Hello dear Readers,
I know it's been a while since I've blogged...
I hope you've all had a wonderful last few weeks filled with blessings!
I had a fun little blessing yesterday at my first piano competition - I played a fun song called 'Peppermint Rag', and got a score of 1! It was a lot of fun, and we've spent the rest of the weekend preparing for our trip to Mississippi and just having family time. Ah...
I just wanted to give all my dear ones a bit of encouragement this Sunday!
I hope you keep the realization with you that you're in your circumstances for a reason! That no matter how unfair it may seem now, God has a great plan - and you're a part of it! Actually, you're a vital part of it.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-3
And...
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"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
Pure joy in trials and strength no matter what. That's a tall order. But we can do it! Why? Because -
"I can do all things through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13
I don't know where you are in life. You maybe standing in the sunshine, living life to the fullest and enjoying every blessing that comes your way. I'm so happy for you. Or, you maybe hanging on by a thread, and unable to hoist yourself back up. God's here to tell you that you CAN get up again. And you don't have to do it yourself - if you give all those burdens and anger and grief to God, not only will He take it from you - He'll help give you wisdom through this situation, and strength to boot.
' How could anyone live this crazy life without God?' That's where the 'courage' part of this post comes out.
Have courage to... Stand up for Christ! Don't let the lamp that is your faith be hidden.
To share the good news! Don't be a 'parrot' Christian, living in your comfortable cage, never reaching beyond your borders. Reach out for God - and for the eternity of your fellow human beings.
And have courage to give it all to God! Don't feel defeated if your evangelistic attempts don't strike gold right away. It's a rewarding process, planting those seeds for Christ, but also one that can be depressing.
Ask God for wisdom and strength and the door will be opened. Prayer is the most important thing.
Pray for those you know who need Christ, and pray for the Christians you know with dear ones who do not know Christ. And have faith!
I hope, my Readers, that this post has encouraged you and given you courage.
Your blogger,
Claire
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A story of sunshine and rain. And what God's plan has to do with it.
Dear Readers,
This week I realized that God has the absolute perfect plan. I know we all think 'God, why does this happen to ?' (-insert your name or someone you know who's going through some unfairness) But, the truth of the matter is - Yes, some things in life are NOT fair. But it's all in God's plan. And He is seeing the Big picture - what's best for everyone. We tend to only see what's best for us and our dear ones.
God has planned for you to have sunny days, and rainy ones. If you praise Him in the sunshine and stand under His umbrella in the storm, you'll be okay.
We had a sunshine-filled day on Friday, for sure. We went to the Chinese Festival. How my mother always comes up with ways to make every subject in school fascinating, I'll never know, but this was one such time.
We've been studying China, and got a first hand experience yesterday. We ate Dim-Sum and watched a show with a lion puppet (I use that term loosely - more like a true-to-life-size lion), and that was really amazing. You could see the men underneath, but they made it move like an actual animal. And, we walked through the beautiful gardens at the Cultural center. The statues were lovely, and Cate was very photogenic with her parasol! 
Lastly, we went to the Asian Market Grocery store. It was fascinating. We couldn't understand what we were eating at Dim-Sum, so it was neat to walk through and figure it all out. We saw huge tanks of catfish, octupus legs (suckers included!), baby squids, fish heads, and lots of ginger! We also got these little 'Fruti King' mini sodas which were adorable! (And really good, too!)
So, as you can see, we had an amazing time. But on Thursday, however, Mom had a bit of sad news for me. As you know, I'm part of AZ Friends in Sign, which translates songs into American Sign Language and signs them at different places. (nursing homes,hospitals,etc.)
Well, this past Christmas we went to a home for people with Alzheimer's. I was completely unprepared for what I saw, and my heart went out to the people living there. One man there was deaf. He had not learned sign language, and so had no communication with the people around him.
After we finished signing, he was reluctant to go back to his room! It made me so happy that we had brought him joy. And then, I went up to him and signed "Merry Christmas, thank you."
