On August 14th, 2012, a beautiful and Godly saint passed from her earthly pilgrimage, crossed the River, and now resides in her Heavenly Home towards which she faithfully and joyfully looked throughout her life.

This woman was Mama’s Grandmother Harris, my great-grandmother. In honor of her homecoming, our family – with the exception of Daddy who stayed home to run the farm and business – made a whirlwind trip to Florida to honor her life and Godly example.During this bitter-sweet time, we mourned but also rejoiced. And, as Grandma would have wished, we made many new memories and had lots of fun in the days following the celebration of her life.

Unfortunately, the photographers were not at their best this trip, so please excuse the lack of representation of so many of you precious people – especially family!! However, we were probably fortunate to get what we got, so here is Part One of a sampling of what we managed to capture.

Enjoy! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Stay tuned for Part 2!

Until then, may the good Lord take a likin’ to ya’!

~Kitty~

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This past month was a memory never to be forgotten in our family’s life. The first marriage of the twenty-six (soon to be 27) Frodge grandchildren! On June 23rd, 2012, Rg Miller was united in holy matrimony to Esther Lipsy!

 Here are some pictures of the beautiful event.

 

 

~The Bride and Groom~

 

 

 

 If you want to see the professional pictures, you can go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/daydreamerdepictions/sets

 Thanks for visiting! Y’all have a nice day!

~Markie~

A Covenantal Cause

When the King of England said tha’ he wished tae be the head

Of the whole united church of our dear Laird,

Then we put up quite a fight, for we knew it wadnae richt,

Nor the loss of God could Scotland’s church afford.

For a king of man to make of himself a god, an’ take

Frae Christ Jesus His authority an’ crown

Was profanity in full, an’ tae sic ungodly rule

We, as children of the King, wadnae bow down.

Sae then we, as loyal Scots, put aside dividin’ thoughts,

An’ we joined taegether in the common cause,

We a’ came taegether an’ wi the sword an’ pen in hand

We each signed our names withoot a siccent pause.

Then wi’ blood an’ firebrand Charles spread throughoot the land

Sic a multitude of horrors, dark an’ grim.

But, when put tae fire an’ sword for the sake of Christ, our Laird,

We stayed true an’ took our strength an’ pow’r frae Him.

There were some, indade, wha bent, an’ the way of Judas went,

Tae these few the trials were tae hard tae bear;

Yet those raised with Him on high, frae the fire tae the sky,

Would repate a joy, worth any pain tae share.

Wi’ the cry of “Christ an’ Kirk,” clasping claymore, shield, an’ dirk,

We, the Covenanters took our richteous stand;

For tae keep God’s banner pure, bitter hardships we endure,

Sae we gladly gave up a’, an’ clasped His hand.

An’ the few wha lived tae tell how the foes of Jesus fell

Had a story where God’s richteous wrath was known;

For when wicked men assail God’s beloved – no avail

Will divest frae them the harvest they hae sown.

By Virginia Grace Discher

Yesterday, (Ok, early this morning…) our family got home from the 2012 CHEF conference. The theme was “The Scottish Covenanters’ influence on Colonial America.”  The poem above was written by Grace for a competition a few years ago. (She won first and was asked to recite it in front of the whole convention! 😀 )

We left Sunday evening. The Hamann’s graciously let us stay with them again during the conference.:)

We had an unfortunate tragedy Sunday morning.

Sarah had her leg stung/bit twice by some type of dreadful animal. About two hours later she came inside limping and her leg was swollen really, really bad.   We thought it was  a snakebite, so Mama took her to a clinic to see what they could do. Thank Goodness, it was only an insect sting.

Anyways, here are some pictures of the way up.

 (I tried to get a picture of Mr. Swanson, but, he wouldn’t hold still enough for my slow camera..;D)

 

The Ball

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Next year the CHEF conference will be combining with Kevin Swanson’s Family Economics conference. Your family will not want to miss this wonderful opportunity of fellow shipping with fellow believers and gleaning from the wonderful messengers of God’s Word that will be speaking!
We look forward to see y’all!:D:D:D

-Posted by-

 Markie

 

 

 

We enjoyed the fires, snow, and holidays of Winter, but, as the Word of God says:
“To everything there is a season…. “
The season of Spring is come!:)
 Here are some pictures of Spring in the Ozarks. 

 

We are praying for a abundant harvest with our trees this year:)

Thanks for visiting y’all!

 Hopefully, there will be another post soon:)

In Christ,

~Markie~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past January, everyone except Kitty and Sarah went to Florida.

Papa had business down there:) We ended up staying a whole month!

It was such a blessing getting to spend so much time with family!<3

 

WE HAD NO CAMERA WITH US SO ALL THE PICTURES ARE “CAPTURED”!!!

 

(I’m very sorry that some pictures are larger, some smaller,

and none of them in a nice, neat line. I’m still trying to get everything down pat:) )

                                                  

 

 Florida Family Association

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Florida, we visited with the Powers and Whiddons in Georgia:)We went to a good ole Southern
hog killing and then picnicked with them at beautiful Callaway Gardens.
But since we had no camera with us we have no pictures 🙁

We had a great time though!!!:)

Thank y’all!

