Thoughts.

Today is my last day to be fourteen.

This year of my life has been full of great memories and experiences, and I am a little sad to say "goodbye" to fourteen. 

But, at the same time, I am excited to see what God has planned for me in the next year; what He will teach me, how He will use me.

God has blessed me with so much. I have godly parents, fun siblings, an awesome "extended-immediate" family, really great friends, a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear, my health and my family's health. And the list goes on.

It is so amazing to know that all of my life, God has always been there; that He has heard every prayer, loved me unconditionally. And it's amazing to know that He will always be with me, He will always hear my prayers and that He will never stop loving me, no matter what this year or future years hold.  Thank you, God!

(taken from Spiritual journal)

Fourteen.

me. :)

{taken from spiritual journal}

Today is my fourteenth birthday. Fourteen. Am I really that old? In some ways, I feel like I should only be nine or ten, and it's hard to believe that I am entering my second year as a teenager already. 

I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with another year of life, of health.

Sometimes, when I think about how often I am unkind to my siblings, prideful and impatient, I am aware of just how undeserving I am of God's grace and forgiveness. And yet He so willingly gives it to me and loves me unconditionally. I feel so...thankful to be one of His children!

Thank You, Lord, for the blessings You graciously give me. Thank You for Your unfailing love for me. Thank You for another year of life, and grow me to be more and more like Yourself with every year.

Happy Birthday, Bro! :)

Today is my brother's 11th birthday. It's a little hard to believe he is already that old! I know it sounds kind of funny, but it makes me feel old!

Liam was my playmate when we were young, and now that we are older, he is one of my best buddies! We have always been very close, and I thank God for giving me a brother.

this is an old picture...he looks so little! 

He was like 7 or 8 here. He sure has grown up! :)

 

 If you know my brother, you know that he is very...funny. He's always cracking jokes and talking in an Australian and British accent. Someone recently told me that they thought Liam was so funny and it must be fun to live with him. And it is. He sure keeps me laughing!

Liam loves to be the clown. My mom has had to remind him many times to be quiet while we're doing school. :)

Liam is also very compassionate, and always has been. He has a kind heart and desires to please God. He has said for a few years he thinks that he might want to be a pastor when he grows up. And I think he'd make a great pastor!

 And for old time's sake...this is a picture of of me and Liam during our Germany days. :)

Happy Birthday, Liam! I love you. A lot. :)

This and That

photos taken from Pinterest

I can't promise that this post will be too interesting, but I thought I'd better write about something so that my  little blog would not feel neglected. :)

-On Friday, we got to spend some time with friends, and it was so much fun! I am very thankful for good friends! 

-On Saturday, I auditioned for Greenleaf Music & Arts studio. Normally you have to take some sort of class to be able to audition, but this show, Kids of Bristol (which is the story of George Mueller), is Greenleaf's family show, so anyone can audition.
I was a little nervous about it, but I think I did well and walked away feeling pretty confident.

-And then yesterday, I found out who I will portraying in the show...drum roll, please... 
Mrs. Clayborn!

I will have to wait until I get the script to see how big of a role Mrs. Clayborn is, but I am thankful that I at least got a part in the show!

-Thursday night is the awards ceremony for our CC group. All of the kids who worked hard and achieved the different levels of memorization will receive medals and then there will be a little reception type thing afterwards. I am a little sad because once the awards ceremony comes to an end, CC will officially be over. :(

It's definitely been a fun year for I think everyone involved and I will miss it. *sniff, sniff*

tea...ahh

 This is exactly how I feel!

-My sweet cousin, Grant turns 7 today! How is that even possible?! I mean, really?

Happy Birthday, buddy! I love you SO much!

Well, I better get off now and (reluctantly) return to my schoolwork...

Have a lovely day! :)

Happy 7th, Dresden!

7 years ago today, my sweet sister, Dresden, was born.

