I am grateful for....

I am grateful for Jesus dying on the cross for us. I am grateful that I have wonderful parents that care about me and want what's best for me. I am grateful for loving sisters and brother that are my best friends. I am grateful that I have so many friends. I am grateful  for the church school. I am grateful for my dad working 4 jobs for our family. I am grateful for my pets, a loving cat and cute guinea pig. I am grateful that I don't have to search my entire life to find happiness. I am grateful that I have lots of people trying to work things out so i can have fun. I am grateful for piano lessons. I am grateful for being able to save up money to get an item i want. I am grateful for a roof over my head,  and a bed to sleep in. I am grateful that I have air conditioning, and even if i am outside in the heat, i can cool off by the water. I am grateful that I have plenty of food to eat. I am grateful that my parents teach me how to work by doing chores and preparing me for when i have my own family. I am grateful for a big house. I am grateful for a computer to blog on. I am grateful that I have an electric scooter, a nintendo ds, an i Pod. I am grateful, that I have so many things I am grateful for, I can barely type fast enough for my thoughts. I am grateful for the great people in my life who made me who I am, who I look up to. I am grateful for the Word of God. I am grateful, that Jesus forgives me from all my sins. I am grateful for books. A whole bookshelf of books I have read. I am grateful that mommy is letting me stay up late enough to type this out, but I probably should go to bed now. I'll write more grateful things tomorrow!

Swimming Lessons

We did swimming lessons and we were all excited to get in the pool. Our swimming lessons starts at 11:20, but we were all ready to go at 9:30. We got there at about 10:45, and was waiting for swimming lessons to start at about 11:05. The wait seemed forever! The next day we decided to arrive a bit later... :)

Danielle was especially excited for swim lessons and had her goggles on before it even started!

Danielle and Alaina talking excitedly about going in the water!

It turns out Alaina was scared of the water and hung onto the life guard's neck the whole time. We gave her one more day and when she did the same thing, we decided she wasn't ready yet.

Danielle and Johanna having swim lessons!!

After swim lessons we get to go off the diving board! Last year Johanna was afraid and wouldn't budge for about an hour, but she is willing to try again this year!

She did it! she jumped off the diving board without much hesitation. After the first time, she was eager to do it over again until we had to go!

Danielle's turn to go off the board!

My turn! Junping off the diving board is so much fun!!!

Jumping.....

And splash!! It was so much fun!

Swimming back to go again!!!

All in all it was a lot of fun! We did swim lessons for 2 wks. and I passed my level, which means I'm going to Level 5! I am both excited and nervous to see what I am going to learn new!!!

A split second of beauty

Today, we decided to play in the water outside, because of how hot it is. We usually use the hose and out it on our trampoline, using our thumbs to make the hose go down farther on the trampoline, which we jump over and try not to get wet. Well, it was such a hot summer day that I just stayed in the hose, just jumping on it. As I was in mid-air I looked down at the water below me. You know how sometimes when you spray water in the air, a rainbow appears? Well that's what happened. But this time it was unsual. I could see each water droplet in the air a different color of the rainbow! It was only a split second, but it was beautiful, and I felt like I was up in the air for a few minutes, looking in awe at the beautiful rainbow below me.
At that split second, I realized something.... We are like that rainbow, and all those little tiny water droplets, are like every good thing about us that makes us beautiful inside and out, and the whole picture, well it's beautiful. God lookes at us like that rainbow, not in pity of us, but in awe of what those tiny water droplets turned out to be. :)

The Real Fireworks of the Night Sky

This is a little late to be blogging about this, but the 4th of July was really fun! We lit up a lot of fireworks for hours, and I even got of light a few by myself! :)
Although, at dusk, some more fireworks lit the night sky.
At this beautiful hour of night, dusk, fireflies start coming out. It's so peaceful watching them, and trying to catch them. Of course, this got me thinking, this is God's "fireworks" he put down on the earth for us to see. Then a song that we sing at church popped into my head
"Light of the World, you stepped down into darkness
Opened My Eyes, Let me see,
beauty that made this heart adore you...."
It was stuck in my head all night, and on Sunday when we went to church, guess what the worship leaders sang :)
So Anyway, to end this
Look at the beauty of God's creation, and you wil ne amazed at what God has set in this world to awe us.

Through My Perspective

When you are at the store shopping, or running some errands, there are people, (of course), but have you ever thought of it this way? They each are seeing you thinking you're just a random person shopping. But to you, you are the main person in the store, thinking the same about others. What if someone is getting a last minute birthday present to someone having a birthday? Or someone's excited about getting something expensive that he/she has been saving up for? It's fun to think of all the possibilities of what someone might be doing.
To you, your life is a memory that you have that no one else has. You're perspective is one no one else has. Not even you're thoughts are the same as any one else's in the store, or even at a random car next to you. You can have something to think about, when you're simply seeing a random person that you don't know. Even a person you do know well, or someone who has told you his/her life story you still don't see it the same way as them.
I wonder what other people imagine when they read the same book as I did. If the places They read about looks even close to what my imagination is. When I start thinking of that, I always try to imagine what they might imagine, what I would imagine if I was a different person.
It's fun to think about these things, and even more fun to share them through my perspective. :)

Stars, Planets, and Fish from the Sea

The title, Stars, Planets and Fish from the Sea, are my main thoughts and things I can think endlessly about and never get bored. It's amazing how God created these things and man know little about. People can't get far in Space without losing air, and people can't get very deep in the sea without losing light and air. It's crazy of think of the unnamed and unknown creatures that live deep in the sea. That's partly why I chose the background of my blog a sunset over a beach. I was debating between this one and another background of the stars.
Anyway, I cannot stop thinking of these things daily, and I am awed by God's creation of the universe, from the top of the sky, to the depths of the sea. I think it would be fun to go to the moon, but scary at the same time.. and awesome to see all the creatures of the deep blue sea, but I would also be scared if there was a man-eating huge fish man had never seen that could swallow a submarine whole or anything that I would use to get to the bottom of the deepest part of the sea. But that's just my crazy imagination....
Well, that's just a little of my still endless thoughts but I am always wondering about Space, and the Sea. But I have to go and get ready to go to a mueseum where I get to see a planetarium. So I am super excited!!!!

God Almighty

God, who made us in the beginning
God, who knew us before we were born
God, whos love is deeper than we can imagine,
God, our friend
God, our Provider
God, faithful to the end
God, the Trinity
God, who died on the cross for us so we can have eternal life
God
God Almighty
~Katie

The Last Leaf

A chilly autumn breeze blows as a as a burnt, orange-colored leaf falls from a tree,
When I look up, I can see geese in a V formation, flapping their powerful wings as they head South for the approaching Winter,
A shivering squirrel gathers one more acorn before scurring to his home, a pitch black hole in the middle of a tree,
The crisp autumn leaves are beautiful, Colors of all sort, Orange, Red, Yellow, and Brown,
A little frost in windows reminds me Winter is not far off,
As the last leaf falls unto a pile of raked leaves, I jump and land in that pile, laughing and watching the leaves swirling around me before settling back on the ground,
I lay on my back and look at the sky,
Any one can agree there is no season like fall... :)
~Katie

In God's Kingdom

In God's Kingdom, I don't wear a crown or jewels, but the beauty from the inside is what counts,
In God's kingdom, I am not based on what I wear, but judged by all my kindness and care,
In God's kingdom, I am loved no matter what, even if I mess up,
In God's Kingdom, I have everlasting life, because of Jesus, whom lay his life for me
In God's Kingdom, I am a princess, and He is my heavenly Father
<3
~Katie

The Real Magic

Every little girl or boy believes in magic. Fairies, mermaids, beautiful princesses that rule kingdoms, anything a child can imagine.
But to me the real magic is God's power and miracles from the bible, and even in present time. The real magic lies in God's hands and in all His creations. It doesn't have to be major for God to work His "Magic".
Today I had a "Magical Moment" with Elise.
It started out when Elise was screaming in my mom's arms while she was making dinner. She had to get something from the deep freeze in the garage but she had to set Elise down for a minute. Of course, with Elise in her bad mood, she started crying even louder. Since my mom's hands were full with the food she was making us for dinner, I grabbed Elise and went upstairs to my room to entertain her, so hopefully my mom could make dinner in peace. After I entered my room, Elise immediatly said "baby" in her sweet voice, but there was no baby doll around so I just assumed she meant the stuffed animal cat by Johanna's bed. I was about to give it to her, when she pointed to the window. I thought she might want to see outside, where Alaina and Matthew were. So I lifted her up, and she had fun saying "hi" and I even got her to say "hi day-dee (katie)". But believe it or not, that was not my "Magical Moment" with Lisey girl. It was VERY cute though.
While saying "hi" to Alaina and Matthew, Elise kept glacing over to the guinea pig, so I decided to take her there. She did say "pi-pig (guinea pig)", but that still wasn't my Magical Moment. I decided to show her how to feed Oliver grass that we have as treats for the guinea pig. At first, I lead her hand to feed him, but by the third time, she did it herself!! There it is!! My magical Moment! It may not seem "Magical" to feed a guinea pig treats, but it seemed as magical as any of God's miracles to me. She IS God's miracle! Pride swelled up in my chest and I was so proud of her! She loved it so much! Sometimes she would try to get some out of the bag, but it came out of it's bag. I said "Uh-oh" (something we've been trying to teach her to say)"it fell!" She then took what was in her hand and tried to put it back in the bag it came in! I laughed about that, but what made me laugh harder was when she took it from the ground and fed the guinea pig that! She was being a very resourceful little 1 yr. old toddler! I love her so much and am very happy to have her as a little sister.
Although this "Magical Moment" wasn't huge or headline-news, it was a memorable mooment in my life that I will always treasure forever.