Family

Here are some pictures of family (on my side) that I thought I would post:My nephew Alex

My cousin Peggy

My mom Verlee and her great-granddaughter Madison

Rebecca and Joel my nephew and his wife


This is sweet Madison (my great-niece) and my niece Julia (cousin to Maddie's mommy)

All my nieces and nephews.

My mom Verlee and my brother Paul

My sister Pam and brother-in-law JD

My sister Beth and brother-in-law Mark

My niece Karena and her husband Jon


Me and my hubby

My kids Caleb and Megan

My dad and mom Clair and Verlee

Dancing Those Chains Right Off -- or the thrill of being free in Christ

I thought I would share some links to a couple of songs that really move my heart.

Shackles: Mary Mary This one just makes me want to get up and dance! I actually made it my ring tone on my cell phone! :)

Amazing Grace (May Chains are Gone) Chris Tomlin I used to sing this hymn to my kids starting when they were babies. To this day I get tears in my eyes when I remember them singing it with me. Amazing Grace is one of my favorite hymns ever. Joined with the chorus of -- My chains are gone. I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood His mercy rains. Unending love, amazing grace -- just brings it to another level for me.

There seems to be a theme of being set free from chains (shackles) and being free in Christ! Ain't no better thing!!!!

(I know these are just links and not videos, Zach. You know it took me forever to figure out how to upload pictures on here -- let alone good quality ones! You should be happy that I at least know how to do links. Someday I'll figure out how to get videos on here...)

God's Great Compassion and Love

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore have hope:
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord....
Though He brings grief,
He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.
For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

--Lamentations 3:19-26, 32-33

Tropical Beauty

Birthdays

We are headed into the birthday months in this family. We have them for four months in a row. Mine gets to be first! And today is my birthday!!! There was a beautiful snowfall this morning to greet me! Yay God!

I am humbled and thankful for my life. I don't think I could have always said that over the years. But now I feel honored that God chose to give me life so I could honor Him. There are so many things and people He has blessed me with.

Even after all these years I still get goofy and excited about my birthday. I have self-appointed rules of no housework and no cooking. I'm trying to decide where I want to take myself out to lunch today. I may just watch episodes of The Office all day... But the most exciting part of the day is that tonight I and three of my most favorite people are going to see this:


We are going to a dinner theater in the Big City!!! I am so excited. Megan helped me shop for a new outfit last weekend and I am looking forward to dressing up.

YAY FOR BIRTHDAYS!!! :)

(And for the presents sitting on the coffee table that I get to look at all day!!)

Pictures from Hawaii

This is what our town looked like a few days before we left for Hawaii. It was beautiful, but cold.

We went from frost on the trees to PALM TREES! This is of Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. It was nice and warm that day!


Here is the view out our hotel window. This is Diamond Head. Wow! It was stunning.

The main thing I wanted to do in Honolulu was see Pearl Harbor. This is a picture of the memorial over the USS Arizona. Below is a shot of part of the ship above water and a view back into Pearl Harbor. I love seeing things in real life that I have only seen in pictures. It was moving to see this knowing what a big piece of history this is for our country.

Caleb & Megan playing in the Pacific Ocean on Waikiki Beach on Christmas Eve Eve.

Our cruise ship "The Pride of Hawaii"



Our stateroom. The balcony was great to sit on and see the wonderful scenery. The first night we were on the ship I went outside on it and saw the almost full moon reflecting off the ocean. It was so beautiful it made me gasp in awe.


The top deck of the ship.



Megan and her cousin Julia and their matching Luau dresses.


Caleb and Megan with their "tattoos" (really just an ink stamp) at the Luau.



Pete and me at the Luau. Like our leis?

Christmas Vacation

I have had the privilege of having a few really great Christmas breaks. The first one was in 1999 when we went to New Zealand for 10 days. That was an amazing trip. It is wonderful to see different parts of the world and see what God has made. That trip we got to go whale watching, see hot sulphur springs, see amazingly beautiful sheep covered mountains and ocean in one view, and worship in a church with New Zealanders on Christmas morning.

The next Christmas was in 2000 in NE Australia. That was complete with snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef on Christmas Eve. What an imagination our great God has with all those beautiful tropical fish! We saw rain forests, koalas, brightly colored birds in the wild (parrots I think), we had steaks on the BBQ by the pool on Christmas Day, and got to celebrate New Years Eve with some good friends and watch fireworks (on TV) on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

This Christmas we had the privilege of going to HAWAII!!! We flew to Honolulu and then cruised around the islands from Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve. Here is a preview. We got to see volcanoes (no hot lava though), a HUGE banyan tree (it filled up a city block), experience life on a cruise ship for a week, eat cruise food (yummy), and we got to get a tan in the middle of winter!

I will add some pictures in the next few days. I need to get some laundry done, put Christmas stuff away, and clean my terribly messy house. But other than that I have so much free time... Haha.

I am excited to think about where another Christmas break may be spent. In some ways I think doing something different to celebrate Christmas makes me stop and think a bit harder about the real meaning of Christmas.