Summertime Fun (video)

Several months ago I showed Ariel how to use my GoPro POV camera. We are finally starting to reap the rewards. For all you who want to see more of our family...particularly the kiddos, check out the video that Ariel made below.

If you prefer to watch it in YouTube (recommended), here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf1H-MkCg5s

Enjoy!

TaylorH

Noah

Noah's birthday was an adventure in two parts. His gift from his siblings was that they stayed up the night before his birthday blowing and
 tying 70-something balloons to fill his room with. :) 

At lunch, he got to blow out his three candles and quickly get a piece of orange-chocolate cake, before we all got ready to head out to Ambato for the afternoon. (Because we are trading vehicles, we needed to get the belts changed, fluids checked, etc., before selling the truck, and Ambato is the closest large city.) Noah loves a good road trip, and was none too disappointed. We intended to come back later that night and finish off the rest of his birthday cake, but while we were in the city, the mud slides that the road maintenance crews have been battling all summer re-closed the road home. Praise the Lord, we were able to turn around and head back to the nearest town, where a Christian family we barely knew opened their home to us for the night. By the next morning, the road was clear again and we were able to get on our way. 

A couple of days later, Taylor was given the privilege of baptizing a young man from the States, who is volunteering here for the summer. He has walked with the Lord for a while, but wanted to take this step in obedience. Consequently, we were "forced" to visit one of our
 very favorite swimming holes. :) 

I may have to post more pictures of that trip later, 

but since this post is Noah's, I'll try to stick to pictures of him. 

...just-because Noah pictures from this week :)  

Good bye! We love you!

Pictures!

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately! I don't really have a good excuse. (Unless you count that I just finished reading a really good book in all that time that I was supposed to be blogging. ;) The kids and I are trying to finish up their school year this week, which means that next week will be their exams and a backyard camp-out. We'll be saving up their "summer" vacation for the fall again this year, so school will start up again rather quickly. Nate is beyond excited to OFFICIALLY be in Kindergarten. Noah, on the other hand is still enjoying his freedom to ping-pong from school stuff inside to watching whichever young man might be working for Taylor outside. (For the last several weeks, we have had work being done on the concrete wall around the property.) Life stays nicely crazy between school and the constant trickle of teens who are here for various reasons. I love it, but it makes me grateful for times like right now, when I sit All By Myself, with even the sound of the cars drown out by the rain on the roof. :)

...way cooler than tying your tooth to the doornob. 

Noah LOVES to walk around in the rain. :)

But for that matter, we all like playing in the water. 

The kids and I had a lovely morning in the river...

 Noah and I hung back and let the big kids do the serious exploring.

Levi took it on himself to help Nate;

 it was neat to watch him encourage him along.

And finally, even though it was several months ago,

 here is what I woke up to on my birthday.

Love, from "la familia de Taylor" as we have come to be called.

Spring...

I read e-mails about snow melting and trees beginning to bud, and I have to remember that it HAS been cold, SOMEWHERE. It's easy to forget when the weather never seems to change, and your first thought when you hear "Spring", (or "Primavera" as the case may be),  is that it is the name of a little town down the road. ;) However, even here, life has cycles. It has beginnings, too. Here are some pictures of things springing up around here.

 Noah absolutely LOVES the rain! Good little Texan that he is. :)

 Taylor and the kids have all really enjoyed having a place to wrestle...call it family bonding. :)

 This spring our homeschool hosted it's first annual robitics competition. :) 

Taylor brings such a good balance to my teaching style! 

The kids worked really hard and had fun competing. 

 our Golden Retriever puppy, Laddie (or Lad)

 who is growing so fast that this picture already looks outdated. 

 Melts Mama's heart...I've been waiting a lot of years for this first of hopefully many jam sessions. Daniel was excited to realize that he could just play A and D when Glory played those chords and could jam along. Levi is trying to learn how to play the harmonica, but this night, he wanted Glory to teach him some beginning guitar chords. 

 Some friends of ours took this family picture for us while we were out 

at the river for a VERY SPECIAL new beginning....

See? you can have Spring in Ecuador. :)

Love from us, to you! 

