Christmas Highlights

Here is a video of pictures from our Christmas times with family to sum up the year and season. May you be filled with the wonder of Christmas all year long! Click here to watch. Don't forget to scroll on down too if you haven't read the Christmas update or seen the other pics below.

Christmas with the families....

Laurie's Family came to our house today for our first family Christmas gathering. Bill and Sallie, Will, and Laurie's mom and dad drove all the way from Pensacola (plus Bill and Sallie flying in from CA the day before) in a Honda Accord with a trunk full of gifts. Laurie made delicious Mexican chili for lunch. Then, we spent most of the afternoon opening/playing with gifts and just spending time together. It was a really great time... Among other really awesome gifts, Laurie's parents gave us a really nice, Pentax 6 megapixel digital camera. Here are some pics below:



Monday, we gathered at my sister's house for Christmas. It was great... we played UNO Attack, Scene It, and ate Zaxby's chicken. As well as shot Josiah's bow and arrows and Mitchell's blow gun outside. We just went up for the day.

Below are some pics of our time with both families... enjoy.





















amidst the gift opening celebration!















Uncle and Aunt with Eliott
















Bill admiring his tinker toy contraption















Emma showing off her bath robe whilst Josiah has head lamp and new pj's :)















Emma enjoying Brianna's christmas gift... she did let her ride on back.















Josiah with his bow and arrow!

















Eliott doing what he does best.... getting lots of hugs;)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Laurie and I have both been sick with strep throat so I apologize to those who have checked our blog after reading our Christmas card. Laurie's feeling better and I'm on the mend. I believe this is the worst sickness I've ever had. Well, enjoy the Christmas tree farm post below and I promise Laurie and I will have the Knowles 2005 update and some Christmas pics to go with it. May you be blessed as we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Grace to you!

Sam

We got a christmas tree today!

This is the second year we have gone to Pine Hill farms to pick out our christmas tree.



They have reindeer at the farm. They are so cool.



Josiah and Emma at the farm dressed for the occasion.



Josiah at the wagon loading spot. You ride in a wagon down to see the reindeer.

Studio Progress....

These are some pictures from the studio whilst we've been recording. We are having a great time with it. It is amazing how much time is spent per song.















Larry Shaw is the sound master for this project.



Jarrod laying some pad sounds for "Dare I Draw Near"



Another shot in sepia tone.

My First post from my phone!

The staff at church just got some really cool phones. So cool in fact that I'm typing this post from it. IT's an lg9800. Man, technology sure is amazing!

Well, It's been a while

Thanks to my sister-in-law in CA, I realized it has been a while since I posted. So, here is a great pic I took this morning of our three children on our bed still in their pj's.



Also, here is a video of Eliott.

Check out the ads to the right...

and help a brother out ;)

sam

I'm working on a Worship CD

I am so excited about this opportunity of recording a worship cd. I am teaming up with Jarrod Patterson who is a worship leader at our church as well as a good friend. He has some songs recorded on a live worship album that took place at our church last year.

We begin the recording process for ABIDE next week sometime and hopefully will have the finished product in January. Please be praying for us as we are recording. This is a worship album and pray that we don't lose that aspect in the studio. We are recording 5 songs each that we have written.

We are still needing a lot of the funding to complete this cd. Please, consider contributing. For every $12 you contribute now, you will receive a CD when the project is finished.

Grace to you,

Sam

Bill and Sallie's Wedding

We could not have asked for a better weekend for the wedding. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the kids were amazing. I've put a little slideshow of pics I took. It's 12mb which is nothing for broadband but pretty painstaking for dial-up. I also have to warn you that in the middle it sort of turns into a "Josiah and Emma were too cute in these pics so I put them all in" segment. Sorry. But click here for it.

ONE MORE THING.....

Here is the link to Eliott's hospital picture. It has a place to leave him a message. Please do so. thanks! Hope all is well!

