The McBride Life

HaYovel Newsletter

2011-04-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

I am posting this newsletter on my blog trusting that many will read and meditate on this historic event that should never have happened, but IT DID! We need to never forget history or it will be repeated!

Dear Harold,

After a wonderful time of fellowship during Family Week Kentucky we are finally settling in for a few days here in Tennessee and have already begun preparing for our next adventure. As sweet as the time was we are reminded this weekend of a time not so sweet.

Bloody Wednesday

Several days before what would be known as "Bloody Wednesday" a work crew of military soldiers, POW's, and Jews at the concentration camp in Poland began digging three six foot deep ditches that measured 100 yards each. "Bloody Wednesday" began at 6 or 7 o'clock on a low hill in full view of the local residents with the loud unusual sound of dance music. The Jews, who had worked the day before to dig the ditches, were ordered to march into the ditches 10 at a time and lay face down. The music was used to cover up the machine gun fire that began and ended the massacre. By 5 pm on Wednesday, November 3^rd, 1943 over 16,000 Jews were dead.

800,000 shoes found at Majdanek

Another 14,000 Jews were executed at Poniatowa on the same day ....in the same way.

What was their crime? How was this act justified? They were Jews. That's it ....They were Jews.

If you're like most Christians you've never heard of Majdanek or Poniatowa. Sad, isn't it?

Saturday evening at sundown will mark the beginning of Yom Ha'Shoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day. It will last until Sunday evening at sundown. Please don't go to a local church service expecting to see or attend a special memorial service - you won't find it. Why? Maybe because the music is still covering up the reality of it all.

It was then and still now difficult for us as Christians to admit to or hear that our religion .....our forefathers were to blame for this barbaric extermination of the innocent. For me the music wasn't muted until I made my first visit to Yad Vashem - the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. For the first time I understood how my religion played a part in the murder of 6 million people.

I grew up in a rural Southern Baptist Church and was once proud of my protestant heritage. Not once did I hear any cruel or unpleasant discussions concerning the Jewish people - the fact is, in small town Tennessee - I never heard anything about the Jewish people. Maybe I wasn't paying attention ......or maybe the music was just too loud.

I grew up believing that Martin Luther was a great man with great courage in bringing reformation to my faith. To read his simple minded foolish quotes from the book "The Jews and Their Lies" made me embarrassed. I was more than embarrassed - I was angry.

You see ...every Jew who lives in Israel ...at least those who attend high school or serve in the IDF must visit Yad Vashem ...with a guide. A guide that makes sure every Jew hears the story - every Jew knows the truth. You see ....every Jew knows the things we were not told. Every Jew knows that without the teaching of - the hatred of Luther the Holocaust would not - could not have occurred.

Some of us, knowing the truth, have become so embarrassed that we've stopped calling ourselves Christians. We still believe that Jesus/Yeshua is the Messiah, but we just can't deal with the hypocrisy of the past ....especially where it involves the Jewish people.

Does it matter what we call ourselves? What matters is that we stop making the music louder - stop keeping our head in the sand. Is there a way to undo the sins of our fathers? Maybe - probably not.

And if we can never undo what's been done, we still must do something. This Sunday every Jewish community across the world will observe Yom Ha'Shoah. What if you - all of us - went online and found out what time the event is taking place in your city and take your family? As for my family we will be attending an event held at the Gordon Jewish Community Center here in Nashville on Sunday, May 1^st at 11 o'clock am. Go to BridgesToZion.org for more info.

I want to leave you with an article written by my friend Moshe Kempinski from Jerusalem.

A Whisper of Glory in Maidanek

On a trip to Poland with Rabbi Mordechai Elon several years ago, my son and his classmates produced a movie describing their trek into the abandoned valleys of death. Their voyage was focused on the death and the destruction, but it also attempted to relive the lives, dreams and culture of a thousand years of Jewish communal life in Poland.

There are several minutes in that film that will be forever etched in my mind, and on this Holocaust Remembrance Day I feel a need to recount those minutes again. I watched the video and saw their arrival in the Maidanek concentration camp. They entered the gas chambers and huddled together because of the cold temperatures, mainly because of that inescapable chill that was clutching at their souls. They stood listening to one of the Holocaust survivors that had volunteered to come with them on their trip from Israel. At one point in the description, the guide asked them to look up at the ceiling.

The concrete was streaked with swatches of a bluish tinge. The guide explained that the bluish streaks were the remnant of the poisonous Zyklon-B gas that snuffed out the lives of so many men, women and children. He continued to describe how every year, a group of Polish Christians would come and try to whitewash the ceiling. Yet, their efforts proved to be fruitless, as the blue-singed testimony would always return. The blue color was all that remained of those horrific moments and it would not be covered.

I thought of those horrifying moments and the terror and the cries. I thought about the prayers in that darkened cell. I suddenly realized that the bluish tinge was not what was left over from the Zyklon gas. It was what remained of the victims' prayers.

The prayer that filled that horrific chamber was the Sh'ma prayer: " Hear O Israel, HaShem our G-d, HaShem is one." It is this same prayer that had risen and rent the heavens so many other times in the history of this people. It was a prayer uttered in the torture chambers of the Inquisition, during the pogroms of the Crusades and in the massacre of the Jewish community in Hebron. It was the last words of a father and little son as they lay dying on the floor of the Sbarro's restaurant after a Palestinian terrorist attack.

It is a prayer that declares for all eternity that faith cannot be bludgeoned, burned or gassed into oblivion. Faith lasts forever.

The last paragraph of the Sh'ma ( Numbers 15) describes the string of t'chelet (blue) that was added to the fringes of the tallit - "put with the fringe of each corner a thread of t'chelet." (Numbers 15:38) This color would be reminiscent of another blue color, the color of the divine Throne of Glory, "And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a blue sapphire stone." (Ezekiel 1:26)

The last prayer in that horrible concrete room was the Sh'ma and it was the Sh'ma that left that bluish tinge, not the gas. The victims' collective prayer left an imprint of t'chelet on the ceiling as their prayers rose unto the Throne of Glory. That is where their prayers, and their souls, reside together with six million others, never to be forgotten.

The bluish tinge in Maidanek is but a whisper of Glory. Yet, it is also a constant reminder of divine promises that will yet be fulfilled.

If you would like to be added to Moshe's email list or order merchandise from his shop in the Old City please contact him at shop@shorashim.com.

Blessings,

Tommy Waller

2011-03-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

I took these three weeks ago of the green house and outside planting beds, then before I could down load them to the computer the camera went on a road trip. The camera, along with Hannah and Megan, visited Prescott, Jerome, Sedona and Flagstaff before returning home.

The only reason that I was able to down load this week end is because the camera's LCD died and so it missed out on a trip to Reno.

Back to the pictures, to the left is lettuce inside the green house, it is just about ready to eat now and has also provided plants for the Hydro garden.

Below on the left is more lettuce getting close to eating size. On the right is one of the outside planting boxes. In the corners I planted cucumber and Italian squash. In the major open area I planted green beans. We will have to wait and see if anything comes up. There are also some tomatoes and peppers in the center.

Above left is an out side bed with tomatoes and bell peppers. On the right you can see that I have expanded the hydro garden to 12 pots. These plants are about 2 inches in the picture, currently closer to 6 inches and very full. Everything grows so much faster in the hydro. The one tomato plant in the blue hydro has already put on a set of blossoms and grown at least 4 inches.

The next step will be to add another 12 pots to the hydro and get spinach growing again. The end goal is to have enough lettuce and spinach to not have to buy at the store.

If I was smart enough to know how to maneuver the pictures I would put them in a better lay out. For right now I am at the mercy of the program and my lack of knowledge.

