Praise Him With Stringed Instruments

The Lord will save me,

    and we will play my music on stringed instruments

all the days of our lives,

    at the house of the Lord.

~ Isaiah 38:20, ESV

~ hannah jane

Christmas

Here's a snippet of our Christmas!

All of these pictures were captured using one of my Christmas presents: an autofocus 50mm lens! (Thank you, Grandma K!)

It's not Christmas without The Polar Express...

...and lots of cups of coffee in your adorable initial mug (thank you, A family!)

Driving around town looking at lights is a must. Our courthouse (below) was literally draped with them. 

It was gorgeous.

Lots of nephew time... Isaiah LOVES the piano, and he can reach the keys now!

... opening gifts (and playing peek-a-boo with the tissue paper!)

... beautiful music.

A yummy Christmas dinner, complete with Christmas tree napkins! Watch how to fold them here.

Nana and grandboy snuggles...

And a farewell picture with Grandma...

After Grandma flew home, we had Christmas with my Grammy & Pop-Pop!

How was your Christmas? I hope it was wonderful and filled with those you love :)

See you next week!

~ hannah jane

Joyeux Noël

Merry Christmas, everyone! See you in 2015!

~ hannah jane

Sharing ~ Christmas Style

Hi everyone! I thought for this month's "Sharing" picture, I would use a picture from my orchestra's Christmas concert!

This month's Sharing post is Christmas themed. So please enjoy some Christmas music, holiday recipes, and maybe a gift idea or two :)

Recipes:

• Crock Pot Hot Chocolate: Recipe here.
• Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup: Recipe here.
• Gluten Free Brownies: Recipe here.
• Chicken, Quinoa, & Butternut Squash Soup (perfect for winter!): Recipe here.

Music:

• Christmas Stories: Repeat the Sounding Joy (album) by Jason Gray
• That's Christmas to Me (single) by Pentatonix. Amazing harmonies!

Books:

• Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. (15 and up, it's a big book!) We are using this book at our church to study Matthew 5-9. :)
• Joyfully at Home by Jasmine Baucham (14 and up): A book about joy and contentment where God has placed you.

 Have a great week!

~ hannah jane

Navarro Family ~ Portrait Session

Allie & I have had the wonderful privilege of taking this family's pictures from the beginning. In fact, they were my models for my very first photo shoot! You can see Melvin & Nathalie's engagement photos here.

One wedding, one Air Force graduation, one move, and one baby later, they were visiting from California for Thanksgiving, and of course we had to keep up the tradition and have a photo shoot!

Here in Texas, where we go straight from summer to winter, we were delighted to discover a little bit of rare fall color along the river... the perfect backdrop for a family portrait.

Melvin & Nathalie are such a joy to be around. They have always been great models for us!

Kassidy's two-toothed grins are just too cute to handle.

Thank you for another photo shoot, Navarros! It was such a fun time :)

~ hannah jane 

Thanksgiving(s) 2014

Hi everyone! I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year was a little extra special because we had two Thanksgivings! :)

Thanksgiving: Episode One involved lots of friends, Texas farmland, and pretty horses!

Did I mention, friends with cameras? :)

Red (left) and Miss Lee (right) were so pretty!

Thanksgiving: Episode 2 involved vintage apron selfies...

Furry family...

Did I mention I have a darling nephew?

A beautifully set table, courtesy of my mother...

And of course, wonderful time with my family :)

Never fear, 'tis sparkling cider. :)

And I leave you with my new favorite gluten-free stuffing recipe, here. Try it for Christmas? If you do, be sure to use fresh thyme and sage instead of dried, it's so much yummier ;)

See you next week, everyone :)

~ hannah jane

Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving 2011, in our home.

I wanted to write briefly about a couple of things I am thankful for...

1. Salvation, and the opportunity to hold God's Word in my hands without fear or persecution.

2. My church, my pastors, and my church family! I love you all.

3. My family. They are such a blessing to me in countless ways! I'm so glad most of us live close to each other!

4. My friends. They encourage and set a godly example for me, and I love them...

5. My spiritual growth. I feel that I have grown in many ways this year, and I am grateful to God for His patience in teaching me.

6. Good health!

7.  My cello, my orchestra, and my cello teacher! I absolutely love music, and it has been so fulfilling to be able to play and master the cello, and I could not improve at the rate I am without HOST Orchestra and my teacher, Emmie!

8. My barn and my riding teacher. Nothing like riding a horse in the early morning or jumping fences! Odessa is such a wonderful teacher, and I'm so grateful for her patient teaching.

9. Little people to cuddle and kiss...

10. Sunshine, and warm weather! It looks like it's going to be a balmy 70 degrees at our Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow.