Huber Family

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2009-11-17T10:46:00.003-06:00

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A Few Things We are Attempting to Learn this Summer...

2009-06-25T08:30:00.007-05:00

We have been trying to learn more about God's design for everything. It is like going back in time and trying to get to the basics or foundations in every area of life. I have found that I am often asking my Heavenly Father what is His design; whether it be food, marriage, family, animals etc. It has definitely been very eye opening and even though God is so complex He has such "simple" principles to follow. The day in which we live, the "improvements" in personal care products, cleaning products, food etc. they not only hurt our bodies but trap us into having to work so hard to make more money to spend waaaaaaaaay too much money! When we as individuals, churches, or nations get away from His design we really smart for it and get so entangled in complicated messes. So, all that to say we are SIMPLIFYING our lives. Using things more natural like making our own laundry soap, liquid hand soap, (not too happy with the dishwashing liquid so far), dish washer soap (really cheap) learning about heirloom seeds and saving seeds to replant, making deodorant (btw--it really works!) by using simple natural ingredients in my pantry :) I am finding that God placed us here on earth with all the things that we need to take care of our needs. Though there are many natural items for sale, they are very pricey and so we have been learning what we can do to make what we can... so, that has been keeping us busy...learning, learning, learning :)

A lovely English/Scottish tea time

2009-06-23T20:58:00.005-05:00

What a lovely afternoon Kristalyn, Kaylianna and I had going to Mary-Ellen's home for a special tea time. During our special time together, Mary Ellen shared many memories of her growing up in England and the traditions of tea times. We had a delightful and relaxing afternoon with delicious traditional foods. We were very spoiled! Since Kaylianna was sick earlier in the year when we all went out together, Mary Ellen had promised a special tea for her. Boy, did she make it special! The girls received beautiful flowers, little personal animal creamers, and cute little Engllish Lustre Carlton Ware pieces from a collection she has and little miniature tea pots of her very own that were adorable. These memories will always be special in the lives of my girls! There is no way that I can even express the value that the Long's have given to all my children. It is sad that we live so many miles from the children's grandparents and certainly no one can replace them but God has truly blessed us with adopted grandparents in the Longs and we are truly grateful!

A whole week of birthday celebrations :)

2009-04-02T08:50:00.016-05:00

We started off the birthday celebrations with "the girls" having a luncheon together at the Guenther House. Since both sets of Grandparents are in IL, John and Mary-Ellen have "adopted" the kids as their grandchildren. So Mary-Ellen planned a special outing to celebrate Katherine's birthday. We had a delightful day! Thank you Mary-Ellen!

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It was such a treat to have Megan visit from Illinois during the week of Katherine's birthday! The day before her birthday they were able to go bowling and play volleyball with some dear "old" and new friends. She was surprised by her brothers with a birthday cake and celebration. (Thank you Carole for picking up the cake for us). Of course the rest of us wanted to celebrate her 21st birthday with her so we planned a birthday dinner and had the Roberts' family over to celebrate with us :) It was also Tonya's birthday the next day so we just did a double celebration.

~ It took 2-3 people to keep the b'day hat on Katherine for more than 5 seconds

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Next came Dad's birthday. We started the day off with delicious pancakes with berries and whipped cream topping for breakfast (thank you Kristalyn). Then we all headed for church and met Vince and Nikkae there. Because of it being the 5th Sunday, the church does a meal afterwards so we just told Rick that everyone in the church was celebrating his birthday with him with all kinds of desserts :) :) And what a grand celebration it was! It was also a special day for us as we joined our hearts with the church family of 1st Baptist Church in Floresville and became members. How blessed we have been by the God's people there. Later in the evening Nikkae and Vince came over to continue to celebrate Dad's birhtday so we ate chili and made homemade ice cream with fresh milk from our dairy cow (mmmmmmm) and then opened presents and played games.

