The Whitson Post!

"A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity."

Proverbs 17:17

To make a long story short, after 2 trips to the Vision Forum Father & Daughter Retreat in Georgia and seeing Mr. Whitson, Taylor, and Abby both times we always "hit it off." When Daddy and I (Kimber) went earlier this year we said they would have to come visit (they said the same) and we finally arranged something! They decided that last week would be the week!

After a couple of phone calls and emails arranging the details, asking questions, etc. the Whitsons arrived around 1:15 last Monday afternoon. Before they arrived we zoomed around the house (and outdoors!) cleaning, organizing, perfecting, etc.! :)

After they (the Whitsons) all piled out of their car we went through the Wassenberg House Tour, showed them their room, talked, laughed, and had fun! Then we went outside and we harvested around 40 ears of corn from our garden and then shucked, de-haired, and cleaned it. The Whitsons live in the mountains so they weren't used to Virginia humidity and it just so happened that the week they came was the hottest! :) So, Daddy took most of us to our neighbors' pool to cool down. Mrs. Whitson and Mama with some of the younger ones stayed home and prepared dinner. Monday nights' dinner was lasagna (from the Whitsons) along with bread, corn, etc. For dessert we ate the Whitsons carrot-zucchini cake (really good by the way!).

Taylor (14) and Abby (10) slept in our (the girls) room on the top bunks, Michael (8) slept in the boys room and Madelynn (almost 2) slept in the guest room with Mr. and Mrs. Whitson.

Breakfast Tuesday morning! :)

After a wonderful breakfast we prepared to leave home for Stratford Hall (Robert E. Lee's birthplace).

[The Whitsons wanted to do a little sight-seeing while they were here and most of us - the Wassenbergs - love History so it's always fun to learn something new!]

Seth, Michael, Caleb, and Eden walking into the Stratford Hall Visitor Center.








After reading some of the things the visitor center had, taking potty breaks, etc. we exited the Visitor Center and went along a bridge to get to the Lee's Mansion.

Walking along the bridge.

Eden, Alexis, and Abby.

Lexi and Abby are very similar and so they had a really fun time (as did the rest of us!).

While we walked along the gravel walkway Daddy found a tomato horn worm and picked it up for the little ones to see.

Madelynn and Mr. Whitson checking out the worm.

Lydia was a bit hesitant to touch it! :)

Stratford Hall

(http://www.straftfordhall.org/)

Our tour guide was really nice and you could really tell he loved History.

The house was pretty and it was fun learning about the Lee Family.

Once the tour was over we wandered around outside and took some pictures of everybody.

Madelyn found a leaf.

The Whitson and Wassenberg children - all of them - on the steps of the mansion!

Daddy, Mommy, Mr. Whitson, and Mrs. Whitson! :)

I like this picture. :)

A flower by the mansion.

Alexis and Abby at the front of the mansion.

(I was experimenting with my camera hence the Sepia tone)

Taylor and I (Kimber).

We wanted Hannah to be in the picture but she went on ahead before we decided to take pictures.

We then piled into our oversized van and went to the river that was on the plantation. We were planning to eat lunch and swim there until a sign said "No wading," "No swimming," etc. So...we packed up again and went to Colonial Beach! :)

[All the pictures of Colonial Beach were taken by one of the Whitsons - I never took my camera out]

Eating lunch at the beach (it's really a river).

Lunch was very good - sandwiches, chips, veggies, etc. - and after some potty breaks we headed into the river.

Mr. Whitson and Madelyn.

Lydia dumping sand/rocks into Eden's hair.

Me, Taylor, and Hannah in the water.

Daddy found a crab in the water and I think that's what Josiah's holding.

(Sorry about the unturned picture!)

Hannah had an idea to dig for water in the sand, so we started digging - realizing after a while that this was going to take a long time! So, we abandoned that plan and put Madelyn in the hole, covered her with sand, and took some pictures! :)

Daddy caught a little duck (it was returned to its parents after some time) and showed it to us all.

It was so cute!!!

After about an 1-2 hour(s) after swimming around we dried off, got in the van, and drove to Westmoreland Berry Farm, picked up some berries, and then went home.

Cookout was for dinner. Daddy took Mr. Whitson, Hannah, Taylor, and I to work out at our local SnapFitness. We showed Taylor all the machines and just laughed and played while Daddy and Mr. Whitson actually exercised! :) Alexis and Abby couldn't come so they stayed home and did a makeover. The rest were either in bed or talking!

