Christmas Celebrations!

The Lord has blessed us with many great times together as a family this month in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Caroling:

"Silent Night, Holy Night"Joy to the World!

Concerts:

Playing for the residents at Salem Care and Rehabilitation CenterThe residents made us thank you cards!

Christmas Lights:

Careful, James!Beautiful!A theme for us this Christmas was being the light of the world.

Float in the Salem parade:

This was Grandma's, Mom's and my first time being in a parade!God gave us Jesus, the greatest gift of all!

Christmas in the Mountains at Fort New Salem:

Learning about the Christmas traditions of the 1800'sTalking to an early settler

Jonathan’s birthday:

Gearing up for ALERT!Happy Birthday!

Decorating Christmas cookies:

One of our favorite and most tedious traditions

Christmas day!

Grandma and GrandpaDad and MomRobert and Kendalyn

May the joy of the Christmas season continue throughout the year in remembrance of our Lord and  Savior!

Weekend with the Johnsons!

Everyone together!

What an action-packed, energetic weekend it was! There is something encouraging about being surrounded with enthusiastic smiles for a whole weekend! We praise the Lord that it worked out for the Johnson family to be able to come and visit and we hope it works out again sometime. Thank you for coming, Johnson team!

Lincoln Log creativityLet's play dolls!Feels good, doesn't it?

Big snowball!Watch out!Ready for a snowball fight

Out by the burn pileGood s'mores!

Staying warm by the bonfireThis is good!

Guess what we're playing? Hint: It's a tie at the moment.Good-Bye Johnsons Team!

Salem Apple Butter Festival!

IMAG0446 - Copy (2)Earlier this month everyone pitched in to make it possible to have a family booth at the Apple Butter Festival. This year we added cookies and West Virginia Fruit and Berry jellies in addition to the honey, candles, calendars and artwork sales. Just for fun, we put up a little table for anyone interested in origami and had a blast making jumping frogs and all sorts of cute little animals.We are grateful for how the Lord blessed it and opened the doors for a potential business opportunity and for some great conversations.

Our booth"Look what I made!"

IMAG0438Another blessing was outstanding weather for the weekend!

 

 

 

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Josh and Lisa Wilkes!

We were so privileged to be able to pitch in and assist with the wedding preparations of our dear friends Joshua Wilkes and Lisa Butler, and to witness their joyful union on September 17. Here are some of our pictures from the event.
Emily helping wrap the gifts!It was a lovely outdoor weddingGetting the flowers just rightMichael was responsible for transporting the bridal party in this lovely make-shift limousine!

We were so glad to be there!Robert, Kendalyn and Daniel made it in for the wedding too!

We had so many good friends there! What a joyous reunion!Rejoicing in what God has brought together!

In the presence of the LordThe whole wedding was a beautiful testimony of a new family begun in a God-honoring way!

For more pictures, check out the Wilkes’, and Neelys’ websites!

“And with Thy blessing let the house of Thy servant be blessed forever” (2 Samuel 7:29).

Thoughts on the Republican Presidential Debate

I am so grateful for the opportunity God has given me to vote! I always wish I had more time to look into each candidates voting records and beliefs. That is why I was so excited last night when Daniel informed me that the Republican Presidential Debate was about to begin! Here’s six things that really caught my attention:

1. Part of the debate was questions from normal citizens! What an encouragement that the Republican Party considers what it’s people think and take time to answer their questions!

2. When they were each given 30 sec to answer a question like “How would you get America back on track?” Santorum, Gingrich and Romney had very general answers. I liked how the others knew what they were going to do and could state some clear steps of action. Johnson – Balance the budget and implement fair tax that will create jobs. Paul – Free markets because people create jobs not government. Perry – Repeal Obama Care, lower corporate and local tax rates and make America energy independent. Bachmann – Repeal Obama care. Cain – 999 tax plan. Hutsman – Tax and health care reforms. It just says a lot that they would know how to sum it up right there on the spot.

3. Everyone (except Perry didn’t really say anything) agrees education is not something the federal government should be so involved in! Santorum even stated it has been the parents responsibility to educate their children, not the government, from the beginning! Gingrich even favorably mentioned home schooling as an option! Paul, Bachmann and Cain also seemed passionate about getting federal government out of school.

4. Santorum seemed strong on giving our troops all the support they need while Hutsman was more eager to just get our troops home.

5. Ron Paul had a good caution about how a fence to keep immigrants out could also be used to keep Americans in. I just loved it when he said moral character of the people will solve problems better than laws could. Wow. Amen!

6. Perry seemed the least supportive of Israel and Cain seemed like the strongest supporter of Israel though they didn’t all get to talk on that one much.

The conclusion for me is Perry and Romney are out of it. Being a women, I wouldn’t want Bachmann to have to endure the stress of such great a leadership position unless there were no righteous men to take the stand. I admire her for her willingness to go through that for her country if need be. Lord willing, a righteous man will be able to do it for her. I’m kind of liking Ron Paul right now.

I’d love to hear what your thoughts were! Especially if I misunderstood something or took it out of context! Praise the Lord for the chance to live in America, publically talk about such things, and vote! Let us not take for granted the privilege of being able to have a say in politics and let us use it while we still can!

A Few Good Links:

Family Support Link
A ministry of the Advanced Training Institute designed to connect families for fellowship and support.
The Waller Family
The Waller family has a heart for sharing the light of Christ around the world

Site Credits:

Header image by Lenspiration, the photography portfolio of James Staddon.

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