Sunday, November 30, 2008

Garr's Going Away Party...

Well, last night was the going away party our good friend, Garrison Sanford.

We weren't really surprised to hear that he was (finally. *grin*) joining the United States Marine Corp, but to say we weren't saddened to lose his company and to see him go, would be an untruth. One thing is very sure, and that is that we are extremely proud of him and we know he will serve his Country with honor and integrity! We support our troops!!

Goodbye, Garrison, we sure will miss you! Know that you will be in our prayers continually as you serve the Lord far from home.


SEMPER FI!


So here are some photos of the evening (an evening with mixed feelings...both joy and sadness). I hope that y'all enjoy them and get a bit of a taste of the friendship and close-knit relationship that our Church family is so blessed to be able to enjoy! Also, I'm including a rather *fuzzy* video clip of a skit/song that Melinda, Melissa, Tiff and I did for Garr to commemorate his leaving. We enjoyed creating the song and the ad lib was especially fun! (One disclaimer, as you can see, there are two videos, parts 1 & 2. In the middle a small section was cut off, where we said "counting those years out loud and strong, 2, 3, 4, hut 2, 3." But that is all that it's missing.) Hope y'all like it! :-)

Have a wonderful week y'all, and remember to give thanks to the Lord for the friends that he as given you, though they may only be with you for a short season of your life. God is good.


In Christ Alone,
Jessica


The Video:




Photographs:

Garr's Going Away Party


Oh, and I decided to add two extra youtube videos, just because they make me cry as they remind me of the bravery of those men who are fighting for our freedom!

Letters from War- Mark Schultz





An American Soldier- Toby Keith
With our good friend Garrison going off to war, emotions are high in our family. This song reminds me of the sacrifce that is displayed by our troops in Iraq. Regardless of whether or not we agree with every policy of the federal government, God still allows free worship in this land and has used the blood of American Soldiers to secure that right! God bless our troops!


21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like y'all had fun. :)

Brooke

Tara Janelle said...

That song was great! Very clever! Love those hats too!

Anonymous said...

How hilarious! I bet you had a ton of fun performing it - SO CUTE!

Ella said...

I love to see what a close bond y'all share at your church! I am envious.

We support the troops too!

Anonymous said...

WOW! Looks like y'all had loads of fun. Your video is so cute!:) The other videos you posted were great too. I esecially like letters from war. Thanks for posting the pictures too.

Michelle

JB said...

Jessica,
You ladies are so amazing. I think we will just have to have y'all perform at our next California event!!!

Blessings, Mrs.H

Mrs. E said...

Darling! :)

Jessica,
I've already commented on your sister Tiffany's blog, but had to comment here as well. This was simply adorable....great singing, acting and lyrics.
I enjoy looking at your blog! :) Keep up the good work in serving Christ and others!!

Blessings,
Jen
www.blessedfemina.blogspot.com

Jasmine Baucham said...

Oh, that looks like such fun! It's so great to spend time with family, and friends who are like family, isn't it? :-)

I'll be praying for our friend and his family. :-)

~Jasmine

Jessica McDonald said...

Brooke, we did!!! :-) And it was very nice to be able to see Garrison once more before he left.

Tara and Kathryn, Thank you!!! We really enjoyed doing it. And I must admit, I love the hats too!!! :-D

Ella, You're VERY welcome to move here and join us! :) I will say, I am very thankful of the bond we have. I try to never take it for granted!
I'm so glad that there's another "troop supporter" out there!! I get so tired of people saying mean things about our soldiers and the war in Iraq. 'Tis so refreshing when I find others that support them!

Michelle, glad that you enjoyed them! "Letters from War" is one of my favorite songs! And the music video always makes me cry in the most ridiculous manner!

Mrs. H, Thank you very much! We greatly enjoyed doing it!! And that WOULD be fun! :-D Maybe we'll have to write a song about all of "y'all" in California!! :-D Hm...

Miss Jen, I'm so glad that it was enjoyed!! We love singing and acting so it went together pretty well. Thank you!

Jasmine, It definitely is! Something about being with people who you see constantly and know so well that you can tell what they're thinking by the look on their face or what they're about to say before they even say it, just makes one feel as if one has a great big family! And the bigger the family, in my mind, the better! :-) And thank you very much for praying, I know they will appreciate it deeply!

Thank you everyone for your comments, I enjoy reading what y'all have to say! May the Lord bless y'all's week.

In Christ Alone,

Jessica

Anonymous said...

Hey Jess, man i miss you sooo much!! thanks for posting the video. very funny!! love ya!!

Ana Smith said...

Ya'll are hilarious! It would be impossible, yet the most fun ever if we could get our churches together. Our churches really understand what church family means. :-) You really need to come visit Dixie sometime soon!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jessica,

That song was great! (Maybe even better than "I wish I was back in the army"?!) It was beautiful to see what a close Church family The Lord has blessed you with.
I was wondering... how tall are you? I'm almost the shortest in our family, besides my youngest sister (she's my heigth) and my 5 year old brother. ::smile:: I'm 5'4 3/4".
May God bless you with a wonderful evening!

Love in Christ,
Achaia

PS I do love those hats too. ::smile::

Anonymous said...

PS Sorry... I misspelled "heighth" ::smile:: OOPS!

Lazy D Ranch said...

I like the videos. :) How y'all doing? We all can't wait till May. TTYL

Jeremy Degenhart said...

Achaia, she's not as tall as a Wookiee, but she's taller than a hobbit...

(barely)

:P

Anonymous said...

The Same Anonymous Dude,
thanks so much! that really helps!

Nightingale said...

Hello Jessica!
I found your blog through Elissa Pickle and have really enjoyed reading it. It is very encouraging to read of other likeminded girls. The church my family and I go to here in Arizona is wonderful, but there are no girls even close to my age, thus I have very limited fellowship. So it's very nice to know of other girls like you even though you all are spread throughout the country! Please keep up the good blog work, especially since I share very similar interests with you!

Blessings,
Courtney Krause
www.courtneykrause.blogspot.com

PS - We support the troops, too!!

Anonymous said...

Tag, you're it! :-) (if you want to be that is). I tagged you on my blog - You can read the details there.
:-)

Bailey said...

LOL! You're even better than my little sister. ;)

Ella said...

Oh, I love that music video. I can't believe I didn't say that before. It makes me cry =)

Jessica McDonald said...

Anna, miss you too!!! Y'all visiting Illinois anytime soon?:-) *hug*

Ana, Thanks! :-D We really enjoyed doing it! :-D
That would be fun...I'm missing Dixie already...*sniff* Though the snow up here is gorgeous. *GRIN*

Achaia, Yeah...hehe...I do love "Wish I was back in the army"...but then, I just love that whole movie! :-D I'm 5 feet 1 inch. :-) Don't listen to anything tSAD says...he's nuts. :-)

Nathan, So glad that you enjoyed them! They make me cry. Especially the first one! We're doing great...Christmas is such a lovely time of year!! We cannot wait till May either...and it's so marvelous that we'll be able to meet up again in Colorado!!! We're SO excited!!!

Jeremy, lol. Whatever a 'Wookiee' is. :-)

Courtney, 'tis delightful to meet you! I'm so glad that you enjoy my blog!! I'll be sure to check out yours. Thank you so much for commenting!

Kathryn, Thank you so much! I will definitely check out the tag! I do so love those!

Bailey, *GRIN*

Ella, isn't it beautiful? *sigh*


Y'all all have a blessed week!!

In Christ Alone, Jessica