Weekend Getaway

Tyler and I received a wonderful gift on Columbus Day weekend: A kidless adventure!

The boys spent the weekend with grampy and nana Lisa and their 2 boys.  So without worrying too much about them having 7 boys for a weekend including Matthias (whom has never spent a night away from us), we set out.

Tyler and I started our adventure by hiking.  This was supposed to be the Summer of hiking and, although we did get in a few good hikes, we both wanted to do more.  So we took advantage of the fall foliage to hike Bald Mountain on our way to the White mountains.  It was beautiful and didn't start raining until we had hiked up, down, and gotten in the car onto the main road.

After our little jaunt up the mountain we headed through the White mountains and down NH towards Newburyport MA.  Where we spent the evening and next morning walking and admiring the bay, the architecture, and the port city.

It was wonderful little respite from life and Tyler and I both had a great time.  The port was exactly how we imagined it, the hike was perfect, and the foliage beautiful.

Thank  you to Grampy and Nana Lisa, who not only had our 5 boys, but also traded cars with us so that we could drive a 36 mpg car on our little road trip adventure.

Melting Smiles

This kid has got a smile that I could look at all day.  While we were at the Commonground fair he found a slate block and just had to sit on them.  Then he smiled.  Man, I love that smile.

Religion & Politics: part 2

The conclusion of my thoughts regarding an important social issue of our time:

If you don’t believe in the God of the Holy Bible, then I will beg you to consider what He has to say.  If you continue to reject Him then that is your decision and I will still love you.  But don’t tell me that I am being hateful towards others when I have their best interest at heart.   

It brings the alcoholic happiness when he drinks, but he is worse off because of it.  No one would dispute that, and many work to help him find happiness in something that will not harm him.  It brings the homosexual happiness to be with his partner, but it also brings insecurity, disease, an early death, and as a non-christian: torment in hell.  How is that something that we can condone even on a secular level?

From a completely secular standpoint the constitution of the United States calls for the separation of church and state.  For years, the government has struggled with how to keep a line between the two.  On one hand the majority of our citizens have shared common beliefs, such as the right to life, but on the other they are not all of the same religion.  Government has walked on this line off and on in regards to certain issues.  Like when it started acknowledging marriage for the sake of collecting more taxes.  Now the government is trying to step completely into the marriage issue and change its definition.  The government does not have the authority to do this because marriage has  always been a religious matter.  There is no example in history where marriage was considered a matter of the state.  Therefore, I vote against the government getting involved in religion and in marriage. In order to maintain the separation of church and state the government needs to step back and completely abandon any connection that it has with marriage.  

To honor the constitution and respect the many religions practiced in the United States please vote No on question 1.  The government has no right to get involved in religion.