There is nothing like starting young…
Yeah, this looks like fun!
What exactly am I supposed to do?
Read the textbook, of course!
OK, I know it all now!
This key is an important one.
All done! I finished your homework, Aunt Sarah!
Stephen has taken a liking to rabbits recently…
Hoppy Birthday, Stephen!
May God bless you abundantly in the coming year!
Have you ever had a secondhand Christmas tree? We hadn’t until this year… but I’ll hold that for a moment.
Since the birth of Keziah, much has taken place, but for my part, few photos have been taken. In fact, much to my chagrin, I discovered that though I photographed a dress made for Keziah, I took no pictures of my precious niece until yesterday! (That picture will come a little later.)
Another arrival, though much less cute than Keziah, was a baby Flemish giant rabbit. Smokey is very friendly and hopefully will make a good mother one day. (And no, she’s not usually in the house!)
The Christmas season slipped by in a hurry and January came upon us almost unawares. Part of the cause for this was perhaps the fact that it hardly felt like Christmas. After an early snow in October, no more arrived, in fact the weather turned unseasonably warm so that on the 24th, when we did our traditional Christmas concerts at the nursing homes, none of us brought jackets with us and several were in short sleeves!
Notwithstanding, the Christmas spirit reigned indoors with Christmas carols playing, Christmas lights shining, Christmas baking… and of course the Christmas tree! A used one. Usually Stephen is the guy for finding things in big garbage, but he wasn’t the one to reclaim this object. When picking Jonathan up from work right before his holiday began, Mommy observed that the company Christmas tree acquired some weeks before was gone. She learned from Jonathan that it had been taken down because no one would be in to water it for two weeks. So, a team was dispatched to rescue the tree from beside the garbage bin. It was a laughable event: never since we have lived in this location has there been such a bushy Christmas tree in our living room! It was fun, though, and Caleb helped to decorate.
And then, the week after Christmas, the snow finally arrived! And so did the cold!
But we enjoyed getting out to play in it. 🙂
Yesterday, the rain returned. Though it didn’t wash away the snow, it did keep the young people indoors during and after our monthly men’s meeting. To keep the young ones occupied, a game was produced: a several dozen little “prizes” (little pencils, erasers, chocolates, etc.) were wrapped up within a huge ball of cellophane. In only a few seconds, each player had to unwrap as much cellophane as possible in order to get at these prizes. When their time was up, they had to pass the ball along to the next person. Since the objects were scattered throughout the ball, each participant got multiple treats. The kids loved it! And the adults enjoyed watching and helping out where an extra hand was needed. It was wonderful to see how the children helped each other!
And of course the really little ones played at other things…
and wondered if the ice cream was really supposed to be left out for two hours…
and were cuddled… 🙂
In mid-November, our family had the privilege of going down to Virginia for a Family Encouragement Weekend. Most of us had been to one in New Hampshire several years ago, but this time, thanks to Nathanael and Samantha volunteering to take care of our livestock, we were all able to go together.
It was a blessed time of hearing people share on giving thanks in all circumstances, of being encouraged to seek the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ, of meeting new families, of fellowshipping with other believers who are striving to hold true to the Word of God.
There were lots of young people, and one of the things I loved was seeing the interactions between all the ages.
It truly was a Family Encouragement Weekend!
Here are some pictures of Keziah:
She weighs 8lbs 2oz and is 20 inches long.
We are all looking forward to seeing her in person!
We are excited to share that Keziah Rose Frazer just arrived this evening!
David and Erica, may God grant you His grace as you raise up another arrow for His kingdom!
Little ones grow up so quickly. Caleb and Elizabeth are learning to help out…
Stephen was installing some handrails on the stairs when Caleb came to visit. Great job, Caleb!
And Elizabeth loves helping to do the chores. Those “moo’s” are a lot of fun!
Anyone want to take a guess at what this creature is?
And if you were to invite it over for supper, what would you feed it?
Back in Quebec, the leaves turned brilliant shortly after Jonathan and I returned from Vermont. Thanksgiving Day was gorgeous. Jonathan, Evelyn, and I went out both in the morning and the afternoon to shoot a few photos. The northern tip of Lake Stukley is beautiful in the early morning.
We also went to the Eustis covered bridge. It looked quite different from the last time we were there!
The sunset on Lake Massawippi was beautiful too.
The changing weather motivated us to get some work around home done: cleaning up the yard, moving wood, etc.
Is that a dog on the balcony? 🙂
Our cute little “pet” was also brought to the GCH to bring some smiles to the residents. She certainly did that!
And finally, what shouldn’t be a surprise this time of year, the first snow arrived! It was beautiful while it lasted.
“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Fall arrived late this year. Usually the leaves are almost gone by Thanksgiving, but this year Thanksgiving Day was probably one of the most colourful days of the year.
At the beginning of the month, Jonathan and I drove down to Vermont to attend a CAPTURE workshop. The colours weren’t what everyone had hoped, but it was beautiful none the less. The predicted rain for all week evaporated leaving us with a gorgeous sunset the first night. Pictures don’t do it justice… or I haven’t figured out how to make my camera do it!
The second morning was cloudy but without any rain. A few trees were colourful.
Since the overcast skies didn’t allow for a beautiful sunrise or dynamic early morning light, we were instead given the challenge of taking 10 photos of an apple tree. It was interesting to see what creative ideas were exploited.
That evening it was also cloudy, but since waterfalls are easier to photograph under such conditions, the lack of sun was no problem.
The following morning only a few of us headed outside to capture the sunrise in a field nearby. The dog came along and even posed for me!
And I can tell you were not to walk around there! I removed 893 burrs from my clothing…
Since the sun was out, we headed out before brunch to get some shots of a pretty little church not far away. Here we were given the assignment of taking a photo at our longest focal length and another at the shortest.
After fulfilling my assignment, I quickly ran to the back of the church where there was a…
Cemetery! I really can’t explain it, but cemeteries draw me. Something about the sadness, stillness, waiting… for coming glory!
That afternoon the sun was again out and we went to a little barn to shoot. None of my pictures there turned out, but we did get a group photo that you can see here.
On the way home another beautiful sunset compelled us to stop in Shelburne…
It seemed a fitting ending to a beautiful weekend. And as Jonathan pointed out, what made it so beautiful was that we were looking not only on God’s creation that is visible, but also on that which is invisible.
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.