Her Father's Arms (Or- Grace at the Beach)

 Several weeks ago, in the middle of a heat wave, Luke had a day off of work. We celebrated by trekking up to Door County. We thought we would take advantage of the 94 degree day by cooling off at Whitefish Dunes. Well, we did get to cool off; the water was definitely cold. We took a few baby steps in, waited a couple minutes, then went a bit deeper.

We were especially looking forward to Grace's reaction, though. She had never been to a big beach before, and we thought she would love it.

Boy, were we wrong. Anytime she was lowered near the water, she started crying. We knew it wasn't the temperature, because she liked having her feet in the freezing water near the shore. She was just scared. The enormity of the water, along with the depth and the waves, must have just been too much for her little self to handle.

 

 

So, Luke held her above the water, wading around while I went swimming. Watching Grace feel strong and secure in her dad's arms, I couldn't help but feel how much that mirrors our relationship with God. We all go through times in life where our circumstances are scary and overwhelming. Yet even when God takes us into a dangerous place, His strong arms hold us secure. Grace trusted Luke so completely, and she was so happy as long as he was holding her. It's so important to remember that we can always trust our Heavenly Father's love as well!

 

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

~Isaiah 41:10

Then a storm rolled in, so we took some time to check out the nature center. After the rain, we went for a stroll along the trail at Whitefish Dunes. We saw some beautiful flowers and ferns!

Along the trail at Whitefish Dunes.

Bluebells at Whitefish Dunes

(Identified thanks to the UW-Stevens Point Wildflower Identification Guide- Love it!)

 

 After that we hopped into our car for a quick two-minute ride to Cave Point. It was gorgeous, and the passing storm had created a breathtaking sky and atmosphere. The temperature had dropped about 20 degrees as well, so that made it the perfect temperature for exploring.

Cave Point, just after the storm.

 

 

Looking at minnows and crawfish in the clear water.

Walking -very carefully- near the edge.

 

 

 

Sturgeon Spawning

A few weeks ago (April 29th, to be exact), Luke and I packed up Grace and went out to the Shiocton/Shawano area in order to see a once-a-year spectacle. The sturgeon were spawning! For about a week in early spring, you can see these massive fish up close and personal as they lay and fertilize their eggs on the Wolf River. It's one of the few places in the world that allows you to do so.

Many Wisconsinites have never even seen this before, Luke included. Since I used to work in Shawano often, I'd had many chances to see it before. Nevertheless, it was great to watch.

Luke was in charge of the camera that night and got lots of splashing fish pictures. He was very enthusiastic in his photo-snapping (mostly because this was his first experience getting up close to these awesome fish), so I'll just share the best pictures from the night.

At first, there wasn't too much to see. Just a few ripples...

 

 

Then some fins appeared.

 

Pretty soon they were all around us!

 

 We even got some up close views.

 

These fish were massive! Some were more than 6 feet long.

After viewing the sturgeon, we went and looked at the local marsh as well.

Grace and Luke enjoyed their first sturgeon spawning.

^"All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air,

and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"

Psalms 8:7-9

Jen

My Mother's Day Flowers- Shade Annuals

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of flowers. Luke has always known that the easiest way to my heart is through a big bunch of blooms, and so holidays requiring a gift are a no-brainer for him.

While I love cut flowers, I prefer to get plants, because then I can enjoy them longer. The challenge comes in with our balcony; we have a north-facing balcony that only gets a little bit of sun in the morning. A lot of flowers are only part shade or mostly sun, so we are limited in what we can grow.

The other part of the challenge is that I can be a little picky about flowers. I am bored by the "traditional" shade plants (like impatiens or hostas), and we can't grow the plants that have that huge WOW factor due to our limited space and sun.

Luke found me some awesome plants, though. They don't look like much yet, but they're going to grow into impressive flowers as the summer goes on.

1. Begonia

I know what you're thinking- begonias are a common, traditional plant.

 They are my one exception to my "no boring plants" rule.

A begonia was the first plant I ever grew myself, and so it has a special place in my heart.

2. Torenia (AKA- Wishbone Flower)

This flower blooms from early summer all the way until frost,

which means we'll get to enjoy it for months.



3. Nierembergia

 

This plant will eventually get small purple flowers on it.

I'm excited to see what it becomes!

 

So there you have it! My Mother's Day gift. As usual, Luke did a great job. :)

 

 

I'm so grateful to have this first Mother's Day with Grace as well. She turned 6 months old yesterday. This year is flying by! This time last year, she was just a little bean in my tummy.

 

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."

Psalm 127:3

 

Hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful day!

Jen



Friday Night Fishing: The Search for Smelt

Whew! The weather has finally warmed up in Wisconsin, and Luke and I have gotten outdoors as much as possible in order to take full advantage of it. I'm behind on my blogging; I have so many adventures to tell about! I'll start with a couple weeks ago, when Luke and I did the first night fishing we've done in a long time.