Sam

Birthday Parties

Well, if celebrating the birth of Eliott wasn't exciting enough, we celebrated Josiah's and Emma's Birthdays on Monday. Yes, all three of our children have birthdays in the same week. And to top off this week, we thought we'd go to Florida to celebrate, Laurie's sister, Sallie's wedding. I made separate slideshows for Josiah and Emma.

Josiah's Birthday

Emma's Birthday

Until next time,

Sam

Daybreak

The song to this video of Eliott is called Daybreak and the name of the song so describes the video to me. Enjoy.

Sam

We made it home

This is just a video of us as we're leaving. The chair I had to sleep in was not comfortable, so I was ready to hit the road. I may be getting carried away, but hey this is documentation and for those who aren't able to see Eliott, it's a great way to do so.

So click here.

Sam

It's 5:30am

Eliott is wide awake and we're hoping it won't be too much longer before we're on the road to the house.

We have to wait on the doctors to discharge both mommy and baby. With it being Sunday, I doubt they'll be early and I can't say that I blame them.

Hopefully, they'll be more pics soon.

Grace,

Sam

Some Video and Pics

Here's a little video I threw together. At the end it has pics of Josiah and Emma meeting Eliott for the first time. They were really excited.

I praise the Father for His kindness of blessing me with such awesome children and a wonderful wife.

Elliot's Arrival !

Sam

Eliott's Here!!!

Praise God!!!

Eliott Levi Knowles
Born September 30,2005
1:50pm
8lb. 7oz.
21 inches

Mom and Eliott are well

Video and pics later!

Sam

Here we are at the hospital

Well, as I type this, we are in the delivery room. The doctor has just broken Laurie's water. So now.... we wait.

I feel kinda bad that I'm excited about the free wireless access here, while my wife is starting labor. Although, I promise I am not neglecting her. Well, hopefully soon, I will post of the wonderful delivery of our 3rd child and 2nd son.

Grace ,

Sam

Laurie is still with child....

Now, her "due date" is September 27, but she is so ready to go. We are so thankful that Laurie and Eliott are healthy and still progressing wonderfully. Please, pray that delivery will go well, and that we will make it to the hospital in time ;) (we live 40 minutes from the hospital, and for some reason, I'm a little nervous about that).

One bit of much smaller yet still exciting news is that I make this post from my DSL connection at our house! A couple of weeks ago we received a deal from Bellsouth that would give us DSL, local and long distance for roughly the same price we're paying now for just phone service. Needless to say, it didn't take me long to sign up. Laurie keeps telling people how proud she is of me for holding out for a deal like this on high speed internet. I hope I never have to go back to dial-up again. I have waited long for this day (hey I'm into computers and do a Tech Show, so show some understanding.) and now it is here. H'Raaayyyy high speed!!!!!

That's all for now! Who knows..... my next post may be a birth announcement. :)

Sam

Since the rest of the following pics are of Josiah, I start with this picture of Emma. I won this tweety bird at Six Flags and realized as I was carrying it that the eyes and mouth reminded me of Emma.

Laurie gave Josiah a new dew. I think she's trying out different styles for Sallie's upcoming wedding ;)

Josiah and I had many adventures at Cheaha. He loved climbing Rocks.

I didn't realize the timer was already on in this one. I almost look photoshopped.

This is what I was going for in the previous pic. We enjoyed this spot so much that we decided to have breakfast here our last morning.

Some Videos For You

Hey, a few times a month isn't that bad. Here are three different videos from exciting things in Josiah and Emma's world lately.

Josiah and Emma got an early B-day present!

Josiah's swimming adventures!

Emma will be scuba diving before long!

May this post tide you over until next time.

Hope all are well. Grace and Peace to you.

The Knowles Family

I'm feeling gassy today ;)

Here are 25 helpful tips to help fight the gas price inflation.

Man, I'm about ready to have a "Boston Petroleum Party."



Sam

Soon is relative...

