Around The U.S.A in 75 days

April 5, 2012

worshiping the Lord in song......

Clareann sang a song she wrote yesterday.....

fellowship together before venturing for the day.....

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love inthe morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. Psalm 92:1-8

We are here at the Berchtold's home (new friends that God put across our path in Tahoe last Sept. when we were visiting there) and we are overwhelmed (in a wonderful way) by the complete graciousness that this wonderful and Christ filled family has offered us.....I am sad that we cannot spend more time here with them.....we will have to be thankful for the time that God has granted us to fellowship together....This is a musical family of 8 daughters and a mom and dad, 6 of the girls live here with their parents. www.seventhheavenmusic.net

“How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!" Psalm 133:1

What an example of unity this family is as they work together to live in harmony!!! These young women are so respectful and generous to their parents and when you see the servants hearts that they possess, you see the presence of Jesus here in our present life.

Phil made the kids breakfast and coffee and tea for everyone. As we were getting up, I could hear the strains of "Victory in Jesus" (from one of their cds) and I immediately thought of all the times that Pastor Graves sang this song on Sundays in church....I love this song, the lyrics are so sweet! The kids woke up early and have been playing hide and go seek and out in the playhouse/fort....They held and fed the chickens.....Christian picked a fresh egg and we checked out the eggs in the incubator that they are hatching.

We had a sweet time in a praise and worship and devotions....The girls all had to work today but Claireanne, Phil and Clare went with us to Monticello. They drove us in their cars and the kids had a great time watching a movie in the van on the way.

we keep seeing my van everywhere.....it is following us!!

We keep seeing my van and golden retrievers at every stop........

.....we saw another golden at Monticello....

When we arrived, the ticket lady said the only tour available was at 5:20.....4 ½ hours later.....Well, being the “tour director” that I am, I asked if there was any way to get into a school group tour already scheduled. She sent us down to the group ticket desk and the gentleman there added us into a tour that started in 10 minutes!!! On top of that, he gave the school price which saved us a lot of money!! Jesus blessed us the whole day!! Oh Happy Day!! (we sang this song this morning and how appropriate it was......)

visiting Thomas Jefferson's home....Monticello

the architecture is beautiful.......Thomas Jefferson designed it himself...

there was a slave here by the name of Josiah Gillette, a relative perhaps???

......garden outlook at Monticello.....

.......the gardens at Monticello...

We toured the plantation house, the gardens, the cellar area, and Mulberry Row (the area where the slave cabins would have been). The gardens were beautiful!! While on the house tour, we saw fabulous art pieces, many busts of famous people of his time (including John Adams and George Washington), artifacts that he collected and gadgets that he either invented or refined. The kids had fun writing with a quill pen and looking through the camera obscura that Thomas refined and used as a way to draw profiles of family and friends.

Thomas Jefferson was a multi-faceted man. The extensive art collection in the house was impressive, paintings, books and busts of his famous friends....simiar to how we display pictures of our family and friends in our homes just they are more valuable since they are original portraits painted 250 years ago!! Down the hill, we walked to the cemetery for the Jefferson family. We saw the grave marker for Thomas Jefferson and his family and some friends. The first person buried at the Monticello cemetery was his closest childhood friend. He and Thomas played on this plantation as children and agreed that they would make sure they were each buried there upon their deaths. When his friend died as a young man, Thomas remembered his pledge and buried his friend there among the trees and thus the cemetery was started.

.....the burial monument on Monticello property....

Madison, Clareann and Shelley at the Monticello cemetery

meet our new friend, Thomas Jefferson

Back to the house to meet up with the girls and visit....wine, cheese and appetizers.....wonderful laughter, conversation and an absolutely stunning sunset in the chilly night air....the temperature dropped 20 degrees today, what a difference a day can make!! We shared more singing and games tonight, wonderful!!