A Trip to the Zoo

Since we are staying an extra week than we had originally planned on, we don't have any performances scheduled! And so, we now have an extra week to have fun together as a family, and do things that we haven't gotten to do yet. Like go to the zoo. :) Dad and Greg stayed home. Dad had some work to do, and Greg wanted to relax, I guess! So, the rest of us trooped off to the zoo. It was a cheap zoo, and mom told us (before we left) that it MIGHT be a "dinky disappointment". :) But no, it wasn't. It was small, but still worth the trip. We didn't tell the little children where we were going, but eventually the GPS gave it away. :)

See the sign that says "Zoo"? :)
And what did we see when we got there? Now ladies... how many of you would like to be proposed to at the ZOO? :)
First thing off, we headed up to the giraffes to have a "giraffe encounter". :) The 4 little ones were able to feed Denver.

Look at that tongue!


Pretty Macaw
I've never seen tortoises eat before! It was a funny thing to watch.
Leah, heading off to take a picture of a peacock. :) So cute!
One favorite stop is the monkeys. It's fun to watch them play and interact with their buddies.

Another highlight was being able to touch a REAL armadillo! I didn't actually touch him, but I heard he was hairy!We also got to touch this reptile. :) I don't remember the name of it, but I do know that it ISN'T a lizard. :)
I've never seen a white peacock before. It's quite pretty.
We stopped for a snack and a rest. It was a perfect day to go to the zoo. It was nice and sunshiny. :)
The big cats

And another favorite was the elephants. No, I'm not calling Hannah an elephant, but she is sitting on a metal one.

We watched them give themselves dust baths AND drink water. Something I hadn't seen before.
Everyone watching... some taking pictures.
There's the elephant! (With Rebekah on top)


Last stop? The penny smasher. The 4 little children each got a smashed penny - a nice thing to remember the trip by.

May you be blessed today!
~Emily

Blessings in Correction

The other day, a friend sent me wonderful verse which encouraged me. I wanted to study it out a little more, and I wanted to share a little with you.

Blessed is the man whom thou chasteneth, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law"
~Psalm 94:12

• Blessed~ How happy, a term used to describe a person (or nation) who enjoys a relationship with God
• Chasteneth~ Hence, to instruct; teach; God is the ultimate source of true instruction and chastening; wisdom presents the disciplined One as blessed, even though the process is painful.
• Teachest~ Diligently instructed; skilful teacher
• Law~ Torah; precept or statute

Then I found all these verses that correlated with this passage:

Psalm 119:67 "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word."

Revelation 3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."

Psalm 119:71 "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes."

Job 5:17 "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:"

1 Corinthians 11:32 "But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."

Proverbs 3:11-12 "My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD: neither be weary of his correction: for whom the LORD loveth he correcteth: even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."

Hebrews 12:5-7,10-12 "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?.. for they [our fathers] verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure: but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

This also reminds me of what the Word says Scripture is profitable for:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

So in my life today, I was just reflecting how THANKFUL I should be if the LORD is correcting me (which He always does in such a gentle way, either through my parents, a friend, a circumstance or teaching me from His Word) - this means to me that He is not DONE with His work in me! I am a work IN PROGRESS, just as it says in Philippians:

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ:"

Blessings to you all,

~Dani

Give Thanks

The LORD has been teaching me a lot on this trip, and one main theme that keeps coming up is GIVING THANKS! This is a common phrase during Thanksgiving time, but it is definitely not limited to this season of the year. This attitude of gratefulness and trust should be a continual practice on our part, which brings me to share some verses and quotes from a book I am reading.

"Deep chara joy is found only at the table of the euCHARisteo- the table of thanksgiving... Is the height of my chara joy dependent on the depths of my eucharisteo thanks? As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible. Whenever, meaning- now; whenever, meaning- here. The holy grail of joy is not in some exotic location or some emotional mountain peak experience. The joy wonder could be here!... The only place we need to see before we die is this place of seeing God, here and now." (One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp)

Then I was reading in Matthew 16:24-25 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." I was thinking how when I live for Christ and serve others as He taught us by His life, I find so much more joy and fulfillment in life instead of living selfishly for my self. This is one way I have experienced the joy of Christ.

Reading on in One Thousand Gifts:

"'The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live.. He has penetrated the whole mystery of life: giving thanks for everything'... The table with its emblems is the essence of what it means to live the Christ-life... whenever we eat. Like every day. Eucharisteo- whenever: now. Joy- wherever: here... Yet how does the framework of eucharisteo undergird a life? Penetrating the mystery is like discovering galaxies; there is always more."