Well, I know I said I would post soon, but soon is relative. Need I remind you that one day is as 1,000 years to God (2 Peter 3:8)? So I guess it's almost 30,000 years since my last post.

Today was an eventful day. Besides an awesome Lord's Day and worship with our church (cahaba.org), our family spent time at the pool this afternoon. The fact that we were able to stay more than 15 minutes without it thundering (which had been the case the past few times) was a blessing in and of itself.

It was also an ebenezer day for Josiah at the pool. He has been, 'how you say?' - cautious - to go under water and swim, but not today. He swam, dove, and jumped off the diving board many times (the first two w/o a life jacket, latter was with). He was very excited, and we were proud of him. He also has been putting a lot more enthusiasm and thought into bedtime prayers (made mommy cry tonight even....how sweet ;) ). Emma's prayer for just about anyone, anytime is a cute one too, "Jesus, please bless __entername__. Let them have sweet dreams and if they want to wake up they can!" Not sure what that last part means.

Here is a recent pic of Josiah and Emma:


These are some masks they received at the library. They love reading books (or having books read to them) and have read a lot more than the book list they were given at the beginning of Summer.






This picture is of a moth that I saw at our church. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was huge and the oranges and yellows were bright. Anyway, I post it in hopes someone knows what kind it is.







I guess it's kind of weird to end this post with a moth, but such it goes.

This is Sam reminding you, "Don't be good, be God's!" Goodnight.....

An update will be coming soon

Well, a lot and little has happened since my last post. I'm basically typing now just so it won't look so abandoned. But I promise that I will post soon an update to everything that's going on with us.

Laurie and Eliott are well; Josiah and Emma are well; I'm well.

Grace to you!

Sam

A lot Has Happened Since the last post

Well, it has been a while and I wish I had posted the events that I'm about to mention individually, but such is life.

Since last post, Laurie and I have celebrated 10 INCREDIBLE years of marriage. However, we celebrated in a very pleasantly surprising way. We took Josiah and Emma to Chuck E Cheese. I know that does not bode well for me in cool points with the females, but Laurie and I had a great time with the kids.

Also, Chase and I have started a weekly tech segment on Fox6 news called TechCheck. Check out the Fox6 Page on their site. (It just links back to our page). We are blown away at how much creative freedom we have.

We've been fishing at the lake in our neighborhood and Josiah and I have caught two fish so far.
Emma had to buy a Barbie fishing pole so she could fish with her brother.

Laurie and Eliott are doing well.

I'm getting geared up for the showing of Episode III tonight. A bunch of us from church are going to the 12:01am showing.

And one last thing before I go. Josiah wrote a song yesterday and I have recorded him singing it. Click here to download it and listen. Also, since I recorded Josiah, I recorded Emma singing one of the songs she learned from Community Bible Study. Click here for Emma's.

Grace to everyone!

Sam

This is mine and Chase's film of us being filmed by FOX6 news. We've started doing a weekly show for them called TechCheck.

A funny pic.

Just a funny pic. of Josiah that I like.

Josiah and Emma at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham. We go there every year for Laurie's B-day.

Eliott at 4-1/2 months

A Catch up post!

Well, I must confess that I'm writing more so out of obligation sake than anything else right now. But, nonetheless, I write.

One neat thing that happened this week is that Chase was interviewed by Fox 6 and appeared once on Thursday night and once on Sunday night. Then, this week, we heard from the Vice Pres. of News at the station and he wants us to do a regular, I believe, weekly Tech segment on Fox 6 evening news.

Also, we started audio podcasting last month. That has gone really well with several subscribers already. But last Wednesday, we decided to start a video podcast as well. The first one can be found here. I must warn you, it is an extremely silly kick-off video.

Laurie and the children are doing well. Laurie seems to be feeling less and less nauseous. We find out if the baby is a boy or girl in 2 weeks! I find myself wanting to know more so this time than with Josiah or Emma. It may be because we already have one of each so this one really could go either way.

