A quote (by Kendal)

Although I am not one to go around quoting books and such, I do appriciate good quotes. Here is one that I really like:

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renenwed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien

I think it's fun to say, and quite clever. If anyone has a favorite (or a few favorite) quotes that they would like to share, please comment!

Laminin (by Kendal)

I saw this video a few years ago, and I still can't get over how neat laminin is. If you hven't heard of laminin, here is the video. It gets off to a rather slow start, but hang in there, because this is really cool!

 

Wow! So, now that you know...
Earlier today I was in the CFA break room, just talking to one of the guys I work with about biology and science in general. (It turns out that this guy has a biology degree from William and Mary.) So, then this other guy comes in and jokingly tells the first guy that he should analyze the molecular structure of chicken. Then the second guy's face lights up, and he says, "Oh, last night in church, I learned the coolest thing! There's this cell called laminin, and you know that verse about how Jesus holds all things together?" Needless to say, the biology guy thought that was amazing. :)
Well, I hope all of you are having a great week!
-Kendal

Quick update

Thank you for praying for Joshua! The apple came out on Saturday, on it's own.  We were all very thankful that we didn't have to take him to the ER, which would have caused him alot of pain, and Joshua is back to his normal, happy little self. : )
~Kelsey

what is it about belt buckles?

While in Floyd, on vacation this year, I found this huge belt buckle. Tell me what you think. ;)

(No, my hair wasn't quite that long, I was bending over. I've had it cut quite a bit shorter since then)

Isn't it ginormous? I don't think it's a real word, but it's one of my favorites. ;) I considered buying it, just for fun. I almost regret it.:) Anyway, one word you could use to describe it would be "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." this is a real picture, it isn't photo shopped.

You guys can pray for Joshua, 'cause on Tuesday he shoved a piece of apple up his nose and it's stuck there. It is causing Mom quite a bit of worry, because if it slides out a little farther, it will block his airway.

I hope you guys have a great rest of the week, and later on I'll post about the actors from "Courageous" that visited our church Sunday.

~Kelsey

"I See the Light"... 2

Here is the video that we posted yesterday and had to remove. The inappropriate thumbnails that followed the previous version have been delt with. My appologies to anyone who saw the 1st version. As a first time youtube user, I had no idea how important it is to tag, describe and categorize your videos! 
For those of you that didn't see the other post, this is a video of a friend and I (Kendal) playing "I See the Light" from Tangled. Rees Ward is playing the violin, Christian Ward is turning the page for me (at one point I mistakenly nod my head and he almost turns it- too funny. :) ), Kelsey is videotaping and I'm playing the piano. Enjoy!

Recipe~ Creme de Menthe Brownies

Don't worry if you don't have any creme de menthe on hand, I've never used it in this recipe and it turns out great each time. :)

                                   Ingredients

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter ( 1 stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

                                                  Directions for brownie layer

In a saucepan, or double boiler melt chocolate chips and butter over low heat.

Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well after each addition.

In separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda.

Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring well. ( at this point you may add 3/4 cup chocolate chips to batter, but I prefer it without)

Pour into a foil-lined, greased  9 by 13 pan

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 min.

                                                         Ingredients for mint layer

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons creme de menthe or 1 tablespoons mint extract

                                                      Directions

 Beat first butter and cream cheese in mixing bowl, then add powdered sugar and mint extract

Spread mint filling over cooled brownies

                                                         

                                     Ingredients for chocolate ganache

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

                                                  

                                                            Directions

Bring whipping cream to boiling over medium high heat

Remove from heat and add chocolate chips -do not stir

Let stand for five min. and then stir until smooth

Let cool and then spread over the mint layer, this is the final layer

I usually put the brownies in the freezer for about thirty min. before attempting to peel off the foil or cut the brownies. I hope you enjoy them! I've made then quite a few times, and it's one of our favorites. I got it out of a  Better Homes and Gardens magazine. ~Kelsey

                                                                       

Apology

I am so very sorry everyone, for any innappropriate videos that may have appeared as thumbnail links after our video was over. We didn't know until today that other people's videos were advertised when ours finished.  
For those of you that didn't see the video, or blog post, we had taken a video of us and our friends playing instruments. We uploaded it to YouTube, and even though it was semi private, other videos popped up, along with a very inappropriate picture. I am so very sorry for this, I had no idea that something like that would come up. For now on we will be extra careful when posting videos through the internet. ~Kelsey

A Guest Post...