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And last, or at least for a few days, Jonathan's birthday. We tried to think of something different and also trying to make it possible for Nikkae and Vince to be a part of the celebration we decided to surprise Jonathan by having a party at Nikkae's house. We had pizza, salad and cheesecake and played some games together. It was a truly fun and enjoyable evening (especially since I won the game I played :)

A special thank you to Adam and Amy who ALWAYS send a card and have not missed one of our birthdays...yet :) That is pretty amazing when there is so many of us!!! And to all who have celebrated with us, sent cards, gifts and many birthday wishes during these special celebrations! Your friendship is treasured !

quilting, company, used library book extravaganza

2009-03-09T18:13:00.015-05:00

Some recent highlights have been Kristalyn finishing her quilted table runner this week and making some material decorated cards. Also having Uncle Mark and Aunt Linda over for a visit before they move back to Nashville :( Linda was able to join us (girls) for our Monday quilting. What fun we had together!

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Earlier this week we were informed of a used library book sale so we (Kristalyn, Brenton, Benjamin and me (Mom) headed over for a special "treasure" hunt. We prayed that God would bless us and allow us to find great books for a great price...and He did! ! !

Birthday ...

2009-02-25T10:18:00.005-06:00

God has blessed our family through the years with very special brothers and sisters in Christ. This last 6 months have been no different. We have grown to love and appreciate the friends and fellow-laborers in Christ that we have worshiped with the last few months. God has been so good to minister to our needs and help heal some wounds through the last year as we have served with these families. It was a privilege for our family to show a little of our love and appreciation by surprising John and Amos for their birthday. We truly appreciate their love for the Lord and His people. What an example of sacrifice they are. We love and appreciate you guys and your families! May God continue to bless you both.

Catching you up to date...sort-of

2009-02-24T12:10:00.012-06:00

A couple of weeks ago a friend so graciously gave us four turkeys. Anthony and I (Jonathan) were given the chore of butchering them and what an experience it was! Thankfully we only had to skin them instead of trying to pluck them. :) They ended up tasting good which was a great blessing.

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One highlight, of my year thus far, is attending Leah Macias' birthday party. There were many words of encouragement directed towards Leah, but I (Anthony) think somehow Leah was a huge encouragement to all of us. I was awed by her testimony and deep passion for the Lord. I left there extremely encouraged. Thank you Macias family for the invite. Leah, keep following after Jesus, and may your love for Him grow everyday. I know He has special plans for you.

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Last Tuesday Anthony, Jonathan, Kristalyn and I (Katherine) went with a few friends to the "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang" play that was here in SA. We had a few errands to run beforehand and we still made it downtown 1 -1/2 hours early. Just a little early :) We used our time wisely and took some pictures of each other. :) Thanks Tim, Cara, Peter, Zack, and Jacqueline for coming with us. We all had a wonderful time. When we returned home I was very disappointed we didn't get a group picture. :(

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Just a little excursion to the Pecan Park. When the older ones are gone we find our own entertainment :)

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This year Anthony and I (Jonathan) had the privilege to run track. We are not only running but Anthony is doing high jump and I am doing pole vault. It has been quite the experience for both of us! We had our first track meet last Thursday which was scheduled from 4:00 - 10:00 p.m. but ended up going three hours over with an hour and fifteen minute drive home. We are very grateful for the opportunity to participate this year.

Football Banquet!

2009-01-29T11:05:00.011-06:00

Last Friday was a very special evening. It was the annual Football Banquet. The football banquet is one of our highlights of the year and I'm not even a player. :) The evening was spent thanking the Lord for the many blessings throughout the year and praising our guys for their effort, character, discipline and teamwork. The F.E.A.S.T. Patriot's football team is a team that does more than just instill the love of "the greatest game on earth" but it also gives spiritual discipleship, camaraderie, and some positive "peer pressure" :) We always have so much fun reminiscing about the past year, watching a highlight video made by the Seniors and just spending the evening together. :) Our family is thankful for the opportunity to be apart of such a wonderful organization.

