Is Summer really almost over?

Hey everyone! I know I haven't posted in a really long time! Forgive me for that! I just had a couple pictures to share with you all, and one other thing, and then I hope to have some more pictures and stuff up soon about our summer! :D (p.s. I can NOT believe summer is almost over already! :'( ........)


First of all......... On July 16th, I had the privilege of hearing Selah in concert LIVE at the Christian Conference Center we go too in the summer in Alton Bay, NH!!!!!! It was absolutely AMAZING!!!!! I was so glad that I got to go!!!! Here are some pictures...

Myself, Susanna and Caleb with Selah :)

Yeah, so it was pretty awesome! I saw this the other day, and I really liked it and thought I would share it with you all! :D


Things for Which to be Thankful:


The spouse who complains when dinner is not on time, because s/he is home with me, not with someone else.


The teenager who is complaining about doing dishes, because that means she is at home & not on the streets.


The mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.


The taxes I pay because it means that I'm employed.


The clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.


My shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.


A lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.


All the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.


The space I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking.


My huge heating bill because it means I am warm.


The lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means that I can hear.


The piles of laundry and ironing because it means I have clothes to wear.


Weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.


The alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I'm alive.


Getting too much email bogs me down but at least I know I have friends who are thinking of me.


So, next time you start to complain about something, I encourage you to look for something to be thankful for! Look for one of God's many blessings in your life! You might be surprised by what you find! :D


In Christ,
~Karissa~

Good times at Winter Carnival 2011

We are finally done making the video with pictures and videos from Winter Carnival, but I have sad news... It will not post on here. I have tried it three times, and every time it says it is having trouble and to contact blogger support. I have tried this, and am hoping for an answer, but who knows! I am wondering if it won't go on because it is 25 minutes long. Oh my! Haha. But, anyways, I am going to write about some of the fun things we did, and I'll keep trying with the video. We had a blast at Winter Carnival! It was soooo much fun.

We got there at about 4:15 on Friday night, and were pretty much the first ones there. We got unpacked, did a couple other things, and made the chili for the potluck. We went to that at about 6:30, and had a great meal with lots of food and fellowship! We didn't do too much game playing Friday night, just visited with friends we hadn't seen since summer! It was great.

Saturday morning, we got up, and had a good breakfast, and the little children went over to practice for Juniour choir, while the adults went to the Bible study by Mr. and Mrs. Hanson. It was very good, and I felt encouraged by it. Thanks to them for doing that for us!

After that, was playing and eating and fun until it was time to go to the pool at Gunstock. Only some people went to that. From our family, Susanna, Caleb and I stayed home from that, plus a couple other people. I'm sure they all had a blast, while we had a great time back at the campground.

We went over to check and see if Beacon was good for snowboarding, but no such luck. We were disappointed since we had so much fun on that hill last year, but oh well! So we decided to try out Mitchell, and that seemed pretty good, even though snowmobiles went through there a lot. So, Amelia, Susanna, Caleb, I think Trevor was there, and me went snowboarding. It was a pretty good hike up the hill, so a couple times Trevor took us up on his snowmobile, which was way better. :)

So, that was a blast, and after everyone else got back, it was just more sledding, snowboarding, playing, etc. 'til supper. That night was a "talent night" in the chapel, and that was really good, and fun. Then, it was playing games time. I stayed up 'til about 12:30 or 1:00 probably, but I'm not sure about everyone else. :D

Sunday morning was of course Church, and then eating lunch, and more fun activities throughout the day. Sledding, snowboarding, ice-skating, playing in the youth center, and more fun and games. Unfortunately, the annual NH Winter Carnival on the ice, was cancelled because of the ice not being frozen enough I guess or something, so we were disappointed in that, but oh well!

That night again was playing games, hanging out, and just having fun! Amelia slept over that night, and it was one of the best nights ever! Definitely the best sleepover ever! We had such a blast, an awesome time, making great memories, that we will remember and cherish forever! We were literally (Amelia, Susanna, Caleb and I) all in bed next to each other (the beds were all lined up, see if you can just picture this in your mind), and we were all texting each other! It was soooo fun... We did that, talked and laughed (a LOT) 'til about 2 'o clock a.m. It was the best! Okay, sorry but I just have to keep saying that, cause it was such a great time, and I haven't had that in a long time!

So then, Monday morning, we got up (tired, but we made it :P ), and some people went to the Bible study prepared by Vickie House. This, too, was a very encouraging time, and the prayer time meant so much to me! The prayers that were offered up for my family and I, were such a blessing, and a huge encouragement to me! Thank you!

