My Harp!!!

Wow! I can't beleive it! After waiting for as long as I can remember I finally have a Harp! Daddy found one on craigslist.com and suprised me with it. I knew nothing about it until Tuesday night when Daddy asked me if I would be interested in a 3ft tall 22 string heather harp. I was so today Mommy and I piled into the van with everyone younger than me and drove to Visaila to look at it. It was perfect! We brought it home and I have played it almost constantly since.

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord: and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To show forth thy lovingkindness every morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an insturment of ten strings, and upon the psaltrey; upon the harp with a solemn sound. Psalms 92:1-3

Kayla

Raylene's Pictures 2009

Mom surprised me with a photo shoot for my birthday, done by our friend Philip Callis. The pictures all turned out so well that I had a hard time deciding which ones to use!

Mom's favorite.

Shauna's favorite. She wants to find a gazebo to use in her pictures:).

My favorite.

All photos copyright CFPhotography 2009

21st Birthday Party

Our friends the Smiths very graciously offered to host my twenty-first birthday party at their beautiful property. The front lawn was perfect for games and visiting, and the refrigerator was just big enough for all the cold food!The spread that Mom, Jordan, and the girls put together. We found out that four carrot cakes is too much for one hundred people, especially if there is cherry pie as well, but thankfully it does freeze well.Kayla, Jordan, and Mr. Callis inspecting the house before the party.Some of our beloved littles.Grandma time.Great-grandma time.

We enjoyed an afternoon full of games, singing, dancing, and talking. It has been such a blessing to have fellowship with the friends that God has given us, and we were so glad that so many of them were able to come and celebrate with us.

Tim showing off his double dutch skills during the relay.Daddy said a blessing over me, encouraging me to look to the Lord for and in my future. Praise God for daddies like mine! We would be lost without them.

All us girls.

Me and my guys.

We were blessed with the presence of two babies at the party, and almost all of the younger girls time was taken up with pushing strollers, watching the babies sleep, and longing for the time when they are big enough to hold a baby while standing up.

The babies changed hands fairly often, but remained good-natured the whole time. One even stayed asleep when he was taken from his stroller.I did claim birthday girl privilege a little to get to hold the babies. It's necessary with so many girls around:).

All photos copyright CFPhotography 2009

On top of the world

New Arrivals

Daddy has been full of surprises recently. A couple of days last week he arrived home from work late with cardboard boxes in his hands. We children knew about the first box, which was a surprise for Mommy. Five ducklings were in Mom's box. These are a breed that lay many eggs a year, and their wings are short enough that they can't fly away. We have two males and three females, so we will be raising ducks to butcher as well as lay eggs.
Dad surprised Shauna and I with our own rabbits. Shauna's is Albany, a very fluffy albino that is rather skittish, but very sweet.

Mine is Petra. It was going to be Peter, but since it is a girl, we thought that Petra might be better:). She is full of energy and attitude, and will snuggle up very quickly.

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A little girl I babysit came over a while ago, and we were telling her about all of our animals. She asked how many more we had to have before we became a zoo. I think we might qualify now!