SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

It's snowing here!!

I'm so excited!

We live in the south, so it's a little unexpected to have this much  snow.

The last time I can remember snow sticking was the first year we moved here, and that was in 1999.

Would you all please pray for safety for my dad and Cason?

They are on the road going to Spartanburg for Cason's SIXTH South Carolina state swim meet!

I'm so proud of that boy!

I just got off the phone with my dad a few minutes ago and he said it looked like a blizzard, and it's white everywhere.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a blessed week.

Are You Smarter Than a Scientist?

We were all sitting at at the dinner table last night, and dad was reading the bible to us.

We were talking about rebellion which  brought up the topic of  evolution.

Cason, the family evangelist, was telling us what he tells his friends when they talk about evolution.

Cason says to them,

"When I think of evolution I picture someone scattering a box of legos, and then putting some CO2 on them and blowng the legos all up. Then once they're blown up and all in the air, they fall back down and they make a perfect little house."

Then after he says that he says

 "Order can't be made form destruction."

I thought that was a neat way he put it.

Cason said that once he says that they stop arguing about evolution. hehee

I guess in a way they see how he's right.

We were all talking about this and Kamryn looked like she was deep in thought, and she said,

"You know what! I'm smarter than a Scientist!"

My dad asked her why, and she said

"Because scientists believe in aliens."

My dad said "You're right Kamryn."

Then Cole chimed in and said,

"Well, I'm smarter than a scientist too!"

Dad asked him why and he said, in a his very fast voice,

"Because they think that there was a speck, and then that speck turned into a tad pole, and then that tad pole turned into a frong, ok I know tadpoles do that, but then they think that frogs grow wings and then they can fly. Then the scientists believe that they turn into apes, and then they turn into cave men, and then they're people with long beards."

He knew this was funny, and so did the rest of the family.

Family Time With The Browns

I got up at 5:30am to drive to GA with my dad yesterday morning.

We were going to my grandpa's brother's funeral; He was my great uncle.

I really don't remember much of him, but going to the funeral I got to hear a lot about Hoyt Brown, and he sounded like a really nice man that I would loved to have known better. He was a Christ follower; a believer in Jesus; a man of God and that is must be such  a comfort to the people closest to him.

I really enjoyed seeing my family.

The Browns (and a Harrelson) are so much fun!

My dad drove to the Columbia Mall where we met Dennis (my uncle) and Kim (my aunt).

We then drove from there to my grandparents' (my dad's mom and dad) house.

I  really enjoyed talking to Mot and Popa. I love them, and they are so sweet together!  They still both love and enjoy each other so so much!

I got to see Linda and Eddie Ray too.

I absolutely love them!

Linda is one of the sweetest people I know!

She reminds me so much of my little sister Nona. They both have sweet spirits and are such happy people,

and I adore Eddie Ray!

I'm so thankful Linda and Eddie Ray got married! If they didn't I might not even know him!

He's one of my most favorite people.

Our drive to GA was nothing close to boring!
Kim is so funny, and I've never met anyone who has as many funny stories, and who is so willing to share them all.
Anyone who knows my dad will tell you he's a very funny person,and his big brother  Dennis is extemely funny as well!

I think he, maybe, has an extra section in his head that's just for pure clever funniness!

Dennis said that whole day that he wanted to take me to go to get a hot dog at "skins".

So, on our way home we went by for some of the best hot dogs I've ever eaten!

There were pictures all over the place, but these two were my favorite!

I thought they were both pretty funny.

Here I am obeying the sign, but really the verse below is my motivation.

 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my rock and redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

I'm going to go read my bible now.

I'm  reading through the bible in 90 days and I'm really enjoying it!

• Books 'n Blessings •

I love it when God blesses me in little ways. I'm speaking of the  kind of blessing I wouldn't have known I was missing if He just never blessed me with it at all. 

Today we went by Trident Tech to sign-up for my three classes I'm going to be taking as dual credit.

First of all I'm just going to let you all know that I'm still home schooled. 

Although, I am going to be taking two classes every Saturday and one class online. 

My dad is actually going to be taking me to school, and he's going to be standing guard over me there, and I'm perfectly content and happy with him protecting me. He is going to sit outside my classes and have a quiet time and prepare for his sermons. Works out perfectly.

Anyway, after we finished talking with the helpful guidance counseler, he then told us we should head on over to Trident's bookstore to get the books I'll need.

I knew the books were not cheap, but I did't know how much... they were a lot. 

We're talking like $165 for my English 101 book, and I don't remember how much the Computer 101 book was, but it was even more!

Dad and I were looking around and realizing how everything was really going to add up. While we were looking and talking with someone who worked in the bookstore a 24-year-old-ish girl standing close by overheard us talking. When the lady who was helping my dad and I pointed dad to another section I was left still looking through what would very soon be my English 101 book. The 23-year-old-ish girl came up to me and asked, "Did you say you were taking Psychology 201?" and I told her I was and she then pulled out, from her bag, one of the books I would need for the PSY 201 class and she said "I took this class last semester and I tried to sell it back to the bookstore, but they didn't want it. So would you like it?" I told her how extremely thankful I was and now I have one of my books for Psychology! 

Isn't that a blessing?

And I didn't even pray that some random girl would pull the exact Psychology book out of her purse and hand it to me.

God knows our needs even if we don't tell Him, and he always wants us to give the glory to Him for the good things that happen in in our lives.

A lot of times I forget who provides me with good things in my life.... it's always  God!

I'm going to be trying harder and harder to give God glory for everything good.

Actually, I'm also striving hard to even thank God for the not so good times too because I know He puts me through hardship, so He can shape me into His image. 

