Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign ✽ Meet Scott

Lookie who's back already ;). You knew you couldn't get rid of me, didn't you?! Haha :). I wanted to share some news with you today, so I hope you don't mind very much ;).

Welcome to November! I always love the start of a new month, but today is extra special, because the Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign is open as of today!!! This means that from now to the 31st of December, Reece's Rainbow Adoption Agency is trying to raise 1,000 dollars for each of the sweet babies on the "Angel Tree"! This is something I look forward to each year, seeing all the awareness raised for each of the children and watching their accounts move up the tree, from 0 to 100 to 500 to 1,000... and knowing that it's helping each of those children have a better chance at being placed in a forever family to love them and protect them <3. In the past, I have donated to an account or two (usually the one furthest down on the tree, because it makes my choice easiest, because, in the words of Abbi, how do you choose how to help?!). But this year, I really wanted to do something a little more involved, and so, I am little Scott's advocate this year! You've already seen Scott on my blog last week, but please be introduced to him a little more formally...

You can visit Scott's page for more information HERE.

How do you choose who to help? It's so hard, truly, and I would love to see all of these children climb the 1,000 dollar wall this year, so please, help wherever you want! But, I chose to sponsor Scott specifically for a couple of different reasons. I started out looking through the files of 0-5 year old boys with "other" special needs on purpose because I knew that 1. Reece's Rainbow is known for their down syndrome focus, so many people would be choosing from the down syndrome pages, and 2. it's a known fact in adoption that boys are harder to place than girls, and so I wanted to up one of these little guys accounts, so that when a family came along for him, they had as much help as possible :). Then I combed through the pages, opened several accounts, narrowed down to the three who touched my heart with the least amount in their grants, and asked to be assigned one of the three, haha :). Scott's story definitely touched me - he's a little fighter, that's for sure! He'll be about 4 years old now, and I would love to hear that this little one who has been through so much was placed in a home!

I would be thrilled if any of you would like to donate to Scott's account - or to pray that he would find a loving, godly family to call his own! When you donate to a child's account, 10% of the money is dispersed in other children's accounts, as well, so you will really be helping multiple children :)! The goal is for Scott's MACC account to be at $1,000 by December 31st, and I can't wait to see what God will do with this year's campaign, not just for Scott, but for all of these little ones on the tree this year! And I want to thank each of you right now for every bit of help that you give <3!

Rejoicing in Christ,
Bri <3

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

Happy Reformation Day and Goodbye Write31!

Happy Reformation day, y'all!

October 31st...
...the end of a busy month.
...Reformation day.
...our "Christmas kick-off" evening.
...the end of the Write31 challenge.

Where has the month gone? 3 weeks ago, I was asking, "why can't it be Christmas right NOW?!" and "how am I going to keep up these posts this month?!" Today I woke up and thought, "How is it already the end of October?! It doesn't feel like it's time yet, the year just started and it was so far away!"

We had a fun, busy day today. After working a short morning shift, I came home, showered, and crashed on the couch for an unplanned short nap while my younger siblings watched a Martin Luther animated documentory... opps, haha. But then I was ready to go for all the other festivities ;)! We made little crafts to go with a bible study, treats, and read through some history books and Luther's 95 theses. And colored some beautifully detailed, reformation themed coloring pages, which always reminds me that I love to color and I never do it, haha.

After our reformation "party"... we celebrated our Christmas kick off with chili and a popcorn night with our first Christmas movie of the year :). (Except, technically not our first this year, because I didn't get to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" last year, so I made everyone watch it with me in early January this year, haha... so, first of the season?) Yes, I was counting down the hours until I would be making hot chocolate and could play some Christmas music. I am telling y'all, I am intent on living this upcoming Christmas season to the utmost. Don't ask me why it feels like such a big deal this year compared to others, but I am so happy it's close, haha :).