(Because we had gone around after the show and thanked all the residents for coming to watch). He signed thank you back to me! That was such a happy moment for me, and I was just certain I (or someone else in our group) HAD to come back and teach him more sign language.
No one did ever get to teach him sign because he died not long after we performed.
I didn't know that, and so when Mom found out last Thursday so did I. Mom said (she always has the perfect words) that it is better for him now, though, because he's in Heaven and he doesn't need sign language. He can hear now, and he can remember. That makes me so happy.
Why am I telling you all this? For two reasons. 1.) Because you should know that God's plan is always perfect! Yes-I was sad. I'm sure his family is sad. But I know he is happy, and much better in Heaven than here. I understand that this is a part of God's plan - and His plan is wonderful and perfect. (He's a God of love, not maliciousness.)
2.) Alzheimer's is a terrible disease. And, as of right now, there is no cure for it. I'm certain God's plan has a cure included in it, so did a bit of research to inform all my bloggy followers of. There is an organization called Alzheimer's CURE foundation, Inc.that has come up with a nice incentive for scientists. They are working to raise 20 million dollars to award the scientist who finds the cure. This will hopefully speed along the process and add a bit of competition to it! Please go to their website and help find a cure for this disease. Going to that home showed me that this is a real thing. Not just something you can put statistics on and ignore. (I may be repeating last Saturday's lesson a bit...)
I hope my story will inspire you to spread the word, too. Your Blogger(who is SO glad to have a God who does the planning for me), Claire
P.S.- prayer is the best gift you can give! Please pray for the people around the world with Alzheimer's, and their families,too.
This week I realized that God has the absolute perfect plan. I know we all think 'God, why does this happen to ?' (-insert your name or someone you know who's going through some unfairness) But, the truth of the matter is - Yes, some things in life are NOT fair. But it's all in God's plan. And He is seeing the Big picture - what's best for everyone. We tend to only see what's best for us and our dear ones.
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| Calico in China! |
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| Such a silly girl...but beautiful with that parasol! |
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| The dragon puppets were amazing to see. |
We had a sunshine-filled day on Friday, for sure. We went to the Chinese Festival. How my mother always comes up with ways to make every subject in school fascinating, I'll never know, but this was one such time.
We've been studying China, and got a first hand experience yesterday. We ate Dim-Sum and watched a show with a lion puppet (I use that term loosely - more like a true-to-life-size lion), and that was really amazing. You could see the men underneath, but they made it move like an actual animal. And, we walked through the beautiful gardens at the Cultural center. The statues were lovely, and Cate was very photogenic with her parasol! 
We also watched a lady paint our names in calligraphy. (We're about to do that in school, so it was perfect!)
Chinese calligraphy is such a graceful and fascinating art, I've always loved it. I'll share a picture of my name soon! Mom, Cate, and I went to the children's pavilion and made a lantern. Even though it was supposed to be too hard for children, Cate helped quite a bit and it turned out to be beautiful!
So, as you can see, we had an amazing time. But on Thursday, however, Mom had a bit of sad news for me. As you know, I'm part of AZ Friends in Sign, which translates songs into American Sign Language and signs them at different places. (nursing homes,hospitals,etc.)
Well, this past Christmas we went to a home for people with Alzheimer's. I was completely unprepared for what I saw, and my heart went out to the people living there. One man there was deaf. He had not learned sign language, and so had no communication with the people around him.
After we finished signing, he was reluctant to go back to his room! It made me so happy that we had brought him joy. And then, I went up to him and signed "Merry Christmas, thank you."
(Because we had gone around after the show and thanked all the residents for coming to watch). He signed thank you back to me! That was such a happy moment for me, and I was just certain I (or someone else in our group) HAD to come back and teach him more sign language.
No one did ever get to teach him sign because he died not long after we performed.
I didn't know that, and so when Mom found out last Thursday so did I. Mom said (she always has the perfect words) that it is better for him now, though, because he's in Heaven and he doesn't need sign language. He can hear now, and he can remember. That makes me so happy.
