:: Mid~Winter Happenings Update I ::

So .... It's been a bit crazy and busy here at 4522 Happenings ... we've got lots to update you on ... Back in December ... yes, way back then, Christiana and her 5th grade class hosted their annual Medieval Feast. It was our 4th Feast and we all had a most wonderful time! Christiana completed a model of a Medieval Castle and she did an outstanding job on her project and an A++ on her report! Way to go girlie!In late December, we headed to NYC with the Mays girls and had a wonderful adventure. We saw their cousin in her Off-Broadway debut in "Dear Edwina." She did an awesome job! We enjoyed dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in Little Italy, La Mela, thanks to my wonderful hubby. Kendall blessed us by taking photos of the trip ... you'll notice a different artistic view of things :) ... We visited Ground Zero and Trinity church ... Headed to the awesome World Store at Build-a-Bear, shopped at American Girl and Journey and Quiksilver ...Jean and I got pretty good at hailing two cabs at once to haul our crowd around ...We visited Time Square and had an yummy lunch at Hard Rock Cafe ...
It was a blast!!! Next?? Well ... along came January ... and ... Basketball took over!Kendall played for the CLS Varsity Girl's Cougars! ( i luv her ponytail in this picture :) They had an awesome season ... Champions of the PVAC North Division ... and they made it to the semi-finals in their tournament...Way to go Kendall!!! ... We are so proud of the many, many hours you put into practice and participating on the team. Determination ... Perseverance ... Faithfulness...

Kimberly returned to the middle school Lady Cougars! She had an excellent season as well ...

She enjoyed being back on the team after taking last year off ... (p.c. Kendall :)

Your season was full of ... Patience ... Perseverance ... Servanthood ... Fun memories ... we are so proud of you!!
Next up .... Christiana and Volleyball! ...C~anna is loving Volleyball ... it's been a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun! ...(i luv their socks!)She's been playing in a few tournaments and really learning the game... ... and hanging out with friends :) Way to go little one!

So that's the first update ... we'll leave it at that -- thankful for the gift of friends and sports!

More soon! We promise!

... Five Miles from Home ...

Where to begin this post?
By saying this:
A Great Book ~ and ~ An Amazing God ~ A Great Book ~

I surprised Don with a book for Christmas. Not just any book, a book by Drew Jones .... "Five Miles From Home ...and other exotic travel destinations, is a travel book about not traveling, or more correctly, not traveling far from home. It is not a book of lists of specific local things to do ..., rather it is a book about learning to enjoy what is nearby, whatever those things might be." Drew's wife Diane is Corinne's Literature teacher and we respect their family so much for their example of true love and sacrifice. Here is another excerpt from Drew's book ... " The seed for the book was born over 20 years ago with my son Reid. His disabilities and medical needs were so intense that traveling became very difficult for us. When his conditions became so acute that nurses or nursing homes were required for any time away, the possibility of significant travel evaporated." Drew's book is a great resource and an inspiration.

So Don started reading it Christmas morning (that's the book he was reading on the deck - previous post) and decided to use it for an idea on New Year's Day for family time. His idea? A family photo shoot contest. ~ An Amazing God ~

Corinne and Kimberly received Nikon Coolpix S550 digital cameras for Christmas and the other girls had cameras so we divided into two teams of three, had two hours to shoot photo's and we had to stay within a radius of "Five Miles from Home." Are you ready for an amazing story? It's a long one ... Corinne, Christiana and I headed to the Agriculture Park for some fun shots ... And then traveled around a few fields and churches ...
Don and Kendall and Kimberly headed north ... Toward MC and a beautiful forest ...

Above: a beautiful reflection ... Below: not such a beautiful picture - but an interesting shot of a bullet riddled old car with graffiti...Next, the two C's and I headed to Washington Grove to take a few pictures at the railroad tracks. They both got some cool shots of the tracks ... Out of nowhere, a silver car raced up to the tracks and a man quickly got out of the car. He asked us, "Has the Amtrak train come through yet?" In my pride I thought, would we be standing here on the tracks if a train were coming? What I said was, "no." He replied, "Well, when you see the train lights you have about a minute until it's here." And he drove off ...A very few minutes later, thankfully we saw the train light - I don't think it was even a minute before it came hurling past without even slowing down. The girls and I had quickly scurried over toward the car, but the rush of wind was harsh on our faces. I was so extremely grateful for that stranger's warning. We all were a bit weak in the knees and got in the car. At that moment I wanted to talk to Don, but I was a bit shaken up so I asked Corinne to call him and see what they were doing. He had left his cell phone at home, so we called Kendall's phone and he answered. He kept the call really brief and told Corinne he had to keep an eye on the girls and had to go. When she hung up I asked her what they were doing? Corinne said that he couldn't talk, he had to keep an eye on the girls - we didn't know where they were or what they were doing ... I told Corinne to call him right back and tell him that there was a train that is going north - very fast - and if they were anywhere near a railroad track they need to watch out.We didn't know where they were, but I felt such an urgency to call them. Don, Aimee the pup and the two K's were north, five miles north ... on the tracks walking onto a bridge, a railroad bridge, on an overpass, without a quick way down...When we called, they were walking on the tracks to the bridge. They were in the middle of the bridge when Don saw the light from the train in the distance. He yelled to the girls and they all ran very quickly off the tracks ... with less than a minute to spare before the Amtrak train came rushing past.

