Hunter's Happenings

Somebody is 84!!

2011-12-19T23:09:00.006-06:00

Sammy is an official grandpa dog. His 12th birthday was this month, December 9th.

Happy birthday Sammy! :)

This year was a very important year for Sammy, lets look back.

Adapting to our home in Maine. :)

Getting attention from ALL the ladies from my volleyball team :) he is really cute

Snoring on my lap after Thanksgiving dinner.

Enjoying the cool Maine breeze.

Enjoying summer vacation

Look at me! not that silly bike.

Beach day.

This water is too cold. :P

Being a bad boy jumping on Grandma Kathy's windows....

Texas beach day :)

I think this is the biggest day of all. His first day in the ocean!

Sammy is the best dog ever! I love him so much

Happy Birthday Elliot!

2011-11-01T09:22:00.002-05:00

Elliot's 12th birthday was on October 25th

for Elliot's birthday we went to Quintana with Sammy, so Elliot could use his new skimboard

Travelling

2011-10-31T21:52:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone! Just a heads up. We'll be in Missouri this weekend for my Grandpa's retirement party. We'll be so close to Omaha I wish we could come see ya'll but it won't work this time. I just wanted to give you a heads up in case you're in the area too :)
This picture was taken after a long day of volleyball in the Springfield tournament. :) Thank you Grandpa, Rachael and Aunt Tracy for coming to see me. Thank you Grandma Kathy for coming to see me too. :)

Missouri wins!!

2011-10-31T21:46:00.001-05:00

Hey all! I went to a Aggies vs. Missouri game Saturday with a friend from volleyball. I had soo much fun! I love the Aggie spirit yells they do during the game. Anyways the Saturday that I was invited they were playing MU. What an awesome game for me to go to since my family is from Missouri. Yeah! Well the good news is Missouri beat the Aggies in overtime on their home field!
(sorry the picture is so small)

Winners!

2011-10-24T23:18:00.004-05:00

My team won 3rd place in our bracket in the Springfield, MO tournament!

Happy Birthday dad!

2011-10-18T09:51:00.003-05:00

Dad got a iPad for his birthday. :D

Dallas!!!!

2011-10-13T22:11:00.003-05:00

Here we are! Left to right: Elisabeth, Meredith, Catherine, Natalie, Abby, Caitlin, Me, Kimsherion, and AmberLynne. We're all decked out for Breast cancer awareness month.

Hey everybody, happy October! This weekend my team is in Dallas for a volleyball tournament against the Dallas Angles. Yeah! Tomorrow we start playing, I'm super pumped! I'm planning on playing so hard that I get myself hurt. :D

pictures by Hannah

2011-09-25T14:49:00.005-05:00

Discovery Green, 4 blocks from our house.

Wells Fargo Plaza, taken from car while moving. That's impressive Hannah!

Discovery Green whispering well. You really can sit at both sides and hear the other person whispering!

my silly face...... :/ nice picture Hannah! haha!

I miss you girl!!!! :D

friends :)

2011-09-25T14:30:00.004-05:00

WE LOVE IKEA!

my favorite polar bear rug....

Elliot and Josiah demonstrating how fun the kids toys are...

Hannah and I modeling the comfortable sofa bed :)

Yummy Ikea food!

We love you Kolars!!!!!

a great time!

2011-09-09T20:55:00.004-05:00

more pictures coming soon...

A visit to the midwest

2011-09-05T21:15:00.006-05:00

It was SO pleasant to visit family and be in a place that is so familiar and like home. This weekend I had a great time in Missouri. It was a short trip, and we are now back in Texas but the 12 hour drive both ways was well worth it!

I Love Rachael's kitty named Mittens :) She is the sweetest thing. I love to hold her, Grandpa says she is the most spoiled cat there ever was.

I even curled up and took a nap with her on the floor.

Saturday was a Missouri Tigers game. We went to Applebees to watch it, we were there for 3 hours! Towards the end Elliot said he felt like he had lived at Applebees for the day. haha!

We took Rachael out to the stables to see her friends horse she helps take care of. I love going to stables, to see the sights and have a reason to wear cowboy boots, but otherwise I'm a little awkward there. But not Rachael! She loves it there.

This is grandpa's latest thing, his scooter. He gave both Elliot and I rides and let us drive it in a parking lot. I worked my way up to doing a tight U-turn at 10 mph. Later on that day Aunt Tracy let me drive her manual Saturn, It was my first time driving a stick shift car and I only killed it a few times...... :P

It took mom quite a bit a bravery to drive the scooter, but she did it anyway.

Friday night we went to a craft fair in Independence, its a tradition for us.

On our drive home today we went through the Boston Mountains in Arkansas. Wow! it was beautiful there. Later on in our drive while going through East Texas, there were a lot of wild firers going on because of the extreme heat. Not good. For most of the drive there a huge cloud of gray smoke looming ahead. Be praying for those people who don't know where the fire will go next.
Tomorrow we will have company at our loft apartment! :D :D Yeah!

volleyball day!

