Praise 365

We all went to Deb and Jerry’s last night for another BBQ , to watch the fireworks and to blow some stuff up.  Great fun.  Check Brent’s page for an awesome video of Demolition Derek

 Some off road fun

 Model B

 Sunset on Mount McLoughlin

 Deb, Darla & Jerry

Thanks guys for all that you have done for us.  It has been a pleasure to meet you both and I’m SURE that we will see you again.

Took a little drive around Central Point, the town we’ve been staying in.  It sits in a valley between the Cascades and Siskiyous mountains.  The smoke cleared out pretty good today so I went out to get a few pics.

 Dam on the Rogue River

 Table Rock

 Table Rock

 The Rogue River

This is one of the most beautiful places i’ve ever been to.  360 degrees Of Gods splendor just waiting to be viewed.  Getting ready to go to Deb & Jerry’s for a cookout, to watch the fireworks and blow some stuff up

Took a drive up to Crater Lake today with Debs.  Another beautiful drive, all uphill and more gorgeous scenery.  Really haven’t seen anything yet that wasn’t.  God’s creation at its finest. 

 In the clouds, looking 1500 feet down at Crater Lake.

 Wizard Island, actually the top of Mount Mazama that collapsed during an eruption 7,700 years ago.

 Parts of the lake are almost 2000 feet deep and it is fed entirely by melted snow.

 Deb and Darla

Took a little trip to the California coast today.  This place has beauty everywhere you turn.  A 2 hour trip from Grants Pass, Oregon down The Redwood Highway/Smith River Scenic Byway, with an almost surreal drive through the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, to Crescent City, California. 

Breathtaking is an understatement. 

 ”I wish they all could be California Girls”

 Majestic is one of the few words I can think of to describe the Redwoods.

 The Left Coast with the princess 

 Point Saint Goerge.  Crescent City, California

 Looking down at the Smith River.

Had too much fun tonight on the Live Chat with the “in family“   

It was really cool to get to spend some time chatting with everyone and getting to play some music.

We went to Jacksonville today, a quaint 1800’s era gold mining town.  Pretty neat place and cool how they have kept the buildings period correct despite the current occupants.

 Lunch at LaFiesta

 Brent and Tam

 The secrets of the universe for a penny

  You’d think that indian would be smiling by now

 Worship with Kass, Debs & Tam

I can’t say enough how much fun we are having hanging out and worshipping with everyone.  God truly has blessed us beyond words. 

 Dutch Bros. Iced Kicker with an extra shot.  Quite possibly the best beverage on the planet.  And when you buy 10 you get one free!!!  Life is good

Today was a quiet day, spent some time buying gifts and took the kids to the mall to get stuff that they wanted.  It was a good day, only hit the Dutch Bros. stand 3 times

 Jerry made an awesome meal of smoked brisket, chicken wrapped in bacon and pork loins.  Possibly the best BBQ I’ve ever had.

 Taking the “pony” out for a drag

 View of Mount Mcloughlin from Deb and Jerry’s.  It is now totally hidden because of the smoke from the wildfires in California.

 Home sweet home

Wow, what an awesome time in worship the last 2 days. 

Turns out the worship team for Table Rock Fellowship was short a bass player for this weekend.  Thank You Jesus!!!!!!!!

What an amazing group of musicians and singers.  I am truly honored to be able to participate in and help to present the worship for 4 services. 

Brent is an excellent leader, singer, keyboardist and Tam sings like and angel. 

Fo’ sho

The set was:

1. All Because of Jesus
2. You are Good
3. In Your Presence ( an amazing duet between Vanessa and Tam )
4. Glory in the Highest
5. We Give You Glory
6. Praise You in the Storm ( solo by Brent )

What a blessing these folks are and I will always remember this.

 * Don’t forget to check the link to the TRF website where you can get info and listen to the message by Ron Swanson

Went out on the Rogue River for a fishing trip today.  Although we didn’t catch any salmon we still had a great time just relaxing and taking in the beautiful scenery.  We spent about 5 hours on the river and within the first 3 minutes on the water the boat got hung up on a rock shelf.  Our guide Jim was awesome and did a great job getting us going again and after a quick trip back to shore to check for damage and bail out the water we set out back up the river.  Saw some fish coming to the surface and jumping but we decided that they were trout and we weren’t set up to fish for them.  but hey, a bad day fishing still beats the best day at work

 Derek and Kota, can’t you just feel the excitement

 ”Please, just one fish”

 The Rogue looking towards the dam with Table Rock in the background.  We were fishing just below the rapids.  Absolutely beautiful.

 I know the fish are here somewhere

Thanks Debs for setting this trip up.  What a great way to spend the morning

 Thank you Lord for wonderful friends and such a beautiful place to spend some time with them!!!

We left for Oregon Wednesday night for a much anticipated (and well deserved we think) vacation.  It was the first time each of the kids had flown and things went pretty good.

 Waiting to board

 On the runway

So far it has been absolutely wonderful.  Looking forward to 10 days of relaxation and spiriual refreshment.  We arrived in Portland after a six hour flight from Philadelphia and got to the hotel and spent a few hours sleeping and hit the road for our visit with Brent, Tam, and Deb.  This place is beautiful, the scenery is amazing and we’ve only seen just a small part of it.  Tomorrow we get out on the Rogue River to do some salmon fishing.   More updates to follow.

Darla and the kids wanted me to get a new phone for fathers day.  This is what I ended up getting.  It’s a CECT P168 ( and yes I got the 3 year replacement warranty )

Going to this phone from the 3 year old Nokia freebie that I was using is pretty sweet. Got a lot of really cool features that I hope to be able to use someday 

 5 more days till Oregon, maybe Brent can help me figure it out