Photo Fun with Ben :)

This morning while waiting to go to our grandparents' house, Ben and I decided to play around with my camera. I've never done a photo shoot with him before - only with Emma and Laurel - but since they're gone, we did it! It was so much fun, and we laughed a lot. :)

Yes, we had to take a few goofy ones...

Photo credit to Ben :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all the blog followers out there - I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! :) God has done so much for me, especially in the last year, and I have so much to be thankful for. In all the craziness of the day, may you still have time to remember all the blessings you have received this year and in previous years. There really is so much to be thankful for!
~ Grace Linnea

Piano Time!

Here is a song from a church contata that my aunt has been playing by memory for years - she finally got the music, and I decided to learn it too! This is my favorite part from it, played in the last month, by memory. Don't mind Charlton running through in the middle - :P - or the mistake near the end. Enjoy!

Rescue Dogs

Some of you may have seen my Original Oratory last year, about dogs and the variety of things they can teach us - well I thought I would post a few pictures of some of the now 20 dogs that I have been able to work with. :) Unfortunately I don't have pictures of all of them, but here are a few.

BARNABAS (STRAY, SHELTER CALLED HIM BARNEY,  I CALLED HIM BARNABAS)
OWNER FINALLY CAME TO CLAIM HIM AFTER A WEEK 

HERSHEY (CHOCOLATE LAB)
FIRST RESCUE LAB THAT I REALLY BEFRIENDED, QUITE THE AMAZING DOG  :)

FENWAY!!!! (LAB/RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK)
BEST RESCUE DOG WE EVER HAD, MY BUDDY AND COMPANION AT WORK FOR ALMOST 8 MONTHS

GYPSY (NAMELESS AMERICAN BULLDOG, I DUBBED HER GYPSY)

GOOD NEWS - JUST GOT ADOPTED THIS WEEK! SHE WAS MY GIRL, AND GOT VERY JEALOUS IF I WERE WITH ANOTHER DOG. :P

BUDDY (YELLOW LAB)

AMAZING DOG, THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN AFTER HE WAS ADOPTED - HE LOOKED NO WHERE

NEAR THIS GOOD WITH US...HE HAD SEVERE SKIN ALLERGIES FOR SEVERAL YEARS..

And last but most definitely not least....

KAL - RETIRED RACING GREYHOUND
MY HUGE "NEEDLENOSE" AND BELOVED FOSTER DOG

FRIENDS

This past week, I have been reminded several times of how blessed we have become in the last few years! Let me explain...for the Hopkins girls, six years ago our life consisted of being together, playing sports, etc. - but no where in that picture were any friends. Our cousins in OH were about as close as we got. There were people we played soccer and basketball with - what I called friends then, but who I now refer to as "acquaintances". Then we started speech and debate - and everything changed. At the beginning, I was a little timer, who knew everyone by name (because I had watched them compete), but didn't personally know any of them. And then people (competitors!) started taking time to talk with ME! It meant quite a lot, and I still am very grateful to those people for the friendship they showed me. The next year I started competing, and it has only gotten better since then ~ my group of friends has grown to include a lot of really wonderful people, for whom I am so very grateful. There's one problem though....my closest friends live far, far away - Deleware, PA, some in MA and NY - so really the only time I'm with them is during tournament season, and then all summer we're alone again. :P Well this summer was different. I've been missing my speech and debate people very much, but now we have friends here too!! Over the last few months we've been hanging out with a family from church, and especially in the last month or so, we have had so much fun with them. Then it dawned on me the other day - "whoa, not only do we have amazing friends now, but now we have some that live in CT. How cool is that?" So I would just like to thank you all for being such amazing friends and being so encouraging! And also, a special thank you to God, for enriching our lives in such big ways over the last six years.