2011-08-20T16:51:00.003-05:00

Today I played in a volleyball tournament with JV1. It was a lot of fun :) We got to play against public school teams in this tournament. Which never happened in Omaha because of home school regulations. Thank you coach for bringing me up to play with ya'll and thank you girls for being such a great team to me. :D

I hope ya'll had a great Saturday!

Texas happenings

2011-08-14T20:15:00.005-05:00

Saturday we took a morning trip to the gulf coast. It was lovely! Its cool to be able to drive on the beach. You can't do that in Maine. :)

A few weeks ago we went to the THSC (Texas home school conference) I was in the Teen Staff program, it was really neat! I got to work part of the conference. Mrs. Myers came down to see us. This picture is of us riding the water taxi by the conference center.

2011-08-12T18:54:00.003-05:00

Hello All! Sorry for the absence of blogging. I've been kind of blog post starved.....not really sure what to tell ya'll. Which is silly cause we've been doing a whole LOT of blog worthy things. :)
This week was my first Volleyball game for the JV gold Wolverines team. We won! I love playing volleyball with these girls, and I can't wait for our next game on Tuesday! Elliot had his first Flag football team practice, and he is excited for the season. Tomorrow our plan is to take a road trip to Quintana beach. More news later!

beach portraits

2011-07-17T13:48:00.005-05:00

This weekend we had our pictures taken on the beach. I love them all!
(you can click on the picture to enlarge them)

today I........

2011-07-14T18:35:00.003-05:00

Surfed!!!!

I Love surfing! It is very hard but I can't wait to keep trying and get better. Today was my first time surfing and I stood up on my board one time. :D

Elliot surfed for the first time today too. He got up on his board 5 times. (and he has a picture to prove it) It's frustrating to me how well Elliot can do almost everything. :)
Great job surfing Elliot.

every moment and every minute

2011-07-10T13:45:00.005-05:00

The last two weeks have been a blur of visitors, traveling, and fun! Instead of doing a dozen different posts on what we did, I'm just going to make things simple and and do lots of random pictures! I will do my best to explain each one.

Today the last of our visitors left. I cried. I miss you all so much. It was SO nice to be with people that I love very much. Come and visit us lots!

Lilyana and Dad. Dad is working midnights this week so morning time is his bedtime.

Last night we went to a church friends house for a cookout and to watch fireworks. They have three little boys that love to be played with.

Amy, Lilyana, and Mom.

Swings are so much fun!

I love it when Lily holds my hand!

The Portland headlight.

Joel, Elliot, Manny, Me, Amy and Lily (Mom took the picture)

Wiffel ball!

Lily loves her brothers and Elliot :)

Elliot, Joel, and Manny buried at the beach.

Picking strawberries at Maxwell's berry farm.

Lily loves dad, it took her awhile to warm up to Mom and I.

Sweet Rachael. I miss you honey!

I Love spending time with Grandpa. He is a GREAT guy. Miss you grandpa!

The boys ate too many berries at one time. :)

Mom, Aunt Tracy, Rachael, Dad and I at the secret service boats.

Late night catan with Rachael, Joel, Manny, and Elliot. I won the game!!!

Rachael at the beach, she is so pretty!

Kayaking. Paddles work really well for shooting LOTS of water in the other persons boat.

Look out! Rachael is driving!

We're on a ferry to Peaks Island! I love islands! and I love ferry rides :)

Rachael, Elliot and I in Boston.

Rachael and I on a bike cab.

I love you grandpa!

Rachael and I dying our parade shirts.

We made cupcakes with fishes on top!

Getting ready to board the ferry.

2011-07-06T11:11:00.004-05:00

Rachael is the best boogie boarding partner. :D

walking in a parade :)

2011-07-06T08:37:00.005-05:00

The crew: Chris, Elliot, Mom, Me, Aunt Tracy, Rachael, Antonio, TJ, Dennis, Vinnie.

The view from the parade route. Wow!

Grandpa walked the whole parade route, he loves exercising.

Our float :)

our fourth of July weekend

2011-07-06T08:11:00.006-05:00

beach walks

lobster dinners

and fireworks over the beach

Happy fourth of July!

For Rachael:

2011-06-14T14:55:00.005-05:00

I took these pictures as we drove through New York yesterday. They are for Rachael to see because she really wants to see New York. These are not the best pictures Rachael, but they show you what it looks like to drive past.

D.C pictures

2011-06-14T14:40:00.005-05:00

My mother has already put pictures up of D.C. If you would like to see them check her blog. I didn't take very many pictures this weekend (actually, Elliot took almost all the pictures). I kept myself busy, pushing Emma's stroller, and feeding Emma crackers. :)
We had a great time with the Myers family. Great job Justin and Will for making it to Washington D.C!