And now, as I am looking at wrapping this month up, the only thing left to do is post on my blog one last time! I made it the whole month. It wasn't easy, and there was really no theme or even as much prepration as I had wanted in my posts, but I persevered anyway, and I think that I am happy to have done this challenge one last time, before it closed :). The funny thing is, I still have 3-5 posts lined up in my head right now, even after writing for 32 days straight (I posted September 30th, too!). So, despite being busy, I hope to work on those here and there throughout the week and be able to share regularly here still, though not daily. I really do enjoy blogging, though I prefer to do so without pressure to achieve a goal, haha. I have enjoyed the friendships I have found through it, and I am thankful for each of you taking the time to read my posts on my simple little blog. Thank you for joining me this month!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, and give you peace!

Rejoicing in Hope,
Bri <3

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Thankful Thursday, 11/26/15

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!” -Psalm 100:4

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all :)! This week I am thankful for...

~Getting to hold tiny babies at church :D. A couple of people walked by and asked me if I “didn’t have enough children around me at home without “stealing” other families'”, and, of course, the answer is, um, NO! Haha :). Besides, we don’t have ANY that small currently , heehee ;). ~My water tumblers. I enjoy having cups with lids that I can take wherever and not have to worry about, haha :).
~Todd Agnew’s “Do You Hear What I Hear” Christmas CD. It’s a tradition in our family to listen to it while decorating for Christmas :).
~For getting all the decorations out and the lights on the tree :). ~And our pizza party afterwards :).
~My Aunt Heather, who celebrated her birthday this week!
~Daddy changing the light bulb in our closet, yay! It’s so much easier to function when you can see ;).
~Getting my yarn chest cleaned out :). It’s been bothering me for a couple months, and I decided on a whim that enough was enough, haha.
~I’m also thankful to have found five of my missing crochet hooks. Apparently Abbi likes to stick them in her leftover ball of yarn and then just through it in the chest, instead of replacing them in the cup. Nice to know where to look, and to have found them before I start on Christmas presents :).
~Commentaries on God’s Word :).
~The Christmas stocking tree Daddy made a few years ago :). It’s got pegs for each of us, and they are long enough to double them up, so it should work for many years, haha :).
~A homemade Salted Caramel Mocha :)!
~My morning routine :).
~New tree lights. Because, no kidding, some of ours have burnt out in the two days we’ve had them up. I’m also thankful the burnt out BEFORE we got all the ornaments added to the tree, haha!
~“Pardon for sin, and a peace that endureth, blessings all mine, with ten thousands, besides.”
~A good deal on some layering shirts yesterday.
~The special crocheted blanket that my great-grandma passed on to me :).
~My baby brothers little arms around my neck :).
~Lavender essential oil.
~That the fundraiser that I shared the other day had made their goal in two days :)!!!! Any extra money will buy formula for the smallest children :).
~Kleenexes, haha :).
~Paper plates.
~A dishwasher! While we are doing so much baking, that is a very great blessing, haha!
~But, I am also thankful for the time spent washing the dishes that out dishwasher might not be able to handle. Because, though, I might not have time to do them all, I do love washing dishes :).
~For the Pilgrims and the example they set as they put nothing before the word of God. Not comfort, friends, family, safety. They gave all to set an example to others of how God would work through those who followed Him without withholding anything.
~A national day set aside to dwell on all that God has done for us. When we think of how full of mercies our life here has been, and then remember that we have yet before us the blessing of dwelling with God for eternity, how thankful we should be!
~The family gathered around me today, and the loved ones too far away to be here, but who I am thinking of and thankful for.
~Historical documents, and for historians who have put together informative documentaries based on God’s Hand in history, to teach us about the past.
~The wonderful food we will be eating today ;).
~And Salvation, God’s greatest gift to me of all!!!!!

Blessings to you all,

Bri :)

It is Finished!

May we praise our Lord for the great love he has shown to us, that "we should be called the children of God", because we "who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ"! For "though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

We have "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God", but "even though "our sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool," because "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed"!