 

Then we headed home for a short, 5 day rest, picked up Kitty and headed up to St Louis. Papa and Peter were going to attend the Men’s Advance:)

 Since Papa and Peter don’t particularly like taking pictures and they were at the conference center with all the other men, you are going to see an awful lot of picture of girls from now on:)

The Wintons Bluegrass Band

After saying goodbye to all our friends, we headed up to Indiana for a day to visit with family and get some stuff for our ebay store.

 

See y’all soon!!!;)

 posted by~ Markie

This blog post finds our family headed to church…

Our wee Scottish lass

Yes, fall is here. Time for sweaters and boots, beautiful leaves and crisp nights. Time for apples and pears, hot chocolate, pies and the occasional fire. Time for cider pressings and chili get-togethers. Time for fun times with precious friends. Ahh…Its is here. IT IS HERE!!!!! :):):)

After-service fellowship…A favorite time each Sunday.

The Lord has so blessed us with a wonderful church, and precious church-family. We love them all dearly.

Talking…

…Talking…

Good friends.

(Mr) Dan and (Mr) Danny 🙂

The information corner…Haha.

Happy Hannah and Liv

You would not believe how many edifying conversations can be going on at the same time in one room 🙂

Jonathan!!

Emmy in her “Wedding dress”

(“Mama! You can wear your’s and match me!!” haha)

Texting..hmmmm…. 😉

Sunday is Gracie’s day with the phone. She makes the most of it, catching up with all the family in Florida and Georgia 🙂

Clean up crew!!

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”   Psalm 133

When Grandmama and Granddaddy and our cousins went back to Florida, Kitty and I went along! Daddy allowed us to spend a couple weeks with our sweet family and friends.  Unfortunately, I was not very diligent to take pictures. :/  I’m afraid there just is not very much motivation when all you have is the camera I had 😉 (I am hoping to get a hold of the pictures from several cameras that were constantly in use during our visit)

Anyway-Here is a tiny glimpse into our visit to Florida! 🙂

Now-I personally hate it when people do that…But that’s just me.

For other people like me, here are the pictures individually 🙂

We spent a lovely evening at the Franklin’s home. They fixed us a delicious meal, and we had so much fun together!

Emilie-A sweet hostess

Phase 10, anyone?

Good friends <3

The next night was the great sleepover…!

About 12 of us got together at Grandmama’s and had a ball.

Unfortunately, I did not get pictures when the fun stuff started (Dancing, anyone?)

I always miss the funny stuff.

Ping Pong!

Talking and pizza…

…Magazines and cell phones…

Thank you, Grandmama, for always being so hospitable! :):)

Dinner at the Stricklen’s after church one Sunday.

..Or napping at the Stricklen’s 😉

(I was doing the same thing a few minutes later..)

Glenn Beck joined us!! 😉

Cal Gal!

Pretty Abby

Uncle Chris and his greatest fan

(Nobody laughs like Kitty laughs)

The last week we were in Florida, Grandmama and Granddaddy and the Stricklens rented a beach house. We had SUCH a fun time!

They invited Michael to come along too…Which was grand <3 🙂

…Walked outside one night and saw this 😉

I joined them, and we talked till late (late, late)

It was so good to be back with my cousins. We’ve always had such a special bond, that nothing will ever break. I am so thankful to our parents for allowing us to grow up with, and have such a special relationship with our Grandparents, Aunt, Uncles and cousins.

Its something special and rare, and I thank God for it. <3

…It was a wonderful visit! 🙂

This past August we were blessed to have Grandmama, Granddaddy, and Grandma Harris come up for a visit for a good 2 weeks! 🙂 Here are some pictures to prove what a good time we had!:)

When they got here, we thought it was just going to be Grandma, Grandmama and Granddaddy.. Well, they surprised us with two more smiling faces!

The Miller boys came out the first night and we had 

a good old fashioned time playing music,

singing, talking, and just having fun!

Emma has been wanting a horse for a long time. Finally, her siblings, parents, and Grandparents got her a little Shetland Pony for her 5th birthday! We gave it to her the day after our guests arrived.

This May we had our 3rd annual Lawn Party! The theme was musicals. We loved seeing that (almost) everyone dressed up!:)

But we had fun anyways!:)

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

 

The Games….:)

The game was name that tune.

 I had  a picture of the girls’ musical chairs, but it disappeared:/

  More pictures of..people:)

 

In Christ,

Markie

 

 

 

 

                                       

 This June on the 21^st and 22^nd, our family ( excluding Sarah who graciously stayed home with the cow) went to St Charles, Missouri for the CHEF “Christian Home Educators Fellowship” conference. We were able to see some old friends, listen to some great speakers with grand topics, got to have a mini family reunion, went to a “Civil War” ball, and even got to participate in the making of a film!

   While in St Charles, we were able to visit the Servens’ church. While we were at the CHEF conference we stayed with the Hamman family. They were so hospitable! We were also able to see the Payne family from our home church at the conference.