After we got home (around 10:15) most of the younger ones were in bed. Mama said we (Hannah, Taylor, Abby, Alexis, and I) could have some ice cream so we pulled out the mugs and ate ice cream while reading 3 chapters in Daniel! (We decided to read through the book of Daniel while they were here)

---

Here are some random pictures I took during the week:

Abby reading to Eden and Josiah.

Frozen blueberries!

Wednesday we went through the blueberries, de-stemmed, cleaned, washed, drained, dried, and put them in Ziplocs and then into the freezer for fruit slushies and eating later on.

Clothes drying inside.

We were eating lunch Wednesday when all of a sudden it started raining...laundry was on the line. We jumped up, ran outside (barefoot!), and very quickly took off the clothes/towels and took everything inside before it got too wet. That was fun!

Then we laid everything over the tables and chairs and turned the fan onto them to help them dry (it did work too!).

Abby playing the piano.

We're a pretty musical family and the Whitsons were too, so we (most of us) played or sang something together throughout the week.

(Taylor, Abby, Michael, and their cousins have their own musical CD called Joshua Generation)

Hannah at the piano.

---

Thursday night was the last night that we had with the Whitsons. :( So we planned to have a movie and popcorn after dinner. We watched the movie Time Changer (a Rich Christiano Film). It was a really good movie and if no one has ever seen it before I highly recommend that you do. I can't say a whole lot about it or I'll give it away...so you'll just have to watch it yourself!!!

Everyone (other than me) before the movie.

When the movie ended we went upstairs and most of us went to sleep. The 5 oldest girls were, of course, up still but we had until 11 PM to get to bed so we wouldn't be tired in the morning.

We whipped up some homemade peach sorbet, went upstairs, and read our last 3 chapters in Daniel before rushing into bed. We then talked a little bit and probably fell asleep around 11:30.

---

Now Hannah was supposed to wake us up Friday morning when the alarm went off at 5:50 AM. But she turned it off and just "rested her eyes" a little longer so it was like 6:30 before we all (the 5 girls) got up. :) (We were planning to get up early so we could spend a lot of time together before they left) We quietly brushed our teeth, changed, etc. while they (most of the Whitsons) packed up. They were out of the driveway by 7:30 AM but first we talked a little bit, gave hugs, and Mr. Whitson prayed for us all before they left.

We were really quiet during breakfast...everything was so still and lonely feeling. We warmed up a bit more as the day went on but we still missed them as much as the second they left.

The verse in Proverbs that says "there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother," is certainly coming true with the Whitson Family.

It's just so amazing how the Lord used 2 Father & Daughter Retreats and a visit with their entire family to Casa de la Wassenberg to knit us together. Plus they just live in North Carolina - a 7 hour drive to their house from our house - and not somewhere like California where there would be hardly any chance of us getting together. What a wonderful God we serve!

They are a huge blessing to our family and an answer to one of my prayers for a like-minded family. There aren't a whole lot of people that believe what we believe so it was so refreshing to meet someone who did. They were so helpful and kind during the week...it was so fun to be together!

We're really hoping to see them all again...really...really...soon!

[Hannah, Daddy, and I will see them Friday and Saturday at a conference but the rest of the family won't :( ]

All for Jesus,

Kimber :)

P.S - Just a quick sidenote: two babies were born today (the 5th)! Mama's midwife for Lydia (Kristi Zittle) had a little girl (their 10th!!!!) at 4 AM and my Uncle's friends' wife had a baby sometime this morning/afternoon.

P.S.S - The two baby bunnies we had didn't make it. :( http://http//solidrockranchupdates.blogspot.com/2009/05/nash-houchins-wedding-and-baby-bunnies.html

George Washington Jeopardy Night (Last Tuesday)

"They replied, "The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. 'Is your father still living?' he asked us. 'Do you have another brother?' We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, 'Bring your brother down here'?""

Genesis 43:7

I've been WAY behind on my posting! Sorry!

Last Tuesday night we had a George Washington Jeopardy Night. Paw-paw and Na-naw came over and after dinner we went into the schoolroom for the questionarre! Mama asked the questions because she made all of them up (the questions were pretty hard too!).

The way it worked was that Mama would start to read off one of the questions and one of the teams ("George" or "Martha") would squeak/dong their item (a.k.a baby toys) if they had the answer. Pretty much like the televised Jeopardy.

It was really funny watching others making mistakes and making them yourself! :) It was a really fun night!

"Team 'George'" consisted of (left to right) Seth, Paw-paw, Caleb, and I (Kimber)

The boys are hiding their faces because they didn't want Hannah to take their picture.