 Happy Resurrection Sunday to each of you :)!

Christmas Day, 2014

A certain friend told me that I don't post pictures anymore, and that she expected to see a Christmas post no matter if it was short. So here I am, and I promise to share more pictures again! Heehee!

We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before we enjoy our breakfast cinnamon rolls every Christmas :).

Gorgeous Tori!

 Pretty Bethi :)!

 Josiah eager to get someone else's gift open ;).

 Peter has done this puzzle (and another like it) countless times in the past three weeks!!!

 Josiah was especially interested in the straw out of the cup Bethi has had for months... heehee ;).

 I made the girls Frozen hats... Emmi's was especially fun with all the edgings :).

 Tori asked for Toothless... and I was more than happy to make it, because I wanted to make it up sooooo bad, haha :)! I used this pattern, and it was soooo much fun :)!!!! There are a lot of fun techniques, the toes were especially enjoyable :). 

I shortened the ears and changed up the shape of the head... but it was the most fun I have had working on a patterned project for a while :).

And this tutorial for microwaveable bowl covers was awesome! I figured it out without help from Mama, which is impressive, and good, since they were for her, haha ;).

 Josiah, A.K.A. Seaweed's thoughts on his fish hat... lol...

 Love. this. picture. Hahaha! Telling Tori not to take his picture again, lol!

 So, my hands are always cold, and Tori was complaining about it one day, and I told her if she had an issue with it, she needed to buy me hand warmers. Haha! Daddy took it upon himself to do so ;). I need it right now... lol...

 Tori loves and excels at music, so this was perfect for her :).

 Peter and his "baby Olaf". "He's Olaf's dad!" :).

 He is also a knight...

 While Josiah is the dragon that Andrew and Peter are to train rather than conquer, haha :).

 <3

 Love this picture :)...

 The younger girls in their matching shirts :).

Daddy was very right when he said the boys would love this race track, haha :)!

Princess Emmi the waiter :).

 

Happy New Year :)!!!

May the new year remind us of God's mercy and compassion to each of us. Just as this is a fresh new year, with no mistakes in it yet, Jesus stands waiting to cloth us in His righteousness and take our mistakes on Himself so that we should be called blameless children of God! I pray this year will be a year full of growth in our Lord and an open heart to see all the blessings that HE blesses with :)!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

                                                    ~2 Corinthians 5:17 

 

Blessings,

 

Bri :)

Merry CHRISTmas!

Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child

.

He came down to earth from Heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.

And, through all His wondrous childhood,
He would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden,
In whose gentle arms He lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.

For He is our childhood’s pattern;
Day by day, like us He grew;
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love,
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in Heav’n above,
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see Him; but in Heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high;
Where like stars His children crowned
All in white shall wait around.

                                             ~"Once in Royal David's City",

                                                       by  Ce­cil F. Al­ex­an­der

 Praise the Lord for His loving kindness in coming as a helpless baby to live a life of complete obedience to God so that he could pay the ransom for our sins! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God", John 3:16.

Merry Christmas!

Thankful Thanksgiving!

