A Short Visit.

On Sunday evening my Kauffman grandparents arrived after a 10 hour long trip to visit my family and I. They live in Goshen, Indiana and my grandpa is an associate pastor in Archbold, Ohio. He has an apartment that he stays in half the week and then he travels back to Goshen to spend time with grandma. My grandma occasionally works at a nursing home as a nurse. They are my dad's parents and they have one other daughter Shana (my aunt) who lives in Minnesota with 3 kids the ages of my sisters and I.

They stayed here 3 nights and left this morning around 10am. During their stay here my grandpa, Kate, and I put together two desks my grandpa bought on sale. It took effort and time, but we managed to get them both done while he was here to help us. The two desks are now Kate and my school desks. We also took my grandpa disc golfing. Since he loves to play golf with clubs and golfballs we thought it would be fun to take him golfing with a disc instead. He actually did pretty well for the first time, he came in second place. My dad came in first, I came in third, and Kate in fourth.

While we were out disc golfing my grandma stayed home and made applesauce and dried apple slices. Later in the day Kate and I interviewed our grandparents about their lives. I interviewed my grandma and Kate got grandpa. We had both come up with a sheet of questions. It was very fun to hear about my grandma's life and realized she is a lot like me in several ways.

It was fun to have them here, after not seeing them for a while. I have a couple friends who either their grandparents have died from cancer or have cancer and are not able to spend the quality time with them anymore. I realize how lucky I am to have healthy grandparents on both sides of my family.

Take Care,

Mouse in the House

On Wednesday night after arriving home from youth group we discovered an unpleasent visitor in our house. Kate and I were in my room when all of a sudden Kate screams,  "AHHHH, It's a mouse, Emily look." We frantically jumped up on my bed and were screaming our heads off. I was too late and did not catch a glimpse of the disgusting creature. We called my dad and he came upstairs to see what was the matter. He then stuck a trap where Kate said she had saw it run into. So guess where that was.......right outside my room under some boxes!!

That night I ended up in my sister Anya's room to sleep. When I woke up in the morning we had not caught the mouse unfortunetly. I was so scared to go into my room I had to get my cat and let him go and search my room first. He didn't find anything so I finally got the courage to go in. The only plus to this experience is that my cat Neighbor (outside cat) got to stay in the house at night. Last night I slept in my own bed again and this morning I learned we had caught the mouse. YEA!! What an experience! I bet all you mice lovers who are reading this are like "What a wimp." Hey, we are all differnent:)
Take Care,   

My Poem Fall

Fall

Fall is my favorite season of all.

Fall is a time when the vibrant colors of leaves,

start to show on the trees.

Fall has arrived when warm clothes are worn,

treats made of peanuts and candy corn.

Thanksgiving occurs, the bounty of God's goodness remembered,

Family and Friends

Shelter and Clothing

Food and Water

Fall is my favorite season of all.

By: Emily Kauffman

Back to Home Sweet Home

We arrived home at about 5:00pm last night. I am glad to be home and being able to take Anya out to the bus this morning. I really enjoyed my week in Pennsylvania. Kate and I have encouraged my dad to incorporate some of the things we did in PA into school here at home. So today we made a list of some things we could change or begin to do at home. Its good to be home!

Take Care,

My Pottery Experience.

Today I had a fun and new experience. My sister and I got to have a private pottery lesson taught by my uncle's friend Dennis. He works with clay for a living and has his own studio. We had a chance to work on a pottery wheel and each make a bowl. Neither of us had ever created something on a wheel before. The experience was amazing. I loved the feeling of the clay while it was spinning on the wheel. Being able to shape the clay was so cool. I am so glad I could do it. Dennis was a great teacher and his art is amazing. Thank You Dennis!!

Take Care.

I GOT MY EARS PIERCED!!!

Hello All, Today was a special day for me. I got my ears pierced at a salon in New Holland, Pennslyvania. I was so very nervous about it, but it went better then I thought it would. Everything went well, expect for my sister almost lost her hand from me squezzing it so hard. Just kidding, but I did squezze it pretty hard. The lady who did it for me was very nice so that made it all the better. I will have to have the studs in for 6 weeks, after that I will be able to put other earrings in. 
Here is a pic of me today getting the second ear pierced.

A week In Pennsylvania

This week Kate and I are spending a week in Pennsylvania at my Aunt Kandace and Uncle Jerry's House. The nice thing about homeschooling is that you can travel. Don't worry we took our school work so we aren't all the way on vacation. While my uncle is at work my aunt is our "teacher". It is more laid back than at home, but we still have schoolwork. So far we have learned some Portuguese since my aunt lived in Brazil for about a year. We have also done some art, cooking, reflections on some movies we've watched. One of the movies we are watching and discussing is Ghandi. I am really enjoying it so far. What a courageous and good man! If you haven't watched it before I would recommend it. I will try to keep you posted throughout the week. 

Take Care, 

Seneca Rocks Camping Trip

On Thursday October 8th my dad, my sister Kate and I left for what would be a one night camping trip at a campground called Seneca Shadows. Our campsite gave us a clear view of Seneca Rocks. We left at 10am and arrived at the campground at around 11:30am. We first ate lunch and then set up our tent. After getting everything set up we headed out to our first adventure, hiking up to Seneca Rocks. The hike was 1.5 miles up and it took us about an hour to get to the top. It was quite steep, but we managed to reach the top. When we reached the top what a magnificent view it was. Because of the season looking down was an assortment of deep reds, yellows, oranges, greens, and browns. How beautiful!

When we reached the top you could either go to a safe platform and take a rest. Or you could go farther and reach a sign. The sign said "STOP, You alone are responsible for your safety." Since 1971, 15 people have died from Seneca Rocks falls. That didn't stop us, even though it was steep and risky we took the risk. Nothing happened we are all alive:)


After the hike we went back to our campsite and started supper. We had pizza pie irons! yum! That night it rained the whole night. We woke up and our tent was soaked. Some parts of our sleeping bags and tent pads were wet too. For breakfast we had cinnamon rolls in the dutch oven. My favorite recipe in dutch ovens! At about 10am we left to go to Spruce Nob which was 5 minutes from the campgrounds. It was a beautiful ride up to the lookout. Because of the season the trees were turning gorgeous colors. After the drive we headed home tired. Though I did have a great time bonding with my dad and sister. 


Take Care.