Toes, Toes, Toes!

Whose toes are these? Can you guess? (The possibilities are Renee, Becky, Zeke, Isaac, Alex, and Julie)

1.

2. & 3.

4.

5.

6.

Toes are fun

Fingers of my Very Own

Oh, the Weary Winter

Needless to say, I was quite burned out after my last string of posts. :) When I told Mum that I had finished posting all the Christmas photos, she said, "I haven't even seen our Christmas photos yet!" But I thought it might be time to run a bit of an update on my life, and since the weather outside is so dreary and cold, I figured now was as good a time as any. I also wanted to post the words to the hymn our family is currently learning. Update first I suppose. . .

The week and a half since we've been back from Illinois have flown by somehow. Because I had 5 weeks of break between semesters, I thought that these days were going to be terribly boring, and that I ought to find some useful occupation which would use my time nicely. However, quite the opposite has been true. I have found that the hours fill up faster than I can write things into my calendar! Which is mostly good, but can be exhausting!

This week my focus has started to zero in on next fall - making sure all my college applications are completed, eliminating colleges from my list, checking out different scholarship options, pushing Mum to help me get the FAFSA thing-y filled out, talking to admissions counselors . . . and ultimately, hopefully deciding what school I will be attending in the fall! It's both exciting and terribly scary.

I'm also facing the reality that it is time to make a decision about my major. Because I've spent this year collecting general education credits, I really need to decide so that I can get going on more specific courses next fall. This decision will also affect where I go to school . . . it's so much to think about! And it's one of those situations in which there don't seem to be any "bad" or "wrong" choices - I can see how God would use me in each scenario! Which is awesome, but also makes it harder to decide. :)

I start classes again at East Central College on Tuesday. I might be taking only one class this semester, for various reasons. . . but I am looking forward to getting back into the school setting and being challenged again. We've also started with rehearsals for "Pirates of Penzance" - I am the props manager, and I am SO EXCITED! Basketball season continues to be a constant part of life, as well as several new clubs, groups, etc. that our family members are joining.

To wrap up, I would ask for your prayers. Have you ever been at a place in life when you feel really guilty asking for prayer? You look around at the pain and suffering those around you and in the world are going through, and you think, "How selfish of me to ask for any prayers for myself!" Well that's where I am right now - because as much as I might stress, face big decisions, and have bad days, my life on a whole is so . . . good. But, God asks us to come before Him with everything, big and small. So if you are in need of sending up a small prayer, I'd ask that you pray for my peace of mind - and God would grant me the strength to trust Him with all this future stuff. :) If you want to tackle something a little bigger, please, please pray for the Pettijohn family. I'll post more about that tomorrow. . .

Love you all! May God go with you this week!
Becky

Trust and Obey

When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his Word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.

Text: John H. Sammis, 1846-1919

Music: Daniel B. Towner, 1850-1919

"Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God."

Isaiah 50:10

"Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,

the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."
Psalm 37: 4-6

RHAA Home Games - 2009

Once again, the call goes out to the home schooling community to come and support your favorite sports team for the rest of their season. :) Our next game isn't until Friday the 16th - see you there! (This is only a list of the games played in Rolla, not those we travel to. Click on the calendar links to find more about times and locations of the below games, as well information about those away games!)

RHAA Home Game Schedule

GIRLS - Calendar

Gold Team
Jan. 16th - Home Game vs. Camdenton Christian School
Jan. 17th - Home Game vs. Fulton Saints
Feb. 5th - Home Game vs. S.I.R.
Feb. 10th - Home Game vs. Lebanon Rockets
Feb. 14th - Home Game vs. St. Louis Patriettes
Feb. 20th - Home Game vs. SWMO Eagles

Blue Team
Jan. 27th - Home Game vs. Houston Wellspring
Feb. 5th - Home Game vs. S.I.R.
Feb. 14th - Home Game vs. St. Louis Patriettes

BOYS - Junior High Calendar
Jan. 12th - Home Game vs. Rolla Dawgs
Jan. 19th - Home Game vs. S.I.R.
(JV Game) Jan. 23rd - Home Game vs. Mt. Grove
Feb. 10th - Home Games vs. Lebanon
Feb. 14th - Home Games vs. St. Louis
Feb. 20th - Home Games vs. SWMO Eagles

BOYS - Varsity Calendar
Jan. 16th - Home Game vs. Camdenton Christian School
Jan. 17th - Home Game vs. Fulton Saints
Jan. 27th - Home Game vs. Houston Wellspring
Feb. 10th - Home Game vs. Lebanon Rockets
Feb. 14th - Home Game vs. St. Louis Blue Knights
Feb. 20th - Home Game vs. SWMO Eagles

Take a deep, deep breath!

