"We've Found Gold!"

If you are a resident of California, the history of the Great Gold Rush is of great importance,and will at some time in your life be drilled into your brain. :-) Consequently, you'll find yourself visiting the famed Columbia State Park, which is an old Gold Mining town, walking in the little candy shop, the one with the little jingly bell on the door, panning for gold (or in our case, watching others pan for gold) and smelling the musky scent of tools, cabins, and equipment that are centuries old. The opportunity for the Parish Family to do just that arrived a few weeks ago.


Because of some classes in Sacramento that my Uncle Scott was taking, his wife, Aunt Cindy and family, Heidi (16), Frank,(13) Miranda, (9) and Emily,(7) from Bend, Oregon decided to come along and do some sight/ family seeing. We were able to stay in a condo all together in the tiny town of Angels Camp. Somewhere I definitely want to go again! The quaint shops downtime begged you to step in, and I'd gladly go back to oblige them if I ever have the opportunity!


The days we spent to together there in Angels Camp were few, so visiting was taking place almost non-stop. Of course, we spent much time sightseeing as well. The older I get, the more I understand the reason why 'older people' (which is anyone above your age when you're eight years old.) spend so much time enjoying each sight. I used to get so impatient to move on, but now I find that I'm the one others are impatient at! Sometimes gardens and locations are simply too beautiful to rush through. They demand a wandering gait . . . a meander that allows you to take in all the sensory details.


Okay, okay, I can hear you sighing "There she goes again!!!" so on to the most important part of a post. Pictures! :-)

Here's Simon, checkin' out the condo. It was a fun experience for us; staying in what felt like a house inside, and outside, like a hotel with the pool, recreation room, etc.

The below photos were taken when we visited the beautiful garden paradise of Ironstone Vinyards. We originally planned to go here because of their 'gold mining' museum and beautiful gardens, but we ended up taking a tour of the winery itself! This expansive estate hosts up to 75 weddings a year . . . which is a testamony to their exquisite gardens.

Here we are posing with a miner. He was quite the character! ;-)

This piano, in the wine-tasting room (No, we didn't taste any! ;-) was more than a century old! I wonder what stories it could tell if it could talk.

Above is an enormous gold piece that weighed 44 pounds! It was found recently, in 1992. Anyone up for some mining??? ;-)

Our tour was quite fascinating! It did smell a little sour though. ;-)

~Columbia State Park~ We . . .

Visited the candle dipping shop,

Rode in the car quite a bit,
Visited the Merchants,

And of course, the candy shop!

Last, but NOT least, we hiked down to an AMAZING natural bridge! It was quite wide and mossy in the front, with water dripping down off it. As you waded deeper in, the cavern narrowed into a tall, narrow cave, with amazing rock formations inside. The water was icy, but we were able to swim all the way through the cave and out the other side where the stream flowed in.

God's handiwork is incredible!

Here is Mama' enjoying herself!

More on the Telians

Not to be outdone by those Hubers Peter and Jesse Telian show some real comic faces. You will have to judge for yourselves who is the comicist.
















Of course, Scott and Donald, trying to keep a low profile in the middle of all of this, were caught having good fellowship.

Last Saturday evening, we were blessed by a visit from the Telian family! They were passing through the valley, and were able to stop in on their way home ~ Thanks Telians!
It was an enriching evening of fellowship that consisted of much visiting, laughter, music, game-playing, and various outdoor activities. We enjoyed so much getting to know the Telians on a more personal basis, and we were uplifted by our time together.


May there be many more such visits in the future!


~Below are a few pictures of the evening . . .

The friendship of these precious young ladies has blessed me so much. Each age fills a special place in my heart!

No evening of fellowship is complete without music!

Games . . .

Storytime . . .

Mother's Day 2006

Here are the happy eaters. Sally, Kristen Joy, Anna, Mom Parish, Grandma McAllister, Jeremy, Joseph, Mark, Simon, Ruthann, and...and...oops, I cut my dear wife out of the picture! We are thankful for all mothers!


God has commanded us to honor our mothers and He hooked a promise to that command...that our days would be long in the land. We recently heard that did not necessarily mean a long life, but it meant a continuation of generations, enjoying God's blessing as a result of the honor of parents.










We also discussed the circle of life in the generations recorded in the Bible...many mother's names mentioned, representing much sorrow and joy over the course of many years...mothers deeply involed in it all!


Sally copied out quotes from "Daugher's of Destiny" which she passed around for each to read, showing the impact mothers have made on lives of famous men. Of course, many non-famous men, nameless, have been encouraged in doing their duty by faithful mothers, making a difference in ways that only God knows and keeps recorded in His book of those who love Him and speak often of Him.


