Sunshine and Ice

I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.

Psalm 108:3-5

Our Ice Storm

Yesterday we had a winter storm with a mixture of ice and snow (mostly ice). Everything is so beautiful outside today!

We have quite a few branches down because of the weight of the ice.

A lot of people in our area lost their power, but ours only flickered off and on. This is a power line that is down at our neighbors'.

You can see how thick the layer of ice is around the line.

Riding the four-wheeler is always fun in the ice!

The grass in our yard

The ice is so pretty !

Ice-coated power lines......and clotheslines

Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.

He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.

He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?

From Psalm 147

More Bird Pictures

This bird got stuck on our screened-in porch (the door was open) so, before helping him find his way out, we took pictures of him.

Another unfortunate bird stuck on the porch

Because of the winter storm that is coming, our feeders have had many visitors.

For Christmas David gave me (Deborah) a remote for the camera. Yesterday I set the camera on the tripod by a feeder, then went up on the porch to wait for the birds to come back. When they landed on the feeder all I had to do was push the button!

The Cardinal and the Goldfinch

"How DARE you take my picture!"

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?...

...But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 12:6-7

My Cats

I had to put Butterfinger on the porch while I was taking pictures of the birds.

She was determined to get the door opened...

...and she did.

Peaches looks so funny when she "meows"

Cute little paws :)

Birds and Ice

We've had some unusual birds around the past few weeks. We think this one is a Pileated Woodpecker...

...and this one is a Common Flicker.

After the temperatures had been below freezing for a few days, we wanted to see if we could walk across our little pond.

We were successful, so we decided to test our larger pond.

The snow was coming down beautifully as we walked to the big pond.

David carefully makes his way across the pond...

...and, after declaring it safe, is joined by the rest of us.

Sliding on the pond

Making snow angels

We've never had freezing weather long enough to make our ponds safe to walk on.

It was a lot of fun to walk, run, and slide around on the ice!

Let It Snow!

We finally got a little snow!

Less than one inch, but we enjoyed it. (That's ice under it.)

It wasn't enough to cover our green grass. :)

The geese stand on one foot to keep the other warm.

Walking across the frozen pond

We have had a lot of birds at our feeders

Little bird footprints"Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds." ~ Psalm 68:34 The sky has been so beautiful. Our mail box A cold chickenI'm sorry the next two pictures are so blurry. They were taken from a moving 4-wheeler, with the lens zoomed in as far as it would go. The objects were not still, either. :)

Stuart chasing a deerIt looks more like a kangaroo in this picture! The snow makes Stuart look so dirty... It reminds me of a verse from Psalm 51 ~ Wash me, and I shall be whiter than

Skating with our church family and friends

Cathi, Wes, and Amanda

Watching the skaters

Mr. Parker, Daddy, Mr. Heath, and Mr. Dodd visiting

Going under the limbo stick always makes funny pictures. :)

Eli and Luke

Laura

Justin

David

Matthew

Houston almost makes it under!

Nicholas is the winner!

Julia and Caleb

Rebekah helping Ching Ling learn to skate

Melissa and Wes

Christmas at Mama Flo's

We celebrated Christmas with Daddy's side of the family on Monday. Five of the relatives had to work and 3 were too sick to come, so we had a small family gathering this Christmas. :(

Some of us went over a few days earlier to help Mama Flo with all the baking. We made Milky Way cake, peanut brittle, haystacks, rocky road, chex mix, banana split pie, fruit cake, Butterfinger cake, and fudge.

Haystacks - a family favorite.

Chex Mix

Sarah and Emily making Banana Split Pie

Butterfinger cake

Rebekah and Mama Flo making peanut brittle

It turned out just right....YUM!

King wishing he could come inside (The things in his ears are temporary - to help them stand up)

This is the "King proof" Christmas tree...

...We had to put it upstairs so that King couldn't get to it -he is afraid of the stairs.

Uncle Phil brought this sign for Mama Flo. It says "I can make it to the fence in 2.8 seconds - Can you?"

The boys playing pool

Time to open gifts! (They had be brought downstairs first.)

We all enjoyed watching Allie open her presents. It's fun to have little ones around!

Cousin Amy and Daddy opening their gifts

Amanda really likes John Deere.

Mama Flo and Uncle Phil watching Allie

Rebekah reading Allie the book But No Elephants (Allie LOVES elephants)

Sarah and Jonathan setting up one of Allie's gifts...

...a ladybug tent!

Jonathan, Mama Flo, and Emily

Allie said she wanted an elephant for Christmas......she got a lot more than one. She brought five of them with her....and received three more at Mama Flo's!