Photoshoot!!!!!!

Yay!!! I finally got to use a workable camera, and the Sisters 4 went outside with the puppy and did a photo shoot! That's the first time in a loooong time... :) Here are some of the highlights:

Ha ha... we have WAY too much fun...

Run, puppy, run! or, rather: Run, owner, run!

There are so many reasons to laugh...

Puppy love... ;)

...Both soooo cute...

Licking Fest!!!!

Ninja!!!

Scottish dancing...

...or martial arts?

Fun Friends

JUMP!!!

A brief ode to braids...

Piggyback rides 4 free...

There's somethin' to be said for sisters!

And, The END! That was our photo shoot, and we had a blast doing it too. Some of the pictures were blurry, of course, but... oh well!

Bye!

~Margaret

New Life

So, tonight, we went over to our friends' house to enjoy an evening with them. When we got there, we were greeted by lots of little boys yelling and smiling, because, just then, a few minutes before we arrived, their horse had had a foal. We went down to see it, and it was the most adorable new born foal I have EVER seen! (Of course, that's probably because it's the only new born foal I've ever seen.) I went into the little stall/corral where they had it, along with it's mother. I watched it take it's first steps, and even got to hold it! :) I was reminded again and again of how much God cares for us. He takes care of us, and gives new life! Not only does He bless us with hundreds of little children, but He even cares for us so much as to give us new born foals, puppies, kittens, etc. As I held this little miracle, and helped it towards the nipple, I was so amazed by the complexity. It seemed so small and frail.

Tonight, I was thinking of our country. We don't care for life. People today abort their children, but are all worried about when some one does something "nasty" towards the trees or the animals. Of course, God does want us to regard the lives of our beasts, but He is even more concerned about human life. In America, we throw human life in the trash can, not even caring. However, as Christians, we need to always be thankful for the wonderful people God has placed in our lives. New life is a gift.

Make sure to tell some one that you love them!

~Margaret~

Family Camp - Family Olympics

Family Camp would never be complete with out Family Olympics, so, here I am to report on the happenings of Family Olympics. Here are pictures (lots of 'em):

Race #1: "The three-legged race" - I absolutely love the three-legged race. On this one, we only got finalists, but, hey, at least we got that far. :)

Anna & Maria - so utterly cute together

I love it!

Race #2: "The run-and-spin-with-your-head-on-the-bat-til'-you-can-no-longer-think race" - Whew! This relay race, you have to run, take the yellow bat that lays there on the ground, then, spin on it for five times, then run back without falling over from dizziness and without running into someone else, and touch your team mate's hand. We placed 3rd in this race. That's probably the best we've ever gotten...

Moms really know how to do this race!

Race #3 - "The hold-the-ball-between-two-backs race" - We only got to finalists in this race, but that's fine with me. It was a neat race where we placed a ball in between two people, and one person dragged the other person, while trying to keep the ball in place. This race was pretty tough, and near the end, we didn't do so well, but, oh well! :)

Two little lassies, together again!

The two rather competitive people on the team - what a disaster putting them together! JK...

And here, are just pictures of random people:

Mrs. D.

Marie

I love that sweet smile...

Looking very determined... kinda

Daniel and Jenna

Isaac - a photographer

Mama

Amy B.

Riley

Our Team (at least part of it, and none of them looking)

David -yet another photographer

We had an absolutely wonderful Family Olympics this year, and I hope we have another great one next year!

Also, we'll make a couple more posts about Family Camp.

Family Camp - Sessions

During Family Camp, we couldn't go without visionary talks and times to just sit down and listen to someone exhort, so, both in the morning and in the evening, we had a session. We listened to talks, watched families put on their own skits and performances, and listened to our every-year-musician, Nathan Clark George. Here are a couple pictures from a few of the sessions:

The Quartet - teaching us to sing in parts

The Desert Skies Bluegrass Band

Daddy - speaking

Meredith - playing piano

On one night, the Botkin sisters played two songs on their harps, then for the last song, their father came and played his guitar alongside them. It was such a precious moment to see Mr. Botkin play with his daughters.

~Sisters 4

Family Camp - The Prayer Garden

The day after we got there, I went down to the Prayer Garden to meditate, write in my journal, read my Bible, and take some pictures. Here they are (the pictures, I mean) :)

I know this may seem strange, but, I just had to take a picture of these two blackbirds. It was so cute. They were both playing with each other, touching beaks, and just enjoying the afternoon together. I think they were in love... :)

Flowers,

flowers,

and more flowers...

Flowing water...

Family Camp -The Trip

And here, drum roll please, are pictures of our trip down to Glorieta, NM. Please be careful while viewing. Very interesting pictures of very interesting people...

Ahh... what a sweet smile, however, it was somewhat ruined because of this certain little girl in the background, messing up the PICTURE!!

...No comment...

The best picture yet...

Even better!

Car trips are the best. Not only because of the precious time spent together as a family, but, if your car ride goes through the night, the sunset is normally always the highlight!

And now, you may ask why we didn't post that many pictures on our car trip. Well, most of them are quite inadequate to post (In other words, you do not want to see them.) :)

~See ya! We'll post some more in sections very soon!