Sorry this is late... what a day to miss posting my thankful thoughts, huh? The day that is nationally set aside to give thanks, haha! It seems that four weeks of Thankful Thursdays on time is my absolute limit, and holidays are the hardest days for me to blog on... plus, given the fact that this is a mega post, it took longer than expected. But here are some of the most important things I am thankful for...
~Christ's paying for my sins on the cross, though I was undeserving.
~The word of God, so that we may grow in His likeness, and that we are still allowed to proclaim him openly in America.
~The grace the Lord gives us when we fail to live up to His commandments.
~My family... Daddy, who, no matter how busy he is, or how long a day he works, makes time to help us in everything that we need him for. Whether leading bible time, helping with math, or teaching us photography (or how to make our coffee ;)!), I am so thankful to have a Daddy that invests in his children!
~Mommy, and all that she does for us. Putting aside her own preferences to give each of us what we need whenever possible, for her patience, and for always having a listening ear while I yak on and on and on and... haha :).
~Tori. Though we are so very different -possibly more different from each other than from any one of our six other siblings- we are best friends, and I am so thankful for her!
~Bethi. She has been really growing lately. She has become "little mother hen" to Josiah, and it is sweet to see :). It is also fun because it brings back memories of when Andrew and I where Bethi and Josiah's ages :).
~Andrew. This guy loves to build and repair things, and wants to build his own house in the future, which I can definitely see him doing!
~Abbi. Abbi is probably the most like me, just a little more spontaneous, haha :). She is a ball of energy, and so funny! But she has a serious side too, and loves to organize and clean for us often :).
~Emmi, my special little buddy, I love how we've been really close since she was tiny :). It was really sweet, a couple weeks ago she just starts crying because "she doesn't want me to ever marry and leave, who will she sleep with?!". Not sure where that came from, but it made me smile :).
~Peter... his strong hugs, and cozy snuggles. And though he can come off as quiet to people who see him around Abbi and Emmi, he is a chatterbox when you talk to him one-on-one!
~Josiah. Have I mentioned that he is trying to cruise the furniture? He's gotten the pulling up down pat, just working on getting anywhere after that, haha :).
~And my extended family... Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt Tessa and Aunt Amber, Gramma and Papa Nate, Aunt Heather and her family (and our first cousins :)!), Aunt Donna and her "tribe", and Granny :). I love you all soooo much :)!!!!
~The many friends that God has lovingly put into my life. Church family, Daddy's employees, some of Daddy's costumers who have become friends, neighbors, pen pals... I can think of sooo many names right now that make me smile, young and old alike :). Although I don't have the room to include every name I can think of, I would especially like to say "thank you" to Miss Mary and Miss Mary, Katie, Kaitlyn, Katie, and Cameron for your friendship :). (And yes, both sets of double names were intentional. Haha :).)
~A house, that, though it may not be our "forever" ideal, is warm, dry, has running water and lots of windows, and gives us a place to live together rather than states apart.


Some of the things that stick out the most to me as something to be deeply grateful for that are specific to this year are...
~The gift of Josiah, and the Lord's protection of him and Mommy. Oh how thankful I am to have him, and Mommy, here this Thanksgiving!!!
~Miss Mary and Mr. Joe. I am so thankful for the ways that they have invested in us this year. They have really become like grandparents to us :).
~My Mama, Tori, and several friends, who have joined me in studying the Word of God this year. Especially the book of Ruth. That one will forever be a special memory I think :).
~Our church. I am so thankful that the Lord has given us a church family here in VA! After it took us so long in SC to find a church that we felt was the one the Lord was leading us to, I was so very worried that it would take years again. I am so thankful to the Lord that he blessed us with one here so soon :). 
~Our trip to SC last month. It was such a blessing :). Many precious memories made, and lots of laughter shared :). And all the other times that we have gotten to see family this year, as well. Another big answer to pray, that we are still able to connect with family often even though we now live six hours away.
~Getting to meet Penny at the Maxwell conference earlier this year. Something that could only have happened living here in VA. God loves to give you surprises that make you realize he has had it all planned for years, doesn't he ;)?

