McChristmas

Well, our Fab Fam came, stayed, played, ate, loved, laughed, and went! We had a blast. Here are just a couple of pics for now. Maybe I'll do a photoshow. There are soooo many good, cute, fun pics!

I can't even blog about our time...too much to say....

Things we did;

ate, talked, ate, laughed, played, had a BSU game day, had some of our friends over so our fam and friends could meet, ate, slept a little, ate some more, had a jammie day(on Christmas day it turned out, so we ate our turkey dinner in new jammies given by Mrs. Santa), hit Wal-mart here and there, ate, decorated the tree, finished Nate's new bedroom, went to Christmas Eve service (where Nate and Jacob played piano and John helped lead the service), had some time out in the snow, drew in a huge tablet, worked on a Search and Find book, had some Brian Regan time, ("There are many books in the library"), ate, ate, and ATE! One of the last days someone found our bathroom scale, which I am sure was an accident, and we took turns seeing if we had gained the average 15 pounds gained over the holidays, some publicly, and some had a private weigh-in. No one was too distraught, so we must have done all right.

Hope all had a sweet, blessed Christmas. We sure did.

ID Mcs, WE MISS YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING! XOXOXOX

Endless Things...

...so, I have been forming this list in my mind over some time and tonight it turned into a post. As you can see it started out a somewhat negative thing, but tonight I gave it more thought and the positives surfaced.
Endless;
~Chores: dishes, meals, grocery shopping, cleaning, tidying, laundry, etc., etc.
~Obligations, Obligations, Obligations! (this covers more things than I will list)
~Bills
~Things I need to do
~Things I should do
~Things I am not getting to
~Dust
~Projects
~Work
~The next thing
Some of these cross over into each other and here is where the list gets dicey...
Endlessly, my children grow before my eyes, this one is bittersweet. Also, it will end one day, which leads to my next list...
Ending;
~My time with my children and so many others that I love.
~Life, youth, health, strength
~My season as a mother of young children/ babies
~The hold that anxiety and fear have had on me
~My willingness to accept things that aren't as they should be
~Time that I allow to go by without my eyes/ heart/ mind/ my very being focused on Jesus
~Letting moments get by without doing what needs to be done
~My years of being chronically lazy...hooray!
~The darkness in my heart, time without peace or joy
And now the good Endless;
~Strength by the grace of an Almighty God
~Love and Forgiveness in Jesus' name
~Opportunities to reflect Christ and to grow in Him
~God's Goodness
and In light of Eternity, endless time, all fades
and nothing can really follow that! Thank You, Lord!
***********************************************************************
Love you!
To quote my sweet friend Vicki's recent post, "It's a Great Day to be You!"
Merry Christmas!

UPDATE: I JUST FINISHED THIS POST, RE-READ IT A COUPLE OF TIMES AND WAS ABOUT TO MOVE ON WHEN SUDDENLY IT HIT ME! MY CHILDREN GROWING BEFORE MY EYES IS NOT THE ONLY THING ON MY 'ENDLESS' LIST THAT WILL ACTUALLY END! ALL OF THE THINGS ON THAT FIRST LIST WILL END ONE DAY! HALLELUJAH!!!
It IS a great day to be me! :) heehee (not that I didn't think that before, but wohoo! I just had an epiphany moment!)

My baby...

No, he's not my 'baby', he's my oldest, but as we were explaining to our children, a mother always sees her children as her babies. They got a chuckle out of thinking that Gran and Nana think of Daddy and I as their babies, but its true.
My heart is at the moment swelling to the point of pain with l.o.v.e. for my firstborn. Last night, as I watched this young man working on his Facebook page, I thought about how he is as tall as me and has a voice I don't always recognize... did you get that?? A voice I don't always recognize.... my throat begins to close up and things fly through my mind similar to when your life is supposed to flash before your eyes when you die... when we found out we were pregnant with him, I was beside myself with joy and excitement, a baby was all I ever wanted...his baby smiles...he was/is so funny, his sense of humor has always amazed me... how grown he is now, and time seemed to pause for a moment so I could just take him in. What a blessing he has been, all of them have. And at the same time that I LONG to go back and hold him as a baby again, I also look forward with great excitement and joy to what is in store for him. God has good plans for him, good works prepared, plans to prosper and not to harm him. He is loosening himself from his mommy, and as much as it hurts, it is good. He is growing into his own person, we are glimpsing the man he is still becoming and it is a wondrous thing. I can only do it with God as my Rock, knowing that He loves Nathan more than I do, and He is good and He is sovereign.
Walk on, Natey. Love you like crazy! xoxo

