A Birthday Visit

We are delighted we had the opportunity to have my sister, Aunt Darla, stay with us for a few days - including my birthday! We had a wonderful time and are already counting the days? . . . weeks? . . . months? . . . until her next visit. The only flaw in our visit was that Uncle David could not join her this time. Still, all-in-all we had a very nice time. She made me a fabulous birthday dinner!

Thank you, Sweetie!

Birthday dessert was peach cobbler.
Hmmm . . . I wonder if we can convince them to move a bit closer, we could do with some more of her cooking.





The children enjoyed taking her
through the "back 40" and . . .



















. . . it was a good opportunity
for Darla to get some pictures.














Sisters, sisters, never
were there such . . .
hmmm . . . such sisters :)














What are you two up to?



















Striking a pose . . . or is it a striking pose?
Who knows?
Either way it is looking kind of goofy.














Looks like someone
is off for a round of
hide and seek!



















Must of been a great shot :)

Birthday Reflections

With Every Year That Passes

With every year that passes
I find myself more often on my knees
more do I revel in God’s grace,
enjoy His blessed sovereignty.

With every year that passes
more of the Saviour’s preciousness I see
growing to comprehend His sacrifice,
rejoicing that His great love has come to me.

With every year that passes
the sweetness of His word
touches my soul more deeply
with every passage heard.

With every year that passes
My unworthiness more clear
Even so, His mercies never fail
Living in the shelter of His care.

By: Diana Ortega

















"As for me, I will call upon God;
and the LORD shall save me.
Evening, and morning, and at noon,
will I pray and cry aloud:
and he shall hear my voice."

Psalm 55:16-17

Instrument Flying

Pilots must learn to fly by their instruments before they can fly with any measure of true safety. Unless the sky is cloudless and the weather perfect, they must rely on their instruments and not on their own senses. To rely on one's sense of sight when flying a plane in the clouds, even on a fairly sunny day, often ends in tragic crashes and death. Once your vision is obscured by cloud, storm, or darkness your senses are so thrown off that you could think you are flying straight when you are actually in a deadly downward dive. Such obscuring leaves your senses no way to see the reality of the situation. A pilot must trust his instruments so much that he will override his own in-born senses in order to fly according to the instrument readings. In overriding his in-born senses his life is preserved and he can fly through even the roughest storms in safety.

This is so reflective of the Christian life. We must learn to live by our God-given instrument, His Word. When life is easy; the trials mild and few; when prosperity smiles upon us and all seems well in the world, we may not recognize our need to fly by our instrument. However, when clouds arise; trials deepen and increase in number; when times are difficult and fraught with any variety of concerns, we realize our need. We cannot safely rely on our natural man to navigate our course. Relying on the natural man brings destructive and, eventually, tragic results. Oh how often the natural man is certain he is flying straight when he is actually in a deadly downward dive. Trials, difficulties and concerns obscure the natural man's vision. The only way to see the reality of any situation is through the filter of Scripture. As believers, we need to override our in-born natural man and live according to the truth of God's Word. In overriding our natural understanding and responses to life; in completely trusting ourselves over to the truth of the Scriptures; in living as if every word of His is true, our lives are preserved and we can fly through even the roughest storms in safety and with peace of heart.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6

Note: Our thanks to Dr. Irwin Moon for recording many of his sermons, including the essence of what we have shared here, for the benefit of future generations. He is now home with the Lord.

Willow - Sweet and Lovable

Need we say more?

Gaurd Duty

This is our dog, Willow. She
takes her job very seriously!

I guess this photo doesn't show
her sweet and lovable side.
Maybe we will go for sweet and
lovable next time.

A Joke?

We are not real big joke folks over here. But when we do find one that is actually clean and funny, we enjoy it. This is one we found recently that qualifies.


An MBA and an Engineer go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, the Engineer wakes his MBA friend. "Look up at the sky and tell me what you see."

The MBA replies, "I see millions of stars."

The Engineer asks, "What does that tell you?"

The MBA ponders for a minute:
"Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo.
Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three.
Theologically, it is evident that the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What does it tell you?"

The Engineer friend is silent for a moment, and then speaks.
"Practically . . . someone has stolen our tent."

:) :) :) :) :)

May 12, 2006

Happy Birthday, Gabriel!

Nine years old already!?!

