening, pushing them on the swings,

and playing football with them. =)


Little John tried his best to push Josh down the"field".


But his plan back fired. ;)


All the families were a great encouragement to us and Josh, and we all enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship.


Many of the men who had been in the service before had wonderful advice and some funny stories which Joshua appreciated greatly.


We enjoyed a scrumptious meal filled with many of Joshua's favorite foods, and some of the "cooks" favorites too. =)

In all, God blessed us with a lovely and inspiring evening with some of the Godly and remarkably loving people he has brought into our lives.


Now I would like to ask all of you, our blog readers, to please pray for Josh down at his BCT.

Please Pray:
That he would stand fast amid the negative and worldly atmosphere around him;

That he would be a witness in his words and actions to his comrades and officers;

That the LORD would protect him from any physical harm as well as spiritual;

That we, his family here at home would learn to trust him completely to God.

I promise to keep you updated as Josh sends us letters and updates.
Thank you for your prayers in advance. ~Chs

The bucks roll in!!=)

Congratulations are in order! Josh was blessed to shoot his first buck!!!! Another first was that he shot it in the day time. All the other times he has had to gut his deer in the dark in the middle of the woods, so this was quite a blessing to do it during the day.

We drove over to where Josh got the deer, and followed him over hill and dale, and through woods to.....

this buck!!!

A nice little four point, who filled our freezer wonderfully. We are very grateful to God for allowing Josh to get this buck before he left for his basic training.

~Chs

Leaves, Leaves Everywhere.

It was a beautiful Monday afternoon when we journeyed down to our friends the Bryson's house, to collect some leaves to chop into our garden to help fertilize it and put it to sleep for the winter.

The Brysons were kind enough to lend us their trailer and tarps,

along with some cheerful helpers!!

Sunny Smiles=)

and laughs!!

When we got back from unloading the leaves in our garden, we helped them load up the rest of the leaves and take them to their "Back Forty".

Baby came along for the ride and enjoyed it thoroughly, especially chasing Marmalade their cat into the barn;)

Riding through the meadow, the youngest Bryson desperately wanted to try to take a picture with my camera. She didn't do to bad did she?

God gave us a beautiful day, for raking leaves. The sky was blue the weather mild and the leaves smelled absolutely lovely.

Faith comented the other day, that leaves (tree leaves in particular) are the only things that smell good when they are dying. Interesting thought isn't it?

~Chs

The Confederate officer.

Josh in his new Confederate outfit that Faith made for him.

Doesn't he look positively smashing?

~Chs

A Harvest Party.

October 31st found most of our family (Dad, Mom, Faith, Christianna, and Josiah.) down at some old friend's house for a Harvest Party.

It was a slightly windy and chilly, but we still had a wonderful time.

The Mills have a great set up, and are incredible hosts.


It was great to see some of the people from our former home school group.

One of the first activities was an archery contest, and everyone lined up out behind the barns for the shootings to begin!

They divided the participants into 3 groups and there were 3 targets at certain distances. The challenge came when they had to find their arrows that missed the target.

One of the first contestants.

And he aims and... aims and releases. Twang!

The winner of the 18 and up age group.

One of the other activities was a family scarecrow competition. We used Josiah's old overalls and flannel shirt. We put some seeds in his pocket and a stuffed bird on his shoulder. He also held a pitchfork and wore an old straw hat.

A very creative pumpkin headed scarecrow.

Here is a Canadian skier Scarecrow.

Darth Vader.

Our finished creation.





Near the end of the evening after the meal Mr. White led us in some square dancing. Faith joined in, everyone had piles of fun!!





Mr. Mills also took whoever wanted to on a wagon ride.

We had a wonderful time with friends celebrating Gods blessing of harvest. Thank you Mills Family!

~Chs