My 16th Birthday

Last Saturday was my 16th birthday. It was a unique one for me. Over the years, it has become customary for us to spend my birthday together as a family at home just hanging out. This year, however, was different. I got to spend the day with my precious friend Natalie. Perhaps you will remember that her family travels the country as evangelists. Last Saturday, they just happened to be in Phoenix, and invited us to come down for an outreach with them. Of course, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to be with Natalie, so I got up at the early hour of 4:15 so our family could drive to Phoenix to see them. I'm so glad that I did.

Me playing with my new phone, a gift from my parents.

Me opening my card from my family.  They are so precious to me!

We met at Cracker Barrel for a delicious breakfast.

At the Cracker Barrel

Then we headed to a local park to hand out tracts, make balloon animals, paint faces, and share the gospel.  It was my first time making balloon animals, and it was quite fun!  Natalie taught me how to make a couple of basic things.  (We didn't get any pictures of the outreach.  Sorry!)

After the outreach I opened some gifts from Natalie's family and her cousin's family.  I was so blessed by their kindness to me.

 

 

Then came the most difficult part.  Parting with Natalie.  I miss her so much already.

Afterwards, we made the two hour drive home, and hung out the rest of the day.  We played Boggle (my favorite if you'll remember!), made pizza for dinner, had one of my favorite desserts (Guadalupe Pie), and watched a movie.  In all, the day was very special and blessed for me, and I am so thankful to the people who strove to make it so.

Conflicting Seasons and My New Favorite Music

I am thoroughly confused right now.  Can someone please tell me what season it is?!?  Let me explain to you my dilemma.  According to me, it is summer because I'm on summer break.  According to the calendar, it is spring (the first day of summer isn't until June 21).  And to further confuse me, the weather is telling me that it is still winter!  That's right, it snowed for a couple of hours here today.  It never did stick, but it snowed heavily for quite some time.  Now do you blame me for being bewildered?

I accidentally ran into a Christian music group last week that has quickly become my favorite!  It's a husband and wife group -- Keith and Kristyn Getty.  Keith writes modern hymns, and Kristyn sings them.  And it sounds absolutely beautiful.  I won't say anything more about them; I'll just give you a sample.  This my favorite of all their songs: By Faith.

School Is Almost Over!

I am thrilled!  Next Wednesday is officially my last day of school for the year!  I can't wait for summer.  The one drawback to my happiness is that I have a research paper that was due a couple of weeks ago that I haven't even started writing yet.  The research has taken me a very very long time.  I've finally finished that part of it though, so once I start writing it shouldn't take me too much longer.

Summer has got to be my favorite time of they year.  This summer Mamma and I are planning on working on homemaking skills, so I get to do lots of sewing and cooking and laundry, and whatever else we can find for me to do.  These activities are not always so appealing, but I really am so excited!  The beauty of summer is that by the time it ends, I am always ready to go back to school and get back into a routine schedule.  Right now though, I just can't wait for summer to begin!

How Time Flies!

I say that for two reasons.

Firstly, can it really be almost four months since I last posted??  I know my blogging behavior has been positively inexcusable and for that I'm sorry.  This may be, however, a new opportunity for you to forgive me as Jesus has forgiven us.  We certainly didn't deserve his grace then, and I don't deserve yours now.

My second reason for stating that time flies is that two days ago was the first anniversary of our move from my childhood home.  I can hardly believe it!  This past year has passed away so quickly!  It seems strange to me that when I think of moving it does not seem like I have lived a whole year since that time, and yet living in our old house and old town seems so far away.  I believe that God has used this year full of change for good.  It hasn't been exactly what I thought it would be, but God's used it to teach me and change me.

There's not really much to report on the home front.  We are just pressing on and doing our best to serve God where He has put us.  We are traveling an hour and forty-five minutes to church every Sunday.  We love the church that God has placed us in, and yet we believe that it is only a temporary position where we need to grow and learn for a time.  Our living situation is also feeling quite temporary.  Our landlady has had some major issues with the septic in the backyard and it is not entirely clear that we are going to be able to stay here for too long.  We are placing our trust in God however, knowing that He is in control and will provide for us all that we need.

Well, I'd better head to bed.  I can't make any promises, but I will try to do better about posting.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show you soon!

God bless you!

On the Box

Living Waters is presenting a new program called On the Box! The show is hosted by Ray Comfort, Tony Miano, and Chad Williams, as they discuss issues and answer questions regarding evangelism, apologetics, the Bible, and more. The show airs for a half hour on Ustream at 11:30 a.m. PST Monday through Friday. (Click here for the Ustream channel.) If you can't watch the show live, you can always catch it later on Ustream or Youtube.

My opinion: I love this show! It's been airing for a week and a half now, and so far I've watched every episode, some live and some not. I would strongly encourage you to check the show out, and if you can, watch it live. While it's only 30 minutes, taking a minimal amount of time out of your day, it is greatly encouraging and usually humorous as well. It really is well worth your time.

