Happy Life at Home.

Christmas Giveaway

2011-11-29T11:05:00.001-08:00

For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed reading the Vision Forum catalog and buying items from their online store. Vision Forum is a Christian book and resource store that helps... well further one's vision lol. This year Vision Forum is giving away $600 dollars worth in gift certificates. If you would like to enter to win this fabulous offer please go to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home and leave a comment.
I hope y'all are having a wonderful evening :)

This is what happens when you don't post in months

2011-11-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

Well by forfeit Teresa won my book giveaway being the only person to comment.
So Mrs. Garlic we'll be sending you your copy of "A Child's book of Church Etiquette" asap.
To all y'all out there who had given up hope of my ever posting again sorry you missed out on this great opportunity and I'm sorry for not posting in so long :P.

TV dinner anyone?

2011-11-03T08:50:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday I decided to make a TV Dinner for after Dinner with the help of all the children.

Now you might wonder why on earth I would make a TV dinner for after dinner so maybe this excerpt from the recipe book will help enlighten y'all ;)

" No need to worry about your peas and carrots mixing with you chocolate pudding in this TV dinner...it's all made with candy and sugar. Go ahead and grab a chicken leg by it's white chocolate bone, or dig into the pile of frosting mashed potatoes topped with caramel gravy. You might want to save the vegetables for last, because the peas and carrots are actually Runts and Starbursts."

For a sweet tooth like myself a description like that is VERY tempting lol so I decided to have a special cooking spree with the children as I knew they would greatly enjoy making this. So I went and bought the necessary ingredients and told them we were gonna do something special after lunch.

Cutting orange Starbursts

Happily picking out all the green Runts

As we began the children were still wondering what in the world I was doing but they were soooo excited to help and they enjoyed getting to eat the left over candy too ;)

Cream cheese frosting

Mashed potatoes with butter and gravy

Carrots and Peas ( My personal favorite lol)

Ready for dinner. Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots and Peas and Chocolate Pudding (for "dessert" ;))

Sooooooo HAPPY :D

All my helpers

So there you have it TV dinner cupcakes. It was sooooo much fun making these with the chillens and they enjoyed eating the fruit of their labors.
Have a blessed day y'all!!!

A Child's Book of Church Etiquette

2011-10-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

My Mother has written a book!!!
I'm proud to present to y'all, "A Child's Book of Church Etiquette". This small book is written specifically for parents to read aloud to their children and goes into details about the importance of proper behavior in the worship service. It's written in a very clear and understandable way and is full of beautiful illustrations your children will love looking at. We are selling it at the price of $8.95 + shipping. However, if you leave a comment before Monday, the 6th of November we will be selecting one of you to receive a free copy. Please comment and feel free to order here using the Pay Pal button on the sidebar. This book would be a great Christmas gift for all the special children in your life ! ;)
I hope you enjoy this wonderful book and that it would be a great blessing to all who read it.

A Tribute

2011-04-26T17:34:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, April 20th, Jonatan David Torres went home with the Lord after a long fight with cancer. On his 15th birthday he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. He went through 26 rounds of Chemotherapy but then the doctors found tumors in his lungs. Jona underwent several surgeries and in December 2010 he was given a month to live. I knew Jona as a little boy as his family attended our church before God called them to start a church in Greer and have many memories of his happiness and his love of practical jokes. He was a wonderful testimony and rebuke to all who knew him and through his 2 year battle he never complained and he even thanked God for the cancer because it had drawn him closer to God.
Jona wanted to glorify God with his life and with his death if God so chose. At 11:40 Wednesday night God decided to take Jona to his eternal home, where he is now free from pain. Jona DID glorify God with his life and with his death and has left a remarkable testimony for all of us to follow. Please pray for the Torres family as they adjust to life without Jona.

Jona wrote a song about Romeo and Juliet for a school assignment and performed it at school. To view it go to: YouTube- "Two Lovers" A Song by Jona Torres

A Blessed Weekend

2011-04-18T16:48:00.001-07:00

This weekend we had the great privilege of hosting a "La Espada" evangelistic conference at our church. Our good friends the Garlick's came and Bro. Garlick did all the preaching.

We had lots of special music which was sooo nice. Here the men are singing "Here is Love" one of my personal favorites and Havi and I got to sing "Amazing Grace, Amazing Love" as well.

Many people surrendered their lives to full time service as well and we were blessed to see the fruit of our hard labors so plentifully granted to us.

We also had time for wonderful fellowship with the Garlicks between services and we have tons of wonderful memories of their visit. It's wonderful to have friends like the Garlicks who love the Lord with all their hearts and try to glorify him in all they do.

Playing "Tricky, tricky bear" at 10:30 pm lol.

Mr.Garlick plays the guitar beautifully and he accompanied us as we played. Also this game is a rather fast paced game so that's why the pictures are rather blurry.

And for a grand finale we celebrated Bro. Daniels birthday with him!!! I thank the Lord sooo much for His bountiful blessings upon us an pray that He would help us all to continue faithfully, pressing towards the goal. Also I would like to thank all the Garlicks for allowing themselves to be used by the Lord in such a great way here in Greenville.
God bless y'all!!!

The delights of baking

2011-04-12T06:17:00.001-07:00

There is nothing quite like the delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house and cutting slices of it while it's still warm and slathering butter and honey onto it.
And with the new Bosch my mother got for Valentines day it's a breeze to make and the bread comes out oh so soft. So without further delay I'm off to the kitchen to bake to my hearts content:)
Blessings to all!!!!

Ohhhh so sweet

2011-04-07T11:24:00.001-07:00

Victoria making salad

Little ones can sometimes be considered "in the way" when one is cooking but if you take the time to incorporate them you can make them the happiest children and have a blast yourself.
Take time to make someone smile today:)

Conferences in Atlanta

2011-04-05T15:46:00.001-07:00

This last week has been chock full of conferences and we have therefore been keeping pretty busy. Daddy was in Panama last week and arrived back home on Monday just in time to leave for a "La Espada" conference in Atlanta.

3 new friends, Rebekah, Bethany and Hannah
Havi and I had the great privilege to help teach the children ages 6-11 and we had a BLAST and were able to make lots of wonderful friends.

Acting out the story of Jonah:)
Poor Daniel had the great privilege of being Jonah and was quite nicely thrown into the sea LOL.

Haviland narrating the story

As if Daniel's being Jonah wasn't enough, Havi decided to have revenge on her older sister and made me the big fish!!! I wasn't quite sure how to swallow someone bigger than me but I think I managed OK and the children enjoyed it:)

The ships crew awaiting the storm

Daniel and Timothy lead in the singing

On the last day all the Pastors, Missionaries and Evangelists and their families had
a big competition, Men against women, and whichever team won, got a great prize of Banana splits so you can just imagine how that went!!! It was tons of fun and everybody enjoyed the wonderful, wholesome games.

I was somehow chosen to walk around all the lunch tables, blindfolded, with an egg balanced on a spoon in my mouth. It was an interesting, to say the least, experience and I'm happy to report that I won!!!

Seeing how many marshmallows they could stuff in their mouths and still say "Chubby baby".

The "Cooking knowledge" competition.
In the end I think the teams tied but my family had to leave early so we didn't get our prize:(
We arrived back home Wednesday about 10 min. before our church service started and rested Thursday ( which we were in great need of as going to bed at 1:00 am 3 days straight is not conducive to very good health. Honestly I now have a greater respect for people who teach room fulls of little children!)
We left again on Friday, this time for Sprucepine but I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures as I was in charge of all the music and couldn't very well take pictures and play the piano at the same time;) We returned home yesterday pretty tired but blessed in the thought that God had graciously used us and praying that our work would not be in vain.

A challenge to all

2011-03-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

"Remember also you Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them"; before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain; The conclusion when all has been heard is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person."
~Ecclesiastes 12:1 & 13

Blessings

2011-03-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Perhaps some of you will remember this post asking y'all to pray for a couple at our church who were expecting baby #5 (she had miscarried the other 4). Well God answered our prayers and here is a picture of Fernando and Alejandra with their beautiful baby, Raquel Alejandra, who I might add, is 7 months old (This picture is long over due lol).

~"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope'. ~
~Jeremiah 29:11

Spring days

2011-03-09T08:06:00.001-08:00

The past few weeks we have enjoyed beautiful spring weather here in SC, and so we took advantage to be outdoors as much as possible.

Playing with the boys AKA climbing onto the roof LOL:)

Playtime also included climbing trees

We also had the opportunity to go on a field trip to Paris Mountain with our home-school co-op.
As you can see there's LOTS of children :)

(From left to right) Adriana, Katie, Me, Haviland, Andrea, Jasmine and Abby fishing in the FREEZING COLD creek for insects to study.

Jasmine, Haviland, Jared, Mark, Danny and Ben examine the Garter fish that Ben caught.

Ohhhhh soooo cute!!!!
This is Nathaniel better known to us as Bubby:)

Fishing away

Studying water temperature and pH level

Busy writing down our observations

Rebekah, isn't she beautiful?

Ben, Mark and Dan studying very hard LOL ;-)

David

Erika fishing

Canadian Geese

This was a really neat sight. 7 turtles on a log

This picture has nothing to do with nature but I found this carved on a bench at the park and thought " WOW B.F. for Bethany Franco" LOL.
Who knows what it really means but it was a neat discovery, if not very scientific;)

So sweet!!!
Well I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our field trip.
Thank you to all our church families for the wonderful time we all had together!!!

Yes I'm still alive:)

2011-02-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

Well First I'd like to thank all of you who expressed their hopes that I would post soon. Due to computer failure I hadn't been able to post and then school started, adding to the difficulty and then our internet crashed!!! But here I am at last and I do beg pardon for taking so long.

