Caleb turns 16!

 

Yes, my little brother turned 16 on Thursday!! (Okay, so he is taller than me, but I'll always be older!) :-) He had a great day doing lots of things including opening presents, eating some of his favorite foods, and shooting (notice the shirt he's wearing?).

 

 

Caleb with his favorite (albiet only) big sister :-)

 

Of course his gifts were those typical of homeschoolers - books, army boots, books, a gift card to Fleet Farm, books, homemade cards, books, a gift card to Behemoth, some cash, and books!! Oh, did I mention he got some G.A. Henty's, and some other gun/army books?

 

 

 

All of us who were involved in the Appleseed Project went out back to practice what we'd learned. If you ever need to know anything about guns, just ask Caleb!! He knows practically everything there is to know about them (at least a LOT more than me!). :-)

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!! WE LOVE YOU!

More Appleseed Pictures

Here's some more pictures - these are all from mom's camera. Most of them should be self-explanatory. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For participating 2 days, we each got a free t-shirt.

 

 

 

This past weekend the Bartlett family hosted an Appleseed Shoot at their farm. As you can see in the picture, Andrew Bartlett did a great job mowing the letters into the side of the hill!! :-)

We left Friday afternoon and, after driving for 5 hours, arrived at the Bartlett Farm. They had just moved 4 cabins onto their property from a camp, so we were able to stay in the Guest Cabin (but I forgot to take a picture of it!!). It was nice to see their place in the summertime. They have huge gardens, and lots of animals including goats, pigs, chickens, cats, a cow, a dog and a horse. We especially enjoyed picking and eating fresh raspberries!! Nothing beats those! :-)

Peter milking the goats

 

Ethan taunting the billy goat (thankfully he was tied up!)

 

We were up bright and early the next morning (after a cold night - I think it got into the low forties) and out to the shooting range by 8:30. Some of you may be wondering exactly what and Appleseed Shoot is. I'll paste a couple paragraphs here from their website:

The Appleseed Program is designed to take you from being a simple rifle owner to being a true rifleman. All throughout American history, the rifleman has been defined as a marksman capable of hitting a man-sized target from 500 yards away — no ifs, ands or buts about it. This 500-yard range is traditionally known as "the rifleman's quarter-mile;" a rifleman can hit just about any target he can see. This skill was particularly evident in the birth of our country, and was the difference in winning the Revolutionary War.

What's a rifleman?
In short, a rifleman is an armed American, trained in the tradition of American Liberty. It's a man who has learned to shoot a rifle accurately — accurate enough to score "expert" on the Army Qualification Course. Until you can do that, you're considered a "Cook," unprepared and unqualified to carry a rifle on the firing line of freedom. But after attending an Appleseed AQT shoot, you'll have the credentials necessary to be a true rifleman, and will understand the critical need for defending freedom in this country.

So, after going over safety rules, we started out Saturday morning shooting at a "redcoat" target, and did several other various targets until lunch. Then the "shoot boss" gave us the first part of our history lesson - the story of April 19, 1775. After that we went back to the range and continued shooting - and learning more history - until 4:30 or so. Throughout the day we learned different positions (standing, sitting, prone) and also the six points you need to follow to do your best at hitting the target. We also learned how to find our natural point of aim.

Our targets on the hill

 

Lined up to shoot (the instructors are wearing the bright hats)

 

The shoot boss and the instructors all made sure that everyone was extremely safe while shooting. They would call out detailed instructions and be watching closely to make sure the muzzles were pointed in the right direction and that when we were finished shooting we had unloaded the mag, put the safety on, and put the flag in the chamber.

Alex - the shoot boss (in the red hat) - telling us what to do next

 

Daniel

 

Me

 

Caleb

 

The most important target we shot at was the AQT - the Army Qualification Test. There are four levels - unqualified, Marksman, Sharpshooter, and Expert (Rifleman). Or course, your goal is to become Rifleman by the end of the weekend. We shot many times at this target, trying to improve each time. I shot my best on Sunday morning, and made Sharpshooter. The targets were 25 meters away.

