HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JOSHY BOY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!
i hope you have a wonderful day!! i miss you! :)

*sigh*

my Christmas totally rocked the house!! how 'bout all of y'alls? we went to visit my dad's family all the way in ny (btw, i love new york! :])...yay for 7 hours sitting in the car.... :P it was so much fun, and totally worth the ride! :) we drove all Christmas day, and got there around 5, just in time for a lovely turkey dinner! it was really awesome to see my cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents again! the last time we saw our cousins was probably...oh...two springs ago, maybe more, so it's been a while. it was pretty cool to see how everyone changed so much! at various times during our trip, we saw all 4 of the families who are in new york, and also cousins from texas and ohio! :) it was so much fun! the day after Christmas (wednesday), we hung out at our cousin's house (the one we were staying at) all day. it was nice just to chill and have fun. we went for our 1 3/4 mile jog/walk thing, and play scene it! :) on thursday, we hung out at the church all day with 3 ny fams, the oh fam, and the tx fam came between lunch and dinner. it was lots of fun playing soccer, hockey, ultimate dodge ball, sardines, and all-church tag! you definitely get a workout when you're with cousins (especially dad's side! :D). friday, everyone was there and we went to ha (on the way there, we saw silos, whales and elephants :]) and played dodge ball, soccer and this kickball-ish game at the gym, had lunch there and took a ride on a bus (complete with gates and tickets! :D). we went roller skating (not blading, totally different), and that was a blast! sososososo much fun! :D i love my family so much! my knees are now sufficiently bruised, but it was totally worth it! it was only my 2nd time roller blading/skating, and it was a lot of fun! :) the guys there had a bunch of fun games, and they actually played contemporary Christian music for us! after, we took the bus back to ha, played more dodge ball, had dinner, and watched "monsters, inc." in the auditorium. at the moment, i was pretty sore, and have bruises all over (including, but not limited to, my knee, hip and arm), but it feels so good to have gotten some really good, hard exercise! on saturday, we hung out for the morning and grandma and grandpa and the tx fam came over for a little bit. we left at 12:30 for our drive home. :( it took us 10 hours to get home. it was ridiculous. we stopped something like 6 times, really different from our 1 stop on the way there. oh well, we're home safe and sound, thanks for all your prayers! we had a wonderful time, and i really miss my cousins now! :( it was great to see them, though, and i can't wait for the next time we're going to get together again! :) hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and happy new year to everyone if i don't get to it later! :D

merry CHRISTmas, everyone!

hope you all have a wonderful and blessed CHRISTmas! don't forget the real reason, Jesus came down to be like and one of us, to live a perfect life and to die, just so we could have a relationship with Him and be with Him forever!
oh if y'all could pray for my family and i, we're driving to see my dad's side of the family, it's about a 8+ hour drive, so just pray for safety, patience and a great time while we're there (we're coming back saturday). thanks! :)

"The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood."
[-john 1:14; the message]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
{not happy holidays. :P}

be seen...be heard...be hungry...do the famine

we're doing the 30 hour famine again!! :D i love it! so much fun! :) for all of you who don't know, world vision's 30 hour famine is where we raise money (by people sponsor/giving us money) to fast (not eat) for 30 hours. the money we raise goes to feed people all over the world who can't eat. my goal this year is to raise $1000.
famine facts-- (1) $1 can feed a child for 1 day-- (2) $30 can feed a child for a month-- (3) one child dies from hunger every 6 seconds (that's seconds, people!)-- (4) we're doing something to help (check out more hunger facts)
i am so excited for this year. it'll be my 3rd year doing it. the first year, i raised $391, last year i raised $835, and this year (as i mentioned before) i hope to raise more than $1000. it's defiantly worth it to go with out food for only 30 hours to help, when kids are dying all over the world from not having any food. this year, we're doing it from february 22-23, 2008. please consider helping out kids who are starving right now. if you want to help by sponsoring me, just leave a comment and i can get you more info! also, check out the famine movie on their website (click on the "watch video" button).

we're going hungry so they don't have to.
world vision's 30 hour famine.
february 22-23, 2008.

:D

just in case you haven't noticed...i'm still alive! lol! :)

CHRISTmas!!

only a couple more days 'till CHRISTmas!! yeay! :) don't forget the real reason on CHRISTmas! Christ came down to be like us, sinful humans, even though He was God, just because He loved us enough. that's seriously amazing love. and then He died for us, talk about crazy amazing love! just so we could be with Him forever! that's just...wow...don't forget this amazing love among the other material gifts this Christmas season!

news!! :D

ahem, this public announcement is brought to you be....ummm....me!! so, i'm pretty (well...maybe really!) excited at the moment!! i have a new member of my family of...um...one?! anyways, i am now the proud owner of a beautiful Nikon D100!! yes, yes, i know! amazing!! i am so loving it! :D so, you all have many posts with pictures to look forward to!! :)













along with my camera news, i'd also like to unveil my new blog specifically for pictures! (it's just a demo at the moment, i'm not sure how long it'll stay for, but enjoy it while it's here!!) so, go check out TORi DUTt's PHOtOS!! :)

Happy Birthday Naomi!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR NAOMI!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!
{yes, i know it's late...my bad...}
hope you had an awesome birthday naomi!! love ya!
...
so...last friday-saturday (december 14-15), naomi had her birthday sleepover with a couple friends! it was fun! she got alex rider (if you've been reading ashlee's blog, too, you'll know what i'm talking about!). it's a pretty stinkin' awesome movie! :) anyways, her party was a lot of fun, and i got a couple pretty good shots...here are a few...
