  We left home early on Sunday, the 19^th in order to make it for church in St Charles. On Monday we were surprised to see Grandmama and Granddaddy drive up the Hammons driveway! They had come up from Florida for the CHEF conference. They had also brought along some gifts. The first was a gift to Kitty. Her best friend Livy Pollock had come with the Frodges!  The second gift was Mama’s good friend from Florida; Mrs. Franklin! The last, but not least, was a gift for us all. The happy, smiling-faced cousin Callie! We were SO happy to see them all!!! Matthew and Daniel (Miller) drove up on Tuesday afternoon! We are always delighted to visit with them!

  The theme for this year’s CHEF conference was “ Why History Teaches Us To Hope”. The main era it was based on was the second war for Independence (AKA Civil War). There were also sub-topics. Mama and Papa really enjoyed Mr. Reb Bradley’s talks. Mr. Bradley wrote the book Child Training Tips.

  I learned a lot from Mr. John Dwyer. He revealed some interesting facts; such as: after the war in 1877 the first 11 Confederate States were turned into Military districts. Mr. Phillips spoke on some very good topics as well! I loved his talk on General JacksonJ It was wonderful! Mr. Potter’s talk on the First Texas Regiment at Antiem was very amusing as well as sad! I only listened to a little bit of Mr. Baucham’s “ Teaching Your Children with Your Grandchildren in Mind”. I liked what little I did hear though.

The other speakers were Herb Titus, Reb Bradley, Robert Oesch, and Barry Petrowsky.

The speakers for mothers who wished to learn more about child training were Beverly Bradley, and Silvia Mondragon.

  While we were there, some friends of ours asked if Grace could play a part in a movie they were making. She was delighted!  Go here to see the website. The movie was about a Georgian village during Sherman’s march in the war for Second Independence  (AKA Civil War). Kitty, Grace Peter and I went up there on the 19^th to be in another scene! It was SO fun!!!!!

 One of my favorite things was the Ball after the last session! It was very entertaining!!!!

  We really had an absolutely marvelous time at the Christian Home Educators of Missouri conference! I loved meeting new friends! The topics were fantastic as usual! I can’t wait till next year!!  The topics will be – The Importance of Family, Church and Civil Governments, The Scottish Covenant, and The American Covenant. Some of the entertaining happenings will be Scottish and Colonial re-enactors, Bagpipes, and a Scottish Colonial Ball! The speakers will be Dr. Marshall Foster, Dr. Paul Jehle, Wade Myers, Doug Phillips, Chuck Bentley, Douglas Bond, Col. John Eidsmoe, and Kevin Swanson.

 Our family is really looking forward to next year’s conference!!!!!!!!!

Friends

 

Family

 

The Speakers.

The Movie Making   

 

 

The Ball.

 

 

Thank y’all for stopping by!
In Christ,

Markie

 

 

Arachnophobia?

Who, Me?

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of an uninvited guest in the form of a tarantula. Today, look what decided to grace us with a visit. Gracie found it just wandering down the hallway like part of the family.

This little fella came for a visit today. Short lived visit though. Gracie gave him an alcohol bath.

“Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it;

Thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God,which is full of water:

Thou preparest them corn, when Thou hast so provided for it.

Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly:

Thou settlest the furrows thereof;

Thou makest  it soft with showers:

Thou blessest the springing thereof.

Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness.

They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness; and the little hills rejoice on every side.

The pastures are clothed with flocks;

the valleys also are covered over with corn;

they shout for joy, they also sing.  Psalm 65:9-13

~~Our Summer Garden, 2011!~~

Despite a battle against squash bugs and blister beetles, the Lord has blessed us with a fairly productive garden this year. We tripled the size from last year, and are eagerly awaiting the harvest!

Sugar baby watermelons…mmm!

Cucumbers and beans dwell in harmony

We were so happy. All of our cukes, squash, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes were planted using seed we saved last year.

Almost everything has been true to their parents. Only a couple squash were green 😉

German Lunchbox tomatoes growing beautifully!

(Seeds saved from the Stricklen’s garden a couple years ago)

(Yummy Rattlesnake Pole Beans are starting to produce…

(Seed saved from the Lind’s garden last year)

Part of the garden a few weeks ago

 

The sweet potatoes before they really started vining out.

(Slips grown from some of the Lind’s potatoes last year)Our second planting of cucumbers starting to come up

And a few complimentary weeds 😉

Our first cucumber planting is producing an abundance of cucumbers!

We bring a basket like this in every other day.

Here, we have Marketmore, Richmond Green Apple, and Sumpter Pickling Cucumbers.

All three varieties are favorites around here. And all three make wonderful pickles. 🙂

Our onions did not do terribly well. We had many…fatalities.  But the ones we harvested will last us a while!  I braided a lot of them together and they are hanging in the garage now.

Our potatoes were just gorgeous…Huge, full plants.

One sad morning we walked down to the garden…We found that the blister beetles devoured our beautiful potato plants in about two days! :-0

We dug the potatoes, but they were rather small.  There were so many though! Had they been allowed to grow to full size, we would have had potatoes to last us quite a while. We were thankful for what we got though. 😉…A rather un-related picture of Kitty’s very healthy, happy piggies 😉

Y’all come back now!

~Sarah~