A Very Late Merry Christmas to you all!

Luke 2~

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

~Sisters 4

P.S. We'll get back to posting a photo of the week soon!

The Best Vacation Ever!

Dear Readers and Friends,

The Sisters 4 (along with their family) just returned from a wonderful vacation up in New Zealand! (Haha, oh wait, that's not where we went. I think I got a bit carried away...) Let's see, where did we go? Oh, that's right! We traveled all the way up to Steamboat Springs, CO. Really, I think it's better than New Zealand, but that's all a matter of opinion... :) We enjoyed a whole week up there, sledding, snow-shoeing, getting stuck on the side of the road, spending time with each other, and enjoying God's creation. We stayed up there in a beautiful cabin, and had an absolutely WONDERFUL vacation! Here are the pictures:

The "Cabin" (cute "little" cabin, aye?)

Robin the Clown (Metaphorically, the girl with many hats)

A miniature of the beautiful cabin we spent the week in

Anna and Margaret engaged in deep conversation

Whooh! Here we go!

The spa/sauna room

Gussie

The Kitchen

Right before we go down the hill

Making our way back up the hill (it's tough work in 3 feet of snow)

We all LOVE sledding! (of course, we do wipe out about half the time)


How sweet!

How unique!

~Reading right before bed~
(Isn't she adorable?)

Robin

Margaret in the snow fort we built

Gussie in her favorite place... Haha!

Two Sweet Sisters in the Spa

The amazing moose head in the living room

Anna

Margaret

Outside, sledding

Hahahahaha... (I think she likes being a reindeer)

God's Beautiful Creation

Our Beautiful Mama in all her snow gear

Posted By:
Robin and Margaret and Anna

Photos of the Weeks - Snowy Beauty

Ok, we know already. We didn't post a photo of the week last week, and this week, we're getting it to you kinda late. So, we are posting two pictures, again...


Taken by: Yours Truly

Taken with: Nikon

~Margaret!!!!!!~

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I'm still thankful.  I thought about not even posting about this, since it was going to be so late and all, but I have now made up my mind: Better late than never!

We had an absolutely BEAUTIFUL Thanksgiving!  Robin, Dan, and Maria had to leave early to go to a Turkey Trot race.  They said they had a wonderful time.  And now, you may be thinking:  "Wow, Margaret!  What a lazy bum you are!  You didn't go to the race, and your younger sister did?!  I'm surprised at you!"

Yes, yes, I must admit, I am a bit lazy...  But, I did have a few excuses:

Excuse #1-Who would have helped Mommy with the dinner if I had gone as well?

Excuse #2-I'm a cheapskate, and didn't want to pay the whole $25 to get into the race.  However, if I had been 12 or younger, I would have gone! (12 and under got in free; No fair)

Well, those are my so-called "good" excuses ;).

Then, moving on...  As soon as my siblings returned home from their extremely taxing run, we ate, until we bursted.  Haha, just kidding, my friends...

After our wonderful, wonderful friends left, our family packed up, and we left to go stay the night at a hotel.  Now, that is strange, isn't it?  Well, Excuse #3(this is for something else, of course)-Hotels tend to be quite cheap on Thanksgiving night.

We spent the night, went swimming, did lots o' different stuff, then, in the morning we awoke.  Black Friday!  We rushed out, pushing and shoving, trying to get to the good deals first, grabbing all the junk on the shelves, rushing around the mall, into Walmart, starting riots, creating chaos, getting all the stuff our house could POSSIBLY hold!  MWAHAHA!!!  Stuff! STUFF!! STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!  "Wait!  What happened to Thanksgiving?"  (Hehe...)

Well, we interrupt this broadcast to tell you exactly what we're thankful for.  I am SO thankful for:

-Daddy

-Mommy

-My wonderful brother and sisters

-Our terrific church

-All the things that God has allowed us to use: i.e. our house, our beds, our toothbrushes (yep), etc

-Our relatives

-My beautiful grandma who has no thought of herself, and is SOOOO patient with us when teaching us the piano (especially over the phone; I would get WAY too frustrated)

-My humble and thrifty grandpa

-All the other things that are too many to mention

-And, the #1 thing I am so utterly thankful for is:

That God sent His only Son to die for us and rise again, conquering death, and then going up to live an eternal life in Heaven.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." ~John 3:16

~Margaret~

What Have we Been Doing?

Wow! It's been a long time since we've posted a "regular" post about everyday life for us. So, I guess I'll post some pictures, along with an update.

Here's the update: We've been busy, really busy.