I'm doing it again...

here is a pic taken only two years ago, of nate! (speaking of nate: HIS BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW!!!! 13 years old!)

John's youngest brother, Jakey, his mom, his grandma, and our little jakey in the background...

p.s. as I was downloading clipart of sea billows rolling, I remembered, hey, we have family vacation pics at the ocean! So here you go.... as you can see, there are sea billows behind us and we are peaceful and joyful! :)You may say to yourself, well, its not the same, because you know the sea billows are no threat when you are standing so far inland, and i thought the same thing but then i realized, have security in that knowledge is actually a perfect demonstration of The Point, having security in the knowledge that God is in complete control and nothing is outside of His sovereignty.~~ This pic has Phoebe in the green shirt, Ellie in pink, and my sister in law, Amber's sister, Shiloh. We had this vacation in 2006, right before we moved to MT.

Here is my sister in law, Amber, and I

hi, MTMACS blog readers!Again, I have read something that struck me and I am posting it here so I can read it again and so you can read it! It is an emailed devo that I subscribe to, let me know what you think....

"... so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life" (Deut 6:1-2).The title of the article, Find Purpose, Live Longer, caught my eye. It was a report on numerous studies all of which have verified that finding something more in your life can mean a big health boost. You can add years to your life by adding life to your years. Insurance company studies show that if someone retires to something rather than from something, they live on the average three times longer.The article pointed out many ways in which people can add zest to their lives, but the most intriguing to me was the aspect of religion. More than 2,200 studies have been done in this area and the conclusion is that believing in a higher power can boost more than just the spirit. While scientists still don't have a dependable method for measuring faith, research shows that people who attend church, at least four times a month are less likely to engage in risky behavior, be depressed, or feel chronic stress. The faithful live longer, too..... an average for seven to fourteen years longer and the most regular attendees have the longest life expectancy.A Duke University study of 2391 people who were at least 65 years old found that regular churchgoers who also prayed daily or studied the Bible daily were 40 per cent less likely to have high blood pressure than those who did not. Elderly churchgoers had better mental health and were less likely to have high degrees of a protein associated with age-related illness.The reasons for this are not hard to understand. It's not from just being in church. Churchgoers generally are much more restrained when it comes to many problem-causing areas of modern society. Born-again Christians also have God's Holy Spirit dwelling in them to help them avoid the problem areas of life. And because they know they can always turn to God in prayer during times of crisis, this may be the reason there is a lower incidence of stress-related problems in their lives

.So, if you want to be healthier and live longer, attend church, read the Bible, listen to God in prayer and as you go about your daily routine hum that great hymn written by H. G. Spafford..... "When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul." � � ( a thought on life from John Grant )

Father God,Draw me into Your presence daily and help me hunger and thirst for the things that will bring me closer to You. Thank you for not only the physical benefits this can bring to my body, but also for the spiritual joy it will bring to my soul. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Questions: Do you have purpose in your life? How are you finding peace for your soul?

*******************************************************************************

I love you! Have a great day! xoxo~Adrian

Thanking God...