-The Seniors from 2008 -

Special Memories! :)

2009-01-13T12:44:00.014-06:00

The quietness on our blog has been by no means because of quietness in our lives. On the contrary, it has been quite busy around here. Many events have happened that have been delightful and exciting while others have been... maybe not so delightful to say the least. One thing is for sure, God is busy refining and purifying our hearts and minds and that is very painful but then again, the outcome is beautiful fruit . This life here on earth is a vapor (James 4:14) and we continually need to be reminded of eternity.

Well, on to a few of the highlights in the weeks past:

The first of January we enjoyed wonderful fellowship at the Clark's home with, I'm guessing, 200+ people. What a wonderful day of fellowship, food, and fun! We have been blessed tremendously by God to have known so many believers that are endeavoring to follow Christ in all of their lives. What a privilege to have such a network of Christians. We spent the day sharing one another's burdens, praying together, playing volleyball, football, basketball, board games and the littlest ones enjoyed all of Jacqueline's play horses for hours. (sorry no pics, forgot the camera)

The next "big" event was having a group of eleven come from Illinois for a week to do the sound for the SA Christian Film Festival. Of course this was not just "any" group, it was a very special group of friends from our church in IL. We have cultivated very close friends over the years and truly count it a privilege any time we are able to spend time with them :) We also enjoyed the company of Mark Inyart for an evening from Houston. We also enjoyed a visit from the Zes family the following week. It was great to see you all!

The week started with lots of food preparation with the girls and then had some memorable times touring San Antonio for an afternoon, late night chats, football, and scrapbooking for Brandon's senior football album. What fun that was as we ALL sat around the 10 foot table with different "jobs". Sweet memories!! Thanks everyone. The album turned out awesome.

Mom's birthday just happened to be right in the middle of the busy week :) Anthony and I had a house to clean in Boerne (on mom's b'day) somehow we convinced Ethan and Anna to come along with us for the job. We cleaned for a good 4 hours and then decided we were going to reward ourselves with a couple volleyball games in the sand court next door ... IF the owners of the court would allow us...and they so graciously did! :) We were pretty funny out there to say the least. After a few games, we went to get a bite to eat and on our trip home we decided at the last minute to watch a "deep sea" creature film at the IMAX. I think I laughed too hard that day! Thanks Ethan and Anna for coming along, even though you probably didn't have cleaning on your list to do on vacation! :) When we arrived home there was a nice, special dinner all ready for mom's b'day celebration. The table was decorated and a yummy cake. Thank you Kristalyn, Jessica, Joanna, and Elizabeth for all the work you did to make Mom's day special. It was a wonderful feeling knowing everything was taken care of at the house (kids included) :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Hope you had a good day, aside from the busyness of the day. WE LOVE YOU! :)

A special thank you to John and Mary Ellen Long for the birthday hat that started a new family tradition, I, (Katherine) hope that it gets lost before my birthday :) Otherwise, I am seriously thinking about hiding it !!
That's it for this post! Stay tuned, because there is more to come. :)

Nativity scene

2008-12-17T10:49:00.007-06:00

The Riggs family has continually blessed our family in many ways.
When the opportunity arose to serve them in a small way, mom quickly volunteered us. It's not everyday we (the older kids) get to play dress up. While I'm sure we didn't do the real nativity scene justice, we tried our best. I think it turned out quite nice-don't you? :)