Why am I telling you all this? For two reasons. 1.) Because you should know that God's plan is always perfect! Yes-I was sad. I'm sure his family is sad. But I know he is happy, and much better in Heaven than here. I understand that this is a part of God's plan - and His plan is wonderful and perfect. (He's a God of love, not maliciousness.)
2.) Alzheimer's is a terrible disease. And, as of right now, there is no cure for it. I'm certain God's plan has a cure included in it, so did a bit of research to inform all my bloggy followers of. There is an organization called Alzheimer's CURE foundation, Inc.that has come up with a nice incentive for scientists. They are working to raise 20 million dollars to award the scientist who finds the cure. This will hopefully speed along the process and add a bit of competition to it! Please go to their website and help find a cure for this disease. Going to that home showed me that this is a real thing. Not just something you can put statistics on and ignore. (I may be repeating last Saturday's lesson a bit...)
I hope my story will inspire you to spread the word, too. Your Blogger(who is SO glad to have a God who does the planning for me), Claire
P.S.- prayer is the best gift you can give! Please pray for the people around the world with Alzheimer's, and their families,too.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
No words
Dear Readers,
We've had an amazing weekend. Even though Mason broke his foot. Yeah - it happened again. This time, however, he's not in a cast. So...it's not as bad as last time, as you can see from my mom's blog post.
We finished school early Friday and went out to lunch with Dad, and after that we all went to swim class together. And then, (on Saturday), Mom, Cate, and I went to the fabric store. (Mom is going to be making curtains for their room.) Would you believe we saw a man walking his pet turtle?
And THEN, we went to church and I was blessed to have a reunion with a dear friend.
So, you can understand how for the last few days I've been feeling especially blessed. And, I'm sure you can also understand how when I read Compassion International's magazine my heart, feeling absolutely full to the brim, was broken for the families and children featured.
925 million people worldwide are chronically hungry - almost one in 7.
7.7 million children die each year before age 5. In 53% of these deaths, malnutrition is a factor.
8oo million people do not have access to clean water.
Wow. Isn't that absolutely heart wrenching? I hate looking at these statistics. As I typed them, I thought about turning right around and erasing them. Really, I did.
I'm guessing that your first instinct was to probably look away, too, right? It's so easy for us (or at least it is for me) to ignore those facts. To go on with our carefree lives, turning a blind eye to the pain of the world. We want to look away, it's just too much.
But God never gets to look away.
I read that in a devotional book, and it's so true. God is always looking down on the people halfway across the world from us, and He loves the people who smell bad and live in garbage just as much as He loves us.
Here's a link to a website called 'Whoarethejoneses.org'. The first thing you see is a slot where you type in your salary. After that, a page pops up that says "The Joneses make
amount that is double your salary." and "If you have hamburgers, they have steak. If you have this big a tv their's is MUCH bigger." And so on, so on.
Then you can choose to ditch the Joneses. You then read a story about how families around the world live compared to you. It was shocking. I encourage you to go to this website.
I'm sorry if I put a damper on your amazing weekend with those terrible statistics.
But, please, don't let it discourage you. In fact, let in ENcourage you. God can free those families from poverty, and you can help. Compassion International lets you chose a child to sponsor. They then give you the oppurtunity to, along with a monthly gift to your child (of 38 dollars), write letters and give family gifts. On their website, they share stories of how flooding destroyed a family's home and crops. But a family gift of $300.00 gave them the supplies to build a new home. And also stories of children who thought they were worthless, until their sponsors wrote to encourage them. Jesus can use YOU as a vessel to help lower those statistics. Your Blogger,
Claire
We've had an amazing weekend. Even though Mason broke his foot. Yeah - it happened again. This time, however, he's not in a cast. So...it's not as bad as last time, as you can see from my mom's blog post.