And here are two happy Parish ladies. One mother in Isreal, and one dauther of the King.

Mother's Day 2006

Here are some fine young shining faces taken after our meeting yesterday.


Sally, Simon, Joseph, Anna, Jeremy, Mark, and Kristen Joy.





















And of course, here is a better closeup of some beautiful young ladies.

Head Over Heels

Okay, okay, settle down. I guess I got a little carried away with the title. Let us be rational here. What we are looking for are the cold hard facts. There is a time to put away all bias and look at reality objectively, and that time is now. In no way do I intend to offend anyone's sensitivities in the following analisys. Again, when discusing truth claims such as these, it is important to leave emotion and sentiment out of the process.


Ahem...


Last weekend I was able to finally spend some quality time with my niece, Miss Jaelynn Grace Parish. (Kind of rolls off the tongue beautifully doesn't it?) I simply want to announce that she is the absolute (unqualified) best baby I have ever come in contact with, in my long life of 20 years.

1. Jaelynn is the most asthetically attractive baby alive, to date. (in otherwords, cuter then any other baby.)

2. Jaelynn is tempramentally impeccable.

3. At this point, little can be known about Jaelynn's intellectual faculties, but based on certain activities of the vocal cords and vision instruments, caused by carefully designed stimuli, Jaelynn shows promising signs of genius.


If after viewing the photograghs below, you still have objections to my propositions, I have two suggestions to be followed in order.


1. Visit your local optomitrist and make sure you are using the right prescription. Then look at the provided photograghs again.

2. If the above procedure doesn't change your mind, the only option is to take a trip to Woodland Hills, CA, and hold Miss Jaelynn Grace with your own hands.

May 4th ~ The National Day of Prayer

"On this day of prayer, we would like to lift up the soldiers of our country Lord, who are away fighting for the freedom of others. We pray that You would keep them in the hollow of Your almighty hand. Protect them, give them courage, give them peace, and draw them to you Lord. There are many who don't know you, and we pray that you would even change them, and draw them to You. We pray for those who do know you, Lord, that you would be their firm foundation, and their Rock of Defense.

Remember them Lord . . . "

In your prayers today, please remember our soldier who is fighting bravely in Iraq, Thomas Semmens. Thomas is a crew chief for a Black Hawk helicopter. He has had many sobering experiences in the few months he has already served. Including are the deaths of 8 fellow soldiers from the Alaska National Guard, who left the same time he did. One of those fellows was his age and had become a good friend. We pray that Thomaas will arrive home safely after he returns from service. He was married in July of 2005 to his sweet wife Julie, before flying out to the field of battle a few months later. May our Lord bless and protect you both. Please know how much we love and support you Thomas!!! Our prayers are with you always.

~The Parish Family

Biblical Fatherhood Conference II

Today ends the conference; there was much to absorb. Some outstanding points that stick with me are the following:


The life purpose of a man of faith is contained in Genesis 18:19 "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."


Only Christ can turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. A gospel reformation must take place before a family reformation can take place.


Saturday's conference schedule included the following:
1. Expository Reading of the Scripture
2. Workshop in Scripture Reading
3. What Happens When Fathers Turn their Hearts to Home - Malachi 4:1-6
4. Workshop in Scripture Memory
5. How Fathers Escape Laboring in Vain - Psalms 127
6. Q&A
7. Capturing the Greatest Untapped Evangelistic Opportunity before the Modern Church


Today's schedule included the following:
1. Worship at Trinity Baptist Church
2. Fellowship Meal
3. Discussion at the Brown Farm
4. Scrambled Egg Sandwiches and Chocolate Shakes

Biblical Fatherhood Conference

Daniel and I have just finished enjoying a wonderful day at the Fatherhood Conference in Wake Forest, NC. Today's topics were:


1. Finding Yourself on the Roadmap for Biblical Fatherhood
2. Fathers Who Saturate Their Homes with Scripture
3. Breaking Free from the Patterns of our Fathers
4. Understanding and Living Your Life Purpose
5. Workshop in Scripture Reading


Lots of encouragement and conviction for us both to listen to things that directly touch our daily lives. Also good to meet more like-minded men from different parts of the country. Chuck and Thomas Deladurantey are also here.


We spent the evening strolling around the grounds of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is in Wake Forest. We were both salivating over the architectural details and took quite a few pictures. We interrupted a choir practice in one building, and interrupted a piano recital in another, and then, in our ecstacy over the woodwork, we forgot other people were in the building and walked down in front to lay on the floor to get a shot of the ceiling.


After being escorted off the grounds we...well...okay, perhaps that is stretching it a bit, but you can imagine that we wanted might badly to go down in front and lay down to get a shot of the ceiling!


