His Grace Multiplied: August 2015

This was a one day outing out and about. If I remember correctly the Battle of Petersburg was the last battle of the Civil War. We had a tremendous day as a family which is most important.

We also got to see a replica of a very important cannon which I can not remember the name of right now!

C and I got to pretend we were in the battle and that was the highlight of my day.

If I have a son likely to end up in the miliary it is C and someday I may write him a letter

when he grown and on the battle field and say "remember when we once marched together?"

C on the left is a tough girl as you can see in the picture but she can be sweet too!

She has a lot of brothers to keep in line and she has NO problem pointing her finger and telling them

whatever she thinks necessary within her small but ever growing vocabulary.

B on the right is dainty and sweet.

We really looked forward to our July 4th weekend trip to Gettysburg. Originally we thought we were going to get to see renactments of parts of the battles when we arrived we found out it had been cancelled because of so much rain and soggy fields. At first, that was disappointing but after we learned what we did the way we did (private tour guide) I think we would have been overwhelmed by the crowds and not gotten the over all picture as well as we did! It ended up being just right for us. We were wondering at first how it was going to go since the twins were pretty grumpy the first few hours of our attempt to sight see but thankfully they seemed to start enjoying our trip more later on!

This was an unexpected treat when we got there Jeff Shaara was there doing a book signing of his and his dad's books!!! G had just completed his dad's book and recently got one of Jeff Shaara's books! It was defenitely a highlight for G. We also got a book for his beloved Omnibus teacher and he got it signed specifically for her.

J was so excited and said this was George Washington! His biggest brother who is history fan was still impressed with his little brother saying "how many 3 year old know any presidents?" That's a good big brother.

"A" with Lincoln!

We paid to have a guide ride with us in our van for 2 hours and give us a tour of the battlefield and it was AMAZING! He made history come to life and you could picture what he was saying!

C got emotional when we retold him the story of how many brave men reached to carry the flag and within about a minute the one holding it would die and the next person snatch it up knowing that the end was probably near for them. I wish I could remember now how many went down in 15 minutes during one battle but I do remember it was close to one a minute. So many stories of bravery.

I was moved hearing the history and intrigued by the history. I was texting G's Omnibus (meaning all encompassing-usually theology and history being taught) teacher from last year while at the battlefield and we both agreed this battle struck our mommy hearts.

It is frustrating posting this blog because I just do not have the eloquence, etc. to tell about this trip. Our guide told us he has people come who are dying and they want to see Gettysburg before they die. It really is a moving place and such a hard time in our nations history . . . a nation divided.

From the top of Little Round Top!!

Ross at Little Round Top

C at Little Round Top

This tower it famous for John Buford standing in it to

watch the beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg.

My history buff kiddos.

This is one of the big things we LOVE about the East coast!!

The high water mark of the Confederacy where Armistead fell

during Pickett's charge. Armistead was VERY CLOSE friends with Hancock who led

the Second Corps of the Union Army and Armistead was attacking his friends corps.

My oldest son is telling me the history of the pictures so I can get it down here:-)

Daddy with little B

Devil's Den

The twins had a blast at Devil Den. They loved crawling around on the rocks!

All the kids enjoyed Devil Den. They could have stayed even longer exploring the rocks!

That is our C. He is not exactly a health food nut.

July 4th we ate outside at a very yummy resteraunt in Gettysburg. We really had a great July 4th.

We even were able to watch the fireworks at the end of the day!

July 5th was a Sunday and we came into town to make it to this church service. I was a bit disappointed thinking it would be a reenactment of the Civil War times. It was not . . . the people dressed up but it was not a period service and was run poorly.

This lady above with "A" however was a great part of the service and gave her testimony of Jesus Christ and His work in her life and how her Oncology Dr. of many years had also come to know Christ. She is from Ireland but in her younger years was married to an American serviceman who died in the Vietnam War. She had lived in Colorado like us and was familiar with the base our J was born at . . . that is where her son was born many years before. She gave us her card in case we are ever in Ireland! She was a sweet Christian lady.