A very few minutes later, Kendall called and said, "Thank you for calling and warning us. We were on the tracks." How did we know? We didn't ...

He is an Amazing God ... to prompt my heart so strongly to call Don back and warn him. Was the man in the silver car an angel of the Lord? Our God sent that stranger to save us - all six of us, from the same train.

"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;" Psalm 91:11

When we all returned home, we hugged and talked a lot about God's amazing grace in our lives on New Year's day ... and as for the photo's ... the girls took over 400 photo's that day. I posted the finals throughout this post, and this last one, by Corinne, was our winner.

May the Lord continue to show His amazing kindness to you throughout this New Year! He is indeed amazing ... He is faithful ... We are so remarkably grateful.

::: ~ It's Christmas Time! ~:::

Christmas Morn! ...

Santa enjoyed the treats! ... Getting excited to call a special friend and "see" her in Belgium! ...
Warm fuzzies ...
Surprise! Photoshop ...
A true fan ...
Already texting ... A happy pup with her Mary Moose-eltoe ...

Coffee on the deck with a new book ... The classic "Sleepy Christmas Morning Photo" The advent of our Savior's birth is here ...
... we await the day when we see Him face to face. May we all await with the faith of Mary ...

Mary's Song
"And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers." Luke 1: 46-55

~ ~ Merry Christmas ~ ~

:: Tag we're it! ::

Okay ... so my good friend JeanBean tagged us in a silly blogging game. According to her rules, once you've been tagged, you go to your sixth picture folder, find your sixth photograph and blog your memories of the photo. Well.... we have a sad computer story. Yep, I don't have a sixth folder right now. You see ... I was working hard on the cruise photo's (see former October posts) and we transferred all of my picture folders to an external hard drive. Well, me and the hard drive were sitting at the kitchen table, and ---bang --- it was knocked to the floor. And apparently, those external hard drives are very delicate creatures, because ours broke. So for now, I went to my first file folder and grabbed the sixth picture .... Christiana ... on her first ever volleyball team! She played this fall for the "Glowing Bananas" a MVSA rec team. Her coaches Missy and Christine, two local high school girls, guided the Glowing B's to first place. And when they played the end of the season tournament, they won! And so, our little one is hooked on volleyball. She tried out for their club team and made the 12 and under team. She is very excited about this new adventure.

So in my sixth photo - Christiana is posing with her volleyball, her first place medal and in her Glowing Banana uniform. :) We've sprouted out of the basketball shell! Maybe there's another "spiking viking" (my former high school team!) in the making!

And to continue this tag game ... I'll tag my buddy Maria over at Farmviewer to see what she's up to! And let's see if Judy and LeeAnne want to play too. :) Ladies, try to find the sixth picture file, sixth photo - and feel free to tag six bloggers.

Tag, your it!

: : Photo Shoot with Kristen : :

We've had many "happenings" over here ... Over Thanksgiving break, Kristen took pictures for us. She took a ton of pictures! We loved seeing them on her blog and loved them even more when she delivered them today! Yeah! She is an outstanding photographer and I can't believe almost five years has gone by since she first photographed the girls with her brand new camera as she started her brand new career. Oh my! Thank you Kristen for taking such great photos for us ... I've already picked out the Christmas card photo, some frames for the house and can't wait to pick some frames for Don's office. ...

These girlies have been pretty busy (and keeping us busy) as well ... Christiana is playing for the 12 and under MVSA volleyball team, Kimberly is playing for Coach Cates' CLS Middle School Cougars, Kendall is playing her first year of Varsity basketball for CLS, and Corinne is completing college applications - yes, can't believe it - oh my!

... So we really enjoyed this little break from school, sports, and life ...
... we had tons of fun, giggles and laughter, and we made more memories ... thanks again Kristen!
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks ...

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness
continues through all generations."