And, during this last week, I have been especially thankful for...
~New jackets
~Todd Agnew's "Do You See What I See" CD.
~Hot chocolate.
~Gold ribbon.
~Our Christ-themed Christmas tree, and all the thought and lessons that Mommy and Daddy have put into it.
~Finding Josiah black socks (even if they aren't as dressy as they could be). Why don't little boys wear normal socks anymore?
~My glasses. This Sunday was exactly a year since I first wore them. Truly, you don't know how much of a blessing they are!
~Gift wrap earrings.
~Abbi and Emmi playing dress up in some Frozen dresses my Aunt Donna got them.
~An afternoon outside in the cool temperatures.And Josiah sitting quietly on my lap as we swung :).
~A clean house.
~Our once again working dishwasher!
~Space heaters. 
~Tacos... very necessary piece of our life... hahaha.
~Wintergreen toothpaste. Haha :).
~Daddy's cleverness in fixing the washer.
~Hair clips.
~All of our holiday traditions :).
~That we have more than five kernels of corn to eat each day (the Pilgrims, after the first thanksgiving, went through this ordeal after a ship brought more pilgrims and no food!)
~For our nation's founding on God's word.
~Mommy's excitement over Thanksgiving project ideas on Pinterest. And she used them, much as others think that Pinterest users never use the ideas they pin. Haha :).

Many blessings to you all :)! 

~Bri

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his

courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" 

                                                ~Psalms 100:4

Happy Father's Day to My Amazing Daddy!!!

I love you, Daddy :)!
Thank you for providing for us, for leading us and guiding us. My love for coffee, gardening, and taking pictures came from you... and the reason I can even pretend I know what I'm doing when it comes to math is because of you ;). But those are just a few of the "earthly" things that you have given me. That's not counting all the invaluable lessons that you have given me in my walk with the Lord, or the encouragement you give our family when we are going through a rough time. I am so thankful for you, Daddy, and I want you to know it. I love you!
Happy Father's Day :)!!!

Happy Mother's Day to My Mommy :)!!!!

I love you, Mommy :). You are such a sweet blessing in my life :). I am so thankful for you and all the ways you have teamed together with Daddy to invest in us through the Lord. Thank you for following the Lord's leading and being open to having eight children, no matter the cost. Thank you for your careful training in the word of God. Thank you for the time you spend schooling, caring, and just talking to each of us. We love you, Mommy :)!!!

 "She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

 She looks well to the ways of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

 Her children rise up and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

 “Many women have done excellently,

but you surpass them all.”

                     ~Proverbs 31:26-29~

Resurrection Pics, Peter's Big Day(s), and Thankful Thursday on Friday, Week 108

Busy week :)! Haha :). Especially with Bethi's birthday coming up next week, too!

Nobody complained last week, so I'm going to take that as a confirmation that you don't care how I post Thankful Thursday posts, as long as I post (or don't care if I post at all. But for the sake of politeness you can keep that to yourself if that be the case ;). Heeheehee!). So here goes an update with highlighted... uh.. highlights ;) for thankfulness!

Resurrection pics...

We spent Resurrection Sunday making our special sweet rolls for breakfast, doing a little treasure hunt, and reading and discussing the sacrifice of Jesus together :)...

Making breakfast...

 Emmi's helping roll them out :). 

 Tori pulled out four marshmallows attached to each other- 

Peter thought it was just the greatest thing ;)!

You "bury" marshmallows in the rolls, and once you baked them, they melt and "disappear"- a fun illustration of Jesus burial, and how he left the tomb before it was even opened :).

  Taking a yummy bite :)!

 What do you mean "where is the marshmallow?" we put it in here!

 "Ummm... I don't know where it went!"

Abbi remembered all too well that "It isn't in here, it melted!" before she even looked. Mommy asked her how she knew that, and she gave her little I-know-what-I'm-talking-about look, and said, "We always do it!". Well, she's got a good memory then ;)...

Tori and Daddy had FAR too much fun hiding the little "props" that we use while reading and discussing the account of Jesus' death and resurrection... they might have had more fun hiding them, than the little ones had finding them ;)...

 You see, like, taping the praying hands to this picture...

Or putting this cup right where the lamp has a decorative nob...

Or putting the rock that symbolizes the tomb OUTSIDE!!!

Oh, and I can't forget the money IN TORI'S POCKET BOOK!

Aren't you glad you weren't looking for this stuff ;)? Here Andrew is, standing right next to the leather whip, without having a clue that it's there...