I'm very grateful to the Lord for all of His bountiful blessings the last few months. Being able to spend time with family and friends over the holidays was wonderful and being able to see how He works all things together and many times gives us the desires of our heart even though we don't deserve them really was exciting. Now I'm afraid that Because of the computer problem I may have lost most of the Christmas pictures but please pray that they would be on the external hard drive so that I'll be able to retrieve them. In the mean time I'll share what pictures I have.

Christmas dinner: Cuban pork, Black Beans, white rice.
On the 25th we had Nacho over and we all had a blast!!!

Comfort food LOL ;)
I also got to see my very first white Christmas!!! It was so special.

It was so nice sitting inside the cozy house, watching a good movie and sipping a hot cup of tea while outside beautiful, crisp snow fell.
On the 26th we had a special youth service at our church. All of us young people were in charge of the music and preaching. God really used it and it was a great blessing. I'm uploading videos of the specials on Vimeo so please watch them whenever you have a chance. On the eve of new years eve we headed down to Happydale for a night. It was sooooooo much fun and we have tons of wonderful memories. Thank you so much Casseroles!!!

Sitting by the fire after dinner.

This is my lawyer, Mortimer Brewster AKA Sayre Castlebury, opening his Christmas gift.
(which happened to be a jar of Arsenic with some old lace;))

Me with my Christmas gift which says "Dinner will be ready when the smoke alarm goes off" Hmm I wonder how Sayre knew that LOL.

One of the highlights of our stay was riding the four-wheeler through the woods. It was sooo much fun feeling the wind in your face and going as fast as you possibly could. The bad thing is that I was cold the rest of the day:) After spending this wonderful time we went home and got ready to go to church for the new years eve banquet. We had games and testimonies and lots of food. It so nice ending the year and starting the year at church with all our friends. We stayed till 1:30 am enjoying the fellowship.

A week or two later we got 6 and 1/2 inches a beautiful, fluffy snow! That's a record for Greenville!!!

Everything was beautifully covered and the snow stayed for a whole week (another record)

Shiloh, enjoying the snow.

Sledding with the Lawrence girls

The children had so much fun playing outside.

Victoria's shoe made this and I thought it was sooo pretty that I took a picture of it.

Jared and David playing policemen after spending the day outside.
A couple of weeks ago we also had the privilege of celebrating my grandmothers 75th birthday.

We had such a nice time with her, she is such a blessing to us all.Happy birthday Abuela!!!
Well I hope you all had a wonderful new year and Happy Valentines day to all!!!

Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

2010-12-02T06:16:00.000-08:00

Franco girls

Yours truly

Victoria Isabella

Awwwwww!!!

Franco men

All decked out for the holidays
As you can see I am having a BLAST with the new camera. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoy taking and posting them. Have a blessed day.

Friday and the trip

2010-11-28T11:47:00.002-08:00

On Friday we all went to Best Buy where my dear daddy bought me a beautiful camera. And so I took LOTS of pictures but I shan't burden you with all of them and shall just share a few.

"Come on 'Pulgita', we have to try out this new camera" :)

Franky and Stacey and their beautiful family

All together

Pey-Pey and his auntie

We left Saturday morning around 5:15am and after sleeping a bit this is what I saw.

"The Heavens declare the glory of God...."
On the way to NJ mother dear had seen a sign for the Shenandoah Valley Skyline Drive and since mother isn't one to let opportunities for learning pass we went on it on the way home.

This was on the first overlook so you can imagine what it was like higher up. By the time we did get to the top we weren't feeling to great because of all the curves and the height. Daddy said all we needed was fresh air so he opened the window, the icy blast that swept in did help,
but I was afraid that now we would suffer of pneumonia, it was soooooooo COLD!!!

Icicles!!!
We finally arrived home around 7:30-8:00pm and thus ended our thanksgiving week I hope that all of y'all had a wonderful week as well.

Thanksgiving day

2010-11-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving day we arose and ate bagels and doughnuts then slowly but surely started cooking our DELICIOUS Thanksgiving feast.

Ethan's doughnut :)
I got a kick watching him eat all the icing off then say " all done, I want another one"
After a bit something occurred that, to this "southern gal", was quite amazing.

It started to snow!!!
In November, on Thanksgiving day, I actually got to see snow!!! It really made the day extra special in my opinion.

Attempting to sled.
After running to get some groceries I started on the........ (drum roll please)

APPLE PIE!!!
I made up this "recipe" and its really very easy.

Sauteing the apples in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and a little salt.
That's really all there is to it, just pour into an unbaked pie crust and bake till golden.

Hot out of the oven

Our Thanksgiving dinner, which included: Turkey and gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Spoon Bread, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole and Rolls.

Playing after dinner

Ethan and I
Everything was sooooo nice and even though it seemed strange not being in my own kitchen, in my own house on Thanksgiving day, I can honestly say that this trip was well worth it.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day as well.

Thanksgiving - day 2

2010-11-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday, after a delicious breakfast of French Toast and Bacon, Mother and Stacey spent the day sewing curtains and daddy did several odd jobs around the house.

Kitchen curtains

Living room curtains

And playroom curtains

So while all of these curtains were getting made, I wandered around taking pictures and playing with my nephews.

Ohhhhhh soooooo cute!!!

Hayden having fun :)

After a little the children were tired of playing so we all sat down to color.

Coloring away

My little Pulga

My coloring sheet.

I hadn't colored in FOREVER so this was a lot of fun.

For dinner Stacey made a wonderful taco soup buuuuut I completely forgot to take a picture so sorry about that. Well that was my day in a nutshell, hope you enjoyed.

Thanksgiving - Day 1

2010-11-24T10:09:00.000-08:00

Hello, hola, greetings and salutations!!!

Yesterday being the 1st day of our visit we slept in somewhat and then after our morning routine proceeded to make breakfast.

Mother and Stacey cooking

mmmmm potato, bacon and onion breakfast tacos with orange juice.
The chillens have enjoyed playing with their nephews soooooo much.

We spent the day in catching up and doing some sewing while the children played and played........ and played some more lol.

Playing "time to eat" with Ethan,
which in other words means stuff all the play food you can possibly find into Aunt Bethany's sweater;)

Peyton and Aunt Victoria

Playing soccer with Franky

Franky and Stacey

Hayden and Ethan digging

Hayden watching Aunt Haviland knit and read at the same time. (I'm not sure how she did that but she did)

Peyton
He's not sure who we are yet, but Hayden and Ethan FINALLY know who I am :) Hayden calls me Aunt Bethany and Ethan calls me Auntie Bess when he remembers and when he doesn't he says "what's your name?"

Playing in the basement

Ethan and his Aunt (yours truly:))
And, just in case your mouth didn't water enough after seeing what we had for breakfast,
here is a picture of our dinner.

Steak, Ceviche and white rice!!!
And so after a nice, cozy day at "home" we all went to bed looking forward to the next day of our NJ vacation.

Hello from NJ!!!

2010-11-23T09:19:00.000-08:00

Hello and greetings to all from the beautiful state of NJ.

We arrived around 6:30pm yesterday, safe and sound after a 12 hour even trip.

I hope to post pictures soon but shan't promise since I have to use my sister-in-law's computer, but I just wanted to let you all know where I was and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Well I hope y'all are having a wonderful day, I certainly am:)

30 years ago last Sunday

2010-11-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Close your eyes and look back to November 14th, 30 years ago. In my minds eye I see a beautiful young girl just turned 16 and a handsome young man of 19 (Alright your all probably saying "wait a minute your only 15 how can you look back 30 years?" I may not have seen these events but I've been told enough about them to be able to picture it).
They are standing together in the court house saying their marriage vows. Neither of them has any idea of what the future holds, the trials and conflicts, the separations, of 2 men who would knock at the door and share with the young man the gospel of Jesus Christ, the struggles as they surrender their lives to God, of being called to the ministry as Pastor of Iglesia Bautista de la Fe and finally many years later having a family of 8 with 8 grandchildren (3 boys, 1 girl, 3 in heaven and 1 on the way) and an amazing legacy that they can pass on without regret to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I am number 4 of the 8 kids and I can whole-heartedly say that I am soooooooooooooooo thankful to the Lord for joining together these 2 wonderful people and through His amazing grace bringing them to His feet. Ask my parents any day and they will tell you without hesitation that it is a miracle that they did not end up divorced and with a broken family of only 2 or 3 children.

So on behalf of all of us kids, Congratulations Mom and Dad on your 30th anniversary!!!
Though we have each given ya'll a heap of trouble, we love you TONS!!! Nobody could ask for better, more Godly, more loving and more caring parents and thank you for teaching us right from wrong and keeping us all in line even when it hurt.

Love You!!! Hope you have 30 more wonderful years of God honoring marriage.

A Godly Sister

2010-11-16T16:50:00.000-08:00

Hello,this is Haviland again!!! My sister is the most loving sister on the earth. And she loves to have fun with her brothers and sister. But most of all she is a Christian and she loves the Lord and wants to obey him. I am doing this post to surprise her.

Victoria,and Bethany.

This pic was taken this year but Bethany did not have braces. Bethany has been such a good sister to me and to my family. and such a blessing to people in parts of the earth. She is such a blessing to me for if I am doing something wrong then she will tell me and tell me what the Lord tells us to do.
May the Lord bless you, Bethany .

Mother and Daughter Time

2010-11-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Haviland. I am the sister of Bethany. She is on her way to NC. I stayed in SC. I was so sad that my dear mother had a little surprise for me!!!She had some tea for us!!! We had such a nice time that I did not want to stop. We read Raising Maidens of Virtue by Stacy McDonald. I was so sad that my mother did that to cheer me up. I wanted to go BUT we are going to have some friends over so I stayed. And I would like to thank the Lord for letting me be another aunt. My dear brothers' wife is going to have another baby!!! Well I need to go but I hope to do this more often. Well, till next time Haviland.