Yesterday, Phoebe and I slid off of the road on the ice after doing a 180. We slid into a ditch and felt sure God saved us from tipping over. It was slippery yesterday and I had been driving in it all day, so I was not being careless. I felt the tires lose grip and we began to slide, it was very scary. But God's will was for protection and there wasn't another car on the road for us to hit, because we would have. And on the left side of the road was a rock wall, but we went off the right. John said if we had been going faster we would have tipped when we went into he ditch, it was very steep. Thank God we are diligent about seatbelts. All is well. Phoebe and I were quite shook up, but we took to telling our upset stomachs to settle down because God took care of us and we are fine. Could have been much worse. The suburban is fine, John and a friend got it out and just had to change a tire. John said when they got it to come up out of the ditch the front wheel was about four feet straight up in the air. Whew... counting our blessings.

Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3 NLT

Years ago, before a dear woman became my mother in law, she gave me a leather bound copy of My Utmost For His Highest. Little did I know at that time, how God would use this book to teach me and minister to my heart and faith. In fact, I remember reading and having very little understanding of what the man, Oswald Chambers, was talking about. But in the last several years, God has used it so much that it is a set part of my time with Him and though the book doesn't change from year to year, I seem to receive new inspiration almost every time I read it, praise God! He continually aligns a particular day's subject matter with something directly affecting my life at the moment. It is awesome. I have even connected on deeper levels with friends over them.
So, when I post them here, it is by NO MEANS to preach. It is just because it hit me and I want to be reminded by what it said the next time I pull up the blog. If you are touched by it, hurray! If not, maybe you didn't need that one right now, like I did! :) I love the last line of this one, He is so calling me to intercession right now, it is an awesome thing! Thank You, Lord!
Our God is so great~Adrian (and p.s. THANKS, MomMom!)

The Distraction of Contempt
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt —Psalm 123:3
What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. "Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" ( Malachi 2:16 ). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.
Beware of "the cares of this world . . ." ( Mark 4:19 ). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by "the cares of this world."
Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, "I must explain myself," or, "I must get people to understand." Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.
When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

Shameless promoting...

If you scroll down, on the right is a list of the blogs of friends and fam that I visit. One of them is The Tattletale Gazette. It is done by a friend, Tess, who is a great photographer! She is starting a new site to showcase her skills for business. Here is the link; http://tesscormellphotography.blogspot.com/ (by the way, keep checking it, she has asked John to work on a design for her! :)
Well, she just posted pics, on the new Photography site, of my dear sister and her precious family!!! GO SEE THEM, they are beautiful! Some of you may remember, my sister fought cancer this last year, and is on her way up out of the pit cancer that cancer throws you into. She is quite a fighter and as you can see in the pics, as beautiful as ever!

AND, if you scroll through Tess's Tattletale Gazette site, where she has been posting her photos up until now, with great commentary for reading as well, you will find John's brother, Mike and his sweet family's portraits as well. They will be here with John's parents and the youngest bro, for Christmas this year! YAY!

So, there is some idle-time filler for you... gander at a few fun, beautiful pics of some of our precious fam! :)
As my friend Tracy says, "Make it a great day!"
XOXOXO

SO...

John had his birthday, yesterday, and we served him breakfast made with love. He got 'Happy B-Day' donuts at work. We tried to feed him one of his favs for dinner, but he had gotten to have BD cake at work also! Then, we took his fav bd cake made by us with LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to small group and packed every candle we had on the cake (oops! we aged him 10 years, accidentally put on 47! haha) and sang with our friends (and several other times throughout the day! a traditional McNamara rendition when he walked in the door after work and it made him MISS YOU ALL!) We gave him a nice blue-grey sweater and a tub of red licorice! :) All in all, I think he had a good 37th! WE LOVE YOU JOHN (Mac, Daddy!) XO

AND...

JACOB ANTHONY MCNAMARA MADE THE HONOR ROLL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*****Nate also continued to get very good grades and remained on the honor roll !!!!!!!!!!!!!! *******************************************************************************

CONGRATS JAMMER AND NATEY! WE ARE SOOOOO PROUD OF YOUUU!!! XOXOXO

WOO-HOOOO! CONGRATS AND NICE WORK ~ MCMEN! XOXO

*Jacob Anthony McNamara*

This time is an anniversary for us. Ten years ago this month, we stood before our church body with an amazing little red-headed baby boy in our arms and dedicated him to the Lord. We pledged to teach him about the Lord and our precious church family was a witness and also themselves pledged in any way that they had interaction with him to help us raise him in the love and admonition of the Lord.