I was about six-and-a-half when she was born, and I remember really, really wanting a sister. I also remember just having a feeling that the new baby was going to be a girl, I just knew it! :)

Dresden has always been the creative one in our family. She LOVES to draw pictures, and is totally the best artist out of the six of us. :)

She is funny, sweet, caring, stubborn, independent, loves style and will often wear dresses around the house, a tad dramatic at times, compassionate, a little nurse to everyone (she will seriously be really concerned whenever I have a cut on my arm or leg or something that is bleeding, and she will wash the cut and then put a Band-Aid on it), and she (sometimes) loves to clean! How awesome is that!? :)

I am  very thankful that God gave me a sister like Dresden, because I have learned a lot over the past seven years! It is a big responsibility to be a big sister, especially to little girls, because they especially look up to and want to be like you.
 And I feel that Dresden and I are very close, even though we are several years apart.
 I pray that when we are adults, we will still have a strong relationship and be each others' best friends.

This picture makes me smile. It was taken a few days after Dresden was born, so it was 2005. As you may have already guessed, Dresden is the little baby. :)

  

Dresden,

How can you be seven years old already?!

I remember the day you were born; how happy I was that you were a girl, holding you for the first time, and knowing that I loved you very much, even though I didn't even know who you were. And it has been so fun to watch you grow and change these seven years! I look forward to watching you continue to grow and change and mature in your walk with Christ over the years to come.

You are a sweet little sister, and I love you so much!

Happy Birthday!

Your big sister,

Alley :)

Pictures of Megan's birthday fun

Yesterday evening, we had a little family birthday party for Megan. My great aunt was able to be there (who is visiting from Albuquerque) as well as my second cousin, and my grandparents. It was a fun time of visiting and just celebrating Megan's life and the blessing that she is to all of us.

opening presents...

She looks so grown up to me in this one! *sniff, sniff*

pretty dress from Mimi and Grandpa

Every four year old girl needs a pair of plastic high heels! :)

Introducing Megan's new baby doll, Ginger Hope. Isn't she cute?!

Megan LOVES Ginger.

Even I love Ginger! She is so cute!

The awesome birthday cake!

Megan and Mommy.

Megan is Four!

Megan, on her first birthday...I miss those chubby little cheeks

Megan is four years old today!
I really can't believe that it has been four years since Liam, Dresden, and I were all at the hospital, anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new sibling, four years since we first held and met sweet little Megan....the years have just flown!

 Megan has always been very happy (at least most of the time!) and loves to smile! I love her smile because it brings her sweet little dimples out! :)

Megan loves to sing, play house with Dresden or anyone else that is willing to play with her, play with Legos, put on little shows, and keep up with her big siblings; she has never realized that she is just a little bit younger than we are and that she really can't do everything we can. No, she just keeps trying, which brings out another personality trait of Megan: she is stubborn. She's got an iron will. I'm not kidding. She also eats. All.the.time. I'm not kidding about that, either. I mean, she's as bad as my brother! And he's ten! She will literally eat popcorn, an apple, a sandwich, and a bowl of Animal Crackers and still say that she's "hungee!"

She also loves to be a mommy to her baby dolls. And she is a very good mommy. She carries them around, puts them in their little beds, feeds them, bathes them, and even croons to them as she takes care of them. She always wants another baby whenever we go to the store, even though she already has like five-thousand of them....yes, Megan will be a very good mommy when she grows up. :)

 

  

Megan is very independent and fearless, and has a smile that can light up a room. She is also probably the most photogenic of all of us. (I'm jealous! :) ) She is a sweet little girl and I have so enjoyed being her big sister these four years, and pray that I will be able to celebrate many more birthdays with her! I am looking forward to watching her grow and change as the years pass, and I just can't imagine my life without Megan, making it exciting!

I will be so sad when she stops being cute, if you know what I mean. Stops saying tomorrlow for tomorrow, stops saying peas for please, stops saying hungee for hungry, stops just randomly giving me hugs, stops being so adorable when she talks with her hands and rolls her eyes (yes, that is pretty cute, even though it probably shouldn't be), stops playing with baby dolls, stops bringing me little drawings of people with no necks and huge eyes, stops...*sighs* I just need to enjoy these days with her when she does still do all of that, and enjoy each new stage of her life as it comes. It still feels like just a few days ago that she was so tiny and just ate and slept, slept and ate, and we didn't even know who Megan was going to be. Well now we know at least a little of who she is going to be, and we love her so much!

Thank you, God for Megan and the blessing that she is to all of us! Thank you for putting her in our family. And thank you for her four little years of life. 

Happy Birthday, Megan Hope! We love you!