Childlike Faith

The Lord Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:14).
Daddy lovin' life with his little girl


Monday evening, before we put Abigail to bed, I was holding her and snuggling her. As is our custom, I said "OK, Abbie, let's pray before you go to bed". Immediately, she clasped her hands together with inter-locked fingers and bowed her head!

I could not believe it. Neither Jocelyn nor I had taught her to do this. It was the sweetest thing. As I stood there, holding my precious bundle of joy, my heart welled up inside and I nearly broke out into tears thinking of the godly heritage that has been given to her. Jocelyn and I are striving, with God's help, to hand our children that which has been handed to us.

As Abigail is growing up so quickly, Joce and I have determined to remind one another that we only have one shot at raising her right. We need the Lord to guide us and we are grateful for the wonderful privilege and responsibility which He has bestowed upon us by entrusting us with the precious gift of children.

Here are some photos I took recently as Abbie and Daddy had some special time together.

Who, me?


The cutest little fingers


I love this one!


The serious look she inherited from Daddy


"I see that food!"


Mmmmmmmm....


Daddy, please get that camera out of my face!


Thank you for tuning in!

-- Stephen

The Joys of Parenthood

God has been so good to my family and me. On Thursday, while I was working, I could hear Abigail running around making happy noises. As I sat at my desk, I could not help but think of how good the Lord has been to me! I had to run upstairs to give her a hug and to shoot a few photos for the world to see.

Click on the "Play" button.


Click here for the large version.

Thanks for tuning in. Until the next post...

-- Stephen

Video...Throwing Away the Trash!

OK, this is a first. We have finally figured out how to get video on the blog. On Tuesday, we were lounging a bit and thought we would share some of the fun we had together as a family.

Screenshot from the video of the Little One who has mastered the use of the trash recepticle


Click here to view the video. The best way to view the Quicktime video is with high-speed internet.

God has given us no more precious gift on earth than our families! We must make the most of the time that the Lord has given us.

Thank you for tuning in!

-- Stephen

Abbie and Her NY Family

I snapped this incognito photo a little while ago. Abbie loves books and Grandpa Britt loves reading to her.


Auntie Jenna and Abbie bonding


Have a good week!

-- Stephen

Jo In the Philippines

Here is the slideshow for my sister, Jo who recently returned from a mission trip to the Philippines. By the way, I could not find music long enough to last the entire slideshow. Enjoy!

-- Stephen

Abbie and Her 2nd Cousins

Thursday night, our family went to visit Jocelyn's Aunt Lissa and Uncle Pat. Their children, Julia, Justine, and Jared had a blast playing with Abbie! It was good to see them again. They are a sweet family!








Thanks for tuning in!

-- Stephen

The Lights Are On!!!

Praise the Lord! At 12:22 p.m. EST, the power company connected our power back to the pole! We are grateful for the Lord's provision and care for us over these past 7 days. Though it has been trying at times, we are thankful for the protecting hand of God as He proved Himself to us yet again.

Hallway light that has juice flowing through it!


Abbie watching the workers fixing the house


Until next time!

-- Stephen

The Erie Canal

Now, for your annual history lesson, courtesy of ErieCanal.org. Actually, this is rather interesting. Bear in mind that these shots were taken prior to the big storm from last week. No, we still do not have power yet!


The Erie Canal is famous in song and story. Proposed in 1808 and completed in 1825, the canal links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east. An engineering marvel when it was built, some called it the Eighth Wonder of the World.

In order to open the country west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers and to offer a cheap and safe way to carry produce to a market, the construction of a canal was proposed as early as 1768. However, those early proposals would connect the Hudson River with Lake Ontario near Oswego. It was not until 1808 that the state legislature funded a survey for a canal that would connect to Lake Erie. Finally, on July 4, 1817, Governor Dewitt Clinton broke ground for the construction of the canal. In those early days, it was often sarcastically referred to as "Clinton's Big Ditch". When finally completed on October 26, 1825, it was the engineering marvel of its day. It included 18 aqueducts to carry the canal over ravines and rivers, and 83 locks, with a rise of 568 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. It was 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide, and floated boats carrying 30 tons of freight. A ten foot wide towpath was built along the bank of the canal for horses, mules, and oxen led by a boy boat driver or "hoggee".

In order to keep pace with the growing demands of traffic, the Erie Canal was enlarged between 1836 and 1862. The "Enlarged Erie" was 70 feet wide and 7 feet deep, and could handle boats carrying 240 tons. The number of locks was reduced to 72. Most of the remaining traces of the Old Erie Canal are from the Enlarged Erie era.

In 1903, the State again decided to enlarge the canal by the construction of what was termed the "Barge Canal", consisting of the Erie Canal and the three chief branches of the State system -- the Champlain, the Oswego, and the Cayuga and Seneca Canals. The resulting canal was completed in 1918, and is 12 to 14 feet deep, 120 to 200 feet wide, and 363 miles long, from Albany to Buffalo. 57 Locks were built to handle barges carrying up to 3,000 tons of cargo, with lifts of 6 to 40 feet. This is the Erie Canal which today is utilized largely by recreational boats rather than cargo-carrying barges.