A country holiday

2010-11-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

What does one do when your nerves are worn to a frazzle? When it seems that the stress and anxiety, which has robbed you of your sleep, will kill you? Where can one go for rest and comfort and just plain living ? The answer is Happydale Country Inn!!! The best place for resting your poor weary bones, not to mention wholesome adventure!!! When you are out in the country you are able to do SOOOOOOOO many things that you can't do out in the city such as.........

Going hunting!!!

Besides hunting I was able to cross a high log bridge (over a creek)(SCARY!!!), drive a manual 4-wheeler(FUN!!!) and TONS of other 1sts that really made my stay special.

After sitting in the woods for 2 hours in the COLD!!!

Playing castle with Sayre

Haviland found a new friend in Tristan and it was quite funny to watch them talking as Tristan
was teasing Havi about the scarf that she was knitting for daddy. Over all our 2 day stay in the country was simply delightful!!! Thank you soooooooo much Casseroles for the wonderful time we spent with ya'll.

What happens when siblings go camera happy?

2010-10-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well I'm not sure you want to know. LOL.

First they take a nice, civilized picture,

then they decide that Bethany is in need of some love,

then, when you add a brother or 2 things can get just a little bit goofy.

AND THEN,when you discover the distortions, frames, filters and such all semblance of civility
seems to be completely lost................ buuuuuut..........I shan't burden you with such pictures instead I shall show you the ones that came out best.(in other words, the lesser of the weevils, if you know what I mean;))

Sisterly love

Thinking

My little sunbeam

Yours truly

Sister time
Soooo now you are forewarned of what can occur when you start taking pictures on your computer. Still, for the record, we had a blast.
I love you kiddos!!!

Too much love?

2010-10-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to receive too much love? Hailey bug sure seems to think so.
Hope you all take time to show some love today.

Caleb's 5:30am breakfast

2010-10-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

While we were in Indiana my poor, dear brother,

(who had to stay home due to school and work) sent me a text message to complain that he was slowly but surely dying of starvation and malnutrition. (Malnutrition being cereal and Ramen noodle soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner) So I, being the sweet, loving sister that I am, promised to make him his favorite breakfast when I got home. I should have known that Caleb is a person who will hold you to a promise, so this morning found me up at 5:30am making...

Cream Cheese Danishes!!!
Caleb's absolute favorite meal. It is also one that requires LOTS of prep. as I actually made the dough last night so that it could chill for 8 hours. Though it was very early it was nice to be able to work in a very quiet kitchen and see the day start, not to mention the sight of a very happy brother enjoying a delicious breakfast before heading out for school.

After Caleb had dug in

It was also nice to be able to use my new apron that I made a couple of weeks ago and which I LOVE!!!I didn't have a pattern so I made up my own and I am very happy with the result. Not to mention that the fabric is beautiful.

So here is a picture of me, resting after my labors. I haven't put a picture of myself since I got my braces, so know you know what I look like.
Well I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Note: These pictures aren't the best quality. I still don't have a camera so I took these on the computer with the webcam.

Please pray

2010-10-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well we just got home yesterday from a weekend conference in Indiana and we were hoping to be able to rest and recuperate from the journey, but it would seem that God had other plans in mind. Almost my whole family is suffering from a stomach virus which Victoria picked up in Indiana, and since the children are NEVER selfish when it comes to giving their family the same illness, it has spread to my daddy, mother and Haviland. So if you could please pray for them to get better, and that the rest of us wouldn't catch it, I would greatly appreciate it.

Seasons

2010-09-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! It's already Fall!!!
I can hardly believe how fast time passes and honestly I wonder "Have we been redeeming the time?" I know that there are many things that I could have done better this past year, and that I could have gotten a lot more accomplished than I have. Another thought that the passing of the seasons has brought to mind was " What kind of an example am I leaving to all the little eyes that watch me everyday? Am I showing them how to redeem the time and make it count for God?" I think of this often, especially when I see all the children running around, playing with their friends exactly how I used to with my friends at that age.

The time is fleeting fast, are we making it count for Christ?

To all our heroes

2010-09-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

9 years ago, when I was 6, an event occurred that remained

stamped on my childish mind vividly. That event was the terrorist attack now known as 9/11.

I remember seeing the events unfold before my eyes, not fully comprehending what I saw.
Now, 9 years later I can see the seriousness of this event and what it means to me as an American. I would like to take this opportunity to honor and thank all of our heroes, known and unknown, for the sacrifices they made, some even giving their lives, for the freedom we STILL enjoy today.

These were ordinary people who, in the face of adversity, took a stand for all
that we hold dear and fought against all odds to rescue others, people they didn't even know. In particular I would like to honor Todd Beamer who was on United Airlines flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania.

I read the book "Let's roll" by his widow Lisa Beamer in one evening (yesterday to be exact) and was touched and convicted by this man's faith and courage even when he knew he was going to die. Todd led the attack against the hijackers which prevented the plane from reaching it's destination, the White House or the Capitol Building, uttering his now famous battle-cry "let's roll".
Even though this event may seem like long ago and we all may feel "safe" now, let us never forget the sacrifices that were made, the life's that were lost and the nation that was tested on that day. May we be able to follow the example of these ordinary people of extraordinary courage, not just in the face of danger, but everyday.
So to all you great men and women, thank you!!!
And especially to all young people out there today we can do "Hard things" to in the "simple"
everyday scenarios of our life. So what are we waiting for? LET'S ROLL!!!

Rainy days

2010-08-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

I don't particularly care for rainy days but since we have had quite a few rainy days of late
I have discovered some things I absolutely love about rainy days.

First I love having a steaming hot cup of Raspberry Zinger or Black Cherry Berry tea
in the beautiful pink willow tea cup and pot set that my parents gave me.

And second rolling up in a blanket on the couch or on my bed with a good book or my Bible
and just spending time lost in a book. And now I think I shall go make myself a pot of tea.
I hope you are enjoying your day whether it is rainy or not.

Land of the free and home of the brave

2010-07-04T12:51:00.001-07:00

~ O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that OUR flag was still there.
O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream.
'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: " IN GOD IS OUR TRUST!"
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!~
~Frances Scott Key

Additional civil war stanza~

When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

~GOD BLESS AMERICA~

Reasons for...

2010-06-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

...My prolonged silence. I had intended to post about our church VBS looooooooong before this

but a couple of interesting things occurred to prevent this. First I arrived home the day after VBS finished to find...(oh no!!! Not again!!!)... my camera completely destroyed by my dear little sister:(
After that I was attacked by a stomach virus and had to under go the joys and blessings of dehydration, not being able to eat any solid food and spending almost all week in bed.Passing a slow but sure recovery I under went the great privilege of having my braces installed and therefore am now suffering from a very sore mouth and not being able to bite, hence I'm once again on a soft foods diet. Of course after such an eventful week my poor nerves are quite tattered and I'm rather surprised that I'm still in one piece. Of course, it's a given that I have enjoyed a LOT of TLC from my loving family and am well on my way to being a VERY spoiled 15 year old. Well, now that you know the reasons for my inexcusable behavior in not posting I shall proceed to our VBS.

Story time

I was in the Torres class and we had such a wonderful time with all the 8 and 9 year old's.

The weather here in SC can be very interesting as you shall soon find out. 2 of my friends had come to get some supplies from our class and when they arrived it was raining cats and dogs. They didn't stay long, just long enough to grab the supplies and some candy from my treasure bag but by the time they left it wasn't raining anymore and the sun was out in all its splendor and one of my friends shouted out "there's a rainbow!!!" I ran out with my camera and was stunned by the beauty of that rainbow.I had never seen a full rainbow before and it was gorgeous!!! The picture can never do it justice.

My artistic verse. This was a lot of fun to draw and the children had a lot of fun learning their verses.
Of course, after being so well behaved all during the class all of us older kids (and the younger ones too) needed an outlet for all of our pent up energy. How do you get rid of all this energy? It's simple run out to the back field of the church and organize a soccer match. Us girls don't usually play, though sometimes we do get inspired and join in the games, but this time we all went to play. Because it is such a rare thing for us to play, I was nominated captain of Barcelona and Elizabeth was chosen captain for Real Madrid. After we flipped a gum packet ( we didn't have a coin and as gum is a very common thing amongst us it was a natural and original way of seeing who got to choose first*wink*) and divided up the teams the game began. The first night we played a 90 minute game and we won 6-5.

Jared and I, after the game.
The next evening, which was Thursday, we won 14-5 still playing 90 min. games and since then we have had a "perfect season" winning every game as far as I know. Now as you may remember it was raining cats and dogs so you might wonder how did you play in such weather conditions. Well truth be told we played in a flooded field!!!

So here is what Havi and I looked like after the games, sweaty, tired and soaking wet.
On the last day the Torres brought pizza for all of the kids of their class and bought foam sun visors to decorate.

Mrs.Torres and I

All the children
Also during the whole week of VBS our church was recording our 4th sacred CD so my daddy took me to the studio a couple of times.

David Chapman and my Bro. Camilo

The chihuahua belonged to Mr. Emory at who's studio they were recording. Now Milo has never liked Chihuahuas but Hershey loved sitting on Milo's lap. Quite a funny predicament:)
On Sunday we had a very nice Father's day with a delicious meal and the company of the best daddy in the world...

as well as my dear grandpa. I gave my daddy "What he must be... if he wants to marry my daughter" by Vodie Baucham and had the whole family laughing.
Also to finish this lengthy post this Saturday we celebrated Caleb's 19th birthday.
The USA fans.
We had some friends and family over for Mexican hot dogs and then we all watched the USA vs. Ghana soccer game. The only bad thing about his birthday is that USA lost and was therefore eliminated from the world cup. Oh well, that's life. Happy birthday Caleb!!!