(so much fun to shoot in the snow!!...even though it's a little cold...)

(i like the cake ones...)

...yea...

i want to post more pictures...but our laptop crashed, and so we're getting our hard drive replaced now, and so it's kinda difficult to post pictures from our windows98 pc, and so i'm not...um, yea. so...only 4 days till Christmas vacation!! yeay!! i was going to write about something, but now i've forgotten...i had a math test yesterday, a history test today and i have to present a history project next tuesday...so that's what's going on in school at the moment...oh, and i have a literature essay, too...well, i have some news, but i can't post about it till i get a picture, so you all will have to be patient and wait with baited breath (is that how you say it?? i don't know!). ummm, i got my progress report...it's pretty good...i guess...privleges rocks!! :D today's really warm and tomorrow we're supposed to have a snow storm...insane ne weather...i think that's all i have to say...for now...I LOVE SOCCER!

a poem

here's a poem i got in an e-mail. it was written by a girl who had cancer and only had a limited amount of time to live. it really gives you something to think about...
~*~*~
SLOW DANCE
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,'Hi'
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
~*~*~
wow...i really need to slow down, and enjoy life and live to the fullest 'cause today isn't going to be here for long and tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

:D

it's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

:D

yea,...my bad...

sorry i haven't posted in such a long time...i've been kinda busy with school (i have 2 projects to work on and another one that we just learned about...good times...) and the stinkin' awesome conference that we just had this weekend (which hopefully i'll be able to post about soon...) and just life in general...hopefully i'll have some pretty cool changes to the blog soon...our laptop is acting up, so once we figure out what's wrong and get it working again, i might be able to work on it and post some more pictures (i just took some pretty cool ones from ashlee and meghan's fencing class that i visited today!). so, just a brief random note about the conference, so we had it this weekend, friday night, all day saturday and sunday morning. on friday, lamar did a concert which was fun, and our "band" played a couple songs. we only had one church (other than us) and 2 people show up, but it was a lot of fun anyways. so saturday, we had more music, food and our speaker, dwight knight (he's awesome!) did a couple sessions. we still only had us, the other church and a couple random people. but it was fun anyways! the other church was a lot of fun, and they just rock (without going into much detail!). we also had some game time at LCA where there was a basketball tournament and a big soccer game (which is always fun!! :]) and a lot of fun and interesting experiences. sunday we had regular church, but dwight talked for sunday school and for the praise and worship service. he was great!! so, that's the reader's digest version of our weekend, hopefully i'll be able to go into detail and tell you all all the funny and just regular stories that came with it (and you'll get a big long post, too! such a deal!!). so, anyways, sorry i haven't been posting as much, hopefully you haven't totally deserted me, :( and stay tuned for posts, pictures, and changes!! have a great night! :]

more pictures...

here are a couple more pictures i've taken since the last time i posted...


































































































































more to come....i have to go to bed....

a sardines game to go down in history...

so, last night, we had youth group...we were preparing for the youth conference that's next weekend. after we were mostly done, we played sardines!! it is sooooo fun!! especially in a really dark church with a bunch of crazy teens!! so, we went through a couple rounds, some easy, some not too easy, but not terribly difficult, until, *dundundunnnn* sophie and kaeleigh hid (*gasp!*). yes, you all should be very scared! lol!! everyone was searching for at least 20 minutes, and no one had found them. now, our church is not exactly huge, so everyone was really confused, we had searched all the church at least 10 times!! no one was disappearing, it was rough. then, bekah and i were searching in the secret passage way, and all of a sudden, we hear a scream. i recognized it as kaeleigh. we were confused, we had already check everywhere back there, where were they?? we decided to check the only place no one had check yet, the robe closet *dundundunnnnn*. turns out, that's where they were!! what do you know! so, we were the 1st to find them! :) go bekah and me!! lol! so, we hung out there for at least 15 minutes, if not more, until kevin found us! it's a pretty small closet, so it was awkward and hot in there. lots of fun! lol! before kevin found us, we said we were going to get out at 8:00 if no one found us (it was 7:45 when we said that), and kevin found us around 7:55. people were calling us to find out where we were, it was pretty funny! we tried to call kevin, but he wasn't picking up...anyways, everyone finally found us, it was one of the longest rounds i've ever played! ...it was a sardines game to go down in history!

i think i'm dreaming...

