Piano

I have been taking piano lessons for a year now and I've come a long way. I started taking lesson just on a whim and now it seems that I have a real future in it. My teacher, Mrs. Vivian Walker, says that I have a real skill for music theory. In my last book I didn't even get anything wrong. I always thought that music was nothing I had any skill with. It turns out I was wrong. That just goes to show that you shouldn't count yourself out unless you try.

For a long time all I had to practice on was a child's play piano.

But then our friends, the Cavenders, gifted us a beautiful, antique upright piano.

I'm very thankful for our friends and for our blessings.

-Andrew

Fall

We are moving into my favorite time of year! It is so exciting to me when I see the leaves change and when I feel a chill in the air. I wanted to just take a look back at the pictures we have taken this spring and summer.....Enjoy!


Daisy taking a nap.

Will, finally held still long enough for me to take a picture.

Andrew took this picture of himself. Cool!

Our rose that we planted in the backyard.

This is an azalea bloom.

Happy Birthday William!

William turned 18 on September 22! We had a party for him and invited all of his friends. Dummy me didn't take any pictures at the party, but you can take it on faith that we had a blast. Barbeque, a bon fire, Jungle Speed, and Halo.......what more could an 18 year old guy want? (Jungle Speed is a game one of his friends brought to the party.....it's not a drug.)

Last Sunday Mom and I got to go see Chonda Pierce with

Miss Teresa and Miss Leila. We had a BLAST! It was an all day thing. We went to Chattanooga, ate lunch at Big River Grille, saw Chonda, went to Target and came home. I had an awesome time with these inspiring ladies. Chonda's concert was awesome. (She is sooo funny!) They taped the show to sell copies of later on. We had a camera right in front of us for part of it, I wonder if we'll be on the tape? Do you like our beautiful shirts? Mom had them made as a momento of our trip. We look so cute!

Hummingbirds

Isn't she (or he?) pretty? We put out a feeder this time last year and had a such wonderful time watching them that we put the feeder out again. They are amazing creatures to watch! And so funny. We tried to use store bought food in the feeder this year, but they turned up their beaks at it and refused to eat! So, we make our own food and they gobble it up. We have their feeder stuck to our living room window so that we can watch them up close.

Even Daisy likes to watch the Hummingbirds!

Here is the recipe for home-made humming bird food:

1 part sugar

4 parts water

(example: 2 cups water and 1/2 cup sugar)

Combine in pot and bring to a boil to kill any bacteria.

Turn off heat and leave to cool.

Don't add red food coloring or anything else.

I'm very thankful that God has blessed me with the skillset that He did. Otherwise I'd be very bored. He's given me mad music skills; I play acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums, and congas (and I'm working on the comb and wax paper). I'm currently in the band at the youth group at Cumberland Worship Center. I'm playing the bass, and doing some vocals also. I hope to learn alot more skills, especially music theory. I need to get really good at transposing music. I'm also the head sound technician for the youth. This is the field I'd like to go into for a career, especially live sound mixing, and studio arts.

God bless,
Will

The Call Nashville

On 7-7-2007, my brothers and I went with our youth group to The Call Nashville. I knew that it would be a day of fasting and praying, but I was not prepared for what I experienced. Let me tell you what that day was like... We got up at 6:00 that morning to load up in the church van and head out so that we could get to the stadium by 10:00. On the way to Nashville, we worshiped. The presence of God was thick in that van! As we neared Nashville, the traffic became increasingly congested, which wasn't really out of the ordinary, but we started noticing the license plates on the vehicles. Ohio, Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, it was AMAZING! Church vans were passing us, too. I remember one van carrying a black youth group from TN, these people were singing and whooping and praising God just like we were. We were nearing LP Field and saw the repentance walk marching through the downtown area. The repentance walk was one of the events taking place in conjuction with The Call. It was a silent walk through the downtown area and ended in LP field. Participants had the oppotunity during that time to repent of sexual immorality and any other sins He placed on their hearts. Thousands of people were walking! We parked and got out of the van and could hear singing already coming from inside the stadium. Anyway, we got into the stadium, settled into our seats and began worshipping. Soon, Michael W. Smith came onstage and read a letter from the President. Members of different ethnic groups came forward and called us to prayer and reminded us of the reason we were there. For 12 hours we worshiped and prayed for the turn of our nation, for the end of abortion, and for forgiveness for the U.S. for allowing sin to become the norm. I left that night with such a passion in my heart for God and a desire to be sensitive towards the heart of God. Through the Call, I was introduced to the Bound for Life ministry. I am now disgusted when I hear that over 46,000,000 babies are killed each year just because they were an inconvenience. I have joined Bound For Life and wear a red Life band which is a silent reminder to pray for the ending of abortion and healing for those who have had an abortion and for those who have performed abortions. My life is changed. It was amazing to see 84,000 christians unite to fast and pray for forgiveness for our nation and God's mercy. These pictures are from the Call. The one on the far left and far right is from the prayer walk. (It just gives me chills to see it again!) Bound for Life has a website if you would like more info. Also the videos at the bottom of the page are about the Call. If you click on one of them to watch it, you have to scroll up to the top of the page to view it.

Sorry this was so long, you guys!

Hello

So, we have finally joined the 21st century and have started a family blog! I am so excited to share our news and even our little thoughts with our friends and family. I hope that you will visit often and enjoy our blog.

Miranda