Our Green House

2011-02-06T09:15:00.001-08:00

About two and a half months ago we used the lumber from our Sukkah to build a small green house (4 x 8). The lattice helps to protect the plastic from the wind.

Eight weeks ago I set up a hydroponic system along with two growing beds. The idea was to grow some cucumber and spinach in the hydroponic system and lettuce in the growing beds. By planting some seeds every week in the beds I hoped to have a continuous crop of lettuce.

Since I eat two huge salads a day I consume about eight bunches of red and green leaf and romaine lettuce a week. Also lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, red bell peppers and Italian squash .
Growing some of everything would help the grocery budget and at the same time have fresher and better quality veggies.

What I have ended up with are no cucumbers, they did not even sprout; six spinach plants in four cups, I planted six seed to a cup; and two lettuce plants that I moved to the hydroponic system last week. The lettuce has tripled is size in just a week in the growing system. I harvested a small baggie of spinach today. I am hoping to start harvesting lettuce in two weeks.

The growing beds are not growing as fast, that may be due to the cold weather. The first lettuce I planted was very close to the door and six feet from the heater. It is only about 1/2 inch after eight weeks. the next planting which is closer to the heat is about two inches and I am thinning it out and planting in another area so it can grow larger.

The left end of the bed is the first planting and the right end is the second, a week later. There are suppose to be three rows, but the back row by the plastic just has not sprouted well or grown.

The bed below was planted three weeks ago. It is amazing how the temperature effects how fast they grow.

As the days get warmer the results should be better. I am glad that I had the heat cube in there this week with all the extra cold for Arizona weather. One morning the thermometer said 40 at about three feet off the floor. The water bucket has a thin layer of ice in it.

Thursday update

2011-01-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

Healing is slow and full of pain. Helen is starting to be more alert at times. Unfortunately those are the times when we need to be rolling her around to make changes. It is quite painful for us to roll her around.

We are needing to watch her skin really close. there are some spots that are very red, not good signs. It is good that the bathing aid is here three times a week and keeps a very close eye on all areas. Breezy is excellent and very thorough.

We will have a patient lift delivered Friday and a reclining wheelchair. Next week we will start trying to get her into the TV room with David for a while each day. She needs a change of scenery. That will be a new experience for Carla, learning to use the patient lift. I will let her practice on me first.

I would say she is doing quite good for being only about two weeks since the break and only eleven days since surgery.

Helen is Home

2011-01-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

She is resting comfortably in her own bed tonight with a cat for company. The healing process will take quite a while, but the home environment with family around will be much more comforting.

Home health should be back in on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to bath and the nurse should be back some time during the week to do the normal weekly check ups. We will need physical therapy to set up a schedule and exercise plan.

It is good to have the convenience of being able to walk into her room to check on her anytime instead to a trip to the third floor of KRMC. They serve there purpose, but home is always better.

Alert and ready to roll

2011-01-20T19:26:00.002-08:00

Helen was very much with what was going on tonight. She is confused at times, but about the same as before last Friday. Her vitals have stabilized and she is eating with assistance. She may discharge as early as Saturday or Sunday.

We will need a patient lift to move her from point A to point B. She is not to be more than 20% weight bearing on the right leg. The home environment with her cats and family close at hand should help the progress.

We will need a transport to bring Helen to the house as it is just to hard to load her into the car and get her back out. The nurses are quite surprised that we want to bring her home instead of transferring her to a skilled nursing facility. There will be more challenges for a while, but home is always better.

2011-01-20T19:26:00.001-08:00

Helen Update

2011-01-19T05:43:00.000-08:00

Tuesday evening we found Helen had been moved from ICU back to a regular room. Her blood level is maintaining and her other vitals are stable. At this time it appears that she is progressing as expected for her age.

Carla is planning on going to visit during the day. This hopefully will allow more time to talk with the nurse. In the evening we always catch the changing of staff. The day nurse is leaving and the night nurse is trying to catch up wit the activity herself.

We have no idea at this time when she will be discharged.

correction of update from AM

2011-01-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

Boy did i get all the information wrong in the morning post. The Cat scan is still on hold. The PIC line is still on hold. The respiratory has stabilized and there was no need for a ventilator. It seems that ever procedure that permission was requested for has not been needed or is still on hold.

After a total of four units of blood Helen's blood levels are where they want to see them. Her blood pressure, pulse, and O2 level (on 4 ltr of O2) were all good tonight. She is very weak and her voice is extremely soft. It will be a long road.

On the positive side Dr. Allen is very pleased with the way the incision site is healing.

Sorry about all the bogus information this morning.

Helen Update

2011-01-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

Helen was moved to ICU at 3:30 AM. They have given her one unit of blood and plan on a second. They will be installing a PIC line this AM to better facilitate all the blood activity as her veins are very fragile.

She will not stabilize on her breathing, Oxygen saturation, heart rate and blood pressure so they have put her an a ventilator to gain some stability.

She was awake and very alert during the early morning hours and talked with the nurse. She thanked them for all they were doing and was very appreciative of all her care.

Helen Update

2011-01-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

Helen went to OR around 2 PM. We are not sure when they did surgery, but Dr. Allen called at 6:25 PM to let us know that she had come through real good. She will be back in her room around 7:00 PM.

I will update as we know more about how she is doing.

Update on Grandma

2011-01-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

While transferring to her bed last night (Friday) Helen was unable to bear weight on her right leg. About the same time she had a great deal of pain and Carla heard a snap (similar to a tree branch breaking). since it was impossible to complete the transfer she was lowered to the floor.

Because of the pain we called 911 and she was transported to the Hospital ER. Helen was admitte around 10:30 PM Friday night with a broken Femur in the right leg. The waiting game started as we waited for the Orth surgen to evaluate the situation, the Internal Doctor to clear her for surgery and the Cardiologist to say the heart was strong enough for the surgery.

About 10:30 AM today (Saturday) Dr. Allen the Orthopedic Surgeon called and talked with Carla about the possibilities, and said he would do the surgury if she was cleared by the other Doctors. We went to visit this afternoon and Dr. Igball came in to examine her and he expressed that if the Cardiologist said OK that he was in agreement. They told us that Dr. Bokhari was in the building and that he would be in her room in 15 minutes, we laughed as he is always very late. To our surprise he was looking at her chart in 10 minutes and in the room before the end of 15 minutes. He gave the final OK and it appeared that surgery would be later today.

About 5:00 I received another call form the Hospital and because of a scheduling conflict the surgery was re-scheduled for Sunday. No time has been set for the procedure at this time. We are hoping for an AM time.

Currently she is comfortable in room 359 with good pain management medications.

2010-09-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening and Monday we will keep Yom Kippur. Monday after Sun down construction will start on the Sukkah for the festival of Sukkot. Will post picture during the building and finished project.

Salad Anyone

2010-06-16T05:26:00.000-07:00

Had someone told me a year ago that I would rather eat a salad or bowl of fresh fruit that prime rib and baked potato I would have said you are nuts. I am not quite there yet, but cooked food has less appeal all the time.

I am enjoying more energy and at the same time requiring less sleep as I continue to increase my raw food intake. Breakfast is normally a large bowl with one cup of organic flax seed cereal and the rest fresh fruit. Lunch is a very large salad with a variety of lettuces, bell peppers, broccoli , cucumbers, tomatoes and any other vegetable that is in the house. Some times I will add some cooked food at lunch, but the cooked is having less appeal everyday. The evening meal is another large salad or veggie plate, plus some of what the family is having. (small portion)

The most amazing change is my lack of desire for potato chips. I tried some the other day and they did not even taste good. There is no desire to even try any more. Going from a two bag a week consumption to having no desire to eat even one is very hard to comprehend.

