A Musical Advent Sunday

On the third Sunday of Advent where we celebrate JOY, the girls played "Joy to the World" on their handbells and Angela played "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" for the offeratory at the church we attend. Later that night, we tasted heaven at the choral service that the girls sang in. In the brief video clip, the sanctuary is lit by candlelight only so it's difficult to see them but you can hear them singing "In the Bleak Midwinter".

Thanksgiving with Grandparents

Grandma and Pop-pop came to visit for Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun together.
We went to the botanical gardens. They gave us each some money to spend and Lily and I went out to Hobby Lobby and Lily got card supplies and I got yarn with my money. I made a shawl with some of my yarn and I am wearing it in the picture of Grandma and I. Grandma and Pop-pop gave Mommy and Daddy a fire pit and we all roasted marshmallows around it on the last night that they were here. I gave Grandma and Pop-pop a scarf and headband that I made. There is a picture of Pop-pop wearing the things that I crocheted for him. On Thanksgiving, Robyn dressed up like an Indian (whistling while swinging--she's multitalented that way). Thanksgiving dinner was very yummy. My favorite part of the meal is sweet potato casserole--Yum!!!--but we also had a lot of pie--pecan, chocolate pecan, pumpkin, and apple!

House Blessing

During the move, we had our small group and some other special friends come over for a house blessing. First we ate pizza and brownies in the neighborhood park pavilion and then we walked to the house where we went through each room and prayed and sang hymns. It was really fun.

We Moved!

We've spent the last several weeks relocating down the street. It sounded easy but "pride comes before the fall". We literally pushed our belongings down the street on dollies (including the piano), in our bike trailer, on our wagon and in our van. We decided to buy versus rent because it's a "buyer's market" and we found a place in the neighborhood we've been living in that backs up to a cow pasture. And, if moving wasn't enough, we took down the privacy fence and Brian put up the rod iron fence so we could enjoy looking at the cows out back and pretend we live in the country. Being a Ph.D. which he claims makes him an expert "post hole digger", he battled the clay soil and won. And then we pulled out all the shrubs out front and planted lovely things like a crepe myrtle, azaleas, a hydrangea, carpet roses and mums. We planted a tree out back too. And then we painted a bedroom. So, it's been busy around here.....

Daddy speaks in chapel at DTS

Daddy spoke in chapel at DTS this past week. The subject was Parental Rights and Responsibilities and he adapted his talk at Blythefield for the seminary setting. If you want to hear it, go to www.dts.edu/media/chapel/ and click on 10/14/2008.

The State Fair

Last week we went to the state fair. It was fun. We went to the dog show, the petting zoo, the backyard circus, the butter sculpture of King Tut's tomb and our favorite show was the african acrobats. Here are a few pictures:

Choir Concert

Last Sunday evening was the Nielson and Young piano concert at PCPC, the church were we have choir. Our choir was participating in one of the songs titled, 'When With Our Music God is Glorified'. We were accompanied by a small orchestra and the two pianists. Mom video taped parts of the song for you to see. The whole concert was beautiful and we enjoyed it a lot. See if you can find Lily and I in the video. We are rather small, so good luck searching.

Angela's Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated my birthday with a few friends. On Saturday night we went out to LaMadeline, a little french bistro, for dinner. Mommy brought a table cloth and candles for the table. I had made a corsage for each lady that afternoon and we set one at each place setting. We made a carrot cake and I got a new, special dress that morning for the party. My two friends Hope and Grace and their mom and my friend, who is my choir director, were my special guests. We each had a delicious dinner and cake. After the dinner we went to the symphony. It was amazing! The music was beautiful. My choir director's husband plays cello in the symphony and he is also my cello teacher. It was a lovely evening spent with very dear friends!

The Pumpkin Patch at the Botanical Gardens

We spent a pleasant afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch. It's cooled down into the 80's and the weather was great. Here are some of the photos:

Volunteering at the Nursing Home

Last month we started volunteering at the local nursing home. Two days a month we come to help the folks play bingo. We help them move their tokens and show them where each one goes. It is a lot of fun!