A Belated Birthday Gift to Grace and an early one for Maddie.

Dear friends of ours The Rainey family came up with a wonderful idea for a birthday gift for Grace and Maddie. They invited them to take part in their daughter Maria's riding lesson for a day. Oh, they were super excited! Maria takes riding lessons at the same stable that the girls did a horse class at a few years ago. So they know the stable and most of the horses, too. I'm sure you can tell by the photos that they had a wonderful time! Part of the class is that you must groom the horses before and after the lesson and spend a good amount of time with them! Maddie had one of her favorite horses named Jack, and Grace had the newest horse in the stable named Glennis. Glenn for short! Of course everyone thought that was totally cool to have a horse named Glenn!









They did cantering, and also learned some maneuvering skills, too. They LOVED it, and of course it generated a renewed interest in riding lessons of their own. So...we are praying about that! Elisha is next to have a turn. She was in school on this day, so she'll have her time in a few weeks!

Fun At The Playground With Our Friend's the Lowman's!

We love the little playground in Deerfield. We often meet our friends the Lowman's there to hang out. The kids had a great time there on this day, as usual!

2010 CHENH Homeschool Convention

Over Memorial Day weekend we attended NH's homeschooling convention for the first time ever! In previous years, I, (Mary), had spoken at the conventions, but we had never attended any session. Glenn had never been at all. So we signed up the whole family. We even were able to take Junior and Elisha out of public school in order to go! The convention speakers were the Maxwell Family. They have 8 children. The husband and wife and 7 of the children were involved in the sessions. It was wonderful! We all had a great time! The Maxwell's are pictured
to the right. Check out their ministry at:
www.titus2.com It's great!





The children loved the vendor hall with all of the books and curriculum to choose from. Glenn Junior and Jon took part in any hands on things there were to do. Here they are taking part in an experiment on electricity.

The girls enjoyed taking a session on young womanhood taught by Sara Maxwell, one of the daughters. They also loved the session called: "Learning to Be Keepers of you Home." The boys enjoyed a session on managing your time taught by one of the Maxwell sons. It was a lovely weekend and we took home many ideas and lots of notes, and were greatly encouraged! We are all looking forward to next year's conference!

Catch the Silly Bandz Craze!

Well..it's finally happened...and all from a trip to the dentist! As a little token for being good, the kids all got two silly bandz. What are they you ask? Well....check it out! It's the latest craze to sweep the nation! Now, Grammie Linda has gotten in on it, and Uncle Mike, too, and so the kids each have an armful of the bandz and are trading with each other like crazy...they are also very generous with them, too, and have given bunches of them away to many people. That's been cool! Yup...even Mom is in on the deal. As I type, some of my bandz are glowing in the dark! Such fun!



P.S.--Yes we take them off at night when we go to bed, so no cutting off of the circulation, and Yes, they are "banned" from the Winslow homeschool during school time so as not to cause unnecessary distractions. They are just so much fun! Yes, even the Mom likes them!

Gracie Turns 14!!--5/31/10

Our beautiful Grace is now 14. Take a peek into her celebrations...of which there were 3!

1. Family Fun in Wolfeboro on the lake with Grampa Dave and Grammie Linda.

2. Memorial Day, Her actual birthday.

3. New England Aquarium for the day in Boston.

Word Of Life Ladies' Retreat--Schroon Lake, NY--2010

What a wonderful time we had at the W.O.L. ladies' retreat this year! Here is a photo of our whole group that went. There were 38 of us in all from ME, NH, & TX.

We had a wonderful speaker for the weekend. Here is her bio. She spoke on Abiding in Christ in Obedience, Patience, and Confidence. It was just precisely what God had for me to hear this weekend!




Hello! My name is Jennifer Sands, and I welcome you and thank you for visiting my website. www.jennifersands.com I pray that as you explore this site, you will find hope, encouragement, and inspiration.
My husband, Jim Sands, was killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Back then, no one could have convinced me that I would recover from losing Jim, or that I'd ever be functional again. But I have since learned that God can do amazing things -- things that I never could have imagined. Before 9/11, I did not know Jesus as my Lord and Savior... but by His abounding love and grace, I have since undergone a radical spiritual transformation. I am now determined to spread the Gospel and a message of overcoming trials -- and living everyday life -- through faith and trust in Christ and in the power of His Word.
If you've ever been through the pain of adversity and found yourself thinking, this can't be happening..., then I have encouragement for you. If you've ever searched for answers to life's toughest questions, then I have wisdom to share with you. If you've ever desired the most valuable riches, then I have a priceless treasure to offer you.



Our singer for the weekend was Paula Dunn. Born and raised in Maine, she has an amazing testimony of how a church going door to door one day, saved her and her siblings lives. She was only 6 weeks old at the time.

For the past 22 years, I have had the exciting privilege of sharing God's love through music and my testimony. Throughout this time, my purpose has been to reach out and encourage those who are hurting, to challenge believers to a deeper walk with God, and especially to bring as many people as possible into a personal relationship with Christ. This has been and continues to be my prayer for each concert-a prayer that God is continuing to answer each and every weekend.

The fellowship was so sweet, and my battery definitely got charged and I'm ready to abide in Christ! We are already super excited for next year! Madelyn will join me next year and that is going to be awesome!

Mother's Day 2010--Mom's Favorite Chinese Food and the Beach!

I am so blessed by my family! They gave me the most wonderful mother's day! They say a picture is worth 1,000 words...and I'll let you fill in the words from all of these glorious shots!