Here is Daniel in a period doorway after having very carefully looked over the plinth blocks and the jamb casing.



And of course, below is a very important window sill detail, illustrating the correct placement and proportions of stool, sill trim, and jamb casing. Isn't it just thrilling!!

And of course, here is yours truly, in wood trim heaven.

It's Over!

This year Simon and I had the opportunity of

taking a homeschool speech class! Last Monday night was our last class as well as 'Parents Night'. On Parents Night, all of us were required to give a memorized speech with visual aids, introduce a classmate, and give a memorized quote. All said with a mike, on a stage, in front of a crowd of people (The family's of about 21 classmates). This equation equals SCARY for me! Thankfully, both Simon and I got through it, and I actually enjoyed the night! :-)


As well as covering speech-giving, we were taught intelligent coversation, handling a mike, and how to lead a Bible study. This class was quite a challenge and growing experience for me personally, and one that though I'm glad is over, I'm glad that I took!

Simon's speech was titled, "Thick, Gooey, and Hard" and was about fiberglassing homemade wooden boats.


My speech was about baking bread, and was titled " Butter's Best Buddy". I was able to bring our 20 year old Bosch mixer, and our recipe, which is so used that the writing is unintelligable! That was fun to pull out of my apron pocket! :-)


This young lady in the below picture was a sweet classmate whom I enjoyed getting to know! We had many visits about many topics, and I value her friendship. I knew that even if no one else in class listened to my speech, she would (and did!) always smile up at me with a cheerful sparkle in her eyes. Thank-you Mary! :-)

Three New Additions

These past few weeks, God has graciously given us the opportunity to grow our little business , Hills Valley Labradors. Thanks to Him, and a wonderful lady named Kathleen Bailey, we now have three new additions to our family and business! Mrs. Bailey has been our breeding mentor from the start, and in these past few weeks has helped and encouraged us in many ways. Through her and her beautiful dogs, Simon and I were able to purchase two little sisters, Jada and Jewel, as well as a very sweet, almost two-year old, chocolate female! Mrs. Bailey is moving to San Deigo soon, and wanted to pare down on her large kennel, so offered us her Java. After much thought and talk, we decided to go for it. :-)





This is our sweetie Java. She loves her ball, enjoys attention, and is 'Auntie' to Jada and Jewel.




Here is Simon holding his girl Jada. Jada is a little snuggler who loves her master!







Jewel is my little girl. She has been a joy to raise so far, and I'm looking forward to start training her soon.


Blessings,

~Sally

Our little sunshine

Here are a few recent photos of our precious little girl. :-) Jaelynn is very expressive already and we oohed and ahhed over every adorable little face she gave us. She lights up our lives!

Spring . . . the season of new life!

You can see it in the budding tree's, the powdery blossoms, and the fields of vibrant orange wildflowers. You can smell it in the fresh, 'after the rain' breezes. You can feel it in the downy soft fur of little squirmy puppies, and in the warmth of the sunshine on your face. You can hear it in the jubliant tones of nature; the birds, the crickets, and the frogs in the pond across the field. You can taste it in the fresh sweetness of Spring fruit, in the feeling of anticipation and wonder . . . Spring is here, my favorite season, and we at the Parish Ranch are enjoying it to it's fullest. New life is bursting forth everywhere I look!


Spring brought 50 downy soft chicks to our home to raise up for meat in 8 weeks. However, Ranger, now fully recovered from his accident, decided that eight weeks was far too long to wait. Late one night, he snuck into the barn . . . somehow the door was left open . . . (?) and devoured all but 16 of them! It caused quite an uproar, but nothing was to be done except to be far more vigilent with keeping the door closed! We hope to order replacements soon. :-)


Spring has also brought numerous rolly polly little dumplings in the form of puppies once again to our home! We have a batch of 3 week old 'halflings' (see the post about Ranger farther down for more details) plus, two little sisters who we bought from another breeder, to add to our Lab family! Simon bought Jade, and I, Jewel. They have both delighted us with their cuteness, and earned thier place outside after Mom stepped in mess one too many times!


