Family Vacation Part 1

This week we had our very first family vacation that did not involve staying with family.  We went to Nashville for a few days and had a great but incredibly cold time. 

Our first full day there, we took the kids to see the Parthenon.  Most of the pond in front of the building was frozen over and all of the ducks and birds were walking on the ice.  There was a van from a news station there - I guess it was a good story.  It was pretty cool to see the birds walking on the ice, no pun intended.

Inside the Parthenon is a replica of the goddess Athena.  I can imagine that the people who went to the temple to worship her were probably terrified of such an imposing statue, and since they would not have had the modern lighting that we do, she probably would have been scarier by torch light.  We had a great conversation about idols and what God has to say about cutting down a tree and using part of the tree to warm yourself with a fire and the other part to carve an idol.

I'm so behind...

I really do have good intentions when it comes to updating this blog.  It just doesn't seem to happen very often.  So here are some recent pictures of the family...

Nathan's glad that he's almost outgrown the doll stroller

Micah at his last soccer game

Seth and Micah at their end of season soccer party

What its like at our house when I want

a picture of everyone (except me, of course)

I crack up when I see these pictures of Keith.  Well, full

disclosure here...I generally crack up when I see Keith at all.

Oh the joy of taking pictures at 9.30

at night instead of letting everyone sleep...

Abby's just as cute as she can be

Videos and pictures

We've been going through "Training Hearts, Teaching Minds" in our family devotion time, and Question 4 asks, "What is God?"  The answer follows: "God is a spirit, Whose being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable."  Keith reads the question, and we repeat it back so we can memorize it.  Bethany, who just turned two a couple of weeks before this clip, got in on it, too.

Abby spent some time outside, investigating bushes.

Bethany was given a doll's double stroller over the summer.  She decided that she wanted to ride in it instead of her dolls, but found that getting herself in and out isn't as easy as putting her dolls in it.

We recently went to a fall party, hosted by some friends.  Abby, Micah, Seth, and I went while the babies stayed home with their daddy to sleep.

Worship Music

Our Worship Leader, Tom, has introduced us to some incredible music. God has blessed our little church with Tom, who points us to Christ every Sunday. I can honestly say that I’ve never been part of such worship on a continual basis. And it’s just Tom and his guitar – no one else leading with him. The songs that we sing are not bubble-gum Christianity. They are deep, thought-provoking songs that lead us to worship because of the picture they paint of God.

Tom loaned Keith some of his CDs, and they were all incredible. They were all deeply rooted in the character of God. How I wish that we American Christians would drink from such a well of nourishing water that leads us to really think on Christ, whether it is the music we listen to or the books we read.

With that said, let me introduce you to Sojourn Music. The CD we have is Over The Grave, songs inspired by and adapted from the hymns of Isaac Watts.

You can listen to some of their music on their MySpace page.

You will not be sorry that you checked them out!

All About Nathan

Nathan is 1!

Saturday was Nathan's first birthday. I can't believe that my little baby is a year old. I've been through this 5 times, and each time, its hard to believe. In about a 2 day period, he went from not crawling, not rolling, and only occasionally pulling up to crawling, moving, going...

We were at my parent's home last week, and we had a small party for Nathan. My aunt made him his own cake.

He was a little apprehensive at first - what do I do with this?

Then he realized what he could do with it!

Then he just enjoyed it...

By the time he was done, he was pretty gross, but he had a great time with his cake!

I love you, Nathan!