The Dear Deer Family!

While visiting at our "dear" friends house one day, we were so surprised to see this "deer" family walking around behind the house! Five big deer were enjoying nibbling on the young tender grass there. Amazingly, they didn't run off quickly, but meandered their way along as they saw us watching from a distance. What magnificent animals they were- able to move along the steep terrain with such ease and always on the alert for danger. A rare treat to see considering this was in the city.

I am reminded of the verse in Psalms 42:1

"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul thirsts for Thee, O God."

Come Away, My Beloved

Today I was reading in a book called "Come away, my beloved" by Frances J. Roberts. I thought this was a beautiful piece(old English) on Resignation to God:

"Incline thine heart unto Me, and let thine ear be attuned to My voice. For lo, I would speak to thee, and I have an urgent message to give thee.
Go not about to establish thine own designs. Lo, I have already set in motion My divine will and purpose and I would not have thee interfere. I am jealous about My children: Lo, they are Mine, saith the Lord; and ye shall not intrude in any way such as would hinder My plans from working out. Yea, ye may do many things, but only that which I direct thee to do can have My blessing upon it.
Resign all into My hands-- thy loved ones as well as thine own self. Be obedient to the still small voice. Thine own imaginings may speak more loudly, but wait upon Me always. Ye shall see the wisdom and the glory in this in due time. Fret not about carnal things, but concern thyself first and always about spiritual values. Truly, My promise is still: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all the other needful things SHALL BE ADDED unto thee."

I thought this was a good reminder, in summary, to:

Give everything to God
Wait on Him, Seek Him first
Don't worry about your life and the things here
Everything NEEDED will be given in its time!

Thank you, GOD, for your wonderful promises and faithfulness!!

MacD's visit cont.

In continuation of the MacDonald's visit with us...
(For some reason I can't get my computer to cooperate with me in rearranging these pictures. So they are in reverse order. Sorry!)

These are pictures of our combined Wednesday evening concert. Both families sang, separately and together at the ending.

The Greer Family Singers

The Mac/Greer Quartet: Carol and Bonnie MacDonald sing with TJ and Ben Greer
This was their debut together! They sang "Crown Him"

The MacDonald's Brass Ensemble

The MacDonald Children
Carol, Bonnie, Vincent, Peter, Nathan, Matthew, Daniel and Hannah

More pictures to follow-check back soon!

Caption Contest

I've never done a "Caption Contest" on this blog as of yet, so when I ran across this picture, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of ideas you all could come up with for this picture!!

Now, I've been told that there are some lurkers out there who check out our blog, but don't leave any feedback. So this time, I'm hoping you'll get bold enough to join the fun! Leave us a note with your valued thoughts!!


And for those of you who don't recognize these crazy characters... Ben Greer on the left, Vincent MacDonald (middle), and TJ Greer on the right.

Boys will be Boys

Boys will be Boys! That's what they say, anyway.

So, we're sitting around yackity-yacking on Sunday night. Next thing we know, we hear all of the boys (men? 5 0f them) laughing and running into the bathroom, slamming the door behind them. Like a bunch of cackling hens(roosters?), squeals of laughter and giggling behind the doors, they emerge from their secret adventure with their hair plastered with styling gel, looking like they just had the worst "bad hair" day since Samson in the Bible got his hair cut off. Everyone was laughing as each of them presented their new "Doo".

(It must have been the sleep deprivation, as most of us didn't get to bed earlier than midnight for several days in a row! )

(And, having no girls in the family, I naively thought it was the "girls" who were supposed to do this sort of thing! So much for stereotypes!)
I think they must have used about a whole bottles worth of gel!

THANKS, GUYS, for the entertainment!

We love you!

MacD's Continued

MacD's Continued...

After the Sunday morning concerts at Calvary Chapel, we all headed out for a yummy pizza lunch with the pastor and his family. From there, we went directly to our next evening concert.
Both families sang there. Below are a few pictures:

Bonnie playing the accordian

Mikki gives his 6-minute sermon
Our family singing


Since the MacDonald's had never had "Starbucks" before, we treated a few of them to a "First"!
Carol's cup says "Carol's 1st SBUX Drink"!

Somehow, the younger set always seems to have endless energy. Despite an already very full day, they came home that night and filled our house with music, laughter and fun!! Below, my living room full - complete with "Jam Session"

Looking in my front window, I couldn't resist taking their picture from our neighbor's point of view!

Matthew and Peter have an interesting way of playing the mandolin!

Even after the jam session, the "boys" gave us all a good laugh with their crazy antics!

Stay tuned for that story!

The MacDonald Family Singers

Our friends, the MacDonald Family Singers, arrived on Friday, Jan 30th, and it's been "full speed ahead" ever since. We have had such a great time together!
We spent Friday relaxing and unwinding from their drive from Arizona, riding our motorcycles around the block, singing, playing and generally having a good time! Saturday we all headed over to the beach in Oceanside - some by car and van, and some on bikes via the bike trail! It was their first time to California and the Pacific Ocean, and we were all thankful for the beautiful sunny day and warm weather.

The Biking Crew

Mr and Mrs MacDonaldBelow, a shot of the "kids" who walked the Oceanside Pier, where they encountered a few not-so-friendly pelicans, watched a surf competition, saw Catalina Island off in the distance and a seal playing in the water, and saw where Mitch and Amy's names are carved into the pier boards!



Mikki and his sandcastle partner, Hannah!

Hail, Hail, the gang's all here!

Sunday held two morning concerts (both services)at Calvary Chapel Oceanside! The family enjoyed a warm welcome by all of the folks there, and had given away about 800 CD's by the time they were done! A new record for them! And they also got standing ovations both services, which was very unusual. Bonnie's yodeling song was a big hit, too!

Below, Carol and Vincent rehearse their piano duet before the services.




Keep checking back for the continuing saga and more pictures of their visit here, including Sunday evening concert with our family.