My Grandad, the Centenarian

Today is a day to celebrate.  Today is a day to celebrate because 100 years ago today my great-grandfather was born!  That's right, my grandad is now 100 years old.

 Grandad and his wife Martha in 1959

Grandad and me and Isaac in 2000

 

Grandad at 100 years old

Happy Birthday Grandad!  We love you!

~Kiah

Proverbs 9:10-11  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.  For by me your days will be multiplied and years will be added to your life.

180 Movie

Hello Friends,

I am so excited to announce that Living Waters has produced a new documentary, called 180, centered on abortion. The film is powerful and moving, and I believe (as many others do) that it has great potential to save lives and save souls. On September 26, Living Waters will make it available on the 180 website to view for free. They will also be selling the DVD for $1.00 each. Their goal is to get this movie into the hands of every household in America and beyond. To view the trailer and to see how you can help spread the news about this life-changing film go to www.180movie.com.


~Kiah

It's Been Awhile...

It's high time for me to post something, I know. I have several ideas for future posts, so hopefully you'll see some new posts on here soon, but let's start with an update.

Most recent picture of our family

Our summer sped right by and ended up being quite a bit busier than I had expected. It was fun though, and a welcome break from school. We're back in school now and on a regular schedule again. I have to say (as I do every year), even though I enjoyed our lovely summer break, I'm loving having a normal life again, with schedules and school.

Isaac and me in the school room (which just happens to be his bedroom)

This being my last year of school, we (my parents and I) started thinking last year about my life after school. After a lot of thinking, prayer, and research I finally decided to enroll in an online Medical Transcription course. So, I'm taking that as a part of my school this year. The course should take less than a year, and then I will be able to get a job working from home as a medical transcriptionist. I'm really excited about this. When we took the steps to check this course out and enroll in it, God really brought everything together in a way I never could have imagined or planned. Also, medical transcription is a perfect occupation for me, as I desire to live at home with my parents until (if God wills it) someday I am married and can raise a family of my own, and medical transcription will allow me to work from home with fairly flexible hours. Praise God for His sovereign will and the way He works it out in our lives!

Anyway, that's the newest and biggest item in my life. I am looking forward with excitement to the changing of seasons and everything that comes with it, especially apple season!  I can't wait to start canning again this year!

Ok, this is a totally random picture, but I just had to post it!  Mom and I went to a little coffee house in town a couple of weeks ago, and the coffee was delicious, not to mention beautiful! (I personally thought it was much better than Starbucks, which is saying something.)

In Christ,
~Kiah

My Daddy's Birthday Surprise

My precious Daddy turned forty-five last month, and to celebrate, we gave him a surprise! Our family is pretty close and we don't ever keep secrets from each other, so this was really a challenge for us, me especially.  We did it though in the end, and he was very surprised and happy!

I won't explain to you how we did, (because it was very complicated) but we ended up getting him on an island on a beautiful lake and surprised him with his gift-- a canoe!  We ended up spending the afternoon canoeing around the island with my Uncle Tim, Aunt Kris, and cousin Mariah who brought their canoe as well.  Afterward, we went home and had hamburgers, watermelon, and brownies. 

Daddy before he had discovered the surprise (it was on the other side of the island).

Can you guess?  Yes, he just saw it.

The surprise

Can you believe how gorgeous this lake is?!?!

Uncle Tim, Aunt Kris, and Mariah in their canoe.

Us in our canoe.

The other side of the lake, with very different scenery.

~Kiah

Homemade Yogurt

My brother is a big dairy fan.  He loves milk, butter, yogurt, and especially cheese.  A couple of weeks ago, he decided that he wanted to make some homemade yogurt!  We tried it, and it turned out really well!  I was actually surprised at how easy it was, and how well it turned out!  In this post, I'll just be outlining the steps of the process and showing you some pictures that we took.  If you would like to learn the specifics of it all, and how it works, you can go to the website where we learned to make it, by clicking here. 

Step 1:  Pour milk (we used whole milk) into four quart sized mason jars.

Step 2:  Place the jars into a pot of water with a dishrag at the bottom (to keep the jars from wobbling around and breaking) and bring to a boil.  Place your thermometer into the water to sterilize it.

Step 3:  Boil until your milk comes to a temperature of 185 degrees.

Step 4:  When your milk has heated to 185 degrees, turn your heat off, take the jars out of the water, put the lids on, and transfer to a sink of cold water.  Your objective here is to cool the milk down to 100 degrees.

Step 5:  When the milk has cooled to 100 degrees, add 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt to each jar.

Step 6:  Put the lids back on the jars, and place them in a cooler with towels and your pot of hot water (this is to keep the jars and their contents nice and warm).  Put the lid on the cooler.  Now is the waiting part.  You can leave your jars in here for 4 - 24 hours depending on how you like the taste of the yogurt.  We left ours in for about 6.

Step 7:  Place the jars in the freezer for one hour.

Step 8:  Enjoy!

Our homemade yogurt with homemade granola

~Kiah

Winsome Womanhood

For my birthday, my cousin Mariah and her family gave me a wonderful gift.  It is a book, but not just any book.  It is called Winsome Womanhood, and was written by Margaret E. Sangster and published in 1900.  It encourages women in their roles in the home, beginning at a girl's youth, and ending at her death.  I've been reading it, and parts of it have been very encouraging.  Chapter two was called "The Daughter At Home" and was very encouraging to me, as that is the chapter of my life that the Lord has me in.

There is a note in the front of the book, written in pencil and a very pretty hand, that says,"Presented to 'The Five' Cunningham girls, By their loving Father, Dec, 25, 1901, Galena, O."  I don't know what in the world Galeno, O. is, but I absolutely love old-fashioned things, and this book is so special because of that.  Every page has beautiful dainty drawings all around the edges.  I just love it.

Me with Aunt Kris and Mariah

Thanks B Family!

~Kiah

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!