Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Of David.
103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,and all that is within me,bless his holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,and forget not all his benefits,

3 who forgives all your iniquity,who heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit,who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5 who satisfies you with goodso that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The Lord works righteousnessand justice for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,his acts to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 He will not always chide,nor will he keep his anger forever.

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

13 As a father shows compassion to his children,so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass;he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,and its place knows it no more.

17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,and his righteousness to children's children,

18 to those who keep his covenantand remember to do his commandments.

19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,you mighty ones who do his word,obeying the voice of his word!

21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,his ministers, who do his will!

22 Bless the Lord, all his works,in all places of his dominion.Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Niagara Falls Vacation

Kelvin at the base of Bridal Veil Falls on the Cave of the Winds tour. We stood in line for 2 hrs to go down, but it was worth the wait.
Kelvin noticed this rainbow & thought it was the perfect place for me to pose. I went up on the "hurricane deck" 3 times-basically, the water from pounds down onto the deck-the water was so powerful, that it felt like hail. So exhilarating!

View of the American Falls from our "Maid of the Mist" boat ride. We got to go right into the horseshoe of Horseshoe Falls-no pictures of this-the water and mist would have ruined my camera!

Maid of the Mist boat.

It was windy and wet!

Hannah's Wedding

Hannah and Nate's wedding date was July 31st, 2010-it was a beautiful day!

My sister Mary Ellen her posies that I arranged from my garden and my mothers.

Hannah looking very happy with her bouquet.

Mary Marion and Mary Ellen-the lovely bridesmaids!

Hannah and Nate doing a great job feeding each other cake. The first cake that I've made that we ever had to serve small pieces so that it would go around to the whole crowd. Usually, I can serve generous portions with tons of leftover cake. Not this time! There was just enough!

Our Baby News

Well, It's high time that I pay a little attention to my neglected blog and catch you all up on our big, exciting news that has consumed the whole summer. We are expecting a baby! We found out on July 9th, 2010, which is very meaningful for us because Emanuel, our second baby was born on that day two years ago in 2008. I am thankful that the Lord choose to redeem that very sad day by giving us hope for the future in the promise of new life.
We are resting in the promise that God does all things well and are praying for a healthy baby this time round. However, we acknowledge that life is a gift from Him, and in that, the life is his to give or take away, at whatever point He deems good. Please pray for us that we have peace in His decision!
I am 15 weeks along right now, the due date is March 14th.
This baby is a character already-at every ultrasound (except the first one at 5 weeks!) this tiny babe has been super busy- bouncing around waving hands and feet. So precious to see! I can't wait to be able to meet him or her!

I will try harder to keep you all updated better than I have in the past! Both my sisters got married, Hannah on July 31st, and Molly this past weekend on Sept. 18th. Had a great time at these affairs, but didn't take many pictures-I'm depending on getting some from the rest of the family. Somehow me and my camera haven't been as close as we used to be! ( I do have a few shots to share & I'll try to get them up for you all soon!

Hannah and Nate's Wedding Shower

Erin & Jonathan (my sis & bro-in-law) had Hannah & Nate's wedding shower in their new shop. It was a great place for a party!

Little sister Jerusha serving lemonade-we went through 8 gallons of lemonade-it was a hot day! In this game, Erin wheeled the wagon with 20 items on it around so everyone could have a look. Then folks had to remember what they saw & write it down.

Next game "How well do you know the bride/groom? This is Nate's folks counting how many siblings Hannah has:)

Ma & Pa working on their answers.

Aunt Laura was sure she knew ALL 20 items on the wagon-and she did!

The happy couple with the best card:)from Cousin Jamie

The audience

Sheldon (the best man) hand the couple the gifts-the Mountain Dew is from Nate's younger brother.

Hannah, very pleased with her lovely lavender towels from Aunt Pemba

I love this shot with the mommies on either side....

Aunt Laura and my sweet Grandma Graham.

I happened along at the right moment to hear the conversation: "Can you even IMAGINE how much some people spend on a WEDDING?!" Hannah, Nate, Aunt Debbie, Grandma Vanderbosch, Cousin Nicki, & Aunt Laura.

