"I do!"

Hey everybody! Sorry it took me so long to write, but with the Christmas season rushing like a whirlwind I hardly had time to even think about writing. But finally after everything has settled down somewhat, I remembered I do have a blog site! And the latest things I could think of was Rachel and Daniel.... and now Sarah and John Paul!! CONGRATS to our newly engaged couples!! Our blessings and support to both of them as they get closer and closer to their wedding. Well it looks like we'll have two weddings to plan on in the near future. One on March 29 and the next on June 14. Congratulations once again to both sets of couples!! We love you!!!

Please bear with me as I try to begin writing posts again!

(photos by Hannah Hanson and Emily Schuurmans)

Answer to the Poll!

I'm sure you're wondering which answer was correct for the Poll: How many push ups did the man from the guinness records achieve in an hour? Well, the answer is..... 1781! It looks like only one person got it right! How anyone could have done push ups for that long is unbelievable! And not only did he do 1781 push ups, he did them all with the backs of his hands! Someone has some major biceps and triceps! Well, this is proabably ones of my 'weirest' posts... but hey! Everyone needs a fun one thrown in now and then! =)

Thanksgiving

Summer has come and gone and fall is just about over too. Winter is coming and the weather is already making way for its approach. Animals start to get thicker coats, the last flower blooms fall to the ground, piles of brightly colored leaves are stacked high for cannon balls, people are putting anti-freeze in their cars, and just around the corner we'll all be getting ready to sit down for a Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving. Such a wonderful holiday. It's my second favorite next to Christmas. Families gather together from all over to celebrate. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends! All getting together to give thanks and to bless one another. It's sad to see the true meaning of Thanksgiving get pushed aside by food and football. These are the fun extras that we tend to put into Thanksgiving, but often can distract us from having truly thankful hearts. It's a wonderful time to recount and meditate on those things for which we are thankful. I'm so thankful for my church that is always encouraging us to have hearts of thankfulness.

I just want to tell all of you girls that I'm so incredibly thankful to have you all as my friends. Each and every one of you are special to me. You all have different abilities and gifts. It's wonderful to have so many girlfriends that love the Lord so much and who want to encourage one another to keep running the race that He's put in front of them. Thank you for being my friend and for loving me for who I am. I love you all! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

(photo by Robin Smith)

A boy in his father's house...

"When I was a boy in my father's house,
still tender, and an only child of my mother,

he taught me and said,
'Lay hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands and you will live.' "

Proverbs 4:3-4

Baptisms

Just within a few weeks Grace Baptist has had four people come to Christ! How wonderful our God is! We thank Him for working miracles in four people: Alexa Hartung, Spencer Parmelee, and Mr. and Mrs. Shock. (Please excuse me for any misspelled last names!) Then just Sunday the 21st, eight people got baptized at Eastside Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Larson, Cynthia Larson, Anika Larson, and the four newly saved people were of the eight. Congratulations to all of them for taking this step in presenting their testimony to everyone. They each expressed to the congregation that by being baptized was important to them and that it showed the world that they were God's people. Good job guys!
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Mrs. Shocker

Mr. Shocker

Alexa Hartung

Anika Larson

Spencer Parmelee

Mr. Larson

Mrs. Larson

Cynthia Larson

(Pictures by Hannah Hanson)

The Harvest Party!

Drumrole please!...... Finally! The next post is here! Sorry it took so long everybody. A big thank you to Hannah Hanson for the pictures!

Well, the pie contest was a big hit. About 20 pies were entered and our lovely photographer (Hannah Hanson) won first prize with her artistic idea: chocolate leaves! Not only did it taste awesome, it was ruly a gorgeous pie! Good job Hannah! Runners up were Elise Haugaard with 2nd place for her yummy apple pie (i think apple, right?), and Laura Dubs for 3rd with a blueberry pie. Good job you guys! I want those recipes! =) Thanks to Rachel Hanson who put together the pie contest, and Hannah Hanson who helped out! (and if you were wondering... no, as much as she begged, Melissa didn't get to eat all the pie... maybe next time 'Lissa)

As always, there were numerous games of volleyball and football. As to who won what... that's always to be debated. There was one game that was stunning victory for four guys against a whole team of girls... Oooh, ouch. Try as we might, we couldn't beat them. But that's probably just because we were all laughing too hard.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the Hay Ride at the moment. So if any of you have any, please send me a few to post on my blog. The hay ride was packed even more than usual this year. We had people hanging off the side of the wagon holding onto aything they could find. There was a lot of singing and laughing. We didn't stay out in the field as long as usual, but it was fun to play tag...even if we were getting touched every other second! Then it was back again to warm up by the bonfire.