A Chilly New Years Eve

Well, New Years came and went, and it's now 2011!  Sort of hard to believe, but I think I'm starting to get used to writing 2011 on all my schoolwork.

We had a very lovely and quiet New Years Eve.  It was very cold, and we had gotten lots of snow just a couple of days earlier!  That week was the first time this winter that we have gotten snow that stuck around for more than a single day, and I loved it!  Even now, there is still some on the ground.

These pictures were taken on New Years Eve.

Our cousins came and played some games with us that night, but they only stayed until about 10:00 I think.  As they were leaving, we discovered that it was -6 degrees outside!  BBRRRRR!  We (minus my dad who was very tired) stayed up until 12:00 to usher in the new year, and then went to bed immediately!  :)

God bless you all in this new year!

It's About The Cross

This is one of my very favorite Christmas songs! The lyrics are just so true and so simple.

It's About The Cross by Go Fish



A very merry Christmas Eve to you all!

A Day With Natalie

A couple of years ago, two families who live in RV's and travel the country as evangelists came and shared at our church.  One of the families had a daughter named Natalie.  Natalie and I became close friends very quickly, and by the time they left about a week later, it was like we had been best friends for ages.  Since then, we have emailed each other almost every day.  About once a year, the Agents for Christ (that's the name of their ministry) pass through Arizona, and come pay us a visit.

Yesterday was that occasion.  One of the families was not able to come, but Natalie's family visited with us.

Sunday evening we had dinner, talked, played games, and sang worship songs and Christmas carols.  Natalie spent the night with us, and we had fun just talking and playing games before bed.

The next day we just hung out, and did a lot of baking.  We made breakfast, played Dutch Blitz, decorated sugar cookies, wrapped candy, and made pizza.

That night after dinner, we got to go out witnessing.  We went to the Prescott Courthouse, and then the mall, handing out candy canes and tracts, and singing Christmas carols.  We had a great time, and I discovered something new:  It's not easy to walk and sing at the same time in the cold!  I had never before gone caroling while walking, and I was surprised by how difficult it was!  Sadly, I didn't get any good pictures of our time out witnessing.

Even though Natalie was only here for a short amount of time, I was so grateful that she and her family could come and visit with us!  I thank God for such friends as them!

I can't believe it's actually Christmas!

Did Christmas sneak up on anyone else?  It seems like just a couple of days ago that I was saying that Christmas was a month away.  Now here we are: Christmas is exactly one week away!

We started putting up decorations just a little after Thanksgiving.  Isaac had to get up on the roof to put up Christmas lights, because our ladder wasn't tall enough in some places on the house.

We've been enjoying the cold weather and the fires and the Christmas season in general.  My Dad has had the opportunity for lots of overtime at his work, so he's been taking it.  So far, he hasn't been able to join in the Christmas traditions and festivities yet, because of all the time he's been putting in at work.  Now my Dad is a Christmas present enthusiast.  He is almost always the one to say, "Let's open a present!".....  on December 15.  He never can seem to wait for those presents!  He even has a "Christmas face" as we call it.  Here is an example of that face:

So, a couple of days ago, in order to get my Daddy into the Christmas spirit, we let him open an early present.  It was a new stocking that my Mom had made for him.  His old stocking was from his childhood, and was in desperate need of replacing.

Here are some other miscellaneous pictures:

The stockings my Mom made for Isaac and me when we were little:

In the midst of all the traditions and festivities of the Christmas season, it can sometimes be hard to keep our eyes focused on Jesus, the real reason we're even celebrating this season.  However, that is something we are earnestly striving, and sometimes struggling, to do.  I pray that, for me and for you, all the wonderful things that we get to enjoy at Christmas would not get in the way of, but only encourage, the love and thankfulness we have toward God for sending his only son to earth to save us.  Have a very Merry Christmas!

Healthy Hot Chocolate

You may or may not know that I am a huge fan of hot chocolate.  And, now that the winter season is here once again, I've been wishing for some.  However, I had just one little problem.  I've been eating healthy, and hot chocolate is not exactly what you would call healthy.

My mom, in an effort to help me, pulled out an old recipe from high school for healthy hot chocolate.  I tried it, and it is delicious!  So, in my ecstasy, I have decided to share this recipe with you.  I must warn you, it's not as sweet as hot chocolate from the packet, but I really enjoyed it and it completely satisfied my craving for a warm chocolate drink.

Sugar Free Hot Chocolate
(1 serving)

1 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. stevia extract powder (I'm sure you can use any sweetener you prefer, but we had stevia so that's what we used.)
dash of salt
1/8 c. or 2 Tbsp. water
1 c. milk

Mix cocoa, stevia, and salt.  Add water and mix until smooth.  Add milk and heat.  If heating on the stove, do not boil.  Enjoy!