Hopie Makover

We had a beautiful vow renewal ceremony to attend for some dear friends of ours a couple of weeks ago. My friend across the street is a beautician. How handy is that with two girls? Well, she got a hold of Hopie to do her hair for this ceremony. Wow! I had to take a double take when she walked in. My curly headed little baby girl look like a young lady! It took my a while to get use to that. Fortunately for Mama, you can take the curl out of the hair BUT you can't take the spunk out of my baby girl! She is fabulous! As you can see, in a mere two hours Hopie can go from sweet looking young lady to Hopie "Rambo" style. She was chasing boys, did I just type that? As you can see from her nose, a little boy chased back and caught her. This game of chase did not end peacefully. Opportunities for forgiveness are all around us. For Hopie, she had to forgive her buddy Brady. We just had to show you photos of Hope all done up.

Teethville - Comin' & Goin'

There is excitement & craziness around the Abshire home this week. The craziness ~ Luke Josiah is cutting some new teeth and all the joy that goes with that. I am a firm believer that the Lord has an excellent plan for teeth coming in ~ we are too young to remember. I feel for my baby boy as he has the pain of cutting new teeth. He still is pleasant even in his present state. He is amazing!

Then the excitement of my baby girl, Hopie, losing her first tooth. This is just wrong! Somebody tell her she is just too young because she is not listening to her Mama. Surprise - surprise! She was sooooo excited when she discovered her loose tooth last Thursday night and has had a fun week playing around with it. She was adamant that no one was to touch it. So several days & meals later it was the bagel that did her in. She just got tired of it bothering her and she pulled her loose tooth out. She came screamin' like she was dying ~ only to find her scream was of excitement. How could I not know that difference?!? I joined in her excitement as she held her first lost tooth. This is crazy!

Well, everyone is asleep, as we wait for the "Tooth Fairy" to come and leave the famous $2 bill in the tooth pillow. May that "Tooth Fairy" not forget! They won't want the wrath of Hopie for running late!

Good Night!

Teethville ~ Comin' & Goin'

There is excitement & craziness around the Abshire home this week. The craziness ~ Luke Josiah is cutting some new teeth and all the joy that goes with that. I am a firm believer that the Lord has an excellent plan for teeth coming in ~ we are too young to remember. I feel for my baby boy as he has the pain of cutting new teeth. He still is pleasant even in his present state. He is amazing!

Then the excitement of my baby girl, Hopie, losing her first tooth. This is just wrong! Somebody tell her she is just too young because she is not listening to her Mama. Surprise - surprise! She was sooooo excited when she discovered her loose tooth last Thursday night and has had a fun week playing around with it. She was adamant that no one was to touch it. So several days & meals later it was the bagel that did her in. She just got tired of it bothering her and she pulled her loose tooth out. She came screamin' like she was dying ~ only to find her scream was of excitement. How could I not know that difference?!? I joined in her excitement as she held her first lost tooth. This is crazy!

Well, everyone is asleep, as we wait for the "Tooth Fairy" to come and leave the famous $2 bill in the tooth pillow. May that "Tooth Fairy" not forget! They won't want the wrath of Hopie for running late!
Good Night!

Joyner Ranch Branding

Today we had so much fun at a branding that Mom & Bill had. Their last name is Joyner, so it is called ~ Joyner Ranch. Bill has a registered brand for his cattle and held a fine branding. Benny, our cowboy with a sweet tooth, joined us to help. I (Liz) was excited as it was my first time to gather cattle. Although the cattle were already gathered together there wasn't much of a challenge! The experience was still great. But we did have to ride the fence line of 80+ acres to check for holes in the fence or needed repairs. That was fun! We were in the foothills versus the orchards we are use to riding in. I am totally addicted now. Baby Girl, my horse (that Bill gave me), did fabulous today. I was so proud of her.
The children had a blast driving Grandma's golfcart (hence no pictures of them) and playing in the dirt. It was a great day with food, fun, & family.

Luke having a blast in the dirt.

Benny, our buddy, came to help us.

Let me introduce you to Baby Girl. She is having fun in the arena.

The Birthday Duo

Papa & Abbie have the same birthday which is really quite fun for them. We had two sets of our close friends over with their children and just enjoyed their company and fellowship as we celebrated Papa & Abbie's life.

Shmily was Aaron's theme this year. I got him a couple of these cool stickers that I had made and stuck them on places he would see everyday. Shmily stands for "See How Much I Love You". It shows up in some fun places.

We had a horse theme again this year ~ I do believe that cake resembles "Baby Girl"!

Abbie got this great horse alarm clock that neighs when it goes off.
Aaron is showing off some great art work from the twins!

A Date with Eternal Dividends

Abbie & Mama had a sweet date last Saturday. We were blessed to have Pure Freedom bring their Secret Keeper Tour to our town. This evening was filled with worship, precious time for mothers & daughters, encouraging words for our young ladies today on modesty, and great fashion show (which Abbie's lifelong buddy, Ellie, was in). It was so nice to have the lessons we teach at home to be taught to her & her peers, then also see it applied. I was so happy that Abbie had something that encouraged her inner beauty and love for Jesus. We have had some great conversations spring from the evening. As well as Abbie doing modesty test on all of her clothing. She cracks me up. We both had a blast. It is so sweet to see my baby girl growing into a little girl who desires to please God. God is so faithful that it melts my heart!

Easter 2008

I know I am running behind! It is the story of my life in this season! I wanted to share our Easter with you. We started our celebration that day with church (I just wish you could hear Hopie say "church"). Pastor Curt did an amazing drama as Hosea. It was special to me because we have been studing the Kings and Minor Prophets this year in CBS (Community Bible Study) and had recently covered Hosea. Pastor Curt showed us the sweet truths of being Christ's Bride and His great love for us. It is always humbling to me the great love He shows us because He is God. Worthy of all glory, praise, and honor and yet loves a wretch like me. I love Him so and desire for Him to glorififed in this life of mine because when it is ALL said and done ~ nothing else matters but Him!
I thought I'd share some pictures of our day. We headed up to my sister's house to be with my family that day. As you can tell the girls get swimsuits in their Easter baskets and wear them that day. Luke had a fun first Easter too, although no candy for him.
Hopie is a girl after my own heart~ a cowgirl hat goes with EVERYTHING, right?

Papa & Luke checkin' out the candy scene!

Abigail enjoying some candy!

Hopie & Nicholas playing in the sand box!

This is my HOT man!

I love his smile!!!

We hope & pray you had a blessed Easter celebrating that we serve a risen Savior! Praise the LORD!