Rosh Hashana

In school this year, as the boys are studying world history, we are also incorporating Biblical history. To help us all understand biblical culture, we are celebrating some of the Old Testament Feasts. This weekend was our first one - Rosh Hashana.

Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the year on the Jewish calendar (we actually celebrated it a week late). It is considered as a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year.

The feast itself is full of symbolism and has deep lessons for us about God's love and eternal plan. I will explain a few of our pictures: The globe has a crown on it (made by Carson), which represents God as being King of the Universe.
Carson also made our centerpiece for the table. The orange thing is our homemade Shofar. Traditionally this would be a ram's horn which is sounded to either gather the people for a celebration or for a war. During Rosh Hashana, the shofar is sounded every morning for 40 day as a reminder to the people to prepare themselves to come before God.
Our bread was made in a round loaf, instead of the usual braided loaf, to symbolize the desire for a full, well-rounded new year. The ladder on top (made by Caden), reminds us that our prayers go up to God. The little white thing on top of the ladder is supposed to be a bird, which is a symbol of our prayers rising up to God.

Here is Corban draining the last of the "cup". Joey said a traditional blessing over the grape juice, then we passed it around for the family to all drink.

Carson breaking the bread. (He never wears a shirt unless he has to go out in public!)

Here is Caden dipping apples in honey. This is another traditional food which is a symbol for our desire for a sweet new year.
Also on the menu: Fish - with the head pointed toward Joey to show that he is the head of our family. Carrots - the word for carrot means "to increase". Pineapple - we used it as our 'first fruits' symbol, representing that the firstfruits belong to God.

Conversation

Carson: Mom, I wish there was so such thing as a time machine.
Me: What would you do with it?
Carson: I would go back to the Garden of Eden and shoot Satan. And I would take Adam and Eve some clothes so they wouldn't have to be naked.

ROAD TRIP part 2

The final two days of our trip were spent driving....and driving some more. We headed back in to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge before we started the long drive down the coast. We made it almost to LA before stopping for the night. The next morning we slept in and let the boys go for one last swim. We took a small detour to see the Hollywood sign before heading home. We had an amazing educational (and fun) vacation to start off our school year.

ROAD TRIP

The boys and I have wanted to go on a California Road Trip since we moved here. We have tried to talk others in to going with us, but didn't have any takers. But my mom came to the rescue. So...last Tuesday we picked her up from the airport and hit the road. Our first stop was Yosemite National Park. This was honestly the most beautiful place I have ever been. Massive sequoia trees, beautiful waterfalls, rivers, mountains....We left Yosemite and headed to Lake Tahoe and Carson City, NV. Because of a fire in Yosemite, we had to drive the long way around. What should have been a two hour drive turned in to a six hour drive!! We came across some treasures along the way though. An odd little ice cream shop with a map on the wall that saved our sanity. And Carson Hill - named after a man named James Carson who found the largest gold nugget in the county on that hill.
The Carson City stop was especially for Carson. He has wanted to go there ever since he learned about the city when we studied state capitals in school last year. We visited the wonderful Nevada State History Museum while we were there.

The next stop was Coloma and the American River - the place where gold was first discovered in California. If you are ever in Northern Cali, and if you are a history buff, you HAVE to go here. There was a small museum, the original El Dorado county jail, a blacksmith shop, a replica of Sutter's mill where Marshall first found gold, and Marshall's original cabin. AND, we panned for gold right there in the American River!Next - the Jelly Belly factory in Sacramento! Another must-see.
And of course we had the go to the California State Capitol.
Corban picked this beautiful flower for me at the capitol right beside the sign that said "do not pick the flowers".
Today we headed in to San Francisco and toured Alcatraz.
Still on the itinerary - Golden Gate Bridge (we drove over it today but I didn't get a picture!), Hwy 1, Hearst Castle, maybe the Hollywood sign, and then home again.