Growing up so fast :)

May the Lord bless you to continue

growing in His wisdom and grace.















We love you, Big Guy!!

Papa, Mama, Josiah
Moriah, Isaiah and Hadassah

Spring

There is nothing like . . .

a spring bouquet.

Interesting Quotes

Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.
~ Lou Holtz

"Do something every day that you don't want to do;
this is the golden rule for acquiring
the habit of doing your duty without pain."
~Mark Twain

We have found that in doing a "dreaded" task daily the task soon looses its power to cause dread in us and becomes well tamed, simply a part of every day life. Of course, a positive attitude plays a major part in taming any task we don't want to do. In reality, I suppose it is our old nature, our will, we are taming.

Any additional thoughts?

Out and About

We recently spent the day out and about.
Here is a pictorial sample of our day.


An enjoyable walk along Lake Michigan ~








































































A visit to the Kenosha Public Museum ~

The butterfly and moth display was one of my
favorites. There were literally hundreds on
display. It is amazing the variety, complexity
and creativity God has reflected in these
delicate creatures.





































































































We did not realize moths were so pretty.












































A sample of the museum's art display.






























There is a life size, replica of an early
Indian village in the museum. We had fun
visiting these days of old.




































































































There was a full skeleton of a Woolly Mammoth
actually excavated in Kenosha County - it was
impossible to capture all of it in one photo.

With Full Hearts -

Here's to 20 wonderful years of marriage!

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Ortega

April 26, 1986

Promises still held dear.

A love story . . .

. . . growing sweeter through the years.

The Envelope Please . . .

Kathryn is our winner!

To read the fascinating details
concerning the final outcome of our trivia challenge -
see the comments section of the previous post.

Note: Humuhumu nukunuku apua'a is pronounced
who ma who ma new ka new ka a pa wah a
(all the a's are the short "a" sound).

Trivia Question Continuation

It would appear that we are having a bit of difficulty
locating someone to define our mystery word.
So, we are lifting the restrictions of our challenge and
allowing the use of whatever means necessary
(i.e. dictionary, search engine)
to meet the challenge.

Now the question is:
Who will be the first to define -

humuhumunukunukuapuaa

Hint: It is not pronounced phonetically.


Ortegas are still restricted from participation.

A Photo Moment

Anyone ready for a nap?

Trivia Question

We are looking for someone who can define the following word
WITHOUT
the use of a dictionary or search engine.

humuhumunukunukuapuaa
(yes, it is all one word)

This challenge was inspired by a comment left on our last entry.
All Ortegas are restricted from participation in this challenge.

A Visit with the Neighbors

Kelsie

Aden

The trampoline was the order of fun

for the afternoon.

One More Try

It has come to our attention that there are actually a few folks out there that read our blog and are interested in a new post. Imagine our surprise! Why the surprise? Well, when you average one comment for every 10 posts, you begin to wonder. We figured, due to a lack of readership participation, the time and energy expended in keeping this blog going was in vain as our efforts were evidently being swallowed up in some super-cyber black hole. However, in appreciation for all our "silent" readers, we are going to give this one more try.

More of the Loveliness of Christ

"I think I see more of Christ than ever I saw;
and yet I see but little of what may be seen."

"This world deserveth nothing
but the outer court of our souls."

"Lay all your loads and your weights
by faith upon Christ.
Ease yourself, and let Him bear all.
He can, He does, He will bear you."

Samuel Rutherford

The Loveliness of Christ

A book worth quoting
a thought worth pondering
a truth worth meditating upon.

All of this is true of a simple, yet powerful book a dear friend gave to me recently. The Loveliness of Christ by Samuel Rutherford is amazing in it's depth of insight born of a humble and deeply sincere love for our wondrous Savior. In said humility and love it challenges current mindsets to rise to that which is high, holy, and truely worthy of the manifest efforts of our finite beings. It comes with the highest recommendations from our home to yours.

"The great Master Gardener, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
in a wonderful providence, with His own hand, planted me here,
where by His grace, in this part of His vineyard, I grow;
and here I will abide
till the great Master of the vineyard think fit to transplant me."

"Wants are my best riches,
for I have these supplied by Christ."

Samuel Rutherford

An Evening Snow Fall

Moriah took these pictures for
Uncle David and Aunt Darla down in Florida.