4 years ago yesterday...

2010-06-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

... A little baby was born.
A little girl to be loved and petted,
to be cared for and cherished and yes, sometimes even spoiled.

This little girl is my dear little sister and playmate now 4 years old.

Affectionately known as "Pulga" because of her small size and
how she clings to you, Victoria Isabella Franco is a big blessing despite her size.

I love you soooo much Pulga!!! Happy birthday!!!
~So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom~
~ Psalm 90:12

A little bit of this and that

2010-06-05T15:10:00.001-07:00

Or rather a LOT of this and a LOT of that!!!

As some of you may know, my family and I went on vacation the last week of May.
Our vacationing spot was a beautiful retreat set deep in the Mountains of SC.

The house is called BarCraKen after the three sons (Barry, Craig and Kenneth) of the people who built it. The first owners built it as a refuge after their son Craig passed away in a car accident.
Mrs. Janet Albury bought it from them after her husband and daughter passed away in a plane accident. She used the house to start a ministry called "C. Grace at work". C. Grace after her daughter Caitlin Grace and another young lady named Christiana Grace who also died in the plane crash. She lets full time pastors and missionaries stay for a week free in the house to be able to rest.
And rest we did. We spent a delightful week
with breathtaking views...

...beautiful hikes...

...And the beauty of God's handiwork completely surrounding us.

The gang

Enjoying the cool water at Table Rock.

Me and my pulga
While we were there we celebrated my 15th birthday
(which means the 2nd anniversary of this blog!!!).

On Saturday, which was the last day of our vacation, we went to the wedding
of Jon Cochran and Rebekah Jenkins.

The happy couple
It was such a blessing to see how God united these 2 people and to be able to meet up with old friends again.

Me, Alicia and Amy

Rachel, Me and Lizzy
And thus our vacation came to a close. Back here at home we celebrated David' s 6th birthday
with Camilo and Jessica.

And of course Hailey bug who has recently discovered the delights of Pepsi*wink*

Happy 6th birthday David!!! Thank you for being such a joy to all of us.
And for the record, David LOVES smores!!!
And finally yesterday we went on a homeschool field trip to "Ashtabula" plantation in Pendleton, SC.

Don't you wish that you could live in a house like that?

Listening to the tour guide.

Anna, Me and Katie

Aren't these dresses just beautiful???!!!
Oh how I wish we could still dress like that today.

The bedroom.

Learning what children did as pastimes before the age of technology.

Danny(AKA=Coon) thoroughly enjoying having to dress up(NOT).
Well now you are all up to date on the happenings of my family and I hope you have a wonderful Lord's day tomorrow.

All about May

2010-05-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

We have had a chock full weekend and I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures.

Friday= The first swimming/getting wet spree of the summer.

Enjoying the sprinkler.

Even Shiloh joined in the fun.
Saturday=A mother-daughter tea at church.

Franky sent mother the roses all the way from NJ!!!
She was thrilled!!!

Enjoying delicious food and fellowship with friends and family.
Saturday afternoon= Taking fun, normal and crazy pictures with Friends.

Lizzie, Esp and Bess

It may not be very ladylike to climb trees, but boy did we have fun.

Thinking and talking.

Springtime bliss = Swinging with a friend.

Pictures on the swing set.

Best friends

After taking soooo many pictures we just had to lie down and rest.
Sunday=Mother's day and church.

Violeta

Me, Damaris, Elizabeth and Esperanza

Me and my handsome cousin, Cristian

Me, myself and I

The children love having a swing set in their back yard.

Sunny days, big smiles, spring joys.

Havi, after I did her hair.

For mother's day we invited Abuela and Pablo for lunch.

Mother and Abuela, opening their gifts.

Victoria was thrilled that I had curled her hair.

Auntie Victoria holding Hailey bug.

She did not want a picture.

Abuela, Aunt Chelin and Uncle Gonzalo

Now for mother's day I would like to share a poem that My mother wrote and that has been a great blessing to me.

~ Someday~

Someday I shall have
A house, oh so clean
Where all is in order
And my soul rests at ease

I shan't have to follow after
Picking up the dolls
Little toys and clothing
Legos, shoes and balls

There won't be so much noise
I'll read a book at peace
Without a single interruption
In concentration complete

I shall sleep the whole night through
Without a single one to call me
To complain of some pain
Or to climb in to my bed

I will not have to look
Under the little beds
And withe trembling, see
To what the Ants may lead

Someday I shall not have
My clothes all wrinkled an mussed
Because they climbed upon me
And made over me such a fuss

I will not be able to hear
The sound of little feet
Coming for the third time
To give me a loving kiss

O Lord hold back the time!!!
And help me to appreciate
The souls You've given me
To treasure and to love

I do not want comfort
If they are not with me
They are my gift, my inheritance
My company, my song

Thank you Father for my home
With it's joyous noise
For my wrinkled clothing
For my children oh dear Lord!
~Lizet Franco~
Happy Mother's Day!!!

The delights of May

2010-05-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies.
Cool, refreshing milk.
Beautiful roses.
These are a few of my favorite things.

Do you have any favorite things about May?

Cute things

2010-05-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we go through life in such a hurry that we miss out on all the cute things that God sends to us daily.

My beautiful "Pulga"
( which means "little flea" in English.
I'm not sure why we started calling her that but she likes it .)

My reading companion

ummm Cheesecake!!!

Ashley and Victoria

David

Trying to tune Caleb's guitar

I hope you all take time to look for all the cute things that
God has sent to us today.

The joy of the cross

2010-04-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

I just want to share a couple of sermons that my father has preached concerning the resurrection of Christ.

The joy of the cross
Hebrews 12:1-2

Christ went to the cross with...
1.) The joy of glorifying God the father
2.) The joy of finishing the greatest work in the history of humanity
3.) The joy of saving us

Why I believe the apostles concerning the resurrection of Christ
1 Corinthians 15:1-8, John 20:25

1.) I believe what the apostles say concerning the resurrection of Christ because they were eye witnesses.
2.)" " because of the many infallible proofs that we find in the scriptures
a) The appearance of Christ
b) The empty tomb
c) The change in the disciples
d) The change in worship
e) The advancement of the church
3.)" " because these men were willing to give their lives for believing in the resurrection of Christ
Matthew=Was made a martyr in Ethiopia, By the sword
Mark=Killed in Alexandria, Egypt, dragged by horses around the city till he died
Luke=Hanged in Greece
John=boiled alive in a cauldron of oil in Rome. He was the only Apostle that died of old age
Peter=Crucified upside down on a cross in the form of an X
Bartholomew=Whipped till he died in Asia
Thomas=Pierced through in India
Judas=A brother of Jesus, shot with arrows
Barnabas=Stoned in Salonika
Paul=Tortured and finally decapitated be Nero
All these apostles gave their lives for preaching
"We have seen the Lord!"

Rejoice for He is Risen!!!

Happy birthday one and all

2010-03-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

In a large family it seems that there is always a birthday that one has to prepare for.

This past week we celebrated the birthdays of my dear brother Camilo, and my grandfather known amongst us as Abuelo.

So, happy birthday Milo

And happy birthday Abuelo

And happy birthday one and all.

The great adventure

2010-03-23T13:53:00.001-07:00

My Father was in Panama last week and thus the stage was set for (drum roll)

"The great adventure."
One of the many stories of my life.
Written by Bethany Franco

My mother had long detested the very badly installed linoleum that graced our kitchen floor.
With 6 active children running in and out it had begun to show signs of wear and use and
it was beginning to be such an eye sore that my dear mother was becoming quite desperate.
At long last my parents decided it was time to change the floor and began preparing and ordering materials.
Well my father had to attend a conference in Panama and whilst he was away my mother decided to begin the task of demolishing our poor, old floor. As my siblings rather love destroying things this was accomplished relatively quickly.

My mother ordered some white and blue industrial tile (I'm afraid that is what one needs in such a high traffic area as our kitchen;))
and as soon as my father returned the work began.

After moving everything from the kitchen to the living room (I'll let you imagine what THAT was like) and our crew started. We have been blessed to have people at our church who are experts at every type of job imaginable and Fernando and Nacho are no exception. With their help the floor was completely laid down in 5 hours.

Early the next morning we began scraping off ALL excess glue and cleaning each and every tile (by hand) and generally preparing everything for the wax finish.

While everything was out my father took advantage and painted everything as well.
After countless coats of wax and many hours later we had finally finished the project. Everything was in its place and it was all sparkling clean. Now my mother can sit back and enjoy her beautiful floor.

The end.

Living in a winter wonderland

2010-03-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

This past week we went to Sprucepine, NC for a conference
and the very day we got there it snowed 6 inches. For us South Carolinians that is a TON of snow!!! Of course one can't resist plowing in to all that snow so after the services we all headed out for an amazing afternoon of snowball fight fun.

Havi and Nate

Having a blast

Havi, Eli and me
We took Danny and Benji Vasquez with us to help with the music and it was a blessing to have them with us.

Playing for the services
When we arrived to the Huendo's house their yard was beautiful, BUT this is how we left it...

...completely destroyed by 7 sets of eager hands. We had a friendly boys-against-girls feud during the days that we were there so you can just imagine the amount of snowballs that were hurled across this battlefield. We made snow men, had snowball and pillow fights galore and had a wonderful time.
Wednesday was Jared's 8th birthday so after the morning service the Huendos took us even higher up the mountain to go sledding and snowboarding.

