Birthday Recap

Posted on by Amie Posted in Travels of the Crazy ATagged , , , , , ,

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Wow, are you ready for another lifestyle post?  Seems I get into moods and post a lot of similar posts.  Anyway, today we have a fun birthday recap!  Don’t worry, it won’t take all day to read this.  I just have about a hundred photos to show you.  😂

Before I get into the weekend, we’ll start with a story.  I was working on a story for a contest when suddenly I get a FaceTime call.  Who would it be?  Well, my mom who was on the other side of the house.  I love you too, Mom.  🙂

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If I look a little annoyed, to be honest, I was.  And yes, I was actually listening to music…At least…I think I was.  But that’s my sweet mom, and my brother’s head is cut off in the picture.  I made sure to take a screen shot.  Now for the Birthday weekend.

My Birthday “weekend” as I’ll call it started Thursday.  What did it start with?  A good breakfast and heading to the gun range.  My older brother, younger sister, and dad went with me and our friend also came.  It was our friend’s guns that we shot.

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We look like chipmunks!  Lol!

I have the best little sis ever.  She wanted to come, but at the same time it wasn’t her kind of thing.  I’m the outdoorsy, adventurous one, while she’d rather be painting nails, and reading a book.  (Not that I wouldn’t want to read…)

She shot two different guns and then decided she was done.  But that didn’t wipe the sweet smile from her face.  She was still up to sitting there and encouraging us on.  Love you, sis!

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Yikes!  My dad is a dead-shot.  I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of his gun.  My dad jokingly says that he’s going to get a gun to chase guys away from me.  I think if any guy saw that target, they’d be running off.

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My brother was a very intent shooter.  He wasn’t too bad himself, but watching him shoot made me laugh.

Thursday was a ton of fun, and I’m ready to go back right now.  It was crazy exciting, and I would recommend going to the range for you birthday too! 😉

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Friday was my actual birthday, and I knew I wanted to go hiking.  Nothing’s better than going hiking.  (Okay, shooting and horseback riding are tied with it.)  I chose a place, and woke everyone up early.  (Well, I didn’t.)

I dressed Snowball up in his happy birthday vest and bow, but he wasn’t too pleased.  He soon shed both, and was doing his happy jumps.  My siblings were very excited for me to open my gifts.  I opened them, and here are a few.  (Sorry about the lighting.)

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The Knight Series by Chuck Black!

My younger brother got the Kingdom Series for his birthday, and of course I wanted the Knight Series.  I’m blown away!  I’ve read the first four so far.  Ahh!  This is my new fandom.  Sir Kendrick was amazing, but I enjoyed Sir Bentley better.  Sir Dalton???  Anyone enjoyed it so much that they couldn’t put it down?  Lady Carliss?  AHHH!  The Esca Lizards were amazing…And she was so brave!  And she risked her life, and her love’s life for what she was called to do.

If you don’t have this series on your shelf, you need to get it was fast as you can.  It’s amazing!

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My older brother got me this book.  If you haven’t gotten a Lamplighter book, go hurry!  You NEED to!  Mr. Hamby is so nice, and all the books are so encouraging!  I asked Mr. Hamby which book I should read next, and he told me “The Pillar of Fire.”  We have over a hundred Lamplighter books, and I’ve read all of them once, and most of them more than that.  My favorites are “Ned Franks, The One Armed Sailor”, “The Hidden Hand”, “The Wide Wide World”, and many others!  “A Lost Pearle” is amazing too!  Really, you can’t go wrong with them.

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My sweet pen-pal, Sam, sent me this book.  I haven’t read it yet, but I’m looking forward to it.  Everyone I’ve asked says it’s a great book.  It might just rank up to “Whatever the Cost,” by Jason and David Benham.  We’ll see. 😉

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Can we laugh?  We all know I’m a horrible cook.  But, I love the book “Happy Happy Happy”, so I was thrilled to see this.  I’m deciding what to try first.  Maybe we’ll have a post about cooking in the future.

Those are some of my favorite gifts.  I forgot to take pictures of some, and mostly it was just stationary, pens, thinking puddie, and a necklace.

After a hearty breakfast, we climbed into the car, and rode a delightful 2 1/2 hours to where I chose to hike.  I enjoy long car rides, and guess what we listened to?

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If you’ve never listened to the Bontragers, you must!  It’s amazing music, and it’s Godly, and it’s an amazing style.  They have great voices and harmony.  There’s nothing to dislike there.  (Unless you like rap.  They are definitely not rappers.) I’m actually listening to their music right now.  If you like fiddles, you had better get it.  (Y’all!  They even have a dobro!  After mandolin, that’s the next instrument I want to dabble with.). If you like piano playing, they have that too.  It’s jut great wholesome music.

