Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary

By: Erin

Over the past few years, we have heard a lot about Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary, especially the BLT (Bear, Lion, & Tiger) that lived together for most of their lives after being rescued (the bear is the only one still alive).  We had been wanting to go for awhile, so we finally made the trip and met up with an uncle and aunt who had already visited there previously.  It was amazing to see all the rescued animals, and how the zoo keepers are able to take care of all of them and spend time with them each day.  They have hundreds of different animals like birds, lions, tigers, alligators, cows, pigs, horses, donkeys, zebras, monkeys, and many more.

The peacocks were the first animals we saw when we arrived.  They roam all over the sanctuary grounds.

This unique animal is a Cavy.

I was shooting the pictures through two sets fences, so that's why there are blurry lines in them!

This is Baloo, the last one left of the BLT.  He was dozing when we first saw him, but later got up.

These Silver Foxes were so pretty!

White Belgian Tiger

One of the many Emus

Our group!

Most of the horses are in an enormous pasture (80 acres), so this is the only one we saw. 

The Welcome Center

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; 
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"

(Matthew 6:26)

Sluggo, Jiggers, & Sparky - Joyful Acres' Newest Additions!

By: Erin

When Aunt Christina passed away, we were able to take home two of her cats.  Over the past two months it has been fun to see their personalities come out.  They are great additions! 

Jiggers/Tiger:

• Self-Confident--unless there is a couch he can hide under!
• Spunky
• Affectionate

Sluggo/Shade:

• Calm
• Affectionate
• Stoic 

Another new addition is Luke's rabbit, Sparky.

Sparky:

• Spunky
• Very Friendly
• Active

"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: 

but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

(Proverbs 12:10)

Happy 15th Birthday, Erin!

~Erin Anna Phillips~

Happy 15th Birthday, Erin!

Today, we praise God for your life and the blessing you are to our family!  Thank you for your joy, helpfulness, diligence, thoughtfulness, love for the Lord, and passion for His Creation.  We pray that you would continue to shine brightly for Jesus!  We love you so much and are so thankful that we are your family!

"The king's daughter is all glorious within:"

(Psalm 45:13)

Merry Christmas!

Morgan, Luke, Benjamin, Stephen, Anne, Joseph, Isaac, & Erin

Merry Christmas!

We pray you have very blessed and wonderful Christmas celebrating Jesus' Birth and all He did for us!

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 

which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, 

which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe 

wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel

 a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, 

and on earth peace, good will toward men."

(Luke 2:10-14)

Packing the Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes!

By: Erin

For the past four years we have enjoyed packing the Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes together and planning what we want to put in the boxes.  We are so thankful that Samaritan's Purse started this ministry and that God has blessed them as they have been able to reach many children.  We packed twenty boxes (in the past we have packed twelve) for ages 2-4.  This year a friend from church helped us pack the boxes.

Morgan spent a lot of time getting the items and picking the perfect toys!

We include a letter in the boxes to let the children know how much they are loved by God and us.

Packing the first boy's box.

Finished product.

Luke gathering items for a girl's box.

We enjoy setting them up to get a picture of everything!

Mom made us delicious hot chocolate!

All the boxes!

"Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: 
pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."
(Luke 10:2)

Fall Days

By: Erin

Since our leaves don't change color down here in Georgia, this past fall has been a fun season as we've been able to go up north at the peak of color.  Being from Virginia, we really miss seeing the vibrant colors of fall.  God has blessed us with beautiful weather this fall, and we are excited to be heading into the cooler season!  Below are pictures of our adventures this fall.

Our county had it's annual Salzburger Festival (The Salzburgers came from Germany to be able to worship God freely and founded the area where we live).  In this picture we are in Jerusalem Lutheran Church, the oldest Lutheran church in America.

First day back to school party!

Daffodil is watching the turtles-something she shouldn't be doing!

A baby goat, Space.

The sky on cool days is always so pretty!  God is an amazing artist!

Life Chain Sunday.

        We were blessed to be able to meet Dr. S. M. Davis and his wife at a family conference.

This is one of the many historic houses in Savannah (and one we hadn't been to yet), so we took a field trip there with our home school group.  

The front door.

The piano in the parlor was beautiful!

Afterwards, we headed to Leopold's Ice Cream Shop.  Our first visit to this famous shop!

We had gotten matching T-shirts from the organization I volunteer for, The Cloud Foundation. My miniature horse, Cloud, was named after the wild horse the foundation was named after.

Morgan & Cloud

For the past couple of years, we have packed shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child/Samaritan's Purse.  This year we were able to hear a woman who had received a shoe box give her testimony at a nearby church.  Livia grew up in an orphanage in Romania where Samaritan's Purse delivers shoe boxes.  She was then adopted by a volunteer from Samaritan's Purse.

Isaac enjoying a warm day on the pond.

After going on a tour at Dad's work, we drove through our local wildlife refuge.  If you zoom up close on the picture above, you can see an alligator.

It was a beautiful day at the refuge!

Judge just turned one year old and is 85 pounds!

We recently found these adorable mushrooms on our property!

We hold church services at a local assisted living center and they invited us over for their Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving!

Grilling Thanksgiving breakfast.

Thanksgiving Dinner!

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, 

to the which also ye are called in one body; 

and be ye thankful."

(Colossians 3:15)