2011-06-11T11:59:00.001-05:00

We're headed to DC to see our good friends! I'll post lots of pictures soon.
Have a great weekend!

Lobster Cruise

2011-06-10T19:23:00.004-05:00

Last week on dads day off we went on a Lobster cruise. It was really neat to ride a lobster boat out onto the ocean! Out in the water, the Lobster man pulled up a Lobster cage. He caught a female lobster who was a little more the 1 pound. Mom, Elliot and I got to hold the Lobster. She was all slimy and cold....

Lobsters are truly amazing.

2011-06-09T17:06:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my good friend Sydney, boogie boarding is now one of my favorite things to do!

Goat island

2011-06-06T15:52:00.004-05:00

This is Goat island. Someone actually lives out there in that house! Wow! To get home they have to park on Cape Porpoise pier (that's where all the boats are and a few Restaurants), next they hop in a boat and arrive at home on the island. What a life.

The picture below shows how far away the island is without zooming in.

sparklers

2011-06-06T15:47:00.003-05:00

new surroundings

2011-06-03T17:35:00.007-05:00

Here's a little educational tidbit on Maine coasts!
Today we went to Rachel Carson wildlife refuge. Rachel Carson was a biologist, writer editor, and an employee for the U.S Fish and Wildlife service. She wrote three books about the land elements of the Maine coast. At her wildlife refuge we observed estuarine marsh land. Estuarine is a term for areas where inland river water and salt water combine.
the marsh contains salt pannes which are low spots of the marsh that hold salt water as the tide fluctuates. Only specially designed plants and invertebrates can live in the highly concentrated salt water of the salt pannes.

Here is a picture of a salt panne.

The rivers contained in the marsh land weave back and forth in the meandering curves. These waters fluctuate with the tides, thus they're filled and drained twice a day. The nutrients from the upland water and the slat water combine in these marshes causing them to thrive with a complex marine food web. Below are some pictures of the marsh land rivers.

All of these marshes surround a beautiful forest of evergreen, and white pine trees, the forest floor supports a vast amount of ferns growing in the shade. Here on the forest floor I saw the ladyslipper flower for the first time!

Wetsuits!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-05-30T17:41:00.005-05:00

We have the official gear for water sports! Yeah! I can't wait to start Surfing, boogie boarding, skim boarding, etc.

Have a great week!

Happy Memorial day!

2011-05-30T17:38:00.002-05:00

reading

2011-05-24T19:57:00.005-05:00

I have been doing a lot of reading lately! I read Bridge to Terabithia in two days, and Cheaper by the dozen in four days! I highly recommend Cheaper by the dozen, it was a very humorous and sweet story! I Loved it, please read it! Now I'm reading The Mysterious Benedict Society.

a house with a story

2011-05-24T19:02:00.004-05:00

This interesting looking sign says this:

The old "Wilson place"
of west Rockport, Maine built
during or prior to the Revolutionary
war & lost at sea August 8, 1964
during an attempt to move it by
barge to this site was the
inspiration for the erection of this
building. It was built with the hope
of revealing the skill of the early
American craftsmen some of the
materials came from the original
house. The rest were found in various
locations across the sate.
R.E. Witherell owner

No one is living there currently. The house is for sale for 20,000 dollars to be moved. I can't believe they're going to move it again! Wow, what a story.

today

2011-05-21T19:43:00.003-05:00

a boat ride

a bike ride

and book time on the beach

Great job at track and field day everyone! We missed being with you, I hope ya'll had a great time.

eatin' good in Maine!

2011-05-17T21:13:00.003-05:00

Today's lunch: lobster roll and New England clam chowder
Yum!

Last night we had baked Salmon, and tonight we had Maine shrimp. We're going with all seafood ya'll! :D

what to do on a rainy day

2011-05-17T18:48:00.005-05:00

I wonder who is in my bed.......

Aha! I found him :)
Elliot thinks its fun to climb underneath the sheets while I make the bed over him. That is what we did on a rainy day!