Majella

2008-12-12T12:19:00.014-06:00

After attending the Majella Benefit Gala up in Austin, I will never look at the topic of abortion in the same way! Don't get me wrong, I knew that I was pro life, and that the issue of abortion was a major threat facing the future of America, but I guess I never really put much thought into it! The issue always seemed distant-- one that wouldn't effect me. I certainly do not look at it that way anymore! After I had the privilege of attending the fundraiser last year in Austin I had a whole new perspective on the issue! It totally woke me up to how rampant, horrible and real abortion is! So you can imagine how excited I was to hear that the event was coming to San Antonio! Let me warn you, if you are looking to hold on to your money, you might want to stay home from this event. For some reason this fundraiser has a unique way of taking more from you than you ever intended to give (I guess thats a good thing). It's a evening full of fun and good food, but most importantly, it's a very thought provoking, heart wrenching, life changing event! As always, Mike Huckabee was unbelievably entertaining. For some reason I still laugh when he tells his jokes (even though I have heard them many times). If you ever get the chance to hear him or attend a Majella benefit dinner, don't pass it up, IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.....might I add, in a good way! ~Brandon

Practicing on us :)

2008-12-12T12:11:00.010-06:00

With Rebecca starting a new adventure, Katherine, Kristalyn and l wanted to help so we gathered a group of ladies together and let her practice on us :) We had a fun evening and Rebecca did a great job with her presentation of her Mary Kay products. We especially loved the new facial products and Katherine and I were able to get some hostess gifts and even order the facial products at a discounted price. With Rebecca's enthusiasm, bubbly personality, love for people and a great product to sell we look forward to seeing how God blesses her efforts. THANK YOU REBECCA FOR THE LOVELY EVENING and a special THANK YOU to all the friends that came to help us encourage and support Rebecca.

If you would like to help Rebecca by letting her practice on you or order some lovely products you can contact her at RebeccaAnne@marykay.com

Christmas Party with the Hurt Family

2008-12-12T00:07:00.011-06:00

It was like no other Christmas party we had ever been to! Each child of all ages received a gift along with each couple. Sam and Joyce Hurt lovingly shopped, decorated and fed many families from their Sunday school classes. The children all sat around the Christmas tree listening to Joyce teach them and pass out their presents. It was an awesome sight to behold. No sooner than when Joyce said "GO" there were sounds of squeals and delight as paper flew everywhere and all the children opened their gifts at the same time. The parents received the most beautiful box with a lovely glass ornament that had a beautifully painted manger scene on it. We indulged in eating delicious steak and chicken fajitas and a variety of snacks and desserts! The night was too soon over but the memories linger on. THANK YOU SAM AND JOYCE FOR THE LABOR OF LOVE AND UNSELFISH ACTS OF KINDNESS TO OUR FAMILY AND SO MANY OTHERS! ! !

Harp Christmas Concert, Miniature golf and Freddie's Frozen Custard!

2008-12-09T08:20:00.014-06:00

Our day started with the girls getting to play their harp duets for the early morning and late morning church service. Then quickly went to SA to be a part of a large harp ensemble with a bell choir. It was a very lovely program. I believe there were sixteen harps on stage! The music was simply heavenly. About three or four years ago we went to the annual Christmas harp ensemble and Kristalyn dreamed of playing the harp someday and now she was there on stage playing those beautiful songs. God is so faithful to give us the desires of our heart and even more...she gets to have a sister learn and play right along with her. How amazing is that?! For Kristalyn, not being able to continue her piano or violin this year has been difficult but God has been so gracious to give her harp lessons to keep her going. She loves her music!

After the concert we were all invited to head over to play miniature golf...what FUN! Can you imagine all sixteen of us trying to get organized and divided into "even" teams since many have never played before. We started off with a group lesson from the notorious golfer, Mr. Michael Clark. He taught us all so well that even while chasing little ones and balls we still managed to get the ball in the hole...eventually:) Kaylianna was just overtaken with the magnificent beauty of the whole place. She continually made comments like "look Mom, it's amazing, it looks like we are at a jungle" as she spreads her arms wide open and spins and dances around in circles taking it all in. Watching her, Christian and Justin truly made it an even a greater adventure!

Next, we headed over to get a bite to eat. We are so grateful that we have special friends that aren't scared off by the "masses". Walking into a restaurant and miniature golf with all of us is no quick and easy feat. Everything we do seems to be quite the adventure:) I think the people that worked at the restaurant thought some bus just unloaded. What fun memories were made! With full tummies and contented hearts we all said our farewells and headed back for home. We truly never cease to be amazed at the goodness of God to our family.

