The fam and the photo

It only took me 8 months to frame and hang our not-so-new-anymore family photo! : )  

And even longer to ask hubby to scan it for me...  I can blog and post photos but don't know how to scan them. How weird is that? ; )

Here it is:

I LOVE these people! : )

When it came to making our Christmas card, we decided not to use this pose and went with the old fashioned one we took. It is a cute, fun looking card and I'll give you a peek tomorrow! I can't wait until they arrive!

Merry Christmas!
~Becky

My musicians

Here is the link to the single that I mentioned the other day. The singer is a very talented young man who loves Jesus and leads worship for our youth group. Nathan is playing the keyboard and he sings a solo at the very end of it. And Andrew wrote the guitar solo! Proud of my musicians!

~ I guess songs about breaking up are always 'in.' ; ) It's pretty catchy.

~Becky

An ENORMOUS gift

My hubby's best friend stopped by over the weekend with a birthday gift for him and an early Christmas for all of us which
BLEW our minds!
It is as wide as I am tall (60 inches) ; )
and it gives you a close up view of the pores on football players skin! LOL
I'm sure you can guess what it is.
We are in shock and speechless.

When I look around our house though, there are evidences of our friend's LOVE, construction skills and generosity in every single room! -This gift is definitely going to be a BIG eye catcher for years to come ( LOL) and will have us hosting lots of football parties.

Praying that the Lord would find some OUTRAGEOUS and abundantly ENORMOUS way to bless our dear friend. I'm glad you can't out give God.

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

I think this verse is awesome and sums up our lives on this earth as Christ followers:

"I am continually with You; 
You hold me by my right hand.
You will guide me with Your counsel, 
and afterward receive me to glory." 
Psalm 73:23

Amen! There's great peace and comfort found here!
Have a blessed day!
~Becky

Christmas happenings so far

Nathan was blessed to be a part of a recording session yesterday where he played the keyboard and sang back-up vocals. (last year he and this same friend did a Christmas EP) It was a great experience for Nate! He LOVED it and learned sooo much!

Joy wants to start a cupcake business and hopes to take some cake decorating classes with her Christmas money. Her great-grandmother passed on all the Wilton cake decorating tips a person could ever want. I joke with Joy that she obviously spends way too much time with her dad because she always call the tips "bits," as in the things that go on the end of a drill. LOL! (but if you ever need something assembled, she's your girl!)

Our whole family is sooo excited about the Hobbit!

 We are big LOTR fans. Zac even scheduled off work so that he can go to the midnight showing. (something he never does) All the best employees work the early morning shift, bless-his-5:00-AM-heart!

He is the kiddo that owned a replica of Frodo's sword, Sting, and had toy one. He carried the toy sword when he used to go around the house dressed in an eleven cloak I made for him. Too cute!

Andrew is without cash at the moment, and so he had to accept my reading challenge to earn the money for a movie ticket. It's about 800 pages worth! ("muhaha" -evil laugh from home school mommy) ; )

We love Christmastime and always celebrate Advent. (even though we are not Catholic) We celebrate by meeting every night for a story by candle light and do some praying and focusing on the REAL reason for the season. We also eat/drink something yummy with our china tea cups. It is always a special (but fattening) 5 weeks or so.
Last night I made the Pioneer Woman's hot chocolate recipe and I'm "positively certain this will spoil everyday life forever" (Anne of Green Gables) or at least me being content with packs of powder with water added to them.
These were Our favorite Advent/Christmas stories  EVER and we read and reread them. Since then we have had trouble finding something that was as fun and powerful to read. This year, I challenged Andrew to write his own story that we could read from AND HE IS! We heard the first chapter on Sunday night and it was sooo good. (proud homeschool mommy moment) Dad and his brothers, who enjoyed it immensely, gave him one week to come up with chapter two. In the meantime we are reading The Angel's Story by Max Lucado. (a fictional look at the spiritual battle that might have taken place over Jesus's birth) I also checked out some Christmas stories by Glenn Beck on c.d. that we might try too. But our favorite story this year, is sure to be Andrew's.

Here's Bree last Christmas

(more proof that we are crazy LOTR fans, she's named after a village in one of the books)

and here she is now. 

Today she has been carefully picking one certain heart ornament off the tree, and then bringing it to Joy or I. (repeatedly) How cute is that? I've been joking that it is because she LOVES us. Now that she's switched to other various ornaments, I think it is like a game of fetch. She wants us to put it back and then she takes it off again. : )

Joy bought this with her birthday money!