-the Hollingsworths<><

Christmas lights and mud boots....

Tropical rain falls steadily.

 The Christmas lights twinkle.

The Night Blooming Jasmine pours it's delicious heavy scent into the darkness. 

 The kids practice songs for the upcoming pageant. 

Mangos come in season. 

We wrap gifts while familiar carols play.

 December is funny on the equator. :)

Taylor was given the privilege to visit the jungle community of Tiweno for the Waorani Bible Conference this year. Although "city Ecuadorians" make a big ta-do for Christmas, many of the indigenous do not. As I was packing his gear for the trip I stepped back and looked at my livingroom; the walls decorated for Christmas, the floor piled with an assortment of tee shirts, mud boots, and camping gear. I had to laugh at the seeming disparity.  But then the kids' cardboard nativity scene caught my eye, and I realized that on that FIRST Christmas, mud boots and camping gear would have been entirely appropriate. It WAS a make-shift camp in a barn after all. The Wao believers that Taylor was blessed to meet may not have any use for holiday decorations, but they most definitely celebrate the Gift of Jesus. The 25th of December may not have too much significance for them, but the fact that God Himself was born into our muck to struggle through 30 years of life in a sin-cursed world, all for the purpose of showing His Father's glory and kindness by rescuing all that own his Lordship and leading us back to the Father - THIS they celebrate daily. And for this kind of "Christmas" perhaps mud boots ARE quite reasonable accessories.

Love because HE loved us first,
the Hollingsworths<><  

Pinning the Devil to the Ground

Going to bow hunt down on the peaceful section that we have in Mason, TX is one of the highlights of my trip to Texas. This year, I felt very optimistic, though maybe not as "prepared" as some years...it is rather difficult to be well prepared since we live in Ecuador and only come back to visit Texas for a few weeks each year. Nonetheless, the boys and I had started training for this hunt since July by trying to shoot at least 4 times per week.

Immediately upon arriving in Mason, even as we were driving in, I started scouting for trails and good hunting locations...and I found one! Three trails ran together under a big oak tree which would be easily made into a tree stand. That first evening, I climbed that tree and saw deer pass nearby every 15-20 minutes, but none of them wandered closer than 35 yards, just outside my comfortable shooting range. The next two mornings, I hunted that same spot and saw only one deer. Needless to say, that second morning, I was tired, bored, and frustrated that I had wasted two mornings. I gave up that spot a bit early in order to walk around a bit. It was cloudy, so I knew that my hunting partner would not return back to the campsite until much later. While walking, I just started praying that I would get to see more wildlife, even if I didn't get to shoot much, I just wanted to see something. As I was walking in my not-so-stealthy manner: head down, feet shuffling along the grassy trail, I came around the hill for the stock tank and two does startled me about 50 yards away. At that point, I realized that I still had 2 more days to hunt and that I should give up on my pity-party. So I stopped by the campsite briefly to change out of my morning gear and headed out to another part of the hunting section, which we call the "Big Pasture".

After crossing the fence line into the Big Pasture, I made a great effort to move more carefully as I headed toward the middle of the pasture where the windmill and another stock tank is found. Not far into my walk, I came across a turkey, the first and only turkey that we would see. Oddly enough, the turkey wasn't completely spooked by me and I ended up getting within about 15 yards from her. I knocked up and waited as she moved behind some brush ready to release just as soon as I had a clear shot. She peeked her head around the bush and then turned around the other direction and took off. I actually had a good shot, but as I drew back for a 20 yard shot, she just started to lift off the ground and at that point I noticed the ravine in the background...argh, I really wanted to let my arrow fly, but I didn't want to lose my arrow down the ravine in case of a miss, also, from my experience last year, it can be tough to penetrate all those feathers and get to some vital organs in a turkey. So I lowered my bow and noted where the turkey flew.

Soon, I came to a dry creek bed, which I decided to follow until it reached the windmill. Since I was down in the creek bed, most of my attention was on the banks and above. I noticed a nice deer rack in the creek bed, still attached to the skull. I left it where I found it thinking to pick it up on my way back. I walked for another 20 yards, and as I walked, I happened to glanced down to step around a large tuft of grass, when my West Texas instincts kicked in and I jumped back at the signature movement and sound of a rattlesnake!