Happy Birthday Anthony!

2008-12-08T10:54:00.011-06:00

Anthony's birthday was December 3rd. Yes I know, I am a little behind on posts. We celebrated Anthony's b'day a day late due to the busyness of Wednesday. Originally Anthony wanted to go mini putting but the weather was getting colder and when you have little children out in the cold that's not much fun. So on Thursday we celebrated his birthday and because of the season we all decorated gingerbread houses:) Nathan and Rebecca came out to the house to join the party as well as Zack at the last minute. We missed Nikkae, as she has always been the one to organize this tradition. We divided everyone up into teams of 2 or 3 people and let them go! It was sure fun to watch all the different personalities and see how they decorated their houses. We had a great night finishing (or at least stopping) by midnight.

Anthony, I have really enjoyed getting closer to you this past year. Its been fun to see our relationship grow stronger each day. You are a true blessing to your family and we all love you dearly! :) Thank you for all the things you do to make this family successful. Keep smiling for Him! ~Katherine

Happy Birthday Anthony!

Our Thanksgiving Holiday

2008-11-29T10:33:00.015-06:00

Like most everyone, we spent the day before Thanksgiving cooking and baking all day. What fun we had this year including everyone in the "festivities". I think everyone had their hands in the food somehow that day :) Our plans were to make some food to take with us to the Riggs' home on Thanksgiving day and to also make plenty of food for our family for the weekend as our favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the LEFTOVERS! I knew that bringing food somewhere and not having any left, after waiting all year for it, would not go over too well! So we made sure everyone's favorite foods were available through the weekend too. Oh, and a very special thanks to the Brian and Mary Howell for sharing their

great recipe for the best turkey ever...and it was!!!

We were all very blessed by the hospitality of the Riggs family. What a delight to get to know a dear family that loves our Lord and Savior. God is so gracious to continue to add precious friends to our lives. Thank you for all the tours of the farm, wonderful food, games and just plain old fashioned fellowship.

Later that day we came home only to EAT again and have Nikkae drop in for a short visit. We all gathered around the fireplace in the living room and shared our deep heartfelt gratefulness to our great God and King for His abundant mercies and faithfulness and to sing praises to the King of Kings! Of course then we had to pull out a new recipe, of egg nog and vanilla ice cream with nutmeg on top, so graciously shared by the Clark's earlier in the week-- YUM!!! I am thinking this will be a new tradition in the Huber home! We just couldn't wait until Christmas Eve to try it.

We were also blessed to have Nathan and Rebecca home with us for a couple of days. What fun was had by all! We woke up the next morning anxious to try our hand at the pumpkin donut recipe from the Erber family. Of course they were a hit! Thank you Jessica and Sara for passing your traditions on for all of us to enjoy! The days were full of excitement with football, games, reading books, painting and creating stages from shoe boxes for finger puppets, telling stories and eating, eating, eating! Thanks Nathan and Rebecca for planning such fun!

By the way, the picture of Justin at the end look exactly the way we all felt by the end of the weekend! :)

May you all draw near to your loved ones and to our Lord and Savior this holiday season telling others of Christ's redeeming power through the blood of Jesus...God bless you all!

"For the Lord is Great and greatly to be praised..."

2008-11-25T10:32:00.003-06:00

"I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth!"

"Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name!"

"My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior...for He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name! and his mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation."

These are just a few of the lovely Words of Life that continually flow through my heart, head and mouth in praise to my GREAT KING! I embrace and thank Him for ALL that He has for us to go through for His name sake and trust that God's work of purifying will bring us forth as vessels unto His Honor.

Oh how the Word of God becomes more precious everyday. Thank you Heavenly Father for your great love and mercy. For we deserve nothing from your hand but...

