Food, Fun and...a Mystery?

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and the air was full of mystery from the old west...
my parents, twin, sister-in-law and some friends had a fun evening playing a Mystery Dinner game called BBQ & Bullets.
I played the part of an old bitter Doctor...quite unique :)

Doc Mallard....Quack quack

It is very interesting to find out what your character is like when you get into role playing. In some ways, it almost seems real...Thankfully, I am not a bitter old quack though :) I may need to get a nose job... :)

A moonlit night

For some reason, I like to take pictures of the moon...most of the time it doesn't work out. This night however, with the aid of Lake Michigan, it turned out decently. It was a pretty site :)

Milwaukee WI.

Downtown Milwaukee....from a distance is a pretty site at night (I ought to note that, downtown Milwaukee is one of the prettier cities I have seen. Beautiful old buildings). There is a nice pier that people like to walk along and fish from on lake Michigan. It is a nice place to relax and walk in the evening :)

A beautiful day...for a free car wash!

Our school held a free car wash as an outreach to the community around us Saturday. Just a way to say hello and let people know who we are and that we are here. It was a good time...and for some, a wet one. You can't have a car wash on a beautiful day like this without getting someone wet :)

Especially when it is for free!

One of our guys who's job was to help advertise the free car wash held by the school for our local community :)

The Fox River

This is a "typical" midwestern river (I can fairly say this having spent half of my life in MO. :) )with a flair for the surprising stretches of clear water! I have to admit, I have not always been impressed with this river from what I have seen from the roads...sometimes a different perspective helps!

Talley ho and bring the paddles!

I took a few hours on Friday afternoon with my buddy and co-worker to canoe a stretch of the Fox River that slowly winds part of it's way through Waukesha. There were stretches that we definitly exercised our muscles when we came into strong headwinds...part of our reason for going :)

A rock on a chain or...?

As I left Old World Wisconsin yesterday (a 500 acre museum dedicated to the history of Wisconsin and containing some of the oldest and most historical buildings in WI. ) I saw this unique object. Upon looking at it closer and operating it, I found out that not all doors have to have spring loaded hinges to shut themselves. This rock is situated towards the middle of the chain and when you let go of the door, gravity takes care of the rest! So, the rock on a chain is not decoration. It is a gravity operated door spring :)

A Taste O' Gun Powder

These Re-enactors are representing elements of the Wisconsin 5th Regiment which fought in the American Civil War. The skirmishing represented this day re-enacts the final day of fighting in Virgina before the Surrender of Confederate forces under Gen. Robert E. Lee.
It should be noted that this re-enactment took place in "Old World Wisconsin" and not Virginia. :)
I was able to attend this event with some friends yesterday. It was quite interesting and fascinating...particularly as I have had some time to read and study up on the Civil War lately...a hobby of mine :)

Union Troopers

These fellas give us a look at what a Union calvaryman in uniform would have looked like in the Civil War. Quite fascinating. Already being a horse lover and being/becoming a student of the American Civil War, I can see the appeal that this event/"adventure" (to say the very least) would have had on the young men of the day in joining the army on either side

Men of a unit from Georgia

These re-enactors making up elements of a Georgia unit fire upon elements of the 5th Wisconsin pictured below.

Re-enactors of the WI. 5th Regiment

Elements of the 5th Wisconsin Regiment in their final action of the day representing one of the final skirmishes before General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia surrender...thus ending the American Civil War.

Castlerock Lake WI.

I went canoeing with some friends and their youth group a few weeks back. We canoed through a small portion of Castlerock Lake. It was a lot of fun and probably one of the most unique canoeing trips I have been on...minus my first one with my dad. I haven't tipped over in a canoe since :) Lol! Good memories!

Just a wee bit shallow :)

In some places...in this stretch, most of it...it was abit to shallow to canoe in the lake. We could not find the area we were supposed to follow. No worries! Who would have ever thought that we would walk through lily pads and muck in the U.S.? I did figure that that would happen overseas...not here. Wrong! :)

Go Brewers!!!!

Nothing like starting out young as a baseball fan! This little buddy of mine was very enthusiastic about the game...so much as not wanting to leave when it was time to go :)

Care to Dance?

I like Irish dancing, waltzing and some square dancing. However, I can't quite get into the chicken dance as my friend here can :) Go to a baseball game and they will teach you how....the Milwaukee Brewers will anyway... :)

How Many Was That?

Here is view of some of nearly 42,000 people. We had a staff outing from NTBI Waukesha to the Brewers game in Milwaukee the other night. The announcer said that there were 41,790 people at the game. That is a lot of people! That is more people than in the biggest city closest to my home in Idaho - Couer d' Alene proper...nearly that many.
It was a long, low scoring game. 13 innings - 4-2 - Brewers favor.

A Day at Yellowstone National Park

While visiting my friends John and Louise last week, John took me to Yellowstone National Park. We had a good time with each other and saw a variety of different critters and amazing geological features....such as geysers and natural hot springs of varying colors (due to different types of bacterial growth). God is so good and seeing that He is the creator of this universe and of all life, very creative! Makes one wonder that if we are created in the image of God, where do we get our creativity from (?). A gift from God me thinks! Gen. 1:26-27

O Give Me a Home Where...

This is one of thousands of Buffalo that roam Yellowstone Park. There are some pretty big bulls there like this one. Big, beautiful creatures...well, at least big! I like 'em :)

The Yellowstone River

This is a section of the Yellowstone river in Yellowstone Park. Check the next picture out for a unique perspective of this view.

A unique point of view

This is a section of the Yellowstone river below the Lower Falls that I took a picture of through my binoculars. They proved to be a unique kind of telephoto lense for my camera :)
This part of the river runs through a rugged and yet beautiful canyon!

Housing

For those who are and may be iterested in what the building accomodations were like, here are some pic's. This first picture shows what student housing (also used for conferences) is like. These are more like nice camp cabins with a central laundry room and bathroom facilities located towards the bottom center of the housing.. Staff housing are actual houses with a kitchen and bathroom facilities.
The wood was purchased from the nationals at a fair price when the campus was built. It absolutley beautiful wood! God blessed Interface with a good location and some good neighbors.

One way to burn off extra energy!

We had times where we were able to play sports with each other like soccer. We (guys) even played (rather tried for some of us) rugby with our language helpers one day. The girls were able to play volley ball with their language helpers. A game that is far more suitable for me! American football is to ingrained in my thinking to be able to play rugby :) More than I realized because I am not an overt sports fan....
In the background is our kitchen/dining hall facility They have a great crew there and fed us like kings and queens...ok, not that luxurious, but it sure felt and tasted like it!

Home Sweet Home

This view is of the backside of the staff house that I stayed in for part of my time in PNG. I shared this with two other adjunct staff members. I won't forget this time or these roomies!