Sarah's Party!!

We celebrated Sarah's 6th birthday this weekend with family and friends. She had such a good time. She had her first sleep over and all went really well. Sarah got alot of nice things. Our children are truely blessed with gifts on their birthdays. Thank you to each of our family and friends who blessed her and our family with your presence and gifts. Sarah wanted a Strawberry Shortcake Party, so I had the bright idea to make a cake. Thanks to my wonderful hubby who was so kind to stay up late with me and help me accomplish this task. I felt that the cake didn't turn out like I wanted but Sarah said "I love it Mommy". Of coarse she is the one that counted.

Cantina

Our Little Girl is 6!

Six years ago... At the hospital.

She is about 4 months in this picture.

Our Birthday Girl!!

Today our little girl turned six!! It is so hard to believe that she has grown up so fast! We are so proud of her. Sarah ordered waffles for breakfast and that is just what her Daddy made for her!! Then after breakfast she got to open presents from us and then Maw (my mother) came by before going to work to give her a present too. She got a Webkin from Maw and Paw and we got her clothes and a movie. After breakfast we headed off to the Kid movie at the mall. We watched Charolette's Web with a couple of her friends and ate lunch at Chick-fil-A. What a treat!! And of coarse the Birthday cards have been coming in, especially from our church family. Sarah is a very loved little girl. I would like to take this moment to tell you somethings I think are special about Sarah...

1. She has a heart as big as the world!

2. She has the best imagination

3. She plays so great with Elijah

4. She loves to praise and worship the Lord with songs she makes up on her own

5. She is such a big helper to me and others

6. She is a giver

7. She is a great reader

8. She is a dancer of joy for the Lord

9. She is an artist

10. She is beautiful in her heart...

I could go on and on but I think you get the picture, she is a very special girl! I know she has had a great day and has enjoyed every minute of her special day. We thank God for giving us a daughter and that He gave us Sarah. Our prayer is that as she gets older she will fall in love with Jesus more and more.

Cantina (Mommy)

From Our kitchen to Yours....

This Wednesday will be our "Little Princess'" Birthday!! She loves Strawberries and so I thought I would share with you all one of her favorite recipes with Strawberries in it. This recipe was introduced to me by a dear sweet lady at our church and of coarse it is always much better when she makes it. Thank You Pat for sharing this recipe with us!! I hope you all will try it and let me know what you think.

"Easy" Strawberry Pie

2/3 cup of boiling water

1 pkg of Strawberry flavored gelatin (4-serving size)

ice cubes

1/2 cup of cold water

1 tub (8 oz.) whipper topping, thawed
1 cup of chopped Strawberries
1 ready to use graham cracker crumb crust

1 cup of sliced strawberries (optional)

Stir boiling water into dry gelatin mix in large bowl at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to cold water to measure 1 cup. Add to gelatin and stir until lightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Add whipped topping and stir with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in chopped strawberries. Refrigerate 20-30 min ir until misture is very thick and will mound. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight until firm. May top with sliced strawberries. Store in refrigerator.

Happy cooking!

Cantina

A nugget of God's truth...

To begin with let me tell you about these pictures. The other day Elijah (2 years old) found Bryan's Bible and off he went. Of coarse I just knew that when I found him the Bible would probably be destroyed. But this is how I found him!! I was in awe that he was "reading" the Word of God! I just had to capture the moment and share it with you all.

Now on to Hebrews... The next passage out of Hebrews that stuck out to me was Hebrews 6:13-15...

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

To begin with God made a promise with Abraham. What was that promise? That God would bless him and multiply him. Here's the catcher...Abraham was old and for God to multiply him would actually be a miracle. But I know that you probably know how the story goes...God does multiply Abraham by giving him a son, Isaac, when Abraham was 100 years old!! Verse 15 says After he had patiently endured,...Do you see that? God wasn't the candy man and immediately fulfill His promise. He waited.... Maybe God was watching Abraham or maybe He was wanting Abraham to grow in a certain area of his spiritual walk. Whatever the reason we must see that God is at work even if we have to wait. The question we should ask ourselves is "Am I glorifying God while I wait?" I truely believe that Abraham was "patiently" waiting and while he waited he was going to glorify God. Then the verse (15) tells us that he (Abraham) obtained the promise. God was and is faithful!! You see God does what He says He will do.