"I will hope continually, and will yet praise THEE more and more. I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine only. O God thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shown Thy strength unto this generation, and Thy power to everyone that is to come! Thou which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness and comfort me on every side. I WILL ALSO PRAISE THEE WITH THE PSALTERY, EVEN THY TRUTH, O MY GOD; UNTO THEE WILL I SING WITH THE HARP, O THOU HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. MY LIPS SHALL GREATLY REJOICE WHEN I SING UNTO THEE; AND MY SOUL WHICH THOU HAST REDEEMED... (taken from Ps 71)

Truly God is good ALL the time and He is a faithful father to His children. Bless His holy name! And therefore we will..."sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises unto our King, sing praises to God sing praises, sing praises unto our KING--sing PRAISES! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !"

Football Champs!

2008-11-12T12:05:00.016-06:00

Well I am excited to be able to report extremely good news to all my friends! The FEAST Patriots have won the 2008 Independent State Championship!!! This feeling is a much better feeling than the one we all were experiencing last year at this time :) Coming into the tournament we had 2 straight tough losses, so the big win was a great way to wrap up the season and a high school career for some of us! I had been having some hamstring problems throughout the week, and so I was very thankful that God allowed me to play in the championship game!!! I am also happy to report that no serious injuries to the Huber family were obtained as a result of any football activities this year :) This year was extra special because our Grandparents as well as Uncle Mark and Aunt Linda were able to visit us and watch us play for the first time! Enjoy the pictures! - Brandon

Kaleb hurt his leg the first game of the Tournament and had to stay in the hospital over night. :( He was a huge loss to the JV team, throughout the rest of the games.

Grandpa and Grandma's visit

2008-11-11T17:38:00.012-06:00

Last Wednesday Grandma and Grandpa Fiordelisi flew here from the cold mid-west for a visit. They planned their visit as to be able to be a part of the "football mania". And so it was a crazy schedule especially when it includes 14 people getting ready with food and all not to mention the times when we also were blessed to have Uncle Mark and Aunt Linda with us too. What a busy place this was and oh what fun it was to visit at the brunch table every morning and then "hit the floor running". We are grateful to our Great God for still having our parents around especially after almost losing Grandpa/Dad to cancer a few years earlier. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion to give us more years together though the many miles separate us we always cherish the moments we have together. Thanks Dad and Mom for the sweet memories that will always be there in our hearts! You are the GREATEST.

The Politician's Junk Drawer

2008-11-09T18:08:00.007-06:00

Here is something my Dad wrote after election night. I thought you all would enjoy reading it.

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The Politician's Junk Drawer

Most children have what I call a junk drawer. There are some very interesting things in there to say the least. If you are able to reach your hand in to loosen the jam that holds the drawer partially closed you will discover some amazing things. I think that all parents could write an incredibly hilarious book on the contents of their child's junk drawer. Some things in there are very much alive while other things cause us to scratch our heads. Some items are very memorable while others have no meaning at all. They were just stuffed there because, well, it's just a junk drawer. Very seldom is anything put to great use. The drawer is just a collection of items that at one time was thought to be valuable. Things that are not much useful, but things that just can't be thrown away. Once in awhile though, usually when the drawer is close to impossible to open and close, our child pulls everything out to organize the treasures. A few items are discarded and the drawer is successfully closed until that next jewel shows up.

Politicians are a lot like our children. They have junk drawers, too. They are mostly filled up with words. Words that sound great but have little impact in their lives. Empty, hollow words that make them feel good when spoken. Words that they won't give up, but words that they have no intentions to live by.

