Hillary's Blog: December 2007

Photoshoot

>> Thursday, December 27, 2007

Every 2 years or so Trina, Leah, and I take "Thug" pictures. This time we looked more intellectual than thuggish, but we were missing the black coats for SS so we made do with what we had!

Leah and I

Me

Trina

Leah

Do we look alike or what! I never believed all the people who told us we looked alike until I saw this picture!

Christmas

>> Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas dinner, consisting of rump roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, gravy, and pineapple. Pretty normal...so far...

Someone came up with the absurd idea of making doughnuts. The doughnuts were not all that absurd, it was more the quantity; 9 dozen and 2. Also relatively normal...

To explain this picture one must go back a little and explain that burning ones self is just a a part of making doughnuts. Hillary, Leah and Timo cooking is enough of a disaster but throw hot oil, and a blond on top. Lets just say that by some occurrence of idiocy some people thought it would be a good idea to scoop the extra flour out of the bottom of the oil pan to make more room for the doughnuts; it was a brilliant idea! It was the item they used to pour boiling hot, floury, oil into that was...well... not so brilliant! A Ice cream bucket! Yes, it melted through sending a burning hot stream of oil on to poor Leah's foot causing her to drop the bucket, which splattered hot oil all over both her and my shins and feet. After diving into the bath tub to rinse the burns off with cold water we asked Trina if she would mind cleaning up the mess while we nursed our wounds! Which she did quite cheerfully and well, thus explaining this picture.

A mesmerized John observing the mess.

The sight that greeted me after turning the corner in to the dining room this morning!

Neither Leah nor I sustained permanent injuries from the oil but, we did raise a few blisters:-?

After that Emily, Dad, and I worked furiously to clean up the excess grout before it dried, in the shower that he is tiling, in Dad and Mom's room.

We had a interesting day to say the least, but it was fun!

Here is what's been going on in our house...

>> Sunday, December 23, 2007

Well...

*After many hours of hard work...

...it is DONE! Praise God!
___________________________________________

Photo shoots

The Wattermann family

**Emily and I

Leah smashed in a corner of the attic getting ready to take the picture of Emily and I.

______________________________________________

"Daddys little helper"

Our "Totaly cool" cow!

Mr. Mischief unfolds all my laundry and throws it all over the table while I wasn't looking!

*Picture taken by Trina
**Picture taken by Leah

Emily

>> Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Happy 20th Birthday, Emily!

Well, the big day has arrived and we have heard the laments, and congratulations on NOT being a teenager anymore.

Here are a few of the excellent quality's Emily has.

She is a servant. Emily has always been willing and ready to serve others including her family, as we can see as she has taken up the slack in the house while mom is gone, and cooked food, taught school, read stories, cleaned up, kept us all in line (no small task!), taken care of little ones, gotten up in the middle of the night with John... et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
She is wise. When one of us needs counsel we go to Emily. She has a open, honest, and prayerful opinion that is worth seeking... et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
She is Adventuresome. Hiking, swimming in shark infested waters, (just kidding about the sharks!:-), Rock Hopping... et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I don't know how many times her hunger for adventure has drug me out on swelteringly hot days to take walks up 90° hills because she thought it would be fun! Well maybe not quite 90°, but it sure seemed like it , and it was always fun...afterwards!:-)
She is patient. I am living proof of that!

Yes, Emily is a true woman of God, and I am very grateful that I have the privilege of being around such an example.

Happy Birthday, Miss. Honey! We love you!

His Imperial Cuteness

>> Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Learning to tip hats to ladies!

In a family of 11 life can be so... mesmerizing!

"Ha Ha Ha, Becca! You are SO funny!"

Helping Emily make bread.

Tough Dude!

"*sigh* I wish..."

"...Someone would read me a story!"

Excuses...

>> Friday, December 14, 2007

Good enough?

In honor of our dear, still living, friend Ben Gardiner...

>> Saturday, December 8, 2007

...when are you going to come visit us!?

"I got's two six shooters thet agrees with me..."

"You mind yourn school marm now chillens!"

" Gots guns will travel"

"Have you gots a problem with my cookin' ?

" You outer seen me gittin thet rat!"

" Looky me blowin the lace outer his shoes "

"Dinna let the nice grin fool ya, he gots a gun."

" You wonder whet heppened to the headless feller in the back ground"

"Hold a sec Mumsy, leave me grab me gun, I'll take care of um"

...We miss you; obviously.

Purity

>> Friday, December 7, 2007

(Thank you all for the kind Birthday wishes!)

One of the Gifts I received for my birthday was a Promise/Purity ring from Dad. I thought I would share a bit of what he wrote in his note with you since he did such a good job explaining it:-)

"...16 is a wonderful age to be, so many new opportunities. Some of these will be opportunities to embrace the life that God has given, and to enjoy. Some of the opportunities will be temptations, and things to turn away from....
It is possible that in the years ahead you will be faced with the temptation to compromise your chastity. Use this ring as a reminder to cry out to God in the moment of temptation, and to remain pure until the day you are married. 'No temptation has seized you except what is common to man, And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted He will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it.'
There is a heart in the center of this ring. It represents my love for you, and your heart . There are two little diamonds surrounding the heart...guarding it. They represent purity and faithfulness. These are to remind you to let these quality's guard your heart, remembering that God withholds no good thing from him whose walk is blameless... "

Though it, like as not, makes no difference to you:-), it meant a lot to me and I thought I would share it with you all!

Hillary

>> Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Well, I am hacking my sister's blog to let everyone know that it is her birthday today. Can you imagine that this lovely lady is sweet sixteen today? A few of the character qualities that Hillary possesses...

Compassion. If you are hurt, or just feeling down Hillary is the one that you want to go to for sympathy. She always is willing to stop what she is doing to comfort a hurt, read a story to the injured or pick John up to cheer him when life gets to be too much
Sincerity. You can trust that Hillary is being honest when she is sharing her heart with you, and if you ask her for an evaluation she will be honest there too. I am not saying this as a nice way to say that she does not mince words, she speaks the truth in love!
Creativity. I suppose that since you have been reading her blog I should not have to expand on this one too much, but I must mention that Hillary is very creative in more ways than pictures. She is never afraid to tackle a new project that she has never even see anyone do before. I guess that out steps creativity a bit, but that brings up another quality of Hillary's, her adventuresome spirit.
Cheerfulness. Hillary's name means, "a person who never saw a cloud on a rainy day." She possesses a spirit of cheerfulness that often lifts me from my dumps. Sometimes, as I am laughing at something that she has said, I think, "How boring my life would be without Hillary."
Humility. Hillary is willing to take correction, which as her teacher in school, is something that I value highly! Her lack of desire to bring attention to her own achievements is a blessing.

The list could go on.... Hillary, thank you for being such a great sister, my dearest friend who knows me better than anyone and loves me anyway, for all the help you are here at home, and for setting an example to me many times. I love you! Happy Birthday!