Hello, everyone! This is Kendal. I want to share a story with y'all that I read recently, but since I haven't blogged in a (long) while, I'll give a quick update on what I've been doing first.
In order to get my high school schoolwork wrapped up more quickly, during the months of June and July I only worked on Saturdays at The Chicken (that would be Chick-fil-A). I was able to accomplish a lot, and I will be finished with nearly all of my subjects this month, and I should finish everything in September. Hopefully I will be able to have a party sometime between September and the spring. :) I know most everyone wants to know what I'll do when I finish... I'll probably go into this in more detail in a later post, but the short version is that I'm hoping to do CLEP testing and such, and likely some online courses, although I haven't looked very deeply into anything yet. Mom and Dad have made one thing clear though- I'll be paying for whatever I end up doing. :) I went back to three days a week at work last week, so I'm fairly busy between that and school. We've also been frequenting the YMCA all summer.
So, onto the story. I read this in WORLD magazine not long ago, and I thought it was great. (It doesn't hurt that it has to do with music.) The story is most likely true, although no one really knows. Just to make sure that I get the credits in order, it was part of an article by Joel Belz. I'll quote directly from the article:

"In a major German city- maybe Berlin?- and very likely in the early 1930's, a prominent Jewish violinist was to perform at the local concert hall. But in anticipation of his performance, a music critic for the city's Nazi-dominated newspaper reminded everyone that this violinist wasn't as deserving of his reputation as some had suggested. 'When he finishes his performance,' the critic suggested, 'our applause will be less for his skill than for the Stradivarius instrument on which he plays. It's the excellence of the violin we'll be cheering, not the man playing it.' 

And so it was as the performance came to it's end. The applause was thunderous, but everyone- including the violinist- knew how ambiguous its meaning had become.

That's when the violinist walked over to a nearby chair, violently smashed the violin against the chair's back, and held up it's splintered remains for all to see.

Then he walked quietly to the edge of the stage, opened a case that no one had noticed, and took out the Stradivarius everyone thought, until then, he had been playing. The encore he played for his undeserving audience would never be forgotten."

Definitely one of my favorite stories. Speaking of stories, I'm still planning on doing "The Chronicles of the Chicken", I just haven't gotten around to it. [And I liked the story that I just shared better than my CFA tales :) ] Well, I've got to go; I hope all of you enjoy the rest of the week!

                                                                                                                            -Kendal

Vacation! (with LOTS of pictures!)

Hello everyone! I hope all of you are having a great summer! Mom has already done a short post on our vacation, so if you want to read that you can go here: http://raisinggodlyseed.blogspot.com/. I'll try my best to not post pictures she has already posted.
Here we are at the house we rented at Smith Mountain Lake. We went there after we spent seven days at the cabin. We stayed at the lake for three.

Joshua had his first birthday at the cabin! We arrived on Wed. and his birthday was Sun.

Joshua's birthday.

Aha! Caught you Grandma!

Mom

Grandma is very good at untangling fishing line, because she crochets alot.

This is Grandad Bill. He is currently recovering from colon cancer. We were unable to see him in the fall because of treatments, so we were especially excited to see him this time.

This is mountain laurel.

This is the boat~house. No boats are actually stored in it, that's just what we call it.

this is the water wheel, right next to the boathouse. Uncle Buck built it himself! He is very talented.

I know the pictures are a little out of order, but this is the view from the top of the hill at Smith mountain lake.

This is us exploring the dock when we arrived.

