More Cell Phone Camera Pictures from Arkasouri

Here is our primary reason for making the trip in July/August this year: precious little Hannah Frances Miller, born while we were there. We thank our gracious Heavenly Father for another providential addition to our family, grandbaby number 26. What a blessed family we are! For a complete account with lots of real pictures, go to the Discher's blog:

www.thedischerfamily.blogspot.com


Danny and I knew we were doing the big "rafting down the river" thing with the older ones, so we decided one day to take three little ones with us to town for some errands and . . .
BOWLING!! If you have never been bowling with a nine-year-old, a 4-year-old and a 3-year old, you don't know what you are missing! Rosie, Savannah, and Emma Jane will be happy to show you how to work those bumper lanes! Here, Savanna waits with great anticipation to see what happens with her turn.

Emma Jane just knows this will be the big one! They were fascinated!

Granddaddy shows Savannah how to hold the ball. Thank goodness, the lanes had the foresight to have some 5 lb. balls. Lofting them doesn't do quite as much damage to the wood!

Rosie caught on very quickly and had some pretty good scores! The men at the desk were just kept in stitches by the two little ones and their running commentary. What a nice thing that we had the whole place to ourselves! We loved it!

Every time we have been up for a visit, I have wanted to take a gravel road with a sign that says "Locust 2 miles". This time we did. It is a little community hidden in the bottom of a hollow, a very quaint little place with only a few cottages. Jason says it floods when the flash floods come, so I guess it isn't the best place to build. This is a picture of the old post office/general store. The sign says "Locust 1908 Store and Post Office" and it lists the Breeding family, founders of Locust.
Interesting.

"Big Man" Paul decides he is going to take us for a drive. He loves to make those Brrrrmmm, brrrmmmm sounds all little boys seem to be born knowing how to make! We miss you so much, Paul!

Silly girls! This must have been on the way to go bowling -- they are just too excited!

Well, the day for the big rafting trip came. The Missouri Frodges and Dischers (except Eddie) loaded up with Danny and I and off we went to the put in at Hodgson Mill, about 35 min. from the property. Kitty had been looking forward to this for a long time! So, everyone put in and left Grandmother (me) to drive down to the take out at Warren's Bridge.

It was an 8 mile run, which Danny assured me would take only a couple of hours. I had my doubts, based on a canoeing trip about 30 years ago! At any rate, what would I do by myself for those hours waiting at a strange, backwoods bridge, which turned out to be the local swimmin' hole for Darryl and my other brother Darryl (think "Newhart").

After about an hour or so wait, Beth, Ashley, and their babies appeared, thank God. when they had put in, the water was fast, and they just knew there was no way they could take those babies. So they joined me, and we waited. After another few hours, some kayakers got out, and we asked about the timing of the trip. They turned out to be experienced and they assured us our rafters would not be there until 9:30 pm or so! We had time, lots of time. So we went home to get Eddie and get dinner started.

About 8 pm, up pulled a pickup in the near dark with lots of girls waving at us vigorously. It was our girls! Granddaddy and 5 Discher girls had been smart. They saw lights near the creek and threw themselves on the mercy of a kindly couple, who drove them to the take out. "This isn't the first time", they assured us. Jason, Peter, and little Savannah had been ahead of them, so, after profusely thanking the rescuers, we knew the only thing to do was wait. . . . and wait . . . and, listening to the howling coyotes, wait.

At about 9:30, with truck lights shining on the creek, we finally saw and heard the long-lost rafters! Peter barely makes it from meal to meal as it is, but he was famished, so the peaches we had brought for snacks filled the need.

Jason was never so thankful for a towel! What a saga they had to tell! Little Savannah was quite a trooper -- of course, her daddy was pulling her in the raft, but he said she didn't whine or cry and trusted him completely. Home we went with the exhausted, but exhilarated, adventurers! Every generation needs an adventure story to tell the next, and this is this generation's -- until the next time!

Once More, Thanking the Lord . . .

. . . for cell phone cameras! We left our "good" camera at home again, so the phone camera was the only option to capture so many memories. Blogger is letting me post only these photos, so this will be one of those theme posts -- APPLES!