Diet Coke is another item missing from my diet. Prior to February I drank a 16 oz Diet Coke almost daily. Without the extra boast I could not keep from falling asleep at my desk. Now I rarely need a Coke, maybe one every two or three weeks. Even then I will only drink half or less of the bottle. Water is always the best and fills all my liquid needs.

The more I read and research the more I am convinced that I really do not need to eat cooked food. Everything I read stresses fresh organic has the most nutrients and is the easiest for the body to digest, that presents a real challenge in Kingman. I would prefer to eat all organic, but most of the time I am force by lack of availability to eat less than 10% organic. I trust that more will become available as time goes on.

The Holy One Loves US

2010-04-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

The following are quotes from the "Rabbi's son" Torah teachings on the Parsha Acharei Mot Leviticus 16:1 - 18:30. I trust you will be blessed by the teachers words of widsom.

The Holy One knows us intimately and loves us passionately One-on-one, of course. He pursues us gently and woos us lovingly and redeems us powerfully as individuals.

He took special care to create each and every one of us to be unique and special and to relate to Him in a way no other human being could ever do.

Each of us is therefore truly His "favorite" in some way.

Each of us is designed to be a "private garden" for Him, uniquely qualified to enjoy a rich full, intimate one-on-one relationship with Him at a level no one else can experience.

As amazing as that is, however, we are discovering that His love for us as individuals is by no means the end of the story.

Behold -- there is an even greater mystery.

He also sees us all as something more than individuals. He also sees us as part of a potentially great - indeed world changing -- collective entity.

Thus while He knows, watches over, protects, blesses, and trains as a son [or daughter] each and every one of us individually, He also sees all who are in covenant with Him - be we natural or en-grafted branches -- as part of a very special am [i.e., people-group], mamleket [i.e., kingdom] and goy [i.e., a nation].

He sees us collectively as the mysterious "offspring" of Avraham to which He mysteriously alluded in Genesis 12:7."

"and you must not live like they do in the land of Kena'an, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices [either]." Leviticus 18:3b

The Holy One thus makes it clear He does not want His Beloved Bride to conform to the baseness of any society on earth.

We are to be noticeably different from all other people-groups in the world.

We are from another kingdom altogether.

We are not to think, speak, dress, or spend time or money or energy like the Egyptians or the Kena'ani - or any other culture we encounter.

Torah is to be our passion, our lifestyle, our Constitution, our entertainment, our recreation, and our reason to live. It is to define what we think about, what we talk about, what we eat, what we wear, what we drink, how we educate our children, how we make a living, how we develop our self-esteem, how we interact with our families, when and why we get together with person outside our families, and even where we live.

We are, therefore, not to imitate - act and talk like - the people we see on television, in movies, or in music videos, in fashion shows.

We are not to be "wanna-bees" of any other culture."

Anyone for vegatables, fruits and nuts

2010-04-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

My world of eating has seen a lot of changes since early February. My psoriasis had gotten so bad that both my chest and back were over 80% covered along with my legs, knees and elbows. If you have not experienced psoriasis it itches and your skin is dry a scaly, quite miserable. I started looking on the internet for a natural way to rid myself of the pest; I already knew that I did not want to take the medication that would temporarily clear it up. I had taken it four years ago and the side effects of the first dose was enough for me.

I found an e-book "Psoriasis: Spot Free in 30 Days" that outlined the food triggers that caused the onset for a lot of people. There also were some suggested eating plans for a 30 day clearing of the pest. All my favorite foods had to be temporarily removed from the food list. No white potatoes, no wheat products, no red meat, no night shade vegetables, no coke or sodas and the list went on. What I could eat was vegetables, fruit, lamb, fish, sweet potatoes and a few other things I like. After 30 dyas I still had some of the psoriasis, but it was definitely clearing. I was only itching a little and I knew that I was headed in the right direction. I was feeling excellent and not getting tired in the mid afternoons. My taste buds were changing and potato chips (my former favorite food) no longer tasted good. Progress was being made.

Because of the side effects that I had been reading about connected with the medication I have been taking for over four years for diabetes, I started looking for nutritional supplements that would duplicate the results without the dangerous side effects. I found one that looked OK and purchased a bottle. For the first few days I stayed on the meds along with the supplement. Gradually leaving the meds behind, I went totally with the supplement on the 6th of March. I have since changed to another supplement that has a better mix of nutrients and herbs that is working very well. My readings are as good as with the medication and I do not have to make sure I eat enough to keep my glucose level high enough at certain times of the day.

Mid March brought to us more knowledge that went right along with the direction we were going. We had the opportunity of having Paul Nison speak here in Kingman about Biblical eating and a raw daylight eating lifestyle. We purchased one of his books and a DVD entitled "Simply Raw Reversing Diabetes in 30 days". The DVD was quite challenging. On the heels of eating a diet of at least 80% vegetables, fruits and nuts, mostly raw already to clear the Psoriasis, it seemed like a workable idea. Working toward a totally raw diet of vegetables, fruits and nuts is a process that will take years. I feel that is the direction that Carla and I are headed very gradually.

Currently I am eating probably 60% raw vegetables, fruit and nuts. The other 40% is eggs, fish, a little red meat or lamb, cooked vegetables, a little bit of bread (now that we have finished the week of unleavened bread) , and few white potatoes. The goal is to gradually move toward 100% raw, but that may take several years.

On the 8th I went to Prescott for my appointment with Dr. Fiscus, my Holistic Doctor. This is the doctor that about four yers ago said he had never seen anyone sicker than I was. His report is that I am fungus free still and making tremendous progress. He was pleased to hear that I had stopped the diabetic medicatioan and gone completely with nutritiona supplements. He looked over the mixture of the suppliment that I added and felt that they would not cause a problem with the other suppliments I am taking. He was satisfied that my glocuse readings were OK for this point in time. I will go back to Prescott again in six weeks for the Doctor to evaluate the changes and adjust my supplements again.

My taste buds are definitely enjoying the raw foods and I am feeling more alert during my waking hours.

If you are interested in the raw food lifestyle here are some links.

www.rawfor30days.com
www.paulnison.com
www.rawlife.com
www.raw-food-health.net
www.rdnmovement.com

If you do a Google search for raw food there is an abundance of information available.

Service With A Smile...

2010-01-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

So, as some of you may know, I recently got hired at McDonalds. Then, through a series of peculiar events, I got hired at Safeway (the old one) and quit McDonalds before I even began. So far, I am very happy with this happening. I have only worked at Safeway for two days now, but I have already learned a few things.

1. Nearly every customer has either a bag of potatoes or tomatoes.

2. Only the nicest customers accept help with their bags

3. The orange cart vest really does get you noticed

I also learned that a smile really does help things. People respond a lot to a smiling face! Oh, and keeping carts out of the parking lot is a loooong battle. Never won. Occasionly held off for a few moments. Literally. You look out at the parking lot, proudly, because every cart is where it is supposed to be, then, you blink a few times and BAM! There all out of place!

Oh, and puppies outside? Not a good time. People who give puppies away outside? Super in the way! Honestly. But oh well, at least the puppies were cute :)

So all in all, I like my job! I like categorizing things in my brain and trying to bag everything before the order is paid for. And I like saying "Hi, how are you!" to every single customer. I especially like it when people accept carryout service! Then, I get to hear their entire life story, and normally, it is pretty interesting!

Oh - just to let you know - electric carts are SLOOOWWW! Try riding one of those back up to where it belongs! You feel like you will never reach your destination. And going over speed bumps on those bad boys is pretty interesting.

