J E S H A N A H

turned 17


on December 20, 2012!


This year we combined her 
birthday with our 
family Christmas celebration.  
When we celebrate --- 
there's lots of us --- 
and lots of fun!


Jeshanah was born 
number 6 in our line up 
of children.  But is every bit 
as special as any of them.


She does not remember her older
brother living in our home.


She often does not get her 
"own day" to  celebrate her birthday.


She has had to share her mom 
and dad (gramma and grampa)
with varying numbers of
our 14 grandchildren.


But she is 
"none the worse for the wear".


She use to play 'dress up' with all her
little nieces and nephews!  Now she
helps them clean up their dress up mess!


They use to sing 
"Shanna's the Boss" 
in fun. Now they have a 
little more difficult time when
she really IS the boss of them!


Jeshanah loves to clean.  
She often cooks supper for us 
and does so many things around 
the house for which I am 
SO very thankful.


Here she is with her Gramma and
Grampa Peterson.  She loves going

Jeshanah and Julia

to see them each week for Taco Tue.


Here we are picking out hats for the
"Kentucky Derby".  Yeah, we were 
stuck in Corban, Kentucky for a few days.

And here Jeshanah is 

"sunning" while we

wait for our van to be fixed.

Jeshanah enjoys

serving the LORD at 

Story Book Lodge Christian Camp

during her summers.

I pray that she will always

have a desire to 

serve the LORD

and to serve the saints!

 Here she is with one of her brothers.
The one she doesn't remember living at our house!
They are good buds now!  
I'm pretty sure she knows
that all of her brothers would do 
almost anything for her.

Here are some of her nieces and nephews.

Hiding.....for a surprise party for her.

I pray that Jeshanah will always

love the LORD with her whole 

heart.  That she will always

 desire to honor and

obey the One who gave Himself for her.

and that she would always remember ...

"Charm is deceitful,

and beauty is vain,

BUT

a woman who fears the LORD

is to be praised."

Proverbs 31:30

 I love you, Jeshanah,

and look forward to sharing

many wonderful times together.

 

CHRISTMAS BAKING

We baked all day today.


We have lots to show for it .... including sore and tired feet!


But our freezers are full and we have lots to share!

We start out pretty cheerful and full of energy in the morning.

This year Jill brought rolls that were REALLY good and

Julia brought sausage tucked in crescent rolls ...yummmy!

We had a great variety of baked goods.

All of us try new recipe or two  .....

some we will make again ....

other recipes go straight to the trash.

Jill worked hard on some amazing cut out cookies and gingerbread cookies.

Lydia was anxious to help!

Julia tried these Chewy Fudge Thin Mint cookies (above).

JoAnna made some adorable snowmen.... but

is just sure the picture in the magazine was doctored up  ..  or something!

These are Chocolate Shortbread and they had a glaze on them.

And here are the good ole Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies..

always a favorite.

The kids decorated some cut out cookies.  

They sure do love sprinkles!

And my mom ... hard at one of her MOST FAVORITE JOBS ...

ROCKING BABIES!!

Lois made Chocolate Dipped Toffee Cookies and some

Inside Out Peanut Butter Cups. I'm not sure

where she is in the pictures!?!?

Katie made us all some Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Topping,

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

JoAnna waiting for her little Snowmen Cookies to expand.

And our moment of the day ....

Jill, just figuring out that the wire whips,

on the Bosch,

will actually break,

if the dough is too thick!

Thanks for the memories, Jill!

Thanks girls, for all the fun, laughs, baked goods, rolls, etc.

But mostly thanks for being YOU and 

thanks for the memories!

I do cherish them!!!

GIFTS

There are a lot of gifts around our house these days.

Jeshanah is sooo good about 

making all the gifts look SO pretty.

Last night she carefully wrapped a special gift

for each of her 14 special nephews and nieces.

The words "give," "giving," "gift" and other words

referring to giving

 occur at least 2100 times in the Bible.

Have been thinking lately about the many "gifts of God". 

Salvation,

("for by grace are ye saved through faith;

it is the gift of God...")

being the grandest of all,

but He graciously gives us so many more gifts!

Just to name a few, Creation, the Holy Spirit,

Spiritual Gifts and Eternal Life.

So, as we purchase, wrap and give gifts

to those we love .... remember to think about the

gifts that our Great God has given to us.

And thank Him for them!

AMAZING GRACE

On Sunday, at Meadow Ridge Bible Chapel,

 we heard a message about God's Amazing Grace!

