Holly's Sweet 16

I am not sure how it happened, but I blinked my eyes and when I opened them, my oldest child was already 16. Where did that time go? The Bible has it right when it says that life is a vapor! We have been planning this special party for Holly for many months now - since her birthday is not long after Christmas, if we don't get a head start, it doesn't happen!

First, though, for her actual birthday she got to pick her favorite foods - our typical tradition for our family. Breakfast was homemade scones with homemade lemon curd, lunch was chicken salad sandwiches on croissants and pasta salad and dinner was homemade corncakes with black beans and sour cream - better than the Cheesecake Factories! For dessert, she asked for Strawberry Cheesecake Pudding Pie - mmmmmm!!!

We planned a very special party for her. She was able to invite everyone that she wanted to invite and we opened up our home to them all and served taco bar goodies. Wow - it sounds really simple when I write it out on here like that! She didn't really want a theme, just color scheme - brown and blue, so that is what we did. We set up the back yard with tulle, lights, tables and chairs, the fire pit, etc. and the whole thing looked very simple, but nice. Here are some picture highlights:

The entry - very simple, but all about Holly. Wasn't she the most adorable baby???!!!


Our VERY special and dear friends - the Thomas family - came over and worked tirelessly on Friday AND Saturday to help us be ready. Honestly, I don't know what the party would have been without them! They are such awesome blessings to us - it is so nice to have people in your life that you know you can count on at any time to be there for you!


My sister, my niece and her boyfriend surprised us by making the trip up from Boynton Beach to be here for the party. Family - another blessing!


Guests - in no particular order, beginning with Jack and Patty:


April and Melissa - 2 of my dear friends who helped make sure that the party ran smoothly and everyone had plenty of food. They both cooked, helped clean and set up. I am so thankful!

Cara and Madilyn:


Tim, Andrea and Bella:


Diane and Abigail:


Caitlyn, Darrick, Manisha and Houston:


Leslie:


Amber:


Cindy and Danny:


Sister Shirley:


Sister Jo and Brother Tom:


(R to L) Whitney, Kaley, Chris Ann, Carrigan, Sydney, Katie and Chelsea:


Holly, McKenzie, MaKenna, Perry and Holly:


Caleb, my dad, London, Brendie, Kir and Andrew:


Candace and Peter:


The Cake:


Cake Balls - made by me, Holly, MaKenna and April:


Waiting in line for cake:


Caitlyn, Beth, Helen, Dawn, me and Nina: (Helen, Dawn and Nina were my other helpers who kept the food and drinks coming to our 65 guests!)


(L to R) Kaley, Katie, Caitlyn, Priscilla, Megan, Holly, Perry, Holly and MaKenna around the fire pit:


Girls just wanna have fun! They had so much fun playing in the retention pond beside our house - throwing a football, running around and just plain acting silly:


Perry and Holly - friends from the Deland church:


Holly had a great time and truly enjoyed the party. God smiled on us with no rain until the party was over (a very specific answer to prayer!) and with plenty of food to go around (kind of like the story of the loaves and the fish in the Bible, but that is a whole nother story!), with good friends, good times, laughter and peace like only He can give. He truly smiled on us when He chose us to be Holly's parents. She is an amazing young lady and I am excited to see what God has in store for her future. Thanks to everyone who had any part in making her day special!

Happy New Year

I love the start of a new year! It is so fresh and full of promise and hope. Getting to put a new calendar on the fridge is so exciting! I know, I probably need to get out more!

Although I tend to not make new year's resolutions (I think that it is more important to set daily or weekly goals that are attainable than set ones for a whole year, never knowing what tomorrow will bring!), I do think that it is important to take time on occasion to re-evaluate my life, where I am, where I am going and where I want to get to, as well as a plan for how I want to get there! My family and I took some time to reflect recently on the things we would like to work harder on this year and had some great conversations. We have set prayer and fasting goals, family closeness goals, homeschool goals and individual goals. What about you? Do you set resolutions? How good are you at keeping them?

No matter what your thoughts on goals and resolutions, I hope that you include in your year more time for God - Read your Bible. Pray. Find a good, truth teaching church and be faithful there. Put God first in your life - it will be worth it! I leave you with this, which really sums it all up:

How can I use the New Year
To better serve my Lord?
I’ll read my Bible every day,
And be more in accord.

I’ll find new ways to serve others;
I’ll love my neighbor, too.
I’ll focus on "give" instead of "get"
In everything I do.

I’ll forgive the people I’m mad at;
Angry feelings I’ll discard;
I’ll try to love my enemies,
Even though it’s hard.

In the new year, I’ll lift people up,
Instead of putting them down.
I’ll fill my heart with love and joy,
And never wear a frown.

I’ll let go of my worries;
I’ll put it all in His hands;
I’ll repent and try to sin less,
And obey all His commands.

These new year’s resolutions
Are difficult, at best,
But there’s something I can do each day
That will put my soul at rest:

I’ll love my Lord with all my heart,
With all my mind and soul,
And if I do that essential thing,
All the rest will be in control.

By Joanna Fuchs

Happy New Year!!!

Photo Re-cap

Falling behind in blogging makes it so hard to start blogging again! =D Christmas has passed; the food that took days to prepare is gone; the presents are unwrapped, put away and cleaned up from; some people may even have all of their decorations down (we do not, but will tomorrow!) and now the new year has begun. There are many changes happening around here to usher in 2010. Here is a picture recap of some things from the past little bit:

Although Floridians really have nothing to complain about with regards to weather, we are rather thin blooded from so much warmth, so we tend to chill very easy! Nothing like a good reason to bring out the fire pit! We were still cold, though!!


Each year, a group of us deliver to our Meals on Wheels route just before Christmas and give them some extra goodies and sing carols for them. We had the best turnout ever this year!:


Abigail delivering some goodies of her own. It is never too early to learn about giving and the blessings it brings:


Proof that Santa vacations in Florida!!! (I took these in Altamonte just after Christmas):




Family:


Ice Skating on New Year's Eve (Caleb and Jack):


Holly and MaKenna:


More soon!