After lunch, we went snowboarding and sledding once more, and then packed up to head for home. The goodbyes were tearfully sad, but we are all looking forward to the summer time, when we will see each other again! :)

Well, that is it for now, and I hope all of you have a wonderful night, and a Christ-centered week!

Ephesians 2:1,

Karissa

Psalm 34:1-4 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Hey y'all! Wow! I know I say it every time, but I haven't really done a post in a long time. I really hope that I will be able to now that we are getting internet on the laptop! :) And again, I don't have pictures, but I will soon, again now that we have the laptop with internet (which is where most of my pictures are anyways)! Well, first of all I am going to tell you about last Sunday night. On Sunday night we went to the annual "verse of the year service" at our Church. I wrote a 100 word essay for the verse I picked last year, and said that in front of everyone. I was nervous, but I got through it! Haha. I will put my essay on here sometime too. (I also picked a new verse.... What they do is print out a bunchof verses and put them on a table in front and everyone goes up and picks one, and that is your "verse of the year"). The one that I got last year that I did an essay on was Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The one that I picked out for this year (well you don't really pick it out, cause the paper is turned over so you can't see the verse, you just pick a random piece of paper) was Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. I really like that verse and I also like the second verse of that chapter which says: looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. They are very encouragin verses to me, and I hope they can be in some way an encouragement to you as well! :) Then Susanna, my dad and I as well as a bunch of other people went up front to say the "chapter of the year." They pick one out every year, and whoever wants to can memorize it throughout the year and then at the service you go up front and say it. It was 1 Thessalonians 4 for 2010 and this year it is 1 Corinthians 5. I also at the service signed up to read the Bible through this year since that was one of my "resolutions for 2011" (they have a paper, and whoever wants to can sign up to do it, and then if you do it, at the "verse of the year service" you can get a prize). Obviously I didn't do it just for that... Lol I wanted to do it anyways, and have been wanting to for a while!!! I hope I am not sounding too confusing. :P -- Well, we are going to a teen activity tonight, so that should be fun! I am sooo looking forward to Winter Carnival. I hope it will be tons of fun! I can't wait to go sledding, snowboarding, and all that other good stuff! We are ALL sooo lookin forward to it! Well, that is all I have for now, and I hope to have some pictures up soon! :) Have a wonderful day!

-- With warmth and blessings,

-- Karissa -- P.S. We got about 20 inches of snow!! The first big snowstorm we had was the day after Christmas when we got about 8 inches... But it was all gone by the next week. And then we had a couple flurries here and there but nothing real big until the snowstorm a couple days ago! So excited! I have yet to go out and play in it, but I'm hoping to soon! :)

New design... And LOTS more!

Hey,

As you can see I have changed the background design for my blog! They have so many new templates! It's awesome, but I ended up picking this one. If you know the story of It Is Well, you know that it had something to do with water. If you don't, look it up!

I can't believe we are heading up to Nh in just 4 days! I can hardly wait, it seems like yesterday was winter carnival! But anyways, it has been really hot here, and I can't wait to get up there and go swimming, etc.

We have been up to a lot since the last time I wrote, so I will try to cover as much of it as I can without loading you with stuff to read! First of all, back at the beginning of June, we got to help out at a Wedding reception (Susanna and I) for someone who used to come to our Church. That was really fun since we don't really ever get to do that stuff.

We have had a lot of graduations this year, but I think they are all done for the summer now. 4 from our Church, a friend and a cousin. We went to Steve's (cousin) on Saturday. It was good to see all the cousin's and have some fun. I got to try the unicycle again... I was getting pretty good at it, if only we had one that I could try here, I would probably be able to do it!

On Friday June 18th we had a big "teen bash." When we first got to the Church at around 2:15, we split up into teams (boys against girls), and went out on a scavenger hunt... Taking pictures of the "team" with different things. For example the whole team near a fountain,... The whole team with a boat in the background... The whole team with a convertable... And a bunch more (about 20-30 things to do). So, that was really fun, and they never really said a winner, but we all think the girls won. Lol. Anyways...

Next we came back to the Church and ate a delicious meal prepared by Ann Marie Smith and Becky Galvin! Yum! Thanks to both of you in taking the time to do that for us! After supper we all went into the teen room and watched all the pictures that were taken. I hope to maybe get them, so we can have them to remember, cause it was really fun!

Next stop? Mulligan's Mini Golf! We had a good time there, and out of all the people, three girls got a hole-in-one (me being one of them), and NO boys! Yay! Haha. After that we were going to go to the new Kimball's ice-cream that is near us, but someone from the Church told us that it was Hot-rod night, and we would have had to wait 3-4 hours in line! Can you believe it? So, we went to Market Basket instead to get some half gallons of ice-cream, toppings, etc. Then we headed over to the Owens to play games, eat dessert, and other snacks, until we got tired of each other and wanted to go home! Well, we ended up leaving at mid-night! But, we had a lot of fun, and learned some new games, that we can't wait to play again sometime hopefully! So that's that!