The Dischers have become bold in their quest to glean throughout the community. If there are wild berries by the road, they hurry home, gather containers and a few bottles of cold water, and off they go. It's berry jam time! They saved me a variety of early berries in the freezer, and what a delight they were! Mulberries, dewberries, gooseberries, blackberries, black raspberries -- gathered wild and wonderful. And of course, the wild strawberries. How excited I was to hear them tell of finding them! It brought back memories of gathering wild strawberries when I was about 5 years old and my mother making a strawberry pie for my brother's birthday.

They are also on the lookout for fruit trees. Many people have them in their yards, but don't want to bother to pick them. (Just as they do with citrus trees here in FL) So the Discher girls boldly (but politely) march to the door and ask in their most enterprising way if they can pick their fruit, offering to share the bounty.

One day during our visit, they discovered two loaded apple trees, obtained permission from a very nice gentleman, and off we went!

Beth and Danny get a little father-daughter time while gleaning.

Peter and Danny decided the best course for the high branches was for them to shake the tree. Then little Rosie and others gleaned from the ground. These apples were set to be processed right away, so the fall wasn't too injurious.

Gracie had her own method and her own artistic "picker bag".

Danny loves finding unexpected treasure as much as anyone!

Peter graciously scaled the heights to reach the many fruits no one else could get to.

Kitty in her own inimitable way proving that girls in skirts can do anything they need to! Markie, left, stayed on the ground

A truckload of future applesauce! Thank you, Lord, for your bountiful provision, where you least expect it! I believe the Dischers are off to pick wild plums today . . .!

You Know What . . .?

You know what? I decided (at least this time) to just do it! I mean to just get some pictures on here with no rhyme or reason. I mean, for goodness sake! It's been 4 weeks again! I usually think up a theme, ponder over great words of wisdom for the generations to come, plot out the order for pictures to appear, etc., etc., etc. . . . Pondering tends to take me a long time! So here are some random pictures of the recent past. There is a lot of activity coming up in the Frodge family, so maybe another theme post or two will get put up in timely fashion. Til then, here is more "this and that!" (All taken on my phone camera -- I am not a natural photographer, so I usually think of the camera after-the-fact! Thank the Lord for phone cameras!)


What a wonderful surprise met me today when I stopped by the Stricklens today! Margaret Anne had just made fresh cinnamon rolls with glaze, and she had one waiting for me. Mmmm, mmmm! What a treat! And what a blessing to know that all of my darling granddaughters, even down to the very young ones, are accomplished bakers, among their other many talents! Thank you, Margaret Anne! (Notice the refreshing glass of Southern iced tea in the background!)


Ummm . . . Latte's last morning. We are blessed to have a traveling abattoire nearby. Hicks Meats comes to the farm with their refrigerated truck, and butchering is done in the most humane way possible. We have been very thankful for their service. To see this man work is like watching an artist. There will be fresh, grass-fed beef in the freezer soon!

When Granddaddy says "Roadtrip!", everyone scurries to get ready! Recently, he decided he needed to go tubing in some nice cool water, so Rainbow Springs was the chosen destination. It was a beautiful overnight trip, and Molly's family has some wonderful pictures up at www.thestricklenfamilyblog.blogspot.com My phone camera came out on the way home at the steakhouse. (you knew this was from a phone camera, right?) Margaret Anne, CJ, and Mary patiently waiting for good steak.

Sadie, enjoying her turn with Nathaniel, Abby and Callie anticipating

I love this picture of Molly and William getting in some sweet face time. William is blessed to have older sibling to have a turn with Nathaniel, so he gets to be mama's baby boy again for a few minutes!

Molly always likes to make sure she gets plenty of pictures with her parents, and we oblige her, maybe a little bit begrudgingly. But hey, we do want our great-grandchildren to know we were part of their family!

The Berean Baptist crowd came out to the country one day to do a little shooting, and Julia Doolin had not met Nathaniel yet. What a blessing to see how God has worked in sweet Julia's life!

Danny enjoyed the opportunity to practice his shooting skills. He has great aim, when he is practiced up. Once he won me a turkey in a turkey shoot, so he is my hero forever!

Michael Doolin shooting. The Stricklens are so hospitable when anyone wants to spend the day in the country. Well, graduation for two of the grandchildren is next! The Dischers should be here in a couple days for that, then I am off with them to spend a couple weeks in Arkasouri, and the birth of little baby Miller is due August 3! Exciting days await . . . Thank you , Lord for my blessed life.

