Day 5: New England Camping & Friends!!!

After the last few days of sentimental posts.  Here is a simple post of some fun things we had the opportunity to do this summer. 

We were able to go camping twice this summer and we had a great time both weekends!  Our first camping weekend was in July.  We spent in Western Mass at Savoy Mountain State Park.  Our friends Jen and Patrick Bourckel joined us.  We did some hiking on Saturday and saw 2 beautiful waterfalls.  If we had found the waterfalls before our full day of hiking, we probably would have just stayed there.  We enjoyed some great food all weekend and were lucky enough to get a mandolin serenade each night by our very own Patrick Bourckel.  That was an awesome way to spend our evenings.  It was also nice to be able to start a fire (and actually use it for warmth) in the middle of summer! 

We took this with our handy bendy tripod!

A few of us took naps in the car!

One funny story from the weekend was courtesy of Connor.  I will preface this story by admitting that we were able to enjoy a laugh at the expense of our son’s inability to pronounce certain letters correctly.  This will probably lead us to major counseling bills later in life from the emotional trauma of this particular event, but at least we get a laugh now, right?  (haha)  We were all sitting around the campsite at dusk.  We had decided to build a fire.  With us focused in on  getting wood for the fire, Connor decided to point out a certain ‘log’ to us, or as he said it, ‘wog’.  His normally sweet and very sympathetic mother then decided to kid with Connor and started asking him what a ‘wog’ was.  Well, after a couple emphatic corrections by a 2 year old that did not understand the “humor” of mom’s saying, Connor admitted defeat in a most amusing way.  After Mom asked him what a ‘wog’ was, Connor informed his mom that a ‘wog’  was part of a frog, you know, like a pollywog.  Well that answer is pretty impressive for any 2 year old to come up with, but given the situation and the abruptness and unexpected nature of the response, we all were laughing pretty good including our very own comedian, Connor.  This became a sort of catch phrase for us all for the rest of the weekend.  Thank you Connor!

Jen & Patrick,

We had a great time with ya’ll!  It was a great memory for the summer and I am so grateful ya’ll were willing to “try” camping with us!  Thanks for all your help. 

Love ya’ll!

Our second trip was the weekend after Labor Day in September.  I guess technically not in the summer, but it was before Brian and the other guys started classes!  We went with 3 other couples and rented 2 campsites total.  There were 2 couples with kids, us, and the Thissells (Randall, Mercedes, Evie, and Lily).  The other couples were what I have termed as “single” couples, couples without kids the Rose’s (Matt and Katharine) and the Torress’s (Jesse & Mara).  Since it was September it was beautiful cool weather but still green everywhere.  The kids had a great time running between the two campsites together and the adults did a great job working together for the meals! 

The “single” couples were great with the 3 kiddos running around!  I know Evie, Lily and Connor loved having extra people to play and we appreciate ya’ll being so much fun!

Saturday we all started on the same hike and then eventually broke off and did our own hikes.  Matt and Katharine did an awesome hike on the ridge that I am extremely jealous of.  However, we (the Marsh Family) were able to hike a trail called Lonesome Lake and saw a beautiful lake at the top of a mountain! 

It was a great experience even with the wind keeping us all awake the first night!

Connor and Evie

Mara and Jesse

The picture above and below were taken with our handy bendy tripod!  We love that thing!

Lonesome Lake!  Beautiful!

Connor was in love with mushrooms that weekend, so we took lots of pictures of mushrooms!

One of the 2 campsites…our tent is the green one!

 

These last pictures were sent from Mara!  Thanks for sharing your pictures!

Mercedes, Evie, Randall, and Lily is on Randalls back

Katharine & Matt

The whole crew!!

Thanks ya’ll for making the trip!  We had a blast and hope to camping again when it gets a bit warmer!

Till Next Time,

Marya (The Marsh Family)

Day 4: My Wonderful Wife Marya!

So, as you might have guessed, this is not Marya.  I, Brian, am venturing out to try my hand at a blog post. 

Marya is already sound asleep, and I am still awake.  I got the great idea to post a blog for her since she did not get to do one today.  I got on and figured out how all this works, the whole time thinking to myself how surprised she will be that I posted a blog.  I had the great idea to post about her.  I am thinking to myself how great it will be for her to see that I posted, and on top of that, I posted about her before she posted about me.  Well, as I said, this was BEFORE I opened up the blog.  I type in the blog address and what pops up but a blog about me.  WOW!  I can truly say that this was a surprise.  I start to read, and by the end, I find myself starting to tear up but am not sure why.  Is it because I am tired (it is after midnight), or is it because some huge manly-sized piece of dust randomly flew into my eye, or is it because my wife is truly that amazing?  (Picture break to add to the suspense)

(Lighthouse in Marblehead, MA)

(Family Wedding)

(Franconia Notch State Park NH)

(Franconia Notch State Park NH)

 

Well as you might have guess, it was because my wife is truly that amazing.  I feel blessed and humbled that God has allowed me to share life with such an amazing individual.  I cannot imagine where I would be or what I would be doing if she were not a part of my life.  When people up here ask us about how we met and started dating, she like to tell the story about the first time she really acknowledged me (I reworded that slightly, haha).  We were sitting in the movie theater waiting on a couple of our friends and I (for some reason) decided to tell her about how I thought that God was calling me to go to seminary.  She says that after that conversation, she realized that I was someone she wanted to help achieve this goal in whatever way possible.  She heard genuineness in my words and responded.  Now, at this point, marrying me was not really on the agenda, and I don’t  think she could have ever imagined how that thought would really play out, but here we are some 10 or so years later fulfilling the our visions.  It is amazing to see how God has worked out his plan for us so far, and I can safely say that Marya has more than fulfilled those thoughts she had way back then.