The Gold Crest Columbia

2011-05-15T15:39:00.004-05:00

I believe this bike has been sitting in the yard sale man's garage for 38 years just for me! My latest desire has been to have a beach cruiser, so I have been praying for one. Over the weekend mom saw a yard sale with an old bike that had a basket on the front. So she pulled a U turn and we headed to the sale. After some very easy minutes of bargaining we bought the bike for $35, along with a dirt bike for Elliot and another bike for mom buying it all for a total of $75. I wasn't sure if I was up for the challenge of cleaning this bike up, it appeared to have a fair amount of rust on it, the tires needed help and I wasn't lovin' the brown color. But it was a great deal and I knew that I wasn't going to be easy to get the $350 perfect beach cruiser from the bike shop. So I took the challenge! We asked around for advice on how to approach fixin' it up and this is what we did. We wiped it down, hosed is off, and lubed it up....ta- da! I have a beach cruiser! It turned out the 'brown' color is really a sparkly dark red, the "rust" on the bike was mainly just years of layered dust that wiped off, and the tires just needed to be blown up.

prayer + 2 hours of work + $35 = Perfection!!

my new project

2011-05-15T15:36:00.003-05:00

A yard sale bike from the 70's. I can't wait to turn it into my beautiful beach cruiser!

my bedroom window from the outside

2011-05-13T19:55:00.002-05:00

Today I had my window open! This is not an un-usual occurrence, but always pleasant. The azalea bush outside my window is in full bloom. This means there are many bumble bees busily hovering around the bush. I can sit on my bed and hear the endless buzzing of their flying! I also enjoying watching them through the screen. I love how clumsy they seem, it always make me giggle.

Sammy's swim in ocean

2011-05-13T19:36:00.003-05:00

This is what Dad and Sammy can do on the beach for hours. Fun times :)

pleasant beach time

2011-05-13T19:03:00.004-05:00

This is Gooserocks beach in Cape Porpoise Maine.

Hello Friends!! Today is a very special day. Sammy (our beloved black lab) officially swam in the ocean for the very FIRST time! and I had "the" New England clam chowder, it was amazing! I love the food up here it just, just in-describable. Anyways! That is beside the point and a topic for a whole new post on another day. So, back to beloved Sammy. I have video footage of him in the ocean! His first response to the beach was to take off running in circles because he didn't know what to do with the vast amount of space :) haha. Next he ran to the water and jumped in! (un-aware that the water is approx. 46 degrees and it freezes your feet off just walking in it) But the temperature didn't seem to bother him. At all.
Here is the video of him running in circles.

my Maine bedroom...

2011-05-04T11:47:00.004-05:00

...on a cloudy day

65 Wildes District Road

2011-05-03T16:15:00.009-05:00

Our Maine home...

All my life You've been calling me to the home You know I've been needing
I'm a broken stone
So lay me in the house You're building
lay me in the house You've building

Audrey Assad-House You're building

New years post!

2011-01-02T13:40:00.013-06:00

Very sorry for the shortage of blog posts. We have had a very exciting, busy and eventful holiday season. Dad got a job transfer. We will be living in Maine half the year and Texas the other half of the year. Congratulations Dad! Because of the move we have been doing a lot of work in the house to prepare it to be sold. I have done a lot in my room from going through all of my stuff, going through my closet and dresser. It's been great not having so many things. The process has been exciting. :)
When I went through my dresser I tossed everything on the bed and then sorted through it. Can you find the dog?
Visiting the poinsettia show at the Lauritzen botanical gardens.

In front of the Omaha trains.

Do you remember this passage way?? (go to the October post, 'day in the garden')

Looks A LOT different!

Here are more pictures of ice skating downtown with my friends Julia, Samantha, and Rachael.

And our friends Myers family. :)

Last but not least the new years party. Emma Mae was the superstar of the party. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

December pear picture

2010-12-17T20:41:00.001-06:00

November pear pic

2010-11-14T16:11:00.005-06:00

November's pear pictures are my all time favorites!

Omaha's first snow, November 12th.

I tossed this pear into the snow and took pictures of where is rolled and landed.

Let me know what you think.

2010-11-14T16:06:00.001-06:00

lol! We don't like the squirrels. They eat our birdseed and drive our poor grandpa dog crazy. :)

Simple pleasures...

2010-11-14T16:02:00.003-06:00

....a rainbow-batized closet :D

ya gotta love it.

October pear picture :)

2010-11-14T15:30:00.004-06:00

Sorry the October pear pic it late. :(
I hope you enjoy it!

With a pumpkin!

Oh no! The pear was stolen and enjoyed...... :)

Thanks!

2010-11-11T14:42:00.004-06:00

Thank you to those who commented on the 'Guess!' post. :)

Justin Myers is correct!!!
Good job Justin!
The picture is of a Hyacinth flower bulb!

I enjoyed all the interesting comments....but I am not in the habit of planting onions in the ground or planting onions with wet plastic packing wrap around them.
Oh Hannah! You make me smile :D

When this bulb blooms in the spring it should look like this:

Guess!

2010-11-01T16:40:00.002-05:00

Can anyone guess what this is?? Leave a comment with your answer!

AP music video!

2010-10-17T16:17:00.002-05:00

Andrew Peterson made a music video! Mom and I love this video sooo much :) Listen to the words, it's the sweetest song about being married. :)

The video is not as big on my blog. If you would like the full size video here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gs3fg_

a video of Gabbie

2010-10-17T15:43:00.004-05:00

This is Gabbie our neighbor dog :) Enjoy!

a day in the garden...