Next, I read this verse: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night."

• Thanksgiving brings deep JOY that cannot be attained elsewhere! At the feet of Christ, trusting and giving thanks for His greater purposes, then can rest come upon those who search for the source of JOY: JEHOVAH!

• By giving thanks to Almighty God, we SHOW FORTH His praise. By trusting and resting in Christ, I SHOW FORTH His lovingkindess and His faithfulness.

I was thinking about these things on this trip, and often there are opportunities to see a situation though the eyes of ungratefulness and stress, focusing on difficult things that happen (like losing things we need for our programs - dresses, shirts, shoes, music, etc. - or not feeling very welcome in a certain venue we are playing at, or the sound system not working right, or someone coming down with a cold -all these things can stack up and cause one to worry and stress) but when I see these situations as opportunities to thank God for seeing the BIGGER picture and learning to "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6) and it also thinking of the verse Greg shares during our programs, a very familiar passage: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) I can learn what it really means to give thanks in ALL THINGS! God has always showed Himself strong on our behalf, and during each of these difficult circumstances that come up almost every day, by prayer and trusting in Him, He DOES work all things out and my faith is strengthened.

Here are some recent pictures from our days in Arizona.

Hannah Elizabeth - before our program. Such a cheerful smile!
And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
~Psalm 35:9

Dad works so hard to get the best sound out of our system! What an amazing guy!
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.
~Proverbs 22:29

I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
~Psalm 7:17

I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

~Psalm 104:33

Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.
~Psalm 96:2

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
~Psalm 95:1


...for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
~Nehemiah 8:10b

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
~Proverbs 15:13

Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
~Psalm 65:4

Emily was wrapping up the cords after our program, and paused to pose for a blog picture!
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
~Matthew 25:21

Last night, Rebekah was on stage during clean up, and as she was looking out at the people leaving, and she saw this one lady in the blue shirt and said, "THERE'S the lady I wanted to talk to!" and she raced down there to go talk to her about the kitties she is missing and 7 other "important" things she told me in the car last night! :) It was cute.
And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
~Isaiah 51:16
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
~Ephesians 4:3
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
~Psalm 133:1

May the LORD bless you all,
~Dani

Younger Siblings

I have not written a post in awhile, so Dani said it was my turn. :) So, I decided to just share a few thoughts- things that I have been discussing with Mom, the girls, and a dear friend of mine. It is on the subject of relationships with younger siblings.

For awhile, I have been consistently reminded of the importance of spending time with my siblings- it is just doing it that can be challenging! So often, when I have free time, I decide that I want to go do one of my projects, or something enjoyable for me. But, instead, I want to be the kind of sister that will go do something with my siblings, to build relationships! In the end, that will be what lasts. There are so many things we can do with our siblings, and they don't even all have to be fun- it is great to do a job together, or do something together to bless someone else. Often times when I decide to do something with them, I want to do something that I would enjoy (usually something not high-energy :), but I have been challenged to do things with them that might not be so fun for me, like playing tag, or making up a story with them. I desire for my younger siblings to have good memories with me- that they will grow up remembering the good times they had with me, not me always going off to do something on my own, for myself. Also, an idea I have heard is to write special notes to them, or bless them with a little gift- they will treasure that! I have so much to learn and grow in this area, and I need to be more consistent in spending time with my siblings! But, I think that the reward will be close relationships, which is definitely worth the time put into it!

Blessings to you,
~Amanda

An unexpected car wash... and other things

We have met some really dear people down in Arizona. They are so special and we look forward to see them next year when we come back. I am thinking of two people especially that have really blessed our family.

A dear, dear couple, Mr. and Mrs. D. surprised us by meeting us at one RV park and they had bought us pizza for our lunch. And another time they took our whole family out to Old Country Buffet. Last year they took us out for dinner. And let me tell you! It isn't cheap feeding 10 people! They are such dear friends.

And another dear man, Mr. M. has blessed our family. Last year, he turned his life back to the LORD after we played music at his RV park. And he wanted to bless our family this year by washing our vehicle. Yes, it was dirty... What a wonderful blessing it was and yet at the same time a bit humbling. :)The finished product. Hey, it's red again! :)

We've had fun doing some of the activities that Saddle Mountain RV has to offer. We enjoyed trying our hand at Shuffleboard. :)


The girls... all sitting out on separate rocks... cute!
Peanut was NOT very happy being cooped up in the trailer while the rest of us were outside. But she was very happy to see me! :)Greg... :) Just like a pro... ;)

~Emily

A typical performance

Okay! Just in case any of you are wondering... I thought I might try to put into words a typical performance day. :)

