Lydia's Collage and Seagulls in Emerald Isle

"Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”"

Genesis 1:20

Well, here's Lydia's collage...most of her pictures have someone else in them. It's really hard to get a baby to smile on command (actually quite impossible), or to have them stay in one spot and look photo-genic, so these pictures all have someone else with her except for 2, but I hope you get the point! :)

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After Alexis' post on the beach with the millions of pictures, that was only about half of the week recorded. So you missed a lot more pictures but we're not going to post them because it's a lot of work. Anyways, I really liked some of the pictures of the seagulls. We had some leftover bread and pancakes and decided to feed the wildlife. These are the pictures from the food-throwing experience:

Hello!

This is one of my favorites!

A broken-winged seagull (I don't think it was really broken; he was probably just posing for the camera!)

In flight

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You probably get tired of the pictures of Lydia, but here are some more from the other night. :) I had taken a video but we're not patient enough to let it upload the entire day, so there's just the pictures to view.

Look at those blue eyes!

Eating...

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All for Jesus,

Kimber

Alexis' Memorial Day Report

...........For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son.....

Paraphrase from John 3:16

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This is the report That I (Alexis) made for memorial day.

Enjoy!

Click to enlarge for easier reading

THANK YOU AMERICAN SERVICEMEN!

☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻

His Princess,

♥ Alexis ♥

Daddy & Kimber's (Hannah's too!) Father & Daughter Retreat Portraits

Last week we got the Vision Forum pictures in the mail (via a CD) of the pictures from the Father & Daughter Retreat. We got our pictures around 5 minutes before the next session started! :)

Here they are:

Daddy


Daddy and I

♦◘♦◘♦◘♦◘♦◘♦◘♦◘♦◘♦

I just thought it would be fun, if I put Hannah and Daddy's picture from the 2007 retreat up here too, so here it is:

.....But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father......

Genesis 20:12a.

♦♥♦♥♦♥♦♥♦♥♦♥♦

Striving to be like Jesus,

Kimber :)

Hannah's Memorial Day Report

"It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.'"

Exodus 13:9

Here is the report that Hannah gave on Memorial Day:

Memorials

Definition of memorial:

“That which preserves the memory of something…the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of the death and sufferings of Christ.” Webster’s 1928 Dictionary

“A monument, statue, holiday, or ritual that serves as a reminder or remembrance of a person or an event.” Bible Dictionary

There are two different kinds of memorials; there are physical memorials and spiritual memorials.

A physical memorial would be like when Joshua and the children of Israel crossed the Jordon River and set up a pile of 12 stones to remember what the Lord had done. It was so that when their children’s children saw the stones they would ask why they were there then the parents would be able to tell their children the marvelous work of the Lord God of Israel.

A spiritual memorial would be like the day you accepted Christ as Savior or the time you prayed to God and He heard you and answered you. An example would be when Cornelius cried out to God to show Him more of Himself and then the Lord sent Peter to him who then shared the Gospel of Christ with him and household and they all accepted Jesus as Savior.

Memorials in the Bible:

Spritual Memorials

1. The Passover- this was a time that the Jews remembered their divine deliverance from Egypt which is found in Exodus 12:11,14

2. Feast of Purim- this feast was a time for the Jews to remember another miraculous deliverance from total annihilation while in the country of Persia, now the country of Iran, during the reign of King Ahasuerus and the noble queen, Queen Esther. This “memorial” is found in Esther 9:26-28

3. The Sabbath-this was a time for the Jews to remember that they were a chosen pople, holy unto the lord. Also it was a time to rest and remember that the “earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” See Exodus 20:8-11.

4. Resurrection Sunday- this is a day that Christians remember that their Savior, Jesus Christ, arose from the dead and is alive forevermore. See Mark 16:6.

5. Judgment Day- the Day when all flesh will stand before God and will be judged and if their name is not written in the Book of Life they will be cast into the Lake of Fire. See Revelation 20:11-15


Physical Memorials:

1. Korah’s Rebellion: When Korah rebelled against Moses and Aaron the Lord told Korah and his company to take a censor, put incense in it, than, whosever incense the Lord regarded would be the chosen. Well, as the story goes, Korah, his family, and some others, died and the censor’s where taken, at the command of the Lord, and hammered into a sheet that was then put on the altar “to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord.” Numbers 16:40

2. Aarons Rod: The Lord told Moses to take the rods of the 12 leaders of Israel and put them in the tabernacle and “it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom;” Numbers 17:5a. Aaron’s rod was the one that blossomed and proved the Lord had chosen him and his house for the royal priesthood. “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.” Numbers 17:10

3. The Fiery Serpents: The Children of Israel were complaining again and the Lord sent fiery serpents among them to poison them so they would die. In order to save the people they had to look up at a bronze serpent that Moses had made at the Lord’s command. See Numbers 21:9.