See the yellow piano in between Paw-paw and Caleb? That was our "ringer" that we hit when we had the answer.

"Team 'Martha'" consisted of (left to right) Alexis, Na-naw, Hannah, and Daddy

(Eden and Lydia were not on teams - they wandered around and played quitely for us)

"I'm not touching the fan, Mama!"

Daddy




Mama writing up our scores.

Lydia on the rocking horse.

Asking the questions

"Are you sure???" Team Martha consulting each other

Team Martha's "ringer" is the little squeak-toy in Hannah's hands.

(It's amazing how well baby toys come in handy! :)

Well, to give you the end result Team George won!!!!! Team Martha was a couple thousand ahead of us but they lost to us on the last question (Final Jeopardy).

We finished off a wonderful, fun-filled night with apple crisp and vanilla ice cream (with all the toppings of course).

All for Jesus,

Kimber

Family Field Trip to Mount Vernon!

"Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish."

Deuteronomy 8:19

Last Saturday night we went to our friends, the Lockwoods, house. We ate grilled pizza and home made ice cream and had lots of fun together. We went on their zip line, looked at their gardens, explored their woods, and watched their chickens play; talking to each other all the time. It was a great night of fellowship!

We also had a wonderful Father's Day. We went up to our Grandparents house in Northern VA to celebrate 2 birthdays, 1 anniversary, and Father's Day!! I'll tell you more about Father's Day later, Lord willing. We stayed overnight at Grandpa/ma's house and had a delicious breakfast Monday morning. Grandma made blueberry muffins, hard-boiled eggs, sausage, toast, and more. Grandma is a REALLY good cook!

We (9 Wassenbergs') left for Mount Vernon after breakfast. Grandma stayed at home with Lydia and Grandpa went to work at the post office. Grandma bought us the tickets to Mount Vernon as a Father's Day gift!

We went to Mount Vernon because we've been studying history and he (George Washington) was one of the people we recently learned about. We're hoping to be able to go to Monticello, Berkely Plantation, Williamsburg, etc. too.

8 Wassenbergs

Mama on the go


By the way, in the pictures she's wearing pants but we have finally convinced her that skirts/dresses are so much better and she now prefers skirts over pants! Yeah!! :-D
Oh - and Daddy likes (prefers) her in skirts too!



Purple Heart Plaque.

I don't know if anyone else knows this (outside the military) but the Purple Heart, that is awarded to those who are wounded fighting for the U.S.A., has the picture of George Washington on it. Click on the picture and it will enlarge making it easier to read why.

Seth by a metallic George Washington.

The sky was absolutely gorgeous, so there will be a couple more landscape pictures!

Caleb inside the museum.

This was one of the windows and it was so pretty, I just had to take a picture!

8 Wassenbergs (I'm taking the pictures) posing by statues of George Washington, his wife, and his two step-children, Jackie and Patsy.

We went and watched a 20-minute movie on George Washington before heading outside to his house. Only once in the entire movie did they mention "divine Providence" (a.k.a God) as the way George Washington suceeded. Most of the time they just said it was "luck" or the "weather conditions" that protected this man from death and gave him victory, when it was only because of Jesus that George Washington was the man that he was.

Here's a true story to illustrate what I just said:

"The account of George Washington at the Battle at the Monongahela was included in student textbooks in America until 1934. during the French and Indian War, George Washington fought alongside of the British General Edward Braddock. On July 9, 1775, the British were on the way to Fort Duquesne, when the French surprised them in an ambush attack.

The British, who were not accustomed to fighting unless in an open field, were being annihilated. Washington rode back and forth across the battle delivering General Braddock's orders. As the battle raged, every other officer on horseback, except Washington, was shot down. Even Gerneral Braddock was killed at which point the troops fled in confusion. After the battle, on July 18, 1775, Washington wrote to his brother, John A. Washington:

'But by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probablility or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!'

Fifteen years later, Washington and Dr. Craik, a close friend of his from his youth, were traveling through those same woods near the Ohio river and Great Kanawha river. They were met by an old Indian chief, who addressed Washington through an interpreter:

'I am a chief and ruler over my tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the great lakes and to the far blue mountains.

'I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man's blood mixed with the streams of our forests that I first beheld this chief [Washington].

'I called to my young men and said, "Mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not of the red-coat tribe-he hath an Indian's wisdom, and his warriors fight as we do - himself alone exposed.

