Sorry about that....

Well, it has been a very very long time since I posted to this blog. September was ridiculously busy, and we went on a trip in October, so it is only now that I finally have time to blog again. A lot has happened, so I will go through the time sequentially as I process all the pictures I took. Hopefully tomorrow or early next week I will be done with the August pictures and videos. For now, I have a new email address which I hope will be easier to spell: rebeccajz07 (at) gmail (dot) com. I will still check the old ones regularly, but if you are using the rjzimmerman (at) uniserve address, please change over to the new one. If Frank decides to change providers, I will not be emailing a change of address to everyone, since I rarely give out that address now. Thanks!

July Pictures are up!

I finally finished posting and commenting my pictures from July!
Click here to enjoy.

July videos up on You Tube

I finally posted the videos from July, as follows:
All the grandkids, playing at once, how fun!

Playing in the pool:

At home again, Deb and Brad, and Kristine and Aria stopped by:

Harry "You Know Who"

Well, I finally did it. I went to the library and borrowed all the Harry Potter books I could find, and while Frank and Matthias were away for the week I read them (all except book 2, which was missing). I had debated about reading them for quite a while, and read a lot about them. Some Christians are convinced that since thinking about a woman lustfully is the same as committing adultery, reading a book about people who can do magic is the same as participating in witchcraft.

You know, for a long time I've been pondering how to reach the majority of our culture with the gospel -- with the truth about Jesus, who he is, and the relationship he wants with us. After reading those books, I thought, J.K. Rowling may have hit on just the thing. So I googled "Harry Potter Jesus" to see if anyone else had picked up on the parallels between the two. Some people guessed at them as early as book two. Rowling intentionally hid her religion and literary background until after the last book was published, so the ending would remain a surprise. Some people still question whether it was intended to resemble Christian "mythology" or if those themes are just inherent in all great human literature. (I say, Jesus' story is told through all the ages and in all cultures, taking different forms but always the same.)

The best article I found, interestingly, was from The Banner: Harry Potter and the Way of Jesus. (Go read it!)

It's not that Harry Potter is Jesus, it's that Jesus is Harry Potter. Knowing Jesus, you can see a small reflection, a glimmer of him, in Harry. But if you don't know Him, you only know the travesty people have made of His name, yet you love what you see in Harry Potter -- the love, the self-sacrifice, the earnest desire to overcome evil and save people from its effects -- then to you I say, Jesus is Harry Potter. Harry Potter can show you who Jesus really is, apart from the tarnish made on his name by his supposed followers. Don't worship Harry -- don't worship the "Jesus" who tells people to go spray "Lamb's blood" all over movie-goers -- worship the true Jesus, the one who did for us just what Harry did for his friends.

Good series. Not sorry I read it. Not sure what comes next, but we'll see when we get there.

August is here!

So August is here (Happy Birthday, Caryn, sorry I'm late!).
With it come forest fire smoke, and cherry canning. See the mountains in this picture I took from our backyard?

No? The first day it smelled smoky, but since then it has stayed mostly a mist on the horizon. Get used to it!
In happier news, I am canning cherries once again. We got some nice culls from a friend's orchard, and Frank and I did five batches tonight (that's 35 jars, to go with the 14 I did last time). So if you would like a couple jars of canned cherries, all you have to do is come by and pick them up!

Baby grows!

Yesterday we had a little thunderstorm, and afterward, Carrie Ann excitedly announced, "The batteries go'ed out!" Yes, Matthias had noticed that the power went out, and that was her take on that!
Carrie's turn:iii;uuuuy';[[ppiooy'


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"It says, Carrie Ann"

The other day, Carrie Ann said, "I don't like my hair. It's just regular. It's not bootiful (beautiful)." So yesterday I cut her hair, then commented that, "Now it's not just regular, now it's very cute!" So Carrie replied, "No, it's not coot, it's pweshus (precious)!"

In other exciting news, Carrie Ann pedaled her own trike for the first time yesterday. She went "back and forth, back and forth, then in circles" in her own words! Oh well, soon she will be able to steer too!

More from Carrie Ann:
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June Pictures

I posted pictures from June, and got my July pictures from our trip on my computer...
See here for the June pictures.
We got to see our butterfly drinking (the video is up on youtube already).
Our car broke down, and we replaced it (the new one is "winter blue").
Bethany did some artwork and made a clubhouse.
We visited Mom and Dad Z for Father's Day.