Tiny Teepee

In looking for a present for Lauren, Melissa had seen some cute kid Teepees that people had crafted out on the internet.  We decided to make one for Lauren for Christmas.  After hunting around for supplies and figuring out the teepee features we wanted, we crafted up the Teepee.  Lauren loves it, and it's a pretty place to keep her toys.

Fantastic Reading

I've been reading Carpe Jugulum and  Rincewind the Wizzard: The Colour of Magic; the Light Fantastic; Sourcery by  Terry Pratchett. As well, I picked up a few more from the used bookatorium, Equal Rites and Lords and Ladies.

I also picked up The white and the gold; the French regime in Canada by Thomas Costain.  And The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer and Saga of the Jomsvikings. Which should be fun reading if I get to them someday.

Bible Study Methods Class

I've been spending a fair amount of my free time working on a Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics class that I've been teaching at Grace Bible Church of Boise.  I've now finished up my portion of the teaching and can spend some time doing other things.  Yeah!

Lauren's First Birthday Buggy

Lauren turned one year old a few weeks ago.  Grandma and Grandpa Boisselle got to come visit and enjoy ice cream and birthday cake with Lauren.  The next day, Grandpa and Grandma Hettinger got her a new push-buggy for her birthday.

Here are the results of the new buggy...

Reading

I often receive books from LibraryThing Early Reviewers, and one that I recently finished reading was a shorter book Understanding the Bible, by Robert Plummer.   The book was concise and I enjoyed reading it.  It is a very short introduction to hermeneutics.

I also recently finished reading The Dark Legacy of Shannara: Witch Wraith, by Terry Brooks.  The third in a series, this book hearkens back to the original trilogy and makes up for having to slog through the previous two books.   There seemed to be a bit less of plot roulette, as perhaps there were less main characters for the various story lines to follow.

I am team teaching a class on Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics.  It's been fun, but a ton of work.  This has been a project that I've been working on for a while.

Coffee Rant - Kati Kati

Boom!  Broadside!
The spray of salt water, the heave of the ship in the waves, and the smoke pouring forth from the mighty bronze and iron cannons.  A floating castle, bristling with arms, flying colors, and ready to take on the world.



Characteristics:
The aroma of burnt gunpowder lingers in the air.  A characteristically über-roasted coffee.  But the spirit of the beans pushes forth, allowing this blend of African coffees to speak for itself through the copious charcoal.  And the booming pronouncement is that this coffee is good.  Both as espresso (due to its interment in the roaster's inferno), pressed, and drip coffee.

Reading 8-2013

I've been back to reading a fair bit of Terry Pratchett.  Such books as The Truth, Thief of Time, Hogfather, Unseen Academicals.  I also picked up a book called Pigeon English, by Stephen Kelman.  Initially, I had high hopes for the book, but the more I've read, the less enthused I've been on this book.
I have some books lined up to read in the coming months. A friend mentioned that he read the book Wool (Omnibus Edition), by Hugh Howey, and really enjoyed it, so while it was on sale, I picked it up on Amazon.  And I am waiting on the library to furnish up a copy of  Witch Wraith, by Terry Brooks.  This is the last of a three part series that takes place in the Terry Brooks universe.
I will be teaching a Bible Study Methods / Hermeneutics class, so I'm getting up to speed by reading the appropriate books, and arranging a curriculum.

Yellowstone

Visiting Old Faithful

Land of Hot Springs, Geysers, and the Wildlife.

We stayed in the Old Faithful Inn.  Some rooms are pretty rustic, but ours was great.  Some of the rooms even have a shared bathroom.  Shared with the rest of the Hotel.
Being a big fan of Hot Springs, Yellowstone is one of the top places in the world for hot springs.  However, they're pretty much all reserved for the animals.  the geothermal activity, being mildly dangerous, and not impervious to human destruction has enabled Yellowstone Park to evolve a decent boardwalk system for viewing the pools and geysers.  This was a nice feature for going on walks with our daughter.  However, she caught a cold and was having a hard time sleeping, so we cut short our vacation.