'"Quick, let your aim be certain, and he dies." Our rifles were leveled, rifles which, but for you, knew not how to miss - 'twas all in vain, a power mightier far than we, shielded you.

'Seeing you were under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, we immediately ceased to fire at you. I am old and soon shall be gathered to the great council fire of my fathers in the land of shades, but ere I go, there is something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy:

'Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man [pointing at Washington]. and guides his destinies - he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire. I am come to pay homge to the man who is the particular favorite of Heaven, and who can never die in battle.'

The famous Indian warrior, who was in that battle, said:

'Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet! I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle, and after all could not bring him to the ground!'"

story taken from America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quoatations by William J. Federer

pgs. 636-637

Walking to George Washington's house.

(Look at that sky!)

Mount Vernon!!!!

A huge ash tree.

It doesn't look very big in the pictures but it was HUGE!

Hannah and Josiah

We had a line that we had to wait in before we could get in the house, so we played, waited, and enjoyed the beauty of God's creation.

Eden

This is one of my favorite pictures of Weedels.

A magnolia flower.

The scenery at Mount Vernon was beautiful. They had pathways (brick, gravel, and stone) all over the place and the trees and grass was kept very nicely.

A view of the 3rd floor of Mount Vernon's home.

We finally got in to a small house and were instructed to "take no picture, no smoking," etc. and given a little overview of what Mount Vernon was like before the 2 additions that George Washington added.

George Washington received the Mount Vernon estate from his half-brother Lawrence who died when George was 19.

The house had two beautiful aisleways lined with pillars leading to and from the front of the house (connected to 2 other smaller houses). So, I took lots of pictures of the pillars! :)

A pillar and the Potomac River.

More pillars.

We were waiting to get inside the house inside the aisleways where the pillars were so that's why I took pictures!

We finally got inside the mansion and there was a tour guide in every room explaining everything. It was really neat! (I love history) I thought the house wasn't as pretty as Gunston Hall, or the mansion at Maymont in that case, but it was still elegant and beautifully decorated. Most of the walls were in their original state (had not been re-painted) which made it look older. We learned a couple things and enjoyed peeking in all the rooms! Then we went outside along this aisleway:

...and entered a house.

Then we went down the street, looked in the different houses, wandered around, etc. while we made our way to Washington's gravesite.

Eden

George Washington is the grave on the right and his wife is on the left. In between their graves on the wall was a sign (see picture) that had John 3:16 inscribed upon. I wonder how long that'll be there...



One of the cows on the estate. They had different animals such as mules, goats, etc. The poor cow was getting eaten alive by flies. I'm sure he wished he had a longer tail!

The Potomac River.

Where we looked out there were bottles and something that looked like oil on the surface, so it wasn't exactly the most beautiful sight to gaze upon! :)

Caleb and 'Siah petting a goat.

One of the things we found out was that George Washington was a huge planner, thinker, inventor, overseer, etc. He created many things to try and help with some of the difficult ways of farming such as seperating the wheat from the chaff. He nutrified the soil with organic compost, rotated his crops, and more. He was a huge entrepreneur. He owned around 8,000 acres (inherited and bought) but the estate is now only around 500. I could go on about his farming but I don't have time to elaborate. :(

George Washington always wanted to be at home but duty called him. When he was unanimously elected president he said (don't take me word-for-word here!) "I feel like a prisoner being led to his execution." Pretty strong, but that tells you how much he just wanted to be a simple citizen. He died of some throat infection that literally made his throat swell up until he suffocated to death because his airways were blocked. Not the best way to die, if you ask me. His wife, Martha, died 2 1/2 years later, and she never again slept on their marriage bed again once george died.

Caleb and Hannah on a bridge in the woods.

Isn't that so beautiful?

(The landscape, I mean)

Jesus gave us a beautiful day to enjoy. It was the perfect temperature with a light breeze to cool you off when you got hot.

I think that one of the only "religious" things about George Washington that we found on the whole estate.

We were really glad to find something about his Christian life.

A zinnia.

Seth, Josiah, Caleb, and Alexis as the "Washington family."

A picture of all 9 Wassenbergs, shot into a mirror, to end a wonderful day!

---

And, of course, here are some random pictures I've taken recently.

A rainbow on the way home Monday.

Rainbows always make me think of God's promise to Noah when I see them.

Caleb playing his guitar.

(He's getting really good!)

Lydia in Daddy's work shoes.

This morning she had Mama's shoes on.

---

All for Jesus,

Kimber

---

"The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained."

George Washington, 1789, Inaugural Address