Blast Into The Past!!!!!!!!!

Back in time we went, and oh what fun we had. While school was out we and our friends (The Wiseners) decided to go to Tennessee to visit the Amish. It was very cold that day so we carried our blanket and bundled up for the ride, that is the horse and buggy ride. At the Amish welcome center they give tours of all the farms in the area and of course what better way to see all of it then in a horse and buggy. We got a first hand look at their lives the way they cook, make furniture, wash their clothes, how they weave baskets and so much more. You can also purchase items that they make . The craftsmanship of their work was beautiful and very detailed. The people were also very nice especially the first farm we went to where he made all types of wood items such as beds, dressers, tables, benches, and just about anything you could want that is made out of wood (by hand of course). He said he had ninety-four grandchildren (whew); God help him and all of his family. I think he said he had twelve children, which our tour guide said is how many they would like to have. The next farm we went to, we got to go into their workshop where they were making swings and bird houses. The last farm we went to they hand made baskets and we were able to look into his shop as well. There was so much to see I wish we would have got to stay longer. On our way home we stopped at a little store that sold homemade fried apple pies, antiques, and all kind of fresh canned items. The thing I loved the most about it was the outside they had big barrels of different kinds of apples, and that reminded me of how it must have looked back long ago. Could help but think about how life would be without some of our comforts and technology and it truly makes you thankful for what you have, but it also makes you reflect back to how simple their life appeared to be. I say appeared because I am not sure what life without those things is like; however, I am sure getting out and doing things without the help of technology would be hard and time consuming as well. So the next time you climb into your car, or use a power tool to complete a task we can be mindful that there was a time when all those things were not available for us to use, and for some people they just choose not to use them. I just choose to be thankful for all that Jesus Christ has provided! God bless!

Here is Tanner so happy about the trip...lol.

Here is Jeff and I in the buggy on the way out.

Here is Kimi and Micayla enjoying the ride while Tanner and Kyle sit up front with the guide. Later on Camille and all the kids get to drive the buggy. They only got close to taking out two mailboxes...lol just kidding it was only one.

We weren't being rebellious by taking these pictures as the guide instructed us just not to take any pictures of the people i.e. the sign in the picture above states no pictures so I just wanted to clarify that.

And here is Camille what a beautiful young lady! We were so glad she came.

Here is one of the barns we went by. Notice no poles for electricity or wires because they never had them installed when the electricity was being put along the roads. As a matter of fact the poles just stop where their community begins. The guide also told us that if the Amish were to purchase your house they would go in and remove the wiring and the plumbing.

Here is one of the houses of the Amish.

They don't want you to take pictures of them because of their religion, but we found a hat in the store and put it on to see what we would look like.....good thing Jeff doesn't have a beard huh?

Of course Tanner had to be different and wear it tilted.

Here is Kyle too.

Here we are at the country store

Here is me and Kyle at the store.