Hunting Update

 

Just a quick hunting update:

I am super excited and grateful for all that God has blessed us with this hunting season.  This is beyond anything that I could have imagined!  God blessed the guys with six deer while they were gun hunting, and one roadkill on the way back home.  That is a lot of meat!!!  The guys have been hanging/skinning/butchering for the past couple of days and there is even more to do tomorrow.  Lots of jerky in the making!  :) 

Also, I am super excited to announce (y'all have my permission to think I'm crazy - my family certainly does!) that I will be making haggis with a deer stomach, heart, lungs, and liver that I kept from the deer that I gutted.  For years, I have wanted to make this traditional Scottish dish, and I am so looking forward to the night that we can have it for dinner!   

This is the roadkill deer that they picked up on the way home.  What a beauty!

As a side note, I hope to be posting here more often.  :)  Hope y'all had a blessed Thanksgiving, and are enjoying a lovely December!  Stay warm! :)

Of Food, Friends, Frisbee, and Beautiful Moments

God is good.  Always.

 

Life has been an exciting rollercoaster journey lately.  Up and down.  I can't see around the next bend, and sometimes I really wish that I knew what is going to happen next.  But He is holy.  He is leading me, and He knows what is best for me. 

I have been learning of trust and the ever-gracious goodness of God lately.  He is sovereign in salvation, in the beautiful nature surrounding me wherever I go, in the big things in my life, and all of the way down to the tiniest details.  He is sovereign.  And I am grateful.

This summer has been stunningly gorgeous.  Time spent with the Lord, good books, sunsets, family time, business travels with my Papa, fun with friends, a date with my littlest men, lots of yummy food, getting my license and driving all by myself (*gasp!*), great music, and ultimate Frisbee.  Yes, it has been a good summer, a beautiful summer, a blessed summer.  :) 

I am looking forward to what autumn will bring...rustling leaves, soup on the stove, pie in the oven, late night cookouts, plaid scarves, a chilly breeze, and that incredible, unexplainable, happy feeling that only comes at this time of the year.  

But now for some photos from the last few weeks:  

Canoeing at the lake where my parents were married. 

Darling little cousins!  Simply ADORABLE.

Lookin' for trouble?  I think I found him.  :) 

He is seriously one of the cutest guys on the planet.  I'm sure you will agree with me. 

Happy babies blowing bubbles.  Never gets old.  :) 

The first time in history where all 5 of the Armour kids drove anywhere all by themselves.  Elijah is an excellent driver, and I'm an even better passenger seat driver.  :)  Haha!  :)

Heading out for a business trip with Papa, Elijah, and Jeremiah.

Time with Amanda is...long walks and longer talks...staying up late and getting up early... lots of laughing...and maybe a few minor disagreements, for example, about how fast (or, rather, how slowly) I drive.  Haha!  Love you, 'Manda!  You are so special.

I got to surprise and spend some time with this darling little friend of mine on her birthday.  SO FUN!

Travel food is yummy, but not as good as home cooking.  :)

We stopped by the Green Bay Packers' stadium while in Wisconsin.  It was pretty fun! 

Playing spoons in Derek's apartment.  I lost horribly.  :)

Up-high ponytails before bed.  :)

Off on my first date with these two handsome guys.  :)  They took good care of me and Christian said that I was "not allowed to open any doors all day."

We stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch...

...browsed some antique stores...

...checked out this old caboose, and went to the Monster's University movie (and died laughing) later that evening.  It was a fun, fun day!

My Grandma Great fell and fractured her pelvic bone, so had to stay in the hospital for a few days.  We visited her, and this is what the little guys did.  :)

I had a sweet time getting to know this lovely lady and shoot photos with her last week.  It was so enjoyable!

Sarah is such a dear girl!

Trying a new baked fish recipe.  It was delicious!

My kind of meal:

Grilled venison (my first time grilling venison!), crash potatoes, roasted cauliflower, grilled pineapple, and green beans.  Simply yum!

FRISBEE!  Always a highlight of my week!

These teams are very competitive (a friendly type of competition!) but Christian and Jonnie are right in there with all of the big people!

A-l-m-o-s-t there!

And the block by Christian Armour!  He's a great player!

Brother against brother.  Uh-oh!  :)

Thanks for reading.  :)

Have a blessed week, y'all!  May it be filled to over flowing with evidences of God's goodness and mercy. 

Life These Days {Blessed!}

 

Crazy, amazing, beautiful life and an unknown future...so grateful that I have a God, and not only a God, but God Almighty, my Heavenly Father, in control of my life. 

 

I have been reading through Foxe's Book of Martyrs lately.  Great conviction, blessing, and encouragement in those pages!  I read about John Hooper today and this beautiful quote gave me shivers as I read it:

 

"I have taught the truth with my tongue, and with my pen heretofore; and hereafter shortly shall confirm the same by God's grace with my blood."

