Whoa.

~Isaiah 7:14
All right then, the Lord himself will choose a sign.
Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel,
'God is with us.'

God is with us. How amazing is that!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Merry Christmas

Hello everybody!

(sheepish grin...)

Its been quite a while since this blog's been updated, I know,

but we wanted to wish all you fine blogfollowers a Very Merry Christmas!

So, may you have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed new year!

~The Kalebaughs~

uh...

Well, in case nobody guessed, we're back from Wisconsin :)

Between school, church and life, blogging hasn't exactly been
in the top 10 needing to get done... We've been doing good just
getting to sleep sometimes :)

So, we've been packing shoeboxes at Tommy's Hut almost every
night for the last 2 weeks, Saturday mom is hosting a MaryKay open
house, Sunday is the Pizza Party for the wrap up of shoebox packing,
NEXT WEEK IS THANKSGIVING!!!!!! :D:D:D:D Us girls have been
playing music for the people at the Nursing Home in Dixon once a month,
AaauuuHHH Christmas is only 37 days away!!!!
So yeah, busyness has kind of taken over our lives, but hey, at least its fun!
(most of the time...)

:D:D:D

Hey all! It's Beck...
We are in Wisconsin at the Wolf Lodge!

Dad and Mom are here for a Pastor's convention... Us 3
are here to have fun :D
And we are.

New Additions

Well, last week we adopted this cat... We named her

Claire, and it was obvious that she was quite pregnant.

We now have 7 cats...

I don't know what it is about new life, but there is just

something about it that brings joy.

Its refreshing and wonderful.

I want to thank the Giver of Life for these amazing

blessings that we get to share!

Cry Out America

On September 11th, ten of the area pastors participated in a

'Cry Out America' service.

The service was held as a memorial to the victims of 9/11

and also to pray for revival for our country.

Dad was one of the 10 pastors :)

Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance.

It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists

not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall

be righteous as well as strong. ~James Bryce

Somebody had a birthday...

Today is Cameron's 10th birthday!

We love you so much Cameron!

You are absolutely the best grandson and nephew!
Hope you had a wonderful day!

Statue.

In Dixon they've been working for quite a while on a "riverfront"

place. And they've finally finished it!

It's really pretty, and peaceful.

There's a really nice statue of Ronald Reagan, and you can walk right

down by the river, and there's seats and water fountains.

So last week some of my music teachers summer bands were

performing down there, so we went to watch.

We were there through sunset which was BEAUTIFUL!!!

And I know these pictures are both very similar, but I couldn't

decide which one I liked better...

Probably this one...

Good quote.

Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this
life in fear; rather look to them with full hope that, as
they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of
them. He is your keeper. He has kept you hitherto.
Do you but hold fast to his dear hand, and he will lead you
safely through all things; and, when you cannot stand, he
will bear you in his arms. Do not look forward to what may
happen tomorrow. Our Father will either shield you from
suffering, or he will give you strength to bear it.
-Francis of Sales

Hmmmm.

In our family devotions tonight we read out of
Proverbs 21. 3 of the verses stood out to me.

3. The Lord is more pleased when we do what is just and
right than when we give him sacrifices.

21. Whoever pursues godliness and unfailing love will find life,
godliness, and honor.

30. Human plan, no matter how wise or well advised, cannot
stand against the Lord.

I don't have any great inspirational words to say about these
verses, they just stuck out to me.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Today we took a fun day!

Life is so busy, and summer break is speeding to an end,

so before school started we took a day and went to the
Maquoketa Caves!
Drena and Reid went too!

And even though we are exhausted, and life's still just as busy

as it was before we took our fun day, I think we needed a break,

and this was a perfect one!

It was only 2 hours away too so that was nice.

(groan) there were a lot of stairs on the paths leading to the

caves, and they were great walking down, but really not so

great having to walk up...

Drena and Mom only came to one cave, and didn't venture in too far because they were getting claustrophobic.

Crystal only brought her little camera, but got some really

good pictures! She of course found spots for us to pose :)
The scenery was so beautiful!

It was really cool (temp) in the caves so the humidity

put kind of a mist in the air.

Oh, we had such a good time!

We crawled around in all sorts of places, got really dirty, bruised

tired, and had a great time!

Lunch break...

Yes, quite dirty...

It was a really fun day!

Rach and I got a little bored on the ride home...

Twins!

Every time I'd look at this picture after we took it I'd just burst

out laughing! Even now I'm laughing...

We have fun :)

Thanks God for little timeouts from the day to day,

they're refreshing! (in an exhausting sort of way)

fun.

Josh and his family were over at our house today.

We were in T's pool mostly, but after supper we went

outside and played beanbags. Since we were all together, and

it rarely happens that we're all in the same place at the same time,

we took advantage of it and got a few pictures!

After lots of goof-off pictures mom told us to

"come on, be serious!" :)
But that didn't last long...

Some Quotes.

No mortal creature can comprehend God in his majesty,
and therefore did he come before us in the simplest manner,
and was made man, with sin, death, and weakness.
-Martin Luther


It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it.
Lighthouses do not ring bells and fire cannons to call attention
to their shining - they just shine.
-Dwight L. Moody

Sucker!(s)

Okay, I guess you all probably already know this,

be us 5 are all total suckers when it comes to Cameron,

Devyn, and Karley...

We drove past Dairy Queen and saw Josh and his family

ordering Ice Cream, so Crystal honked the horn, and I had

my arm stuck way out the window waving wildly.

And from the backseat I hear Rachel say,

"why is it that whenever we see them I get a weird grin

on my face and just can't wipe it off?"
I guess being an aunt just does that to you...

