Family

So, while I was thinking about Chicago with my family last weekend I remembered something I had heard on the radio recently. A poll was done by MTV, and some other group, of kids between the ages of 13 and 24 to see what made them happy in life. The answer turned out to be surprising to a lot of people. The majority response was spending time with family. Even in todays culture where the big push and advertisement for that age group goes into stuff; they still feel that simply spending time with family makes them happiest. It isn't more money, a car, new video games, a bigger tv, or any of the other thousands of options available out there today. I find that quite fascinating. Though society as a whole has pushed the family into a dark corner and tried to bring the individual to the front kids are still finding this the most important part of being happy. Many of the kids polled said that they considered their relationship with their parents very important and when asked who their hero's were they were much more likely to respond with a family member then an actor/actress, sports figure, or any other generic reply. It was found that kids with their parents together were happier than those with divorced or separated parents. What a surprise! This makes me think about what I have learned through studying the Scripture. How we were created for each other to be together and how throughout Scripture the family was very important. I found this encouraging to see a small corner of the mindset of today's youth. Here is a link to the AP story: What Makes Kids Happy?

Chicago

This past weekend I went up to Chicago with family. It was a good time just spending time together and hanging out.

It was rainy but still fun.

Walking downtown.

Jonathan and I, not quite sure what we're doing?!!

Uh, Micah and I, again I don't remember this shot!

Micah, me, Jonathan; all normal, I think.

There was some cool fog obscuring some of the buildings.

It was actually really busy even with the rain.

Dinner at Rainforest Cafe!
L to R: Theresa, Dad, Micah, Me, Jonathan, Anne


Ahh, the Hershey's store. A wonderful place!

Miscellaneous Canadian Pics

Here is my last post of Canadian pictures. Just wanted to share a few of the many that were taken!

White Water-lily


Pickerelweed

Orange Hawkweed

A Birch forest that we hiked through.



Cool water scenes.

Hanging at the cabin.

A game of Khet between Joy and Chris.

Horn Lake

We went to Horn Lake quite a few times and did a lot of swimming and kayaking. I love the Canadian glacial lakes. They are so clear and clean. We would swim down twenty feet or so and see schools of small bass swimming by. We would also see a couple of bigger ones from time to time. Fun times trying to chase them!

The first plunge was always the worst, but the water was pretty warm so it wasn't bad!

Ben and I swimming.

There was a rock that was about 20 feet up that we jumped off of into the lake. No worries about hitting bottom as we swam down 20 to 25 feet and still couldn't see the bottom. This is Ben jumping off.

Me jumping!! We got Joy to jump later in the week but we couldn't ever talk Rich into. He said it was something about not breaking under peer pressure!!!

Ahhh, kayaking! One of our favorite activities. We only missed swimming and kayaking one day.

Ben, Rich, and I.

Me again, the reflection is cool!

Me, Rich, and Ben.

Cool Creatures!

We saw several cool animals while on vacation. I always enjoy seeing them in their natural habitats rather than in zoos or preserves. Here are a few that we were able to get pictures of.

Baby Toad!

Toad

Frog

Pretty Butterfly

Moose!

Moose again

Ben fed a goat a reed and thought it looked like the goat had a cigar so we fed it another reed to get this picture!

These little guys were trying to get out to see if we had any food!

Chippy! These guys were everywhere.

It was posing for the camera.

Deer

We saw bear at the dump. These two younger ones were being playful.

This was a 400 lb. bear that was quite close!

Ben spotted this garter snake while he, Rich, and I were hiking. Bigger than those I usually find around here!

A closer look!

Hiking

While in Canada we did a lot of hiking. We all spent a day at Algonquin Provincial Park. Ben, Rich, and I also did quite a bit of hiking on Rich's property and the Crown land that it backs up to. The hiking on Crown land was pretty demanding as there were no trails and a lot of rugged terrain. My kind of hiking!


Left to Right: Rich Wathen, Devin, Corrin, Samantha Wathen


Back Row L to R: Corrin, Joy Hess, Rich Wathen
Front Row L to R: Chris Wathen, Devin


Chris and Devin found something interesting!

Joy/Ben Hess, and I.


Rich and I getting ready to start a serious hike on his property!


A brief pause in a pretty bog area.


Enjoying a short rest and a great view!


Rich Wathen, Me, Ben Hess.


We had a few precarious areas to traverse!


Ben Hess balancing on a rock.


Ben and Rich hiking along a lake.


A rock face that Rich, Ben, and I had to climb on one of our hikes! Fun!!!


Rich finally to the top of the rock face!


Ben pointing out a beaver pond in the distance.


Rich, Ben, and I having lunch on top of the cliff we climbed.


Ben hiking along the side of Horn Lake.


Ben and Rich.

Ben and Rich spotting a bird.

Amazing views!

Ben pointing out where we are headed next.

Rich and Ben looking out over a beaver pond. It was really cool!