Happy birthday Jared!!!

Getting ready for another run.

Enjoying everything to the fullest.

Me

No pictures please

After the services we would all go and get ready for bed, however while the children waited for the restroom Danny gave them all a science class.

The 11:30 pm science class with Prof. Danny

The dialogue while studying "The encyclopedia of animals"
Danny: This is a possum
Victoria: That's you
Danny: Well this is you( pointing to a skunk)
Victoria: No I said that's you
Danny: No that's you.
That is what they said the whole time.

Victoria shooting poor Danny
(I guess he must have called her something awful*wink*)

Benji and Jo
Well I thank the Lord for the opportunity He gave us to serve Him there in Sprucepine
and for the wonderful time we spent with the Huendos.
Also I uploaded a couple of videos onto my Vimeo page of the conference so please head over there and see them.

Happy birthday

2010-02-16T12:56:00.001-08:00

Today is my cousin Cristian's 20th birthday so I just wanted to wish him a very happy birthday.
Happy b-day Cristian!!! I love you and hope you have many more.
~Your cousin, Bethany

Several special occurences

2010-02-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

It's rather hard to believe but we actually had another snow fall this year. That is the most snow and ice that I have ever seen in one year. And there is supposed to be global warming?

It was a beautiful, fluffy, crisp, sparkling snow. And what do you do in such beautiful snow?

Well, you make a snow angel of course!!!

Beautiful whiteness
After spending some very nice time playing in the snow we started to get ready for the valentines banquet at our church as the orchestra had to play.

Playing classical music

Mother and Daddy

The table settings

Playing"Corazon de niño" with Erick

Brian, Jared, Rachel and Anna
On Sunday my daddy had the very special privilege to baptize my dear little siblings Haviland and Jared.

This isn't a very good picture but I thought it was cute that all you can see is Jared's eyes.

This is Havi giving her testimony.
Also Sunday was my little nephew, Ethan's birthday.

So, happy 2nd birthday Ethan.
I love you and hope you have many more.
~Auntie Beth

A glimpse into my weekend

2010-02-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

Actually this will be a glimpse into my weekends as I will show you all some pictures from last weekend as well. Last Friday we had an ice storm, no snow just ice.

We hibernated in our little den on Saturday and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Caleb had to defrost his car for 30 minutes before he was able to go to work and I must say it was nice to have him 30 minutes longer.

Walking was VERY hard as EVERYTHING was covered with ice.

Our birdfeeder.

The ice covered yard.

This weekend we invited a brother and sister from church, over for pizza night and a movie.

Erminia, helping out in the kitchen.
We had such a nice time cooking together and getting to know each other better.

Busily working.

Taking a break while the pizzas were baking.

Gomer and the boys.

Enjoying the wonderful pizza.
After dinner we watched "Ann of green gables"and then Erminia and Gomer went home. It was such a wonderful time of fellowship and fun.
Every week of the month of January we have had 2 different countries represented at our church. Everybody from those countries had to dress up in the typical clothes from those countries. Well this last Sunday we had the grand finale, USA and Mexico and then a big banquet after church.

It was interesting to see all the different outfits.

Mr. Zenon and Mr. Secundino

The Morenos and the Cardeñas

The Franco cowgirls.

Issac dressed up as a "Charro"(those are the Mexican singers)

Rebbecca
Well this was just a little glimpse into my weekend but I hope you enjoyed it.

Family life

2010-01-26T12:50:00.001-08:00

Well, our computer did get fixed. However, the hard drive had to be replaced which means that I
lost all the pictures (about 1385+ pics), documents and files that I had stored. But well, I still had some of them on my camera so I shall share these with ya'll.

~December 19~

On the 19th we had a banquet and gift exchange at our church. It was so nice to be able to spend time with friends and co-laborers over a delicious meal.

Emily, Andrea, me and Katie.

Isaac

Enjoying the fellowship.

This year I made most of my presents. Here are some pictures of a few
of them.

Clothes peg dolls for the younger girls. (This little girl is Anna)

A scarf for Katie.
I didn't make the scarf but I did embroider her initials on it.

Danny and Danny.

Benjamin, receiving a lot of help opening his gift.

Erick holding his new Bible cover.

I made Bible covers for all the teens and embroidered designs that I drew with their initials on them. Elizabeth, Esperanza and Josue weren't able to be at the get together which is why I don't have pictures of them opening their gifts.

Of course, the adults got gifts too.

~December 20~

December 20th was special for my family as we had a double dedication at our church.
And who do you think got dedicated?

Hailey Alyse Franco
and...
...Peyton Asher Franco.

Franky and Stacey with Ethan.

It really was such a blessing and it was extra special for my parents to be able to have all their children and grandchildren with them and for my daddy to be able to dedicate them both to the Lord.

After the service we all went out to eat together and we had a wonderful time.

~December 24~

On Christmas we just had a small family gathering. It was sooooo nice to be able to spend time with all of my siblings, sisters in law, nephews and niece.

The Franco boys.

Aunts, uncles and nephews.

Milo, Jess, and Beth; short for Camilo, Jessica and Bethany.

Abuelo (or grandpa) with Hailey.

Caleb with Peyton.

The proud little aunt.

Ethan with his uncles.

Mami Cira with her great and great-great grandkids.

In the evening, my great grandmother came by with my aunts and uncle and spent some time with us. She is such a blessing to all of us.

Havi and Ethan.

Abuelo and Abuela with Ethy (Ethan's nickname)

Enjoying time spent together.

Me and Franky.

Victoria, Daddy and Peyton.

After dinner we read the Christmas story and then opened all the gifts.
I enjoyed being able to spend this time with my WHOLE family.

~December 29~

I got inspired after hearing a friend talk about how he painted his room and decided that it was time to paint my own. Mother was ecstatic!!!
So we cleaned out my whole room and painted my room an aqua blue-green color that is just beautiful. But then daddy got inspired and went and bought a replacement light fixture, as the one I had got smashed by a ball and he also bought a...

...BUNK BED!!!
Havi and I had been sharing a twin bed for 7 years and recently Victoria had started sleeping with us as well. I got to keep the old bed as my daddy made it for me when I was about 3 or 4 years old.

Our personal handy man.

Daddy also got us a shelf, 2 lamps and lots of hooks to hang things on.
Haviland and I really are SO blessed to have such wonderful parents.

~December 31/January 1 of 2010~

At our church we have the tradition of ending the year at church and starting the new year at church and that is exactly what we did.

There was LOTS of food and George here really enjoyed it;)

We had a short challenge, testimonies,music and games.

Uh Oh!!! It would appear that somebody wanted to throw poor Nacho away.

Acting out the story of Jezebel and Jehu.

Oh NO, the Gadarene demoniac was in our midst!!! LOL!!!

The idol that Gideon had to destroy.

The boys singing.

Me, enjoying everything.

Sarah and Jasmine.

Mr. Alvaro and Zenon. (The hat is an authentic Peruvian hat)

Erick and Roberto.

After 12:00am some of us more adventurous people went out to the soccer field and played soccer for an hour. It was Barcelona against Real Madrid and we (Barcelona) won 10 to 9. It was a blast!!!

~January 14/January 22~

On the 14th a great hero of the faith, Dr.Roland Garlick graduated to his heavenly home after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Garlick with his wife who passed away about a year, year and a half ago.

We were able to meet Dr. Roland a few times and my family is very close to his son Dr. Daniel Garlick and his family.

Evangelist Daniel Garlick.

Dr.Roland's grandchildren singing "Bow the knee".

Benjamin Garlick giving testimony about how great an impact his grandfather had on his life.

If you could all keep the Garlick family in your prayers as they go through this difficult time I'm sure they would greatly appreciate it.
Well I hope you all have had a nice new year and that you enjoyed this glimpse into our family life.

The Grinch crashed Christmas?

2009-12-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

well the Grinch in this case was a sort of virus in our harddrive and the Christmas was the blog post I had intended to post and, well all this means is that my computer crashed just before Christmas!!!
I'm afraid that we won't be getting our computer back for about a month and so I must bid you all farewell till the computer is fixed BUT I promise to try to take a lot of pictures and give you all a nice long update when it arrives. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I sincerely wish you all a prosperous new year.

Bethany Hannah Franco

A blessed weekend

2009-12-15T05:11:00.000-08:00

This weekend our church orchestra was VERY busy with several special services.
On Saturday we went to Sprucepine to help with the inauguration service of a church there but in the end out of the 8 orchestra members only 3 of us were able to go and of the 3 I had to play the piano and Erick had to direct the music so poor Josue had to play the violin by himself.

Daddy and the pastor of the english church.

Playing A passion for Thee
We prepared some special music for the service, however, due to the fact that there was not another pianist we played "A passion for Thee" acapella but thankfully Erick knew how to play the piano part so it actually came out very nice.
Haviland and I sang "Oh Holy Night" (in spanish) and that came out very good considering that I was soooooooooooo nervous and had to sing it all memorized due to the arrangement being in english and the book borrowed from my piano teacher.
We had a delicious banquet after the service but had to hurry as it was going to start raining and it was soooo cold that daddy wanted to get home as soon as possible. My dear little sister took plenty of pictures of all of us and here are a few.

Roberto Zuniga
Oh I forgot to mention that Roberto and Nacho went with us as well.

Eli and Me

Erick taking all the hymnbooks to the bus.

Jovani

Jo, Nate and Eli
Haviland has a knack for getting pictures of people when they least expect it which is why
the 3 above pictures have very interesting(to say the least) facial expressions. We sang the whole 2 hours back and arrived home around 12:15am. It was a blast!!!
On Sunday we had our Christmas cantata during both services. The childrens choir sang and the orchestra played.
During the morning service Danny, Erick and I played the ofertory sort of spur of the moment and we played "Oh Holy Night" (Are you beginning to notice that this is my favorite song?)