So, two days in, and I still enjoy it, hopefully it stays that way!

Good Times in Springerville!

2009-11-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend, Hannah and I went of to the grand land of Springerville, Arizona! Why would we be going to such a small and far away place? ACADEC of course! We had our Round Valley scrimmage and it was a really good indicator as to where we are at with our studies. Hannah, being the hardworking, overachieving genius that she is did fantastic! Here, let me just make you a little list of her achievements.

-1st Place Art
-1st Place Economics
-1st Place Superquiz

-2nd Place Speech

-3rdPlace Language and Literature
-3rd Place Math
~~First Place Overall Honors~~

I, being not quite the amazing person Hannah is, was still able to collect a few awards. I got second place in interview and essay, which was pretty exciting for me because I've never won any awards at these wonderful little competitions.

Our team got third place in Superquiz relay and first place overall. It was a very successful trip, and I think the whole group of 17 had a good time!

The whole team with our first place plaque :)

The nine of us with our 3rd place Superquiz plaque!Anyone who won any awardsThe usual outside on the steps picture afterwards
Overall winners

Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel

2009-10-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Picnic area in the Reserve where we finally had lunch after many hours of walking and exploring. The people in the picture are our tour group,

The pictures in this post are from "The Biblical Landscape Reserve" We spent the whole day Sunday with a guide touring the over 600 acres. The objective of this project is restoration to Biblical times from Scriptural description of the areas. They are restoring to how they were during the different time periods.

Since it was the time of Sukkot that had a large display of a variety of Sukkas. Some met the Biblical definition of a proper Sukka and others did not. There were signs to explain the problem with the incorrect structures. According to Jewish tradition they need to be a certain size or larger at least three sided have to be freestanding, they must be a portable structure and many other requirements.

An actual cistern for water storage. The area was laid out so that all the rain fall would run into the water storage area. This is an actual cistern from the time of Abraham. There are many references to cisterns in the early Scriptures. There are many cisterns in the hills of Israel that are continually being discovered. Some will still hold water.

If you would like to know more about the Neot Kedumin (Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel) check out their web site http://www.n-k.org.il/public/english/index.htm and click on virtual tour. Also go to their newsletter for more pictures and information. It was a very fascinating day with so much information about the land and the scriptures describing the areas we were looking at.

More of Sukkah

2009-10-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

There are more pictures in earlier post in October. There are three post for today. And i will get a little more posted later today or tomorrow.

We had two Sukkah's, the larger on the main floor balcony was used for the evening meal. Here it is set up for another excellent meal.
The view was breath taking no matter where we looked.

It is almost dinner time and the tables are all setup in the Sukkah.

Carla and one of the other guest decorating the small sukkah on the lower level.
A birds-eye-view of the lower level sukkah. The ladies had a lot of fun cutting out decorations and attaching them to the walls of the enclosure.

Preparing for Sukkot

2009-10-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

Since I am still trying to learn how to put these together you need to look at the pictures from the bottom up. We were In Israel for the Biblical holiday of Sukkot (Lev 23:33-44) This set of pictures show the building and decoration of the booth (sukah). We had our evening meal in the Sukkah every evening. The ladies had a lot of fun with the decorating.

The flight in and guest house

2009-10-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

The bus is a major source of transportation in Israel. Here is the local bus stop, on Friday morning some of the people decided to go to the next town to look around. Since there was no return trip they had to tramp (hitchhike) back. They had a great adventure and found that tramping was very easy.

The guest house is a ten bedroom house with two kitchens one for meat, on the main floor; and the other for Dairy on the lower floor. The top floor is a two bedroom suite for the owner. Murry (the owner of the guest house and a Doctor from South Africa) was also a guest on the tour and was just another member of the gang as we traveled.

The open area in the guest house where we spent some of our free time discussing that days adventures and the plans for the next day.

A view from the balcony out over the landscape from Nevey Menachen, the community we were staying in.

The accommodations at the guest house made it feel almost like being home, very family oriented. This is a picture of our room.

View of inside of the plane. The flight in was only eleven hours from Atlanta , the return on the other hand was 14 1/2 hours. I am ready to return,but there has to be a faster way.

We are home

2009-10-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know we are home. A lot of jet lag. It was 48 hours between getting up in Israel and going to bed in Arizona. The water bed never has looked so good as it did last night. I am very glad that I did not work today, but it is back to the grind tomorrow.

Since I forgot to take the spare battery and charger for the camera I am patiently waiting for others in our group to email me their pictures. At that time I will post pictures of all the places we went.

I will send an email to alert everyone that pictures have been posted.

Long Days

2009-10-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

We are very sorry that we are not keeping up with the post. We leave very early and are not back to the house for the evening meal till after seven most nights. By the time we eat and discuss the day it is just too late to try and put sentences together for an accurate post of the day. I promise that once we are back into the states we will post a lot of pictures and narrative to the ten days.

Jeursalem

2009-10-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 5th was an exciting day with lots of changes. The plan was a bus ride into Jerusalem to the western wall and other sites in the city.

Yes the bus ride was as planned, until we arrived in Jerusalem. As we approached the city the police informed the bus driver that the road he wanted to use was closed. A call to the Rabbi, who was to meet us in the western part of Jerusalem, did not help as the bus driver was not willing to take the route he suggested. The end result, we disembarked close to the “dung gate” on the Eastern side of Jerusalem. From there we went to the site of the Garden tomb and relaxed in the garden, waiting on our tour guide to come to the Eastern side of the city. This gave us the opportunity to visit the tomb which probably was Yeshua’s tomb.

From there we went into Zedekiah’s cave. Actually a massive underground stone quarry under the city. A huge area, we only went through a small part. Alhe stone was cut out without the use of metal objects or all our modern stone cutting equipment. The Rabbi told us that the stones were cut out by placing pieces of dry wood in the cracks and then soaking the wood. The expanding wood caused the sections to break loose so they could be rolled to the surface to build the buildings.

From there we entered the “dung gate”, this is all on the East side of Jerusalem, and walked through the old city of Jerusalem. Most of this area is inhabited by the Muslims and filled with their shops. The most amazing part of walking in this area was discovering the Jewish Yeshivas right in the heart of the Muslim areas that have been reclaimed for the Jews. We walked the “Via De la Rosa” as a part of the areas we traveled in what was almost like an underground city.

At one point we were in an area that placed us beside a very secluded part of the Western wall, not visited by many and were able to discuss, pray and observe a great deal without anyone around. Just our group of 16 with the Rabbi as our teacher. This was a very special time, to be at the western wall, without all the hectic activity normally associated with the western wall. We also went to the public area of the Western Wall, masses of people wedging in to get to the wall for prayer, to touch, to leave a prayer or just to say they were there. The Rabbi took the men into a study area by the wall where students were studying Torah.

Even though we spent most of the day in heavy Muslim areas at no time did we feel unsafe. Yes, the IDF was everywhere, but they too seemed very relaxed.

Our final adventure of the day was to observe the discoveries of the old City of David and looking across the valley to the Mount of Olives and down the Kidron Valley. It was a very full day.

2009-10-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today, Sunday, we spent 8 1/2 hours touring and learning in "The Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel" The reserve is a very large park devoted to planting vegetation to match what was there at the time of the Bible. As we moved through the different areas the guide read Scriptures that explained what would have been there and she pointed out the trees that were described in the Biblical verses.

Other areas we discussed were cisterns and their importance in ancient biblical context, Other aspects of the early Hebrew life, the importance of the foliage, water and seasons all were brought out through Scripture verses.
There was just so much information both about the foliage and landscape and Scriptures that I feel as though I had a brain fry from two directions.