And, here are the pictures:

Snow person :)

Anna

Margaret

Maria and Gussie

See, a simple and quick post. We'll keep you updated! :)

Photo of the Week - Matching Sisters

Taken by: Mama

Taken with: Nikon

~Sisters 4

Photo of the Week - Fence Posts

Taken by: Margaret

Taken with: Nikon

~Robin~

Photos of the Weeks - Dazzled

We forgot completely about posting a picture last week, so, this week, we are going to post two pictures. :) Here are two things that I am unfailingly dazzled with:

Babies and...

Snow!

~Sisters 4

Snow!

Well, this is the first day that we have actually been having a nice BIG sticky snow storm in a loooooong time! It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL outside!!! Praise the Lord for snow!!!!!!!!

~Sisters 4

Photo of the Week - Down the Road

Taken by: Margaret

Taken with: Nikon

Yours Truly,
Sisters 4

Photo of the Week - Little Sunny

Rest in Peace or In a Coyote's Belly

Taken by: Margaret

Taken with: Nikon

~ Robin

Photo of the Week - A Moment Remembered

Taken by: Maria

Taken with: Nikon

~Sisters 4

Photo of the Week - Sunny Flower

Taken by: Margaret

Taken with: Nikon

~Anna

Oregon Trip: An EXTREMELY late post

About two weeks ago, our whole family was able to take a one week long vacation to Oregon to see a few of our aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. We flew down there on Sunday night, right after church. Here's what we did:

Plane Ride:

This kind of disappointed us, especially the part about no smoking (Just Kidding)

Reading good books

Church Picnic:
On Monday, the day after we arrived, we went to a church picnic put on by the church that two of my uncles and aunts attend. We had a great time, and made friends with some of the very sweet young ladies that go to the church. Afterwards, we drove down to my Grandpa and Grandma's house. It was a 4 hour drive!

James and Grace (our adorable adopted cousins) - right before we left for the picnic

Sierra - one of our very sweet cousins

A beautiful creek that was right near where we had the picnic. We went wading in it, which was really rather fun...

Christa

~Volleyball~
The net was getting kinda low... haha

A Hike in Grants Pass:
When we got to Grants Pass, we started on activities right away. The first day of being at Grants Pass, we went on a hike with my uncle and my aunt that live there. It was just a quick 4-mile hike that goes along the Rogue River, and ends at Rainie Falls. Rainie Falls is a small waterfall, but very pretty. We got to see two rafters go down it in their kayaks, and lots of fish trying to get over it. Plus, we saw how wonderful God is, especially in creating those fish to do that. God is amazing!
Right before we left for the hike

Amazing experience: At the Falls, we had the privilege to see salmon and steelheads trying to take on Rainie Falls. It was really hard to get pictures of them, but Robin got this "fabulous" (she says so) picture of this beautiful salmon trying to get over the falls on it's way back to the nesting grounds.

Anna, watching the fish

Maria

This guy went ahead and tackled Rainie Falls in his kayak. Of course, he was probably really experience, because there have been a few fatalities there before.

Rainie Falls

Hiking... It was a really easy hike


Good Times at Grandpa and Grandma's House:
It is what it says...
Anna and Margaret

Walking...

A light bulb turned on in his head!

Wild Turkeys - sorry the picture is so blurry, but it was a little hard getting pictures of them. These turkeys came by Grandpa and Grandma's house every day, and ate apples off the apple trees. They reminded me a little of our chickens...

We saw a lot of deer there. This fawn was a twin to another fawn. VERY cute!!!

We also saw plenty of hawks and birds of prey

Time for a piggyback ride!

Rafting Trip:
The last day we were there, we went on our first rafting trip together (as a family). It was fun. They were easy rapids, so it wasn't too tough. It was the perfect time for bird watching, so we saw HUNDREDS! We weren't able to bring the camera out on the river with us to take pictures (for fear we would drop it), so the pictures at the bottom are just pictures we found online. It was fun just to spend time together. There were a few times when we had to row quickly through the rapids, but then, there were other times when it was so quiet, we could just slip out of the boat, and "swim" alongside the raft. It. was. beautiful.!
Anna - in the car, on our way to the Rogue River

Maria

A very bad picture (and that's all I'm going to say)

Margaret

This is NOT of us

We saw a bunch of blue herons on our rafting trip.

We also saw ducks...

and geese...

And even (thought we) saw a few of these "lovely" turkey vultures

I'm afraid that's all the pictures we have to show you (Actually, we have a ton more, but they are confidential.) Til' next time!

~Sisters 4