Family Weekend

As April began drawing to a close, end of the semester events began to show up on our family calender. I made it through my first vocal recital Friday evening, (despite shaking in my shoes!) and was so blessed to have Daniel and Kendra there. They spent the weekend with us, making our family complete when Max and Jenny came Saturday night. Saturday afternoon, we had the opportunity to spend some time with the Elliot family, newly moved from Texas. We met the Elliots at the Huber home a few years ago and had a grand time catching up and getting to know each other better.

Simon and I had the opportunity to play a duet together at recital on Friday night-he on the cello, me singing. This was my first vocal performance and I was shaking in my shoes! 'Panis Angelicus' is such a beautiful song, and I was challenged and blessed through singing it.


Mrs. Teter, my voice teacher, and all her students who preformed.

Kaylee and Samantha singing 'Sisters'. They were fantastic!

Samantha and Maci singing another duet together . . . beautiful, rich and Italian. (Was it Italian? ;-)



Sweetheart . . .

Mom loves all her 'littles'! :-) Children and grandchildren alike.

Olivia is growing up so fast! This sounds cliche' but I can't believe it's almost been a year since she was born.


Speaking of growing up fast, Jayni is quickly becoming a little lady. I am constantly surprised as she grows and changes every day. I am so blessed to have such a sweet little sister. God is good!

It's fun to add more leaves to our family table as our family grows. :-)

Morning time


The weekend provided some time for Mom and son to reconnect.


There was plenty of dress-up going on! Little ladies and mommies everywhere you looked.

Meeting the Morice Family!

When my family spent the weekend with Daniel and Kendra, they met the Morice family at Grace Community Church. A few weeks ago, they drove up for a visit; touring the Kings Canyon for a day, spending the mornings and evenings with us.

What a privilege it was to host their family. Each one of us was tremendously encouraged and built up by the love that flowed out of their hearts. Many long visits revealed how similar the vision we each hold for our families, churches, and homes are.

We discovered they are bluegrass musicians, outdoorsy, enjoy eating living foods, and are very active reaching out in hospitality to their community. God was so good to bring them to our home, and we were inspired by the work God is doing!

God bless the Morice family!



Sweet Lacy reached out to our little ones


The boys had a blast playing air-soft all over our mountain. :-)

Earlier in April, I enjoyed preforming in our Community Choir concert. Once again our director, Licia Clark, provided a variety of music to sing; from a Jamacian folk tune to the classic 'How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place'. Each of these precious friends have become even more dear as we sing, fellowship, and pray with one another. My favorite piece this year was one titled, " Thy Word is Like a Garden." This beautiful hymn of worship extoled the Word of God, Along with the choir preformance, the night included several command preformances from PSCA. (Peoples School of Creative Arts) Simon and Connor McCracken each preformed a solo piece on their cellos and did splendidly! :-)

Wedding Bells

A few weeks ago, Mom and I had the privilege of attending the wedding of John and Elizabeth Smillie. Visiting with Elizabeth has been a treat, and the joy radiating from her smile that day was infectious. John and Elizabeth's courtship story is a beautiful testimony to the perfect timing and providence of God. Their purity inspired us as we witnessed their first kiss. May the Lord bless their marriage as they start their new life together!

To read the story of Mr. and Mrs. Smillie, visit their blog at www.john-elizabeth.blogspot.com


The new couple!

Rejoicing

A few weeks ago, Max and Jenny fulfilled their promise to their bridal party by having us all in to their new house for a special time of fellowship and dinner. Jenny served a delicious meal, which was heartily enjoyed, then we all gathered in and settled down for a time of singing and music making. What a blessing to gather together and rejoice in the goodness of God!



Jaelynn kept us all entertained with her grins and giggles. :-) I love you darling!



Anyone have a caption for this one?
Precious 'Livvie' girl

Joyless Christianity

I have very slowly, but very surely, been traveling through the book "Heaven- The Hearts Deepest Longing-" by Peter Kreeft. Many quotes from this book have made their way into my journal. Reading in the car one day, I came across this, and felt like shouting 'YES!' ( The rest of my family riding in the car with me probably wouldn't have appreciated that, so I refrained.)

The image of God so often portrayed by the Christian world is one of the 'Jesus- the white fleecy lamb' or the 'grandfather in the sky'. In other words, tame, dull, and passionless. Our God is an awesome God and anything but tame.


"Nietzsche's images of ordinary goodness are shallow, sheepish, and dull. The choice is between excitement without peace and peace without excitement. Can't true goodness, rationality, and peace be interesting? . . . Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien have often been praised as nearly the only modern novelists who can make good more fascinating than evil. (G.K. Chesterton a fourth, at least in 'The Man Who Was Thursday') Williams speaks of 'a terrible good', Tolkien, of 'the peril of light and joy'; and Lewis's Christ figure in the Chronicles of Narnia is Aslan, the great lion who is 'not a tame lion . . . but he's good.'

He goes on to say


"Alan Watts has diagnosed the major cause of the unattractiveness of Christian theology in the twentieth century as not an intellectual or moral failure but an aesthetic one: It's images of God are theologically and morally correct but aesthetically dull and powerless. Teilhard de Chardin also sees 'the heart of the problem' as an image problem: 'Man would seem to have no clear picture of the God he longs to worship.' It is because a joyless person can only imagine a joyless God. Perhaps one reason excitements like gambling, violence, achohol, and promiscuity are often temptations to the ethical and conventionally religious person is that his or her life is full of peace but not joy. It lacks the ingredient that is in joy but not in peace or happiness: passion.
. . . The need to yield to ecstasy- if not to God, to an irrational passion; if not to the mystery of light, then to the mystery of darkness.
. . . If we do not find joy where it is-in a lived love relationship with God-we will likely try to find it where it isn't-in the world."

Winter Fun at Sierra Summit!

Our first day at the mountain was with a group Peter Telian organized. Thanks to his effort and dedication, we all had a blast!


Enjoying another day with the McCrackens.

Can you pick out who is who?
Go Kaylee!

Simon is an awesome boarding partner. He is faster and more skilled than I, so I learn and am inspired at the same time.

Go Mrs. McCracken!

Chief Pierre and Connor ride up for the first run of the day.



The end of another day . . .