The 3 violins AKA: The flutist, violist and cellist

Congregational singing

Acting out the birth of Jesus

Katie, Marcos and Genesis singing "En la noche los pastores velan"
(I don't know what it is called in english. Maybe "In the night the sheperds watch"?)
The little shepherds

The angels singing" Angels we have heard on high"

The 3 kings singing" We 3 kings"

Daddy preaching

Me, Erick and Danny listening to the preaching

The services were a great blessing and I thank God for the wonderful time we spent
with family and friends.

Christmas decorating

2009-12-09T05:42:00.001-08:00

For the past couple of months we have been going to Sprucepine, NC on Mondays
to have a Bible study with our friends the Huendos. They live way up near the top of a Mountain and this week they took us to THE top of the mountain to pick a Christmas tree.

The view was breathaking as was the COLD!!!

We had never gone to a tree farm so this was a new and fun experience.

Me and Haviland.Daddy cutting down the tree.

Our tree.

Daddy carrying the tree.

Well on Tuesday afternoon we found out that our dear friends Fernando and Alejandra are expecting a baby!!! She has had 4 miscarriages so we are all very happy for them as they LOVE children( even us!!!:). Please pray for her and the baby and that everything would go well.
Anyway to get back on the subject, I made pizza and we decided to invite them over to celebrate and help us put up the tree.

Putting on the lights.
Mother made some Mexican hot chocolate and then we started decorating. We did a playful tree this year hence the colored lights.

Deciding which ornaments to put up next.

Some of our ornaments.

The finished product.
Believe it or not all those presents are from Haviland and myself. This year we have made almost all our presents so you can just imagine how much work we have put into these gifts embroidering, inventing, sewing etc.
I just love how the tree looks in the dark.

Close ups of some of the gifts.

As we enter this holiday season, lets purpose to remember the true meaning of Christmas
and thank God for the wonderful gift of his son.
~And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.~
~Luke 2: 10-14~

A Blessed Sunday

2009-12-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very special day as all of the youth were in charge of the services at church.

This is our orchestra ( except for 2) with 2 additional people.

Back row : Benjamin Vasquez, Josue Rodriguez, Erick Guzman and Daniel Vasquez.
Front row : Elizabeth Delzo, Esperanza Gomez, Bethany Franco(Me!!!) and Erick Moreno.
We girls were in charge of all the music and the boys were in charge of the preaching and such.

The ushers: Jared Franco(not shown), Emanuel Rodriguez, Daniel Moreno and Marco Torres.
I was playing the piano, Esperanza was playing the organ and Elizabeth was playing the violin which is why there are no pictures of us. (Haviland took all of these pictures.)

Erick Moreno preaching " The priorities of a Christian" based on Proverbs 4.

Daniel Vasquez preaching "The life of Christ" based on Luke 2.

I'm afraid that Havi didn't have the camera in the evening so there are no pictures of the specials or of Josue and Benjamin preaching.
Benjamin Vasquez preached " The character of Job" and Josue Rodriguez
preached "What kind of eyes do we have?".

There were 3 voice specials and 2 instrumental specials.
In the afternoon I also had the opportunity to play the piano at a nursing home for the elderly people it was so nice to see their excited faces when you played and when you spoke to them.
I am so thankful for the wonderful opportunity that we all had yesterday, it was such a blessing. The wonderful thing is, that all of us have surrendered our lives to God and it really is sooooo nice to see all of us (my friends, that I grew up with, and myself) serving the Lord together. I thank God for the wonderful friends that He has given me.

~Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.~
~ 1Timothy 4:12~

Giving thanks for Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T07:01:00.001-08:00

My family usually celebrates Thanksgiving 2 times a year.
The first time is at church the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Now if any of you have ever been to a hispanic potluck you'll know what I'm talking about when I say that they are the best, and if you haven't boy you don't know what your missing!!!

Rebbeca and Joseph enjoying the DELICIOUS food.

Andrea and Jasmine.

Alicia.

Enjoying food and fellowship.

Isaias.

Thank you to Katie, Abby and Anna who took all these pictures for me.

On Thursday we had a small family gathering as Camilo was out of town and Ethan was sick, therefore Stacey couldn't come. Mother and I cooked all morning and how rewarding it was. The food was sooooooooooooo good.
As Jared said last night: "I thank God for all the good food"

Franky and Abuelo looking at old pictures.

The pecan pie I made.

Hayden with his Abuelo.
Later in the evening aunt Chelin and crew came over to visit over pie and coffee.

Abuela and Viviana.

Jared and Franky.

Christian.
As you see Christian brought along the poodle wig and boy did we have fun trying it on. everybody looked sooooo funny.
We really have sooooooooo much to be thankful for, God has blessed us richly.

My weekend in pictures (a few at least)

2009-11-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

On Thursday my dear daddy left for the Dominican Republic on a 4 day trip. However we still managed to have a busy schedule. On Friday we went to the "Cow"stleburys (AKA= The Castleburys or Casseroles) house to spend the day, night and Saturday morning there.
I will warn you that Haviland took a lot of these pictures and she has the tendency to go just a little bit camera crazy.
The boys, paying more attention to their food than to the camera.

Victoria playing horse on a very crooked tree.

Sawyer, always happy.

Sayre raking up pine needles for our fort.

The finished product.

Making candles.

Listening intently.

Sayre dipping his glow lamp.

My glow lamp after I put on all the flowers.
We had delicious homemade pizza for dinner and watched the last 2 episodes of Cranford. It was sooooo relaxing.

Getting ready to go see the cows Saturday morning.

2 BIG cows.

Yet another BIG cow.

Enjoying the view from the trunk of the "Burb".

After lunch we headed back home to babysit my little (well, not so little) nephew Peyton.

Isn't he cute?
After babysitting we headed out to the turkey bowl at BJU.
Caleb's the 1st Franco to play in the championship and we were all very excited.

The Beta Gamma Delta Patriots entrance to the stadium.

Charging the field.

Preparing for the game.

The president(of BJU)arriving to present the game ball.

From the East to the West, #3 is the best!!!

Mother enjoying the game and spending time with her 2 big boys.

My handsome big brother.
I can hardly believe that he is already a freshman at the university. I miss him a lot at home though, he has always been here for me and now I'm the oldest at home. It's a LOT of responsibility.

Hailey, ready to go home.

Celebrating after their 4-1 win against the Basilean Eagles.

Pictures with the family.
Well, daddy's back home now and so the whole family is here.
~Thank you Castleburys for the wonderful time we spent at your house.~

A beautiful fall evening

2009-11-17T15:19:00.000-08:00

~The candles are lit and emitting a nice warm glow through out the house.

In the kitchen the smell of freshly baked cookies permeates the air making ones mouth water.

The little baker sings along happily as Handel's Messiah plays softly in the background.

Another little girl waits patiently for the anticipated treat.

She dunks into a glass of cold, refreshing milk,

then takes a bite and savors it in her mouth,

and then she smiles for the picture. ~
~ Indeed it is a beautiful fall evening.~

Modest attire a la Christiana

2009-11-06T15:53:00.000-08:00

All this week my mother and I attended the High School Festival at Bob Jones University as I was competing in piano, but due to the fact that they do not allow photography during the programs I was not able to take any pictures. However on the last day we ran into a good friend of ours, Christiana. We spent a delightful afternoon talking and then went and had dinner together.
While we were walking I noticed that Christiana had on a beautiful, long, flowing, swishy skirt along with a very pretty dark jean jacket. Now if I had seen that skirt hanging on the rack at a store I most likely would have past it by without another thought but seeing it on her and the way it flowed, my mother and I fell in love with it. Mother asked her where she got it and she told us that 2 weeks before, her mother had told her that she had seen a long modest skirt at T. J. Maxx on clearance. Christiana went to see it but thought it was very ugly, however she tried it on and seeing how flowing and long it was, she bought it. Well, anyway, to make a long story short, yesterday morning my dear daddy took us all to T.J.Maxx, and as Caleb works there and we could get 20% off the items we were purchasing, we went straight to the clearance aisle. My mother picked 3 skirts and I got 4 along with a sweater for mom and a dark jean jacket for me, because it's not everyday, as I told my "getting increasingly alarmed" father, that you find long, modest skirts at such a good price.

~Modest attire a la Christiana~
The store only had women's sizes so we bought a size medium for Haviland and I cut off the top 2 and 1/2 ruffles and made Victoria a little skirt out of it and then ran elastic through the bottom ruffles to make a skirt for Havi.
~The Franco ladies~
Thank you soooooo much Christiana for the wonderful afternoon we spent together and for sharing with us where you bought your skirt. Mother and I really enjoyed it.

~She makes coverings for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,~
~Proverbs 31:22,25a~

Guess where we have been!!!

2009-10-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday morning my family left to attend a conference in another state.

~The sky line~
Well if you haven't guessed yet perhaps the next picture will give you the answer.

Did you guess New York? Well what a brilliant set of readers I have. We had a very enjoyable though busy week (rarely getting to bed before 1:00am and having to get up around 6:00 to be able to eat breakfast) in the big apple or as daddy calls it the rotten apple.

~Nathaniel, Jovani, Elizabeth and me. AKA=Nate, Joe and Eli~
We went with our friends the Huendos and we had a blast!!!

~The community cup~

This is a replica of lady Liberty's face. It is the same size as her face and as you see it is HUGE!!!