Everyone stayed for a dish to pass supper to end out a beautiful weekend. Now we are looking forward to the wedding date-fast approaching-on July 31st. :)

Wedding Shower Eve-Picnic at our House

The evening before my sister Hannah and Nate's wedding shower, we had the immediate families and bridal party over for a picnic supper and a bonfire. We had a wonderful time! Hannah and Nate are blessed with great friends (and families, of course:) who really enjoy life-we had a fun time!

Marion admiring a frog, then Marion's surprised face captured as the frog makes it's quick and daring escape!

Sheldon (the best man) squirting cake frosting into Nate's mouth. Yup. Every wedding needs a guy with humor. And they're just practicing!

Hannah and Mrs. Charles (Nate's mom).

The girlies and their hot dogs.

The pictures below are from the same evening. Note the picture with all the people: that is the sum of Hannah & Nate's immediate family. (wow, there are a bunch of us!)

The last picture is the bridal party, picnic style!

Wedding Shower Eve~Picnic at our House

An Evening of Fellowship

Last evening we had families from our ladies' group over for a dish to pass supper, games and a bonfire. It worked out that we had the same number of adults as children so we played "buddy kickball". Each child chose which adult they wanted to play with, then Diana and Sarah chose teams.

Notice each little person has a big person (except Joanna in this picture, 'cuz she was my buddy and I was running around snapping photos:) The sky was hazy, but it looks worse in this photo because our campfire was sending smoke over our ball diamond-we moved the diamond!

Uncle Kelvin and Louisa playing out field

Daddy (Jonathan) and Retta on second base, "Are you ready little girl?" -"when he kicks that ball, we gotta run."

Sarah and her Mama Jessica. Sarah really got into the game-being team captain and getting Mama all to herself was wonderful! (Sarah did a great job kicking that ball!)

Lexi and her Daddy Jeremy ready (or not) to kick the ball "Hard, Lexi!" (She kicked it about two feet and made it safely to first base in Daddy's arms).

Carson played ball with Jeremy as his buddy before heading back for a canoe trip on the grass with the "zoo picture camera."

Lexi with her mommy Katie on second base. I love Lexi's expression. She really enjoyed herself!

Diana and her mom Erin have a reflective moment with the ball. "Which way should we throw it"? "They made it safely to base, mom."

Uncle John Perno, "This here's my buddy Carlton, my man!"

Aunt Jessie and Joanna posing pretty for the camera:)

The ball game was a blast, but it didn't last too long; the kids attention spans and our ambition levels carrying them around the bases reached fizzle point after about four innings and 35 minutes. We decided it was s'more time.

Love, love, love the expressions on these faces, and covering up from the heat. We'll even face fire for a s'more!

Notice Carlton roasting his big chunk of firewood, and Louisa holding the baby doll. I wish none of them had to go home. I could have bottled this moment!

Parades

This year Kelvin went with me to the Memorial Day parade in Avoca, our hometown. The man second to the right in the photo below is Kevin's second cousin, Shane Slayton.

No parade is complete without a band! Several kids we know are in the band, but I couldn't pick them out if I tried!

Our neighbor, John Walsh is our Steuben County Legislator. He restores lots of antique vehicles and always has something very cool and unusual to drive. This is a 1898 Conderman Electric, made in Hornellsville, NY.

My sisters-in-laws Jessica and Sharon took their girls in the parade. The signs says: Slayton's Country Girls of America.

Joanna and Alyssa resting after their hot ride in the truck.

The plaque reads: In memory of the men of this town who laid down their lives for their country during the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865

War of REBELLION?! My, I guess we know how Bath citizens viewed the Civil War!

The Dairy Parade was the following weekend. Kelvin and I met up with Erin & Jonathan to watch the parade. This was my favorite float...the cow jumped over the moon...!

Jonathan and Retta

Miss Diana

Miss Louisa

Jonthan and Erin said we needed to find a RED tractor to get their picture taken with, so we trompt to the far side of the fairgrounds to find the Internationals!

Kelvin and I in front of a 4020, of course. (We have a 4020!)

Dad treated us all to chicken BBQ both weekends, which is a treat we look forward to each year. Poor Dad-it's starting to get quite expensive!