Florida Sunshine

Last week we were in Florida! We had so much fun, especially when we had two close family friends there from NC and TN. This was probably my favorite vacation we've taken.
My siblings and I had so much fun surprising one family when we went to see them. Their parents knew we would be coming, but their sweet children did not. Their excitement was priceless and they were so surprised!
We went orange picking, visited with friends who were from Florida, going to Downtown Disney, ministered at the local abortion center with a friend, surprised my mom for her birthday and went to Gatorland (which I highly recommend!). The dads made Stromboli for dinner while the moms talked and all the kids played and talked. We all had a blast catching up and simply enjoying the fellowship! These two families have a such servants' hearts and they have a deep love for their Savior. 
With all of our families combined, there were twenty six kids, not counting little Aiden Josiah, the blessing growing in my mom's womb. One family has some of the same names for their children as we have, so that was a little confusing, but fun! 
Before we left for home, we stopped by a nice park to meet up with Trey's and Jacob's birth family. We spent an hour or so talking with them while the kids played. It will be eight years this summer since Trey and Jacob joined our family!
Saying "goodbye" to the sweet family that lived in TN was not easy. We definitely enjoyed seeing them, and hope to see them again in May.
Did you ever go on a vacation with friends? If so, did you enjoy it? What did you do?

Psalm 113:3 "From the rising of the sun to its setting, The Name of the LORD is to be praised."    

Reflecting on 2014!

Psalm 33:21-22 "We wait in hope for the Lord;He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust His Holy Name. May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in You."
Looking back on 2014, I see God's faithfulness, goodness, mercy in all the wonderful works He has done in my family.
Winter of 2014, we had three snowfalls in N.C. Its always a big deal when we have snow. We enjoyed sledding, throwing snowballs, making snow angels and making wonderful memories.  In the summer of 2014 we said temporary good-byes to three more babies via miscarriages and we were able to bury one of the three babies. God was still good during those times when we grieved. We prayed for comfort, and healing for our whole family. During that time, God remained faithful!
Fall of 2014, Our family went to a family conference in the mountains in NC. It was nice to be surrounded by similar-minded large families. We learned a lot, played games, enjoyed being with our friends, and enjoying the beauty of God's creation.
We also stayed in a cabin for three days in Blowing Rock, NC. My dad's client let our family use it for free. While we were there, we got a snowfall on the first day of November, it was pretty bad out there, so we had to stay inside most of the time, but we got cabin fever and were able to enjoy some time in the snow.
Throughout the whole year, my family loved hosting our brothers and sisters in Christ in our home. My siblings love playing with their friends and having camp-outs on our property. We also enjoyed having church at our home with some friends from our ministry. It was such  a sweet time of fellowship and worshiping the Lord. A father of six children got to baptize two of his children in our river and it was so beautiful to watch this special moment in their lives.
Last but not least there has been 516 lives SAVED from DEATH! Since 2008, two sidewalk counselors decided to keep track of the many saves in N.C. This means 516 children will get to have birthdays and have the possibility to become what God called them to be. They will get to experience so many things in this life, because there were faithful sidewalk soldiers who were pleading and proclaiming the Gospel in front of the "Gates of Hell' (abortion clinics) THANK YOU to all my faithful ministry friends for being obedient to Christ's calling and defending the hopeless throughout the whole year.
I can't wait to see what 2015 will hold for our family! What did 2014 looked like for you and your family?     

Christmas Tree Farm 2014

While my Aunt Sarah and Uncle David were in town they wanted to pick out their first real live Christmas tree for their first home together to celebrate their first Wedding Anniversary. My whole family, Amma and Poppy and all the dogs went with them. After they have searched and looked at several different Christmas trees, they finally found the 'perfect one'!

Uncle David, Aunt Sarah and their dogs standing in front of their Christmas tree they picked out!

Amma and Poppy

The kids

On the hayride.

Poppy and all the dogs!

Cutting the Christmas tree! 

And the search is over!

Six kiddos out of ten!

We bought our Christmas tree from Food Lion. I like this picture.

We Are Moving!

We are going to live out in the country on 18.5 acres with a creek and a huge Rocky River! My family and are so excited and we certainly can not wait to live in our new house! We close on our new house on July 1st and then we will begin some work on it. We are remodeling the kitchen and the dinning room and as soon as that is done we will move in sometime late in August or early September

The Creek

Kaitlyn, Eva, Emmaleigh, and I.

The Rocky River!

We are so thankful for so many blessings and for our new house! Once we move we will be getting more chickens and some roosters, some honey bees, and a cow and a very big garden!

More Christmas Pictures

My parents.
Siblings
Ladies
Men

The Boys

Two of my brothers.

Judah Michael


Ella Grace

Julia Claire


Jacob Meritt


Trey Christian

Ethan Gabriel


Kaitlyn Noelle

I hope you enjoyed these Christmas pics! Our great friend took these pictures for free!

Happy 10th Birthday, Ethan!

Happy tenth Birthday to my awesome, adorable, sweet, loving, energetic, and amazing brother, Ethan Gabriel Metzger!! I can not believe he is already 10. We enjoyed celebrating his birthday and our day was fabulous. On Ethan's Birthday he got snow and my daddy made him some mickey mouse Pancakes for him and for dinner we had some yummy Alfredo Sause with Penne, salad, and some garlic bread. Ethan received books, notebook, and pen and pencil set. We had such an amazing time celebrating just him and I am so thankful for him each and everyday. Where does the time go? His was with lots and lots of snowball fights, running in the snow, enjoying the snow, and simpy having fun time. Ethan is becoming such a wonderful young man of God and is growing up so fast!