On Sunday morning we again gathered by 8:30. We were glad to have a break by the time lunch came - that afternoon the temp was in the upper 80's. It was sweltering!! Our guns and ammo were getting hot, and I could tell I was wearing out a lot quicker than on Saturday. We took an extra break in the shade while Alex finished the history lesson. I sure learned a lot that I hadn't know previously!!

 

 

We had a wonderful time - besides shooting we were able to jam a little and also visit/play with with friends. A big thank you goes to the Bartlett family for hosting this Appleseed Shoot!! We really enjoyed it, and we came away with better marksmanship, more knowledge of our history . . . and a nice sunburn!! :-)

The Wissmann Family

Lake Itasca Family Music Festival

I'm finally getting around to writing something about the music festival we went to last weekend!! This week has been super busy for us - every day has been full. :-)

We left last Friday and arrived at the grounds (which are near Lake Itasca State Park) around 1:30. We set up our tent and then went to visit with people we knew. The bands started at 6pm, and it rained very hard most of the evening!! We were afraid we'd be sleeping in a lake that night, but thankfully the tent wasn't too wet, although a lot of things were quite damp. But overall it was a very enjoyable evening - we loved hearing the different bluegrass bands (even though it was hard with the rain pattering on the tin roof)!!

On Saturday we spent the day doing various things - attending music workshops, playing/talking with friends, listening to many different bands, and more!! We have gone to this festival every year they've had it (this was the fourth year). We just love the family-friendly atmosphere!! It's so neat to be in a place with hundreds of like-minded families, and to be able to see many excellent bands! Although we enjoyed all the bands, our favorite was the Link Family. :-) We really enjoyed their humor, their love of the Lord, and their professionalism.

That night some friends and I stayed up until 2 in the morning!!!! That's probably one of the latest nights I've ever had! We had so much fun jamming with a group of girls, and then playing a Occupation (a group game) with some young people. What a blast!

The next morning there was a hymn sing, a message, and some more performances by the bands. It was hard to leave, but we came away with several new CD's, which we have been enjoying. :-) And, of course with lots of pictures and videos of the bands!!!

Some of the older girls of the Wissmann Family

 

Mr. Wissmann and little Charrissa singing along - she was SO cute!

 

Besides singing, the Wissmann family also put on a kid's show. They had the kids memorize Bible verses, sing songs, and more!!

 

Here they're doing a demonstration about Jesus' blood cleansing you from sin

 

The Link Family

 

Jamming

 

This is what staying up until 2 in the morning does to you!!!

 

Having fun playing and singing together

 

A big thank you goes to the Berge Family!! They do so much work to make the festival a success every year!!

 

We didn't get a picture of all the bands, but here's a few more. . .

The legendary Easter Brothers

 

Our friends from Wisconsin - the Alzen Family

 

The Kingery Family

 

I took quite a few videos with my digital camera, so be checking back later this week for some more of those!

P.S. Check out the Wissman family's blog to see if you can find Daniel and Lydia in one of the pictures. :-)

Quick Update

Before I post about the festival, I thought I'd give a quick update on a couple other things.

First of all, Caleb's foot is doing well. Thank you all for your prayers!! He got his stitches out today and a week ago they gave him a boot to wear. So with occasional help from the crutches he can walk around a lot more, and he sure is glad about that!! His foot doesn't bother him to much, and we are hoping his bone heals completely. Please continue to pray about that. Here are a couple pictures:

"Oooh!! This hurts!!" Yeah right. :-)

 

Caleb and his new boot

 

He can take the boot off when he wants, which is nice. But when he has it on and is walking around he can't put too much pressure on the front part of his foot.

 

I also wanted to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to my friend Amy Anderson, who one the USGA Girl's Junior Championship on July 25th. If you want to read more about it, you can go to the USGA Girl's Junior website. I am blessed to have such a godly, encouraging, kind friend like Amy! :-) The other day we went to watch her golf in DL, so I snapped a few pictures . . .

 

 

 

 

Great job Amy!! The Lord will bless you for honoring Him.

P.S. Just today Amy became the first woman (in 77 years of history) to qualify for the championship flight of the Pine to Palm Tournament in Detroit Lakes. Way to go, Amy!