Escape Room

So I'm a little slow posting this . . . but the Friday after Thanksgiving my sister took us to an "escape room" in Alexandria. This is where you are locked in a room and have to find and figure out clues to escape. In our room there were a bunch of locked boxes that we had to figure out the clues to get the combinations to unlock them, and then find the pirate's gold. We needed a couple of hints (the people there said most groups need a little help) but then we started to get the hang of it and got it done with 3 minutes to spare! (They give you one hour to do it.) It was fun. I think she's going to try to find us another one to try after Christmas, since my wife was working and couldn't join us for this one.

Anyway, a couple of pictures . . .

The name of the place we went to.

Us with the opened chest of pirate's gold.

Catching Up

I know, I know, it's been a while since I posted. Life has been quite busy. Currently I have:

5 different catechism classes
2 campus ministries
3 Bible studies
A Mission Church start
A Doctoral dissertation
Circuit Visitor duties
And the regular church duties of meetings, visitations, web site updating, email devotions, newsletters, oh, and yeah, some sermons to write!
And might as well throw in yard work, house work . . .

So yeah, a little busy these days. :-)  But all good stuff! (Well, mostly good. Circuit Visitor has to deal with some not good stuff.)

But I do have a few pictures for you . . .

My youngest turned 13 this year! Instead of a cake, she got a cheesecake with blueberries and raspberries baked in. Yum!

The local squirrel enjoying our Halloween pumpkin.

And finally . . .

Our first snowfall of the year! It's not going to amount to much, and when the temps go up a bit it's going to turn to rain and wash away, but it's pretty now.  :-)

Oops! She Did It Again!

Went to my daughter's symphony concert in Richmond last night . . .

She was Concertmaster last year for one of their concerts and was sure she'd never get it again! We made a bet: she said no, I said yes. Now lookin' forward to the pay off . . .  :-)

An Oldie But Goodie . . .

Been a while since I last blogged . . . catching up after vacation . . . trying to get going with my dissertation proposal . . . root canal . . . family and home stuff . . . always lots to do! But anyway, here's an oldie but a goodie for you, as I try to get back to some kind of normal with the ol' blog here!

The flesh is the hinge of salvation. . . . The flesh, then, is washed so that the soul may be made clean. The flesh is anointed so that the soul may be dedicated to holiness. The flesh is signed so that the soul may be fortified. The flesh is shaded by the imposition of hands so that the soul may be illuminated by the Spirit. The flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ so that the soul too may feed on God. They cannot, then, be separated in their reward, when they are united in their works.

~ Tertullian, Resurrection of the Flesh

Vacation - Philly Pics

I promised some pictures from Philadelphia from my wife's camera . . .

Pat's Cheesesteaks for lunch, of course!

Inside of one of the "spurs" of the Eastern State Penitentiary.

Outside the Penitentiary, in the courtyard.

(The headphones are for the audio tour as you walked around.)

Vacation - Home and Past Home

So our time out west came to an end. Thursday morning was one last day at Capitol Reef and then the drive to Salt Lake City for our flight home. A couple last pictures . . .

We had the red eye out of Salt Lake, which left at about 11 pm (MT). That got us into Orlando about 5:30 am (ET), and then our flight back to Washington and transport home, so we got home late morning. 

But lo! Vacation was not yet over! We still had a couple more days, so after doing a couple loads of laundry and repacking a little, we loaded up the car and drove to Philadelphia. That's why I entitled this post "home and past home." We came to our current home and then drove to our past home - Philadelphia. We spend our last two nights there going to an old used book store we liked to frequent, going to a Phillies game (they won!), and also going to Eastern State Penitentiary - one of the first penitentiaries in the United States. We'd been wanting to go for a while, but never had the chance. I don't have the pictures right now, but will post some if I get them from my wive's camera. The picture I do have is of the game we went to . . .

Daughter Peasant and I with a replica of the 1980 World Series trophy.

Our Sunday in Philadelphia, we went to church at the National Mission sight there, Logos Lutheran Church. I know the pastor - he's a good guy. :-)

Vacation - One More National Park

Wednesday morning of our second week, we rose somewhat early to go back to Bryce and get one more hike in before having to depart for our last National Park. We went to see the Tower Bridge. Like one of the other trails we had taken yesterday, this one was a significant descent into the canyon, and then (of course) a significant climb to get back out! But we did well. Here is what the Tower Bridge is . . .

As the Ranger explained to us, it looks like the Tower of London. Indeed, it does!

The other thing about Bryce is that it had some cool trees, especially the different kinds of pine tree. But take a look at this one!

There were lots of these "twisted" trees.

And maybe just a couple last photos to share from Bryce . . .

And then it was on to our last stop out West, Capitol Reef National Park.

Now, I have to admit, after seeing Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, Zion, and Bryce . . . well, I didn't "get" Capitol Reef. All the others have some outstanding feature, but Capitol Reef doesn't. It has a whole lot of different things. Not that it didn't have cool stuff - it did. But it was the hardest for me to understand and wrap my mind around. After we took a Ranger-led hike on Thursday morning it made a bit more sense to me, but I have to admit, this was my least favorite of all the parks we went to. Still glad I went, though!

Can you tell where the river is?!

The thing the Ranger said is significant about Capitol Reef is that there are 19 rock layers that have been exposed, giving geologists a lot to study. It is by far the most in one place for study like this.

Tomorrow: Last Couple of Days