We have this "bulletin" at our Church called the scoop and it is written by teens... they have a activity central where someone writes about the last activity that happened, they have a parents corner, picture of the month, things that are going on this month, teen talk back (I know doesn't sound too good), what teens are saying, where someone asks a question, and a bunch of teens answer it, and then also a teen testimonie. This month I am writing the testimonie for the scoop! So, maybe once I get that finished, I will post what I wrote on here, sound good? Okay, deal!

Hmmm, anything else new. I'm sure there is, just nothing I can think of off the top of my head. If I remember anything that we did that was really exciting I'll let you know, but for now we have just been packing and getting ready to head up to Alton Bay on Friday!!!!!!! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you come again real soon! (That being said, I hope to have more blogging going on also! :D)!!!! Have a great night, and a wonderful week....

With His Love,

-Karissa-

Psalm 56:3, 10-11

3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

10. In God will I praise His word: in the LORD will I praise His word.

11. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

Pictures

Hey all!! I'm back again!! And hey! Look at that, I'm posting pictures! I decided to make a video this time instead of downloading all the pictures to my blog, and it's really fun to make videos/slideshows. Well, I'll first say, to left off where I was in the last post...all of us ended up getting sick except for Caleb and Julianna (so far, and that's not to say they definitely won't get it...which I hope and pray that they won't, cause it was one of the most horendous things in the world)! Ok , well off that subject, back to the pictures!!!! I wanted to write something on some of the pictures (not that I would have to, but you know some pictures have a "story" and it's fun to say "what is happening in that picture" if you know what I mean?!). So, anyways, if I was to write something on them, it would be in the middle of the picture (which would wreck the point of having the picture on there at all pretty much)! So, needless to say, I didn't do it....and it's not the end of the world, but it would have been nice. Oh well, maybe there is a way you can do it w/out having that happen, but I have yet to find that out, and will definitely do that if I ever find out how. Well, here goes!!! Enjoy!!

Did you like it?

I was thinking after "it's a good thing I took pictures of the little kids, or I really would have been in for it!" LOL!

Video's

This is the video I made up of all the videos I took at Winter Carnival. I realized I spelled snowboarding wrong at the beginning, but I already did a lot of work, and it would probably take a lot to fix it, so I just left it...it's not that big of deal. Also at the end, I made it so the music fades out, but when I watched it, it just cut it off...oh well! That would probably take a little fixing too, so I just left it!! I hope you enjoy it!!!!

How did you like it? It really is fun to make videos like this!!!

That's all for now....have a great day!!!

'til next time,

Karissa

Isaiah 40:31

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Home

We are home from winter carnival, and had an awesome time, although Kristianna was sick yesterday! :( She is feeling a little better today I believe, and no one else has gotten sick yet! I hope no one else will get sick....only time will tell. Guess what? I'm blogging on our laptop! It's awesome. We don't have wi-fi yet, so we must be getting it from one of our neighbors. Sometimes it allows us on the internet, sometimes not! Well, anyways, I don't have pictures this time (since I am on the laptop), but I will next time of winter carnival (I know, I know, I say that every time, but this next time I will have pictures, or else I won't blog)! haha!!

When we were at winter carnival....we got to go snow boarding! It was so awesome. I loved it, and can't wait to do it again hopefully soon. I went down the really big hill also! The sledding was also really fun.

We had 27 (I'm pretty sure) people eating with us, so that was also a blast. We bought, (well, my mom) and brought up all the food, and then others helped prepare, but that was fun to do that. Can you imagine preparing food for 27 people for 3 1/2 days? Haha. That's only 5 less than the Duggars! LOL!! I'm joking. Anyways, the whole weekend was a blast, and if you were there, I hope you enjoyed your time too!

That's all for now.

'Til next time,
Karissa Noelle

Psalm 100:1-5

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Winter Carnival is tomorrow

Hey,

I cannot wait for winter carnival tomorrow! It will be so fun............or will it? I am TOOOOTTTALLLLLLLLYYYY joking. Ok, I am very excited as you can probably tell. HAHA! Well, anyways...let's see!! We have been really busy preparing and everything, and getting food ready for let's see now......about twenty six people! So, that is pretty much what we have been up to.

