so much love

c. Emily/the song of the sea

She snuggles into me. I kiss her little head and breathe deeply. She munches on her apple, and I listen. She offers me a bite.You're so kind, I tell her. I give her another kiss. She rests her curly head on my shoulder. I love you. My heart is overflowing. And I thank God for my baby sister.

A Christmas Treasure//Christmas music at our house.

For as long as I can remember, this beautiful record has been the first Christmas music listened to in our home. Julie's warm, clear, lovely voice, coupled with the excellent arrangements by Andre Previn and the reverent and joyous selection of Christmas songs makes for an incomparable Christmas record. Especially if you play a real vinyl on a record player, like we do. Doesn't get much better than that!

I could honestly listen to it all day long. The music is so, so beautiful. To me, it represents everything glorious about this holiday...the birth of our Savior, the love of our God, the joys and warmth of the season, the festivities, the traditions.  I can't say enough good things about it.

Here are a few songs for your enjoyment. I'm pretty sure you'll love them.

The graphics on the videos are a little cheesy, but they're the best ones I could find!

Aaaaaaahhh. I love Christmas music.

I hope you are all having a cozy December!

P.S. Stay tuned for the next Christmas music at our house. What will it be? Here's a hint...think jazz.

simple moments

A few weeks ago, after a day of stormy skies and monotone rainfall, the sky was illuminated by the setting sun. The rain stopped for a moment, and the clouds turned peachy golden in color, the world around me cast with a rosy glow. I was breathless for a moment, my heart full of wonder at this life God has given us. I love those moments. Those moments where everything is still and you say to yourself,
Life is so, so beautiful. Lord Jesus, you are so, so good. Your works are marvelous. Thank you. I love you. Thank you for moments like this.
These are the simple moments I hope never to forget.

words and pictures for Thanksgiving

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. —Psalm 95:1-6

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

  

 “A sensible thanksgiving for mercies received is a mighty prayer in the Spirit of God. It prevails with Him unspeakably.”  

-John Bunyan

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, His love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.
—George Washington

Happy Thanksgiving!


Love,
Emily

I'm thankful for Operation Christmas Child

For the past three years, my family has been blessed to pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

We just love it. It is a wonderful opportunity to give, to pray, and to spend some lovely, excited, gift-buying and wrapping, fulfilling, God-honoring family time.

This year, I chose to do a box for a girl, age 10-14. I thought it would be fun to share what was in one of my boxes. I've thought about it, and this post isn't at all to show off. I've hesitated posting it because I don't want it to seem as if I'm doing good for praise from others. My idea in posting this was to encourage you all to participate in the future, if you haven't already, and to share what is going on in our family right now. 

So, without further ado, my box...

Jewelry! I made the necklace with love and bought the bracelet (with love).     

Colored pencils and a notebook. As an artist myself, I wouldn't think of not including these items. ( I put in regular pencils as well.)

Can't forget hygiene! These are necessities. ( I also included a bar of soap.)

Treats! I also added a box of animal crackers.

A hand-written card. This is one of my favorite parts of the whole box-making process. It is so exciting to think I get to wish a little girl who lives in a different country 'Merry Christmas' with love in Jesus' Name. Isn't that exciting? Isn't it? 

I am so blessed to be a tiny part of this huge, wonderful ministry. I pray each child receiving these Christmas gifts would come to know Jesus! And that they would know that they are loved by Him, and loved by Christians all over the world.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, this opportunity was a wonderful time for me to reflect on the many blessings for which we can be thankful to our Savior. 

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday?

Love,

Emily

siblings, snickerdoodles, and thankfulness

Last week, my little brother and sister ( the two littles pictured below) wanted to bake cookies. Not just any cookies, but Snickerdoodles, our family's beloved easy-to-make-and-to-bake cookie of choice. These cookies are delicious--so much so I've been temporarily 'banned' from making them to preserve the health of our family...these cookies are not particularly healthful...not at all actually...and they seem to have the habit of making themselves addictive. With most recipes, I try to make them healthier by using less sugar, but with this one...not a chance. If it a'int broke don't fix it, right? With these cookies that is most assuredly true.

It is such a blessing to bake with little siblings. I loved helping the 'littler' one add the salt and mix it up, and watching the 'bigger' one take off and measure everything to the T...spoon (hey, I just couldn't resist).

Any time spent with these two kiddos is time well spent, and I loved baking with them. They've got talent!

Not to mention they're pretty cute and kinda sorta amazing. ( =

(Yes, I do love my siblings a LOT. And NO, they're not for sale.)

Freshly baked beauties! Want to learn how to make em'?

Snickerdoodles

        2 cups all-purpose flour

        2 teaspoons cream of tartar

        1 teaspoon baking soda

        1/4 teaspoon salt

        1 cup ( 2 sticks) butter, softened

        1 1/2 cups sugar

        2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line or grease 2-3 cookie sheets ( it is helpful if you use a couple cookie sheets because you'll need to either have several sheets OR wait until the sheet cools down before you put the next set of cookies into the oven. Make sense?).

Now, whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda,and salt until well mixed.

Next, beat in a large bowl (an electric mixer is quite handy at this point) the butter and 1.1/2 cups sugar, until creamy (and, I might add, delicious). At this point add the eggs and beat until well blended.

Now, slowly mix in the flour mixture until completely combined and the dough resembles...well, cookie dough.

