I don't want to gain the whole world...: April 2009

Thursday, April 30, 2009

More on the Family

Well, okay so not the next day but the next week. And actually these are pics from back in September of last year when Susan came down to see my dad while he was feeling bad. I just realized I didn't get many pics of the rest of the family, they were mostly of Susan and her gang. We don't get to see them very much so I guess I concentrated more on them.
I'm still not so good at this whole blog thing cause I was hoping to put up a few more pics but I couldn't figure out how I did it last time. I'm missing a pic of my little brother so I'll just have to get him next time I guess. There are so many more in my family, we all have bunches of children and so if you are interested you can see more of us on my Flickr account. It has the same name as one of my Etsy accounts - HeidisPhotoShop. Okay, that's all for now.
I haven't forgot about an update on the bees. It's going really good - they are loving there new home and have even gained a new sister hive which we've got way out back where we discovered we had some tupelo trees. This is really exciting to me because tupelo honey is often the best honey for diabetics and being I just found out I have that dreaded disease I'm pretty thrilled. Take care all and as always God bless you all.

Okay, this one is Susan and me.

This one is my older brother Ken (and me)

My youngest Sister Marcie (and me)

My mom and me

My dad and me

Friday, April 24, 2009

Family Reunions are Wonderful

This is little Mishpat

This is little Caleb

Susan and Gary's youngest

Rishah

Susan and Gary's oldest daughter
and husband Livi and Shemuel

Susan and Gary's youngest daughter
Shashua

This week for the first time in four and a half years we saw my sisters family. It was wonderful because the last time they were all unmarried and without children of their own. Now three of her five have married and there are 4 soon to be five little ones to love and adore.

My sister and her family live somewhat differently than the average American, or most other folks in the world. They belong to a group that began, I think about 40 years ago in Chattanooga, Tn. They are a very spiritual people who live in a communal way. As I understand it they pattern their lives after the first church in the book of Acts and live "having all things in common". Meaning the basically live in large homes together and share all that they have with those of their community.

My sister, Susan, has been in this group since the late 70's. She married a man who was part of the community (Gary). They had five beautiful children and as already stated their three oldest have married and begun families of their own.

I also come from a family with five children. Most all of us were able to come to my parents home and be together for this reunion. I have posted several pictures that I took while at my folks house the other day while visiting with my family. If I was unable to publish pics of family members at the reunion, I've included others that are fairly recent. I'll include names and who belongs to who underneath each picture. Oh, and another unique thing about my sisters group is that they name their children Hebrew names, ones that have particular meaning. I'm not sure of all the meanings but I do know the names and I'll try to give you a spelling that will help you pronounce it.

Susan and Gary's oldest son, his wife and their first son:

Nezer, Alac (aloss) and little Caleb

Susan and Gary's first grandson, son of their first daughter

Livi, This is little Qadosh (quadosh)

This is my sister Susan and her husband Gary holding
Livi's baby boy Mishpat (mishpot)

My mom and dad and my oldest son Chris

Nezer's wife Alac and little Caleb

I'll try to post more pics tomorrow to show some of the rest of the family. My brother Ken and his wife Kim have seven children. I'm in the middle and my husband Mike and I have six children. My younger sister Marcie and her husband Rick have nine daughters. My youngest brother who we all call Flip lives at home with my mom and dad. He is has Downs Syndrome and will not marry. We all feel very blessed to have him in our family. I hope you will stay tuned for more family updates and pics. Also I feel honored when you ask questions so please don't hesitate. God bless you all. :D

Monday, April 6, 2009

Today we became beekeepers and harvesters of honey

Today my husband Mike and our two middle girls took a trip to Wausau, Fl and picked up a couple of "nucs" These, as I understand are like little mini bee colonys.
Each nuc has a queen, a bunch of worker bees and some frames, already started with wax and honey and all the things little bees need to get a big hive going. Mike had already purchased a couple of bee boxes. He put them together and painted them. He and our girls took them across the street and placed them between our two little ponds. Here they should get plenty of sunshine and water. We have so much vegatation growing around there that we should have some fat, happy little honey producers in no time. This is a project my husband has been wanting to do for many years and I'm so happy this day has finally come for him. Send up a pray that all will go well and that the giant gator he saw this weekend doesn't like honey or bee hives!!

Below I have posted several pictures of honey bees. These are all from photographer I have discovered at Etsy.com. I will put the photographers etsy shop address and the link to each picture below each photographers picture. I hope you will take the time to visit each shop and maybe take a look around. There are some amazing photographers at etsy and if you are in the market for some awesome pictures you will surely not be wasting your time shopping there. Oh, and I have a couple of etsy shops too, ya know, if your so inclined to take a peek.

I hope you all have a marvelous week. Come on back soon for new posts on our new Bee Farm. (Bee Farm name coming soon...)