Then we got to studying the reason for our celebration :)! Jesus gave up so much to give us life! Praise him and thank him for his wonderful love for us!

The little symbolic pieces that we hid are a great way to get the little ones engaged and involved :). As each part of the story is introduced, one of them will get to bring an item they found to be shown as an illustration and find out what part it played :). 

Tori would say this was a picture showing off how cute Peter is (buddy love!),

but Emmi is pretty cute, too. So is Bethi, but this is something of a 

less flattering picture for her...  I would tell her I'm sorry for posting it,

but she did it on purpose, so...

 ♥

Peter's Birthday...

After a fun breakfast, we found everybody some sandals that fit- although we had none for Peter- it seems Andrew skipped from 3's to 6's in a year?!, so Daddy took him out on a special outing to get some :). (That's done for the summer ;)!). Abbi wanted to run over to see Miss Mary when she saw her outside, and Mommy told her it was alright... I took the little ones over, for we thought a short visit, but Tori ended up having lunch almost done by the time we got back, heehee...never think anything will be short when going to see someone who loves to let Abbi talk as much as she can!!!

Love Love, Love this little face!!!!!!

We finished packing up and loaded up in the car to go to Sunday park to have a picnic, enjoy some play time, and just have fun :). Abbi has wanted to go back since she went on her birthday last year, but this was just the first time we had had time as a family. We had a great time!... most of us ;). I think once we found an inchworm in Tori's hair, she was ready to be done. But we'll forget that part. I'm sure she wants to block it, haha! There was a family at the park who just moved here three weeks ago. Abbi loved making a new friend, and Mommy and Daddy got to know them a bit. Apparently they had been in his store once before, and recognized him :).

 Helping push the stroller :)... big helper!

 Lots of fun :)!

 Lunch time :)!

Before we got to the park, we stopped at the dollar store for some things.

Daddy picked up a kite, and Peter found it fascinating :)... 

AWWWW!

 Emmi was loving the inchworms (they were everywhere!),

and when she found this little plant she thought it was a 

whole bunch of them... she was so excited, hahaha!

After we got back to the house, Daddy took Peter out to get some birthday pizza, and we started in on the decorating. We had some cupcakes for dessert, and opted to do his "fun cake" and gifts the next evening as it was... um, too late to mention ;). Heehee!

 He *loves* angry birds ;).

Using his fork like a big boy :). Love it!

I think his favorite part might have been the open cup though ;)...

The next evening he got to check out all his cool things :)!

He was soooo cute opening his gifts! He kept "Ooooo!"ing over everything, asking "Mine?" and the like... it was sweet :). 

 So much excitement :)!

I knit him this little lion (watch for a post tomorrow), and he 

opened it and promptly called it a cow. Lol!

Aw, haha!

Okay, this was too funny! This is a puzzle, but he can't see the pieces right now, since it was upside down. He seemed to think it was a race track, haha! While he wasn't looking, Tori flipped it over, and his face when he saw that it was a fish puzzle was hilarious! 

Despite how interested he looks here, he really wasn't that

 interested in his cards, stinker! He was more interested in the

cards than in the money, though! Haha!

His special snack that night... an angry birds fruit cake :)!

Isn't he just sweet :)?... I think it meets with his approval :)!

 A few other things to be thankful for this week...

My bed this morning :)...

~The blessings of the study on Mark that my friends and I are doing... it is hard to believe that the four month study ends next week... where did those months go?! I still have quite a bit I wanted to accomplish with this section left to do, I don't know if I'll finish this month.. I'm working on it though!

~A sweet little baby sleeping in my arms...

~And Josiah's Abbi grins, heehee :).

~Emmi's little hand in mine.

~Getting to have a sleepover with my siblings every night.

~Which includes late night talks with Tori :). We were going at it but good last night, I'm surprised Daddy didn't tell us we were being too loud, haha ;).

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!"

                    ~Psalm 103:1