Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is our favorite. My parents and siblings all come together and we feast and fellowship.

Easter

Happy Resurrection Sunday from our family to yours!

Courage, Dear Heart.

For Rebecca.

Drinian’s hand shook on the tiller and a line of cold sweat ran down his face. The same idea was occurring to everyone on board. “We shall never get out, never get out,” moaned the rowers. “He’s steering us wrong. We’re going round and round in circles. We shall never get out.” The stranger, who had been lying in a huddled heap on the deck, sat up and burst out into a horrible screaming laugh.

“Never get out!” he yelled. “That’s it. Of course. We shall never get out. What a fool I was to have thought they would let me go as easily as that. No, no, we shall never get out.”

Lucy leant her head on the edge of the fighting top and whispered, “Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now.” The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little—a very, very little—better. “After all, nothing has really happened to us yet,” she thought.

“Look!” cried Rynelf’s voice hoarsely from the bows. There was a tiny speck of light ahead, and while they watched a broad beam of light fell from it upon the ship. It did not alter the surrounding darkness, but the whole ship was lit up as if by searchlight. Caspian blinked, stared round, saw the faces of his companions all with wild, fixed expressions. Everyone was staring in the same direction: behind everyone lay his black, sharply-edged shadow.

Lucy looked along the beam and presently saw something in it. At first it looked like a cross, then it looked like an aeroplane, then it looked like a kite, and at last with a whirring of wings it was right overhead and was an albatross. It circled three times round the mast and then perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow. It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them. After that it spread its wings, rose, and began to fly slowly ahead, bearing a little to starboard. Drinian steered after it not doubting that it offered good guidance. But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, “Courage, dear heart,” and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan’s, and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.

In a few moments the darkness turned into a greyness ahead, and then, almost before they dared to begin hoping, they had shot out into the sunlight and were in the warm, blue world again. And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been. They blinked their eyes and looked about them. The brightness of the ship herself astonished them: they had half expected to find that the darkness would cling to the white and the green and the gold in the form of some grime or scum. And then first one, and then another, began laughing.

-C. S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Chapter 12

BessBlakeyDesign

I am so pleased to announce the launch of my very own Etsy store! I've always loved making jewelry, and now I can share it with the world! If you're interested in seeing more, head on over to etsy.com/shop/bessblakeydesign

Bryan and Juliette

I took this last week late one night. I'm realizing it is one of my favorite photos ever. I never cease to be amazed at what a great father this man is.

Sisters

My four daughters, each when they were one day old.

Juliette Margaret

We are so thrilled to announce the birth of our fourth daughter, Juliette Margaret Blakey. She came screaming into our world last night at 10:52 pm. After a bit of a scare and mad rush to the hospital awhile after dinner, we learned everything was actually fine, but that those contractions I'd been ignoring actually were labor, which I had a hard time believing. And then in almost no time, she was in our arms, 7 lbs, 3 oz, 20 1/2 inches long, and perfect and healthy and so wonderful. We are so thankful to God for His grace and goodness to us these last nine months, and are so overjoyed to have her here.

Nine Years

This photos was taken 9 years ago today. I was so excited to marry this man, but honestly, I still had those tiny twinges of uncertainty. What if he's not actually perfect? But then I would remember the way he treated his mother and sisters, those in authority over him, and those at his service, and I knew he was a good man.

Truthfully, our marriage hasn't been perfect. We are two imperfect people, and we have had a few trials and tears along the way. But because he has shown me what it looks like to be humble and ask forgiveness (for both great and small offenses), our home is rich with joy and laughter.

He is gentle and strong, firm and gracious, patient and hard working, smart and just the right amount of nerdy. He does dishes, makes lunches, changes diapers, and gets up in the middle of the night to rearrange blankets for small people. He cares for me tenderly all the times I am sick or unwell. He reads to, dances with, sings with, teaches, plays with and tickles our children. He loves learning, exploring, and adventures, as well as quiet evenings at home. He laughs easily, forgives quickly, loves fiercely, and hates what is evil. He is faithful, wise, generous, thoughtful, kind, and a better man than I ever hoped for.

He is a good man.

Happy anniversary, Bryan. I am so thankful that God saw fit to make you my husband, and I look forward to growing old together. I love you so much.

Number Four!

Baby number four is due in April! We got this lovely little surprise a few weeks ago.

This morning we got our first look at our beautiful baby #4! She (chances seem likely that's it's a girl) is 8 weeks today, and about the size and shape of a gummy bear. Official due date is April 14. I can't wait to meet this little person in seven months!!!


The first thing I noticed was the beautiful little heart, flickering away on the ultrasound screen. What joy to hear the wonderful wumpa-wumpa of a strong hear beating about 162 times a minutes.

The little white ring is the yolk sac, and next to it is our tiny baby, laying on it's side. You can see the head, an arm, and there's even a tiny little butt.

Bounty

Today I harvested some fruit and veggies, and grabbed a couple of eggs from the hen house. So amazing to have food just growing in my backyard!