We finished school early Friday and went out to lunch with Dad, and after that we all went to swim class together. And then, (on Saturday), Mom, Cate, and I went to the fabric store. (Mom is going to be making curtains for their room.) Would you believe we saw a man walking his pet turtle?
And THEN, we went to church and I was blessed to have a reunion with a dear friend.
So, you can understand how for the last few days I've been feeling especially blessed. And, I'm sure you can also understand how when I read Compassion International's magazine my heart, feeling absolutely full to the brim, was broken for the families and children featured.
925 million people worldwide are chronically hungry - almost one in 7.
7.7 million children die each year before age 5. In 53% of these deaths, malnutrition is a factor.
8oo million people do not have access to clean water.
Wow. Isn't that absolutely heart wrenching? I hate looking at these statistics. As I typed them, I thought about turning right around and erasing them. Really, I did.
I'm guessing that your first instinct was to probably look away, too, right? It's so easy for us (or at least it is for me) to ignore those facts. To go on with our carefree lives, turning a blind eye to the pain of the world. We want to look away, it's just too much.
But God never gets to look away.
I read that in a devotional book, and it's so true. God is always looking down on the people halfway across the world from us, and He loves the people who smell bad and live in garbage just as much as He loves us.
Here's a link to a website called 'Whoarethejoneses.org'. The first thing you see is a slot where you type in your salary. After that, a page pops up that says "The Joneses make
amount that is double your salary." and "If you have hamburgers, they have steak. If you have this big a tv their's is MUCH bigger." And so on, so on.
Then you can choose to ditch the Joneses. You then read a story about how families around the world live compared to you. It was shocking. I encourage you to go to this website.
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| A picture (colored by Cate) for our sponsored child, Moris. |
But, please, don't let it discourage you. In fact, let in ENcourage you. God can free those families from poverty, and you can help. Compassion International lets you chose a child to sponsor. They then give you the oppurtunity to, along with a monthly gift to your child (of 38 dollars), write letters and give family gifts. On their website, they share stories of how flooding destroyed a family's home and crops. But a family gift of $300.00 gave them the supplies to build a new home. And also stories of children who thought they were worthless, until their sponsors wrote to encourage them. Jesus can use YOU as a vessel to help lower those statistics. Your Blogger,
Claire
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Family time in Flagstaff
We have just gotten home from a marvelous trip to Flagstaff! Even though Dad had to work, we still had a great time just being together. And Mom planned some pretty fun activities for us to do during the day!
Cate has been DYING to see snow. So, Dad has been planning for some time to take her up to Flagstaff on one of his numerous trips to take care of the kids up there. When we got there, the snow was a little 'harder' than we had expected...
But we had fun nonetheless!
The Lowell Observatory was really very fascinating. 
The Lowell telescope was housed inside a dome, both of which were hundreds of years old. The dome was wooden and built by two men who owned a bicycle shop. They made it flat on top!
Also - you see the wheels there on the wall? Well, they thought they could put salt water underneath them, so that when the groundkeeper pulled the dome open, it would be less tiring. This worked great - for the first couple of days! After that, well, I'll just show a picture.
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| Those are some serious water stains!! |
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| The grave... |
The first time we went to Flagstaff, I fell in love with this adorable church. Mom was kind enough to stop the car, let me get out, and take pictures. So of course I had to share! I'm so grateful for a mother who understands such things...
We had to bring just a FEW books with us. Really, they were each a necessity for our one full day -two night trip. We may or may not be guilty of stopping at a Barnes and Noble while in Flag,too...
One of my favorite things was watching the scenery change. Though it is VERY hard to take pictures in a moving vehicle, as I suppose I learned the hard way, I kept trying to capture the change from desert to forest. Oh, I love living in Arizona! God is so creative.
We went to eat at a little mexican restaurant called Casa Bonita, and it was SO good. But, more than the food, I think we will all remember that restaurant with fond memories because of the laughs we shared there. We had such a great time together - I'm really blessed to be a part of this amazing family!  |
| Cate loved drawing in the frost - a treat you can't enjoy in Phoenix! |
Well, my Readers, I hope you enjoyed seeing my pictures and hearing of the fun we had in Flagstaff!