Marya,

I love you and I want to thank you for all the sacrifices you have made.  I thank you for working to support us, because I know that you desire to be a stay-at-home mom.  I thank you for moving away from your family and friends, because I know that this was not easy for you.  I thank you for believing in me, because without that belief we would not be here.  And above all, I thank you for your faith in God, because without that faith this would not be possible. 

I thank you for being an amazing mother.  I thank you for loving me, even when I am not easy to love.  Marya, most of all I thank you for being you.  I thank you for being someone that I can confide in, someone I can trust, someone I can laugh with, someone to experience both the good and the bad with, and someone who is there for me.  I thank you for being my best friend.  I love you Marya.  I love you, I love you, and I love you. ~Your most appreciative husband, Brian

Day 3: Brian Marsh

I cannot express how thankful I am that God blessed me with Brian as a husband.  He is incredibly caring and loving.  He is an AMAZING father.  Connor also loves his Daddy!  I am so thankful to married to man that considers his family as one of his top priorities.  He always is making sure that Connor and I are taken care and receive the time, love, and attention we deserve.  He does a great job at staying on top of his school work and he is an excellent student.  I am always so excited to hear what he is learning and it is so neat to watch him talk about what he is learning.  I am thankful that he loves to cook!  He cooks great meals and it is one of the many ways he takes care of me  

Lastly, I am thankful for how much he loves the Lord.  He followed the Lord’s calling on his life to quit his job and enroll in seminary.  I am so thankful he did.  God has used this amazing experience  and has already taught us so much about him thought it.  Had Brian not listened to God, who knows what we would have missed out on! 

Brian,

Thank you!  Thank you for being a godly man who loves the Lord, Connor and me.  Thank you for the sacrifices you make for this family.  Thank you for being you!

I love you,

M

 

So I''ll starting signing off till next time since it seems to be an every other day thing!

Till Next Time,

Marya (The Marsh’s)

Day 2: Connor–My 3 Year Old!!

I am so very thankful for my sweet little boy.  He is fully of personality!  He is loving and sweet and is quick to give away many hugs and kisses!  He is rowdy and silly and commonly termed as “Mr. Sillypants”.  He is all boy and love football (especially Clemson football) trucks, cars and trains.  He loves school and making new friends.  He also loves to read.  I am so humbled that God has blessed with such a beautiful boy. 

Now let’s watch Connor grow!

1 day old

2 weeks old

Almost 5 months old

1st Birthday!

Connor & Kennedy at 1 Year 8 months old

1 Year 10 months old and ready for the lake!

Almost 2 years old and resting while hiking up the rocks.

Playing in the snow 2 years and 2 months

Big boy bike – 2 years and 7 months

First Day of school this fall – 2 years and 10 months

Here is the big 3 year old!

I hope for many more years like these past 3 years!

Till tomorrow!

Marya (the Marsh’s)

Day 1: Family Outings

I am thankful for family outings.  I have so enjoyed over the past few years, being able to go out on a day trip as a family.  Now that Connor is able to interact and enjoy the places we go, it is even more fun and  something I always enjoy.  Two “recent” outings stand out from this past summer. 

First, we went to Foxboro,MA on a July Saturday.  For those of you who don’t know, Foxboro is the home of Gillette Stadium where the New England Patriots play.  Though it was the summer and the Patriots had not started playing.  The reason we headed south of Boston was to visit The Bass Pro Shop and the cranberry bog behind it.  On the way, we stopped at a neat little state park that had an old castle looking home on it.   The most comical experience of the day was the fact that it was supposed to be a beautiful sunny day.  While driving south the sky started to look darker and darker.  As we get off the interstate and head toward the state park where we were hoping to hike, we drove through a torrential downpour with loud lightning and thunder. 

We sat in the car and waited out the storm!  We were so glad we did because this little park was so beautiful!  Below are some pictures of the park!

Above: Connor checking out the lily pads before we get to the actual Cranberry bog.

Below: Brian and Connor standing at the fence in front of one of Ocean Spray’s working cranberry bogs.

The cranberries were still growing and were going to be harvested in the fall.  That is when they flood the bog and a machine goes through and agitate the water and then the cranberries float to the top.

Below are two pictures of Gillette stadium.

Since we were so far south, we drover to Rhode Island, so see what it was like.  Not too much different than the rest of the United States, but it certainly was fun to have been in another cool state!!

My second outing that is fresh from this summer was going whale watching.  We left out of Gloucester, MA a port town close to where we live.  We rode on the boat for about 45 minutes and arrived somewhere near the Cape.  It was absolutely breathtaking to see these beautiful creatures come up for air!  Connor love-love-loved seeing the whales as well!

This one little whale seemed to be showing off and stayed in the same spot in the water and continually splashed his tale on the top of the water!  It was so neat to watch him and you kept thinking, this is probably the last time and it just kept going.  Connor was a great spectator and every time the whale hit the his tale on the water, Connor would say “BAMM”.  It was so much fun to experience that with him!

These are the days where we make some of the sweetest memories!  I am learning to cherish these moments.  New England is such a fun place to experience and I am so grateful we have the means to be able to take small day trips like these and experience this beautiful area together.

Till Tomorrow!

Marya (The Marsh’s)