Due to technological challenges I will not be posting pictures for a few days. I trust that the problem will be solved with in a day or two. If it cannot be solved I will post pictures once we return to the states.

Tommorrow, Monday we will go to Jerusalem for the day. The areas we will visit depend on traffic and waiting time for the historic areas.

More Pictures

2009-10-02T03:23:00.000-07:00

I am still getting an understanding of putting pictures into this system so all the pictures are first. It may get better as the days go on. Jim

Trip to Israel

2009-10-02T02:34:00.000-07:00

Where to start! We left Las Vegas 9/30 at around 1:30 Pm for Atlanta, everything was on schedule, a good flight with excellent take off and landing. We made our way through Atlanta terminal finding our departure gate with ease 15 minutes before the plane from Las Vegas was to land. There was a good tail wind and it only took 3 hours for a 4 hour flight.

We found the right gate and just as I looked to see the departure time, it said 11:35, I rechecked the ticket and it said 10:35. I looked again and as I looked at the screen it changed again to 1:00 am. That was the beginning of a long wait for the true departure.

The blessing of the wait was finding two ladies of like mind that we share info with. Carla was cold, very good air conditioning, and borrowed a jacket from one of the ladies until we were ready to board the plane.

At 11:45 we started to go through security and the boarding process. Because of the destination everything was very high security, a complete re screening of everything and a very slow boarding process for over 400 people.

Our landing in Israel was very smooth and the trek through the terminal building to the Passport check area was very easy. They very efficiently processed the people and next stop was finding luggage. Just like Vegas and every other airport, wait and watch for just the right moment to grab, and then discover it was the wrong bag. Throw it back and try again. I was fortunate that I only grabbed the right two bags and off to the taxi.

Taxi, was a great area of caution as the price needed to be determined and also to make sure the driver knew where we were going. The dispatcher, who spoke the best English looked with a puzzled face when Carla told her the name of the town. Then one of the drivers spoke up and said he knew the area. Whit the help of our maps and three calls to the guest house we arrived in very good time at a rate less than we were told to expect. All in all a very good experience, God was really in total control of the whole adventure.

Lunch is cooking as I type and it is a day to just relax and prepare for Shabbot and the beginning of Succot. With the first day of the feast and Shabbot being the same day the volunteer staff is very busy with all the last minute details, building the sukkah.

I am attaching a photo of the inside of the plane and a sunset from the plane along with some of the guest house and the community.

I trust that this finds everyone excited about the high holiday

Seven days

2009-09-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

As the days speed by we are getting all the last minute details taken care of for the two weeks we will be in Israel.

At work I am double checking the inventory to make sure they don't run out of anything, the staff is so accustom to Jim taking care of everything even when being off for a week. This time I will not be easily reachable during business hours and I do not want calls while I am sleeping.

At home we are in the middle of putting tile on the walls in the kitchen. The rest will wait until we are gone. We are too much in the road wanting to cook etc. The primary care givers for Helen while we are gone are also the ones doing the tile so it will work well for the final wall to be done after we leave.

Helen has been making great progress with her PT. She went to see Cheryl Webb, Nurse Practitioner Monday and got a very good report. Cheryl was very happy with the progress being only 4 weeks post op. Not walking yet, but I suspect that by the time we return she will be taking steps with the walker.

Had my first lesson on how to down load the camera into the laptop and post pictures on the blog tonight. I will need to practice a lot while I still have Megan to tell me what to do. Of course she is just a phone call a way, even if she is sleeping when I have questions.

Week at a glance

2009-09-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

Seventeen more days and counting and we will board a Delta plane for Atlanta and then on to Israel. But back to reality and an update on Helen for those that are interested.

Just when I was all set to give a report of great accomplishments for the week we had a sleep marathon of about 20 hours. Finally at 3:30 this afternoon we were able to get her awake for a can on Ensure and 4 donut holes. She was up in the wheelchair for about an hour and was ready to go back to bed. We were unable to wake her for dinner.

Looking at the week as a complete unit it was a good week she was up more. She is helping with transfers to the wheelchair, bedside commode and back into bed. On Friday the OT had her out in the wheelchair and self propelling on the hard floor down the hall and back. Helen also had dinner with the family most evenings.

Carla found a dress for her at Wal-Mart today that will make a change from the hospital gowns. Dresses will be much easier to put on right now than pants and tops.

Starting Monday Vince, the handyman that did a lot of work for us on the Ridgecrest property will start putting tile on the wall between the counter and cabinets in the kitchen. We have wanted to do something to dress up that space a little and give it more character. I think the tile Carla picked out will do that. Pictures once it is finished.

I trust that everyone will have a great week. WE enjoy reading everyone's blog about all our families.

Happy Eighteenth Birthday Hannah

2009-09-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hannah turns the big eighteen today. I do not see the excitement that the other sisters have had about eighteen. Hannah is very serious, it is all business, get the projects done, get the homework completed, and stay on task studying for the SAT’s.

She is very diligent filling out college application to places like Notre Dame, Calvin College and the state Universities. She has also been considering which scholarships to apply for and a lot of other college stuff.

Carla and Amarys are making her a cake today. It will be fun for Amarys to help grandma (granny) spread ice cream in and on the cake. It will be a new experience for all as it will be Carla’s first ice cream cake.

We wish Hannah Joy McBride a Happy Happy Eighteenth Birthday!

We see improvement.

2009-09-06T16:12:00.000-07:00

Gee, has a week past already. This week has held a variety of activities and moods. We have had a wide awake for a day-and-a-half with conversation from another time period. We have had a full day of sleep and finally a couple of days of pretty good, here in reality.

The RN was here on Monday and then back again on Thursday. For right now she will come twice a week. The Bath aid will be here Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The OT (Occupational Therapist) will be here on Fridays. Next week they may send in a Physical Therapist to help with leg exercises. Each one has a lot of helpful ideas and spend time working with Helen.

She is coming out to dinner in the wheelchair and sitting on the edge of the bed for breakfast and lunch. She is helping quite a bit with transfers. Carla is going to try tomorrow to have her take some steps with the walker. Being at home has given her a much better attitude and we can also control the medication better. That helps the mood and amount of sleep tremendously.

Last night after dinner she sat in the lift chair and watched/listened to Lawrence Welk (her favorite TV program). I teased her that I put my ear plugs in for the hour.

Dinner at The Table

2009-08-31T20:49:00.000-07:00

This morning brought a prescription for oxygen and some brilliant ideas. We decided that if we gave Helen Tylenol about a half hour before we started moving her she might not have so much pain. It worked, and though she complained some it was not as loud and persistent. Cheryl Webb, the PA that we normally take Helen to, suggested that we give her the Tylenol every 4 hours for a few days to stay ahead of the pain. It is really helping her attitude.

She ate a good lunch, then when Megan and Hannah came home from school she was awake and they spent a while talking with her. Nicole also came with Delaney and in all she had a great late afternoon. We moved her to the wheelchair and she joined us for dinner at the table and then went back in the TV area with David while we cleaned up the kitchen. She had an excellent dinner, equal to or more than she would normally eat. By the time she was put back into bed she was ready, but had had a good day.

Home health is supposed to be here tomorrow to evaluate the situation and determine what services she needs and qualifies for. I feel we should have a nurse occasionally, a bath aid and pt/ot. Time will tell on that. I was a little disturbed that they did not come in today, and in fact, I had to call them.

Tomorrow will be another day, and I trust it will be as good or better.