Once we got to our hiking place, we checked out the gift shop, and my parents headed back to the car to get lunch.  I was placed in charge of the littles.  If I’m in charge of the littles, why not pull out the camera and take pictures?

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Baby sis…

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Emma…

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Little Sis…

After my lunch of ham and turkey, we packed everything up and set off.  We went to a canyon type place.  It was beautiful!  We decided to hike for three miles, and it was above eighty degrees.  Beautiful weather!

But, we had to wait a little bit as my mom and dad got my younger sister into her backpack.  So, what did I do?  Photo time!

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I liked the pine bark, and I was also just playing around.  I like how it turned out.  What do you think?

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I have this thing for fences.  First, take a picture and then what do you do?  Climb it!  My sister and I have climbed barb wire a few times.  Only, I wouldn’t advise that.  I got my poor sister into trouble.  Who would have guessed the cows were actually in that pasture?

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Another birthday gift!  Isn’t it beautiful!? 😍  Yes, I’m in love with this hat.  It fits perfectly, and the colors!  My favorite color ever!  And the embroidery?  Please, guys, tell me this is the prettiest cowgirl hat you’ve ever seen.  It’s the prettiest one I’ve ever seen…For sure.

Plus, it’s a pretty good prop.

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So, a little off the trail were some really old cars that were just left to rust.  They were fun to take pictures of.  What do you think of this picture?  I must say, I’m pretty proud of it.

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See?  It’s a canyon.  We hiked to the bottom, and then right back up again.  Isn’t it lovely? The colors were brilliant, and striking.  I must say, this was one of the most enjoyable hikes I’ve ever been on.

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The sky was so pretty, and everything around the canyon was so green.  It really was a beautiful day!

There was a small church nearby, and so we stopped to look at the graveyard.

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This one just pulled at my heartstrings.  Poor S.O and S.J. Lee.  Their son, Eugene, died before he was one.  The inscription at the bottom said, “In Heaven there is one angel more.”  😥

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There were many slave graves, making it rather hard to walk.  I kept tripping over them. (I know, it’s terrible.) This always makes me want to cry.  They deserved just as much honor as any other person there.

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M.T and M.J. lost four children, each before they were nine.  No, not all at the same time…Just over the years.  Think about the pain in that mother’s heart.  Think about each little lamb that she laid in the sod.  Giving each one back to their Creator.  I can just imagine the happy reunion in heaven when these parents met their “precious little lambs”.

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I wonder when he died…Was it during the war?  I almost think he was buried elsewhere…And his family put this marker up.  I wouldn’t doubt he was the son of M.T. and M.J. that had lost those other four children.  What if he died during the war?  Think of the pain of those parents.  *Stifled sob*

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Another soldier.  Only a private.  Hmm, he lived roughly thirty years after the war.  What did those thirty years hold?  Where they good?  Or where they full of sorrow?  Maybe you can see why I like visiting graveyards.

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Another soldier.  I am beginning to think that maybe these that don’t have the date they were born or died were set up in honor for them.  Maybe by the UDC?

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What was Wilburn’s story?  Did he have a happy home?  What did he sacrifice for that bloody war?  Was it his life?  His love?  His home?  His youth?  If only I could know…

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That’s it.  Just F.M.Bass Co. G.46.  What else?  What is his story?  Did he go to heaven?  Or to hell?  In what way did he impact people?  What does F stand for?  There’s so much more in a graveyard than stones.  Someone actually bore those names…Someone actually knew them…Loved them…and perhaps prayed for them.

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He died…In Griswoldville.  A small battle on November 22, 1864 near Macon, in Georgia.  It was the first battle of Sherman’s March to the sea.  Perhaps this man was protecting his land.  Maybe it wasn’t about slavery anymore.  Maybe he stood to protect his wife and children because his countrymen were standing on his land…Threatening to burn his house.  It wasn’t a war anymore for him…Perhaps…It was only self defense.

And we never hear of Griswoldville, do we?  It was a small skirmish of men standing up to protect their homes…And many of them died for it.

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And on Saturday my younger sister and I went horseback riding.  But that’s another story for a different time, since I just realized the word count is 1744, and I really have to get some dishes washed.