See you on the next post!

-- Stephen

Abbie and Gramma Britt

We are back to posting some recent images. Here is a cute one of Abbie and her Gramma Britt. As you can see, she has well mastered the phone!

-- Stephen

Safe and Sound!

On Thursday, a smashing storm swept into the Western New York area. The lake-effect snow began falling Thursday afternoon with snowflakes the size of silver dollars! It was a heavy, wet snow that fell all afternoon and all night long creating blizzard-like conditions. The entire evening, as our family gathered together, we could see the strikes of lighting and hear the claps of thunder as the storm raged outside. Added to the "symphony" of the storm was the snapping of giant tree limbs as a great portion of the trees in the path of the storm broke beneath the crushing weight of the heavy snow.

Thursday evening's scene on the street


When we woke up on Friday we were greeted by the horrific scene -- 2 1/2 feet of snow and nearly every tree bent and broken. Our battery-powered radio indicated that approximately 485,000 customers were out of power. Of course, we kicked into "survival" mode. Unfortunately, we took no photos over the past few days as the only "survivors" who have cameras around are on that fake TV show.

Over the course of the next few days, we rounded up gas supplies, food supplies, and cared for family members who were unable to care for themselves. The Lord really proved Himself during these past days in sending food, supplies, family members and church members who sacrificially gave their time to help us.

This is a gas contraption I rigged to allow gas to feed a generator for an additional 3 hours (taken with mobile phone). I was tired of getting up all through the night to feed the generator!


Now on Monday, we still have no power and no promise of power for another day or two. Catch this... I am running my computer off a generator and, believe it or not, the cable internet is still intact!

We are grateful for the many concerned people who have contacted us and let us know that they are praying for us. The Lord is very real and has reminded us many times over the past few days that our safety and provision comes only from His good hand.

See you at the next post!

-- Stephen

Our First Snow!

It is not even the middle of October and already we are getting dumped with snow! Seriously, it is like a blizzard out there! More snow has fallen today in New York than I have seen in 5 years in Tennessee!!! Take a look at these:

-- Stephen

Abbie and the Rabbit

Here is a little something you will enjoy. Abbie was outside when Grandma Britt brought out her pet rabbit, Buddy. Of course Daddy had to grab the camera to snag some more shots of his favorite little girl. Click the "play" button to begin the slideshow.

-- Stephen

She knows that she is cute!


Click the "play" button below to begin the slideshow.


Stylin' and profilin'


Huh?


Teaching her to be frugal...


Practicing her princess wave

Singing In the Rain

I snagged some shots of my two favorite ladies in the rain... I'm lovin' it! You gotta love the cute outfit from Grandma Troell and the adorable shoes from Autie Jow Troell. Many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Troell as well as Auntie Jow for the sweet gifts.

-- Stephen

Struttin' her stuff


Gettin' a kiss from Mommy


Mommy admiring her daughter


The adorable shoes -- a birthday gift from Auntie Jow


Hand-in-hand with Mommy


Looking up to Mommy

Dr. Larry Clayton Comes to Preach

This past week, Dr. Larry Clayton came to preach a Home and Family Meeting at the Cornerstone Bible Baptist Church where my father-in-law is the pastor. We enjoyed having Dr. and Mrs. Clayton visiting with us. The messages were a blessing and it was encouraging being able to spend time with them.

-- Stephen

The Troells and the Claytons

Fall is Here!

The fall weather is here and the summer's heat has turned into the chill of fall. Today, my father-in-law fired up the heater. Where did the summer go? I cannot believe how time flies! We must make the most of the time we have been given by the Lord, because we do not know when our last opportunity may be.

She's Growing by the Day!

Here are a few snapshots I took Wednesday evening at dinner. There are more to come later.

-- Stephen

Still Lamenting the Loss

I was nearly sick to my stomach at the realization of the fact that I had lost nearly 300 photos from Abbie's first birthday party. I still cannot for the life of me figure out what I have done to misplace them. I have racked my brain and my computer to try to find them. I know that all of that is still in the Lord's hands, so I am not going to worry about it at all!

To relieve the sadness, I ran some errands Monday afternoon and snapped this photo along the way. We are still currently living with my in-laws (pray for me--wink, wink). They live on the border of Erie County which borders Niagara County. The City of Tonawanda is where their snug, little home is located. These two signs are side by side at the bridge into Tonawanda.

--Stephen

Abbie's First Birthday

How quickly time flies! On Friday, Abigail turned 1 year old and we celebrated in style. The only sad thing is that I took nearly 300 photos of the special day and then lost all but a few! I was sick!!! I still do not know how it happened, but here are some of the ones I have left. Enjoy!



Click here for the large size slideshow.

Abbie and Mommy blowing out the candle


Grandpa and Grandma Britt lovin' life


Abbie enjoying the cake lovingly made for her by Daddy


Thank you to each of you has been so generous to our family. We are grateful for your kindness to us and to Abigail on her birthday.

--Stephen