Now I have come in contact with many rattlers in my life and I know that they are a type of vipers, but in all my experiences, these rattlesnakes curl up and lay low or turn and run. Not this time. This viper was true to his nature. He curled up the lower 2/3rds of his body, but he raised the uppers third like something that I have only seen in the movies. He was mad and he wanted to fight! I had one decision to make, walk away or fight back.

Having made the decision to stay and kill him, I took in my surroundings. I backed myself up near a steep rise of the creek bank that I could use for an escape if needed. Body curled, head raised to strike, and tongue licking the air, I knew that this snake was planning his move and that I needed to strike first. With my broad head already knocked, my distance estimated at 14 yards, I had my second decision to make, smote the head or pin the body in the sand? Though I felt confident with a head shot, I also didn't want this venomous creature slithering away. I aimed, drew back, and released my arrow. It drilled straight into his body and another 6" into the sand. His rattling stopped and his front half lunged to the side, but his back half was firmly planted into the ground. I did it! I had him pinned, and from the sound of it, mortally wounded as well!

I then moved around so that I could get a better angle on his front half. His head was down, but still very much alive. I nocked a blunt and released it. Though I missed his head by an inch, I still drilled his neck. I didn't see him move much after that, but I wasn't fooled. I tossed a couple of rocks at him. No movement. I then lobbed a large rock on his head, and he riled up for a second then tried moving again. I then tried and failed to drill two more blunts into his head at something less than 10 yards, but I was too close. I had never practiced at this range and on such a small target. Well I had one arrow left, a broad head, and I didn't want to use it here, so I moved around behind the snake and using my bow, I was able to retrieve one of my missed arrows from beside the snake. I then lined myself up, compensating for the closer distance by aiming a bit low. The snake, realizing his last breathe was near, opened his mouth and I put my arrow down his throat.

With the battle over and my adrenaline subsiding I decided to finish my walk to the windmill (only about 5 minutes away) and let my nerves and muscles relax a bit. About 40 minutes later, I made it back to camp with my snake, still with his piercings and the deer rack that I found. I dropped both to the ground, grabbed some cookies, sat down, and related the story to my hunting partner, Whitley.

Whit asked if I wanted to skin it, but still exhausted from my adventure, I said no. Also, at the time I could not think of any reason for keeping a snake skin. The thought did not even cross my mind that this was my first kill while bow hunting. Nor did I know how much others, including my extended family would value the skill required to shoot a snake with a bow and arrow, after all, I thought, we shoot them with a shotgun all the time. Of course my hunting partner and archery teacher was proud of me, but it wasn't until others shared that same sentiment of congratulations that I truly appreciated my accomplishment.

I did keep the rattles and I will attach them to my quiver for next year.

This image is taken with the arrows oriented similar to how I shot them: 1st-through the body; 2nd-in the neck; 5th-through the bottom jaw and into the neck.

Enjoy!
TaylorH

P.S. - For those who care to know, I shoot a 62", 60# Bear Super Kodiak with Easton carbon arrows. The snake was 45 3/4" long.

"Mr. Eight-year-old's Birthday" - by Levi

Well, I came out into the living room and I helped Mama clean up the room. We blew up baloons and hung up a pinata we had made the day before. Then we ate breakfast and played games. When we opened up presents, I got a knife from Papa, seven motorcycles from Dan, a BUNCH of candy from Glory, and some little birthday candles from Nate. They looked like little smiley face people . Then I got to stick them on the cake. The cake was of a soccer field and they were the players. I made two goalies  and four players. It was the "pinks" against the "colorfuls". After that Papa went and got some friends of mine to play soccer with. After we played, we came home to eat cake. Tanner my friend had a present! It was a soccer ball and a boat made in China called "Junk". (Hahaha). We played soccer again at our house for a little bit and then we had to leave to go to a Bible Study, so we took the friends home. Then we went to the Bible Study. After that we came home and went to bed. 

That was my very fun birthday! :)