~The 3 generations= Benjamin Garlick: grandson, Dr.Roland Garlick: father, and Evangelist Daniel Garlick: son~
We also had the opportunity to meet Dr. Roland Garlick, one of the great heroes of the faith.
I believe he is now in his 90s and he has parkinsons, please pray for him and his family.

~Old friends~
After the conference we went to New Jersey to visit Franky
and his family.

~Me with baby Peyton~

~Ethan~

~Victoria and Hayden~

Here is a picture of the cheesecake that Stacey made for us. It was sooooooo good
that by the time we finished there was only about 3 pieces left.

~Everybody except Peyton who was sleeping~
We left New Jersey Saturday morning and arrived at Winston-Salem, NC
in the evening where my father was going to preach Sunday morning. After the service
we headed hom and arrived 20 minutes before our evening service. It felt wonderful to sit down in my orchestra seat and play my violin and to see all my friends.
~East or west, Home is BEST~

I'm Growing~ A special song

2009-10-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

Jesus has saved me with His blood, with His blood;

~Franky and Camilo~
Jesus has saved me with his precious blood.

~Caleb, Franky, Haviland, Camilo, and me~
I'm in God's family, praise His name, praise His name;

~Camilo and Dad at Camilo's high school graduation~
I'm in God's family, praise His holy name.

~Victoria~
Chorus: I'm growing, I'm growing, I'm growing;
I want to be like Christ my lord, My king.

~Victoria~
I'm growing, I'm growing, I'm growing;
I want to be like Christ my Lord.

~Jared~
God is my Father; I'm His child, I'm His child.
God is my Father; I'm His holy child.

~David~

~Victoria~
He feeds me daily with His word, with His word;
He feeds me daily with His holy word.

~Haviland, Me and Jared~
Chorus II: Growing, growing every day, I want to be like Christ my King.
Growing,growing every day, I want to be like Him.

~Hayden~

~Victoria~
In Christ I'm changing everyday, everyday;
In Christ I'm changing every single day.

~Camilo's birthday~
His word grows sweeter everyday, everyday;
His word grows sweeter every single day.

~David and Haviland~
Chorus III: Growing, growing every day
I want to be like Christ my King.

~Me playing the violin in the church orchestra~
Growing, growing everyday, I want to be like Him.

~Me~

~Victoria in the dryer~
I'm growing, I'm growing, I'm growing;

~Reading "Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle"~
I want to be like Christ my Lord, my King.

~The Franco and Lawrence girls~
I'm growing, I'm growing, I'm growing;

~Hailey~
I want to be like Christ my Lord.

~Hayden~

~Victoria~

~Caleb and Victoria~
Growing, growing,

~Haviland~
growing, growing

~Old enough to iron~
growing everyday.

~Caleb~

~Caleb's birthday~
I'm growing,

~David, Jacob, Jared and Jaylen~
I'm growing.

~Victoria~

~Victoria and Caleb~
~"I'm growing" Written by Ron Hamilton.~

An important announcment

2009-09-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased to announce the birth of Hailey Alyse Franco.

She was born at 2:41 today. She weighs 5 lbs. 14 oz. and measured 19 in. long.

She has dark hair which she got from the Franco side.
We are sooooo thankful to God for this new little blessing and for His protection of Jessica.

~God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply,and fill the earth,~
~Genesis 1:28a

Happy birthday Haviland!!!

2009-09-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hard as it is to believe, Haviland turned 10 yesterday!!!

Here is Havi with little Brian Hornor.

Brian and Diana Hornor.

Haviland opening her gifts.

Haviland's birthday dress which mother made for her.

I made this dress on Saturday to wear on Sunday.

Victoria enjoying the birthday cake. I thank God for my sweet little sis.
Happy Birthday Havi!!!

What I have been up to

2009-09-25T06:53:00.001-07:00

A lot of sewing

Practicing piano, flute and violin.

And I'm off to do some baking. Have a wonderful day.

All dressed up

2009-09-15T05:36:00.001-07:00

A very common thing here at our house is for the children to dress up,
Whether as cow boys or soldiers, and it really is fun to watch them all play.

cowboys.

Priscilla Mullens, at your service.

The Range rider and his side kick, Dick West.

King Arthur and sir Lancelot.

Victoria trying to imitate her brothers.
Please leave a comment if you notice anything strange about Victoria's headgear.
This is just a small glimpse into the lives of the Franco children.

A post at last

2009-09-15T04:45:00.000-07:00

Well here I am again and I have remembered my promise to post some pictures from the Ecuador missions trip.

There were 5 members,Daddy, Cristian, Caleb, Evangelist Alvaro Rodriguez and my uncle Galo.

Mr. Alvaro never passes up a chance to witness so here he is preaching in a bus full of people.

One of the beautiful houses.

The beautiful mountains of Ecuador.

Posing after their hike. They visited many different places and the weather varied from very hot to very cold hence the jackets.

Missionary Sid Messer and Daddy.
Of course, no report on Ecuador would be complete without some mention of the food:)

I really don't know what all these dishes are but I think Caleb is eating fish of some sort
and the drink is probably the Ecuadorian soda Tropical which is, I think, one of the best sodas in the world. Well, I hope you enjoyed this small glimpse into Ecuador.

Two cowboys eating breakfast

2009-08-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

This morning Jared and David got up, dressed, and came to the kitchen for breakfast.
Mother and I thought they looked soooooo cute with their cowboy hats on and decided to take a pic. Hope you enjoy.

A recap on the last month

2009-08-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that it has really been a month since my last post,
time really flies. Well, let me give y'all a recap on this past month.

July 12-19~ We all enjoy a week spending time with daddy and Caleb.
July 20-22~ We attend a conference in Douglasville, GA.
July 25~ We enjoy some wonderful fellowship with a couple of families from church
while swimming at their house. (I was excited because I was able to use my new swim suit that I made.)
July 27-August 1~ We attend a conference in Walkertown, NC.
August 3~ We celebrate my great grandmother's 95th birthday!!!
August 4~ Camilo and Jessica celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary.
David succumbs to an awful virus.
August 5~ The virus spreads and Jared gets it.
August 6~ Haviland falls ill.
August 7~ I get sick:(
August 8~ The illness passes on to Caleb.
August 9~ I feel a lot better and go to church in the evening.
August 10~ I fall ill again and Victoria also succumbs.
All the other children feel much better.
August 12~ I recover in time to attend the special revival meetings that
start Wednesday evening at our church.
And of course ever so much more in between

Daddy is home!!!

2009-07-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well during the last week we have been cleaning and finishing some projects so that daddy would
have a nice clean house to return to.

Mother made some nice blue and white curtains for the dining room,

and the kitchen.

We also re-covered and painted the kitchen chairs.

We put some nice flowers around the house and it all looked just lovely.
On Thursday we decided that we wanted to go with Fernando and Alejandra
to pick up the guys as a surprise, because they were arriving at the Atlanta airport.

We left early and stopped at the Tanger outlets in Commerce.

Victoria really enjoyed getting into the little car rides.

We decided to film the meeting to be able to show all you who read my blog.
I am sooooooo glad my dear dad, brother and cousin are back and I thank God for bringing them back safely. I will try to post pictures from the trip soon.

Special pictures

2009-07-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today we went blueberry picking again, but this time we took Jessica along.

The belly is getting bigger and we all can't wait for the little baby to come.
A cow that was grazing in the shade.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as I did. I am looking forward to making blueberry pie and other sweet things with all those blueberries we picked.

Shooting away

2009-07-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

For the past several months Caleb, Haviland and I
have been taking a gun class
at the Greenville Gun Club. I have really enjoyed being able to learn how to use and fire a gun.

We took the rifle qualification class and are trying to get up to the highest
level which is distinguished expert.

Up till now I have reached the sharpshooter level
and am currently working on the sharpshooter bars, of which there are 9,
I have reached bars 1 and 2 and am working on bar 3.

After you complete each level the NRA (National Rifle Association)
Gives you a patch and a certificate and if you want you can also buy the NRA medals.

I have saved most of my targets and keep them in a folder along with the certificates.
I have 23 targets and a few more which, before I had the idea to store them in a folder, I got rid of. I hope to be able to keep moving ahead and will try to keep y'all up to date with my shooting.

A fast and healthy Sunday meal

2009-07-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

Seeing that we were very tired from the busy weekend, and lacked the time and energy
to prepare a big, fancy meal, Mother decided to make something fast and healthy.

~Salmon and Salad~
All she did was brush the fish with Olive oil and then season the salmon on one side with
Adobo Goya
Red bay seasoning
and Pepper.
She then baked it in a 425 degree oven.
The amount of time you cook the fish depends on the thickness(About 8-10 min.).
After the fish is finished squeeze on a little lime juice

The salad was just
Lettuce
and Green pepper
Seasoned with
Lime
Olive oil
and Salt.
Then topped with millet.
Serve with a glass of sweet iced tea and enjoy.

a 4th of July picnic

2009-07-05T11:40:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had a 4th of July picnic at our church with plenty of good food and fellowship.

Pastor Vasquez praying for the food.

We had several different games including a potato sack race, a balloon toss, and a water balloon fight. Of course, all the boys played soccer.

Lining up for the race.

GO!!!

Older kids hopping away.

Tossing balloons.

Little kids playing in the tree.
I really enjoyed this time we had to celebrate the liberty that God has granted to
this nation. The only thing missing was my dear daddy, brother and cousin who are still in Ecuador. Please pray for them as they will be returning on Friday.
P.S. Thank you Fernando for taking all the pictures.

Hiking and Sewing

2009-07-03T16:18:00.001-07:00

This morning we went to hike with some friends on Paris mountain and I
actually remembered my camera, so here are some pictures from our hike.

In the woods.

Me, reading at the amphitheater.