Luke and I have many relatives that grew up in Wisconsin, and we've heard from many different "old-timers" about the legendary smelt runs. According to the tales, you could just head out on May 1st (yes- that date specifically) and throw a dip net in the water. Within a few minutes, you would pull it in and be up to your elbows in the small, wriggling fish.

Photo courtesy of Minnesota Sea Grant

 

For those of you unfamiliar with this fish, you can read more about them here. If you're from Wisconsin or the U.P., you've no doubt gone to at least one smelt fry in your life. Well, those are what we were hoping to catch.

 

We weren't able to make it on May 1st, but instead went out on Friday, April 26th (this was the closest to that day that we had free). We drove on up to County Park 2 in Oconto County, tossed out the net, and hoped for the best.

 

Luke getting ready to toss it in.

 

 

And we caught...

 

 

A shiner! Not a smelt.

 

We actually didn't end up netting any smelt. We caught plenty of shiners and perch, though, and had a nice time with that. It appears that, at least for us, those stories will continue to remain legends. Who knows, though, maybe the smelt will make a comeback just like perch have in the past 5-10 years.

 

We ended up switching to fishing poles, since we thought we might catch a larger fish that way. We decided to fish for smelt again later when it was darker.

 



 

We loved the excuse to use our lantern. 

Grace was nice and snug in her stroller. She enjoyed watching the action, though she wasn't quite ready to hold a pole on her own.

 

Luke showing Grace the first catch of the year- a tiny perch (yes- we threw it back).

After it got too dark to see our poles, we went for a hike along the rocks leading to the bay. Grace was snug in her carrier, and she promptly fell asleep.

 

Although, in this picture she was still wide awake. :)

 

 

On our walk we found a few friends. We saw a muskrat paddling around, and I was able to snap a few shots of this photogenic leopard frog. You can tell this is a leopard frog (and not a pickerel frog) by the fact that the blotches do not form parallel rows; they are more randomly scattered on the back. 

 

 

 

We went back and tried the nets again, but the smelt outsmarted us (or maybe were just sticking to their calendars). We'll have to give it another go on May 1st, 2014.

 

We finally left around 9:45 when a thunderstorm rolled in across the bay.  It was amazing to watch the lightning slowly get closer to us over the course of a half hour. It just felt great to be outside!

 

 

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:" ~Matthew 13:47

 



 

Praising God for shiners, smelt, perch, muskrats, and leopard frogs,

 

Jen



First Signs of Spring

I'm so excited for spring to be here! Usually it's about halfway through spring before I feel this way, once I see the daffodils and tulips in full bloom.

I think I've just been more cooped up than usual, with not wanting to bring Grace into the cold weather. During a typical winter, Luke and I will still do lots of outside activities, such as hiking and ice fishing. This past year, however, it feels like we've been in hibernation mode- we didn't go ice fishing once!

So, I've been long overdue for serious outdoor time, and this past week I finally got it. We've been enjoying lots of time outside going for walks and getting our balcony garden organized. I was cleaning out some rubbish in my herb garden when I noticed our first element of green- chives! Yup, my trusty chives have come back yet again.

If you don't have a green thumb, plant chives. They're practically impossible to kill and come back every year with absolutely no effort required- a real ego booster!

We also have a mysterious sprout coming out from our orange tree pot. I'm not sure if it's a growth from the orange tree or an out-of-place seed, but time will tell.

A hint of good things to come!

 

Chives are seriously the easiest thing to grow.

They come back effortlessly every year!

 

Our mysterious sprout.

It might be part of the orange tree, but I'm thinking it might be a sunflower

from our bird feeder. We shall see!

 

 

Spring, as a season, is very encouraging and inspiring for Christians everywhere. Of course we celebrate Christ's resurrection, but I also love how spring reminds us that:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away;

behold, all things are become new."

2 Corinthians 5:17

Dead-looking brown straw will become lush green grass, my hydrangea bush (currently a collection of twigs) will produce gorgeous blue blossoms with emerald leaves, and pea tendrils will curl out of brown soil in a tangle of sprouts. These reminders of life will "spring" out of what previously looked dead.

Food for thought for Christians- do people look at your life and see a "new creature"? Can people tell that you are "in Christ" or do you look and act like a pile of dead grass?

Keep Growing!
Jen

A Frosty Fog

If you were able to spend sometime outside yesterday morning in Northeast Wisconsin, (or if you were forced to drive somewhere- eek!) you got to check out a unique occurrence- a foggy winter morning.

A few years ago this winter fog happened; I remember it well, because Luke and I were driving to his parents' house when we passed a woods that was glittering with ice on every branch. It looked like something out of a movie, and I convinced him to pull over so I could snap a few pictures. When I woke up yesterday and saw the fog, I knew I had to grab my camera and go for a frigid walk. The cold was well worth the scenery. Here's a few highlights- enjoy!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The frost coated each blade of grass.

 

 

 

You can see a hazy sun trying to poke through the branches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the bird's nest in the middle of the tree? I'm sure it's long gone

for the winter.

 

 

 

 

 

These poor birds weren't able to fly south before the fog hit.

 

 

"By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened." Job 37:10

 

 

Stay warm!

Jen