yesterday, i went to see a camera...and i brought it home with me! one of the men at my church, grandpa jack, offered to sell me a Nikon D100 camera, lens, and flash for $400 (i think...somewhere around there...)!!!! this is an insanely amazing price, because all together, it would cost a couple thousand $$ full price!! what a blessing! :) so, yesterday i went to see it, and he gave me a quick overview, and now i'm basically test driving it!! i love it!! it's really awesome, and i'm having so much fun!! here are some of the pictures (i know, not the best, but i'm still learning, and i haven't even had it for 24 hours yet!!)
elias-


























kevin (haha, i got you!)-


























brianna (she was trying really, really hard to blow that bubble!)-













frustration













music-


























naomi-













bekah-


























today--


























ashlee-

happy thanksgiving!!!

thanksgiving's here!! hope you all have a wonderful day!! don't forget to thank God for all the amazing gifts He's blessed us with!! :D

SNOW!

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IL NEIGE!! YEAY!!!!! this is a very happy time!! :D I love the snow (although some other people *coughcollincough* aren't so happy. :( ) yea, so i just thought i'd post a very happy post for y'all!!! IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!! :D

random...random...

only 2 more days of school till thanksgiving vacation!! yeay!!! i love my family! they rock! oh my gosh, rascal flatt's music video to their song "what hurts the most" is soooooooo sad!! :( we're have a youth conference at our church from november 30-december 2 and i'm sooo excited!! (if you want info, e-mail me!!) lamar is doing music (along with our youth group band!) and dwight knight is going to be speaking!! he is a great speaker!! i am sooooooo pumped!! :D anyways...hopefully i'll have time to post during the week!! :) toodles!!
oh yea, btw, here's a random graphic i made...

p.s. this is my 400th post!!

to do...to do...to do...

my to do list...
*actually post
*probably finishing posting about camp would be an awesome idea...
*post the board the enemy plane movie and concert movies...
*spend time with my family
*work on literature project
...among other things...

courage...

i thought this was good...

nothing...

i have nothing really to post about...school's going pretty well...soccer's almost over, i'm happy and sad at the same time...maybe i'll actually get some time once it's over...but i love playing...hopefully i'll be able to play indoor...naomi has a game tonight, under lights...should be pretty fun! :) i got my progress report...if you seriously want to know my grades...e-mail me...well, i guess i'll talk to you all later! :)

I am a messenger of the beauty of creation. -Thomas Robinson
...capture the beauty of creation...

templates

just a totally random thing i've noticed....everyone seems to be changing around their blog templates lately...they've found some pretty cool ones, too...i kinda wish i could do that too, just change my template on a whim, but i can't...i guess i just like mine and like the way it's set up and don't want to touch it...maybe i just don't like change...oh well, this is me, take it or leave it!

anyways...here're 2 cool avatars...

I GOT TO MEET BARLOW GIRL!!

the concert was just stinkin' AWESOME!!! tfk was pretty good, they're pretty hard rock, and i couldn't really understand a thing they were saying, but it was awesome anyways!! barlow girl, man, they TOTALLY ROCKED MY SOCKS OFF!! they were awesome!! they're my favoritest band ever, and i was soooo excited to see them!! they were really awesome in concert!! during one of their songs, sophie and i went up to the front, and i took a couple pictures. when we first got up there and security guy told we could take a couple pictures, but then we had to go back to our seats. i was just like, "THANK YOU!!" it was a great concert! toby mac played after them, and he totally rocked, too!! it's so hard to describe concerts, other than they totally rocked...ashlee and i took a lot of movies, so we might be able to post some of them on our blogs...that would be awesome! the lights and music were awesome!! after toby mac was "done," everyone cheered for something like a whole minute +, and he came back out and did something like 4 more songs!! it was awesome!! the last song was "Jesus freak," and during the last chorus, he went out and rand through the audience, and he was literally 2 feet beside me, and i didn't see him until he was in the middle of the chairs in the middle. :( oh well, he was awesome!! i went up to maine with caleb, joel, their parents and caleb u, and it was pretty fun! we listened to veggie tales, toby mac and switchfoot, and it was funn!! :) anyways, after the concert, we actually got to meet the barlows!! they are awesome!! they're really nice! lauren shook everyone (except for my) hands! dad told them that we played for our youth group and becca wanted to know what instruments we played!! they were really cool and down to earth! they signed a big poster i had and the book i had, too! they thought reuben was really cute, and they really liked him!! :) oh, at the beginning of the concert, i discovered that i didn't have any batteries!! so, ashlee kindly lent my some of hers, and she and i shared them for the whole concert. i got them for barlow girl, and she got them for toby mac. so i only have pictures of tfk and barlow girl, and ashlee has pictures of toby mac. anyways, here are some of them...

thousand foot krutch

barlow girl!!!

i had so much fun, and praise God that we got there and back safely!! oh, lauren talked about how we are a "chosen generation" (-1 peter 2:9), and how we are called to shake the world up and not just wait for someone else to do it for us (i taped half of her speech, so hopefully, i can share it soon). it was a really good message!! praise God for people like the barlows and toby mac who are willing to shake things up for Him! :D