So let me ask,

has God blessed you lately in anyway?

If so, then will you please share it?

Isaiah 25

  O LORD, you are my God;

       I will exalt you and praise your name,

       for in perfect faithfulness

       you have done marvelous things,

       things planned long ago.

• Thy Mercy •

I love this song, and I know it'll always bring back sweet memories when I listen to it even when I'm not living at home anymore. When I listen to it, of course it'll make me think of how merciful my God is, but it's going to also remind me of my daddy. I love that man so much. When I listen to it I'll picture my dad in his Toyota Tundra singing this song... really loud. I can't tell you how many times I have been in the car with my dad, and he says, "Karis, listen to one of my favorite songs." and I sing it with him. This has happened so many times since we first started listening to Caedman's Call. I was just thinking about this today when he was bringing me to swim practice. We were listening to this song in his car, and we were singing along with them. Just for everyones information, he has a really, really good voice. I mean, I would prefer to listen to my dad's voice over the guy on the CD, but he could have a terrible voice, and  he'd still sing it loud. =)
Love you daddy!

Thy mercy, my god is the theme of my song 

The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue 

Thy free grace alone from the first to the last 
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast 
Without thy sweet mercy I could not live here 

Sin would reduce me to utter despair 

But through thy free goodness my spirit's revived 

And he that first made me still keeps me alive 

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart 

Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart 

Dissolved by thy goodness I fall to the ground 

And weep to the praise of the mercy Ive found 

Hallelujah 

Hallelujah 

Great father of mercies thy goodness I own 

And the covenant love of thy crucified son 
All praise to the spirit whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine 
All praise to the spirit whose whisper divine 

Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine


I love his voice!
You can listen to this song HERE.

•Jessie's New Toy•

We went to the mountains last week and while we were there, we all went to our favorite little gift shop called The Wrinkled Egg. It's so cute and it has lots of toys, candles, candy, real bunnies and pizza. Jessie, my 15 month old little sister, who usually doesn't have too many tantrums "threw one" in The Wrinkled Egg. My mom was holding her, and she showed Jessie a little toy. Ok, I say toy, but this thing was no toy. Especially not a toy for a baby girl. The toy was shaped like a jelly octopus, and it had eyeballs on each of the many, many tentacles. When my mom put this "toy" back Jessie started to cry. Then it got worse, and worse. She got more and more mad and she was screaming, and she was crying. We were leaving, mainly because she was being so loud, and we got in the van. My dad got in the car and my mom told him why she was so upset, and so my dad sent me in to go buy it for her. My dad came in after me with Jessie. He told her in her ear all the way that" Daddy's gunna get you the toy." It was very sweet and gracious of my dad. She went from crying histerically to VERY happy. It was so cute. That was the first time she has ever cried because she wanted something from a store, so my guess is that's why my dad let in. He's just getting too soft in his old age. Jessie is the youngest and just might end up being a little bit spoiled. =D

•Does Your Daddy Cook? Mine Does!•

Oh, the great wonders of cook'n! My dad is, at this very moment, in the kitchen making a dessert with my excited little sisters. The main little Brown girl doing this is my precious little five-year-old sister Nona because she is the cutest... just kidding... kinda. Well, the reason he's doing this is because Nona has been carrying around these cards that have cute children's recipes on both cardboard sides. She got a whole big box of them from a garage sale a few weeks ago, and she has been showing the desserts to us saying, "I'm going to make this for you." She is SUCH a giver. With everything! Any time she goes somewhere she makes it her top priority to bring something back to one of her siblings. She's a sweetie! My dad took her to the store today and bought all the ingredients for her Fudge and Coconut

 Cookies. She is so sweetly excited... I just found the perfect opportunity to say/write the word sweetly. I was having a debate with a few friends today and the debate was about the word sweetly. They didn't think the word sweetly could actually be used in a sentence... Lookie who was right... ME! HA!

Anyway, my dad is making a dessert. He's actually really into it. I think he has maybe found his new calling! Bye Bye Preacher Man and hello Culinary Chef! He would look handsome in a little apron and a tall chefs hat... hmmm... ;)

Hope everyone is having a blessed day! I am now going to take a shower and wash away all the salt water from tubing and all the sand from the beach and all the smell from tennis this evening. =) 

Ok, people I almost forgot to tell ya'll that this is a little friendly competition with my momma. She was taking pictures of my dad and us cooking and I said, "I'm going to do a blog post about dad cooking." It sounded like a good idea to her so she said, "No, i'm doing a blog post about dad cooking." She said she had already been thinking of doing it... OK people, we all know that I'm the master mind in this little fight! I mean, c'mon... I'm the homeschooler here! She went to public school in the 80's!!! 

So anywhoo,  we decided to have a competion to see who likes whose blog post the most. If ya'll wouldn't mind just posting and saying you like my post about dad cooking more. ;) Or if for some reason you like my moms more you can post on hers telling her you like hers better. Here's her blog.

FYI to everyone. I'm kidding about my mom going to public school in the 80's... well, I'm not kidding because it's true, but I know she's smart and I love her so so so much. ;)

 

Proverbs 7:1-4  

 My son, keep my words

   and treasure up my commandments with you;

 keep my commandments and live;

   keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;  bind them on your fingers;

   write them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"

   and call insight your intimate friend,

Mom and Dad

I think this is a sweet picture of my mom and dad. = ) They love each other so much, and they give such a great example of what a Godly marriage should look like. = ) My mom has been helping me the past few weeks on homemaking. Like laundry, keeping my room organized and cooking, I really need help with cooking hehehe! I'm getting better though.

Well, I just wanted to put a pic of my parents, I didn't have any of them. Hope every one is having a good week. = D