Early this year in late April or very early June. My sweet Rigby (who has been on here a few times) appeared on my front porch, around three or four months old.
Just a few days later, The 3rd of June to be exact my little baby nephew, Gabriel Allen was born!
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| Me, my big sister Amber, Gabe and a random purple Monkey I will now name, Fred. (My other big sister Ashlea, (The Mama of Gabey) is just out of the shot frowning at our excitement.) |
A little bit after July 4th, my big sister Amber, got engaged to her boyfriend, Darin. They are going to get married in April. Since he is a US Marine we haven't seen him since July, so he is finally getting some time off so he can come home for about a week, more or less.
Hopping to September the 10th I started to volunteer at Paradise Ranch,
Then hopping on to November, I turned 13 and got my promise ring,
(And a bottle of the best soda EVER.)
Then in December We decided to do something a little different, to celebrate Hanukkah (If you are wondering what Hanukkah is I have written something down at the bottom of the post to explain the holiday.) We when to a Hebraic Conference on a weekend in the middle of Hanukkah. There was loads of teachers that gave great teachings. The one that I went to was on the Creation Gospel.
That is all that I have for today I hope that you have a wonder full day! Until next year :)
About Hanukkah:
The festival of Hanukkah celebrates two miracles – a great Jewish military victory and a miraculous supply of oil for the Temple .In the Temple, an eternal flame had to stay lit all the time. Walk into any synagogue today and you will see something commemorating that eternal flame, though now it’s usually a light bulb. This signifies that God’s presence is there all the time.
But when they came into the Temple to light the eternal flame, there was only one flask of clean, pure olive oil to use, just enough to keep the flame burning for one day. Only pure oil could be used — not oil that had been touched by the pagans and used for sacrifices to the pagan gods. There would not be enough oil, as it would take eight days to go out and get more.
But they went ahead and lit the flame anyway, which sends a beautiful message of trusting in God. Some might have said, “Why bother? It will go out anyway after a day, and then we’ll have to wait for the oil.” But they trusted in God, and a miracle occurred — the lamp that was only to last for one day stayed lit for eight days until the new oil arrived. This is how Hanukkah became the “Festival of Lights.”
The Hanukkah menorah holds nine candles, one for each of the eight nights and an additional candle that’s used to light the others. One candle is lit on the first night, two on the second night, until all eight candles are lit on the eighth night. Hanukkah is a time to celebrate with family and friends, to eat holiday treats, traditionally fried or baked in olive oil to remind those who celebrate that holiday the miracle that God did. They also give gifts and play Dreidel a game which you spind a four sided top with four letters that form the acronym of the phrase: "Nes gadol hayah sham," "A great miracle happened there" to reference the oil that lasted 8 days.