2010-10-12T20:00:00.005-05:00

This weekend mom and I went to the botanical gardens here in Omaha. :) It was really great I loved it! Enjoy the pictures.

August and Setptember pear pic!

2010-10-01T13:07:00.008-05:00

I have been very busy lately, as you might have already assumed from the terrible absence of blogging. :( Hopefully I will have more time to blog soon.
My time is spent on school, volleyball, piano, choir, and socializing. :) I love choir sooo much and volleyball. I will have more pictures soon! Enjoy!

August pear pictures:

The sky is so big!

September pear pics: Loving the mums!

As always please let me know which one or ones are your favorite. :)

Look forward to the October pear pictures!

2010-09-07T21:06:00.001-05:00

I had my first volleyball game today! we didn't win :( we only lost by a couple points though. GO LIGHTNING!!!!

fall photo shoot

2010-08-21T14:32:00.005-05:00

Last night mom and I had a blast putting together a home modeling photo shoot. :) Lots of fun! please leave a comment and tell me which one is your favorite.

Outfit number 1:

Outfit number 2:

Check back soon!! I'm sure there will be lots more! :)

sweetest Donna

2010-08-20T15:24:00.004-05:00

This is our friend Donna, we go and visit her every week. She adds sunshine to every day. :)

Donna is 93 years old. :) go Donna!

garden joys

2010-08-20T15:08:00.004-05:00

I had a fairly successful year with my garden :) Enjoy the pictures!

our trip to IL

2010-08-19T20:00:00.008-05:00

Hello dearest blog followers!! Here is a post on our latest adventure :) Enjoy!

Our first stop was at the Amana colonies in Iowa. :) We had lunch there.

...and enjoyed the bakery and chocolate shop.

In the morning we went to the farmers market in Beliot, Wisconsin (where we stayed).

We bought some flowers to make and arrangement for the hostess of the Reunion.

This is the name of a local grocery store in downtown beliot.

We hung out inside and played cards :)

Later on we showed up to the reunion, bringing our offerings of an un-cut watermelon and a flower arrangement. :)

Here we all are!! Lots of peps...

Mom, Caroline, and I.

Before departure the next morning we posed for pictures with GJ and uncle Mike.

On our way back home we got caught in traffic....actually a lot of traffic! We were parked on the interstate for over 2 hours! It's a very different experience to park on the interstate open the door and climb out of the car to stretch your legs by walking through long-long lines of traffic.... :)

Elliot decided to take a snooze in the back. Smart idea!

While we were waiting I drew a picture of a blue tree and pink stars, what do you think??

Once we got out of the traffic jam we went to the Iowa state fair in des monies. We had a lot of fun :)

Behind us is a star boars sand sculptor.

The fair grounds were huge!! and there was a lot of people

Now we're back home enjoying the rest of our summer. :) Have a great week!

the old market with Rachael

2010-08-08T19:19:00.006-05:00

While Rachael was here we went downtown to the old market. We bought flowers and enjoyed scooters smoothies together! It was just great! :)

At the flower shop....

'flowers make people happy!' Amen to that!!

Zinnas

Gerber daisies

For lunch we went to el ranchito.
Notice: the flowers go everywhere with me :)

This is a beautiful apartment building, I really wanted to go to the 10th floor where there is a ballroom. But we didn't have a pass. :(

the county fair with rachael!

2010-08-08T14:17:00.004-05:00

This week Rachael came in town! We had a great time with her. Here I'll show the pictures of us at the fair. :)

Tuesday was fair entry day! So after all the stress we enjoyed some time at the local soda fountain. The Simpsons were at the soda fountain too.
Friday night we volunteered at 4-H food stand with Julia and Samantha. I love working in the food stand, it's a blast!

The cowgirl pose :)

After our shift we played Bingo :) Another one of my favorite things to do at the fair

We got to watch a little bit of the rodeo too.
'rope 'em cowboy!'

Saturday Rachael did the animal scramble and she got a chicken! Yeah rachael! Spencer caught a goat! Nice work!

July pear picture

2010-08-08T14:05:00.003-05:00

This month I took the pear picture in Sammy's pool. It went really well until Sammy took the pear. :)

Let me know which one is your favorite!

dear blog followers

2010-08-08T12:13:00.002-05:00

I am very sorry for the long absence of blogging! It has been a very crazy couple of weeks here. :) You will soon be updated on all of it! I hope you all are having a wonderful summer, I know I am!

Journal entry

2010-07-14T16:01:00.003-05:00

Here is a piece of what I wrote in my journal. :) Enjoy!

July 4th 10:00 p.m
We are in Arizona!!!!!!!!! It is sooo beautiful here I love the new land (I love traveling!). The terrain is mostly mountains and cactus grows like grass, most everything is brown.