I’m sure there are plenty more that I did not record, but you’ll have to search the Scriptures themselves to find them.

A memorial in the Bible was to be a time of solemn remembrance of what either the Lord had done or to remember what they had done and the consequences thereof. A memorial is to be long lasting. In Proverbs it repeatedly states not to remove the ancient landmarks, which are a type of memorial.

If memorials are special in God’s heart, shouldn’t they be in ours?

Memorial Day 2009

"‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance."

Exodus 12:14

If you've read my previous post on Memorial Day ("May We Never Forget...") than you will know that we went to the Virginia War Memorial on Memorial Day this year. Most of the time we've just had a cookout (we still did after the service) at someone's house but we wanted to try and do things a little different this year. Mama had us research different events that would be going on on Memorial Day and I (Kimber) looked up a couple sites and the war memorial was the best option. They had a service from 10:00 A.M - 12:00 if I remember correctly. We arrived there about 15 minutes early and I went around and took pictures until they started. Paw-paw and Na-naw came too.

Some flowers that were on a wreath (they had a wreath-laying ceremony).

The statute on the far right they called "The Shrine of Memory." The clear walls on the far left have the names of all the soldiers who died in various wars and their virginia counties they were from. All together there are 11,634 names on the marble and glass walls; all of which are Virginian's who died to keep us free.


A close-up of the Shrine of Memory and a rose.

We live in King William County, and that is why I took this picture.

Caleb during the ceremony.

(He doesn't like me taking pictures of him, hence the hand over his face)

A veteran in the audience.

We were surprised to see so many people there to honor those who have and are serving our country. There were people standing everywhere.

This lady sung a song.

This was the main announcer.

The service went very well. They had about 4-5 different people talk or sing and the mention of God was everywhere in their speeches and how we need to take accountability of our sins, repent, etc. It was very inspiring with the exception that Jesus' name was never mentioned - only God. Not that God is bad (not at all!) but people would probably get instantly offended (Matthew 11:6) if "Jesus" was mentioned, so the speakers stayed "political."

After the ceremony, they had the wreath-laying ceremony at which they positioned the wreaths all around the "Shrine of Memory." Someone was pronouncing each wreath, what it represented, etc. and the carrier.

I just thought this veteran's facial-expression was funny! :)

Carrying a wreath.

I just had to put this one up here! :)

A smiley veteran!

Ah - a Marine! :) (The one in the red suit)

(Inside joke - ask my family if you want to know!)

They (there were 2) were carrying the wreath down the walkway and they did one of their marine grunts (which sounded like "oo-rah" to me) about half-way down. It was really neat - they were my favorites!

They had the most beautiful music done by bagpipe-players, drummers, etc. there in full attire. The leader of the "band" (the one in the middle of the picture) we had seen at Mrs. Heather's wedding. They played T.A.P.S and Amazing Grace.

I took a video of them but it's cut a little short because I was running out of memory space (and a couple other reasons), but at least you get the point! Please forgive my horrendous video skills, I was enjoying their music, so I wasn't paying a lot of attention - just listen to the music and all will be well! :)

Here's the video (it may not have uploaded, so it may not be here):

After the ceremony, we (our family and Paw-paw and Na-naw) went to my great-grandparents gravesite (Forest Lawn Cemetery). My 2 Great-Grandpa's are buried there along with one of my Great-Grandma's (a.k.a Great), all of which are my grandparents (Paw-paw and Na-naw's) parents.

This is Paw-paw's parents gravestone.

I have no memories whatsoever of Na-naw's or Paw-paw's dad but I remember lots about his mother, whom we called Great. She's the one who started the entire "Nash Luncheon" thing. Every Sunday she'd prepare a meal for all the Nash's (by herself) and clean it up. She always gave us a couple of jellybeans before we left and a card at Christmas.

Alexis, Daddy, and Seth walking around the cemetery.

While we were there, we went ahead and read our Memorial Day Papers starting from youngest to oldest. We (those who were eligible enough to participate) each had a project that we had to complete by Memorial Day and everyone's project was different.

Seth's project was to draw a picture of something that had to do with Memorial Day. And he drew a picture of the scene where we get the National Anthem from.

Caleb had the job of writing up something about a national cemetery. He picked Arlington National Cemetery.

Alexis' project was to write up the history of Memorial Day.

The intent listeners.

Me (I really don't like this picture...).

My job was to pick a hero to recognize on Memorial Day. I picked Michael Fleming Foland. Please click on the link and read his story (the citation is the best). He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor (highest military award) posthumously. I cried on the last 2 sentences of my report (I think most everyone else did too). It's just amazing what others do to protect us and their fellow brothers in their unit, even at the sacrifice of their life. No one will ever be able to repay them.

Hannah's letter was on the history of Memorials in the Bible.

Everyone's report was very interesting, and I'll try and get them all up here, Lord willing.

