Family Photo shoot {sneak peek}

 

Scenes from Spring

... I have learned To look on nature, not as in the hour 

Of thoughtless youth; but hearing often-times 

The still, sad music of humanity, 

Nor harsh, nor grating, though of ample power 

To chasten and subdue. 

William Wordsworth

A hymn of praise

One of our family favorite's is Matt Maher's modern hymn, Christ is Risen, which is of course, perfect for this time of year, as we remember and give thanks for the great sacrifice our Great Savior, Jesus, made on our behalf.

Christ IS Risen!!  Happy Passion Week friends (a bit early I know)!!

You can read my passion week posts, on my blog.





-Abby for the rest of the Kautt Krew 

C + C Forever!!

Hungry For Change

From now until midnight March 31st, the entirety of Hungry For Change, can be viewed on their website.  Please take time to watch this important film, and share it with your family and friends!  It is powerful and transformative. 

Picture post

Grace

"Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves... the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship....

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sough again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock...

It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life." 

 Dietrich Bonhoeffer {The Cost of Discipleship}  

Happy Birthday Phoebe!!

Phoebe is celebrated a birthday this last week -- She's 17 (can you believe that???)

She is creative and yet careful with her words

She is athletic and beautiful

She is determined and diligent

She has amazing talents -- dancing, baseball, music, graphic design, photography, videography, attention to details, patience with little ones, good listener, and so many others

She's quiet and loving

An amazing bowler, left handed

 She's also a wonderful friend and companion

She's one of my two sisters :)

She has a special relationship with this little man - Dean, whom she baby sat for about a year

She has a passion for Truth

She has a great sense of humor and loves to have fun

---------------------

Phoebe, you are an amazing gift to our family, and I am so grateful that 17 years ago, the Lord answered my 5-year-old prayers for a sister, with you!

You are my best friend, my confidante, my pilgrim through this world.

I love you!

Happy Birthday and many many more dear.

abby xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Yesterday was Daddy's birthday, and the day before that was of course, Fathers Day.  Sadly, I was too busy to blog about both of those events on their day... so I will combine them into one post. :)

Happy Birthday to you!!! Happy Birthday to you!!! Happy Birthday dear Papa!!! Happy Birthday to you!!! :)  

This is what I said on Facebook Sunday:

You are courageous, passionate about Jesus, loving towards people, patient, a good provider, and funny! I love you to the moon and back.

And of course, he is a lot of other things as well.  Those are just a few of the qualities that came to mind.

I am so glad Daddy that we got to spend both Fathers day and your birthday with you!  You are the best Dad in the whole universe, and I am so thankful for you!!

Lots of love,
Abby xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

An evening of fellowship

 On Monday evening, we enjoyed a cookout with some dear friend's of ours, the owners of the Local Yocal, a locally grown foods shop in downtown.  They treated us to some grass-fed beef hamburgers, and sides, and homemade Cinnamon/Peach ice cream.  We had a lively discussion about compost, since Matt's background is Agriculture.... Yes, we engage in some strange convos. ;) 

Phoebe-dear watches the H.'s youngest son, Dean (pictured in the college above).  He'll be two pretty soon, and is an active little guy.  The H.'s also have two older children, Abby (10) and Austin (8) who enjoyed playing with Jaden.  They had a "warm welcome" planned for our family upon our arrival - confetti pops and poppers. 

If you live in or near McKinney, please stop in and support our friends' business.  They have some great products for sale, and the store is just a neat place to pop into from time to time. :) 

Thank you Matt, Heather and kiddos for a delightful evening of fellowship!  Y'all are such a blessing to our family. 

Do you ever worry?

I wrote a blog post earlier this week, expressing my thoughts on what we are going through right now, as a family.  You can read the post at my blog.  I wanted to share it here, but was experiencing technical difficulties.

Stop SOPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Sir/Madame,

I am contacting you today concerning H.R. 3261 S.O.P.A which allows the federal government the power to shut down the internet.  I find this to be an encroachment on the freedom of the press, and we the people’s ability to challenge the traditional forms of media, by doing our own research.

In my estimation, S.O.P.A  is Orwellian and another way for the government to fear monger, and intimidate average Americans into the believing that these kinds of laws are helpful for the future of our nation.

I would strongly urge you to VOTE AGAINST S.O.P.A (H.R. 3261) when it comes to the floor for debate later this month.

Please take a stand for the future of America’s freedom!
Sincerely,
_________________

I would strongly urge you my fellow readers to contact your representatives and senators and urge them to vote AGAINST S.O.P.A (H.R. 3261) when it comes to the floor for debate on the 24th.  You can find out more information here.

Happy Birthday Jaden!

With Johanna in Vicksburg, admiring a house they liked.

Jaden is a semi-expert on weaponry.  He enjoyed posing next to this cannon in Vicksburg.

A self-portrait with my phone

Cheesy smile, but still sincere

Jaden and I, about to go to the park for some outdoor recreation

He’s becoming quite expert at the swing.   He enjoys the thrill of jumping out and landing safely.

Johanna, Jaden and I at the park.  It was rather blustry that day.

Jaden having a uniquely Japanese experience, eating Green Tea ice cream with chopsticks!  We visited friends of our uncle who live in Birmingham, and they treated our family to some authentic Japanese food.

Jaden and a Chinese dragon, at the National Missionary Convention, Atlanta Georgia.  I took him for several strolls around the exhibit hall, due to his restlessness.

We found a kids station at the NMC and he spent a lot of time creating cool things out of the toys they had there.

He was so proud of his creation!  Jaden is very creative, and loves to build things.

With Phoebe, reading plaques at the USS Cairo memorial in Vicksburg.  He was fascinated by this gun boat that was sunk during the Civil War.

In downtown, enjoying the festivities of Dickins of a Christmas, and the race Caleb ran in.

He has begged me to take his picture on this spiraled staircase in downtown many times.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving afforded us an opportunity, and it turned out to be a cute picture of Jaden.

One of his favorite things… with Caleb. Legos!  For his birthday, he got a huge trains set.  He’s in love.

Posing beside his new set!

Jaden joined our family nine years ago tonight.  I was excited to be a big sister once again, and it has been my privilege to help take care of him from the time he was just a few hours old.

Funny thing: our family held a contest of sorts in the days leading up to his birth, whoever guessed the day nearest to the actual day of his birth got to give him his first bath and dress him.  I choose December 17th, and two days later he was born.  I got to bathe and dress him.  Such a sweet memory.

J — Jovial, joyous, just goofy
A — Alert, always ready to play Legos, all-boy
D – Daring, darling, dimpled, dandy
E – Eager, earnest, ever-ready to assist Caleb or spend time with his chicken
N – Now nine, naturally a lover of outdoor activity, neat in his dress

He’s my little brother, and its hard for me to believe he’s growing up so quickly, the years have slipped past and I look back upon them with fondness.

Happy Birthday Jaden!  I love you.