God spoke to me through this in that when He says to me that He is going to do something I can count on Him to follow through. Sometimes I am in those waiting moments and I have to and need to remind myself that He is still working. He will fulfill His promise I just need to glorify Him during the waiting and at all times.

Cantina

Timothy is 3 months old!

I can't believe Timothy is 3 months old today!! He is such a joy and delight to our family. He is such a good baby and a happy baby! He loves for you to talk to him and he will smile so big. God is so good and has blessed us beyond anything we deserve! It is blessing to watch Isaac, Sarah and Elijah enjoy him. We thought that Elijah would be jealous but God is good and Elijah is crazy about him! Bryan can't wait for him to get a little bigger so he can tag along with dad!!

4th of July at the Camp's

This is how it all started...Craig, Bud (Father), Joan (Mother), Rusty, Bryan (my hubby) and Aaron

Candice (Rusty's wife) and me showing our patriotic side.

Joan with her mother (grandmother Nell)

Stephanie holding Rusty and Candice's baby boy, Jameson.

Elijah could have stayed on the tractor all day. If he wasn't on it he was "fixing" it.

All the kids had to have a ride on the 4 wheeler.

Devin, Peyton and Sierra waiting for the fireworks to begin.

The not so small kids.

Roger and Lee Ann, Bryan's cousins.

Stephanie and Mia.

Our family!

Last night we had our 4th with Bryan's family. Bryan's parents (Pop and Gigi) have a pool so when we arrived it was time to swim. The pool was full of all the kids. Bryan's cousin Lee Ann and her family was there so that added three more children. While the kids were swimming Pop was busy grilling pork chops and chicken. Gigi was busy inside preparing all the fixings and running around like a busy bee. Pop and Gigi always go above and beyond to make everything so special. Thank you Pop and Gigi. Once the food was ready we headed inside to dry off and get to eating some grub. Everything was so delicious and there was PLENTY!! That's one thing about eating with the Camp's you never have to worry about running out of food. I guess Gigi learned that from having 4 boys that I am sure could put away some groceries. After the main meal there was pie and cake for desert. Sarah and I had made some white chocolate covered pretzels that everyone could snack on too. Once we finished eating and all we headed outside for some 4 wheeler riding and ping-pong. Then it was time for Rusty and Craig to head to the pasture to set off fireworks for everyone to enjoy. Elijah was so still and watched as the fireworks lit up the sky. Thank you Craig and Rusty for the firework show and the finale was great!!! Isaac even said this morning "The grand finale was awesome!!" Once the fireworks was over it was time to have home made ice cream and load up and head home. It was late and we had a 45 minute drive to make. Our kids had a blast and my prayer is that these memories will be cherished by my family and I for a lifetime.

Happy 4th of July

Cantina

Camp Lolikalahakki

The kids made 4th of July crafts.

All the kids loved playing outside.

We made s'mores.

Isaac and Daniel kept the fire going.

Camp counselors!!

Timothy just hanging out in the bouncer.

Sarah and Elijah playing in the Camp Pool.

The girls enjoyed playing dress up while the boys played on the Wii.

Our Youth minister and the Youth at our church are gone to Youth Camp this week so his wife did a Camp for their younger kids. She invited us to come and join them for a few hours. So we loaded up after nap time yesterday and headed to Jacksonville. When we arrived the girls wanted to play dress up and Isaac played football on the Wii. They had a blast! Then we went outside to roast hotdogs and have a picnic. Isaac and Daniel were in charge of making sure the fire didn't go out. It was a little hot but we managed to eat supper and I managed to chase after Elijah. After we ate the kids put on their swimsuits and got to enjoy the pool for awhile. Then it was time to dry off and fix up some s'mores. Those are my favorites!! So even the counselors (aka the moms) got to enjoy that. Last but not least we headed inside for a craft. The kids made cute 4th of July crafts to hang on the refrig. Sarah loves to make crafts, she could do a craft everyday!! After a full afternoon it was time to head home and get into bed. Thank you Lesters for inviting us to Camp.

Cantina