Today we went to the Apache reservation and passed out flyers in the neighborhood for VBS tomorrow. :) I am excited but a little nervous too. Anyway, today while we were walking to the houses we saw vicious dogs, trash everywhere, dead puppies, flys, filthy homes and doors. But through all of this I was able to feel the way these people do. Jesus took away all bitterness and judgement. I really felt for these people, they are lost broken, sinful. Many of the things I am, so today I have mixed feelings of eternal gratitude to Jesus for saving me and giving me eternal hope I should be in the same rut they are in, if it wasn't for Jesus and his sacrifice. My heart also breaks for these people and their condition, I know that by the end of the week I will truly have a heart and passion for these people in their brokenness.

Today Jesus truly showed me how to love other the way he loves me.
YYAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Thank you Lord for your hope, and love.

Hunter's view of the Arizona trip

2010-07-14T15:05:00.012-05:00

Please read this post from the bottom up, sorry for the inconvenience.

Oh! This is our favorite place of all time! Cheesecake Therapy, oh my goodness this place is the bomb!

Back in Denver, Colorado with sweet Julia.

The sweet Satter kids. :) Martin, Trey, Emily and Sunny.

The big cactus!

Brandon and Melbert at the youth home.

The only shade that day was under the table.

VBS at the park.

Look!! It's raining in the desert!

This is Brandon and little boy at the youth home we volunteered at.

Sweet Sunny.

In the neighborhood.

Gabbie and I!

The view of Globe, Arizona from the church.

Sweet Jackie. :)

The famous horned frog! yeah!

Go Hannah! Way to get your hand dirty!

At the church we decided to do our laundry by hand. Very memorable experience.

A arizonian sunset.

The five!!
We're in Arizona, on top of vacant block of a building, (i really have no idea what this building is.)

Gabbie, Hannah and I by the natural arch. Very cool.

the ground was so cool there! It was like really fine dirt and sand, it was like foot therapy.

a blooming cactus

The natural arch! check out mom's blog if you want to find out more about it.

more of New Mexico

aaahhhhh. New mexico is so pretty.

A piece of writing from my journal.

Our stash of stuff in the car. Lots of food and candy. I was eating almost constantly, I heard this a lot "hunter how do you each so much and stay so skinny??" ha ha!

Packing...

As most of you know my mother has been ahead of me in blogging. (when did this happen!?) So, most of these pictures are probably repeats from what you've seen. :-/ At the bottom of each picture I'll put a re-cap. :)

2010-07-07T11:33:00.001-05:00

I am loving it here in Arizona! today we saw a horned toad, I am so happy!!! we are on our way to teach another VBS. :) luv ya all!

tomorrow

2010-07-01T15:47:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow I will be leaving to go on a mission trip to Arizona with friends from church. I am really excited but a little nervous too. :) Please keep me in your prayers.

There will probably be an absence of blogging, but I can post on my blog from my cell phone. I will try to do that every now and then. I've had some trouble posting from my phone one problem is that the post could show up on my blog in all symbols. If this happens, please ignore it. There is one more thing about blogging from my phone, the posts will separate into groups of 160 characters. That means that one story that I send could be broken into 3 or more different posts. But neither of these inconveniences are going to stop me from trying. :)

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

2010-06-29T18:10:00.001-05:00

1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now, you believe in Him and are filled with inexpersiable joy!

June pear pic

2010-06-25T16:52:00.003-05:00

This months pear picture is with various random objects. :) Let me know what you think!

This is my happy sunflower that gracefully waves when powered by sunlight. :) How fun is that?!

Mr. Froggie!!

Mr. Froggie loves to come with me when I babysit.

Aaaahhhhh, all the good things.

2010-06-22T17:04:00.014-05:00

How many projects with flowers can one person make in 2 days?? hhhhmmmm.......

Let see....

One: A head circlet made out of grapevine and silk roses, can also be hung up on the wall as a wreath. (made with my lovely friend Anna)

Two: A Silk flower arrangement made for my grandma's dinning room table.
Three: A head criclet (or princess crown) made out of fresh Ivy, mini carnations, and mini mums. :)

Oh how exhilarating it is to actually DO the projects you wanted to do for sooo long! :) I love that feeling of accomplishment so much!

The first head circlet I made with Anna! Step 1: we took the grapevine and wired it into circles, next (step 2) we attached the roses onto the grapevine with floral wire, step 3: finishing touches!

The finished project!

The second project is a silk flower arrangement that I re-did for my grandma. She gave me her old silk flower arrangement, which we rather dusty and needed re-doing, and I re-did it! Sadly I do not have a before and after pictures. :( Anyway!
There wasn't a whole lot of steps to this one. I'll just show you the pictures.

Front:

Back:

Top:

The third project is the fresh head circlet I made this afternoon. I used Ivy from the front yard and the mini carnations and mums I bought. I am very happy with the finished project!