Now the Work Begins

2009-08-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

After a restful day of study and hosting a Bible study group at our home we began a new chapter in our lives. At about 5:50 we wheeled Helen in and placed her in her hospital bed. Uptown delivered a truck load of equipment and supplies on Friday in preparation for this move from the Hospital to home today.

Unfortunately the energy of going from the hospital bed to wheelchair to the car; the ride home and back into the wheelchair and then into the bed was all Helen had. She slept through almost the complete the move, barely waking enough to help a little. She has been asleep since she was put into bed, though we have tried to wake her every half hour. It would have been nicer for David if she knew she was home with him.

Tomorrow will be a new day and we are trusting that she will be a wake and alert and aware of where she is in the morning.

Early in the week Home Health should be in to do an evaluation and then decide exactly what is needed. They have ordered a bathing aid and OT/PT, but I feel we will also need a nurse at least once a week.

As we progress through the challenges I will keep everyone posted on the blog.

Only 32 days and we leave for Israel

Ring Ring!

2009-08-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

So last night, I had a very traumatizing experience. I was at Oak Street Haven and I was ready to go. I called my dad's cell phone but there was no answer. Then I called our house phone. No answer. Then mom's cell phone. No answer. Dads again. Moms again. House again. FREAK OUT! I was pretty angry with them for not answering and then they showed up! So I got in the car and after telling them exactly how I felt about it, I got over it. But then, today, I got inspired and wrote a poem about it :)

When Parents Don't Answer Their Cell Phones
Ring, ring, ring, such an empty, disturbing sound
"You have reached my voice mail, which means I am not around"
Where are you mom? Where are you dad?
This makes me worried, upset and mad
If you leave the house, please take your phone
For you're supposed to use it when you're not at home
If you do not answer, I may start to stress
Why has your answer button been left unpressed?
Has something bad happened to you?
If you are dead, what will I do?
Wait, there's your car! And there you sit!
Completely oblivious to my worried fit!
You heard it ring, but didn't reach it in time?
Guess what! I called a second time!
Just take your phone out and call me back!
This will prevent my heart attack.
Oh mother, oh father, I'm glad all is well
But next time, please, just answer your cell!

:)

It is in the works

2009-08-26T20:50:00.001-07:00

Carla had toe surgery today. An ingrown toenail made a real mess. She is feeling great tonight. I trust that she will be doing as good tomorrow.

I had a meeting yesterday afternoon with the OT/PT for Helen and found out that the dementia is hampering any real progress for a walking recovery in the near future. Since Medicare required a certain level of progress within the first ten days there is not an option for her to stay any longer. I had another meeting with the OT this morning and scheduled home care training for Carla for Friday morning. It looks like we will be bring Helen home on Saturday late afternoon.

Hannah, Megan and David went to the hospital around 4:30 pm yesterday and Helen slept the whole time they were there, about 45 minutes. Sarah, Carla and David went to day about 10:30 am and they could not wake her up enough to talker to her. I looked in while was there early this AM and in the afternoon when I was confirming all the needed equipment orders and both times she was sleeping pretty sound. The nurses told me they were having to feed her again and that when they tried to do therapy she would go to sleep.

We are trusting that when she is home and in a familiar environment with family around all the time she will be more cooperative. We will have home health coming in at different times during the week. Most likely an RN weekly and an aid three times a week to help with bathing.

Frank is planning to come tomorrow (Thursday) for a short visit. I think that will be good. Trusting that his voice may trigger a little more responsiveness. It will also be good for David to see him as well.

Carla and my 32nd anniversary is Friday,so we will celebrate while Frank is here. If we can get reservation we want to go to Mattina's, an Italian restaurant in downtown (old town) Kingman. A lot has transpired in the last year.

We are progressing

2009-08-25T06:22:00.000-07:00

Helen's attitude is very good, she is very cooperative, she is eating good, we see progress.

The posting is slow for the past few days because I have been taking "non-Drowsy" Clariton and it muddles the mind. I would rather sleep than function. I took just a single Benidril last night and the mind is still not clear. Guess antihistamines are not in the drug regiment to get rid of what ever I have.

Nicole had dinner with Helen last night, that made her happy. She enjoys seeing family members especially at meal time.

Hopefully I will be able to give a better update tonight.

Lasagna and green beans

2009-08-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

And desert was chocolate cake. You guessed it! That was Helen's dinner tonight. We went to visit during her evening meal and sat with her to encourage her to eat. She had eaten 80% of breakfast and 40% of lunch. I would guess about 60% of dinner and the portion was large.

Today they dressed her and she had therapy three times. She had a much better day and was more co-operative. I watched when they transferred her to the wheelchair for dinner and she did help a little. There was some complaint of pain, not much and it did not last. She is only on Tylenol standard strength so that is very good.

Yesterday was a very bad day. No cooperation and slept most of the day. She was very with it and made it plain she did not like all they (the nurses and PT) were doing and went to sleep to keep from doing what they wanted, including eating breakfast and lunch. Dinner she ate about 80%. The nurses aid said she was hungry.

There is a re-evaluation of her status on Monday to re-determine if rehab is the right palace for her. AS a family we will be working on a plan B and ways that each member can help to take some of the stress off of me.

We had a few minutes of rain today and it was only into the low 90"s. A very nice day.

Acute Rehab Here we Come

2009-08-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Since Wednesday night is grocery shopping night I did not go to the Hospital to visit.

Carla and David went in the afternoon. They were getting ready to do the Rehab evaluation and while they were there and had said they would call us to discuss the options if she was not accepted. We had not heard anything later in the day

This morning when we went to the old room the bed was empty. The nurses desk was the next stop and they excitedly told us that she was in acute rehab room 385. This is where they will help her rebuild her strength and learn to walk again. Her comment was that she felt that she was in a prize fight and they were shoving her. I am sure we will hear about all kinds of torture as they work with her. Helen is not used to being told she has to do something and pressing for endurance.

Will post more as time progresses. We are very thankful that she was accepted.

I Can See Clearly Now (almost)

2009-08-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. When we walked in Helen was setting in a chair, and was easy to awaken. Her mind was much clearer tonight the majority of the conversation was current about real people. She reverted to the past and some dreams a little, but much more aware of who we were. We talked for about 45 minutes before she started nodding off for a nap. The timing was good because the nurses arrived to move her back to the bed from setting up in the chair.

She remembered Hannah visiting the night before last and Nicole and David visiting last night, also ask about Sarah and Frank.

PT had her up taking a few steps. They also moved her from the bed to a chair several times. She told the nurse they were torturing her when they moved her. The nurses said she is very cooperative and a great pill taker. That makes their job. easier

The evaluation for Acute Rehab began today. It will be good if they accept her. Medicare allows three weeks of rehab. It will take a lot of work to rebuild her strength so she can stand alone and learn to walk again.

The Mind Clears a Little

2009-08-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

There was some improvement today, but nothing massive.

Carla and I visited early this morning. Helen was much more with us.

This evening Nicole visited with Helen before we arrived and found her very much aware of what was happening. She remembered Hannah visiting last night and asked about the grand kids and other family members.

PT was not able to do all the planned activities as Helen's HH screen was not within the correct parameters. They have given her two units of blood hoping that will bring the hemoglobin level up to the acceptable levels. They are also giving breathing treatments to help keep the lungs clear.

The nurses are very good working with her to get food and liquid into her. Helen does not like fluid so that has always been a challenge.

David is doing so so, very lonely and not sure what to say to her when visiting. Since he doesn't say much to us either it is really hard to know what is going on in his mind. When she was very confused it was obvious he did not understand at all what was going on, even when we tried to explain.

We are trusting each day to be an improvement. We trust she will be able to move into the rehab program.

