Summer Lovin', Lovin' Summer!

     Greetings Pals and Gals! (That line was borrowed from Grease...my fave line in the whole movie!) Anyway, I must apologize for forgetting about this. How neglectful I am! In my defense, however, we have been busy with packing, graduating, ballet recital, more packing, moving, and unpacking with some sight seeing and hiking mixed in! Summer always is the busiest season for our family. I wish I could catch you up on everything we have done, but I don't want to be a bore. So I will just tell you about our move to Colorado!

Our roadtrip to Colorado via West Texas

     Almost one month ago, we loaded up our cars and said goodbye to many wonderful friends in San Antonio. We are now in Colorado Springs! Praise the Lord for His magnificent creation! The mountains, weather, and scenery are simply gorgeous! We have had the opportunity to go on some challenging but fun hikes. We've also gotten involved in a new church family where we have been blessed with new friendships. I even met my future roommate for college at our church! That will prove to be a blessing if she and I ever drive home for a visit.

On a hike at the Air Force Academy

      As for our house, we are in the process of building a home on 2 1/2 acres and are in a rental house not too far from our land. Both homes are in the Falcon/Peyton community. I am right in my element here because it is a small town out in the country. The town has everything you need yet is roomy and uncrowded. What a welcome change to the crowdedness of San Antonio! We have a big backyard where I've planted six tomato plants, a gift from our realtor. Little Miss Pearl has ample room to run around. She enjoys exploring in this rural environment....sometimes we catch her digging holes to bury mysterious furry things. Ew! I think they might be rabbit feet. :(

This is the beginnings of our new house!

     Quite possibly the best thing about our rental house is our little visitor/resident: a baby bunny. Emily and I have named her Ivy. At least we think it's a her. She lives in a little hole right outside the front door. A few times I have gotten her to eat crackers from my hand! She also loves me to leave her some leaves of basil from my plant. ;o)

Ivy, the baby bunny

     Aside from our house, we have been making great memories by watching the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman series (it takes place in the Springs)! The base library has the whole series. We were thrilled to find it! Although it's quite dramatic and sometimes borderline cheesy, it still is very entertaining! We also just went to a fun event at the Old Colorado City History Building. The society that runs it hosted an old fashioned ice cream social fundraiser. It was very fascinating and we enjoyed looking around that historical part of town.

Independence, CO: an old mining town, now a ghost town. We actually visited there on Independence day, the day it was founded!

     To celebrate the Fourth of July, we sisters took a road trip to Aspen, Colorado to babysit for our dear friends. IT WAS A BLAST!!!! See the pictures to find out what we did there! We drove through some mountain passes that were quite nerve-racking but we praise God for taking care of us and keeping us safe!

Independence Pass! As you can see, there was snow and it was pretty chilly!

 
     Hopefully this week I will get around to writing some more edifying and encouraging posts, but right now I need to go make a run to our local library and return some books!

A miner's cabin in Independence.

He first loved us

Yummy Valentine's Day cookies that got eaten up before the actual day!

Happy Valentines Day, dearies! I hope this day finds you all surrounded by a loving family, and sharing your love with others. As we think about today, the holiday for love, let us not forget the Greatest Love of all.

Love. It's crazy! What is it? Is it an emotion, a choice, a lifestyle? It is multi-faceted. Love for family, for friends, for spouses, for God. We even find different kinds of love, if you will, in the Bible. However, I think the best way for us to define love and how it relates to us is this: 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.                                   (1 John 4:7-11)

I like to call that the "love chapter." 1John 4 is absolutely terrific! In that passage it gives the message of the Gospel: God loved us and sent us his only Son so we can live. It reminds us that we are sinners, and that we did not love God, but He loved us. Notice how it uses the word beloved. John's use of the word means: very dear, esteemed, favorite, and worthy of love. Wow! Continuing on in the chapter we see what life is like when we have the love the Lord and His Spirit living in us:

 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us.  (1 John 4: 17-19 emphasis is mine)

That last sentence gives love a whole new meaning to me. We learn in just eight simple words that the source of all love is from God. He created it, and gave it to us. That is the only way we can love, and we learn from Him. 

Dear friends, on this "love" day let us not get so wrapped up in mushy cards, candy, chocolate, and flowers that we forsake our First Love like the church in Ephesus did (Revelation 2:4). On the contrary, we should remember constantly the ultimate source for love- our Heavenly Bridegroom Jesus- and share His love with those who need it. 

Love your secret admirer, Libby (well I guess it's not a secret anymore!) :D

Howdy Friends!

It seems that since 2011 has been upon us, I haven't posted yet! The new year so far has been full of many new blessings and changes. I have also realized that I am terrible at taking pictures, as I hardly have any to share of our recent happenings. 
Some fun news is that we have been honored to receive the Stylish Blogger Award from Miss Frannie over at Authentic Virtue ! Thank you Frannie!
If y'all can wait just a second, I'm going to go get my camera and put the pictures on the computer to see if I have any worth sharing.  :P

Alright, I found some! 

Auto-timer, take 1...looks like I'm dancing!

The temps dropped on Christmas night so we bundled up for a walk!

I got to go visit my elementary school....happy memories!

Dad and I went to OKC to celebrate my lovely Grammy's birthday!

Hmmm...wonder what they could be....

I know these are overdue, but I was so excited with how they turned out I just had to share them!

 

Well with the New Year, here's what's happenin':

1. Co-op started! Emmy has: basic Chinese, Personal Finance, and study hall . I help teach 1st grade art, Drama, and Study Hall
2. I started helping on Mondays and Wednesdays at a Christian school where a sweet lady from my church is the principal. I help in the 3rd grade class, mostly with a little girl who lost her leg in a car accident and needs help getting caught up. It's such a blessing to get to spend time there and I hope I can be a blessing to the teacher and the 3rd graders. (there are only about 15!)
3. Emily is learning choreography for Beauty and the Beast ballet and getting ready for a trip to New York!
4. I have been reading 1 Samuel-2Kings in order to get ready for a mission trip to Arizona next month.
5. Last Saturday, we visited Medina Children's Home and had a wonderful time of fellowship and service with the teens there. (we picked up trash along the highway, and found some interesting rubbish such as a cowboy boot and a skull of some animal. [: )
6. And the most important news of all.....

             .....WE ARE MOVING! To Colorado Springs. Daddy had to go early so he left on Monday, but we won't be going until sometime in June. He'll be able to come back a few times. As much as I wish we could just up and leave, because i'm so excited, we must stay behind a while longer for co-op graduation and to sell the house. 
This move is such an answer to prayer. The Lord couldn't have chosen a better location for us to move. We have always loved His creation up in Colorado. The honor, praise, and glory all goes to Him for His unfailing faithfulness. Have a blessed week my friends! I'll try to post more often!