Your Blogger,
Claire
Saturday, January 22, 2011
ASL news
Dear Readers,
The Shrader family has the crud. This cold thing attacked Dad, then Cate, now Mom and Benjamin.
Ugh.
But I'm not here to blog about the crud. I'm here to blog about an amazing girl who took an inspiration and ran with it. I just saw a news report about Allyson Townsend. She is a young girl who grew up with a friend who was Deaf. This friend asked her all these questions about what it was like to listen to music, and how do you know how long to hold the words out, etc. So Allyson interpreted a song into American Sign Language (ASL). Her friend loved it. And soon, Allyson had tons of videos out on YouTube. Along with many,many followers. Most of whom are Deaf.
Now, Allyson is a teacher for Deaf second graders and has a major in Deaf Education. She continues to share the gift of music with others who can't hear it.
A news story featuring her as ABC's 'Person of the Week', caught my eye in the video bar of Yahoo. I soon found the story on ABC, which you can go to here. The video they show is filled with so much passion and expression. I felt like I should take notes!
Really, I'm blogging about this because all year I've struggled with becoming the person God wants me to be, and how to do the things God wants me to do. I know I have a passion for animals, music, and sign language. My question is - how do I use that to further God's Kingdom?
Although this news report certainly didn't answer my question, it encouraged me. Allyson started out a lot like me and now is helping Deaf people worldwide. What a great ministry!
The Shrader family has the crud. This cold thing attacked Dad, then Cate, now Mom and Benjamin.
Ugh.
But I'm not here to blog about the crud. I'm here to blog about an amazing girl who took an inspiration and ran with it. I just saw a news report about Allyson Townsend. She is a young girl who grew up with a friend who was Deaf. This friend asked her all these questions about what it was like to listen to music, and how do you know how long to hold the words out, etc. So Allyson interpreted a song into American Sign Language (ASL). Her friend loved it. And soon, Allyson had tons of videos out on YouTube. Along with many,many followers. Most of whom are Deaf.
Now, Allyson is a teacher for Deaf second graders and has a major in Deaf Education. She continues to share the gift of music with others who can't hear it.
A news story featuring her as ABC's 'Person of the Week', caught my eye in the video bar of Yahoo. I soon found the story on ABC, which you can go to here. The video they show is filled with so much passion and expression. I felt like I should take notes!
Really, I'm blogging about this because all year I've struggled with becoming the person God wants me to be, and how to do the things God wants me to do. I know I have a passion for animals, music, and sign language. My question is - how do I use that to further God's Kingdom?
Although this news report certainly didn't answer my question, it encouraged me. Allyson started out a lot like me and now is helping Deaf people worldwide. What a great ministry!
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| The amazing Interpreters on the Disney Cruise and I |
I hope it encouraged all of you, too. And I hope you're having a great (crud-free) Saturday!
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” - Matthew 7:7-8
I've asked God to lead me where HE wants me to go and I encourage you to do the same! He won't let you down. Your Blogger,
Claire
Monday, January 17, 2011
The Little Moments and Mississippi Melts
Dear Readers,
Yesterday was a lazy Sunday for the Shraders. We woke up to Mom making waffles, so of course everyone was in a good mood! After breakfast I attempted to write my most inspirational post yet. However, after trying to find that perfect excerpt from my 'Sister Freaks' devotional, I wrote a long post that after a quick run through, I promptly deleted. So, if you scroll down, you will see a small entry about Jesus, with an excerpt from the Bible, which was really the devotion book I needed yesterday.
Yesterday was a lazy Sunday for the Shraders. We woke up to Mom making waffles, so of course everyone was in a good mood! After breakfast I attempted to write my most inspirational post yet. However, after trying to find that perfect excerpt from my 'Sister Freaks' devotional, I wrote a long post that after a quick run through, I promptly deleted. So, if you scroll down, you will see a small entry about Jesus, with an excerpt from the Bible, which was really the devotion book I needed yesterday.
