Other Fall Activities

Trout fishing at Kleiner Pond near the Village.

Zoe was completely fascinated with the whole fishing thing.

On one our our Casual Co-op outings we went to the Botanical Garden which is located right by the trail head for the Table Rock hike and the Old Penitentiary.  Since not a lot is going on this time of year in the Garden, they have a scarecrow scavenger hunt which all the kids enjoyed.  We snapped a few photos of our favorites.

These little guys scampering around always remind me I'm not in NW Iowa anymore.

View of the Old Penitentiary from the Garden.

Another view from the Garden.

Statue of Sacajawea in the Lewis and Clark garden area.

I took a break from Nicolas' Dordt blanket to crochet a little literary figure (Hester Prynne) for Anna's English teacher (who she loves) after they finished The Scarlet Letter in American Lit classes.

Russ flew to Queensbury, NY to speak at a Reformation conference in Pastor Ned Suffren's church.  In between his talks on the five solas and John Knox, Russ had a little time to sight see.  The first pictures are of the Hudson Bay and where the battle in The Last of the Mohicans occurred.

Cooper's Cave which offered protection  to the Mohicans.

Ned (in red) and some members of his congregation who hiked with Russ.

The pictures below are all of the Hudson River.  Russ said the pictures really don't do justice to the beautiful fall colors.

After planning for over a year, Reformation 500 Boise finally came to fruition.  We had a great weekend of fellowship hosting both Dad and Mom and Dr. and Mary Beeke.  The talks on the five solas and on practical lessons from the life of John Calvin and Martin Luther were very well received.  Dr. Stephen Meyers gave two of the talks and Dr. Beeke gave three plus a question and answer time which Russ moderated.  It is hard to capture all the time and planning that went into this event.  Mom and Dad were troopers helping us work through the registration list to stuff packets.  We thought we would be pleased with 300 or so registrants so it was incredible to have about 650 people register.  Dr. Beeke also preached twice at Cloverdale URC on Sunday.

The new Mormon temple in Meridian was completed this fall and for 2-3 weeks they opened it for public tours before it would be closed to any outsiders.  On Monday after the conference we scheduled a tour while Dad and Mom were still here.  The tour prompted many a discussion on what the Mormons believe and why they are not just another branch of Christianity.

View from the back of the temple.

Playing a rousing game of Mexican Train.

The "Animal Whisperer"

As usual, it was wonderful to have Dad and Mom here.  Saying good-bye was slightly easier knowing we are going to spend two weeks in Iowa over Christmas break!