Lillian Judith Joy Robinson

   Dear Lillian,
  A year ago today, we found out that you had gone to live with Jesus. Your body was still in your mother's womb, but your soul had flown to Heaven. You never got the chance to see or get to know your family and your family didn't get to know you. They never heard you cry, laugh, or talk. They didn't get to see your first smile or take your first steps. They never got to hear you sing or watch you run through the grass. They wanted to hear you tell them that you loved them, but they missed that as well. Instead, God heard it all first. He heard you laugh, He listens when you talk to Him, He loves to hear you sing praises to Him. When you run through the fields of heavenly flowers, His eyes are on you and He is smiling. He loves to hear you tell Him that you love Him and He will never get tired of it.
  You brought joy to your family and friends for nine months. Your mother and father loved to watch you grow and always enjoyed looking at pictures of you. Your older sisters were anticipating your arrival with great excitement. Your older brothers were ready to hold you in their arms and look at your pretty little face. Your family's friends were always asking how much longer it would be before you were here, how big you were, and how active you seemed to be. They day came closer and we all looked forward to seeing you and holding you for the first time. Your parents were continually praying for a healthy baby and were anticipating your first cry.
  They never got to hear it. They never were able to hear you laugh, cry, or talk. Your family got to hold you, but they didn't get to feel you squirm around in their arms. They studied your little nose and lips, but they didn't see those lips spread into a smile. They touched your tiny hands, but you didn't hold tight to their fingers. Instead of laughter and joy that day, there were tears and sorrow. But up in Heaven, you were sitting on Jesus' knee, telling Him of all the flowers you had been picking, the lion you got to ride, the butterflies with which you got to play, and the little bird that had sat on your shoulder all day. You were happy and because of that, it makes us our grief a little easier to bear.
  We love you and though we miss you, we would never wish you back to this world. You never had to see the sin of this world, you never got sick, hurt, or sad. You went right to Heaven where you're always happy and singing. Someday, we'll join you up there and we'll have the chance to get to know you. Together, you and your family will be able to sing praises to God. Nobody will be missing you anymore, because they'll be with you. But until that day, we will always cherish the memories that you blessed us with.
 Love you, Lilly.

Sweet 16 Surprise Birthday Party

  Back in November, Hannah came to me and mentioned the idea to have a surprise brithday party for her sister Sarah and my sis Cassia. They are both turning 16 this year and because neither of them really would feel comfortable planning thier own parties, we took the challenge upon ourselves. When Hannah first mentioned the idea, I told her it was a great idea. But I didn't even imagine that we would actually do it. Now, while Sarah doesn't snoop through her sister's stuff. Cassia does. A lot of the papers that had plans written on them came home with me. During one of my phone conversations with Hannah, we found out that Cassia was listening in. We quickly told her that it was for Sarah and later I wrote in my journal that it was for Sarah and not for Cassia. Cassia read it and believed us!! As the months went on, we made more and more plans, getting other girls to help make invitations, get decorations, and assigning people to what they were going to be doing. Even though things were happening, I still didn't actually believe that it was going to possibly happen.
  That week, Hannah and I rushed to finish the last few things. I was continuously texting, calling, and emailing different people.
  Saturday morning dawned as the perfect party day. It was warm and sunny and the day was clear. The night before, I had typed up a bunch of stuff for the party. When I tried to print it all out, I found that the printer was completely out of ink. So, Saturday moning, I went and wrote everything out. It took me ages!! Like, seriously, about an one to two hours! When I finally finished that, I called Hannah and Nina to finish the last few details and then Mom took us three girls out to meet the Daires for lunch at the Apple Tree Inn. All through lunch, Hannah and I exchanged looks that showed each other how nervous we were. After lunch, we went out to the gift shop and looked around for a little while. Mom and Mrs. Daire worked on the bill as we girls waited in the gift shop. At long last, our mothers came out and Mom "invited" Mrs. Daire over for "coffee." Mrs. Daire said that she would "love to come for coffee" and neither Cassia or Sarah caught on. Hannah, Jessica, and I, though, all smiled knowingly at each other. We got Sarah and Hannah into our van and Mrs. Daire and Jessica followed in their car. Mom drove SO SLOWLY that I was afraid that Cassia would pick up on our secret. Hannah and I kept looking at each other and getting REALLY nervous!!!!
  When we finally pulled into the driveway and Mom had parked, Cassia said that she really had to use the bathroom and change her skirt. Hannah quickly said that she too "had to use the bathroom." We went flying to the house and stopped in the backroom. All the girls were standing on the boys' stairs and we exchanged excited hi's. Mom and Mrs. Daire tryed to get Cassia and Sarah inside at the same time, but it was VERY difficult, because Cassia moves faster than Sarah. Sarah finally came in and Cassia was still out on the porch. She saw the 'Happy Birthday' banner in the kitchen window and became quite confused. We quickly pulled her inside and I got in front of Sarah. She passed the boys' stairs without even seeing the girls. I pushed her back and then all the girls yelled "Surprise!" Cassia and Sarah looked and saw all the girls and were speechless. Literally, for like 5 minutes!! It was totally awesome! Cassia went over to mom and said, "What is going on?" Mom answered, "It's Sarahs' party." "I didn't know it was today," Cassia told her. "Yeah, it's yours too!" Mom informed her pushing her back over to the girls. I will never forget their faces. Neither of them show a lot of emotion, so just seeing them staring at these girls without speaking was enough for everyone to know they were surprised!
  We had an awesome afternoon playing games, eating, sharing memories or advice, and just having a awesome time together! I was so blessed to see so many of their friends show up. One girl, who used to be our neighbor, was there and we haven't seen her in several years. Seeing her was so awesome and all the other girls who we see at church all the time were also such a blessing. I was so grateful that they showed up, happy to show Cassia and Sarah that they're loved. We got lots of pics, so here's a few.