Moving on: In case you don't already know, Mississippi Melts are a cookie recipe my sister and I made up. Filled with pecans and white chocolately goodness, we decided to make them last night.
Cate is the amazing pecan chopper. Here are her little hands hard at work. As we baked, she turned to me and said " I love doing this. Making cookies with my sister." Aww... I love you, Cate!
The rest of the day Mom and I went a little blog crazy. She redid her blog, and did a gorgeous job. The Blessing Counter's new header is designed by her! So is mine...
I must confess, though - my new background is called the Christmas Quilt. It has nothing really CHRISTMAS-y about it, though, so I thought it looked perfect for winter. I got the 'be a deer (yes - deEr!) leave a comment' blinky, too. I hope y'all enjoy! Well, I'm sorry if that was a bit boring, I just had a need to share our do - nothing yesterday. After all, it's the little moments that are special, right?
Your Blogger,
Claire
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Penny for your thoughts?
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!"
1 John 3:1
Dear Readers,
I've just spent two forevers flipping through my devotion, Sister Freaks, starting to write down one story, and changing my mind. I started to write another, and changed my mind. Trust me, though - this is a good book. I've read about a Deaf missionary, a young girl who escaped the religion of Islam to come to Christianity, and Joan of Arc.
All the stories are truly inspiring, but I've decided to take a little break from it, and to study the most influential person in all history. So, here is a little excerpt from the Bible about Jesus.
"This is the Testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:11-13
I would love it if each of y'all commented with the most influential and/or inspiring person in your life! Also, if you don't have an account, you can comment as anonymous. Your Blogger,
Claire
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Photo Booth
The Famous Maroon Band
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| Go bulldogs!! |
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| We had so much fun at the FCA breakfast! |
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| My touchdown! |
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| Our groovy van- complete with bright lights, blinds, a magazine holder, and our own little sofa! |
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| We rode over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter- it was very realistic. |
Cate loved the ride 'Flight of the Hypogriff. It was a lot of fun, and the hypogriff was adorable!
I hope you enjoyed this little corner of our vacation! We had a great time, and I really loved sharing this with you! Your Blogger,
Claire
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Ringing in the new year!!
Dear Readers,
We recently came home from Florida. It was so amazing to see all the MAROON!
The bulldogs won the game, too! Actually - we schmooshed Michigan! There was a point, though, when we had clearly gotten a touchdown and the referee was challenging it. I took a picture that proved we were in the inzone, and would have gladly shown it to the referee if necessary. He, however, came to his senses and found the truth of the matter. I felt like it was MY touchdown!
We had an amazing time in Jacksonville. We met with sweet friends, watched that amazing game, and reminsced about the 3 months we lived there. We met with our Sunday school teacher, Mr.Gary , who made our day by coming and visiting at Panera. And then we drove away in our huge accessible van with it's runway lights to visit Harry Potter. We had a great time at Universal as well. No, it's not Disney, but Dad and I laughed and laughed on the 'One fish, two fish' ride. (We're not too good at following instructions and ended up soaked!) And we marveled at the thrilling Harry Potter ride and VERY realistic Hogwarts Castle.
It was all so realistic - from the butterbeer and pumpkin juice to the storefronts and owl post.
I also loved the rustic and old fashioned feel of the place. Later,we ate at Bubba Gump and Tchoup Chop, which were both delicious. But for me, the best part wasn't winning the game, ( though that helped!) or riding rides (still a ton of fun!), but that we had several days just to be a family. Your blessed blogger,
Claire
Please read: this trip was so much fun, I felt that words can't do it justice. And, they really didn't. That's why I made it short - in order to include loads of pictures worth 1,000 words. Blogger, however, isn't working properly and I have to post this without photos. But never fear - I'll post again with all 880 pictures I took!