-John Hooper

 

Then I finished the chapter.  As I read of Mr. Hooper's martyrdom, I was crying my eyes out! Never in my life have I cried while reading a book. I've come close before, but I couldn't hold it in today. I absolutely can not wait to meet this man someday!  Perseverance of the Saints constantly comes to mind as I read this book.

 

Another favorite quote from John Foxe:

 

"Wherein, if the power of man had prevailed, what could they not do?  Or what could they do more than they did? ...And yet, notwithstanding, to see how no counsel can stand against the Lord, note how all these be gone, and yet Christ and His Church doth stand."

 

In other unrelated news, I am getting better at multi-tasking!  I organized two drawers in my bathroom while brushing my teeth and listening to some of my favorite music.  Ok, so maybe not a big deal, but I thought it was funny.  :)  (To tell you the truth, though, I am horrible at multi-tasking and trying to work on that!)

 

While looking up some music from "The Hobbit" I came across "Leave No Man Behind" from "Black Hawk Down" (never seen the movie).  Oh. My. Goodness.  Definitely a new favorite here!  Very slow, but oh so beautiful.  Listening to it a lot these days.  :)

 



So now to bomb you with some pictures.  But don't worry.  There's not actually very many this time.  :)

These little cuties enjoyed a swim in our pond on a warmer day.  Love watching them splashing around!  It's the little things in life. 

Annnnd....now for the big warning:

Stay off the roads!  We now have three student drivers in the Armour home! 

Friday was a tough, looonnnggg, stressful, final-exam-taking kinda day.  After my exam was over, I baked gingersnaps, made some vanilla ice cream, and created this delicious little guy.  That made my evening a whole lot better! 

Soooo...Elijah and I decided to name one of the squirrels "Peterkin" after Ballantyne's humorous character in "The Coral Island". No one else likes the idea very much... :)

I'm thinking "Ralph" (another Ballantyne character in "The Coral Island", this name is also not going over very well...) for the other little guy, and we are having an impossible time coming up with names for the two little gals.  Help, please? 

We spent a sweet Sunday afternoon in the very spot my parents married nearly 24 years ago. Praise God for His incredible faithfulness! They are such a beautiful testimony of His grace.

 LOVE these awesome guys! They make me laugh like no one else can, and encourage me each day. Praise God for brothers! 

Super fun shot!  I love the genuine smiles.  They were having a ton of fun - Elijah pretending to dump Christian off his shoulders and Christian covering Elijah's eyes with his hand.  Sweet, sweet memories! 

Glorious spring day! 

Bye, y'all!  Have a blessed week full of joy in the Lord.  Worthy is the Lamb!!!

Of Sunsets, Headlights, Wipe-outs, and Amazon Adventures

 I had a full memory card when I went out to take pictures of this glorious sunset, so I had to go back and quickly delete several photos from the previous day. Yeah, that's always real fun! :)

Lovely bubbles! :) 

I made three large venison pot pies for dinner on Saturday.  I love cooking for people I love! :) 

It's time to pull out those wonderful summer skirts again.  That feels sooooo good! 

I must be a terrible photographer! I was lying in the middle of our road (it's not a busy road until I'm lying in the middle of it!) and just finished setting my camera for the *perfect* shot and I look through the viewfinder and see...headlights! They were a lot closer than they look in the picture. Yikes! I moved pretty fast, you may be sure. :) The guy just grinned and waved.  He probably thought I was nuts.  Maybe I am.  :)

Elijah, Jeremiah and I went on a bike ride this past weekend and I wiped out coming around a downhill curve on a gravel road.  I went sailing, so did my bike, and gravel went flying in all directions as I slid across the road.  The boys were waaaay up ahead (that's what I get for being out of shape!) so I was there, sprawled out on the road for several seconds thinking "please come back, please come back" and then they disappeared over the rise ahead.  (please feel sorry for me!)  :) I picked myself up, hobbled over to where my bike was, and proceeded up the road. The whole front of me was absolutely covered in that fine, country-road dust.  Looking back on it now, I suppose I must have been quite a funny sight! :) My hands are pretty beat up, and I have a few scrapes and bruises, but I'm ok.  I told Mama that some people (that means me ;) will do anything to get out of washing dishes.  :)  So that is my epic tale from last week.  :) 

I so enjoyed watching Christian and Jonathan spending some quality time together today, out in God's beautiful creation.  Love that flag! 

So, Archie has a new name.  We re-named her "Marjorie" after Archie's wife and we call her "Marji" for short.  It worked out quite well - I have my Henty character, and the boys have the feminine name they wanted. :)

Sure, let's just hang out here all day....silly cat! 

The mighty adventurers on a noble quest to spear all of the nasty snakes on the Amazon. :) I do believe that this qualifies as a hazardous journey. :) 

I love my brothers!!!!!! Aren't they absolutely adorable!?! How did I get such cute brothers, anyhow? I'm so blessed.

I think he got one!  :)