You caught me. . . I am procrastinating! To be perfectly honest, most of my longest and best blog posts come from complete and total procrastination. I think it's because of something my Mum always has warned us against - Disobeying is still disobeying, even if the other thing you are doing is a good thing. ;) But as I am 17 and master of my own destiny (or at least pretty much free to decide how to spend my time), I'm not disobeying. Just procrastinating.

So I have this huge duffel bag, an over-stuffed cloth Aldi bag, and several "carry-ons" to unpack, and one very scattered and messy room to tidy up, and three very late Christmas gifts to finish. But instead of doing those things, I spent my evening, 1.) playing Blurt with Zeke and Abby, 2.) taking a bubble bath, 3.) making myself a scrumptious cup of tea, 4.) unpacking our family camera, 5.) unpacking my iPod and setting it on my radio docking station thingy, with the shuffle on the genre "soundtracks" (Mark McKenzie heaven!), and 6.) crawling in bed with my laptop and cup of tea, downloading 171 photos from our trip, and getting ready to edit and post the ones that I want you to see! If all that isn't procrastination in its highest form, I don't know what is.

I will take a deep breath (as the title of this post suggests) and begin the saga of "The Hall Family Christmas vacation 2008" (right after I find my computer charger in this messy room of mine. . . oh, I think it's in one of the unpacked bags. lol). Before you start reading, I suggest you take a deep breath too. . .

You faithful (and probably fellow) procrastinator,
Rebekah

*Well, I have finished my posting. You can start right below this one, and work your way down - I put them in backwards order, so that by starting with "St. Paul - Monday and Tuesday" you will be in chronological order. Enjoy the photos! This only took about 3 hours, but I am exhausted. In the words of Dr. Suess ". . . and now my story is all told." Merry Christmas everyone.

St. Paul - Monday and Tuesday

Here begins the great Hall Family Christmas Vacation, 2008!

We left Rolla Monday night, after basketball practices, and drove through the night. On a weekend trip to Denver a few summers ago, we discovered that we can create a sort of bed in the back of our 12 passenger van - by taking the back seat out, packing all the bags under a large (custom-cut) sheet of plywood, and placing a futon on the plywood, a quite comfortable resting place is made. Isaac and Libeth slept in their carseats (how do kids do that?) and the rest of us rotated on the bed. Dad drove most of the 10 hours - the weather was a bit yucky, and the roads sort of icy.

We pulled in at Grandma's house at 8:30 am. Naturally, communication had gotten somewhat mixed up, and she wasn't expecting us for 12 more hours! Still, we managed to adjust and make it one more day of fun! We helped her with the cleaning and decorating she had been planning to do, and had an extra day of snow play with the cousins! We also got in quite a few naps, to prepare us for a busy, bustling week of fun.

Zeke, trimming the tree

Isaac (this picture is crooked because I have a nervous hand under his rear end as he balances on the step stool)

Abby - she stuck with it, and did the bulk of the work. Good job luv!

Our "supervisor"

Zeke, braving the cold for some snow-play.

Grandma calls this style "Minnesota Chic" - the way she tells it, if all your snow clothes coordinate, well, "You ain't from around here, now that's for sure."

Grandma, explaining the rules to "Fox and Geese"

Nap time all around!

Cousin Alex

Our Happy Birthday Jesus cake, iced and decorated by Mr. Enthusiastic there

The rest of the week was filled with fun and games, activities and lots and lots of food. But one of my favorite parts was the music. Abby had brought along her trumpet, and our extra coronet. Upon arrival, we found that Grandpa had three trumpets of his own, one baritone, and an alto saxaphone! Well, let me tell you, we had quite the band going then! Grandpa led the group, harmonizing away on his trumpet - Mum took the melody, magically remember the fingering and notes, and playing entirely by ear (she hasn't played for years and years - I am 17, and I have never heard her play) - Grandma ocassionally accompanied on the piano, when she wasn't working away in the kitchen - Abby did an outstanding job playing by ear, taking the melody line and making some real music - Andy would pop in every now and then with a trumpet (which he has never played before in his life - hey, it added character to the mix) - Zeke . . . oh I guess he didn't have his drum, so he didn't join in - and Dad was truly the jack-of-all-trades, alternating between piano, trumpet, and baritone (he had never played the baritone before, but picked it up quite handsomly) - Isaac, Elizabeth, and I all listened with admiration and awe (except Elizabeth, who held her hands over her ears most of the time). It was amazing - I wish you could have been there! Throughout the week this chorus of heavenly sounds accompanied much of our activities. I felt proud to be a part of such a family!

Abby and Dad