Till next time,

~~Amie~~

 

30 thoughts on “Birthday Recap”

  1. Reply
    Lizzy says:

    I’m so glad you had such a great birthday, Amie!! 😀 The shooting range looks like a LOT of fun, and your cowgirl hat!!!! It’s AMAZING!!! Yep, I’d have to agree with you–I think, seriously, it’s the prettiest cowgirl hat I’ve ever seen. It’s so pretty! And those canyons! They’re so cool! I didn’t know where you live has canyons! Also, all those graves…some of them were so sad!!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Reply
    Sam(antha) B says:

    I’m so glad you like the book, and that you had a good birthday! 💜💜 Your hat is really pretty! Which is saying something, because I don’t particularly care for cowboy hats in general. 😊 😜
    Hope you enjoyed the dishes!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Reply
    Grace H. says:

    Glad you had such an enjoyable birthday! Sounds like a long weekend, but still a blast!!!
    The gun range sounds like so much fun! When we do shooting, we do it here since we have 50 acres. It’s so fun to use the 22 and the shotgun, but the others are fun too. 😉
    Those books all look super interesting! “Do Hard Things” is actually on my list of books to buy and read this year. 😉
    And I LOVE the Bontrager Family Singers!!!!! I have all of their CDs and their music video. Their music is soooo good!
    And your hat is lovely!!!!! I need to invest in a hat… But to be perfectly honest (and to satisfy your request ;), I will tell you that your hat is the cutest I’ve seen. 😉
    Your walk through the graveyard sounds like a very interesting experience. That’s so sad that those parents lost 4 kids before they reached 9 and another son in the war. I wonder what they would think of all of the people in America today who don’t want children and go as far as to abort their children? So sad. It would also be super interesting to hear the stories behind all of those souls who died. What sort of people were they? What sort of legacy did they leave behind?
    And the slave graves are so sad too. You’re right, they deserved as much respect as everyone else buried in that graveyard. 😥

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Reply
      Amie says:

      I love your comments! They’re like small books! I want to try a shotgun. They sound exciting.
      I’ve never seen their music video. What’s it about?
      Exactly! I don’t think people realize how blessed they are. Blind people stumbling in the dark don’t usually see the light.

      Like

      1. Grace H. says:

        Haha! They are kinda long. 😉
        Yes, the shotgun is super exciting! We set up props – a cardboard box, a piece of cardboard on wood round and a wooden board with targets taped on, and with the shotgun I hit the box, blasted the cardboard piece of the wood round and made the wooden board fall over when I hit it. Haha! Super fun. 😉
        Their music video was just them singing. 😉 But I also have the video of the Live Animal Christmas play that their church does every year and in which they were in. It was super fun to watch!!!
        Yes! In the old days people saw the blessings of children whereas nowadays people only think of how hard it is to raise them and feed them and pay for them and everything else. THE BEST THINGS ARE HARD. There is nothing more precious than your own offspring that you have the privilege to train in God’s ways!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Amie says:

        So cool! I’m planning to shoot a shotgun next time we go…At an outdoor range. I’m sure it will be fun!
        We have the Christmas play, and my favorite part is the hawk. It’s amazing they actually had a hawk in the play! If I could do anything, I might just be a bird of prey caretaker.
        YES! The best things are hard. I’m sure it hurts to train children, but if you do it right and have God’s blessing, you will be beyond blessed. 🙂

        Like

    1. Reply
      Amie says:

      Thanks, Rebekah! You actually met them at the Bible Bee? That’s so cool. I think I might want to compete in the Bible Bee next year…We’ll see. This year is a bit busy.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Reply
    Mandalynn says:

    I’m glad you had a fun birthday!
    A shooting range is fun to go to. Have you ever done archery? I have a couple times; it is really fun!
    Hiking is fun! The canyons are really pretty, but next time if your driving 21/2 hours to go hiking why not come to our place and hike?? It’s about the same distance away. Near our house is a big state park with lots of hiking trails that have lovely scenery. So next time you should ask you parents to come here!
    Baby Sis is adorable! That little face she made reminds of Joyful! It’s funny how they look a lot alike!
    And I love your cowgirl hat!! ❤ It is definitely the prettiest I've ever seen! I need one!
    Where did you get it?
    Old cemeteries… I love going to them!! It's fun to think about the people who died and to read the epitaphs.
    You should post about your horse back riding.
    Oh, and yes, do a cooking post! You should join my and Miranda's Crazy Cooks "TV show"
    Ahh, some of the things we have done… 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Reply
      Amie says:

      I have done archery. I was pretty good until I outgrew my bow. One summer I spent a ton of time in our backyard just shooting the arrow. (I also lost about two arrows that way 🙈)
      I should have visited y’all. I wanted to visit someone else, because we were closer to where they lived then where you live.
      I don’t know where the person who gave it to me got it. It was just an amazing birthday gift!

      Like

  15. Reply
    Ave says:

    You said you wanted to play the mandolin, I think if you can play the violin you can play the mandolin(I know, I play both violin and mandolin and I find it very easy!! And I am working on 3 other instruments)

    Liked by 1 person

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