Pennsylvania and Fredericksburg Battlefield

Last week my father and I went up to help bring my grandfather home after his knee replacement surgery. We stayed there for a few days, and had lunch with Dr. James, who is a friend of my grandparents. He was a college professor and was a beach master at several landings in the Pacific during World War II. On the way home from lunch we stopped at the War College in Carlyle, PA where they have built replicas of military fortifications throughout the nation's history. Here are some pictures from that:

Civil War era cannon

A Blockhouse

World War I trenches

World War II tank

Me in the Vietnam camp

On the way home we stopped at Fredericksburg Battlefield. During the Civil War the Confederates occupied the heights above the town of Fredericksburg, and the Unions charged up a long plain towards a stone wall with a sunken road at the top. The Confederates destroyed thousands of men and they did not even make it to within 100 yards of the wall, but they continued to launch waves of attackers for hours. It was probably the most one-sided victory of the war. We were not able to visit the other half of the battlefield where Jackson held off a much more viable Union attack.

Daddy in the Sunken Road

A house from the time of the battle with holes still in the wall from the bombardment

A Monument to a Confederate who gave water to wounded soldiers

The Stone Wall

The impact of a cannon ball hitting a stone pillar

Hilton Head - Day 1

On November 27th, we drove down to Hilton Head, SC to spend the weekend with our Grandparents. On November 28th, Thanksgiving Day, Grandma, Grandpa, Rachel and I went on the beach to take a walk, and to fly a kite which they gave us. It was fun. Daddy, Joshua and Mommy had to stay back to work on the book, Sancitified by God. It was too cold to go swimming in the ocean. When we came back, we started preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. We ate at about 2:00 pm. After that, we all went for a walk on the beach. Here are some pictures:

Our kite

My Grandmother

The ocean

The Sunset

Daddy flying the kite

From Left to Right, Grandma, Mommy and Rachel

Hilton Head

On the week of January 1st, we went to Hilton Head Island with my paternal grandparents. They rented bikes for us, and we rode them on the beach and the bike paths. The ocean was very cold, but we waded in it for a little while. We visited the lighthouse, and Daddy, Stephen and I climbed to the top. We also visited a historic plantation. One thing we learned is that Hilton Head is where they got the live oak trees that they used to build the U.S.S. Constitution (aka Old Ironsides) during the war of 1812. Live oak trees are very hard, which is why cannon balls bounced off the Constitution's side during battle, earning it the title Old Ironsides. Here are some pictures:

Rachel and Stephen wading in the ocean

The Lighthouse

Stephen and Daddy on the top of the lighthouse


Mommy, Grandma and Rachel from the top of the Lighthouse

Here we are at Honey Horn Plantation


Stephen and I are in a Live Oak Tree


Stephen throwing the Frisbee on the beach

Trip to Pennsylvania

A couple days ago Daddy went on a business trip to Washington, DC and Pennsylvania. This weekend he is going to Washington state for an NCFIC regional men's leadership meeting. He is doing a sermon on the ministry of Samuel Rutherford. Rachel and I went along to read a book he bought in Scotland, Letters of Samuel Rutherford to him. We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and we went to the National Civil War museum with Grandma while Daddy went to a meeting. Here are some pictures:

Rachel reading the Letters of Samuel Rutherford


Pennsylvania Scenery