Thanksgiving

The Bible has a lot to say about being thankful.  Here are just a few verses that I found:

Psalms 106:1-2
1 Praise the Lord. 
 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
     his love endures forever.
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the
               Lord
     or fully declare his praise?

Colossians 3:15-17
 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your 
hearts, since as members of one body you
were called to peace. And be thankful.  16 Let
the word Christ dwell in you richly as you
teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,
and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual 
songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
17And whatever you do, whether in 
word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through 
him. 

Colossinas 4:2
  Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful
and thankful. 
    
1Thessalonians 5:16-18
 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually;  
18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is
God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
   
Happy Thanksgiving!

 
         

My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less

My hope is built on nothing less 
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand; 
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In ev'ry high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the Solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ, the Solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ, the Solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Words: Edward Mote (w. 1834)
Music: William B. Bradbury (w. 1863)

Sunset Pictures

I took these pictures from my aunt and uncle's ranch on Ellen's birthday.

Pumpkin Pictures

Aren't pumpkins such a beautiful part of fall?  They are certainly one of my favorite parts.

 

Happy Birthday, Ellen!

Ellen's birthday was last Tuesday, and she turned 11.  To celebrate her birthday, we went out to our Uncle Kip and Aunt Missy's ranch where they train and ride horses.  We went with our grandparents, Olivia, Amilia, Aunt Pam, and two of our friends, Becca and Hanna.  Aunt Missy did a mini field trip and showed us around the ranch.  Then she let the girls groom Spike, the pony, and took them out to the arena where they could take turns riding.  After riding we went into their new tack room and had dinner.  We all had a great time.

 grooming Spike

Hanna riding

 Ellen riding

Amilia riding

 Olivia riding

Psalms 111

Praise the Lord! 

I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,

  in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

Great are the works of the Lord,
   studied by all who delight in them.
Full of honor and majesty is his work,
  and his righteousness endures forever.
He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
   the Lord is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for all who fear him;
  he is ever mindful of his covenant.
He has shown the people the power of his works.
   in giving them the heritage of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
  all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are established forever and ever,
  to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
He sent redemption to his people;
   he has commanded his covenant forever.
   Holy and awesome is his name. 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
   all those who practice it have good understanding.
   His praise endures forever.

Fall

I'm sorry I know it has been so long since I posted, but I didn't know it had been a month!  Well,  we started school a several weeks ago and all of our fall activities have begun; so we have been busy. :)

 ( the turning of the aspen trees in Colorado last year)

Fall is my favorite season.  It is such a lovely season with all the trees changing colors!  Aren't these trees lovely?  I can't wait for them to start changing colors!  I am so thankful for the way God created the different seasons.

Our Jack-Be-Littles

 

This our first time planting Jack-Be-Littles.  They are doing really good, and now we have about couple dozen!  They will be really pretty Fall decorations. :)

Our Surprise Praying Mantis

We were outside with Grandma and Grandpa looking at our Zinnias when I saw this praying mantis.  He blends in so perfectly that I could have easily have missed him.  Later we went back to see if he was still there, and he was.  He has been living there all week!

Quotes From Our Founding Fathers

"It is impossible to govern rightly without God and the Bible."

George Washington

"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity"

John Quincy Adams 

"In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed.  No truth is more evident to my mind that the Christian religion must be the basis of and government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people." 

Noah Webster

"And can liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction on the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?"

Thomas Jefferson

The Harper Family

On Tuesday we drove to Seward, NE because every year they have Seward days and the Wissmann Family sing.  This year the Harper Family also sang. The Harper Family is a  very good bluegrass gospel band from southern Missouri.  We really enjoyed their music!  Below are pictures of the Harper Family.

Broccoli

Our broccoli plant has produced its first head!  We read  that once we cut the first head from the center of the plant it should produce more from the sides.  It has been so fun harvesting and then enjoying vegetables that we have grown!

Summer Morning

This is a poem Ellen wrote last Tuesday for Grandma's birthday.

Every morning I wake up.

I see the sun and then I know,

It's time to feed the pup.

We feed our pup,

We water our garden,

And then we see a robin!

Mr. Robin is chirp, chirp, chirping.

I think he likes the morning!
                                                             -Ellen Vogltanz

Growing Celery

My friend Becca told me about a way to grow celery that she had read about on a blog.  She said that if you chop off the end of a bunch of celery (about three inches away from the end), and put it  in 1/8 inch of water for up to a week it will grow a celery plant.  Then after a about week plant in soil.  So I tried it with the ends of two bunches of celery.  I was so excited the next day when I saw that one of them had grown!  I planted them in our raised garden and both are growing nicely.

The second day

 

 This is after a couple days.

 

This is after almost a week.

Now this is what they look like.

Flower Pictures