So, when my Outlook reminder comes up, 'anniversary of dedicating Jacob', I try to think over the time that we have been blessed with him and ask the Lord, how we are doing with our promises????

Jacob has been an amazing gift. My sweet soveriegn God has used him in multitudes of ways, especially to grow me and change me. I learned with Jacob that God gives us children, not just for us to raise them up (because they pretty much just do this) but also to grow us up (which we, or should I say 'I', do not do on my own at all!).

When I think back on that time, standing before our church family, holding little Jacob, Cubbie, I called him when he was a baby, we were completely unaware of what was in store(both good and difficult) for us, as I suppose you are with all babies. What an awesome God we have!

And now, ten years later, wow.... words escape me. But, you know him and you love him, too. He is full of energy, he is funny, smart, sensitive and strong. He is brave and fearless, which I guess are the same thing, but it bears repeating with him! :) He is beautiful and I love being his mom!

What will the next ten years bring...? I believe God has great works saved for him! Wanna watch with me? It will be very exciting, I am sure of it!
Thank You, Lord, for the wondrous gift of Jacob!
*...pics to follow...*

My Utmost For His Highest

This one really struck me, so I thought I would put it here...

The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28
The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives ( Romans 8:26 ). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.

"I do all my own stunts"

And we couldn't pass up this photo opp, a shirt so fitting of Jacob, which was passed to us from a friend! :)

This is what happens when anyone in the vacinity of Daddy flexes in any way, shape, or form! Oh, yah?! Check this out! RRrrrrroar!


Nate and I have been getting some excersize and gaining a bit of muscle, proud of our work we do a little flex, hoping for a little 'Atta boy!', but instead we get the above....oh yah?! Check this out!


Evidently, we are having a bit of an obsession...

Check out these guns!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch! (slide show to follow)

How long til Christmas?

This is our Jakey, whenever the kids put their hats on backwards they say, look, I'm Uncle Jake!

( at a rented cabin last year, just outside of Yellowstone...<3)

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This is the question at our house these days. We are at the same time excited and sad this year. We cannot go home for Christmas because of the job change, there is no vacation time until February. So, that is our sadness, we will miss seeing my parents and my sister and her sweet fam and so many precious friends. Our sweet consolation is that a bit of home is coming to us! Our McNamara family is coming to have a MT McChristmas!

Last night, John was talking to his brother, the baby brother that we don't hear from as much, he is leading the 20-something bachelor's life, all work and more play! But when we do get him, he is the sweetest! So, he called just as I was heading to bed, John passed the phone so I could say good night, and I told him we were counting down days (Phoebe brings me the calendar every week and asks show me how long til Christmas). He said he cannot wait either. I told him we were planning where everyone would sleep (praise God we have room to house ourselves and the rest of the Macs!) and John was picking a place where Jake would be comfortable and away from the noise as much as possible because he has a rep for sleeping in! (Isn't my husband thoughtful and sweet) But, not me, I said, no way, we only have a few days together, I am waking Jake up every morning for family time, he can sleep when he gets home! When I told him this, he said, right! No sleeping, no way. He is on board!(and that is no small thing, if you knew our Jake and his nocturnal habits) He said he would sleep on the roof if he had to, just to be here! How sweet is that! (He hasn't experienced a MT winter and the frigid temps, but don't worry, we will have him safely and warmly tucked inside!)

About 53 +/- days left Jakey! We cannot wait to hug on you all! XOXOX See you soon!

What are we looking for?