For those of you who have been praying for Michael Fargarson who was in a head on collision, thank you. He is recovering very well. He still has recovering to do, but so far so good.

Well, that'll be all for now.

Grace to you and yours!

Sam

Think it so, and it shall be so?

BBC NEWS | Health | Brain chip reads man's thoughts



I'm not even sure what to say about this one, but maybe.... wow.....or ...... whoa! I mean the technology for this is mind blowing (pardon the pun ;) ). This means we could hack into someone's brain, and gain information. That's the wow part. The whoa part is what are the God implications of this: spiritually, emotionally, ethically, physically? Anyway read the article for sure!



Sam Knowles

A weekly update....

Well, doing this blog seems to make the week go by even faster. I have good news and bad news. The bad news first to get it over with.

Both of our vehicles have broken down this week. Isn't that crazy!? The Skylark was running great, (getting 30miles/gal I might add) then all of the sudden everything shut down, I believe it's the alternator. Our Caravan has been acting funny in the transmission arena for a month or so, but gave up finally yesterday.. If you would be praying for the best case scenario with both vehicles.

Also, as you pray, a much more important mention is Michael Fargarson. He is a very close friend of mine here in B'ham. His mother was diag. with inoperable cancer in her intestinal / digestive region this past week and was not given much longer to live. That in and of itself is major, but Saturday afternoon, Michael left to go be with his mom and on the way was in a head on collision. He is in the hospital in Huntsville, AL. He shattered his left femur (upper leg) bone, his back was broken (but not very seriously), and is banged up. Please, be in prayer for his family. He has a wife and 3 children. Thanks!

Well, that's all for now. I'll try and post more later. Fare thee well!
Ok the above was posted this afternoon and the rest of this was done Monday evening.

One bit of exciting news for me is that I purchased a pistol permit this week. I can legally carry a concealed firearm! *okay, I'm realizing that all the females at this point are gasping and shaking their head, and my wife at this moment is telling me not to write this.... So to put you ladies at ease, I am not walking around like Wyatt Earp with a six shooter on my hip (anymore:) ), but realized being downtown during evenings, it might not be a bad idea to have a little protection, what I have is not very powerful* But it is cool, so for you guys I'll fill you in. It is an H&R .22cal 9shot revolver that my dad gave me a couple of years ago. He's had it forever. But the pistol permit is a story in itself.

We live in Blount County. Well, I called the Sheriff's Dept. to see what I needed to do and they said just come in and bring my license. So I went to the BC Sheriff's Dept. to apply for this permit. I get there and fill out this info. sheet (just front side) and give them $10.00. They type up a permit using the info sheet and I'm on my way. It was that simple. I couldn't believe it.
One of the perks of living in the country. ;)

Good news for Laurie: she said she's feeling a little bit better and seems to be getting more energy. She was excited to get the house clean again.

To keep from becoming a novel, I will bid you adieu.

Grace and Peace,
Sam

A Big Weekend!

As I wrote earlier, the radio show I do on Saturdays broadcasted live from the Home and Garden Show at the BJCC. I was so excited this time b/c my family went with me. They were able to walk around and enjoy the hundreds of booths that were there. Josiah and Emma jumped in a couple of different moon walks and sampled all types of junk food - I think Josiah just hit his sugar high today from it! ;) -. They missed the time for the building project at the Home Depot booth, but Josiah still received a kit to build it at home.



Well, from the HaGS, we went straight to Elevation in order to put the finishing touches on everything before the grand opening that evening. Laurie was a huge help: cleaning the bathroom, arranging what artwork we had on the walls. and organizing our supplies. We were all surprised how well the turnout was that evening and rejoiced at God's kindness toward us. We had 25 and 50 cent coffee, tea, and coccoa all night. All tolled, I would say almost 100 people came through the doors that evening. Our plans were to initially be open maybe every other Saturday, but now we see the need for continuity there. Please pray for us as we need wisdom in time management right now.