After our reports were read we went to Paw-paw's house and had a small cookout (that was very yummy!) and some strawberry angel food cake. Yum!

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Striving to be like Jesus,

Kimber :)

May We Never Forget...

“And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

Deuteronomy 8:18

We went to the Virginia War Memorial on Memorial Day to honor those that have died to keep us free, are currently serving, etc. I'll tell you more about it later but I wanted to share these pictures and verses with you just as a reminder and thought-provoker to "never forget" the sacrifice millions of people have and are making, and the One who gave us our freedom.

I'm just going to let the pictures and verses speak for themselves,

Kimber

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends."

John 15:13

"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

2 Corinthians 3:17

Seth Peter's Emerald Isle Portrait Collage

"...Jesus...the son of Seth..."

Luke 3:23, 28

Striving to be like Jesus,

Kimber

Caleb Michael; Emerald Isle Portrait Collage

"So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents."

Genesis 25:27

2 Emerald Isle Collages; Kimber Ashley and Alexis Noel

When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”Genesis 19:15

Well, now that I'm behind on my collage posting, here are two. One of me (Kimber) and then one of Alexis.

I've wanted to mention this before, but I've forgotten, until now...on most of my collages I've been putting "May 2009" when in reality it was "April 2009." I would go back and change them but I can't because they're now Jpegs not psd's. Anyways, I'm sorry...I would fix it if I could. :)

Striving to be like Him,
Kimber

Nash-Houchins Wedding and Baby Bunnies!

"And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves."

Genesis 34:9

I'm really behind on my posting, but I really can't do anything about it so I'll start with the most recent events.

Friday our cousins, Kaitlyn - 13, Sarah - 12, and Rachel - 3 months, and their mom (a.k.a Aunt Stacey) came down to our house. We watched The Tale of Desperaux (very good movie by the way; lots of spiritual parallels), ate some snacks, jumped on the trampoline, etc. We (the 5 girls consisting of Alexis, Me -Kimber-, Hannah, Kate, and Sarah) talked until around 11:00 that night. Saturday morning we had an absolutely wonderful breakfast by Daddy and Mama and then we played outside, took showers, and left around 12:30 for New Found Church of Christ where my 3rd cousin (I think) and her husband were getting married. Mama was playing the piano for her wedding, so we got there about 45 minutes early. The wedding started at 2:00. Miss Heather Nash (now Houchins) was escorted down the aisle by her father and brother (she cried most of the way down) and then given over to her soon-to-be husband, Mr. Julian Houchins. The wedding went very well. The reception was in the gym and they had lots of different foods and everything was delicious!

This was one of the flowers on the table where the cake was.

(I hardly took any pictures, so I only put one up here.)

After we waved them off in my great-Uncle's ANTIQUE Pierce arrow car (a family tradition) and then piled into the van and headed home. My cousins and Aunt would be coming later that night but they were stopping by my Grandparents house first to visit.

Lydia in the car.

When we returned home, we cleaned the inside and outside up as best as we could before 7:00. We had our Bread Becker Pick-up that night and people would start arriving soon. We always have such a wonderful time with our friends from Bread Beckers! There was lots of yummy food, the weather was beautiful, and it was an altogether wonderful night! :) After everyone had left, we cleaned up and waited for my cousins and Aunt to arrive. Erika and Allie (2 more cousins!) came with them too, so we had a bit of a full house, but a full house is always so much fun! Of course, all the girls were in our room, and the other siblings (except Lydia) were in the boys room and my aunt in another room. We (the girls) looked through photo albums, played Spoons, did gymnastics (imagine that!), talked, laughed, and had lots more fun! As you're probably guessing, yes, we didn't fall asleep until around 11-12:00 that night.

Family is such fun and I'm glad we have a big one!

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Now for the bunny news: Saturday morning (before the wedding) Daddy came home early from work for a shower and he brought 2 absolutely adorable little bunnies back with him. He was cutting HEFC (our old church) and he thinks that he ran over their nest because they started running from his lawnmower. Well, Daddy knows we love little animals and he loves catching them and showing them to us and seeing our excitement, so he caught them and brought them home. We put them in Fawn's old cage. My rabbit, Fawn, died of old age (about 1-2 weeks ago), so her cage was now open for new inhabitors.

Kaitlyn, Sarah, and the rest of us agreed to these two names: Lina (lean-a) and Leya (lay-a). Of course, we don't know if they are boys, or girls, but we're hoping girls! :) We researched what they would eat, drink, etc. But enough of my talking, here are their pictures...

Aren't they cute? All of us have held them that I know of, except for Eden, 'Siah, and Lydia.

We're hoping that they will thrive, they're eating food, so mostly everything is going well.

I'll try and keep everyone updated.

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Just for a quick prayer request: Lydia has a pretty high fever, so if you would pray for her to feel better soon that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Kimber