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.

A picture (colored by Cate) for our sponsored child, Moris.

           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

Family time in Flagstaff

        

   Dear Readers,
 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.



Those are some serious water stains!!

When Lowell died, he let his wife determine how to use his money. She decided to spend 40,000 dollars on a grave marker for him. Hmm, his telescope was only 20,000 dollars!

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

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 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

                                                       

                                                                                    

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.

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

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
  

Photo Booth

   Here are some pictures - it's taken forever to download, but here they are! The above photo was taken in a photo booth at our old favorite movie theatre. Such fun!

                            

 The Famous Maroon Band 

Go bulldogs!!

                      

We had so much fun at the FCA breakfast!

My touchdown!

Our groovy van- complete with bright lights, blinds,
a magazine holder, and our own little sofa!

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

 

               

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 wish you a merry CHRISTMAS!

  Dear Readers,


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.

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!

 

                                          . 

  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.

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!

                                         





Santa brought lots of goodies for Cate!

    


Another one of my favorite things - making this  wonderfully unperfect gingerbread house!



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!

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.




Aren't they adorable?!







  My friend, Jamie, and I signed Frosty the Snowman as a duet. It was amazing... 

 



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



                                                                                     











                                                                                                     













God's promise: rainbows, anyone?

Dear Readers,
 Recently we were in the store Kirkland's, when I overheard a lady talking to her daughter. She was reading a decoration for sale that said something like 'It is good to have a family. It is great to have a home. Having both is a blessing." She then turned to her daughter and said, "Hmmhmm...a blessing indeed. Some people have neither." (or something like that...I was 'eavesdropping' and didn't hear it all)
  This lady reminded me to be thankful as Thanksgiving dwells upon us. I am so blessed to have a great family, home, and all of you, my sweet Readers! Thank you for reading my long blog posts and for your encouraging comments.
  When we went on a mission trip last year to Mexico, we built a house for a family that was not  big. It was not fancy.
All it was was four small walls and a cement floor. Their restroom was a deep hole next to the house with a piece of ply wood thrown over it. Yet these people were so grateful for the gift  of a home, they thought it was the greatest thing in the world.
    I hope all of us are grateful for our homes and families, but sometimes it isn't very easy to show contentment. Thoughts of  'I wish I had this' and 'wouldn't it be great if I had that'  tend to invade our thoughts.
 God put us in our situations for a reason! And whether we are standing in the sunshine or pouring down rain, we need to be grateful for the gifts God has blessed us with. There is always a rainbow after the rain, so look for it today!
 If you are very blessed and feel pressed by God to share His love today, here are a few links. Help someone else find a Rainbow in their life!
 Maria's Big House of Hope is a home for orphans with special needs  in honor of Maria Chapman. Sadly, many orphans with special needs never get adopted. Check out this site and see that these kids are truly special.  I know my mom would love to bring one of these babies home-will you?


 World Vision helps children all over the world by providing them with Bibles, nutritious food, healthcare,  clean drinking water, and child sponsorships.


One Mission is the ministry our church uses when going on mission trips to Mexico.  See pictures of the poverty - be inspired to go on a mission trip. They're amazing!


 Compassion International is the organization we use to sponsor a little boy named Moris. The impact mere letters can make on a child's life is amazing. The letters you recieve will give you a heart of gratitude.
 
      I hope you look at  these websites and donate your prayers to the recipients of these ministries.  The children at Maria's Big House of Hope, people of Mexico and sponsor recievers  need your prayers and love most of all. Being able to help another one of God's children will be counted as one of your blessings this Thanksgiving, I'm sure.                Your Blogger,
                                                                Claire

Me and Yamulet, a sweet friend from Mexico

Carolina and I work in front of our family's old home

Two Familias

            

Saddle up your horses...

LET ME HAVE THAT APPLE!

     Dear Readers,
 I was so blessed to be able to go to Wild West Days this weekend. Mom and I had talked about going, but then Cate got sick and I didn't even think about it being a possibility. But last night when we got home from Uncle Len's birthday dinner, Ms.Barb (Benjamin's physical therapist) had called and offered to take me with her and another girl, Alyssa, to the event. It was amazing!!

One of the sweet horses we met - doesn't he resemble Marki?

  We got to watch Mike Stacy's clinic first, where he showed people how to train their horses various things (that I didn't know and so enjoyed learning!) and answered the audience's questions. Ms.Barb explained the things I didn't understand and explained how to do a flying lead change, which I have always wanted to learn to do! (I will refrain from giving you all the details...my family said it's another language!) 
   After the clinic, we all walked around and Ms.Barb introduced me to several horses and their people. (I was feeding them all apples, as you can see in first the picture.)

I'm in love with Mr.Big!

   Alyssa volunteers at Luv Shack, an organization that takes in abandoned and abused horses. It is a no-kill shelter and put on the training challenge event we attended next.
  Another animal rescue group was there with some of their animals.


For a three dollar donation, you could go in the animal pen and pet them. I really loved this llama in the pen, and thought I would donate and give 'Emma' some lovin'.


so sweet...



 Emma apparently did not like humans at all. She was so sweet for me,though, and let me wrap my arms around her and rub her back. Isn't she precious??

 And look at those teeth!

 Bless her heart, she needs braces...   The next portion was the Trainers' Challenge. Luv Shack gave these trainers ninety days to train these mostly unridden horses. Well, Mr.Big only had 5 days, and another horse named Sweet Caroline had only THREE days, and she was parading around the whole time with two little kids riding on her back.



I know it's blurry, but I thought it captured Mr.Big perfectly!



Do you see the shadow?




Rodeo, anyone?

 









If you look closely, you'll see Mr.Big's trainer is balancing upside
down on top of him - about to somersault down!



So, I had  a really great day. All the horses were so great, and I learned a ton! I missed out on a day of doing laundry, too...! 

Your horse-crazy blogger,

Claire