Adventures of the Mind

2009-08-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin? The stories are fascinating, beyond real, but not hallucinating. The nurses tell me that Helen was awake all night talking with David, some in New York but mostly in Boston. By the time we got there at 9 am she was sound asleep for the morning.

This afternoon She had great conversation, but we were not there to participate. By 5 PM when we arrived at the hospital she was sleeping. After several attempts we aroused Helen and most likely she knew we were there as she told us about the adventures of the afternoon. The Parkinson medication is capable of causing some very vivid dreams, thus most likely the source of her conversation topic. Dr. Dawn also told Carla that the vivid dreams and adventures are a part of hip fractures. For brief moments we could tell she was with us, though she is not sure where she is. When we ask her where she was we would never get a straight answer.

Carla tried to get her to eat some of her dinner, without success. Not even the cake. But when the nurse came in with some medication she took it just fine. They tell us she is a good pill taker.

Tomorrow Physical Therapy will be in to begin getting her up and walking some. Tuesday or Wednesday they will evaluate for acute rehab. Because of the Parkinson and dementia she may not be a candidate for the rehab program. We are trusting that she can go into the rehab program as the other choices are coming home or a facility (we do not consider that a choice)

Life right now is one day at a time.

It will be good to go to Israel in October for two weeks, we are almost ready to start counting the days till we leave. I think it is 46 now, we won't start counting until it is 30.

Recovery Here We Come

2009-08-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today was the day for surgery. Helen was out after three incisions by 1 PM and on her way to recovery.

The pain medication she has been on has strange side effects, therefore she had a sleepless night with some very vivid flash backs of her past years. This morning before surgery she was still very confused and wondered when we were going to take her to her appointment for surgery at the hospital. Having experienced many of these same things with mother when she had surgery and was on morphine I was not surprised by her experiences.

Tonight Helen was still coming out of the anesthesia and a little confused, but appeared to be doing very well for being 6 hours post surgery.

The plans for tomorrow are for her to be up and doing a little walking. Most likely not ready for a Marathon yet.

What will happen next

2009-08-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a really good day for Carla's Mother Helen. She was awake more that normal, all the grand kids were here and she had a great time with them.

This morning did not start out as good. She did not really want to wake up and get the day started, so everything ran a little late. Thankfully Megan was home and able to take care of Dave and Helen's breakfast. She is really good about helping out.

About 12:15 Megan called me at work requesting that I come home, grandma had fallen and need help to get up. In the process of getting her up I realized that the right leg would not bear weight, I knew then that we had a problem. David got a chair for me to put her in. The next step was a call to 911 and a trip to the hospital for evaluation of the situation.

End result is a broken hip. Not a real bad break, but at 87 any break is a bad break. There are some pre-surgery test in the morning then if all the test are ok the repair surgery will be done, most likely tomorrow.

I will try to keep the post current on how she is doing.

Ages 4 and Up

2009-07-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

It's official. There is nothing more exciting than playing with something that is for ages 4 and up. What is this magnificent toy that will probably keep me busy for hours? The Twirl O Paint. I remember having one when i was little, but we always used marker. Then, as the years went on, since it had been around already for years and years, it started acting up, and as all things eventually do, it died. So my life has been Twirl O Paint free until tonight!Dad bought a new one! Well not new. It is super old, but he did something with the wires and baking soda that made it work! And it was brought to my attention that it isn't called the Twirt O Marker. So I pulled out our big bucket of paint and got busy. It was the most exciting thing of my life. Even more exciting than when my soup turned to pudding when we made dessert (read older post)

I was enthralled, and started perfecting my pictures. I'm basically positive by midnight I will be pro. Hannah unfortunately did not join the fun, but merely gave me a "you really need to start acting your age" look when I proudly showed her my first picture. I admit, it is a bit five year oldish, but it is sooooo worth it!

Freeze Frame!

My first Creation
The second act of genius
The final, and my own personal favorite

Now, I need to cut more paper, find more paint, and have some more fun! Then, I will have a jolly good time cleaning up the huge mess I am sure to make!

Benefit Concert

2009-07-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 24, Oak Street Haven will be hosting a benefit concert for the Allison family. There is no admission, but donations are of course gratefully accepted. All donations will go to the family. There will be a wide array of vocalists, and it will probably last from about 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. Come and enjoy some music out in the wonderful summer air!

Angel food Shepherd

2009-07-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

"Will you seperate half the angel food cake cubes?"

"Oh sure. I would LOVE to."
"Be careful."
"Be careful? Did you just tell me to be careful with the angel food cake cubes? Like I'm some kind of monster? Some, some angel food cake hurter?" (Said 'hurter' as 'herder') "Haha. Herder. Haha. I'M A SHEPHERD!" Uncontrollable giggles.
"What?"
"I went from angel food cake to a shepherd!"
"Wow."
I believe I may have problems...

ANYWAYS...
Hannah decided to make a fancy dessert. We bought ingredients for it a very long time ago. Unfortunately, we ate the yummy ingredients already, so we had to buy more. So we were making this cool angel food cake berry whip cream pudding orange juice almond extract thing, that i'm sure has a simplier name that i am currently not aware of. It was of course messy business.

First, I was incredibly frustrated with the frozen berries that were supposed to be thawed out. Wait no. FIRST I was frustrated with the sister who forgot her credit card at the store. Anyways, then came the frozen berries.

It basically took FOREVER to thaw them out (using the microwave). Then, hannah let me make pudding!
I have never made pudding before. It was a very exciting experience! Did you know that pudding starts all liquidy and gross and then after you stir it for two minutes and your carpeltunnel wrist is screaming at you, it turns into a pudding-ish consistency? It was pretty mind boggling to me in that moment. Pudding will forever be magic in my mind.

Speaking of magic, I'm very upset that I never bought tickets for Harry Potter, so I will have to wait forever to see it. : /

Back to angel food cake. Hannah started putting it all together, and while she did this I went over to the whip cream, and decided to swipe some. The closest thing to me was the measuring spoons, so I grabbed it and used the one on top to scoop some up. It didn't occur to me that the measuring spoon on top was probably the one Hannah used. Here's a little tip - almond extract is not very tasty. I immediatly reacted to the gross taste in my mouth, and Hannah of course laughed at me for my stupidity.

Here is the "going into the fridge before the whip cream got put on it" picture

So, five hours later, the family sat down and was ready to eat the dessert. I took it out of the fridge, threw a BUNCH more whip cream on it (who doesn't love whip cream?) and served it. It wasn't the prettiest presentation, but it sure was yummy :) Everyone consoled themselves with the fact that everything in it was very low calorie as they went up for seconds. Silly me, all the "in the making of" pictures, i forgot to take the finished product picture with all the whip cream. But here is what was left after the family got it

Thanks for making us such a delicious dessert Hannah!

It is Official

2009-07-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Six years in the saving, three years in the planning and now it will be a reality! We, Carla and Jim are taking a vacation to Israel in October, for Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) .

The tickets are purchased, as of today. We will be flying via Delta Airlines. We will leave on Wednesday September 30th At 1:21 pm from Las Vegas, NV. We are scheduled to spend about two hours in Atlanta Departing for Tel Eviv Yafo Ben Gurion Int. at 10:35 Pm. With an overnight sleep on the plane and loosing 10 hours we will arrive in Israel around 4:25 Pm on October 1st.

Our Destination is the KHT Pesione/Guest House in the town of Karnei Shomron about 30km from Ben Gurion Intl Airport. The ten day tour is sponsored by Kol HaTor and there will be a total of 16 people in the tour. We will spend a lot of our time visiting areas of Israel that the commercial tours do not visit. We will have an opportunity to visit with the people of the settlements as well as visiting Jerusalem. It is exciting for us to have discovered this tour and having the opportunity to be a part of this small group.