A very scary hairpin turn on top of Abney Gap. We'll never take that route to SML Dad says. Scary!  We considered getting t-shirts that read, "We survived Abney Gap!".

We bought two rubber boats, which we greatly enjoyed at both the cabin and the lake.

The lake house had a pool table downstairs.

The day after we arrived at the lake we got our boats out again and tried to find Granddad Thurman. (mom's dad. Grandad Bill is mom's step dad) We kept passing boat dock after boat dock, and we still couldn't find Grandad. Then we realized that he was at the dock that was REALLY far away, so he picked us up in his pontoon boat.

These are bluebird houses! i actually was able to save a baby blue bird when it fell in the water. It was trying to land on the deck, but ...missed. It was super cute.

This is where we stayed.... Just kidding! It was called the "Duval Crawl."

We found these baby turtles in the lake.

This is us the morning we left the lake house. don't worry, there are still more pictures!

Daniel fixing more tangled line at the cabin.

This is a "rocking" raft we bought. You have to be careful though, or you might get rocked right into the water!

Aunt Carrie and Our Uncle Brian. This is their "engagement" picture...the day before the wedding, at Chateau Morrisette, a five star restaurant.

Mrs. and Mr. Hylton, also known as "Uncle Buck." At the restaurant.

Mom and Dad at the restaurant.

Joy, me, and Anna.

All of us, holding a sign that says, "We love you Wendy." She is mom's half sister, and currently in prison. Thankfully though, she has accepted Christ and will be getting out next year!

The we arrived at the cabin around four thirty on wed., so we pumped up our boats before dinner.

No, this isn't photo shopped. This animal is only 1/2 inch.  We found it at a waterfall on the way home thursday.

Anna, waiting for a ride.

Isaac, Daniel,and Grandad

This is Noah at the waterfall we found on the way home, holding one of the tiny frogs.

Granddad Bill with Joshua in a rubber boat on the Floyd property.

Joy and Noah on the dock in Floyd with newts in the bucket.

Our first day at Smith Mtn Lake.

Sunset in Floyd.

Smores by the campfire in Floyd.  Noah loved them.

Daddy and Joshua by the lake in Floyd.

Daniel, Joy and me making smores.

Daniel rowing Mom around the Floyd lake for the last time.

In Floyd, the spillway below the dam.  The rushing water sounds wonderful here.  We walked this creek for around 1/2  a mile one day.

This sign was posted where we took the scary road called Adney Gap.  Funny...at first. 

The older children's boat on Smith Mountain Lake.  We all paddled a long distance this day to meet up with Granddad in his pontoon boat.

Mom talking with Pastor Joe right before the wedding started.  They were working out the last minute details.  Granddad Thurman is in the background.

Kendal played "Air on the G String" at the beginning of the ceremony.

Brian and Carrie coming out of the cabin at the start of the wedding.

The groom's family.  The Bakers.

Uncle Brian and Aunt Carrie with Grandma Brenda and Granddad Bill

Susan, Uncle brian, Aunt Carrie, and Granddad Thurman

                         Our whole family with Grandma and Grandad, Carrie and Brian, and Vivian and Dylan (Brian's children)

                                                               Mom and aunt Carrie

Grandddad Thurman and Joshua

                                                               The wedding cake

                                           This is the watermellon basket mom carved

Mr. and Mrs.Hylton, and Pastor Joe Cox and his wife, Glena

                                                               Aunt Carrie and Dad

Kendal,Noah (brian's little brother) Daniel, and me

                                            Susan, Mom and Grandma Brenda

Our Noah, Susan, Joshua, and Anna

Brian caught this fish right before the wedding, and then he and the boys caught some more afterwards

This is mom giving Brian's ring to his son, Dylan. he is only fourteen, but already 6'2"!

Susan with Molly, Grandma Brenda, Mrs. Hylton, Kendal, and me.

Daniel and I at the creek.

Well, hope y'all enjoyed all  the pictures! I hope y'all have a wonderful week,

Kelsey