In second Peter 3:14, which is where my devotional sent me, it starts with, "Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things," and I read through to verse 18 a couple of times before I realized, whoa...since I look for WHAT THINGS? (as our Boise church pastor always said, you gotta find out what is the therefore there for? )Backing up to verse 11, "Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, (see vs10, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed with intense heat) what sort of people are you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening (wow, we are to be not just looking for, but hastening?!) the coming of the day of God on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat! (is that the 'why'? We are to be looking for and hastening the day of God, BECAUSE everything is going to burn...that is thought provoking) But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (aaaah, there it is, a new heaven and new earth, where righteousness dwells... now that sounds beyond wonderful, doesn't it...) (now to where we started, verse 14) Therefore, beloved, (don't you love being called, beloved? I do!) since you look for these things, (a new heaven and a new earth, and the day of God, in reverse of course:) be diligent( this is my prayer of late, Lord, make me diligent) to be found by Him in peace( Yes, Lord, may it be), spotless and blameless, (glory to You, Lord) and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation(amen, so we are looking for it but also trusting and rejoicing in His patience because it means salvation, Hallelujah!); (and verse 17) You therefore, beloved, (there it is again, I love it!) be on your guard (sounds like diligence again, eh? got it.) lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, (there is the warning, and here comes the encouragement...) but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen

Sweet Friends and Family, we love you! May we not be carried away, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . I pray we would be looking for the day of God, diligent to be found by Him in peace, knowing in our hearts that in Him we are spotless and blameless. Let us be looking forward to the new heaven and the new earth!!
Have a great week! Love, love, love!

Our first snow!

We woke up to a white Sunday morning this weekend. We got quite a few inches.
We got some play time too!
Jacob built an awesome fort.

I am a blessed man!

I have been truly blessed with an incredible woman! Now, all of you who know Adrian know how humble she is, and she will be practically mortified that I posted this, but here goes...

It is difficult to put into words, as I type this, all that I love about Adrian. I guess the easiest way to describe it, would be to identify the common denominator. And that would be her relationship with her Lord Jesus. As many of you know, I was raised in a christain home, but my walk has been very slow (based on knowledge and not love, anyway...) But, in Adrian's case, I got to see her walk from the beginning starting in high school. Her relationship is based on love.

This love for her Savior has caused her to stretch beyond her comfort zones in faith and obedience in many areas in her life. Sometimes I think her putting up with me is part of that obedience! Ha, ha! It has also made her a phenominal mother to our 4 children. I love my kids very much, I can't imagine being able to love them more, but I know that Adrian loves them more! She helps me to see how precious they are.

I have seen her love grow for her friends, immediate family, and extended family. One very powerful way would be her becoming a prayer warrior, even to the point of leading prayer groups. If anyone were to say to her, a couple years ago, that she would be doing this, she would laugh in disbelief.

I would seriously be lost without her. I would go into more detail, but I come out sounding like some kid she's taking care of! It's okay, you can laugh... she will laugh at that too. The truth is often funnier than fiction. Ha, ha! But, I degress...

You know she started working at a local barrista recently. To no surprise she is picking up everything very quickly and becoming someone that the owners can rely upon. She mentioned one day, after work, the cold reception she got from some of the teenage girls working there. The first thing I thought of is it's too bad they have no idea what they are missing out on by not getting to know her!

I praise God for the heart He has given Adrian and the work He is doing in her. She is a great witness and inspiration to me!

I Love You Adrian!

John

P.S. I think she's hot too!

We have an announcement...

There is a local channel that just runs announcements, events, and things to country music. So here is Nate's name on for Student of the month.

Nathan McNamara

has been chosen

Student of the Month

@ Washington Junior High

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Qualifications for selection of student are;

C average, school/community activities, positive attitude in school, contributes to a good school atmosphere, has shown improvement in a way that will promote self-esteem.

Names are submitted for selection by a review committee composed of faculty members at Washington School. Nathan will be honored on the bulletin board until next month's selection.

Thankful Thursday

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.

We have soooo much to be thankful for....
1. Praise God for His grace and mercy which surrounds us and protects more times than we know!
2. Yesterday we got to praise God for the girls' squabbling, God urged me to go over and have a close-up talk with them, which led to a Hallelujah moment that otherwise could have been a deep sorrow. (your guessing there is a story there and you are right...but it is for another time)
3. Is there a scripture for the Lord laughing or smiling? Because I am continually thankful for His gifts to us of those! There is joy in the Lord!
4. Thank you my compassionate God, for friends to sit by the pool with, to pray with, to watch Bible teaching shows with, to go to coffee and Bible study with, to email, blog, and Facebook with....etc.
5. I am sooo thankful for my fabulous family. John and my children are some of my favorite things! It gives me a glimpse of how God delights in us.