We got the texting bill today, and last month....remember Caleb had done around 7200 or something like that?? Well, this month he only had about 3200. Wow! He cut it done a bunch. Lol. Ummmm, I don't really know what else to say! I guess I could say we have started going on Wednesday night to Church, and the younger ones go to Patch the Pirate! (We have only gone for about two weeks now, cause that's when the patch club started)! Last night when we went, it was one of the teens birthday, so we got to have cake...yum! We also played a game called outburst (Bible edition). Heard of it? It was pretty fun. We have it, and might bring it to Winter Carnival!

Well, I REALLY don't know what else to say, so I guess I'll say ta ta for now! And so I can go get some of Susanna's famous, delicious, banana bread!!! Bii!!!!!

ttyl-Karissa

1 Peter 5:7

Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

(Sorry if that's not right....that's what I had off the top of my head.)

p.s. I really hope to get some pictures up soon....maybe after winter carnival we'll have some good ones. I hope!!

life in 2010

Hey everyone!

This is my first post of the year 2010! Wow! It's almost the end of January....I can't believe it. Any how, today is my mom's birthday!! We had a party the other day!! Happy Birthday, mom! I love you! I am helping with dinner, and getting ready to eat, but just figured I would give a little update on what we have been doing!

We went to a teen party (the meltdown) on January 15th. That was really fun, and one of the best teen things we have went to so far, I think, in a lot of ways!! (we haven't been to a lot, just a couple)! Anyways, we started off by playing "melt the ice", and you had to melt a piece of ice in your hands. Yikes! It was freezing. There was first second, and third place, but none of us girls won :( haha. After that we did this thing, where you split up into teams and go around the Church and find stuff, to make up a "commercial" about how to stay warm in the winter. It could be serious, funny, or just plain dumb! Anyways, that was pretty fun, and I hope that I can find those videos, and show to them to you! After that we had ice cream and watched the videos, and ended the night by playing a game of dodge-ball (not really fun for the girls, but...eh we didn't really play, just stood there. lol ;))!

Uh, I'm trying to think what else......I got denied on my braces; AGAIN! Boy! I guess, I'm not meant to have braces, even though I really want them.

We have found some new texting friends, and I don't know if you want to know how many Caleb had in the first month of texting...............drummeral please..........lol.........7400!! I had around 3000. That is quite a lot. Ha-ha!! But, more people have texting than you really know I think, and it adds up REALLY fast, when you don't know it.

We were talking about how we hadn't been to many funerals in a while (it seemed like last year or a year and a half ago, we had been to a lot, in a short period of time), and we went to two within 5 days!!!

Well, I guess I better go and eat. Nice getting caught up! lol. I hope to have some pictures on here soon (I haven't posted any in a while)!

In His Arms,

♥♥ Karissa Noelle ♥♥

Psalm 37:4-5

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him: and he shall bring it to pass.

p.s. I CAN NOT WAIT FOR WINTER CARNIVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Going to Nh for the weekend!

I am excited and sad at the same time! I am excited that we are going to NH, but sad that this will be the last time we will go for the summer! It's so sad to think about. We have had a good summer though, and have had some fun up there!


Anyways, we are leaving tomorrow at about 11:30 in the morning, and we have to pick up some stuff on the way up there...so we will probably be there between 2-2:30 (hopefully, that's our "goal"). When we get up there we will "hang out" for a little while (I don't like to sat that, "hang out", it doesn't sound to good.....but you know what I mean), and then at 7:00 or 8:00 (I would say 8:00 if I had to guess), they are having a bonfire on the beach. That is always fun, and they also have desserts after.


Then of course on Saturday, they have Harvest Day (which, I don't kow how much we will be doing, depending what it is, and the prices). And also on Saturday is the canoe race. I'm hoping maybe Susanna and Lauren will do that with me since I want to do it, but we'll see what happens!


Then the concerts will be Saturday night. On Sunday there isn't much going on (A party I think, maybe, but a surprise....shhh, I didn't tell you). Then, we weren't going to stay 'til Monday, but Auntie Jenn and Uncle Dan are taking us to Fun Spot on Monday. That should be really fun! I'm not sure if I've been there (I think I have, but I don't remember)!


I just heard today that they are making the basketball court at NH into a gymnasium (however you spell that)! I think that is sooo stupid! Caleb likes the idea, but I don't! I guess I'll just have to try to enjoy it...????!!!!!!! Whatever!


Well, that is all for now....I have been having a problem with the pictures and deleted a bunch of them by accident. So, I hopefully will have them all back on here soon, and get some pictures up. (I even took a bunch the other day like I said I was going to do in the last post, but they weren't going on when I tried to put them up............eeerrrrgggghhhh)!!!


