A Man and His Many Sisters

We had a good friend bless us with a little photo shoot of our family this past weekend.

Our main goal was to attempt a family picture for a Christmas card.

After successfully accomplishing that challenging feat ;-),

Evan went on to take lots of other fun pictures of various smaller groupings of our family.

(Thank you soooooooooooooooooo much, Evan!)

This picture he took of the quadruplets reminded me of a similar portrait taken years ago . . .  

 Then, they went for the stoic, old-fashioned, serious look . . .  

But just like old-times, that didn't last long . . .

(I think I heard that the sisters began pinching Kyle!)

 

 And then . . .I just had to include this last one of the awesome photo bomb in the window! : -)

On a side note . . . have I ever mentioned that when Kyle was 8 years old,

he cried many happy tears of joy the day he heard he was going to have a brother?????  ;-)

2016 Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with some very special loved ones!

I was able to snap just a few pictures of the day!

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The three main cooks . . .

 There's actually four in this picture . . . just can't see Baby Tevis yet! : -)

 We were so blessed to have Rich, Janet, Richie and Lydia Tevis,

 and my sister Kelley, brother-in-law Louis, and niece Cassidy join us for the day!

What a special blessing they all are to us!

 It was a challenge getting these four to all look and smile at the camera at the same time!

 After lunch, Timmy and Joe entertained us for a bit with their magic tricks! : -)

  Oh, what did we catch on camera here?  Timmy's lovely assistant in the background?

Or saboteur? ;-) Nice one, Richie!

 An after-the-feast-rest . . .

These are the two sisters that are most often confused . . .

(No! That's not what I meant!!  I mean, they are the two quads that people outside of our family have the most trouble telling who's who . . .partly because both of their names start with a "V". :-)

 Awwwww, and now for the two blond sisters . . . oldest and youngest in the family . . .

and these blondes are never confused . . .

either in their mind or mistaken for one another! ;-)

 Cassidy was a big hit with the little ones!

 

 They loved her!

It was such a wonderful day!

Thank you dearly loved ones!



Daily Dose of Cuteness!

So, unfortunately, I missed this adorable moment!

But thankfully, Valerie and Caroline heard what was going on and Valerie snapped these photos and documented what Ben said . . .

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While playing football in the living room this morning,

Coach Ben says to his young, amateur football players in a strong, matter-o-fact voice,

“Cuddle up, guys!!” J

 

One Month Ago Today . . .

 . . .I received a call at 4:30am from my dear sister saying that a very precious loved one had attempted suicide in the wee hours of the morning, and she was in a coma.  Oh, how my heart cried out to the Lord, as I fell to my knees at the throne of grace . . . pleading for God's mercy on her life.  

This is something that you just never think will happen close to home, and surely aren't prepared for.  But so thankful that our Almighty God who knows everything and loves each of us more than we can ever truly fathom, was working on her behalf and interceded, saving her from certain death.

It's still so hard to think about . . . the hopelessness she was feeling, and how we didn't know.  And then, to think how close we came to losing her.

Words can't express what our hearts are feeling as we prepare to see her again next week!!!  We will be rejoicing and praising the Lord from an even greater depth of our hearts this Thanksgiving as she sits with us around our Thanksgiving table!!!!  Thank you Lord, for your incredible mercy, amazing grace and unconditional love!

Dear family and friends, we have an enemy of our souls that "prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 But God wants to give us an abundant life!   "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I (Jesus) came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

There is so much more I'd love to say, but time is limited.  I mostly just want to say to everyone reading this . . . .that God, your faithful Creator, loves you SO much, and longs for you to experience His supernatural joy, peace, comfort, and HOPE on this earth that is filled with brokenness!  He has a wonderful plan for your life now, and wants to spend eternity with you in heaven!  If you haven't already believed in Him, and chosen to follow Him . . .please do now  . . .so you can have relief from all the anxiety, pain, and hopelessness that this world has to offer, and experience all that Jesus wants to bless you with!  

If ever you have questions or want to talk about any of this, we'd love to hear from you!  Please contact us!



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So Thankful for Awesome Friends!!!

Thank you, Lord, for such awesome friends!

We were sooooo thrilled to have so many wonderful friends join us for a quadruplet birthday celebration last Saturday!  They blessed us immensely with their joyful presence,

and all the fun they brought us!

Thank you, precious friends!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The quads decided to rent our local community center at the last minute, as solid rain was forecast for the whole day!  It made for such a great place to have a large group and be able to still be active and do so much indoors. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After lunch, Daddy gave a very sweet message about what blessings Kyle, Caroline, Valerie and Victoria have been to us and how much joy they bring to us as they love and serve God and others wholeheartedly.  We are just so thankful to the Lord for His work in their lives, and that He has good plans for them to be arrows sent out for His good Kingdom purposes. 

Then, he allowed time for any/all who wanted to pray for God's blessings and calling upon them.

It was very much of a blessing!

Thanks so much for this dear friends! 

What a gift!  

 (On a side note, I just can't express how much this awesome husband and Dad to our 12 (including Richie) means to me!

He is amazing, and I'm just so very thankful for him!

I love him so much and more every day, as I see him love us all in all our various stages of life,

and in soooo many ways!  He really is amazing!)

 

 So, when we went to rent the community center,

the kind lady asked us if there would be alcohol at the party.

We said, "Oh no, it is not that kind of party!  It is just a cake and ice-cream party!"

And little did we know, we would be playing duck-duck-goose too!

(Thanks to Daddy!  He started it!)

 

 So very thankful for Mr. and Mrs. Smythe!

They are some of the most awesome, fun parents we know,

and we love them soooooo much!

Sooooo glad and thankful that they were at the party!

 Then, we got around to doing the original activity of singing . . . "Down By the Banks . . " clapping game!

 And then, of course, we just HAD to play Reverse Charades . . .our favorite game!

And our friends were such great sports about it!

Thank you for all the great laughs everyone!

(My apologies to our dear friends if it seems like I'm picking on some of you with more pictures of you posted here!  It is just that some of you were just more hilarious, entertaining animated!  And it just made for some extra fun pictures!  : -)

 

 And then, after a wonderful lasagna dinner that Valerie made for everyone,

we finally got around to having that cake and ice-cream!

Thank you again to our very wonderful friends!

We are so grateful for you making the drive, and making the day soooo special!!!

We love you all so much and thank God always for you!