Beauty :)

Devyn and Karley got a little restless during

church yesterday, so they decided to decorate me. I loved it too :)

'Contented Sigh'

Ah, it feels so good to be home!

The last 1 1/2 hours of our car ride yesterday seemed
to take forever! But it even felt great just to be in Illinois.
When we got home, Taffie went nuts! We didn't even put
her in her fence we just opened up the door, and let her
run from person to person in the front yard :)
And T was here, and a few minutes later Jared was here,
and, AHHHHhhh, It is SO good to be home!

We'll definitely look back on last week with fond memories though!

:)

I am so thankful for the wonderful blessing we received
by being able to stay here at the Clover Ridge Resort
for a whole week! We had a wonderful, relaxing stay.
But all good things must come to an end, and we are going
home today. That's okay though. We have had a great time
here, but are really missing everything back home.

Taffie here we come!!!

Yesterdayfun.

Here are some pictures from when we went kayaking yesterday!I really like this picture, I think its very unique.

Oh come on now, none of that :)
Stopping to looks for shells.
(Crystal and I thought that they'd make great necklaces)

Dad wanted to make sure that I let it be known that

we 'conquered' the 'mighty' Raccoon River!

Ah, technology!

I like that Crystal's camera has a timer on it, that

way she can be in pictures too!

Kayaking was a really great/fun experience!

We went here for supper.

We kind of couldn't not go :)

Sucess!

Kayaking was a sucess!
Nobody tipped over,
and a good time was had by all :)

Fun!

So, we're going kayaking today!
Pray for good weather and an awesome/safe time!
We miss everybody, but are having lots of fun.

Everybody have a great day!

We're here

The Kalebaugh family is on VACATION!!

We finally arrived last night after about a 6 hour car drive...

Plans for the week are being lazy and relaxing!

Pictures will come soon but I'm now off to enjoy the sunshine!

Happy WORK week to ya'll while we suffer the hardships of fun and laziness!! :)

And We're Off!

We are leaving for church in about an hour, and then
heading straight from there on vacation!
We're all looking forwards to a great, relaxing week.
We have some plans, but mostly just, uh, relaxing!!!
So look out Iowa, here we come!

:)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

Angry face!

I don't know how to get it off, but there's links
to something on some of the words I typed in the last
post... Just picture my angry face }:[

Wow! An Update!

It seems like we never update this blog...
That of course could be because we don't really.
(insightful I know...)
We're getting ready to go have supper with Grandpa,
and then I think Crystal is doing a photo shoot tonight.

And Sunday, after church we are leaving to go on vacation!
We are staying next to a lake in Iowa, and at least Crystal
and I are looking forwards to (hopefully) relaxing in the sun
for the most part of this trip. :)

Funny happenings - this morning, I went to give mom a hug
before I left and she didn't know I had a cup of juice in my hand...
JUICE BATH! It sloshed all over my arm and the floor. I didn't
have time to wash it off of me, so I spent the next few minutes
(I know its gross) trying to lick it off my arm, so the bugs wouldn't
attack me. It kind of worked, but my arm had a weird, sticky feeling.

Its kind of sad, that I haven't really posted pictures in a while,
but all of the pictures that we take always get downloaded
onto Crystal's computer, and she's been on in it a lot trying to
finish up all her photo editing before we leave for vacation.
So I guess you'll all just have to deal with this rambling :P

Good ending note - Jude 24 & 25
And now, all glory to God, who is able to keep you from
stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence
innocent of sin and with great joy. All glory to him, who alone
is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, glory,
majesty, power, and authority belong to hem, in the beginning,
now, and forevermore.

Well I know that was all disjointed, but at least it was an update!
Plus, that's just the way my minds working right now... :P

What Matters

2 Cor. 4:8-10
We are pressed on every side by troubles,
but we are not crushed and broken.
We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit.
We are hunted down, but God never abandons us.
We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep
on going. Through suffering, these bodies of ours
constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the
life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster of
emotions and exhaustion. And a lot of the
time it felt like we were a rubber band pulled just tight
enough that if even a hair touched it, would snap.
But every time one more thing got added to the pile, we didn't.
We were given the strength to hold it together.
We're not through all the hard stuff yet, but the rubber band
seems to be relaxing a little bit.
And although we were far from perfect, my hope is
that the light of Jesus was able to shine through us, in
some small way, and be a eye opener to someone else.

2 Cor. 4:18
So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now;
rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen.
For the troubles we see will soon be over,
but the joys to come will last forever.

Just Come.

Revelation 22:17
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."
Let each one who hears them say, "Come."
Let the thirsty ones come - anyone who wants to.
Let them come and drink the water of life without charge.

To anyone who is thirsty.
COME. Jesus can fill you up.
It's as simple as that.
-Beck

Godkissed.

I am SO thankful that God chose to kiss our lives

with this sweet, beautiful treasure!

Happy Birthday Devyn!

Aunt Beck - and Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Crystal and Aunt Rach!

Happy Tuesday!

Psalm 105:1-4
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his miracles.
Exult in his holy name;
O worshipers of the Lord, rejoice!
Search for the Lord and for his strength,
and keep on searching.

Spring Flowers

I LOVE looking outside and seeing all the pretty spring colors!

And this year especially the green leaves on trees.

It seemed to me like it took extra long for the leaves appear.

Violets!

These were quite prevalent before mom mowed over them...

Grandpa's tulips. They're so beautiful! I love the bright red!Not only do they have flowers in their hair, but they are also just like flowers in our lives.
I think the double colored tulips are really neat.
Well I guess some people would consider this a flower...

Karley's been quite in to picking chives lately

(because they are"pretty")

Here you have some springy flower cheer!