Crossing a thin, log bridge.

Playing in the creek.

A shrimp Jared found in the creek.

The fattest Caterpillar I have ever seen.
A spider's web.

After we got home I decided to do a project which I had been wanting to do for a LONG time,
but had never gotten around to making. It is impossible to find modest swimsuits at stores, but 2 years ago I ran across a pattern that was modest and yet worked for swimming.
I showed the picture to a lady at our church who made it for me without the pattern.
Well, I outgrew the one she made so she showed me how to cut it out so that I could make it.

The suit comes to my knees and has a pair of detached pants under.
I added the darts to the bodice and put butterfly sleeves instead of the normal kind.
I also made a a suit for Victoria which fits her pretty well.
I hope you all have a blessed 4th of July.

Simple pleasures

2009-06-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning found us in a Blueberry orchard
owned by a sweet elderly couple.

It was a very nice thing to do as one had a beautiful view
of the mountains and could see Gods wonderful handiwork.

Enjoying the sweet berries.

Picking away.

Mr. and Mrs. Yates.

"No berry picking on Sunday" A little girl named Megan and Haviland.

I can't wait to make some delicious desserts with all those
blueberries.

The new arrival--Edited

2009-06-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

I am very pleased to announce that Francois and Stacey have
a new addition to their family.

Payton Asher Franco was born on June 21
at 3:09am AR time (Which would be 4:09am our time) as a fathers day present for his daddy.
He weighed 8lbs. 7oz. and measured 21 & 1/4 in.
Here is a picture with his 2 older brothers, Ethan(1), Hayden (2) and mommy.

Vacation Bible School

2009-06-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

All last week we had VBS at our church
and I had the privilege to help with the music and in the 8-9 year old's class.
We had Bible stories, puppets, music, costumes, plays, prizes and more!!!
So here are some pictures of my week. I hope you enjoy.

Mr. Torres the teacher for ages 8-9
(Just in case you are wondering the theme for VBS was
"Passport to the land of Jesus Christ" which is why all the teachers
were dressed as Israelites )

Me, acting a very sleepy Jonah.

The puppets standing on the wall of Jerusalem.

A little girl called Tatiana. Isn't she adorable?

The mad rush to see who would win in the offering,
boys or girls. The little boy (his name is Uriel) jumped into the picture.

Charlie and Roberto enjoying hot dogs Friday evening.
(In all the group pictures I'm naming the people from left to right)

Jasmine, Haviland, and Adriana on Friday.
To earn extra points the girls had to wear a pink shirt.

Me, playing "Holy is He" for the offertory
with Benjamin, Josue and Eric.

The costume was VERY hot and none of the boys wanted to wear one
except Danny. (Benjamin's brother)

Please pray that the children who came will remember what they learned
about the life of Jesus, that they will continue to come to church and that they
might be saved.

I really enjoyed being able to help, and look forward to
next years VBS.

Happy fathers day Dad!!!

2009-06-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

On this very special day I would like to wish all fathers a happy
fathers day but I especially would like to wish my daddy a happy fathers day.

Dear Daddy,
I just want to let you know that I love you and that
I am so thankful that God gave me such a wonderful father.
Thank you for always being there for me, helping me in my spiritual growth, and being such a good example .
May God bless you for all you done for Me.
I love you dad!!!

P.S. Thanks for always making me delicious food!!!

~I thank my God upon every
remembrance of you.~
~Philippians 1:3~

Our trip

2009-06-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well we made it home safely on Thursday arriving around 12:15 AM.
We were kept very busy while we were in Indiana and I actually had the opportunity to play the piano in a double wedding as the pianist was on of the ones getting married !!!

It was a very long drive but we made it in about 12 hours.

Here are the 3 pastors wives,
Mrs. Yolanda Gomez, my Mother, and Mrs. Gloria Oliva.

Here are 2 men from the church
and the 3 pastors, My dad, (1st on the left)
Pastor Adrian Gomez, (2nd on the right)
and Pastor Mario Oliva.(last on the right)

Here is one of the meals we ate.
It's called pupusas and it is a Salvadorian dish.

Enjoying food and fellowship.

After the conference in Indiana we headed to Illinois for and FBFI
(Fundemental Baptist Fellowship International) conference.
After Illinois we headed home.

On the way home we stopped at the creation museum to get some information.
The museum was going to close in 2 hours so we just got the information, took some pictures
then left, but we hope to be able to go with some homschoolers from town.

This picture didn't come out to well but it was the only one we had if this dinosaur.
Well I'm glad to be back and I hope you all enjoyed seeing these pictures.

P.S. If you could all be praying for my dad, Caleb, Christian, uncle Galo,and
a gentleman from church as they all left early this morning for a 3 week long missions trip
to Ecuador. Please be praying for their safety and that the Lord will use this trip in their lives.

On the road...to Indiana?

2009-06-11T03:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, in a few minutes my family and I will be on the road to Indiana.
please pray for a safe trip and that the conferences will be a blessing to all.
We will be returning an Wednesday the 17th.

My birthday

2009-05-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

It seems very hard to believe but yesterday was my 14th birthday!!!
My parents took me out for a delicious breakfast at Ihop.

After breakfast we went to Hancock fabrics where they were having a BIG sale.

Daddy took these pictures. LOL. Isn't Victoria cute?
At 6:00 we had a cook out and we invited Camilo and Jessica, Tio Antonio and Aunt Michelle, and Alejandra and Fernando.

We had steak, rice, salad, fruit salad, and cake.

I received so many beautiful gifts.
A jean jacket from Caleb,
a card making kit and heirloom scrapbook kit from Camilo and Jess,
a white blouse from Alejandra and Fernando,
a Spanish cook book and perfume from Tio Antonio and Aunt Michelle,
"So much more", by Ana Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, and Elsie Dinsmore#8
from Mother and Daddy,
and candy and lotion from Haviland.

And for the cream on the cake Mom and Dad gave me a
beautiful sterling silver purity ring with an Emerald.

I am so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.
P.S. Isn't the ring beautiful?

An ode to mothers

2009-05-13T06:29:00.000-07:00

As I thought on this mothers day I
wasn't very sure what type of post I would make for mothers day.
I finally decided to post a poem that my mother wrote but I had to translate it from
Spanish to English so it's taken some time. I hope you enjoy it .

~Voices~

There is a voice that echoes;
And it speaks without fear
That there is no worth in what I do
That there is something much more dear.

There is a voice, a loud voice
That tells me I should go
Away from home and pull away
From that little fold.

That I can gain great riches
That shall bring me felicity
That I can earn a position
And of me, proud they shall be.

There is a voice that tells me
That fame should be my goal
And to do something that's "really worth it"
And so the world of me approve.

They shall tell me that I'm intelligent
That I didn't let myself down
They shall tell me "You are really strong;
You, we can admire."

But there is another Voice, a Voice sublime
That tells me there is more honor
In being "only" a wife
Building a superior home.

That He shall give me great riches;
That I could not even perceive
He shall give me some blessings;
That shall bring me felicity.

"It won't be easy" He tells me
"On Me, you shall have to lean
If you want to see good fruit;
You shall have to trust in Me."

"It shall take a great effort
Little souls to mold
He tells me: you do your part
For I shall not desert you."

"Be to them a good example
And they shall follow you
when you talk to them of Jesus
They will believe."

And some day you will hear some voices
Talking about you
"She was 'only' a mother
Who dedicated her life for me."

And you shall have great fame in your home
"It was worth it" you shall say
When you hear your husband and children
Blessed you shall be.

"They shall tell you, that you were wise
To have stayed at home
They shall tell you: 'You are really strong;
You, we can admire

~Lizet Franco on February 28, 2003

Being a Mother is really such a high calling and we as children should honor
mothers. I thank God for my mother.

I'm back

2009-05-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

I would like to apologize for the very LONG silence.
My little sister broke my camera which I use for blog pics not long ago so I am currently trying to get a new one AND we were at a
conference over the weekend I will soon post pictures of our very enjoyable trip, but I wanted you all to know that I am still alive and well.

A delicious brunch meal

2009-04-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

When we stay at hotels I like to watch the food channel and a few months ago
while watching Rachel Ray I found this recipe that looked really good.
I've changed it up a little and everybody loved it. So here is the recipe.

~Turkey, egg, and cheese brunch sandwiches~

~patties~
1 Package ground turkey
Cilantro
Allspice
Minced garlic
2 Eggs
Adobo
Salt
Pepper

I didn't measure how much I put of the spices so, please add according to your
taste. shape in balls (like meatballs) and fry in a little oil.

~Eggs~
About 5 eggs
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Scramble all ingredients together. Cook just like scrambled eggs.

Toast some English muffins and place patties on top.
Add a slice of cheese and eggs. Toast so that the cheese will melt.

Serve and enjoy.

An anouncment

2009-04-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

I would like to formally announce that I'm going to be an aunt (again!!!).
Camilo and Jessica are going to have baby #1!!!
Please be praying that the pregnancy will go well.
I don't remember if I announced this but Franky and Stacey are expecting baby #3
in June.

~Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hands of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.~
~Psalm 127:3-5~
~That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth;
that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.~
~Psalm 144:12~

A special verse

2009-04-02T14:37:00.001-07:00

~Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee

great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.~

~Jeremiah 33:3~

St.Patricks day/Camilo's birthday

2009-03-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was was my brother Camilo St.Patrick Francos birthday.(That is not his real name, he just happened to be born on St.Patricks day)

While many girls nowadays say "brothers are bothers"
what we should be saying is "thank God for brothers!!!"
I have 3 older brothers and 2 younger brothers and it just wouldn't be the same
without them.
So with that,
Happy birthday Camilo!!!