Claytor Lake!

We had a wonderful vacation at Claytor Lake!  I am behind in posting, we have been home for two weeks, it already seems so long ago.  

I think each of us have different points of view, but we all agree it was a fun week.  I thought it was a very relaxing week as I watched the littles play and I took in the beautiful lake view.  H.O. would say it was a physically tiring week as he kept up with the big boys, skiing, tubing, knee boarding and wake boarding.  You know he had to teach them all he knew, I think the big boys were a bit surprised to see how good their dad was on a slalom ski and wake board!  A friend let us borrow their boat and H.O. and the big boys enjoyed every minute of it!

We tubed....

Andrew on the tube.

skied...

Taylor on ski's.

Andrew got up on the slalom ski his first try!

wake boarded...

Andrew jumping the wake on the wake board.

Taylor wake boarding.

and enjoyed exploring around the lake.

Taylor took a boater safety course before we left for vacation.

Our house and view for the week...

We also enjoyed...

hanging out on the dock while the kids played.

We had fun at the beach at the State Park.

We had daily visits from the local ducks.

We enjoyed sitting around the fire in the evenings.

Lots of fishing took place, the older boys(which includes H.O.) are a bit  no a lot competitive, anytime some one would catch a fish others would start fishing to try and see who could catch the most.  Andrew caught the most that week.

The kids had fun playing in the yard.

We also made homemade ice cream, twice!  Yummy!

H.O.'s brother joined us for the week, we enjoyed having him with us.

And then the time had come, we had to head home.

Taylor taking in one last glimpse of the beautiful lake view.

Our family as we prepared to leave.  Don't know what crazy face Seth is making, it is so hard to get a decent family picture with the eight of us!

Taylor told one last joke and we headed home.

Definitely a great week with great family memories made!

10,000 Hallelujahs!!!

Heaven rejoiced with us last night 

as....

Abby asked Jesus to be her Savior!!!!

She has been asking many, many questions for months.  We have answered each one with excitement knowing God was working on her heart, wooing her to himself.

Many have planted seeds in Abby's heart teaching her about Jesus and some have watered those seeds and last night (actually, early this morning) August 7th at 12:30 a.m. Carrie Anne had the honor and privilege of leading her sister to Christ!  How absolutely precious!

This is what it is all about!!  The only thing we can take with us to heaven are souls, the busyness of this earth does. not. matter!  The disappointments of the day all fade away when your sweet daughter excepts Christ as her personal Savior.  

As the hymn states:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in his wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

in the light of his glory and grace.

Abby was so excited last night she could not stop giggling and smiling, we talked a lot and one of the sweetest things I want to remember, she said....

Carrie Anne loves me because I am her sister and now I get to be with her forever in heaven too, as she grabbed Carrie Anne and hugged her.  Only God!  What a sweet, precious bond!

 Praising God at our house!!!

Boys of all ages...

love hot-wheel cars!

We bought the little boys a hot-wheel car track a couple of weeks ago.  They helped put it together.

And then they played for hours!  Abby joined in on the fun also!

And then later that evening the little boys were in bed and the big boys came home from a teen activity at church and... this is what I came in and saw.

So... with all the fun and excitement going on downstairs we called the little boys out of bed to join in the fun.

Yep!!  Boys of all ages seem to enjoy playing with a hot-wheels track!

Is there anything prettier?

Sure!  

Some things are prettier but, this ranks right near the top, at least in my book!

One of my favorite things during the summer time is the yummy fruit that I can make into jam and peach jam is the favorite at our house!

The last couple of days I've also been stocking our freezer with meals I can pull out on those crazy, busy days.  I've made four casseroles, four family size chicken potpies, six meat loafs, four packages of sloppy joe meat, four packages of taco meat, four packages of hot dog chili and two packages of fried ground beef ready to go into whatever I want to throw it into.  I'm learning to cook in larger portions, doubling most of my recipes because boy can those little boys eat!  I've also found some new "keeper" crock pot recipes that the whole family enjoyed.  When I can please all eight of us that definitely classifies as a "keeper-recipe".  The simple things in life make me happy~ like a stocked freezer and a pantry with homemade jam in it! :-)