Happy 18th Birthday, Erin!

Happy Birthday, Erin!

We are so excited for what God has planned for you in this new year of your life!  

We love you and are so grateful to God for gifting us you!

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.  Proverbs 31:10

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder: 

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 

The mighty God, The everlasting Father, 

The Prince of Peace."

(Isaiah 9:6)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: 

be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  For the Lord is good; 

his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."

(Psalm 100:4-5)

Vacation to Virginia -- Part 2

By: Luke

On Thursday we went on our annual canoe trip.  I am so thankful to God for the beautiful day He gave us.  It was supposed to rain, but as usual, it didn't!

On Friday, we spent some more time at the James River and also sang at a friend's house.

On Saturday, we visited Mom's sister and then headed to Brevard, NC where we were going to church at Bethany Baptist.   After church on Sunday, we drove to Greenville, SC to visit and sing to Mr. Ron Hamilton (also known as Patch the Pirate).  We had an amazing visit.  It was such a blessing to see Mr. Hamilton's joy and peace.   Mr. Hamilton sang along with almost all the songs we sang.  He always had the biggest smile on his face.

Mom, Benjamin, and Joseph, created a picture book for Mr. Hamilton which he greatly enjoyed.

"God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect."

2 Samuel 22:33

Vacation to Virginia -- Part 1

By: Erin

Recently, we went on our yearly vacation to Virginia and had an amazing time!  The first part of our trip was spent on the eastern side of Virginia, and the second half was spent in our home town near Roanoke.  God blessed us with safe travels and a wonderful time.

On Thursday we drove up to Williamsburg, VA, and made a stop in Fayetteville to visit some friends.

Driving through beautiful eastern Virginia.

On Friday we went to the original Jamestown site and ended the day off at the Yorktown Battlefield.

It was a beautiful day!

We were really excited to visit the glass making demonstration at Jamestown.  This is the furnace that the liquid glass is in, waiting to be made into something beautiful!

Saturday, we visited the incredibly intriguing Yorktown Museum and then went to a peanut factory with our wonderful aunt and uncle (who were so generous to let us stay in their home!).

The quotes throughout the museum reminded us, once again, what our country was founded on, and how important it is to preserve our constitution and freedom.

This dome was solely dedicated to the Declaration of Independence.

Throughout the years, courageous people have fought and died to obtain freedom for friends, family, and many people that they would never meet.  It is up to us to ensure that their sacrifices are never forgotten.

Driving to the peanut factory.

To get to the factory, we had to ride on a car ferry (which took about 30 minutes) to get to the other side of the James River.

It was very windy!

Preparing dinner with our aunt.

On Sunday, we went to a friends' church in Culpeper, then stopped by a friend's home in Richmond where we got to see her beautiful mustangs!

Monday, we walked around Williamsburg, then went to the Jamestown Museum (another great museum!).

God gave us another beautiful day in Williamsburg!

With George and Martha Washington.

Then, we went to the Jamestown Museum, which we really enjoyed.

Replicas of the Susan Constant and Godspeed.

We enjoyed climbing aboard one of the ships.

We enjoyed seeing the church at Jamestown.

Tuesday, we were so excited to get the opportunity to visit Assateague Island Wildlife Refuge where wild horses live.  It was a beautiful day.

Crossing the Chesapeake Bay.

Some of the adopted Chincoteague Ponies.

Another beautiful, but HOT day!!

Funny story behind this picture...

The day that we went to Assateague, also happened to be the day a rocket was being sent off to space on a nearby island, unbeknownst to us!  Everyone had to evacuate Assateague by 2:00p for the rocket to take off at 6:00p.  We decided to start on a three mile trail when we arrived (about 11:00am), to see how far we were able to go, then turn around and go back to our car in order to leave by evacuation time.  We really wanted to see the beach, though!  While we were walking to the beach, everyone was leaving (about 1:30pm).  One of the people that was leaving said to Isaac, Luke, and I (we were a little ahead of the rest), "By the way, everyone is leaving now because a ranger said that a rocket was being sent off soon." We replied, "Yes, we do know, thank you!".  They looked back at us and said, "Oh, you're here for a reason!".  That made us laugh!  Long story short, we got off the island in time, and were able to go back after the rocket launched, and found the wild horses then.

We enjoyed going to the Chincoteague Museum.

Pedestrians first!

After dinner and the rocket launch, we went back to the island.

Driving back home off of Chincoteague Island.

On Wednesday, we took some time to relax and drove to Roanoke, meeting a friend for dinner that evening.

Part two will finish off our time in western Virginia!