Ha Ha! Look at Sammy in the background. :P

The Lord delights in those who fear Him,

who put their hope in His unfailing love.

Psalms 147:11

Happy Fathers day Dad!

2010-06-22T09:35:00.001-05:00

You're the bestest Daddy!

Luv ya!

my book list.

2010-06-22T09:31:00.004-05:00

.... I'm not really into mindless books right now :)

pressed flowers

2010-06-20T14:37:00.005-05:00

This week I made pressed flower bookmarks, stationary, and gift tags! I pressed the flowers about five weeks ago, the flowers I used were pansies and ivy leaves. After carefully arranging the flowers on the paper I chose Bible verses for each bookmark and then I laminated them.

how to make sugared flowers...

2010-06-15T18:06:00.006-05:00

I have something new to add to a list of blissful things!

Edible sugared flowers!!

This week I had the joy of trying a new project! I have heard of candying (sugaring) edible flowers for a while but I had never got around to trying it. With the convience of the exact flowers I needed growing in our front yard (very handy!) I decided to give it a try! Now, I will share with you how to make them...

First: Cut the stem on Pansies as close to the petals, without completely breaking the flower. Lay the cut Pansies on parchment paper. Now, try one of the un-sugared flowers (to me, they taste a lot like spinach).

Second: Beat egg white, until well blended but not stiff. Use a small brush to spread the egg whites in a thin layer over each flower, this is very tedious work.

Third: Use a sifter to sprinkle the white sugar onto the flowers. Sprinkle until well coated. Let sit in room temperature for 24 hours before eating, or make one week prior to use for baking.

Sugared flowers are great for decorating baked goods.

a trip to the lake

2010-06-09T17:17:00.008-05:00

Last week we enjoyed a vacation at the lake of the Ozarks. I loved riding the jet ski and knee boarding. Elliot and Rachael were the official tubers they would not quit!

Mom and I driving the maniac tubers. :P

The crash!!

Here we go!!!

While we were on the boat Elliot, Rachael and i loved playing 'tube wars' (whoever claims the tube and defeats the others wins).

Get 'em Rachael!

One night we played at Putt n' stuff. Dad beat me by 3 points. :(

luv u Rachie!!!

2010-06-08T15:23:00.004-05:00

I had sooo much fun with Rachael on vacation.
Don't let anyone ever steal your joy Rachael. :) Can't wait to to see you again soon. :D

...But I will see you again and we will rejoice,

and no one will take away your joy.

John 16:22

May pear pic

2010-05-28T14:33:00.003-05:00

This month the pear pic is taken with different types of garden plants. Enjoy!

Gerber Daisies

Geraniums

not sure which flower this is....

In the depths of the dill forest.

Pansy

Hiding in the Ivy.

a trip to the zoo

2010-05-28T14:26:00.004-05:00

This week we went to zoo with dad!

The roses in the garden of the senses were in full bloom! They looked and smelled fantastic.

Look! My nail polish matched the rose. :)

While we were there we saw the new Madagascar exhibit, the Lemurs were very funny to watch.

They were definitely fearless...

another bouquet

2010-05-20T17:56:00.005-05:00

This week I made a pink and purple bouquet for my dearest friend Anna's birthday. :) Happy 14th birthday Anna!
For her birthday we went to get our nails done together, we had lots of fun!!

a lovely Friday!

2010-05-16T21:05:00.002-05:00

I had a very busy but lovely day this Friday! My day started with a morning hair cut and up-doo! It was my first time to get my hair done up formally. Yeah! Later on in the afternoon, I had a very impressive seven course meal with my sweet bright lights group. :)
From left to right: Lindsay, Hannah, Me, Jessica, Jubilee, (bottom row) Terryn, and Cassie.

After the bright lights dinner I went to a father daughter dinner with my dad. We had a great time together. Afterward we went to Village point with my dear friends Kara and Samantha. :)

Samantha and I!

Kara and I!

Before I left I posed for some pictures at home. Enjoy!

Thank you mom and dad for making my day so special! Luv ya!

a finished project!

2010-05-10T19:54:00.004-05:00

This weekend I finished making our new coupon file! It is amazing, I organized all the coupons in categories like Milk, toothbrushes, hand soap, candy, cereal, ect. That way when you are in the store you don't have to sort through all of the "D" (dairy, detergent, ect.) coupons looking for the milk coupon. You can just go straight to the milk coupons. :) Aaaahhhh! How brilliant!

A blessed mother's day!

2010-05-10T19:07:00.006-05:00

I hope that all of you had a blessed mother's day celebrating our moms. :) I know that we did! Here is an overview of our day...

Mom wanted to go hiking on mothers days, so we went to Hitchcock nature center. We had a wonderful time observing the flowers and birds.

This bird is a Rose breasted grosbeak. Isn't he lovely?