Grandma made this amazing piano cake!!

The birthday girls!

Love the ladies!

Always have to have a goofy one

Love ya sis

Love this beautiful girl!

Reynolds

The Angel who was willing to do a devotion!
Thanx girl!! Love you tons!

Love these two!

What a sweetie!

Happy Birthday, Cassia and Sarah!

And then, of course, Hannah was able to sneak
me into a pic

My Crazy Life

  This past week, we've had something going on every day. Monday we had CHOICE. Tuesday we had piano lessons. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday was Missions Conference. This year's Missions Conference was amazing. (They all are of course, but this one was especially good!) Adam Thompson (an awesome preacher) was the main speaker and then we had several different missionary families come in. The Harris family presented Wednesday, the Baumans on Sunday, the Morris family on Friday morning, and the Suttles presented Sunday morning. (I have totally forgotten who presented on Friday night.)  Every night was a late one (Thursday and Friday being the latest) and we are still catching up on sleep. Mom got the flu and today everyone is just laying low and doing a little bit of school here and there. One of Cassia's goats had babies and she is in the process of taking care of one. (I will let her fill in the details over on her blog so you can find out about farm life here.)
  The weather is finally warming up. Yesterday was 60 to 65 degrees and it was AMAZING!!!!! I got my first sunburn of the year, OUCH!! Today is supposed to be 75 degrees!! Yes, the kids are and will be playing outside!! haha.
  Yesterday, we had the first All-American church picnic after service. We had an awesome time, but I thought of last year's picnic and the Snyders lots and lots of times. I remember last year, we girls hung out all afternoon, running around in barefeet, running in and out of the bus to get things, eating, laughing, talking. enjoying each other. Missed that a lot yesterday!!!
  Well, I must go and be responsible and dilligent and work on Physical Science. (Anybody want to do it for me? I'll be glad for the relief from agony and torture. lol)

Miss seeing this cutie. She's been sick. (Old picture. She's huge now!!!)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day all you crazy, wonderful people! Was so glad to spend the day with friends and family, though I missed Mom a lot. (Don't know how you've done it every year for the last several years!!) We had an awesome party with our closest friends and all we girls were more than grateful that we are not guys! We played games in our warm house while our nutty brothers went out and played football in the deep snow! (You must agree with me that they are at least slightly insane!!) I thought about you Snyders several times today and hope you all had an awesome day!! I'm so glad to know you girls better, (not so sure about the guys, jk) and can't wait to come down!!

   Love you all! Hope everyone had an awesome day!

Back to HOPE

Today was our first 2015 HOPE. It went really well even though so many people were missing. A few aren't returning for the year, others are on vacation, and many people are sick. It was small, but everyone had a great time. My classes were great. Mrs. Glushefski taught life skills and taught on my favorite subject. Grammar!!! I loved it! For gym, we "excerised" with Mrs. Pinzon. That was awesome! We "stretched" to our knees (instead of toes), jogged in place for about two seconds, and then did two jumping jacks. Mrs. Hanley would've flipped if she had been there! We played human foosball and that was a lot of fun!! My team totally lost, though with 0 to 4! Everyone had left church by 1 pm which is unusual. HOPE was great and I can't wait for next week! So glad we're back, but missed the people who were unable to be there today. So glad that most of them will be back by March.

Christmas Day

 

Fall

A leaf pile my sibs and I raked
up. Me next to it for comparison.

This fall has been great. Whooping cough was a drag, but everything else went well. Thanksgiving was awesome and it was great getting to see everyone again! I haven't been going to Jessica's for a while, but I did yesterday and Lanie is HUGE!!! =( =)I have helped my grandparents move. Grandma F moved in early November and Grandparents M moved in late November, but we were packing all in between! We are very thankful that they are finally closer and we love having them right next door! CHOICE has been going well, though not many souls have been saved. HOPE has been cancelled, so all of us are pretty disappointed about that and are eager to start up again in February. I was able to go to a nursing home with the Daires, Zavidils, and my mom and older bro on Sunday and am hoping to go to another next Sunday with the Robinsons. The Christmas season is approaching and the business is halfway around the corner already!! The Jewish home is next Friday. Choir practices have started for the concerts at the mall and church. This year, our concert at church will be on a Friday!! We have started piano lessons again after being off for I-don't-know-how-long. I have missed the Snyders tons and am continuously thinking about them. Mike is getting ready to graduate in the spring (we're all praying he does) and Cassia is ready to be 16. Hannah, Leanna, and I have all gotten so much closer this fall and it has been awesome to be their friend. Leanna will be deserting those of us in King's Choir in April and we are quite upset about that, but we will bravely struggle on and hope for the best. ;D

Cassia and I got braces

My Lanie-Lu-Lu who is 5 months old!!

Absolutely love this face!!