We saw grizzly bears, baby buffalo, elk, wolves, coyotes, and lots of squirrels and chipmunks.

• more of our vacation photos

Helpful Websites with information about Geyser activity:

• A website that keeps track of Geyser eruptions, and when they are approximately going to erupt:
• http://geysertimes.org/
• The National Park Service's website about Geyser Activity:
• http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/geyseractivity.htm
• Webcams of Yellowstone.
• http://www.nps.gov/yell/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm

Craters of the Moon

One of the stops on our family vacation was the Craters of the Moon National Monument.  The Craters of the Moon is a lava flow out in the middle of Idaho.  It's basically a pretty un-hospitable space, unless you like sharp pieces of igneous rock.  But is it neat to see the different geologic formations.  The volcanic rock remnants gets very hot, and even on a cool May day, it was just about right at the Craters of the Moon.

Milford Sweat

We recently went on vacation, and we stopped at the Milford Sweat hot springs near the Craters of the Moon National Monument.  The hot springs was a little cool, but probably just about right for the weather in the coming weeks.

Kindle and booosks

Melissa got me a Kindle Paperwhite for a birthday Present.  I've been having bunches of fun with it.  One book I read on it was the latest Terry Brooks novel, Bloodfire Quest.  Brooks has a great fantasy universe he has constructed over the last 35 years.  However, I feel like his writing is in a small part drifting toward the Paranormal Teen Romance trend.  I've also been reading John Piper's Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, for LibraryThing Early Reviewers (among other books from the Early Reviewers programs).

Spa-sitively Excellent

We recently found a spa to adopt from Craigslist.  It was only a few years old, and in need of a good home.  It's a Bullfrog 462.  When getting a spa for an addition to the family, it's a good idea to get the electrical setup by a professional, or at least inspected.  So we had the electrical inspector come and find the insufficiencies in our work.  We got them fixed and have been enjoying it since!  We're trying out using a Silver Catalyst cleaner Nature 2 W20750 and Potassium Monopersulfate (MPS) Leisure Time LES-RENU6 instead of Chlorine or Bromine .

Goodbye bookmarks?

I've been reading more Terry Pratchett of late, Pyramids, Small Gods, and The Last Continent. I've been enjoying them, and reading some of them on the kindle app.  One of the benefits of e-readers, particularly the Amazon flavor, is that you don't need a bookmark.  The Amazon service even syncs how far you've read to their service, so you can pick up where you left off on another device.

No Soliciting Sign

     A few years back, solicitors for a local carpet cleaning company descended upon our neighborhood.  The first day I cordially declined.  Another employee came back the next day.  Two days later, a third employee arrived to sell me something, and I was a bit agitated.
     As a result, I added a "No Soliciting" sign, which has worked pretty well.  Solicitors in Meridian are required to have a license.  Ignoring the "No Soliciting" signs can jeopardize that license.  
     We recently affixed a translucent diffuser to the front window, so I had to remove the taped up sign.  Apparently the solicitors were waiting, because they started showing up again.  After dutifully adding some watchtower literature to the recycle bin, I got to work on a new "No Soliciting" sign.  Fired up the laser cutter, and presto-chango there's a new sign.

Crybaby

When our daughter first started to verbalize word parts, her cries took on a new character.  She would say little snippets of vowels "de de ble de de ble ble," that kindof sounded like a disenchanted muttering and stuttering.  It was interesting enough that I made a video of her when she first started to do it.  The video also featured her rolling onto her back.  Little did we know, that she would love the video.  One day, when she was crying, Melissa showed her the video (she likes the computer screen), and she was entranced with what the baby in the computer had to say.  Now, when she is crying, there is a decent chance that we show her the video.  She loves the video, and can totally relate to what that baby is saying and it helps calm her down.

Shelves, Workbench, Seat heaters

 I've had several small projects in the past couple months to work on.  I've put shelves in a closet, a workbench and shelves in our garage, and installed seat heaters into the FJ Cruiser.

The seat heaters was a crazy project that I will not attempt to recreate anytime in the memorable future.  Car upholstery is much more complex than I'd like it to be; requiring skills and tools that I don't desire to acquire.