Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving 2008

This was the year where Thanksgiving almost wasn't...at least for our family. With two relatives sick, one not coming and John of course not here it made for a different, yet still enjoyable day on Thursday. All photos with me(Grace) in them or otherwise noted were taken by Joshua.


Christianna basting the turkey.
Working on the pies.


"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

U. Paul is our official turkey carver.

Ymmmm! Mom's famous rolls! [last two photos taken by Josh]


Grace and A. Carmen opening and dividing the Mexican candy. Goat milk wafers or tamarind/ chili drops anyone?



Is that supposed to be a smile Josiah? =)

Yes. He is taller than me now!


Turkey, stuffing, squash, beans, corn casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, pickles and pies...Yumm!

How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in You. Psalm 31:19


Solving the worlds problems. The economy, world troubles and the Detroit Lions were just a few of our after dinner topics. [taken by Josh]


U. Paul and A. Lucy talking to Grandpa and Grandma Learned.
U. Warren, A. Carmen and dad chatting with G&G.
Over all it was indeed a very blessed thanksgiving and we are so thankful to our great Lord and Savior for all that He has bestowed upon us...in home, family and His saving grace!
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"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name."
1 Chronicles 29:11-13
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News and links....
~Head on over to Pendragonmovie.com to view the new video clips and news about the film...and order your own copy of this awesome film! *News* Pendragon has been picked as a finalist for the SAICFF! I am so excited as John and I will have the pleasure to be there and see it in January!
~Check out whats for sale from the craft room in our new Etsy shop!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Winter. White. Wild.

Winter has arrived. To my despair and everyone else's happiness. Yes I do try to be content in what ever "state" I am as Paul says in Phil. 4:11, but I sure do envy my little brother right now! =)

So anyways...just so you know...since I am the blogger around here, you will most of the time only be getting one side of the story, though I will be posting pictures of the others in their "glory". Happy looking. ~Grace


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The end of Autumn...go to sleep earth.



















The garden is all tucked in with leaves, ashes and straw and the heavens laid out the winter comforters and all are a-slumbering.


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Down comes the snow.






Josiah took the last two pictures.




A heavy snowfall came down while Faith and I were at the farm the other morning.





Dad constructed this "feathery" friend last night in honor of our chickens.





It is hard to keep Josiah indoors now adays and after dinner last night I mustered up enough spunk to go out there and do some sledding with him.




Faith enjoying herself. =)





Yes folks, even though I don't really care for the freezing/snowy months of the year...I try to make the most of it and take great pleasure in trying not to kill myself on the snowboard! (several jaws drop and have to be screwed back on at the thought of this scaredy-cat/shy girl doing such a thing!) I love it!! Last night I had a blast, though the first three tries ended up in slides (it might help if I tried it in the day time next time) but after Josiah fixed a small imperfection on the hill, I was able to make a perfect ride. =) Next up : building a big bump and adding some tricks to the flight!



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In everything give thanks;


for this is the will of God


in Christ Jesus for you.


1 Thessalonians 5:18




May God bless you all with a wonderful day of Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Farmin', A Great Movie, Power Problems and Dead Deer.


The farmers across the street started to harvest the corn last week. Unfortunately it started to rain so they stopped after only getting two rows done.



Pendragon - Sword of His Father

Last Wednesday we were privileged to be a part of the celebration and premier of the Pendragon film! It was an evening of excitement as so many that had help out and been a part of this great film came together to see the culmination of all their hard work! Also, it was a blessing to be able to spend a little time with dear friends especially those who had traveled many miles to come to the preview!


Here I am with Grace Atherton(my name twin from Indiana ) and Theresa Eddy.


Christina Atherton and Christianna. Is it just me or do they look a lot alike?

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Can you guess whats going on here? Yup, our power went out Saturday morning and unfortunately with all the rain and because there just happens to be 1,200 acres of water directed to our backyard, our sump pump was getting a little over loaded and thus we had to run a bucket brigade every 30 mins!
Thankfully and amazingly this has been the only time in our 1 1/2 years of living here that our power has been cut.

Bring out the candles!


No heat, freezing temperatures, and nothing for dinner....so we brought the grill into the garage and fired it up to try to heat up some water. Luke warm hot chocolate anyone? =P


In between bailing, talking to John in that oh so lovely sounding state of Texas! =)
Thankfully we did not have to suffer long when the power came back on around 4 pm and not the predicted 11pm!


Later that evening Josh, Josiah and I stopped by the buck pole in town to see all that had been harvested on opening day. Quite a sight to see and yes the jerky was very tasty!
'Til next time,
~ The Blog Mistress ~

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

For lack of anything else to say...Random

Ok so when ever I try to log into the blog and post something, I can't! It's been a battle of the brains these last several days and as you can see, the computer won. =P

But you are probably wondering why then you are able to read this? Well lets just say it took a little prayer(yes I do pray about such little things like logging into Blogger!)and perseverance to keep trying while still using my time wisely on other things needed done.
So anyways...here I am with just some randomness to share. Nothing profound but just the normal gobs of pictures that I can't help taking but really don't relate to each other. =)
Enjoy!
~Grace


Christianna, Josiah and mom displaying their masterpiece and giving reports on the Oceania countries.


Josh...who was supposed to be listening to the reports but instead gave me this great smile for this pictures! =P


Little friends. Taken at our friends farm on their tour day.


Looks delicious? It was! Hungarian split farmhouse loaf.


Seedy accents! After harvesting our garden I put a bunch of coriander in a vase and added some country "flavor" to the living room! =)
Digging to China...or for China as we have affectionately called our resident moles that! Baby has quite the nose for them but unfortunately has no thought of where to or not to dig for them!

Here she is digging for her sought after prey (to no avail unfortunately) and ended with about a foot deep hole in our yard.


Check out the look on the her face! Oops! Kind of got a little out of control didn't I? [Josiah took the last two pictures]


Harvest sun on zebra grass tassels.


Be in prayer for our country! God have mercy on America!


The chickens are getting bigger everyday!

Strawberry leaves.


"Sister" and her new "Grace" dress. The fabric, unbeknown to me when I first bought it is actually called Grace!

Dress up! The mysterious Mexican, lovely Amish lady, colonial gent, and the little Scottish farmer and his friend.

"Tiny" and his winning smile!

Last week we spent an enjoyable evening with our friends the Klaty family.
Josiah and Chase building a viking ship. The blurry objects on the right side of the pictures are Spence and Carmen dancing to music. =)


Playing Pool.


Christianna and Cruiz.
Christianna, Carmen and Cruiz!

A friendly Titmouse visiting our feeder. Its the time of year again when we go bankrupt on birdseed!

Once again we are singing in the Handel's Messiah performance in Marlette! This year, as according to tradition we have added yet another piece to the concert. Lift up Your Heads O Ye Gates is yet another beautiful part of Handel's great work!

And last but not least I will close this post with this picture of "Tiny". Now come on, don't tell me a smile doesn't pop on your face when you see this!
God bless you all!