Thanks to the Haugaards for getting everything set up! Can't wait for next year!

Hold on! I'm working on it!

Hey guys! Sorry it's taking so long for the next post! It's coming soon! I decided to wait until after the Haugaards party. That way I wound have lots of pictures to post. Also talking about what a great time we had! So just hang on!

I missed everyone tonight! Please keep me and Josh in your prayers! We both got sick on Monday with some cold slash stomach thing. I REALLY don't want to be sick for Friday! So please pray that we'll get better by then. My throat isn't quite as sore.... so I'm hoping that's a good sign! =)

See ya'll Friday!

Congratulations to our friend!!

As I'm sure you've all heard (and read Emily's blog), Sarah Schuurmans is now being courted by John Paul Tate!! Blessings to her and John Paul! We all love you Sarah and are behind you 100%! Keep looking to the Lord for what will come next in life. He never fails to surprise us with blessings when we follow Him!

How good is our God. He is so great and wonderful! He knows all our needs and even our wants. He knows what our dreams are and is so gracious to us. We're wrong when we doubt Him or wonder why He's not answering our prayers. He does everything in His wonderful perfect time... not ours. Sometimes we forget that His timing is the best. He does everything in His perfect time. Learning to trust in God is a life long endevor. If we commit everything to Him and believe that whatever happens is His will, there's nothing to worry about. I'm glad God is always looking for my best interest. He cares about me and does those things He knows is right for me in my life.

Thank you, Lord, for such a blessing for our friend... Sarah.

(Photography by Carol Schuurmans)

Fall

As long as I can remember fall has been my favorite season. I love summer and it's fun activities, the warm (and hot) days spent in freedom doing everything you've been wanting to do for the past schoolyear. Like setting up that lemonade stand, having that sleepover you've been planning for the past few months, or just getting some projects done that you've been pushing out of the way. Yes, I love summer. And winter with all it's festivities is also a wonderful season! All the holiday cheer, the decorating in the house, Thanksgiving!, snowball fights and snowmen, Christmas!! All of which everyone looks forward to all year long. I especially like all the yummy baking that goes on during this time of year! But even though I enjoy each and every one of these seasons... I seem to enjoy fall so much. I love the feeling of going outside. You open the door and a crisp breeze hits your cheeks and nose. You hug your hoodie tighter as you crunch through the golden brown leaves that are EVERYWHERE! I love pilling them high and then running to jump in them. Everything looks so spectactular. The trees are aflame with color. Reds, oranges, yellows, and golds! I love taking walks by myself to reflect, or with a friend to share thoughts, and most commonly laughter. Changing seasons reminds me that weather is unpridictable and sometimes fierce. You never really know what the weather is going to be like. But it's good to remember that God never changes, and that He's always there. He's never going to surprise us by giving us something bad. And He'll never leave us nor forsake us. It's times like these when I walk outside in the cold and smile to myself..... God is Good.

Friends Forever

Friends are such a blessing! Recently we just had a formal Proverbs Brunch for the girls at our church. We all memorized a chapter in Proverbs and then recited it to everyone. It was really a great way to study Proverbs as well as fellowship together. After the food and recitation we all had a good time talking, taking pictures, and making memories.

Every time I think about my friends I realize how lucky I am to have them. Friends are such a blessing from God. I know I can count on them to be there for me no matter what. They help remind what a friend I have in Jesus. He's always there for me even when I feel like no one could forgive me for the things I've done. I can always look up to Him for comfort and support. But I praise Him every day for giving me extra helps in my life: my garden of friends.
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(Photography by Emily Schuurmans, Daniel Hanson, and Rick Smith)

1st post!

Hey ya'll! I finally decided to set up my own blog! (I don't know why it says August 27, i just posted it today: Sept. 20. Oh well.) I hope to have lots of pictures and fun topics (as well as spiritual) to read about. I'd love any and all posts ya'll can write! Check back often as I will (try!) to write as much as possible.

I want to thank Emily Schuurmans for being suce a HUGE help in setting this blog up! If it weren't for her it would have taken a lot longer to set up. Thanks for her hours sitting with me on the computer trying to figure out all the bumps and stops in the process. Luv ya Emily!