Shape the dough into roughly 1.1/4 inch balls (it's very approximate-don't stress about it and I order you NOT to reach for the ruler) and roll into a mixture of:

       about 1/4 cup sugar and 3-5 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

arrange on a cookie sheet with 2-3 inch spaces between each cookie ( they WILL spread, so make certain they have plenty of room).

Bake for 12-14 minutes, turning the cookie sheet once midway through the baking process to insure they bake evenly, until the cookies are light golden brown. Let stand briefly, then remove to a rack to cool. One batch usually makes 3-4 trays of cookies.

That's pretty simple, right? 

This little face is so dear. Thank you, LORD, for my sister.

After all our baking work was done, we went out to the garden to enjoy the fruits of our labor. As I took the above picture, my heart filled with wonder and thanks to the LORD.

I am so, so thankful, and He is so, so good.

Love,

Emily

Every good and perfect gift is from above...

James 1:17

                    

she is TWO!

This is the little girl who captured my heart the moment she was born two years ago.

The first day I met her. November 2009, born at home.

What a rose!

Summer 2011

She keeps us laughing!

With mama.

Sleeping Beauty.

Making tea!

Me and my girl. 

Wearing the mama's baby dress (handmade by Great Grandma Bertha).

 So precious is she!

Oh, sweet baby!

This was taken with real film! My mom is an amazing photographer.

This is my baby sister.

My heart swells with thankfulness to Jesus that He made her my baby sister.

I love her more than words can say. I love her so much I think I might just burst.

Today is her birthday.

Happy Birthday, my little lady of loveliness.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Your doting sister,

'Eminy'

Wonderful are Your works;

my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:14b

beautiful, amazing things-part one-the baby shower

So much has happened lately. I hardly know where or how to begin. I haven't been blogging for a number of reasons, mostly because we've been so busy, but when I'd have a free moment to actually blog about what life has been like, I would just get completely overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of writing about it all. Honestly, since the start of September, life has been a whirlwind. Beautiful, amazing things have happened...so I suppose I shall just start at the beginning. I'm going to split-up all the recent goings-on into a few parts, because there is just way too much to squeeze it all into one post!

I'll start with the baby shower.

My last post (ahem, written almost a month ago...eeep!)  was about the baby shower we were throwing for my auntie. My mama was the party planning mastermind, my grandma was the talented go-to, and my sister Hannah and I were the 'assistants'. Wow, I had so much fun. It was delightful to spend time with my dear mama, gramma, and sisters. We held the party at our coffee shop, and we had a wonderful time transforming it with the whimsical decorations. My mama is a creative genius. ( =

The theme was 'A Child's Garden of Verses' and I think it came across really beautifully. My mama worked so hard. It was truly a labor of love, and it showed. 

I would love to post pictures I'd taken, but alas, in the hectic last minute party prep crunch time ( whew!), my camera was left behind. Yes. Hard to believe, but sad and true. However, there is good news. Our lovely friend Cassie took some GORGEOUS photos, so I'll share them with you. 

Here are a few pictures.

The spread! We had too much fun making all of that food! 

My little brother Henry helping to serve tea. He was such a cheerful helper!

I love this boy!

This my friends, is my baby sister. She is a constant source of delight and I love her with all my heart.  She was loving the tea.

We made Lemon Verbena Lemonade, and Pink Sonoma iced tea. They were so good.  The pink sonoma is a new white tea our tea supplier came up with. It is delicious. ( For any of you new to the blog, my family owns a coffee/tea shop.)

Darling, yes? This was one of my favorite decorations. ( =

The table decorations. Definitely one of the most fun parts was making the centerpieces. photo credit: Cassie.

Sisters! My lovely sister Hannah and me. That's me on the left. Photo: Cassie

 Elizabeth + me. I am so in love with this little  baby.  Isn't she the most cutie beauty little girl? God has blessed me more than I can even express with this one. photo: Cassie.

I just love this photo. For the tea, we served Lemon Chiffon Rooibos. My favorite. I think.  ( =

                                                   My dear auntie and her first baby.

            It was a delightful day, spent praising God and enjoying sweet fellowship. 

Much love in Christ always,

Emily 

reflections

Trees and telephone wires reflected on the surface of my beloved Gram Deb's pool.

The water looks so cool and inviting. Oh, how I love to swim! 

REJOICE!

Rejoice in the LORD always: again I will say REJOICE!
Philippians 4:4

I love watermelon

Watermelon is one of the sweetest delights of summer. I could eat watermelon everyday for the rest of my life and never tire of it.
How 'bout you?

~Emily

she's a rose

Today is my dear, sweet, amazing friend Dottie Rose's birthday! So, I thought I would post this rose photo I took while we were at my great-grandmother's beach house in central CA.  I'm not usually one for  red roses ( I'm more of a yellow, peachy, rosy rose sort of girl), but these were lovely.
God is such a glorious Creator, isn't He?




~Emily

a wonderful time

This afternoon, I played the game Bible Baseball with my family.
It was fun. It was wonderful.
I love my family.

cheerful beams

O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully 
into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected
dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.
~St. Augustine

over the rainbow

 A favorite song of mine...this just makes me happy. A joy to listen to, and just so infectious to sing! I always feel so free and beachy hummin' this tune.Who can resist Hawaiian music?? Not my family, that's for sure!

                                         

''Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.''

Genesis 9:16

                                            Enjoy!