You wake up in the morning and know that you will have to "perform" that evening.
After breakfast, you listen to mom and dad talk about when you'll need to leave in order to get to the RV park or church in time to set up and do a sound check.
The morning is not specifically relaxed... you may do school, go write some emails, or a blog post, or do an activity the park offers.
You have lunch.
You then either put a little girl's hair in curlers, make dinner, or iron dresses.
Then it's a mad rush to get everybody in the car... and then off you go!
You get to the RV park or church.
Dad, Mom and Greg get out of the car and talk to someone who tells us where to set up, or something. :)
Then all of us (depending) get out of the car, and then carry ALL of our sound system and our instruments inside the building and set up.
Usually there's someone there walking around.
Then you do a sound check - making sure everyone can hear each other and that we have a nice balance.
Then you wait... and sometimes visit with people... or get into your outfits and re-do hair.
When it's time to perform, you don't feel nervous... usually. :)
Then you get up on a stage, usually, and play for either 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour, an hour and 15 minutes, an hour and a 1/2, or two hours. :) *laughing* People like all sorts of different times. :)
Sometimes you take a break, and during that time, visit with people.
Then you get up again and finish the program.
Then you put your violin away and either visit or take down the sound system.
You end up getting out of the RV park late, and sometimes you have a really long drive home.
Then you have to get children into PJ's and then you get ready for bed.
Then you go to bed. :)

What a day! :) It can be tiring, but you hear from a lot of people that they enjoy the music. It's worth it.
Here are some pictures. Hope you enjoy.

The sweet twins. :)

Here, we were trying to get to the pizza place... and the GPS took us by some strange route. :)

Last night was quite the adventure. We had gotten some money from a dear man who wanted us to go get dinner with it. So we went to A&M's Pizza Place. That ended up being a disaster, and blessing at the same time. We ordered a couple pizzas for our family (and Mr. Krell), and we waited... and waited... and waited... and waited... our pizza never came. We were getting a little worried, because we had to be at the RV park soon. So mom got up to check on it. It was in a box to go out for takeout! NOT in the plan at all! But we got a 50% discount for their mistake. We find that people end up making at least one mistake when ordering for a large family. :)

But we got to the RV park after eating our food VERY quickly (thinking we'd need to be in the park in a 1/2 hour or 15 minutes to set up and get our outfits on and everything). And we got there right on time... 5 minutes to spare. :) And we ended up not playing at 6:30 like we thought, but at 7:00. :) We had plenty of time. We were a little nervous, because they were eating dinner. And our last two dinner shows were horrible. The audience was not enthusiastic... partly because they were eating, I assume.

But these people were WONDERFUL! :) It was a good night. :)


One of the stages we played on... It was about 5 feet tall!


Before a performance...
Some cool buildings :)
We had some time before this performance. Sam was doing a workbook.
Those curlers are really good! I think it overdid it this time though. :)

Hope you have enjoyed this peek into our life!

Trailer Life

Being in Arizona isn't fun all the time. :) Living quarters can be a challenge. :) We have 34 feet to live in for 4-5 weeks, and we're constantly dealing with the normal things in life, only in a much smaller space. There are dishes... LOTS of dishes... there are messes... LOTS of messes... there's sand and dirt that gets in the trailer... LOTS of sand and dirt... and attitudes in the trailer... LOTS of attitudes in the trailer. :) We have young, entergetic children that don't always get to go outside in the 55+ parks all by themselves (the security guards don't like them to be out by themselves)... so that can be a challenge. We have a dog that needs to go outside... and sometimes it can take a long time to get to the dog park.

But think about this...
There are LOTS of dishes... that means I have a large family!
There are LOTS of messes... but that means that I have delightful younger siblings!
There's a LOT of sand and dirt... but that means we're here in Arizona! If we were at home, we'd be dealing with mud!
There are LOTS of attitudes in the trailer... but can we help turn bad ones into good ones?
There are little children that want to go outside and play and sometimes they can't... at least they have so much energy and are not sick or crippled and CAN'T play outside!
We have a dog that needs to go to the dog park... we can at least look at that as getting a little bit of exercise!

How can YOU turn YOUR situations around and be grateful for them?

Here are a few pictures... :)I thought he did a good job posing in his sleep. :)

Doing math!
My sweet brother, Sam
Leah... :) What a blessing she is! She has her curlers in her hair in this picture. :)
And kind-of off subject... but Leaf Verde was one of our favorite parks. It is the cleanest park we have ever been too! And we were blessed to be able to spend some extra days there. They wouldn't let us pay for them either! What a blessing!

~Emily