This bird is a eastern Towhee, we think. :)

Afterward we went to the small town of Missouri valley, and guess what?! They had a wonderful little ice cream place! Their tornado's (similar to dairy queen's blizzards) were excellent!

I was privileged to make my mom a flower arrangement for mother's day. :) This bouquet is the second real bouquet that I have made, the first one was some flowers my lovely friend Hannah bought for me to arrange for my birthday (all the non-bouquets were just buying a 6.99 bundle from the grocery store and re-arranging it). This time I went straight to the flower shop, and I had a clear idea of the flowers that I wanted for the bouquet in my head. When we got home I put together the bouquet, following directions in a library book I checked out. Let me tell you, the entire time I was buying the flowers and arranging them I was sooo excited and thrilled to finally be making a real bouquet!

Here is the finished product!

The bouquet was made up of purple daisies, green mums, lilies (the lilies are not open yet), babies breath and bells of Ireland (one of my favorites!)

I Love you very much mom! You are the bestest mom ever! I hope your day was special, because you are soo worth it. :D

today is national day of prayer

2010-05-06T16:31:00.004-05:00

This is a prayer written by Franklin Graham:

Lord,
We are thankful for the abundant blessings You have bestowed on America. Our forefathers looked to You as Protector, Provider, and the Promise of hope. But we have wandered far from that firm foundation. May we repent for turning our backs on your faithfulness.
We pray that this great nation will be restored by your forgiveness.
From bondage, You grant freedom.
Through Your own sacrifice, You offer salvation.
From the state of despair, You offer peace.
From the bounties of Heaven, You have blessed - not because of our goodness - but by your grace.
You have given us freedom to worship You in spirit and in truth as Your holy word instructs. My our lives honor You in word and deed. May our nation acknowledge that all good things come from the Father above.
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that our nation should set apart a day for national prayer to confess our sins and transgressions in sorrow, "yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon..." announced in the Holy scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
"We have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own... we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us! It behooves us then... to confess our nation sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
Help us to pray earnestly for our president and leaders who govern, that they will humble themselves and seek Your guidance so that everything we do will shine the light of Your glory in a darkened world. May our prayers as a people and a nation be heard and blessed for such a time as this We make this plea in faith, believing in the mighty Name of Jesus our Lord.
Amen

Mr. Cardinal

2010-05-04T20:01:00.002-05:00

BUG?!

2010-05-04T19:56:00.002-05:00

I love this picture of Sammy! It's sooo adorable! He loves to attack bees, yellow jackets, and flies. In the the summer his nose is usually all swollen up from when they sting him. poor guy. :( Anyway, I thought this picture was pretty cute!

the Grandpas!

2010-05-04T19:50:00.003-05:00

While our family was in town for Les Mis they were privileged to see one of Elliot's baseball games! Go Cubs!

Julia's hair

2010-05-04T19:43:00.003-05:00

One Sunday afternoon, I had the privilege of curling Julia's hair! :) Isn't she pretty?

Les miserables pics!

2010-05-04T19:21:00.003-05:00

These last two weeks have been the most awesomest (and tiring) weeks of my life! But I have loved every minute of it! We have been practicing for the big day since September, and it finally came! Then we were preforming on stage for a real audience! The rest of the days were filled with more performances and midnight visits to Village inn. :) Fun times!

Group pic.

Smiles with my lovely friend Anna and Elliot!

My lovely friends Hannah and Becca.

Grandpa Jean val John!

I had to wear glasses because I had a viral infection in my eye. :(

Uncle Jon!

Me! As happy and tired and sweaty (no joke!) and excited as can be!
(lovely friends Anna and Bethany in background.)

The beautiful rose I am holding is from my caring friend, who says that "the phantom was pleased". (notice the black ribbon?)

(P.S I am in my wedding guest costume.)

If you attended any of the performances please leave a comment about the play, thank you!

April pear pic

2010-04-25T18:52:00.004-05:00

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!

2010-04-25T18:44:00.004-05:00

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

how to bring the loveliness of the...

2010-04-25T18:09:00.004-05:00

...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...

2010-04-22T11:58:00.005-05:00

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!

2010-04-18T14:32:00.004-05:00

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!

2010-04-17T13:49:00.002-05:00

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

2010-04-16T13:38:00.008-05:00

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

2010-04-16T13:12:00.004-05:00

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

2010-04-06T17:21:00.003-05:00

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

17 mile drive

2010-04-06T17:08:00.003-05:00

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!

2010-04-06T16:43:00.005-05:00

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!*

the ocean!

2010-04-05T19:22:00.010-05:00

I know a lot of you have been long awaiting for me to post some pictures of the ocean! So here is a really long post with many pictures! Enjoy!

I am soo sad that this picture is blurry. :'(

Wow! that is a lot of pictures!