Hwy 78 Alabama Tornado Damage

Wednesday April 27, 2011 the South had 226 tornados. This is the most tornados in any one day in history. There were more than 5000 buildings destroyed. The large EF5 tornado that went through Tuscaloosa, Plesant Grove, Fultondale, and all the way up through Huntsville was on the ground for over 200 miles. There are still 340+ missing persons still in Tuscaloosa alone and the death rate continues to grow.  The devestation is unlike anything we have ever seen.  It appears as if a bomb has detonated and just destroyed everything in its path. Please continue to pray for those affected and consider making a contribution to help to American Red Cross, United Way, a local church, or donate blood. Many supplies that are being requested are non perishable items (Peanut Butter, Jelly), Condiment packages (Mayo, Ketchup,etc) flahslights, candles, mathches, batteries, paper towels, toilet paper, Personal hygiene items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, baby wipes), lunch bags, trash bags, baby formula, gatorade, water, tarps, tin foil). Let us give thanks for the blessings God has given us and bless those who are in such need.

The images below are from the Fultondale area:

Gold Fever

One of our most recent family activities is to pan for gold.  We have attempted in the creek near our house and then in the next post you will see that we visited the Alabama Gold Camp.  If you have a creek you would like us to pan please let us know. Here are a few images of us down by the creekbank.

Cole, our youngest Boston Terrier, is very protective of Tennyson and guarded her as she took a nap by the creek.  He has always been a step ahead and found the posionous snakes on the porch or the playground potentially saving the children from harm. Three days ago he we missing and we are very concerned about his well-being.  Please, pray for him.

Alabama Gold Camp

For the boys birthday's we decided to take them gold mining at the Alabama Gold Camp in Lineville, AL.  http://www.alabamagoldcamp.com/ If you are looking for a place to have true family time this may be your place.  We stayed in a bare essentials shack in the woods. It had 2 beds, sink, shower, and small frige / microwave and a grill outside.  There is no television nor radio, etc...just the peaceful sounds of nature and the babbling brooke was so calming.  We had a blast being together, digging, highbanking & panning for gold.  It was hard work but hope kept us going.  In the end, we were able to pan out some pickers and small flakes and at least have a tiny bit to show for our work.  We met some nice people that were there that had children our kids age.  They are frequent flyers of the gold camp and recently cashed in $800 worth from their weekend excursion.  The soil is rich in gold and it was exciting to find and see it in the wild.