More This and That, Here and There

Well, once again, I apologize for being so negligent in getting this updated. You know all the really good excuses ... "We have been busy" ... "Life keeps rolling on " ... "Etc., etc" Anyway, here we are! A little Here and There. First, There (Arkasouri)

Why, what have we here ?? Oh, it's a little ham in a pot! Silly Emma Jane decided to see if she would fit in the stock pot. She did! Don't remember if I posted, but her hair is cropped short because she got ahold of the scissors one day when she and Savannah were being quiet . . . a little too quiet . . . in the back room.

Oh, my goodness! Another little ham in a pot! Thankfully, by the time Beth got to the little rascals, Emma had only snipped a little of Savannah's beautiful long hair!

Men doing what men do -- plot, plan, scheme how to take dominion, even if it's just a game of Risk! Around the table l to r: Peter, Daniel, Uncle Jay, Matthew, and RG standing.


RG holding little cousin Paul. Paul is so blessed to have good, strong, godly male role models in his life.
The birthday youngins, Rosie, Rachel, and Joey. In a family of 25 (soon to be 26) grandchildren, it seems to work to have group birthday parties. What a fun day it was!

Grandmama, Uncle Jay, and Aunt Ashley enjoying the party. Any opportunity for fellowship is greatly enjoyed.

Scrabble was our game of choice in the evenings this trip. Of course, Rosie is becoming a competent young woman, so she was always hoping to get to play with the "big people". When Grandmama found this travel Scrabble game, it sounded like the perfect birthday gift for a budding Scrabbler! Rosie, I am coming up in July -- get the travel Scrabble ready!

The older children (mostly sweet Markie, I believe) planned and worked and set up a fun "follow the trail" treasure hunt for the little ones' party. I love how the older children in our family love doing things for the younger ones -- they are great examples of multi-generational thinking.

Granddaddy and Rosie share a sweet moment.

Daniel and his little cousin, Clay. Two real men of God!

Time to leave for home. Saying goodbye to my "baby". What a blessing to know that the Arkasouri families are in strong, faithful arms! Jason, Eddie, and Robert -- God bless you as you work diligently to bring up another generation for God's glory.

Beth and I share a goodbye hug. How we miss these times! But God is doing wonderful things with our family there in the Ozarks.

On the way home: Danny and I trying a new cafe in Mayo, Fl. Mayo is a neat little place, so different from what people think of as typical Florida.

We stopped in Appalachicola along the gulf. We really love this little coastal town. You would love it, too. Just get off the Interstates and see "real Florida!"

This is the Orman House in Appalachicola. It has been established as a state park, and what a history it has! The guide who took us through it was very entertaining and very careful not to demonize the South. He did a great job. The entrance fee was very reasonable, and we enjoyed it immensely.

Here: Back home, we found that our nectarine tree actually had fruit on it! We did not expect a yummy, home-grown nectarine the first year. It WAS good!

Miss Margaret Anne, who found the nectarine. Margaret Anne is a natural green thumb, like her mother, so she keeps us informed about the state of our "garden" and trees. Note her cast on her arm. She is scheduled to have the rod removed next week, and her healing has been normal and timely. Thank the Lord!

We also came home to these adorable little guys! What a good big brother William is for little Nathaniel! See that hand with the wedding ring? That is the other daddy -- Chris, the Florida faithful father. We love and appreciate you, Chris.

I just love this picture of Abigail singing "Scots Wha Hae?" (Check me out here, Gracie!) the Scottish freedom anthem. This is from the Stricklens' Highland Festival (see a great post at
www.thestricklenfamilyblog.blogspot.com) Abby sings with a strong, clear, confident voice.

Our annual church blackberry picking/picnic out in our Piney Woods (or Enchanted Forest, as the grandchildren call it)! Thanking the Lord for a good time together.

Some of the children love to go fishing in our little pond, too. here CJ snags a little bluegill. According to CJ, it is bigger than it looks, because it is turned sideways!

Sadie was going for a fish, but look at this big turtle she snagged! Lad is wondering if it would make a good snack. It was released back into its murky home, much to its relief!

Ladies relax after lunch, while the little ones and daddies keep picking those sweet, abundant berries!

We close out Here and There with William, enjoying the bounties of Florida. Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful life you have given us. Tough times or abundance, You are faithful to provide for Your people.