Truly not something to take advantage of and sin all the more

because we want to experience more of His Grace!

But to live in, experience, and grow in His Amazing Grace

is just one of the many "good things" He has for us.

Truly His Grace is

Awesome .....

Indescribable ....

Insurmountable ...

How are YOU experiencing God's Amazing Grace today??

A VISIT TO HAWLEY

T O D A Y . . . . .

We went to see these girls ..... 

   who have been "house bound" for awhile .... 

We put together this .....

And then we went here .....

And ate this .....

Thanks for the fun visit girls !!!

TURNING ONE * * * *

IS SO MUCH FUN ~! ~ ! ~ ! ~

Selah Lexus Rockhold . . . . .

celebrated her 

FIRST EVER 

birthday on 

Dec 2nd

She had to be stopped from 'SMASHING' her cake!

She would not touch it .... but was willing to take a bite out of it ! !

And was then wondering what everybody was laughing about ....

She loved the taco supper, the cake, the frosting, the presents,

the cousins, and even the wrapping paper!

Sometimes its easier to get Selah to smile when she's upside down!

Here are the Rockhold's:  Andrew, Elly, Anna, JoAnna & Selah.

I pray that Selah will come to know the LORD Jesus 

as her Savior when she is still a little girl.  And that if the LORD

does not return for us .... she will use her life to bring 

Him honor and glory!

 I love you, Selah, with all my heart!

TURNING 10 ---- R E A L L Y ? ?

Samuel David

who really, really did turn 10 on November 30th,

got to celebrate a little early this year with a friends party at a hotel with a water park.

He is really into 'Angry Birds' now ... you can tell!

Sam also got to celebrate

on his exact BIRTHDAY with some family at

Tutti Frutti !   

He had one BIG carton of 

ICE CREAM & TOPPINGS!!

.... and so did the rest of us.

Here's Sam with yet another 'Angry Birds' shirt.


And here he is
with his
mom
 and 
dad.


Samuel (and his cousin Briann) have recently been baptized,

proclaiming to all  the world their profession to follow
the LORD Jesus Christ as their Savior.


I pray that you will always use the Word of God
as the Lamp for your feet, Sam.


"Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
who seek Him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways!
Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!"
Psalm 119:1-5


I love you with all my heart ! !

TIME FOR G'RAMA CAMP . . .

and boy did we have fun! 

Took advantage of the "Teacher's Convention" days off from school in October and had some fun of our own.  Eleven of our FOURTEEN grandkiddos are now eligible to come for G'rama Camp.  As the crew grows bigger the fun grows greater!

We started off walking to a little park for a picnic lunch and some playtime.  In this picture Sam and Cody were so far ahead they don't show up.  They're boys you know and always have to get places faster!

The weather, for the middle of October, was absolutely beautiful.   If you ever want to hear a funny story ... ask Lindsey or Alyssa how gramma got the  swings down from being all twisted up tight next to the top bar.

Sam and Cody had sling shots and had lots of fun shooting rocks into the lake. 

When we got home we started our study on DANIEL. The bigger kids were paired up with the younger ones.  We learned the song "Dare to be a Daniel", and sang it MANY times.  We studied many aspects of his life ... his character ... and his example to us.  We made lap books which tell some of the story of Daniel's life.

I think in the above picture the lions were roaring in the story and Lydia was protecting Elly as she was afraid! Nothing like an older cousin to give you loves when you need them.

After supper, yup, they all cleaned up their plates, I treated them to a story about Daniel that their parents listened to when they were very young.  They had not seen a record or record player and were quite curious about it.  Anybody remember "Stories by Mrs G"?

Just for fun .... I turned the speed fast so it sounded like the chipmunks.  They were fascinated about how that black, round thing and a needle could produce the story.  I personally am far more fascinated about how a "chip" can hold SOOOO much information!

Night time went well.  The boys camped out downstairs  and the girls upstairs.  Everybody was sleeping by about 11 pm.  

After breakfast we worked hard and long  on our books.

Well ....   some of us worked hard on our books !

It seemed like it had hardly started ... and  it was all over.  The tables were put away, the shoes were all gone and the kids had all left ... hopefully with thoughts of Daniel and how he "stood alone for what was right" and how God honored him for his wise choices.  I pray for each one of my grandchildren, that they will know God's Word and have a desire to obey what it says.  


Now I am thinking of the next Gramma Camp .... hmmm...what will we study ? ?
I have been thinking about  . . . .