July 2, 2011

My cousins Julie, Marianah and Dylan came over for a little while earlier this month. We always enjoy having them over.  Mr. Willis offered us his river cabin for the weekend and we couldn't wait to get down there! Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ben and Winnie came down to join us for dinner at the cabin. (And Uncle Ben brought fireworks!!!)

I love this picture of Dylan and Grandpa.

What are muddy river water pools, except for little boys to play in?

 Marianah couldn't believe how many frogs there were along the path to the river.

There were, at the very least, 30 frogs in that cup....

Ben took Julie and Mari to his favorite fishing spot.

"It's a... it's a...it's a....

piece of bark." Better luck next time Mars. ; )

My beautiful cousin, Julie.

As the sun began setting we went back to the cabin and enjoyed some amazing food.

And then.... fireworks!

Julie and I simultaneously burst into uncontrollable laughter when we saw Dylan and Mari's faces...

Daisy the dog, Uncle Ben and Benjamin.

It's official. I have the most amazing, loving, wonderful, crazy, goofy family in the world.

the end

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The next morning, the girls and I watched the sun rise.

Beauty was everywhere we looked. God's handiwork was evident.

early mornin' fishing.

More river fun. 

See you all again soon!

Blessings,

Dear Dad

Dear Dad,

I am grateful.

Grateful that you are my Dad.

You always make me smile

When I'm feeling sad.

Dear Dad,

I'm so glad

That you've shown me something

That you love. And that you passed on

That love to Ben and I.

The love of being in God's

Wild, wonderful, 

Forests, fields, rivers.

Dear Dad,

Thank-you for encouraging me.

For being there to help.

For your laughter and your jokes,

Your smiles and wisdom.

Dear Dad.

~Allison M.

Love,

O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

by Charles Wesley

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer's praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,

Assist me to proclaim,

To spread through all the earth abroad

The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

That bids our sorrows cease;

'Tis music in the sinner's ears,

'Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and listening to His voice,

New life the dead receive,

The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,

The humble poor believe.

On this glad day the glorious Sun

Of Righteousness arose;

On my benighted soul He shone

And filled it with repose.

Sudden expired the legal strife,

'Twas then I ceased to grieve;

My second, real, living life

I then began to live.

Then with my heart I first believed,

Believed with faith divine,

Power with the Holy Ghost received

To call the Savior mine.

I felt my Lord's atoning blood

Close to my soul applied;

Me, me He loved, the Son of God,

For me, for me He died!

"I... heard the voice of many angles, numbering thousands upon thousands." 

Revelation 5:11

I wanted to share with you this immortal hymn written by Charles Wesley. He wrote over 6,500 hymns! This song was written on the anniversary of his conversion to Christ. It's powerful message and joyful tune is such a wonderful reminder of Christ's great love for us!

Blessings,

An Overdue Update

Hope ya'll are having a simply wonderful summer! We lost our thingy that downloads our pictures on the computer so today, my mom and I finally got another one! Sooo... without further ado, here's the 'fun event' as promised! And what my family and I have been up to these last few months!

We went to a Jerusalem Market, set in the time of Jesus!!!

My mom and I picked up cousin Haydon.

{Haydon's many faces : )}

They had a rock climbing wall.

And all the little "David's" tried to kill Goliath.

"He's too far away!"

:: My Favorite Part ::

WE ROAD A CAMEL!!! (how cool is that!?)

The whole ride, Haydon was in awe and kept saying, "Wow, this is so cool!"

One of the smug ol' camels. I love that face he's making. ; )

There was a small booth with goats and huge chickens.

And this guy. Does anyone know what kind of animal it is??? I'd love to know!

There was a skit played by these men.

As you can tell, it was pretty funny. : )

"Hail Caesar!" 

After we took this picture, the Roman Guard went over to a tax collector and I heard him proudly say "We get new recruits all the time."

There were crafts.

A little lone boy...

eating a chicken leg...

in a crowded market place in Jerusalem.

The End.

And here's where we've been this summer:

At the Lake!

Adrian and I.

Cousin Dylan and Benjamin.

Dylan loves swimming.

Adrian wasn't so sure. : )

Isn't this place beautiful?

And then we went camping up in the North GA mountains.

Dad, Benjamin and Dylan went looking for a river which was suppose to be near the cabin. They did find it, but got hopelessly lost in the process.

THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN

 It took a long time for them to find their way home but....

Soaking wet, battered and bruised they returned.

We went whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River.

It was the first time Dylan had been rafting and he loved every minute of it.

Blessings!

April's here already?!

Wow. That was quick! We sprung into spring awfully fast! : ) Although the Georgia weather hasn't exactly been Spring-y the signs of it are everywhere!

Hope you all are enjoying this spring season!

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. 

Deuteronomy 28:12

Blessings,

P.S. I'll be posting about a fun event we went to last weekend soon!