Guess what?...

by Timothy

Yup, you guessed it: Another Birthday! What else is new in the Hellwig home? Yesterday, we celebrated Arianne's 14th Birthday!

In the Hellwig home, the Birthday person chooses the dinner for that night. Perhaps the best part of the meal Arianne picked was the dessert!

Peach Tart, Ice Cream,Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream, and Chocolate Cheesecake: a dessert to be remembered!
Benaiah waits (im)patiently for dessert.
And of course, The Official Birthday Picture!

Happy Birthday Arianne!

Sunday Afternoon at the Clayton's!

Posted by Gabrielle


We enjoyed spending this past Sunday afternoon with our dear friends, the Claytons. Thank you Claytons for the delicious lunch of lasagna, green beans and apple pie!

Yes, we did fit all 12 of us around the table together!

Mr. Clayton giving Timothy and me a demonstration of Creation/Evolution lecture he did

Mr. Clayton and Timothy deep in discussion

For a break between lunch and dessert we played croquet on the lawn across the street from the house. We enjoyed learning a new game.

Timothy, triumphant after a good hit

Elliot got tired of it halfway through so I finished up his game

The two croquet ladies, Christianna and Arianne

I love the way this one turned out with the flow of Christie's skirt :)

Elliot and Mr. Clayton 'reviewing the situation'

Jeddy, watching from the sidelines

Toby was cute trying to play it like the rest of us

Our happy group on the field!

Several years ago we memorized the whole book of James and Christianna recited James 1 for us

Jedidiah recited a passage that we learned in church earlier, Malachi 4: 4-6

Arianne recited a family favorite, Psalm 19

Toby (with a little coaching from Mommy) recited Psalm 23

Elliot read Deuteronomy 6: 1-9

Timothy and I gave a Creation/Evolution debate presentation. You can read the script here.

Mr. and Mrs. Clayton

This picture of Mrs. Clayton and Jeddy is just too precious!

Thank you so much Claytons for your hospitality! We will be remembering this afternoon together for a long time!

Pig Pickin' at the Smith's Farm

Posted by Gabrielle

Pig Pickin'? Yes, it's a Southern term for a pig barbecue party.
Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day and we drove 1 ^1/2 hours to our friend's farm. It was a lot of fun with hayrides, games and an afternoon of fellowship with friends.

Jedidiah on the fence of the horse pasture!

And, the highlight of the afternoon, horseback rides! I didn't have a turn as we ran out of time but I did get pictures!

Christianna and her friend Nellie Smith

Arianne and Nellie

We certainly got a taste of true country life! Thank you, Smith family, for your horse-pitality!

The 'Official' Anniversary Picture!

Posted by Gabrielle

Happy 20^th Anniversary Daddy and Mommy!

As the Cowboy rides along on his horse, little does he know that...

Posted by Gabrielle

His cattle hitched a ride behind him!

Daddy and Mommy's 20th Anniversary!

Posted by Gabrielle

Yesterday evening we celebrated Daddy and Mommy's 20th anniversary with a big dinner! Timothy, Arianne and I spent almost all day in the kitchen cooking and this is the result:

With flowers too!

With so many people in the house and the dinner being a surprise, we spent Tuesday evening making these:
This curtain was dubbed "the Great Scaley Wall". It is a frame of three sticks and white curtains from our dress-up bin with paper shopping bags fastened to one side with safety pins. From the kitchen side of this curtain it very closely resembled the scales of a croccodile!
The papers we clipped on the curtain say: Please do not Enter! Call for assistance. Ask and it shall be given unto you!

Christianna, Jedidiah and Tobias

Elliot being silly. What else is new around here?

Once we took down the curtain the hungry troops filed in.
And, the desserts:

Timothy's famous triple layer cheesecake,

Jam Treasure butter cookies and an orange cake.

Watch for the official anniversary picture to be posted as soon as possible!

What Benaiah did

Posted by Gabrielle

A couple of days ago, I went to get Benaiah(affectionately called Bunny in our house) up from his nap and this is what I found:
He had taken the contents of our embroidery thread box left too near his crib and cleverly decorated his crib with them. Several had to be cut to get them off the crib rail.

I wondered why he was so quiet after being put to bed!

Good Life Skills:

Posted by Gabrielle

Tobias learns to wash dishes!

Two Dilemas...

Posted by Gabrielle

Elliot has a problem:

"Mommy, what can I read?"

Mommy has a solution, but then Elliot has another problem!

"Mommy, where can I put these?"

Surprise Birthday Party

Posted by Gabrielle

On August 18(sorry for the delay in posting) we were able to have our good friend Mrs. Clayton over for a visit. As it was her birthday last week we threw her a small surprise birthday party, banners, flowers, cake and all!

Mrs. Clayton and Mommy

Relaxing and talking after tea and present-opening

Also, Elliot read a short story from the "Verses of Virtue" on the sacrifices and the eternal value of motherhood and...

Christianna recited Proverbs 31:10-31 describing the virtuous wife.

Thank you ,Mrs. Clayton, for your friendship and encouragement all these years! How wonderful it is to fellowship with you!