Oh there's no place like home for the holidays...

There's been huge changes in the air since the last time I've posted! We've once again changed our address and are now living in PA in the same general area as before! It came up much faster then we expected but we felt the Lord clearly leading us in this next step and we took the plunge, moving in just 6 weeks after deciding. We've now been here exactly two weeks and are starting to feel like we are "home".   Here are some pictures of our new house and farm. We have plenty of room and we love visitors so if you are in the area, please drop by!!

 This picture is the most recent with the scattering of snow on the ground but the pictures below with the green grass are from a few weeks ago. =)




       We did a little remodeling including tearing out some awful carpet and laying a solid floor as well as painting.  The boy cousins helped us tremendously whether putting in flooring, pulling staples or just playing the piano to cheer us on. =)
                               Of course, we have to take a break every now and then too.....
                                                         Moving in the piano!
  Moving back to PA meant leaving our pretty little cow and calf behind! =( Thankfully we were able to find them a happy home soon before we left.
        We were very happy to be able to buy this 18 ft. trailer to haul our belongings in and it has made our move much easier!
 So many details worked out just perfectly for this move which made us feel the Lord's blessing every step of the way. One such detail was that just a couple months before this decision to move, we had been blessed with the addition of our large van which had the hauling capacity to easily haul our belongings in the trailer so we didn't have to purchase or borrow a pickup truck.
A few days after moving in, Dad and the boys decided to clear out the old cellar and in so doing, created this mess as a lawn ornament. =) 

The boy cousins greatly helped us by unloading our trailer with Mom looking on and supervising. =)


Just a couple days before the move, I was very excited to take the test and get my driver's license!! 

     We enjoyed being a part of our church's Christmas program this year. In the picture above, the children are acting out the Christmas story while the choir softly hums "Oh Come Little Children" ending up with the children joining the choir to sing the verses.
          They started out the program with the all the youth and children walking down the front aisle carrying candles and singing "Once in Royal David's City".
    The concert also featured, Ringspiration, my two uncles and their family's hand bell choir.
    At a store on our trip, Caleb found this pillow all on his own and proudly brought it to show Dad!

 At our new house, a cousin, Rose Lucas from Colorado who was in for a visit to PA, plays farmopoly with the little ones.
Mom and her sister, Iva, playing Christmas duets and having a fun time in the process! =) 

Hope this finds you all doing well and staying warm in this chilly time of year! Many wishes for a very Merry Christmas!!

In a time and a culture that is at increasingly great risk, we desire to share the ageless truth that God created each precious human being, and that they can live out God’s plan for their lives and their families. The Ten Commandments are still relevant. The Bible is still the message that tells us the story of Jesus and our hope of salvation and eternal life. There is forgiveness for sins and there is hope and healing for sorrow, loss, and pain. God can still enable His children to live authentic Christian lives. He still purposes to give Peace on Earth and Favor to all mankind! The joy of music, Jesus Christ, and family togetherness is a great blessing to us and we trust you will find the same for yourself and your family!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Winter Blues with the Bradfords

Image
  Central Missouri, particularly for our lively family, is not very "blue" in the winter season, it is actually quite warm and sunny most of the time! We did get a lovely snowfall which made for some fun winter sports including iceskating!  However, many days are in the 50-60*s and sunny! Here we are cleaning the furniture from our second house so we can fix it up and sell it.   Somebody figured out a creative way to do schoolwork!  Sweet friends came down from NY and when you have a second harpist in the house, of course you have to get a picture!  She even gave me a hand milking the cow!  Time for Monopoly!  Lots of practice!    In February, Dad, Charity and I traveled back to PA on a business trip and for Charity to pick out a new violin since hers got cracked at Christmas time due to an accident. She enjoyed playing duets with cousin Andrea as she decided which violin to choose!    On Sunday back in PA still, several of our friends and cousins decided to go window to wind
Read more

Finally Here!!!

Image
  Just in time for Christmas and after many hours and weeks of practice and learning to record, our first ever family Christmas CD is here!!!  You can order on our website and have it shipped to you or you can choose pick-up and get it at one of our concerts! https://heartstringsministry.net/store/
Read more

We're back!

Image
 It has been a very long stint away from our blog but we are excited to be back and hopefully posting more often in the weeks to come!  Here is a little pictoral update from the past months!  December was full with a two week music tour to Pennsylvania and New York where we had 14 concerts and traveled 3000 miles in 14 days! We were grateful that we stayed well the entire trip and had a safe and enjoyable time. We pray our music touched hearts and lives for Jesus!  Back in Salem, we did some Christmas caroling for friends and neighbors and everyone loved the bell songs!  While in NY, we were happy to spend some time with our great-aunts, some of our biggest support and cheerleaders!  In March, Charity and Susanna had the opportunity to play in a live orchestra for a homeschool drama group doing a performance of the musical Little House on the Prairie. It played 8 different times and they had a great time participating! We have not had to wear face masks very often out here in the midwe
Read more