April pear pic

Here it is! I think that the blooming red bud trees are very pretty. :) I wanted to snap some pictures of the trees, so I thought I could combine the pear pic with the blooming trees! Let me know what you think!

Thanks to the Vogltanz family for letting me use their lovely trees!

roses!

These roses are from my Daddy. :D
I love you lots Dad!

how to bring the loveliness of the...

...blooming trees indoors!

Because the blooming trees are soo pretty! I thought I would put a post up about how to bring the branches indoors!

First pick which branch you want to bring in, and cut it.


Second bash the end of the branch with a hammer. That way the branch can suck up the water.


Third find a nice vase to put the branch in and enjoy them!

(this branch is from a crab apple tree.)

a different way to think about earth day...

As you all probably know, today is earth day. You could take it even farther and say that it has been earth day all week (or year)! But lets just talk about today. :)

Yes, it is true that we as humans need to be good stewards of the earth. Many extreme environmentalist today believe that we as humans have the power to destroy the earth. You've heard their hype. In my opinion if humans believe that they have the power to save or destroy the earth then they are exceedingly proud! We as Christians know that God created the earth and everything in it (Genesis 1-2). We know that He created humans to inhabit the earth and share in His abundant love through Jesus Christ, and live in relationship with him which has no end. So, we can be sure that the earth will be sustained as long God intends it to. After all it is in Jesus that "all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). Peter said that "the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word" (2 Peter 3:7). Paul announced to the Greek philosophers: "For in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). We can be assured that the earth will stay suitable for living as long as God intends. He is the Great Sustainer.

If environmentalists do not believe that God exists then it could be easy for them to fall into that kind of thinking. Jesus will always be at the door of their hearts knocking, pray that they will see Jesus mercy and love and choose to let Him into their heart.

Verses to remember this Earth day:

Psalms 24:

¹ The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

² for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.

³ Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. ^a]">[a]

⁵ He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.

⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob. ^b]">[b]
Selah

⁷ Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

⁸ Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

⁹ Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰ Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Selah

I love this passage of scripture, it is so beautiful. "Who is He, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty!"

(So, do not be hard on yourself for using non-green light bulbs, the penguins will be ok. :D )

Dairy Queen blizzards just 25 cents!

Hi Friends!

This week (April 19th through the 25th) at dairy queen is Buy One Get One for 25 cents blizzards! :) Yeah!

My song for the day!

I love this Hymn! The lyrics are such a beautiful picture of Our salvation! :) Enjoy!

How deep the Father's love for us

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

what my week has been like

I am dreadfully sorry for the absence of blogging the past week (or was it two weeks?). I thought it would be fitting to do a post on what I have been up too! Enjoy!

1. School.

2. Reading. Reading kind of goes along with school. Lately I have been reading my bible and Real Simple Magazines (my favorite!).
3. Practicing and studying Les Miserables (with a little phantom of the opera on the side, another one of my favorites!) The performances are coming!!!!!


4. The rest of my spare time is taken up by: Crocheting, Photographing (preferably flowers and the outdoors), E-mailing and Blogging, practicing volleyball, and texting my dear friends!
Here is my new crocheting project!
I am making crocheted flowers and leaves and attaching them to hair clips! They are soo adorable to wear in hair (if you have long hair!). I have made a few different styles too. More information will be posted about them later. :)

Lush greeness

Everything is soo lovely and green! I took these pictures just before an afternoon rain shower. :)

Our pleasant yellow flower bush. (can't remember what it is called..)

Elliot watching me from the window...

A chive forest!

A parsley forest!

bike riding

In Monterey we rented a 6 person bike. :) We had a lot of fun!

17 mile drive

While we were in Monterey we took the 17 mile drive. The 17 mile drive is a 17 mile drive along the coast, Imagine that! We saw Pebble Beach golf course (where Tiger Woods golfs, it is also often on TV), The lone cypress (a tree on a rock off the coast, that is supposedly 250 years old, not sure if I believe it), and some sea lions!

The Lone Cypress is to the left in this picture, but you cannot see it. :(

This is one house, Yes just one! I love the extra little castle looking room on the left side.

Lillyanna is the best baby! She just slept happy and contented the whole car ride!. :)

Here are the Sea Lions! You can barley see them on the right side of the rock, maybe if you click on the picture you will get a better view.

More pretty trees! :)

fun on the beach!

Manny is the MAN! (notice the seagull that perch on the rock right when I snapped the picture.)

Lillyana and Mommy!

Me very happy, but soaked after taking pictures in the rain. :)

(this is a different day when it was not raining.) On the beach breathing in the wonderful salty air!

Checking on the baby, aaawww how sweet!

Mom insisted that she took this picture, she was soo proud of herself for getting the picture of me in the air on the first try!

Do you see the sea urchin? We touched one and it was sweet! It felt kind of sticky and then when it felt you it would curl all up! I continue to be amazed by God's creation daily!

Look! I found a starfish! He was big!

My toes by the starfish. :D

Joel, Manny, and Elliot building a sandcastle. They were very proud of it at the end!

Isn't this cute?!?

I love the colors!

The finished product! (this is the back entrance/exit to the castle)

*smiles!*