Christmas is around the corner!

I am so upset and I expect to lose many followers from my scarce posting. Now that we're home from California and all settled in I should be posting lots more often.

Christmas is seriously not too far away, It's actually crazy. Wasn't it Christmas yesterday? No? Oh. Well then. I will start posting more vacation photos VERY soon. I will make myself a reminder each day to post.

I am in our church's Christmas play this year! I have about 60 lines. It's so much fun and we are doing the play on December 11th.

I go to youth group every Wednesday night and yesterday I became a student leader. Which basically means I get to help out each week at youth! I was pretty excited.

It is snowing outside currently, we have about 3 inches so far! Have you been getting snow?

Some other major news: Oh hey, we got puppies! 2 adorable, little, girl puppies! They are doxen poodle mixes. In fact, one puppy is sitting on my lap now. Their names are Oreo and Reese's.

My best friend Ellie is an amazing photographer and she posts much more often than I do. Please go check out her blog at: http://BLANK.blogspot.com

We are doing a co-op tomorrow about making crafts with milk-jugs. Do you guys have any ideas? :)

In the next post I will do photos I just haven't had the camera out as often as usual.

My school curriculum this year is on the computer and I get up each day at 7:00 to do it early each morning. It's called S.O.S. Have any of you ever heard of it?

Maddy broke her toes 2 days ago. Yipes. She hit it on our coffee table. Who knew a coffee table could be after you?

It doesn't feel like fall here...More like winter.

Thank you all for still following even though I've been gone for so long!

Being a leader...

Being a leader means you have to have 2 main qualities. Serve. and Influence.
Let's start with serve. Serving doesn't mean make people serve you. It means trust. "Wait, Iona, serve means, SERVE, not trust...what????" Okay okay! Sorry! Let me finish! I just mean, you need to have trust to serve. Part of serving means that you need to trust a person to do something. Handing someone else responsibility requires a lot of trust. And by trusting, it's serving. Because the people feel good to be trusted.
⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
 ⁶Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 ⁷but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 ⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
 ⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
 ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.
God served us all by dying on the cross. He saved us from our sins.
Influence. Everybody wants a leader with good influence. We don't want a leader who is angry all day. That will make an influence on us and make us mad. But if the leader is joyful, caring, giving, he will set an influence upon everyone following him. Everyone will want to do that. When you are around people, try to make a good influence. So it will make everyone happy. Set a good influence.

¹³Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
 ¹⁴Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
 ¹⁵Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Being a leader means serve and influence.
Everyone is a leader. If you have younger siblings. You are a leader. If you have younger kids around your neighborhood, you are a leader. If you have friends, that like your ideas, you are a leader. You're a leader to anyone who looks up to you. To be a good one, have serve, and influence.