Constitution Week Celebration

On Saturday, September 22nd, our family both attended and participated in a celebration of the 220th anniversary of the signing of our nation's Constitution.





John & Joshua helped with the video-taping of the event. Dad dressed in colonial attire to fit the occasion and the rest of us enjoyed the speeches, patriotic music, re-enactors, and other events of the day.






Thankfully, since everything was outdoors in front of the Historic Lapeer County Courthouse (circa 1845), the Lord gave us a beautiful day weather wise. The day's activities began with a short parade through part of downtown Lapeer. It was followed by a reading of the Declaration of Independence.


















Then, sprinkled throughout the afternoon, were readings of parts of the U.S. Constitution between speeches by two guest speakers (Dr. William Allen - professor of Political Philosophy at M.S.U. and Col. John Eidsmoe - retired Air Force Lt. Colonel & professor of law).







Also, there was a patriotic concert by the Lapeer Civic Orchestra (some members of our church play in it) and a choral concert by a local church choir.





While all these things were going on in front of the Courthouse, off to one side a group of re-enactors portraying settlers, trappers, and soldiers from our State's early history had an encampment with lots of fascinating artifacts and crafts. Our good friend Brian Ervin was primarily responsible for organizing this wonderful day.









Overall, it was a great time and we thank God for the freedoms we have and the godly heritage left to us by our founding fathers. Hopefully, we will not waste it nor continue to water down the principles upon which this great nation was founded.










~Pepe

The Wildlife Recovery Association

[Nothern Saw-whet owl pictured]

The great yellow eyes stared back at my steel blue ones and I felt, at the same time, both glad and sad that the leather gloved fingers of Joe Rogers were wrapped tightly around each talon tipped leg of the beautiful Great Horned Owl. Glad, because they enabled me to get a wonderful view of this powerful predator with no danger to myself. Sad, because this amazing bird that God created will never again be able to fly free in the habitat that God designed it for. You see that owl, like all the other raptors we met that evening had been injured in one way or another and would not be able to survive on their own back in the wild. Before I go any farther however, let me give you a little background.


It was Tuesday, September 18 and we were on our way to the Seven Ponds Nature Center for a program presented by Joe and Barb Rogers, the founders of the Wildlife Recovery Association. The Association is dedicated to taking in injured wildlife, rehabilitating them, and if possible releasing them back into the wild. If they are too badly injured to be released they do their best to make them comfortable for the rest of their lives. At this time all of their patients are birds, raptors to be more specific.


On Tuesday, Mr. Rogers had brought a variety of birds of prey ranging in size from tiny Screech Owls and American Kestrels to a Turkey Vulture and Bald Eagle. The Kestrels were very excitable little fellows who kept flapping their wings for all they were worth and screaming at the tops of their little lungs. Each of the birds that Mr. Rogers uses on his presentations is injured in some that prevents its release. He would never bring a wild bird that can be released back to its natural habitat. Of the birds we met, the most common injury was permanently damaged wings, and a few of them were blind in one eye.
I tremendously enjoyed getting to see these amazing aspects of God’s handiwork up close. Every one of these beautiful birds was created to fit perfectly into its environment. The hawk has powerful stiff feathers to give it strong downward thrust so that it can fly fast enough to catch its prey. The owl’s feathers are much less stiff to enable it to fly silently so that it can stalk its prey.

I thank God for the variety and wisdom that He used in His creation. Also many thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers for sharing their love for wildlife with us. May God bless you in your wonderful work.


~Josh Sauvé

Sorry for the delay!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. We do, however, have quite a few articles coming so please be patient!





May God be with you all!





Blessings from the Sauve's

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.