Of Clouds and Rain...and Snow

Ian describing how rain and snow are made (in his own, very unique way)...

He told us this at dinner last night, and he reluctantly shared it

with me this afternoon :D

(pardon my tongue-twistedness at the beginning :P)

Blessing #13- Brothers in Christ

I love, love, LOVE hanging out with my girlfriends. We laugh together, cry together, eat pizza together... :P

But I gotta say, that as much as I love my girlfriends, I couldn't imagine having ONLY female friends. I have been so blessed to have a lot of great guys in my life. Pictures below are a few of the guys that God has put into my life. Some are cousins, others friends that I met in various places, one is my "blood brother." Some I see often, some are out of state and I miss very much, some away at college (and miss them too, of course). Whatever the case may be, I'm so thankful for each and every one of them!

Blessing #4- My Awesome Brother

Um, yeah. We're sitting in my room right now. He's brushing his teeth. We've had a fun night together talking about nothing at all. I mentioned that I needed a subject for my blog post tonight. And Jacob, being who he is, says "Well, you could write it about me. You know you're thankful for me!"

And as much as that made me laugh, he's right. I am SO very thankful for him. He's my best friend.

He says that if there are any single gals out there, send applications to his email address. He also says that if I post that he'll kill me. He'll hunt me and my family down. I point out that that would include him and we both burst out laughing. I love him so much.

Point 'N Shoot

Yesterday evening on my way home from church, I pulled out my very-little-used point and shoot camera to get a shot of the amazing sunset (oh yes, and just in case any of you were wondering, trying to take a picture while driving is just as dangerous as texting while driving :P). Thought I'd share the sunset pictures and a few others that I pulled off that camera.

This little kiddo can draw!

Haha, this reminds me of the guy from UP (have I ever mentioned that I
really don't like that movie???)

We had a great time going to an Independence Day concert at
 Blossom with family!

Pennsylvania family reunion!

What is it with my cousins sticking their tongues out during self-portraits???

God's creations never cease to amaze me!
This one was taken the night of our new pastor's installation.

And this was last night...an absolutely breathtaking scene!

A Sweet Little Guy

Mom says we should have named him Isaac instead of Ian. Isaac means "laughter" and this little fellow can never keep a straight face. But then again, he managed to let me catch this shot of him not even smiling.
After Grace, I prayed again that God would give us another baby, but this time a boy. God answered our prayers and gave us Ian. No, it's not his birthday or anything, but I thought I'd dedicate a blog to him today, because he just amazes me everyday. He is the most thoughtful little boy I know. He tells me at least once a day how much he loves me, and how I'm the "best big sister in the whole wide world", although he makes sure to point out that Grace is also his big sister and she's the best too. He's been promising Mom ever since he was a tiny thing that he would never stop telling her he loved her, and so far he's kept that promise :)
Tonight we were out shopping, and Dad had promised Ian to buy him a new toy, instead of giving him money, for the tooth he lost last week. Ian got a Slinky Dog (from the Toy Story movies) and he was so excited about it. But he amazed me when we got back to the car and he asked me to open it. Instead of getting it out of the box and playing with it himself, he handed it to Grace, who really wanted to see it. He let her take her time with it, not demanding it back, but letting her enjoy it, and enjoying the fact that she was able to play with it. The whole way home they sat next to each other playing with Ian's new treasure, but I never once heard him call it his, or tell her that she couldn't play with it. And that's one of the things that I love about Ian; he's always sweet and kind like that :)
Alright, well that's all for tonight, but I promise I'll get VBS picture up soon...I've been procrastinating all weekend on getting them edited, but I started doing a few tonight, so I should have them up by the end of the week :)

Quotes of the Day

Me: "Jacob, I found this really long piece of fishing line in my laundry basket. Is it yours?"

Jacob: "Oh, no, that's my girfriend's hair."

Me: "Oh, is your girlfriend's name Rapunzel?"

Jacob: "No silly, Rapunzel's hair is like, 3 times as long as my girlfriend's"

Gosh, how does he come up with such quick, funny responses? I'd have been like, "uh, yeah, that's mine, just put it in the garage."
:D I love my brother. The end.


Ok, and another...
My good friend Rachel and I were talking on the phone this evening. I don't remember exactly what we were talking about, but it had something to do with being an old maid.
Rachel: "If I'm unmarried and still living at home when I'm 25, I'm gonna be like 'God, why have you forsaken me?!'"
Mmmm, and I just realized that this probably won't be very funny if you don't know Rachel, so this quote is for those of you who do :)

Oh, Brother...

O my, I do love my brother...he says the funniest things :D



It started out as a conversation about our parents returning home from Europe and how we've eaten while they've been away...not horridly, but there has been a bit more junk-food in the house since they've been gone (in our defense, mom did buy most of it for us before she left). We both decided that we're ready to get back to normal eating habits (ya know, more salads for dinner and all that good stuff). I jokingly mentioned that I have to be able to fit into my bridesmaid's dress for a friend's wedding in 2 1/2 weeks (don't worry Ashlee, the dress still fits fine ;D). Jacob replied that he thinks it would be funny if I didn't fit in the dress.

Me: "Oh, that would be awful!"
Jacob: "But it's a once in a life-time thing. It would be awesome to say that you didn't fit into a dress that you needed to wear for a WEDDING! (see, this is where guys and girls differ; even if that ever did happen, what girl would go around telling people about it? Guys on the other hand, find it FUNNY!)
Me: You have got to be kidding me."
Jacob: "No, I'm totally serious!You girls pass up so many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. For instance, Angela, Ashlee, and Chloe have all missed perfect times to do something totally out of the ordinary."
Me: "What are you talking about?"
Jacob: "How funny would it be if when Peter, Daniel, or Jonathon got down on one knee and asked her to marry him, she said no?!"
Me: "WHAT!? That'd be awful!"
Jacob: "Yes, but funny. I'm not saying she reject him altogether, but maybe just hold off on him for 5 days or so and then 'change her mind'. Or, she could just say 'no' for an instant-just to see his reaction- and then say 'yes'."
Me: "Oh really, and what guy would want to marry a girl who would do that?"
Jacob: "I would! If my girlfriend (if he ever gets one that is, and after this post, that's highly unlikely :P) did that I'd still marry her. You know what would be really funny, if I asked her to marry me and then if she said 'are you serious', I'd say 'no', hahahah."


...and that's why I love my brother :D He's never serious, and therefore always making me laugh.