100th Post

Typically, your one hundredth post is supposed to state one hundred things about you. I am not typical, so I'm not going to do that. Instead I'd like to do something a but different.



I'm thankful for....



1. Jesus Christ, Who saved me

2. God's grace

3. the Holy Spirit, Who drew me to God

4. Cheese

5. God's Word, which brings guidance

6. the beautiful ocean breeze

7. wise and loving parents

8. an adorable little brother

9. laughter

10. a house to live in

11. 2 sets of grandparents still living

12. sweet fellowship with other believers

13. Avocados

14. Jane Austen

15. The privilege to vote

16. Well-told stories

17. The best sister I could ask for

18. Older sisters in the Lord, who have passed on jewels of wisdom

19. Younger sisters in the Lord, who bring so much joy to life

20. Godly men, who dare to lead and speak truth

21. Young men, who guard their hearts and eyes and protect their sisters in Christ

22. Hiking in the fresh Maine air

23. Clean water to drink

24. The pleasure of talking to the Creator of the Universe

25. The rich theology of hymns

26. Huskies

27. The technology to preserve memories through photographs

28. People who have a gift with words

29. two legs and two feet to walk with

30. My piano and the gift of lessons that my great-grandmother gave to me

31. The legacy of godly people

32. Volleyball

33. Friends that make me laugh and laugh

34. Young moms who are willing to sacrifice their time to be at home with their kids

35. Creativity

36. Freedom to worship God openly

37. A new brother-in-law who loves my sister, takes care of her and leads her the way Jesus would

38. Music that makes you want to dance

39. Contra dancing

40. Camp fires accompanied by guitar

41. A warm bed to sleep in

42. Bob, my fish

43. Godly marriages

44. Color

45. Eyes to see the colors

46. Mint chocolate

47. A sense of smell for the above item, among others

48. Having been home schooled

49. A mind, to keep on learning

50. God's comfort, when I am sad

51. Memories and making them

52. Puppies

53. Resourceful people

54. Everyone I've been acquainted with and how God used them to mold me or test me

55. Imagination

56. Kayaking on a blue sky day

57. The Allagash

58. The fact that every creature, person and living object God created has His fingerprints on it and points right to Him

59. People who point us in the right direction when we are astray

60. Maps

61. Elderly people who tell us about their childhood and bring us back their in our minds

62. Good books with wholesome characters

63. The Library

64. Museums

65. Herbs

66. Riding my bike to the library or around "the loop"

67. Friends that are close by and friends that are far away

68. Airplanes to take us to the friends who are far away

69. A lesson hard-learned

70. Beautiful artwork

71. Smiles

72. Jesus' example of servanthood and humility

73. God's love

74. People who have the gift of writing music

75. Musicians who can just pick up and instrument and play it

76. Cousins who still love me

77. Gardens filled with color and aroma

78. Vegetables

79. Cool sleeves

80. Interesting people

81. People who have a vision of eternity and care for the lost

82. Anne Shirley (even though she's not real)

83. Followers of Christ who have gone on before us

84. Our founding fathers and their sacrifices for the liberty of us, their posterity

85. Prayer warriors

86. The strength that God gives us to do what is right and the Holy Spirit to convict us

87. Rain to water our gardens and to run around in barefoot

88. A sewing machine

89. Craftsmen (and women) who are able to make things like bookshelves, desks and counter tops from start to finish!

90. The sound of a baby laughing

91. Willing and hard working people

92. Music, in general

93. trips for ice cream

94. A Church family that loves to be together

95. God's words when we need them (which is all the time)

96. Cookouts in the summer and then wiffle ball afterward

97. Family camp

98. Swimming in the lake

99. The way God provides for His people

100. God's mercies being renewed every morning


I could keep going on and on. God is so good and I'm reminded that I need to be thankful all the time and in every situation, even difficult ones, because there is something good that comes out of everything (Romans 8:28-29). I hope you enjoyed reading through this list!

Dismay Not

Just a brief message to all of those who are anxiously awaiting wedding pictures: we haven't received them all yet, but as soon as I get them, I will start posting. It should be within the next week or so! Thanks for being patient! I know how people (particularly of the female persuasion) love to see wedding photos!

Manda's Mosaic

1. Amanda , 2. Avocados and cheese, 3. 2003, 4. Blue, 5. colin firth (only as Mr. Darcy), 6. Hot Chocolate, 7. Irish Cottage, 8. Mint Chocolate, 9. godly, 10. JESUS, 11. Forgiven, 12. Horses

I found this fun sort of game on a blog I frequently visit ( Homespun Heart ). The directions for it are below if you are at all interested in doing one. The numbers above are my answers to each question.

Here’s how it works:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to? (or, What year did you graduate high school?)
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

From Start to Finish

Rapid Revelries

To celebrate Kayla and Ethan's birthdays (yes, Kayla got two, count 'em, two parties!!) we went to one of our favorite spots in Maine, Coos Canyon!
It's a semi-fast flowing river with lots of places to swim and slide down rocks and jump off cliffs. We had oodles of fun!
Here Tash and Shay are demonstrating how much fun it is to float down the river- you have to be a bit careful of the jagged rocks, though.

Here are the interested spectators.
Someone decided the water was too cold and opted for a nap- although he looks slightly unrecoverable (I don't think that's a real word)!

We finally got to go on a hike!! Yay! Albeit a small hike, really more of a nature walk.

We crossed raging rivers!
Scaled rocky terrain!
And viewed God's incredible, gorgeous creation! How could anyone disbeleive in a Creator when there is such unfathomable beauty?

Poppin' in to Popham

During Dad's vacation, we took our usual trip to the coast. We just love it there! I'll just let you enjoy the pictures and do as little commentating as possible!

A friendly native!


There's nothing like a catnap in the summer sun!

This is what I picture when I think of a little Maine harbor town. Isn't it quaint?


Since we got to the beach late, we were able to see the tide all the way out and as it was coming back in again. As a result, we found this sandbar that curved around from the beach area all the way to this little island a bit off shore. It was so neat! Kayla and I walked almost to the island, but didn't want to get caught as the water was coming in.

Who can enjoy a beach day without a bit of ICE CREAM!!

Volleyball for All

It is no secret to those who have visited our church and stayed long after or have come to any of our parties, that we love volleyball. Before attending Winterbrook Fellowship, I was completely indifferent to the game, but now it has become one of my favorite outdoor activities!

For Kayla's 21st birthday, we decided to go to her now in-laws' house and have some volleyball tournaments and, of course, food.
Here's the birthday girl serving it up for us! And she is hardly ever without her counterpart (below.)

Lovely ladies!
This is me after serving. I look a bit like I'm doing some sort of Mexican Hat dance or something!
This is the famous Denny Spike. I don't know who had my camera to get that shot, but it's brilliant!

Apparently I'm not the only one who likes to dance after a serve! So does George!
Amanda and Tasha. They're such sweet young ladies!

Don't mess with the Pastor when he's playing volleyball! Look at the intent on his face!
After our mixed games, we did our usual girls against guys, where the guys could only use their heads and feet to hit the ball. One of them said that we wouldn't want to play that way because we always lose, so we said, "Bring it on!" And we won the first game! So much for that idea! They won the second game, of course, because God has a sense of humor!
Because Kevin was not able to come to Kayla's bridal shower (mostly because bridal showers are for ladies), he was aching to give Kayla the present he got her- I'm not sure of it's technical name, but it's supposed to check an outlet to see if it's live or not. Pretty handy!
There's a very satisfied birthday girl! What a fun day, if you ever get a chance to come down and visit us at Winterbrook Fellowship, be sure to come ready for some serious volleyball for all!