We recently came home from Florida. It was so amazing to see all the MAROON!
The bulldogs won the game, too! Actually - we schmooshed Michigan! There was a point, though, when we had clearly gotten a touchdown and the referee was challenging it. I took a picture that proved we were in the inzone, and would have gladly shown it to the referee if necessary. He, however, came to his senses and found the truth of the matter. I felt like it was MY touchdown!
We had an amazing time in Jacksonville. We met with sweet friends, watched that amazing game, and reminsced about the 3 months we lived there. We met with our Sunday school teacher, Mr.Gary , who made our day by coming and visiting at Panera. And then we drove away in our huge accessible van with it's runway lights to visit Harry Potter. We had a great time at Universal as well. No, it's not Disney, but Dad and I laughed and laughed on the 'One fish, two fish' ride. (We're not too good at following instructions and ended up soaked!) And we marveled at the thrilling Harry Potter ride and VERY realistic Hogwarts Castle.
It was all so realistic - from the butterbeer and pumpkin juice to the storefronts and owl post.
I also loved the rustic and old fashioned feel of the place. Later,we ate at Bubba Gump and Tchoup Chop, which were both delicious. But for me, the best part wasn't winning the game, ( though that helped!) or riding rides (still a ton of fun!), but that we had several days just to be a family. Your blessed blogger,
Claire
Please read: this trip was so much fun, I felt that words can't do it justice. And, they really didn't. That's why I made it short - in order to include loads of pictures worth 1,000 words. Blogger, however, isn't working properly and I have to post this without photos. But never fear - I'll post again with all 880 pictures I took!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
We wish you a merry CHRISTMAS!
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| a blur of our tree |
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did. In fact, I'm quite reluctant to admit the celebration is over. I'm happy, though, to reminisce through this post.
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| Benjamin has been excited about Epic Mickey all year. It's a little less accessible than we have hoped for, but with a little teamwork he's doing great! |
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Honestly, the whole month of December has been fantastic. Filled with wonderful Hallmark moments and decorated with Christmas cheer, this has been one amazing season. The boys were stars in Snoopy!The musical. Benjamin made the audience hoot with lines he made up! Mason sang a solo about how Snoopy didn't love him any more (he was Charlie Brown), and made many eyes shed a tear. Cate was in the Nutcracker this week, and was the cutest mouse and snowflake ever! Here's some of my favorite parts of Christmas:
1. Mom and Dad took me out to eat last week just us, and that was really amazing. I also got to sneak in Cate's week by spending some time with Mom while Cate practiced.
2. Benjamin, Mason ,and I were so blessed in that we were able to give 13 small farm animals, a custom fit wheelchair, life-saving medicine, 4 Bibles, and 100 dollars to help sexually exploited girls to World Vision.
3. I worked really hard on a cross-stitched apron for Mom, and seeing her open it was a gift to me.
One more - I got a camera for Christmas! A lot of these photos are from my camera! I think Mom is as excited as I am - I won't use hers all the time!
So, we had a really amazing Christmas. And now we are going to Jacksonville for MSU's bowl game! Whoo hoo! I will blog later with lots of pictures and a review of the book "Oogy." Mom and Dad gave me this book about a dog who was injured in a dog fight and now has special needs, and I would love to share with you! And while I'm at it, I might share a story out of my "Sister Freaks' book from Uncle Len.
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| I recently learned we've been renting my sax and violin for so long we own them! I had an early Christmas gift. |
Don't you love Christmas?
Your Blogger,
Claire P.S. Scroll down for a picture of our gingerbread house - we've started a tradition that is now my favorite! Even though it's not perfect, we had a blast making it and the gingerbread snowmen appreciate Dad's engineering advice, I'm sure!