Spring has kept my family quite active! I am now driving *grits teeth* which brings in a whole new set of adventure and well earned grey hair. (So sorry!) Thankfully, I am surrounded by experts, (especially my two younger brothers) who are only too happy to help me master the art of the automobile. :-p
Last weekend, we had the privilage of attending the Bakersfield Youth Symphony to hear Tyler Rowland play a solo on his violin. We have really enjoyed the time we have spent with the Rowland family, who, it is evident, loves the Lord, and serves Him! Tyler's violin piece was beautiful, and we enjoyed the evening very much! It was wonderful to enjoy fellowship with our Bakersfield brethren afterwards at a resturant, and later, in the Rowland's home. Praise the Lord for fellowship with those who love Him!
When the evening was over, we headed on down to L.A. to spend the night and next day with Daniel and Kendra, and our precious little darling, Jaelynn. She is growing so fast, that every moment spent is precious! If you'd like to check out Dan and Kendra's new blog, the address is, www.laparishs.blogspot.com Our day with them was short, but very sweet . . . just wish I lived a little closer to my big brother, sis, and sweet little niece! :-)


May each enjoy the wonderful season of Spring!

Accomplishment!

I now have the great pleasure of removing one item from my 7x7's under "Things I can't do well." However the fact that there are many more items competing for that spot eliminates any temptation to boast about it!


The one thing I can do a little better now then when I penned my 7x7's, is understand God and time (key word: little). To whom or what do I owe this elucidation? The long desired book "Time and Eternity: Exploring God's Relationship to Time," written by William Lane Craig. If you are a little strange like me, and find boring things like philosophy and logic stimulating, and if you have deep nagging questions concerning how God relates to time, I would highly recommend this book. I will spare you all the juicy details, but will leave you with Craig's conclusion, with which I concur.


"It therefore follows from our arguments that God is (present tense) in time. He exists now. But on the Christian doctrine of creation, the world had a beginning, though God did not. Did time exist prior to the moment of creation? Is God, existing alone without creation, timeless or temporal in such a state? I presented three arguments to show that (metric) time is finite in the past, so that God existing without the world must exist either in an amorphous time or, more plausibly, timelessly. In short, given the reality of tense and temporal becoming, the most plausible construal of divine eternity is that God is timeless without creation and temporal since creation."



Agreement? Disagreement? I'd like to hear your thoughts.



-Max

Expository Preaching Conference

Max and I were very blessed last weekend to attend the expository preaching conference hosted by Vision Forum in Wakeforest, North Carolina. Some 25-30 men attended.


The conference was a wonderful help to me. It challenged some presuppositions I had about preaching from the past. I had a negative view of improving my "technical preaching skills". I now see the benefit of it. I will never read the scriptures in the same way. I was skeptical about the "sample sermons", but they were real and were effective, as the Word, in my own heart, even in that setting. I have been humbled and had my mind changed.


I so appreciated that these "technical skills" were firmly connected with the exhortation to seek God's face for help, illumination, and conviction. I rejoiced to see that. May the two never be separated.


We were both thankful for the opportunity to meet and connect with likeminded men. We will both benefit from these relationships.


At right is a picture of the famous swing in the Scott Brown home. We enjoyed an afternoon and evening of further discussion and fellowship, including scrambled egg sandwiches and chocolate shakes.


Together we all memorized Psalms 119:92 - Except thy law had been my delight, I would have perished in my afflictions.


Scott

Update!

No, the Parishes haven't died . . . they've actually been on vacation! A splendid vacation as a matter of fact, at home! Have you ever vacationed at home? If not, you should! While Max and Mr. Parish flew off to North Carolina to attend Vision Forum's "A Workshop on Expository Preaching," their family kicked back to try a thing never before done in their household. Since every single one of us has been snagged by a nasty bug of some sort, (Thanks for starting it Max!!!) we have been blowing our noses raw, watching movies, (last night we watched one about a family with 20 children! Quite a few being adopted special needs children. Twas' incredible to say the least.) reading, and enjoying ourselves and each other! We have one problem though, whenever Simon and I try to laugh, we begin to hack pitifully, causing us to laugh harder, thus hack harder! Tis' quite a predicament to not be able to laugh! :-)

So we look forward to the returning of our men, enjoy our vacation, and attempt to get well! :-)

Wishing you all beautiful days . . .

~Sally

Quote of the Day!

" The highest and most desirable state of the soul is to praise God in celebration for being alive." ~ Luci Swindoll 

Volleyball Victory

Today's volleyball game is one that should be recorded for posterity.


With Mom, Max, and Jeremy on the West team, and Dad, Simon, and Sally on the East team, the West team won 15 to 14.


What was remarkable about the game is that every point was gained on the serve, and not one point was made on a volley...on either side.


That should give you a glimpse into the volleyball skills of the Parish family. Watch out for Mom when she is serving.

Simon and the Tractor

Our tractor has been out of commision for over year, the engine having reached the end of it useful life. But Phil Seymour worked his magic and this morning he brought it back to us, completely overhauled.


If you know Simon, you will see the anticipation just oozing out of him. He is just itching for the chance to hook onto the bush hog and go for it!