Come, Thou Unexpected Jesus

Come, Thou Unexpected Jesus (with apologies to Charles Wesley)

Come, Thou unexpected Jesus,
Interrupt our spending spree.
Shopping malls hold all that pleases;
Why would we then look for Thee?
In the midst of all the bustle,
We've lost the most important part.
Teach us that our lowly Savior
Is not found in a shopping cart.
—Jenn Kipp




Our Uncle sent this to Our Mom.
P.S. If you don't know the tune there are 2 songs at the bottom of the play-list at the bottom of this page with the tune.
The first is a variation and the 2nd is a man singing it with the original lyrics and the original tune.
Try it and enjoy!
Merry Christmas!

The Christ Family

Play-list info

I have posted a Christmas play-list on our blogs.
So how do you like them???

Preparing the Garden!

As fall draws to a close and the days get colder and colder the garden dies back. Slow at first then faster, till nothing is left. Where your tall green plants where but a short time before there is merely soil. Dirt. Nothing. But beneath the crust of the cold soil, it is not quite as dead as you think. Of course the plants are dead, but the earthworms, the bugs, and the bacteria are alive and happy. They need food and warmth. The are decomposing your dead tomato plants and any other substance they find. To work with them to enrich your garden before spring follow some basic steps...


One. When tilling your garden turn the dead plants into the soil.

Two. Do NOT over till. This is VERY important. Over tilling kills the bugs and worms you need!

Three. Collect Leaves!!! All over your town people are raking leaves. We hitch up our trailer to the 12 passenger and go leaf hunting. It really is thrilling!

Four. Compost through the winter.

More Later...


Jess

We are still here!!!

Worlds Best Mom

"How can it be a large career
to tell other people's children about arithmetic

and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe?

How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone
and narrow to be everything to someone?

No, a woman's function is laborious
because it is gigantic,

not because it is minute."



G. K. Chesterton



I love you Mommy
jessica

The Experiment

This came through on an email. We thought it was pretty funny.

Photo Shoot!

Long story, but we donated to the local fire department. As a thank you they took our picture (professional picture that is). Ryan and Jamie came home and set up a studio. And these are the results...

Photo Shoot!

Just when you think YOU have a rough life...

You hear a story like this!

Read the following story from our friend Dixie Farm girl and pray for her and her family. Have you noticed that when ever life starts looking really tough and scary God sends a story like this. And your problems pale in comparision to others struggles. Does that happen to you.

The Story of God's Grace.

Are you looking for some fun?

You HAVE to watch this film.
GOOD CLEAN FUN!
All of our friends are in it, except us!
Just kidding. But you still have to watch it!

Jessica Turns 16!!!

Shiloh you are so right we MUST do a post on Jess but for now here is a picture seeing as how I am supposed to be helping make her birthday dinner.
-Erin


I removed the previous picture
Jess

Singing Harmony!

Two pictures of the same thing. I lightened the top one.
Beth Anne, Mr. Travers, and Graham sang beautiful harmony.
Great job guys!
And to the other guys who played instruments only, great job as well.

Beth Anne Travers and Emily looked so cute in this photo!

The Square Dance!

Sarah and Jamie.
They are not twins, but they do look alike!
Which is which?

Everyone tunes and plucks while Ce-Ce and Graham confer with each other.


Instrument players spend a lot of time preparing to play.
Tuning, finding the music, re-tuning, fixing the mic, re-tuning...etc
No, I exaggerate a little, but it is kind of like that!

I neglected to tell Rachel I was taking her picture.
That by the way is a very important part of photographing people.

Braids, Braids, and more Braids.

Rachel and Erin showing two of our hair styles!
Rachel styles all of our hair, O.K. except Mommy, Daddy, Michael, and Ryan.
But other than that!

Michael JoJo and Mommy!
Two of my very favorite people!

Emily Lee, Abby Lee, Katie Hadley, and Bethany Lee
I think I misspelled Abby. If I did I am sorry.

The West Ladies sing - they sounded so pretty. I love their songs!
They were accompanied by the Travers family.

Sarah and Elizabeth Marsh - Best Friends

Sarah has now lost her first tooth. I love her smile.

I (Jessica) smile and Hannah Boyd sticks out her tongue.
Hannah what where you doing?

Rachel in between sashaying and promenading.

Josh and Emily Lee pose for a photo.

Hannah Boyd and Hannah West do...? The right hand reel?

Last night we went up to a friend's house to "square dance" and listen to bluegrass. Enjoy the photos. I can not tell you how much fun we had. I would have done more photos of the singers, but the light was horrible for our poor little camera! So... enjoy what we have!

I have two other photos of Beth Anne singing harmony, but she has to give permission before I can post them.

Cades Cove Here We Come!!

This past week we went up to Cades Cove. (For those who don't know Cades Cove is in the Smokey Mountain National Park of Tennessee.) We had SO much fun! We went with a group campsite so we had no water or electricity. (We could fill up our tank at the bath house) All in all we had a primitive camping trip. It was fun. Wednesday we biked 11 miles round trip on the Cades Cove Loop Road. That was exhausting, but fun.


Can anyone guess what the last picture is? This is hillarious!!
GUESS! You will Never Guess!

We are "published"

We have been published!!!!
You can read the story HERE!!!
We are the Band of Brothers story.
Let us know what you think!
Enjoy

A Typical Moment

I found this on Mrs. Fuentes's homeschool blog... The Homeschool Corner! It was so realistic I just had to post it!!

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing...

I have to say... of all the things the WHITE family has taught us is pray, pray, and keep praying!
When their baby died they didn't give up. When the adoption they hoped for fell through they didn't give up. And now they Lord has rewarded them. They now hold two tiny twin girls in their arms. They hold double blessings in their arms and hearts.

Thank you Lord for
Josie Clare and Ellie Cate!