HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!

May the Lord bless you with much wisdom and more of Him in your 17th year!  We thank Him for the love for Jesus He has placed within your dear heart and the way in which you live out your faith before us all.  We love you and thank God for you.  We are SO blessed to have you!  Happy Birthday!

God, Wretchedness, and the Balance

I have recently been reading Pensees by Blaise Pascal, an apologia for the Christian faith.  I haven't gotten very far, but I have found it to be very interesting and I wanted to share a quote with you that I really liked:

"Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride.

Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair.

Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because He shows us both God and our own wretchedness."

My Bunny

When I was 6 or 7, my Grandma and Grandpa bought me this bunny and it has been special to me ever since.  Just this year, the boys have enjoyed setting it up in different positions.  They are a never-ending source of enjoyment to me and I love their sense of humor.  Life just isn't the same without brothers to make it better!  So here are some photos of the "misery" that they have put my poor bunny through!  :)  ENJOY!  :)

Eating my almonds...

...reading my mail...

...eating my breakfast..

...helping with my Greek...

...I guess that it got some interesting styling ideas...

...it has been shot once...

...twice (the boys just had to have something "gruesome"!)...

...and my poor bunny was finally executed and, as Jonnie put it, "eaten for supper".

Though it may look a bit "gruesome" in these last few photos, it is all in fun and it makes my day!

I hope that everyone has a blessed weekend.

To God be the Glory,

Hannah



Hunting at the Richter's

Last night and part of today, we were out at the Richter's because the boys were hunting.  It was nice to be out in the woods and to experience God's creation, though I now know that thorns are more of a curse (Genesis 3:18) than I ever realized!  :)  Here are some pictures of our time:

  

  The moon was full and beautiful last night.  In the picture above, I love the swirl effect of the clouds. 

The sunrise was lovely...

...and so are these two girls with their lovely smiling faces. 

...Waiting. 

Do you see little Mr. Chipmunk?  These guys were all over the forest! 

"Kynna" 

Jeremiah climbed the Richter's apple tree and picked apples for all of us on the ground. :)

Jeremiah was tossing apples to Amanda... 

...so Jeddy decided that he wanted to catch one, too! 

Elijah took Jeddy into the lowest branches and let him pick a couple of apples.  Jeddy sure did love that! 

Thanks, Ashlyn, for taking this photo!  You did a great job!

Leaf Piles and Photos

It is the typical fall weather today - perfect, breezy, and beautiful!  :) We were outside playing in the leaves - that is to say, the boys were raking leaf piles for fun while I was snapping pictures!  They ended up making three huge leaf piles and combining them into one giant pile.  I, the photo-crazy older sister :)  just had to have them pose for some pictures, which they very willingly did ( I have wonderful brothers!).  Mama got some pictures of all of us kids in the leaf pile and we had a really great time!  I love fall, but I hate to think of what is coming afterwards - at least for us northerners! 

I hope y'all have a very blessed weekend.

To God be the Glory,
Hannah

A cute little grasshopper that the little guys found.

(at least, I think he's cute)

He's truly an incredible creation that brings glory to God!

Those silly dogs :)

Chillin' out after a "hard day's work".

...and there is the dog again, chasing her poor brother.  :)

And the hard-working Jonnie-boy.

I love all of the different leaf colors!

This is a very small maple tree growing in our neighbor's yard.

Barrel Racing

Last night, while the boys hunted, I had the opportunity to attend a Jackpot Barrel Race with the Richters.  It was amazing fun, and, since I've never really been to any sort of horse show, it was very interesting.  I was able to get some pictures, though I'm afraid that they are not the best quality ever.  :)

I took this about ten minutes or so before the actual competition began while everyone was getting their horses accustomed to the arena.

I was pretty close to where they were running, so I was nearly hit by flying dirt more than once when they made the turn.

I had some fun with the kids who did not want their picture taken!  :)

Yes, we took turns wearing Mr. Richter's cowboy hat.  :)

Running "home".