Friday, January 9, 2015

A Weekend to Remember


In my previous post, I wrote about my eighteenth birthday and how I was so blessed to share it with dear friends...

I thought I would share a few more photographs of the wonderful time we all had together...  I will always cherish the memories we made and feel extremely thankful to the Lord for the blessings of beautiful weather, safety and good health, which we had been praying for since we planned the visit 49 days earlier...

 Heidi-Mari and I have always loved to bake together – here we baked a carrot cake, November 2014

In November 2014 I had my dear friend, Heidi-Mari, to stay with me for a few days and we had such a lovely time fellowshipping together that we decided to plan another visit over my birthday – however, as we are friends with her siblings too, we decided that the four oldest children in their family should come up for four nights and that the boys would camp outside and us ladies would have the house...  It worked wonderfully!

 Heidi and I at the market on Saturday morning...

 Plenty of fun was had playing table tennis!

We went out quite a bit – to the beach, to the market, out to supper on my birthday, to Jubilee Creek – my favourite place to spend the day – for a picnic lunch and a hike and swim at the beautiful waterfall, another trip to the beach and we also played plenty of games and watched a few movies too...

 Precious sisters – Nancy and Sofia...

 Mommy with her little girls – Rebekah, Sofia and Gabrielle...



 Little Rebekah...

 Darling little girls posing for a cute capture...

We older girls also dressed up one evening and Heidi even curled our hair for us which was such a treat!

 Special friends – Heidi, Nancy and I...

 Like their big sisters, Beth and Danika are friends and have been since the age of about two....


And as I said yesterday, my dear family were wonderful and it was lovely to see how everyone, including our friends, worked together to get done and do the necessary chores in order to have fun...


Breakfast was waffles all round – dreadfully unhealthy, I know...:)

I met Heidi-Mari when I was nine years old and she was eight, and we have been friends ever since – we haven’t always been able to see each other that often due to the distance between us, but we have always been close and I consider her my very dear friend and truly value her special friendship...

 
We both love the Lord with all our hearts and strive to put Him first in our friendship.  It is wonderful to have someone to share my heart with and encourage, and she encourages and inspires me so much...  And as Nancy has grown older, so she has drawn closer to the two of us as well – now we are a threesome and that is lovely...


 Over the weekend my mom had ten children in the house (when both our families get together, there are fourteen children ranging in ages from 3 all the way up to 20)! 

Saying goodbye is never easy...

This visit was certainly more adventurous than our last one and I think it is safe to say every person in their family and ours was absolutely exhausted by the end of it – we packed so much into the few hours we had together and laughed so much!  Of course I can’t wait to see them again soon:)

Hope you enjoyed all the photographs, sweet readers!

~ Satisfy us every morning with your mercy so that we may sing joyfully and rejoice all our days.  Psalm 90:14 ~

 

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Thoughtful Thursday



 
“All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.”

James Russell Lowell

~ A happy heart makes the face cheerful.  Proverbs 15:13 ~

Thursday blessings, dear friends!
 


Painting by George Goodwin Kilburn – The Piano Lesson

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

How I celebrated my eighteenth...

 The three girls all dressed up to go out - Heidi-Mari, me and my sister, Nancy {15}


Each year starts in a truly delightful way for me as I celebrate my birthday on the third...

This year I knew I would have a pretty big celebration, not only because it was my eighteenth birthday, but also because the Lord graciously allowed our very dear friends to come and visit us and spend a few days here...

And we had a very blessed and anointed visit – we also squeezed so much into the few days they were here, including two trips to the beach, movies and games, a walk to the beautiful waterfall at Jubilee Creek, which we did a second time on the same day because we enjoyed it so much, an outing to our local farmer’s market for breakfast and even dinner at a special restaurant for the older children and more!

How very sweet to have my best friend and her siblings here for a special occasion such as my eighteenth...I will always treasure this time in my heart and remember it for many years to come! 

And my family were wonderful – they washed plenty of dishes and helped me finish off meals and that helped to make the visit enjoyable for all!

Black Forest cake made by my dear friend...with just a little help from me!

My dear mother and father also surprised me with my own laptop for my birthday – I have been working on our family computer for many years and as time as gone by, so our poor computer has become slower and more unreliable!  Now I will hopefully be able to do more blogging and perhaps a little more Pinteresting as well as a bit more photography... 

Yes, I was blessed by so many dear people – my family, my sweet friends, and my grandparents who gave me a beautiful cross on a silver chain – each time I put it on, I think of them and of the wonderful Saviour who blessed me with this incredible life...

I feel fulfilled and blessed beyond measure...  And I am excited about what the Lord has in store for my future...  He promised us in Jeremiah that He would give us hope and a future and I hold on to that verse and trust that He indeed knows all and has me in the palm of His mighty hand... 
And He has you too...  Just lean on Him...

Blessings dear friends!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Thoughtful Thursday

 
A Prayer for the New Year

Come, Holy Spirit,
Spirit of the Risen Christ,
Be with us today and always.
Be our Light, our Guide,
And our Comforter.
Be our Strength, our Courage,
And our Sanctifier.
May this new year be a time
Of deep spiritual growth for us,
A time of welcoming
Your graces and gifts,
A time for forgiving freely
And unconditionally,
A time for growing
In virtue and goodness.
Come, Holy Spirit,
Be with us today and always.
Amen.

~ Unknown

~ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV ~