Jaguars

~Posted by Josiah

 

Hello! I hope you will like this post! I was wanting to talk about Jaguars. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. J

 

About it: The Jaguar is the third largest wildcat in the world! Jaguars also have the strongest jaws and teeth of all cats.

 

Hunter: Jaguars hunt everything from fish and lizards, to birds and small alligators!!!!!!!! They really like fish. J Jaguars’ strong jaws pierce the skulls of their larger victims.

 

I hope you liked the post! I’m excited to do the next one!

Birthday Photo Shoot

Since our birthdays are clustered close together, I ended up owing all of my siblings birthday photos. So we decided to go out on one big shoot together last weekend! It was being lots of fun, and we explored a bunch of new locations together!

We found an abandoned section of a dirt road back in the woods. It made for a great, traffic-free background!

I can’t believe that my little brother is a young man already! When did that happen?

Gotta love old barns and fences.

Josiah will soon pass me in height. But don’t tell him I said that. ;-)

Quite handsome.

As we drove, we stumbled upon an old cemetery. Some of the graves dated back to the 1870’s! We had so much fun exploring, and some of the old trees made for great portrait spots.

Roma and Ruby are becoming quite fashionable.

They have truly grown into young ladies.

Best friends!

I love spending time with my siblings! Combining that with photography makes for a near-perfect morning. J

Things Above

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Col. 3:2

~ posted by Betsy

Our Rite of Passage

~Posted by Roma

Bianca had her Rite of Passage when she was 13, a long time ago. Ben had his Rite of Passage when he was 14, a few years ago. Last Saturday, May 17^th, was a very exciting day: Rubia and I had our Rite of Passage Ceremony!

A Rite Of Passage Ceremony happens for us when Mom and Dad recognize that we are growing older and they want to celebrate that we are going through a doorway—a passage way—from childhood to adulthood. Age doesn’t matter so much—it’s more about maturity. So, before our birthday, we celebrated with 12 other ladies (including our Mom, Bianca, and our Abuela) at our church! It was small and simple; the way we liked it. J

We arrived at the church and found the most gorgeous decorations all over the upstairs youth room made by our sweet friend, Mrs. H! There was a table with all the food and blue, yellow, and violet plastic table wear, (we LOVE those colors) and there were two huge fancy chocolate cakes with rich white frosting! There were beautiful cookies, a table with punch, tables and chairs set up in front of the podium where the speaking was done, and a table full of gifts. We were showered and spoiled! J

My Mom made a speech in the beginning. Dad came up, read his letter to us, and showed Ruby and I the video he had made for us on the big screen. It was a wonderful gift from him. J After the video Mom spoke some more, and then Ruby and I stepped up to the podium and shared our testimonies. Then a few other ladies including my Grandma and Mom read their letters to us. We each received a binder filled with letters of affirmation from Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and even Haiti!

After the reading of the letters, Ruby and I stepped up in front of the ladies, and we had the Passing of Blessings. The ladies each read a blessing over us that was written on cards for us to keep. That was special! Then everyone gathered around us, and we were prayed over. We then enjoyed a fellowship meal together and the men and boys joined us.

We had a big layered Company Salad, (Ruby and I adore salad) deviled eggs, Chick-fil-A chicken, pistachio salad, crackers with hummus and mockamole (like guacamole), cake, punch, and cookies. Ruby and I have loved opening the gifts, reading the letters from all over, and enjoying the new books, journals, music, gift cards, jewelry, etc

It was so wonderful—we felt so, so special, and blessed! We had celebrated our birthday for days. A few days before all this, we were taken to a very special restaurant for dinner and given purity rings by our Dad, then we had this ceremony, then on our actual birthday, Abuela made her amazing Puerto-Rican cooking…I could go on and on! We had a wonderful ceremony, birthday, and wonderful time with family. Praise be to the Lord for His abundant blessings!

Rite of Passage Preview

This past weekend, Rubia and Roma celebrated a very special milestone: their Rite of Passage ceremony! Much preparation went into the event, and it turned out beautifully. Come back on Friday to hear more about it!

Spring's Here! Part 2

~Posted by Rubia

I love May, especially! I think in Texas, I like it most because it is hot but not scorching hot. Although most of the flowers I had shown to y’all last month are already gone, there is still in the great outdoors the promise of rich green fulfilled, and also exciting events that usually only happen around this time of year.

What are some more of my favorite things about this time of year? Some recent pictures as well as old ones reveal my answer:

 



Baby animals!



It’s time to get outside more!

We also had opportunities some years to go on a trip….



….and spend time with long lost family.

Most years we will have beloved family over to visit.

….I also had to add…if you all don’t mind, I love having a Spring birthday with my sister! J As goofy as we can be. (We twins back in 2007.)



And there’s probably much more that I love about this time of year. Does anyone else out there in the cold north favor Spring too? J What is your favorite thing about it?

 

 

Wishing y’all a blessed (and hopefully warm) Spring season.

 

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.”~Ecclesiastes 3:11 

Gardening

I am so excited! It has been 2 years since I nurtured a plant. Today I was out shopping and decided to buy some herbs to pot. While I still know almost nothing about Texas growing seasons, I figured if they were selling them it was a good time of year to plant them and that they should survive. J So I purchased pots, plates, potting soil, basil, spearmint, chocolate mint, Fernleaf dill, and flat leaf Italian parsley! It’s not a lot, but it’s a start! Hopefully my herb collection will grow into a garden next year!

Open

“The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of His bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.”

Deuteronomy 28:12