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| Santa brought lots of goodies for Cate! |
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| Another one of my favorite things - making this wonderfully unperfect gingerbread house! |
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Gifting
Dear Readers,
I love Christmas! The smells, the weather, the music, family, the celebration of our Savior's birth, and yes - gifts. Well, as much as I love giving and recieving gifts - I should really say THE GIFT. Christmas never fails to bring out a cheeriness in most, have you noticed? People world-wide might believe their feeling of joy is relief in a break from school or work. Or maybe a warm cup of hot choclate or new puppy fills their heart with cheer. All these things are great, but I know the secret to good cheer at Christmas. I know why the cashier seems more perky in December than the rest of the year. Are you ready? It's -
JESUS
Yep. Somehow, we tend to forget the HOPE and JOY and GRACE God has blessed us with. I mean, for me, it's always in the back of my head, but when school has me stressed and I blow up at every one I see (not that this ever happens) , I'm not exactly thinking "Gee, God gave up so much for me, I could at least be nice to my poor brothers." But at Christmas, it seems I'm compelled to hug my brothers and that bomb inside me seems to turn into a sugary batch of Christmas cookies. Ahh...I'm sure everyone around me (and you, too if I had to bet.) would rather have me acutely aware of the love of our Savior all year - not just in December. That will be my new year's resolution, I think.
Merry Christmas, to all of you! Your Blogger,
Claire
By the way, I sat down to blog about my piano and violin recital, but God gave me these words instead.
Look for that soon!
I love Christmas! The smells, the weather, the music, family, the celebration of our Savior's birth, and yes - gifts. Well, as much as I love giving and recieving gifts - I should really say THE GIFT. Christmas never fails to bring out a cheeriness in most, have you noticed? People world-wide might believe their feeling of joy is relief in a break from school or work. Or maybe a warm cup of hot choclate or new puppy fills their heart with cheer. All these things are great, but I know the secret to good cheer at Christmas. I know why the cashier seems more perky in December than the rest of the year. Are you ready? It's -
JESUS
Yep. Somehow, we tend to forget the HOPE and JOY and GRACE God has blessed us with. I mean, for me, it's always in the back of my head, but when school has me stressed and I blow up at every one I see (not that this ever happens) , I'm not exactly thinking "Gee, God gave up so much for me, I could at least be nice to my poor brothers." But at Christmas, it seems I'm compelled to hug my brothers and that bomb inside me seems to turn into a sugary batch of Christmas cookies. Ahh...I'm sure everyone around me (and you, too if I had to bet.) would rather have me acutely aware of the love of our Savior all year - not just in December. That will be my new year's resolution, I think.
Merry Christmas, to all of you! Your Blogger,
Claire
By the way, I sat down to blog about my piano and violin recital, but God gave me these words instead.
Look for that soon!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Noel in ASL
Dear Readers,
This weekend was absolutely wonderful. My wonderful family ran all over town for me on Saturday and didn't complain once. Thank you so much all of you - you're so supportive!
After violin rehearsal, we ran home and drove to Rosson House for Arizona Friends in Sign. We were
signing there in the morning and at Glendale Glitters that night.
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| Aren't they adorable?! |
My friend, Jamie, and I signed Frosty the Snowman as a duet. It was amazing...
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| I'm signing "Sleigh" |
I joined AZ Friends in Sign because ever since I met a girl in my third grade class who was Deaf, I have loved sign language and had a desire to serve the Deaf. This group has been really great for me to have a part in, and I love it. Our group goes to nursing homes, girl scout meetings, the fair, and others. We go to teach people who want to learn sign language and to increase the public's awareness of ASL and Deafness, as well as to reach out to the Deaf Community. How many of you, my wonderful Readers, know sign language? It is really such a wonderful skill to have and truly a gift to give to others.
Before I let you go, let me say one quick thing. One of my mom's friends has a Deaf friend. One day my mom's friend asked his Deaf Friend what his dreams were. He said "In my dreams, everyone signs."
They made that dream come true on the television show Sesame Street, why can't we make it true???
Your Blogger, (who would love to teach all of you sign language)
Claire   |
Arizona Friends in Sign |
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