I can just hear the politician now as he looks for the key phrase to wrap up his eloquent, crowd-inspiring speech. What words do I use? I know, I'll search through my junk drawer. Here they are! These are the words that will top off my speech. They've worked before, I'm sure they'll work again. I'm glad these words weren't lost. I do believe they're valuable though I'm not sure why. "GOD BLESS AMERICA"

Have you ever wondered why politicians invoke the name of God after spending their entire speech on telling us how great we are and how we have and will overcome any obstacle? Why do they say God Bless America when He is the furthest one in their thinking to being the answer to our problems. These are just junk drawer words to them. They sound good but they have no real meaning to them. Politicians just bring them out for awhile and then quickly stuff them back in the drawer for another day's speech.

Will God Bless America? I sure hope so. After all, He is our only hope. But remember, blessing doesn't come just because politicians ask for it or just because we are Americans.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ~ "If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. "

Now those are not junk drawer words! ---Rick Huber

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This weekend has been extremely busy for us. The boys just finished a three day football Tournament last night. We have lots of pictures so stay tuned! Oh btw ... the FEAST Patriots are the Champions for the 2008 Iron man Tournament. :)

A Birthday Tea Party!

2008-11-04T17:15:00.009-06:00

Here are some pictures from the surprise tea party that was given for Kristalyn's 12th birthday. Since Katherine was out of town. I took Kristalyn to her harp lesson and then thought of a little excuse to drop by Nathan and Rebecca's house to say "hi" while we were in town. So we headed over for a SWEET SURPRISE with Rebecca, Nikkae, Carole , Jacqueline, Kaylianna, Kristalyn and oh yes me (Mom). We had fun praying for Kristalyn, eating a delightful array of treats, drinking tea, some sort of new "healthy coffee" introduced by Carole--YUM, opening gifts, and painting ceramic shoes. We all decided that it would be quite fun to design our own shoe line. :) Sisters and friends are truly a treasure to be cherished. (By the way, we were also blessed to see Nathan that night and Kristalyn received a very nice keepsake letter from her brother. Thank you Nathan. You were the "icing on the cake" for her.)

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him and He will shew them His covenant."

Ps. 25:14

It's Justin's 2nd Birthday Today!!!

2008-10-31T08:49:00.004-05:00

Wow! Our baby is two today. With football games, a very busy weekend, and family coming in from out of town, we will, Lord willing, be celebrating when they all get here sometime in the next week. But for now, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUMPKIN!

Happy 12th Birthday Kristalyn Grace

2008-10-29T21:52:00.001-05:00

What a joy it has been to watch Kristalyn grow up. Over the past year Kristalyn and I have become really close. I have grown to appreciate who she is as a person. She is definitely a blessing to our family! Its been so much fun to have a sister around to talk with and enjoy the blessings of everyday life together. Kristalyn, thanks for always being there for me whether it be helping me out with the household duties or just being there as a friend I can talk to. I love you so much! (love, Katherine)

The pictures below are of our Sunday birthday party. What a wonderful surprise to come home from church and find Uncle Mark and Aunt Linda waiting for us! It was a lovely celebration for Kristalyn with family and special friends. John and MaryEllen Long have been a blessing to our family and we were so blessed to have them with us for this special occasion.

We miss you Katherine Joy!

2008-10-27T22:09:00.007-05:00

Here are some pics that were taken the day Katherine left for her "vacation". We are so grateful for the opportunity that she has for some rest and relaxation while also taking care of her two cousins and spending time with Uncle Rob and Aunt Wendy. We really miss her sweet smile and loving hugs but are very happy for her. Everyone is counting the days down until her return. Can't wait to see all the lovely pictures of the the island, the ocean and the beautiful beach.

Please know that you are deeply loved and your sweet joyful spirit is greatly missed and has left a huge whole in our home Katherine! WE LOVE YOU!

New family photographer

2008-10-23T23:15:00.000-05:00

Anthony has been interested in broadening his horizons lately by learning more about his camera and the different settings so he is branching out and trying his hand at some "people" pics. He really enjoys taking nature, sunsets, and animals but I am grateful he is wanting to learn more so we can all benefit with beautiful portraits! This is his first practice shoot...pretty good Anthony! THANK YOU!--love, Mom