Very Special Guests and Such a Fun Visit!

We were so happy to have Uncle Steve and Aunt Debbie come for a visit yesterday!

They were here on a quick trip from Phoenix for a few various visits,

and we were so blessed to have them for lunch and an afternoon of catching up and fun! 

 

When Uncle Steve and Aunt Debbie are in the house, it is always a good time!

We had lots of laughs!

 

Aunt Debbie and Brielle got acquainted real fast!

 

(Thanks for the adorable outfit and headband, Grammie and Papa! 

It is sooooo cute and fits her perfectly!)

 Aunt Debbie LOVES babies, and they love her!

Speaking of lovin' on babies . . .

Aunt Debbie was anxious to share some cute videos and pictures of their first grandson!

And we enjoyed seeing little Troy so much!  

Soon, the whole family was gathered around!

 

We were also so very happy that Richie and Lydia could spend the day with us!!

We LOVE it!!!

And we love their little lambs too, that came along for the day . . .  

 

 so they could be fed! : -)

Aren't they cute?

 And last but not least,

a little visit out to the farm animals! : -)

Valentine's Day . . . Now Sweeter than Ever!

Valentine's Day will never be the same for our family!

We are so grateful to now have a little sweetheart's birthday to celebrate on this day also!

 

"O Lord, you are my God;

I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness

you have done marvelous things,

things planned long ago."

Isaiah 25:1

 

Our family loves to celebrate things and make special family memories!

So, we've sure had a ton of fun decorating, cooking, baking, eating feasting

and visiting with loved ones!

 

This is how our Valentine's day started!

Valerie made us a delicious egg, hash brown, and sausage/ham casserole;

and waffles with fruit topping for breakfast!

 

Then, we put on a fresh white table cloth, and added a few decorative chocolates

for our family Valentine's Day dinner!

 

And we invited a our very special guest. . .

Aunt Kelley!

Benjamin is going through a phase where he asks anybody and everybody ALL DAY to "play with me for a while?"
Aunt Kelley was happy to oblige.  Now, she is his very best buddy!
 

Daddy requested steak, potato skins, and asparagus for the dinner.

We added a green salad, a fruit jello salad and brown rolls!

Yum!

It was our first time making potato skins.

Caroline did a fabulous job with them!

They were  delicious!

Then, after dinner, Brielle opened up this special little present.

 

And then we enjoyed the birthday carrot cake pictured at top,

and this "Death by Chocolate Cake." (as we call it!)

 

But the most special of the festivities was planned for this morning . . .  

a birthday breakfast for Brielle!

So we added a big table and put on the party tablecloths!

 

Heart biscuits to go with the sausage gravy!




All kinds of sweet things!



And sweet guests!

The menfolk talking after breakfast.
(Wait, is Kyle STILL eating? ;-)

 

We all sang Happy Birthday to Brielle,
and gave her the traditional little birthday cake to
eat play in!

 LOVE these guys!!!

Us girls!

(Wish we thought to snap this photo before Lydia and Richie left!)

 

Daddy and Brielle all tuckered out after all that celebrating!

 

Dear friends, let us love one another,

for love comes from God.

Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Whoever does not love does not know God,

because God is love.

This is how God showed his love among us:

He sent his one and only Son into the world

that we might live through him.

This is love:

not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends,

since God so loved us,

we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God;

but if we love one another,

God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:7-12



Sweet Sisters!

I think a little cabin fever is setting in!

 

Brielle's birthday is this week!
Richie and Lydia gave her this adorable dress!
She doesn't look like a baby anymore! : -(
Sure wish we could show you her cuteness in all its entirety!
 
 

Great is the Lord, and Most Worthy of Praise!

"Within the temple, O God,
we meditate on your unfailing love."

Psalm 48:9

 

We had such a blessed time at church this morning!

With the inclement weather and subsequent snowy/icy road conditions making travel difficult,

there were only about 55 brothers and sisters that were able to gather together this morning.

So Pastor Dean decided to hold off on continuing his series on the Holy Spirit,

until all are able to hear it.

The other good thing about Pastor Dean postponing his planned sermon was,

in its place,

he asked the congregation to share what the Lord has been showing us from God's word.

It was an awesome time of sharing together about God's unfailing love for His people!!

And, we had some extra time of singing with Monte and band, : -)

and that is always wonderful! 

On a side note,
we sure love our Pastor and his wonderful wife!
They are such a tremendous blessing to all of us!!
(He doesn't normally wear a hat at church ;-)
Today, he briefly slipped this Seahawks hat on as he walked up to the podium for a little fun!)

 

We opted to leave our van at home.
It needs the battery charged anyway!

 

We got to say hello to Kelley,
Sharaya and Zona on our way!
With the snow drifts as they were,
her driveway is a little more "snowed in"  than ours.

Oh yes, . . . and we had to get these special cookies to the church!

First challenge was making it down our hill,
without slamming into Kyle's car at the bottom!



This is the first road we came to.
Just went slow,
and all was fine!

We couldn't remember ever seeing Mayfield Lake frozen like this.
Lydia has a REALLY AWESOME picture of it on her blog.  : -)
Joyful Keeper at Home ~ Picture of Partially Frozen Mayfield Lake!



It is a always a beautiful drive to church,
but today was even more spectacular!



And back to our little neck-of-the-woods!

 And safely home!

 

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,

and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

Colossians 3:16

 

 

 



Such Excitement in the Air!

We all woke to the beauty of this winter wonderland  . . . .

 

 The boys were sooooooo excited! 

After scarfing down some warm oatmeal,

and getting all bundled up,

they headed straight for school their laboratory work. 

Yes, indeed, they DID learn a lot,

out in the "field" doing scientific experiments and such.

Like . . .what happens when you've finally packed down the powdery snow with your sled,

and you get going really fast and hit a tree?

What part of your body will take the hit, and how bad will the result be? 

 

Then, we began our first-aid studies. : -)   

(No worries, no bones broken or need for stitches, thankfully.)  

 

Can you see the GIANT snow angel?

 

 

 

Others of the family aren't exactly as excited as the boys.

There seems to be some debate going on over in the comments section on Kyle's blog about this very thing . 

(A little unfortunate for Kyle that there is a photographer milling about,

capturing who is doing what in the snow!  ;-)

 It's cccccolllllld out here!

Hard to tell, but we think we got about three inches or so.

There was a lot of wind last night,

so lots of snow swirling around and drifting off in other places.

 

 

Worship Practice

 

We're enjoying learning and playing this beautiful song by Keith and Kristyn Getty!