The plan is to take a laptop with us along with the camera, and at the end of each day do a post of the days events and pictures. To do that Megan has to teach me how to down load the camera and transfer them to the blog. I will also need to have the time and energy after a day of site seeing.

As we get closer to the departure date I will give a little more of the Itinerary.

Roof Top to Prime

2009-07-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

July has started out with lots of activity for the McBride/Worth Families.

The 4^th was a rooftop experience for many of the family as they viewed the annual fireworks. Kory, Sarah, Megan, Hannah, and her friend Melissa climbed to the roof for a better view. With the fear of starving during the long extravaganza they carried bowls of ice cream, strawberries, vanilla wafers, potato chips and more up with them as well! Kory’s dad John watched over Bella and Amarys with Carla and me on the ground. Carla and I relaxed on the glider swing and enjoyed the lit up sky. A great relaxing way to end the Sabbath.

Sunday was filled with adventure as I embarked on roasting a 13 pound prime rib for a feast in the evening. The menu consisted of prime rib, baked potato, green beans, pasta salad, regular salad, and of course, dessert. Nicole provided the delicious pasta salad and chocolate cake. We served thirteen and had plenty of leftovers. Everyone had a great time, stuffed themselves, and yes, the prime rib was tender and delicious.

What was the occasion for such a feast in July? The celebration of David and Helen Worth’s (Carla’s parents) 60^th wedding anniversary. Their actual anniversary was the 8^th, but everyone was able to congregate easier on the 5^th. Their son, Frank, arrived from Tucson around 10 AM that day, which was a very special treat. The rest of the family arrived later for dinner.

Dinner was great, but the real high point of the evening was when we all moved over to the living room and Megan played the piano while Sarah sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” From there, Helen was able to convince nearly everyone to throw in their own talents! Cullen wrote a magnificent poem, Nicole and Amarys sang a great “You Are My Sunshine”, Hannah and Sarah sang “The Way You Look Tonight” accompanied by Megan on the piano, “Smile” was beautifully performed by Nicole and Carla, and best of all, Helen and David sang a “For Me and My Gal” in perfect harmony. They all had a great time and Helen is still talking about the wonderful anniversary evening.

Nicole and Amarys Singing Together

We tried to get a smile out of Hannah and Sarah

Amarys enjoying sometime on Papa's lap

Delaney listening to great grandma sing

Helen and David's "For Me and My Gal" It is really sweet.

Here is Nicole and Amarys's performance. In the background, towards the end, David comes in with some harmony

Sarah and Megan's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

It was all well worth the double dishwasher load of dishes to see all the happy smiling faces.

Trains, rain, and stiches!

2009-07-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

Play times over! We successfully completed three performances of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown"!
It wasn't easy though! The night before our first performance, Linus hit her head on a ceiling fan and had to get four stitches! She was a major trooper though and was amazing the next day! During our first two performances we had some lovely train interruptions. Luckily, we have some brilliant cast members (Schroeder) who have great train improv!
And best of all, the third and final performance night, we got a lovely Kingman shower. Thunder, Lightning, and LOTS of rain. Since our play was set outside, we had to haul everything over to the church, and re create our stage in their gym. Everyone was really patient with us, and the teamwork was amazing! We finally got everything set up and we were able to perform our play and stay dry at the same time!

Some Pics of the Cast:

Charlie, Sally, Linus, Snoopy, Lucy and Schroeder!

Sally, Linus, Snoopy, and Lucy

Sally and Snoopy!

Sally and Linus

Over all the play was such a great experience for me, (I've never been given the opportunity to play a 4 year old before!) I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it this summer! It left me with some amazing memories, and I can't believe it's over!

Chocolate Chip Dream Bars

2009-06-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Light on the chocolate chips, heavy on the dream. I've never been much of a cook. Ask Hannah, she can explain to me how to cook something over and over, yet whenever she wants me to cook it by myself, she always gets the same answer - "I don't know how." Cooking really just isn't my thing. However, baking is one thing I consider myself good at. Or at least I used to. My chocolate chip cookies are not amazing, but they're edible. My brownies taste great, or at least I think so. And I have been able to successfully bake a few cakes in my lifetime.

Well, the other day, I was given the recipe and a sample of "Chocolate Chip Dream Bars" from a friend. It was DELICIOUS and didn't seem that difficult, so I decided I would try to make it. So I turned on my music (I can't bake without music) and got out all my ingredients. I thought it was going perfectly well, and they didn't look half bad when I took them out of the oven to cool. Later however, when I went to remove them from the pan it occurred to me that it may have been helpful to spray the pan. Maybe.
They were basically hopelessly stuck within the pan, and the only thing I managed to accomplish while trying to remove them was getting chocolate crumbs on myself and the floor. Curiously, I forked a bit off the top, deciding that I at least should see how they tasted. One word. Eggy. One more word. Gross. Apparently, I am not a baker either, and I mournfully managed to scrape all the so called dream bars into the trash can.

Then, the worst thing happened. My grandpa came out and said "I could have sworn I smelt brownies or something!"
I looked sadly around the dirty kitchen and floor and said "Nope. Nothing here."

Then I had to sweep.

CHARLIE BROWN!!!

2009-06-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

It is a really fun play and we have all been working super hard on it!
I'll be playing Sally Brown, and I really hope you can all make it :)

La La La La La La La!

2009-06-18T15:05:00.001-07:00

So, today, Hannah, I, and our friends Bobby and Travis went to the Gardens Care and Rehab center and did a bit of singing for them. We started out going to individual residents and singing, and we also sang to a large group when they were done with their exercising. We had a great time and it was cool to see where Hannah worked. Many of the residents would stop and wave or smile and say Hi Hannah! It was very cute and a lot of them really enjoyed having us there. I hope we get the chance to go back and do it again!

Balsamic Vinegar

2009-06-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Posted By: Megan

is NOT a friend of Hannah and I. Hannah decided she was going to start making fancier more exciting food for us, so we made a list and went off to Safeway, to get the ingredients for lunch, dessert, and frappuccinos. One of the ingredients needed for her grilled peaches was Balsamic Vinegar. We weren't really positive what it was or where to find it, so we called our cooking-expert sister Nicole. Then, we went to find it. We found it, or what we thought was it, in the oil isle, but it was too expensive we decided, so we went to Walmart to look for it. We couldn't find it there. So we moved on to Smiths. It wasn't there either. With an incredibly grumpy spirit, we headed back to Safeway to get the expensive vinegar. When we found it again, we realized it was the same bottle as one of the vinegars we had seen at Smiths, and so we were of course quite frustrated, because it was cheaper there. So Hannah grabbed it and suggested that we go to the salad dressing isle, just to make sure there wasn't something cheaper over there, and besides, she added, I'm not really sure this is the right one. So on we went to the dressing isle and who would have guessed, there sat our Balsamic Vinegar, three dollars cheaper, and definitely the right one.

"It was probably at every store we went to." Hannah said
"You're probably right." I replied.

So, still a bit grumpy, despite finally finding the vinegar, we left. Then we pulled out the wrong exit at Safeway and had to wait forever to finally get home.

Stupid Balsamic Vinegar.

Behold: The Creation

The Start of Something New

2009-06-15T11:09:00.001-07:00

Posted by: Family

Alright. It's time. To start a blog. Everyone else seems to have gotten into the blogging spirit, so we figured we should probably start a family blog. Our life is not incredibly exciting, but now everyone can know just what goes on around here!