Checking the target for aim and accuracy... 

The two bros., they haven't been together for 15 years as one moved back to their birth place in Iowa. This was time for good memories and just being brothers again. As small kids they were brought up in Iowa as "share-croppers". They lived in a one room house with their parents and three sisters. They started hunting and trapping for food with their father at the ages of 4 and 5 years old. They were blessed with a mother who loved the Lord and would take them to Church every Sunday, either on foot or in a wagon. They went to every Tent Revival that came through town and they learned that the Lord was their provider and that He was the one that kept them alive from day to day. They went to school with opossum, squirrel, rabbit, ground hog or whatever they trapped in their lunches and they wore shoes with no soles, but they were happy and loved and that is what meant everything to them. God kept them alive though the younger one, my husband had rickets at the age of 3 and had eaten a pound of plaster out of the wall before they realized what was wrong. God's hand has been on these men since they were babes. The older of the two has a testimony that would knock your socks off. When the family moved to California while they were still yet young, the eldest bro fell into the wrong crowd and eventually became a biker with one of the worst gangs in the U.S., even more violent than the Hells Angels were at that time. God grace was upon him and kept him alive through the violence and drug years and eventually, he found his way back to God. What a testimony there! Maybe someday I can share it......  

This is the competition part of our day of shooting.... Dad in the middle, youngest son on the left and his future bride on the right....  

Blogging backwards is hard business because I don't seem to always be able to get them in the right order. The worst part about this whole thing is, I lost my password to this blog and I have tried over and over again to get access so that I can go in a correct typo's but, so far, no one has responded in 6 months to my request for help from Blogger.... So whats a person to do, but just keep using Bloggerbot and share as best I can. By the way, this whole section of my blog is bringing you up to date from May to the current date in October... May take a while but it is sure a lot of fun to share. Anyone out there who can get Blogger to help me out, please do or if you have any suggestions, please let me know. 

Our Soldier bought his bride a puppy before he left, to keep her company and eventually to provide protection while he was away fighting in Iraq. 

Well here is our most recent bride stuck with this zaney family as her husband our son, headed back to Iraq to serve his country. We have truly been blessed with her as a part of our family. What an amazing story, he comes home on leave from Baghdad Iraq for two weeks and in the second week he meets this little gal. During that week we had many fun adventures and if you go into the archives of this blog, you will see some of those adventures and their wedding that took place at the end of his two week leave. She was truly made for him and this marriage we were afraid wouldn't survive because they barely knew eachother, has blossomed into a real match truly made in heaven. WHOA, PRAISE GOD AND THANK YOU JESUS.... You see Fairytales do come true, when God is the source of the reality of the story!  

Once again this is the big monster truck that appears to have no limits to where it can go. If may not look like much but it also doesn't look anything like the "Family Suburban" that most people see. This little monster has been in mines, has gone to heights that only the brave dare go and has come down steep mountain sides that only those that are of the mountain goat breeds would dare venture to traverse....  

This little spot in the desert is known as the University of California White Mountain Research Station, better known to the University as Research Experience for Undergraduates. This program provides the opportunity for students to develop and implement their own research questions with guidance from research scientists at WMRS. REU projects encompass a wide range of environmental biology research, from high altitude physiology to population ecology. These projects expose students to multi-discipline research questions and state-of-the-art technologies while allowing each student to explore a particular aspect in depth.
The base itself is very outdated from the outside appearance with several mobile home trailers that have been converted into "super labs". The out buildings are like barracks and well, it ain't what it looks like and thats good to know..... We call it the "Home of the Super Geeks".....

 

If and when you ever come to Bishop California, make sure you take some of the back roads and just head for the mountains. There is so much beauty here and the fact that we are 5 hours away from Los Angeles to the south, 3 hours away from Reno Nevada to the north, 5 hours away from Las Vegas to the east and well, 12 hours away from Sacramento (if the High Sierra Mountain passes are open) to the west, yep, yep, yep, we are out in the middle of NOWHERE! I LOVE IT! 

This is a close up of a portion of the White Mountains, they are so magnificient....  

Nanni was just learning the art of walking on a leash, wasn't too thrilled about it either... 

Learning to aim is a real test because if you have never held your eyes in a position to look through a scope, it can be very stressful, but once learned, it is a blast (play on words there). 

Everyone knows that the first thing that you must do before being able to fire a rifle or any gun, is the understanding of the gun from stem to stern and that no matter what, any gun you pick up, you must keep in your mind the thought, whether real or not, that the "gun is loaded". Practical safety lessons are what we make sure each new shooter is aware of, stupidity and ignorance are why accidents occur. 

Well brother in law had to put the smooth talking into work in order to get this little gal into the "no fear" mode. My family is a hunting and fishing family, they are also gearing up for competition in the near future. They each have been raised knowing to respect their rights to bear arms, the responsibilities to bear arms and that life is a precious thing, a gift from God and that if you are going to bear arms during peace time in the United States it is for the reason of hunting, competition and when necessary, protection. So, it is something we value as a right within the United States. 

This is the old "you can do it"! 

Thats the shootin range and it shows just how far some of the targets they were firing at were placed. 

Yep it had taken some doing but Cody's little bride finally did it and she was happy she did even though at first she was afraid. It took her new brother in law to give her that bit of a dare but she did it! 

Well it was another day of fun and adventure and Nonnie the puppy had a great adventure too.... Praise God for families and enjoying the outdoors together. 

What glorious beauty the spring brings, it is as though all of creation is worshipping the King... Praise God! 

Right in the middle of this picture is a little bird who is dancing like crazy for his little sweet heart up in a tree to the right. God is so awsome in how He has created all the creatures in His creation. Just watching this little fella brought joy to my heart in knowing it was spring and things were coming to life again...