Happy Birthday, Rebecca!

On April 17, 1995 a tiny bundle of joy came running (literally) into the world. Her first question was, "OK. Who's in charge here?" And, she hasn't stopped since. It is very hard to wrap my brain around the fact that Rebecca is now a teenager. How did that happen? Yet, here we are -- braces and long, gangly legs. (I think I'm soon to be the shortest in the family.) In honor of Rebecca's special day, I'm posting some of my favorite pictures of her this last year.






















Rebecca, I hope you have a wonderful birthday. You are one terrific kid... I mean, teenager!

Wild Worship on the Road

Wild Worship took their show on the road tonight to Sunrise Assisted Living Center. And, they were awesome! Their sound was beautiful. The residents seemed to really enjoy the music and even let us sing one more song that cut into their dinner hour. A special thanks to the Phalen's who came and supported us!

The best version ever of the William Tell Overture

Sign choir beautifully presents "Blessed Jesus"

Barb and Genny -- twinkies!
(ask one of us about that some time)

Thanks to Paige for taking these great pictures. Kudos to Melissa and her trusty Swiss Army Knife for fixing the CD player. Blessings to Sharon for creating desperately needed signs. (at the last minute) It is a privilege to serve with you. I know I was blessed tonight.

Just so you know...we've been asked to come back at Christmas. Everybody in???

Take Me Out to the Ballgame (And the Concert)

We joined the Davis family to celebrate Michele's 16th birthday with a trip to the Third Day concert and a Rangers game. We were on the North Lawn at The Ballpark and pretty far away (as you can see from the first picture) The second pic is our view during the concert. Yea...I thought they would sit down eventually, but they never did. Who can complain though? Listening to Third Day and a ballgame for $6 bucks. Not too bad.



Katherine wasn't feeling well, so Abigail joined us at the game.


The birthday girl and friends


"The Nacho Kid"


The game was pretty boring. Most fun was the crowd who managed to do "the wave" four times around the stadium without dying out. Thankfully, about 8:15 Michele decided 'enough baseball' and we headed for home to eat cake and open presents.

Took this one as we were leaving. Pretty cool.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHELE! THANKS FOR INVITING US TO GO ALONG.

Massage Therapy

Bubbles and Abigail -- too sweet! I'm not sure which of them gets more out of this time together.
Abigail is the only person in our family "allowed" to hold Bubbles in this way -- Bubbles' choice, of course. He won't sit this still for anyone but her. I was getting sleepy just watching her rub him between the ears! Can I be next?

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Abigail and I had a lovely morning planting flowers today. The weather was beautiful, and just a little nip in the air felt refreshing. Abigail picked out the flowers to go in the large flower bed in our backyard. This year we chose purple and white flowers to go along with the many perennials that are returning from last year -- most importantly, hydrangeas.

We still have many areas of our yard that need work, but we are slowly reclaiming it from the mess that winter always leaves behind. I don't know where all the leaves keep coming from. We have probably bagged at least 20 lawn bags just from our backyard alone. No more falling leaves, please...

Discovery

I discovered something about myself tonight and it was not a pleasant thing.  I can't say what it is, I just know that I am uncomfortable.  

And. I. Do. Not. Like. That. At. All.

I'm done now.  I just needed to say that.

Take A Visual Survey

I found this survey while "rabbit chasing" blogs. You know what I mean by that? I start out on a particular blog, and click to another, and then another, and I end up on some random person's blog and find myself reading about them. What's up with that? Anyway, thought this was cute. So, when you have absolutely nothing to do, or just want to put off cleaning the bathroom, give it a go!

FIRST - read the question
SECOND - type in the first answer that comes to mind in Google Image search
THIRD - post the first picture that comes up and write what you typed in (it’s hard sometimes to use the first image, but you must) (Wait...no nudity, please. We want to keep our blogs PG Rated.)

1. Age I will be on my next birthday - 43


2. Favorite food - ribeye steaks

3. Favorite color - purple

4. A place I would like to visit - Greece

5. Where I live - Fort Worth, Texas

6. Name of a past or present pet - Pippi

7. One of my favorite places - beach

8. Favorite holiday - Christmas

9. A bad habit - eating too much

10. Favorite animal - rabbit

11. Favorite cartoon from childhood - Peanuts

12. Name - Genny (OK, this is pretty funny.)

13. Favorite extravagance (when I have extra time and money) - pedicure

14. A phrase I overuse - whatever

Remember: Only do this when you have absolutely nothing else to do, because it's pretty much a huge waste of your time. But fun!

The Joy of Music

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done

I love living in a house that is filled with music, much of it being played live on the piano in the living room. Between the voices of, "Hey, I was about to practice!" and "You've been on long enough!" are the sounds of sonatinas and scherzos, popular tunes and classics. I love watching Abigail's fingers race over the keys as she plays every piece as fast as she can. I close my eyes and smile to hear Katherine's "Fountain in the Rain" and the beautiful themes from "Pride and Prejudice."



If variety is the spice of life, then our family is living it up -- musically speaking. On any given day you might hear the following music coming from any number of rooms and iPods in our house: Rascal Flatts, Pavarotti, Selah, Hush Sounds, Taylor Swift, Josh Groban, Beethoven, Josh Turner, Stephen Curtis Chapman, ZZ Top and Anthony Evans. The list goes on...

I'm thankful for the many emotions that music allows us to express. There's nothing like sitting down at the piano and playing something loud when I'm angry, or soft and gentle, when I'm sad. Or, those in-between days when any old song will do. (Well, I draw the line at rap and hard rock.) Wouldn't you?



"I have no pleasure in any man who despises music. It is no invention of ours: it is a gift of God. I place it next to theology. Satan hates music: he knows how it drives the evil spirit out of us." ~Martin Luther

Couldn't have said it better myself.

More Sable

Newest Family Member

Welcome to the newest member of the Holmes family, Sable. I'm still not sure why (other than the begging) we have another rabbit in the backyard now. Of course we had to fill that other spot in the hutch that was just sitting there. She is so tiny and cute, just a few weeks old. She belongs to Katherine, but I'm sure everyone in the family will enjoy her. You can see more of Sable's adventures by reading Katherine's blog.