Funny enough, it was the DRUMMER of the family who was wondering if there was a way to sound proof her practicing! He surely has no room to complain. ; )

Hope your holidays are merry!
~Becky

Up, up and away

A sweet sixteen party did not interest Joy. She wanted to go for a ride in a hot air balloon! -She is our adventurer. : )

We ended up having to get up at an hour that started with a 3! Oh my! I'm so glad I didn't realize that would be the case earlier in the week. We had a little road trip to take before the sunrise balloon ride could take place.

Here's Joy and 'M' "signing their lives away" as they said.

Then they made a video... of their wills, "just in case."
 -Andrew, you might be happy to know that if Joy didn't come back safely, she was leaving everything to you. : ) 'M' said she wanted to be buried with her iPhone and her Bible.

Uncle Phil has been on a hot air balloon before, and last night he kept warning Joy about power lines. -So after they made their wills, they made a plan too jump out of their balloon together, if it got to close to any power lines. ; )

An expectant woman read the waiver and realized she needed to inform the balloon company that she was pregnant. She didn't want them to tell her she couldn't ride. Hubby and I thought they would let her ride but not require her help in the setting up of the balloon which was apart of the ride. She asked our advice about whether she should inform them or not and I said 'Yes!' (what else would I say? I'm a type A, rule follower) Guess what? For legal reasons, she couldn't go on the balloon and then she was mad...at me. She was pointing at me and saying it was my fault. (that was one awkward situation) She called her unborn child a 'jerk' for keeping her from being able to ride. (praying she doesn't call her child such things after it is born!) The company offered her a rain check (such a GREAT company for so many reasons) and so all ended well. Her party of 4 decided to wait until she could ride too and they left. After the waivers were signed, it was time to leave.

Everyone got in the vans and drove to the field...

Just before sunrise!

That is one mighty big basket!

It was cold and Dad loaned the girls his jacket and sweatshirt for more layers

They blew up the balloons and then turned on the burner

All smiles

-Then not so much!  -Bless M's heart, she was terrified!

Then the sun came up!

And they were on their way!

Or just about!

There they go!

Into the sunrise!

And before we knew it they were the third speck from the left!

Why did we let our baby go two thousand feet up in the air again?! -I can't remember! ; )

Then it was time to hop in our van and join the crew in chasing those specks in the fog to the landing spot

Here is balloon number one getting ready to come down. Joy was in the one to the far right...too far right.. They missed the landing spot due to the missing weight of the expectant woman's group. 

And right about now, I'm freaking out about power lines and hoping our girls don't JUMP out after all ; ) 

Here's where I'm glad they are safe even if they aren't landing.

Off they went for another 30 minutes in search of another field to land in...

We decided that chasing them would be pretty much impossible and knowing us, we'd surely get lost, so that is when we decided to go to breakfast instead. LOL!

If we had chased their balloon, the landing would have looked similar to this, except it would have been next to some cows 'with horns' and had a barbed wire fence that they had to crawl through.

 So, I think I'm glad I didn't know about any of that until they were safe and sound and on the GROUND at the champagne brunch! I think I aged a year before it noon!

~Becky, who slept like a woman in a comma when she got home! ; )

Wednesdays in the Word

A couple of Sundays ago it was the official day to remember the persecuted church around the world and it turned into a day that rocked mine...
We were informed about what is happening to the believers in Nigeria, Egypt, Iran and Pakistan. We did a lot of praying and some crying. It was very sobering. We were implored to keep the brethren in these countries in our prayers, and lest we forget, hubby and I have set an alarm that goes off at 9:00 PM every night to remind us to do just that.

"In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Tribulation = oppression, stress, adversity, crushing, squeezing, distress. (as in the crushing of olives or grapes)

"Think it not strange, concerning the fiery trial that is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you..." -And I always do 'think it strange' and unfair and like God's forgotten me...Pitiful, I know!

"But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed but on your part He is glorified." 1 Peter 4:12-14

Oh Lord, May I remember these brethren and PRAY:
~ The girl who was set on fire, by people she knew, for her faith.
~The young woman whose throat was slit, who lived and forgave!
~The young boys who saw their parents and siblings killed because they were Christians and who were themselves slit with cutlasses and left for dead, but lived.
~The pastor who was beaten
~The evangelist whose home was burned down and yet he preaches still...

If you'd like to be more informed about brethren around the world go to Voice of the Martyrs website.

"He will redeem their life from oppression and violence and precious shall be their blood in His sight." Psalm 72:14
~Becky