And that is my power-packed five for today!
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love is everlasting!

Show and Tell

John and I were talking yesterday about whether we could work out a friend and I going for lunch. I asked, jokingly, what would he do with Phoebe, take her to work with him? She piped up and said, 'Yes! I could be your show and tell!'
Now wouldn't you love to have Phoebe be your show and tell?! I would! (...except you never know what she is going to say, so you would have to be very brave!)
Last Friday, my friend had Phoebe with her and took her to a yard sale. It was in a less than desirable area and the house reflected the area. What I am saying is the place was trashed. To be fair, my friend was not unaware of whom she was tending...she has heard the Phoebe stories. But, she felt confident, they got out of the van, Phoebe tending to my friend's little poodle. A moment later, the stage is set, my friend steps away from Phoebe, and Phoebe delivers; She looks around and says, in no small voice, right in front of the door, 'This place is trashed!' Now my friend has her own story! :) Ohhh, Pheebs, you are a ride! We love you!

The Scarlet Cord

Yes, okay, I read blogs of women I do not know. My husband thinks this is so weird and I can't explain how women can relate and connect without actually meeting just by reading eachother's thoughts and ideas and worries and joys. Well, if you have a moment to read something sweet and beautiful about Rahab and about our precious Savior then click on the title to this post and grab a kleenex.
p.s. this blog is by a woman named Angie. She is married to a man in the group Selah.

We went to a Beth Moore conference this weekend!

Vicki, Heather, deAmbra, Esther.

Wow, I don't know where to start. ..It was g-r-e-a-t!

We learned about being noble and being a fool. We learned about spending enough time with the Lord to be able to be a benefit to others. That He must be our shelter, our stream in the desert, our shade and only then, can we be those things to others. (Isaiah 32:1-8)

We had blessedly glorious worship time....and we drank it in.

And we had some sweet girl time.

We talked about how blessed we are to have sweet husbands willing to let us get away and to take care of the little ones for us. THANK YOU, Husbands!

What a loving God we have.

We hit Olive Garden as fast as we hit town! YUM
Stacy, Anna, and I
Look! Beth Moore was just 10 feet or so from us! I was a bit star struck, which I don't usually get, but her sudies have meant a lot to me. And you feel like you are friends with her when you read her books and watch her videos. So, look, there she is! Here we are, Beth! Over here! Beth! Beth? :)
L to R, Krista, Kelly, Michelle
L to R, Rhonda, Sheri, Amber, Vicki

Gem of the Day

"Mom, my friends said that wearing a zucchini is bad."~L.E.
(I really wish I could see your faces and hear your guesses as to what she meant, but since I can't, I'll just tell you... bikini) :)

and lastly...

John fell to the floor (thankfully he was laughing)...

*****Update! I have been asked to add to this post that John did not break the chair, it just fell apart out from under him) :)*******
and it was SpiderDog to the Rescue (not really, I mean have you seen our dog? She is fairly worthless for rescue, but she would wag her cute curly tail and lick you!)

Thanks for coming, DadDad! Love you!

There were motorcycle rides on the new bike!

Our Surprise Visitor!

As we were getting ready for bed Thursday night, a motorcycle pulled up and parked in front of our house... DadDad! Wow, what a great surprise!
We skipped school Friday and DadDad went on bike rides with first the girls and then the boys. While they waited for lunch, Phoebe and DadDad took a little catnap.
Ellie helped me make some No-Bakes!
We were all SO happy to have Dad here!

First Day of School 2008

Ellie's teacher, Mrs.Kelly, and her daughter, Rachel who is in Phoebe's class
Phoebe and her teacher, Mrs. Henderson :)

New outfits from Amber Arthur :)