I was looking for a verse to put on my blog, and I was looking through the Psalms, and this verse kept "showing up". So I decided to put it on here! (I also put the next two verses after that, cause I liked them also)!


Psalm 31:1
1. In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. 2. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. 3. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy names sake lead me, and guide me.

What's wrong with me?

I am really bad at blogging obviously......as you can see. I don't have pictures this time, well I would put pictures of Caleb's game, but he doesn't want me to, he wants to put them on!! Well, his coach told him and his team (this is the cities that he is playing now), to come and play with their A game, and they won 18-4, so I guess that was their A game!!! I think they all had a A game, not just one or a couple people, they all did great (obviously, I don't think if just one person had a great game they would get 18 points)!


We haven't been doing to much recently, except trying to stay cool...it has been so hot, like in the 90's. I can't believe it! Of course that happens in mid August, almost September. It wasn't anything like this when it was supposed to be! haha. It could still be hot right now, but not this hot, plus my mom said she heard it was supposed to better today.....not!


We are gonig to NH one more time this summer, for Labor day weekend! I can't believe that the summer is almost over, its' so sad! It was just June, and now all of the sudden it is almost September. Aagghh!


The Red Sox are doing pretty good, except for the fact that they are still 6 games behind the Yankees! The Yankees have the best record in the Major leaugue...how did that happen? The Red Sox were just 3 games ahead of them?! Oh well. Hopefully the Red Sox will catch up soon, if the Yankees wouldn't win every game!


Well, I have to go get ready to eat, it hopefully won't be as long as last time in-between posts! I always think that I have to do a long post if I write something, but I don't really have to, I can just write a short one, and let you know I'm still here! lol. And hopefully I will have some picture next time.....I will try to remember to take some! Ttyas!

I should blog more often!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone! I have not blogged in a while. Last time I posted something was when we got back from NH the last time we went up. Now I'm back from being up there for 10 days or so. We had an awesome time just like always. I cannot stay too long it is getting late, and I have to go to bed soon, so here are a bunch of pictures from over the last few weeks. The first one that I put, I was going to put last time, but forgot!!!!





Eve Dennett....she is sooooo adorable! <3


Caleb, Corbin and Susanna work in the sandbox ("candy shop") at the beach. I also worked there too, but didn't get my picture taken, haha!!!




Caleb works in the sandbox





View of the beach

The beach swingset

Daniel a couple weeks ago falling asleep after eating his lunch (he did finish his lunch though)

Two Saturdays ago, we went to our Church picnic. This is Natalie blowing bubbles.

Kristianna and Josiah Anderson

Kristianna blowing bubbles at the picnic

Some of the teens get ready to play volleyball

Julia Pileggi and Natalie Jorgensen hold hands as they walk......so cute

This is where the fire had been in NH, and it was really neat I thought how it looked, so I wanted to take a picture, but it did not work. So, this is not what it looked like, but I thought this was cool anyways.

Timmy Crockett

Alyssa (Riley's cousin), Jamie (Alyssa's friend), and Riley Johnson

Timmy (a different Timmy than the picture up above), and Daniel play in the sand

This rose bush was planted up at NH when Andy Sawtelle died (he was about 23 I think when he died, but they told his parents when he was born that he would only live 'til the age of about 4).

Julianna and Ally in the paddle boat (I'm not sure if that's how to spell Ally)

Kristianna eating her slush

"Hey Elliott, how big was the fish you caught"? "This big"!!

Alyssa, Jack, Caleb, Micheal, Riley, Daniel and Ben play on the beach

Kristianna playing in the water

Josiah Hansen plays in the water

Julianna jumps off the dock.....

and lands in the water......SPLASH!!!!!

Julianna and Ally jump off the dock

Jack holding the fish he caught

Jack ( the Johnson's cousin)

Corbin Johnson (the oldest)

Micah and Lucas (I am trying to put on a picture of each of the Johnson's, and this is the only one I had of Luke, oh well!)!!!!! The second oldest.

Jamie, Riley, Alyssa, Ally and Julianna

Riley Johnson (third oldest)

Gabe, Jack, Erica, Micah and Liam with the fish Jack caught

Gabrielle Johnson (the fourth in the Johnson family)

Kristianna and Elliott

Elliott Johnson (the fifth in the Johnson family......how many are there?)

Spencer Johnson (the sixth). More?

Spencer

Last but not least, Toby Johnson (Tobias), the seventh blessing in the Johnson family

Toby

Well, that is all for now, and I really have to go, because it is getting really late. I will hopefully blog more soon. Let you all know more of what I have been up to (basically at Alton bay). Ttyal. Bye...............

With His Love,

Karissa Noelle