Another thing! We went to my parent's house yesterday after church. My dad is letting me borrow my Grandmother's car right now so we went to pick it up. Being a single income family that is committed to Laurie staying at home with our children, we have only been able to afford one vehicle for almost a year. This was such an awesome blessing, and I have to tell you about this car. My grandmother bought this car brand new back in 1986. It is a Buick Skylark. But get this: when I got in it to drive back to Bham, it only had 37,900 miles on it. I watched it roll over to 38,000 miles on the trip home. That just blows my mind. Laurie and I put more miles on the Dodge Caravan we have now in one year than my grand mother put on her car in almost 20 years. That avgs. out to just under 2,000 miles a year. That has to be a record or something!

Bottom line is both mine and Laurie's parents are incredible. They have been there for us and given us things we needed, even to the point of some sacrifice. It's an awesome example and testimony that Laurie and I have to build upon with our children. Wow, this one's long. sorry. We hope you are well and keep in touch.

Couple of last things, I just wanted to point your attention to the right of the page and our Links. Those are links to what we are a part of right now, so take a look. Also, please continue to pray for Laurie. She still isn't feeling well.

Grace and Peace,

Sam

Whew! This last week has been busy!

I can't believe the morrow means a week has past since I put up our new baby's ultrasound footage. I have been spread thin more than usual. We have been scrambling to get final preparations on Elevation more complete for our grand opening (well, by the time I post this, it will be eeearly Friday morning, so I'll say..) today and tomorrow night.

For those wondering what Elevation is, it is an internet coffee lounge at 5points South in downtown Birmingham. Click here to see it.

In addition to my busy-ness, Laurie has been sick this week with a head cold. And yes, that is in addition to her nausea that is still plaguing her. Needless to say weeks like these, we are so thankful to have two awesome children that play well together (for the most part, that is ;) ), and I am thankful to have such an awesome wife and mother to our children.


Our radio show Saturday will be broadcasting live from the Home and Garden Show at the BJCC arena in downtown Birmingham. I am excited this time, because Laurie, Josiah, and Emma will hopefully be going with me. The Home Depot has this really cool children's work shop every year, and I'm looking forward to Josiah getting to make something. He loves working with tools. Well, that's enough update for now. Hope all is well for those who read this!

Grace and Peace,

Sam

As promised the babies first video!

The video is low quality for viewing purposes, but good enough to see the awesome miracle that is within Laurie right now. We are so thankful that everything is going well so far. However, Laurie is not excited with the nausea that she hasn't been able to shake for a few weeks now. Pray for her and baby. Thanks! Sam

Here are some of Laurie's and Josiah's artwork!

Josiah 1
This is one of Josiah's first computer art creation!
Josiah 2
This is his second one, as you can tell these two were done in one sitting. He definitely is taking after his mom in the art dept.
Laurie's Painting
This is a painting Laurie painted during a worship time. It is actually featured on the cover of our churches first live worship album! You can check out the album here:
www.cahaba.org/multimedia.html

Getting my wife involved!

Well, I still haven't shown my wife how to blog. Hopefully, by this weekend I will have her blogging. That should increase the number of interesting posts and updates. Also, I am waiting to get a most recent family photo digitized for putting up on our home page. Yee- haa! Grace and Peace, Sam.

Great News! We're having another baby!

The news is out and we are excited ! We've had an ultrasound and our new baby is 1-inch long and 9 weeks old. It was absolutely amazing to see such a small life already moving around and hear the heartbeat. Baby received a perfect score and we praise God for the wonderful blessing of another child! Ultrasound footage coming soon....

The Knowles Family Website

Well, as terrible as we are at keeping up with friends and family we love, I hope this will be a successful attempt at letting everyone know what's going on in our lives. My goal is to provide a weekly update, so keep checking back here when you think of us.

Thanks,

Sam, Laurie, Josiah, Emma, and baby