Christmas Pictures 2010

This is one of our Christmas pictures. Our friend did it for free for my family and she comes and ministers with us at our local abortion mill. Thank you, Mrs. Shea!!! We love your pictures!!!

Good-bye 2010, Hello 2011

Dear Followers,


I am sorry I have not been posting a lot on my blog. Things have just been crazy around here. Here are some amazing things that have been happening in 2010.

February, We celebrated my mom's birthday and buried our precious brother and son. My dad took my mom out to eat at a restaurant that she liked and brought her some flowers to my mom. It was just a simple and small funeral and we just had our pastor with his family over. We sang a song and buried Leve next to our other baby that my mom miscarried.

January, Ethan (brother) turned nine years old and we had so much fun celebrating him. He is growing up so fast and hopes to become by the will of God an engineer. He is so energetic, smart, handsome and the best brother ever. We are so thankful for him each day! Almost a year ago Levi Samuel went to be with Jesus forever. We all remember that day so clearly and wish that Levi would've stayed with us on earth, but God decided to take him home. We all miss him so much but we will be re-united with our precious baby in heaven someday.

March, Trey (brother) turned 8 years old. We thanked God that he brought him to our family through adoption. We always have fun time celebrating birthdays in my family. It is always such a wonderful fun time. Trey is another best brother that I could ever have. He is so full of energy and he hopes to become a carpenter or hopes to go to be a soldier just like his uncle.

May, We started our own family ministry. My family went to abortion clinic that is about 20 minutes away from where we live. It was such a sad and dull moment for all of us to watch mothers go inside the building and kill their precious baby and fathers did not care and would not protect their son or daughter.

June, The day before my 18th birthday my parents told all of my siblings that my mommy was pregnant. I was so happy to hear an announcement and it was the best birthday present I could have ever asked for. It was so exciting to hear the news of a new baby that will joining my family.

July, Jacob (brother) turned 6 years old and it was also my dad's birthday. For dinner he picked lasagna, salad, and bruschetta with garlic bread and some yummie cookies. He received lots and lots of attention from his family. We also thanked God that he came to join our family forever. Jake was brought in our family through the gift of adoption. Jacob is such a sweet, ongoing, full of enery and another awesome brother that I could have with me! I am so thankful for him.

September, Kaitlyn (sister) turned 11 years old and we found out the gender of our baby. Kaitlyn loves to sing, and put on plays and direct them. I can not believe she is 11 and in two years she will be a teenager! It is very hard to believe. Kaitlyn had penne and alfredo sauce for dinner and I made some brownies for her. My dad said a special prayer for her. It was such fun day to celebrate just her. On the day after her birthday it was another exciting day for my crew. My parents together to the dr. appointment for the BIG ultrasound and to find out the gender of the baby. It did not take them very long and my mom came home from the ultrasound. That night we had a scavenger hunt for clues. It was so much fun. The last envelope we opened told the gender of the baby and it was a GIRL!!!!!!

October, Julia and Ellie (sisters) turned 5 and 3 within a day a part. It was so fun to celebrate these sisters together. Julia is our miracle baby, because when she was born she had her unbalical cord wrapped around her neck. After the dr. cut it she did not make a sound. It was a scarry moment for all of us. We are just thankful that God spared her life. Julia is such a sweet little girl that loves to play outside and loves to get muddy. Ellie is just as cute as can be. She loves babies and baby dolls. It was such a joyous time to see them grow together. They are becoming such young ladies of God. They both picked their special dinner and Kaitlyn and I made some dessert for them. We thanked God for both of them.

December, Judah (brother) turned 2. My mom and dad celebrated their 12th Anniversary. Our church threw a small party for them and my parents were surprised. Of course all of us knew ahead. This year we had a White Christmas in Charlotte, N.C. My family celebrated Christmas together. We had a great time together and remembering Jesus' Birth. I made special breakfast casserole that we only make on special occasions and had great yummy dinner. The whole day was awesome and super fun! The day after Christmas we had another special day. We went out to play in the snow and came inside to celebrate Judah. Judah loves snow!! My dad made yummy Turkey Soup for lunch and it was delicious. We still have to make Judah's favorite dinner which is Spaghetti. Judah loves to sing, play with his blocks, wrestle with daddy and with his 3 brothers and he likes to cuddle. We are thankful for each and every day!

2010 has been full of blessings and trials for my family. Some things were hard and some things were full of blessings. I hope the year of 2010 has been wonderful.

I am ready to start new adventures, new beginning, new memories, and new blessings from God this year. I am looking forward to the birth of my new sister that is due next month. Blessings to all of you!

~Annalise

Exciting News!!!!!!!

I have some exciting news to share today! My siblings and I are having a new sister and her name is Eva Caroline! On Tuesday my parents went to the big ultrasound together while I stayed at home and babysat my four brothers and three sisters and helped them with their school. My mom came home and told us she already knew if we were having a girl or a boy, but we had to wait a whole evening to find out, because our daddy was at work.

Please keep my Mommy and our little Eva Caroline in your prayers every day. #9 will be a blessing to our family and we are all VERY excited. So far, we have a healthy Mom and a healthy little sister!

Thanks for reading!

~Annalise

Julia and Ellie's Recital Pictures

Julia Claire Metzger

Birthday: October 7th 2005

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella "Ellie" Grace Metzger

Birthday: October 8th, 2007

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sisters, Sisters, there was such a thing as devoted Sisters".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are my two adorable sisters in their recital dance! Aren't they cute?! Julia and Ellie are the closest to the left. The tall one is Julia and the shorter one is Ellie.



Here they are again! On the far right, the two in in blue are my little sisters. They were dancing to the music of "Let's Go Fly A Kite" from the movie, Mary Poppins. All the little ladies were beautiful at their recital!

~Annalise