1 Chronicles 16:34

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

 

I'm thankful for my dad. He taught me to work hard, even though it took a while.

 I'm thankful for my mom. She's always available to give a hug, twenty-four seven.

I'm thankful for my older sister. She helped me grow a thicker skin and a tolerance for ice cubes down my back.

 I'm thankful for my best-friend-alien-sister. Nobody knows me like she does.

I'm thankful for my younger siblings. Though sometimes I plot their murder in the dark of night, I wouldn't trade them for anything else in the world.

I'm thankful for dogs. Rizzo, especially. Despite the fact that I'm usually the one to let him out, feed, and clean up the remains of his tennis balls, he's still one of my favorites.

I'm thankful for friends who could be (and should be, and totally are) family.

I'm thankful for the cat, I guess. She makes a great Frisbee.

I'm thankful for late-night jams in the living room. 

 I'm thankful for exploring by the lake.

 I'm thankful for Thor pizza. Because, seriously, that stuff is awesome.

I'm thankful for 500+ page books. I don't know what I would do with my time if they didn't exist.

I'm thankful for my softball team. There isn't another group of yellow-car-spotting, first-base-stomping, laser-tagging freaks that I would rather be with.

I'm thankful for twelve-hour rides on the boat. 

I'm thankful for goofy grins, obnoxious laughter, and all that other happy stuff.

I'm thankful for Dr. Pepper. That stuff might be bad for you, but hey, it tastes good. :)

I'm thankful for so much more, 'cause it's just a million things that I don't deserve. I don't deserve salvation. Hey, nobody does. But God gave us the opportunity to spend eternity in heaven with him, just because he loves us.
It's pretty awesome when you think about it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

The Perils of Christmas Decorating

 

The cat lurks beneath the Christmas tree. . . 

 

 The Talking Cavalier, seeing the light of day after 3 and 1/2 years.

 My favorite piece of our manger scene. THE CHOKING WISE MAN!!! Hee hee.

All three of us trying to fix the train tracks underneath the piano. Not the best idea ever.

Um, John. . . you might want to wait until the track is actually finished before you start playing with it.

Suzy has taken to covering herself with the Christmas tree stuff. Now where did I put that box of ornaments?

Coming Soon To Your Big Screen

From the producers of "Chrissy", "Never a Dull Moment", and "The Holy Grail" comes a whole new adventure! Partnering with the creators of "Fight Movies" and "Completely Un-Related" we bring you a movie that is like no other! Stay tuned!

 

Follow three spies, Leo (John Karako), Ayra (Hallie Bliss), and Sean (Zachary Bliss) as they trek across the globe trying to stop the villainous Sir Shadow and his Dogs of Doom. With henchmen and adventure around every corner, you can bet this will be a movie to please!

All Aboard the Kracko Kruiser!

Long have we Karakos dreamed of speeding down Table Rock Lake, pulling a tube or skis behind our pontoon boat, swimming every once and a while, fishing when the water's too cold. . . Well, finally, we have it!!

 It's actually not a pontoon boat, since pontoons do NOT have any power whatsoever, so now we can pull a tube behind it (which we have done about a million times in the past week) and fish on it. Best of both worlds! :)

 

Mom and Dad bought the boat on Thursday (there's actually a story behind it, but I will let Dad do the talking on that one) much to the surprise of us kids. Dad piled the kids into our truck and we took a little ride down the Kimberling City to go take a look at it. Then, (this was Dad's idea) we immediatly decided to check out all the local marine shops to buy a tube and find a place to set down in the water. 

The day after all that took place, Friday afternoon, we packed a cooler (a couple, actually) lifejackets, the tube, towels, and were about to set sail, when . . . a trailer tire blew. Five not-so happy kids trudged into the house to wait while Dad fixed it. Turned out Dad couldn't fix the tire that night so we had to wait until the next day. That night was probably the longest night of our lives. 

 Saturday was up-held with high expectations, since Dad (finally) fixed the tire, and then we were off!! We took a "trial run" at a local marina and rented a slip for the weekend. We tubed, we fished, we swam. For that weekend, we were living the good life. (as if we don't all the other weekends)

 

And now the big question is: Did we ever fall off? Well, I fell off. The others had a slightly stronger grip than I, and the end result was me falling off everytime we went around a sharp turn. Very annoying. (I will have you know that part of the problem was Dad would never stop for me, even when I signaled "stop" about fifty times. It was always Mom who came to my rescue.)

 

 Mom never did like the bumpy rides.

The Captian of our fine vessel

Pure Bliss

Yesterday we went to the City with Mr. Bliss, Zach, Steven, and Josh. 

Walking in the line of Wildfire.

This was right after I SOAKED 'EM on Riverblast. Very fine sharpshooting if I do say so myself. ;)

A track with cars. John's favorite thing in the world.

I know Mom likes chickens, but this??

AAAAAAAHH!!!

"Look Dad, his eye is moving!!"

Last ride of the day. The Jerky. (aka Thunderation)

No I did not.