Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Sweet little Madelyn is one year old today! What a year she's had!! Besides growing "like a weed", her first six months were filled with one doctor appointment after another. It certainly is a good thing that she is so sweet and mild-mannered!

She's walking, eating lots of table food, talking, has a mouthful of teeth, and give lots of smiles to anyone she meets! She's so playful and LOVES books. What a treat to be able to read to her on her birthday!

This sweet family has been through a lot this year, but they - and we - continue to marvel at God's goodness in preserving Maddie's eyesight. God brought wonderful medical providers into their lives at just the right moment and we are all very grateful! To all of our praying family and friends, we will never take for granted the marvelous ways you prayed for this family and thank God for hearing and answering all of our prayers on Maddie, Jeremy and Renee's behalf. May God be praised!

Maddie, Papa and I love you very much. We pray that you will grow to know Jesus and keep him in your heart!

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:14

Happy Anniversary Jeremy & Renee!

Today is the 4th wedding anniversary for Jeremy and Renee! Seems like forever - in a VERY GOOD way!

It's been such a pleasure to watch them grow in their marriage. They've met some pretty big challenges in really wonderful, God-honoring ways, and He has blessed them in return. We love them and are very proud of who they are and who they've become.

Happy anniversary to both of you and may God bless you with many years together!

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God." 
Philippians 1:9-11

Happy Birthday Jordyn!

Jordyn is Sweet Sixteen today!

This young lady is a high school sophomore who works really hard at her rigorous course work. She plays soccer for her school, as well as on a traveling club team in the off-season. One of things she really likes to do is bake. Here she is with her Easter basket cupcakes for the family's Easter celebration.

Jordyn was such a cute little girl who has grown up to be a lovely young lady. She's just as lovely on the inside as she is on the outside. She has a great laugh!

Wearing Dodger blue with her sisters!

This summer she was given a older model Jaguar. It was one of those friends-of-friends kind of deal. All at NO COST! Hard to pass up a deal like that! She doesn't have her driver's license yet, but I know that's coming SOON, so she's graciously let Cole drive it. It's come in really handy getting this BUSY family to all the places they need to go. I think the plan is to trade it in on something more "teen-ager like" and more maintenance-free. But she'll always be able to say her first car was a Jag!

Papa and I love you Sweetie!

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Peter 1:5-8

Contemplating a Donut

Every 2-3 days I check out the online version of our local newspaper. Truth be told, there's not much there, obits, a few articles, lots of ads, and a photo gallery. You can imagine my surprise when this photo popped up!

The Saturday before Halloween, our kids attended the Haunt Fest at the Bethel College Academy of Performing Arts. One of the activities for children was bobbing for donuts tied to strings without using their hands. I cracked up when I saw this photo of Isabel giving this donut a real once over. And yes, she did get it! Way to go Isabel!

Loving Fall - Part 2 - The End

Isabel asked me to go on her first grade field trip to Walter's Pumpkin Patch and I jumped at the chance. I did this with Moira and it was so fun. We've had beautiful warm fall days, but on this morning it was 39 degrees when I went to meet her at school. BRRRR! It never warmed up and I was cold ALL day! Oh, of course, I didn't wear a heavy jacket. That wasn't very smart!

We huddled together on the haywagon ride out to the pumpkin fields. The farmer talked to the kids about planting pumpkins and gourds. Then he turned them loose to find the pumpkin of their choice.

We had a hard freeze several nights before so the vines and leaves were all brown, but it made the pumpkins easy to find. In the field was an old chair with a hole in the seat. If the pumpkin fit in the hole, they could keep it. Some kids selected tiny little pumpkins, others chose ones they could hardly carry.

Isabel and two of her school/neighborhood/family chums. They were part of the VERY LOUD group of little girls who later came trick-or-treating at our door!  :)

Walter's does a nice job of posting educational signs around the grounds.

The first activity her class did was the Jumping Pillow. Boy, did they have fun on this. By the time they were finished, jackets were off!

Next we did the Hay Bale Climb. Very large rectangular bales were stacked in a pyramid. This dad (who also goes to our church) was standing by to give Isabel a hand, but she was determined to make the climb herself.

And so she did! She proclaimed herself as "Queen of the Mountain".

The bales were stacked so there were tunnels, which the kids loved. They had hay everywhere! One little girl exclaimed to me, "I have hay in my underwear and it itches!"

I love this "free flight" photo. It makes her seem so uninhibited. And yes, it was a soft landing.

Next we went into a barn where there was a small corn crib the kids could play in and like the hay, they had corn everywhere! There were lots of groups there this day, including some home school kids from our church.

Isabel loved taking hands-full of corn to feed the goats.

The big slide that goes through a hill is a big hit. I will tell you that 5 years ago I went on this with Moira, several times. But, alas, my back couldn't do it now. Too bad. It really is fun!

Lunch time! Our hands were freezing when we took of our mittens and gloves! I didn't take off my hood all day (why did I take the time to curl my hair that AM??) and usually had a scarf tied over it. I know, really cute, but I had to do it to stay somewhat warm.

After lunch it was free play and exploring. Lots of fun things to play on, tree houses, slides, gunny sack swings, and of course back to the corn crib and hay bale climb.

Isabel and the two little girls who were in my group.

Back on the bus for the ride back to school.  Thanks, Isabel, for asking me to go with you! Such a fun day! I slept VERY well that night!!

Fall has been so gorgeous. We had this cold day last week but it was 75 degrees two days ago. As I write this, winter is tapping at my window. Sleety and temps in low 30s. I'm so NOT ready for winter. Fortunately it's supposed to be back up in the 60s this weekend. We'll eke out what we can of these remaining nice fall days!

a.k.a.

Pirate Maeve

Rainbow Brite Isabel

Sheriff Audrey

Harry Potter's Belltrix Moira

Mama Pirate Esther and Elmer's Glue Bottle Brett

They is how they dressed up for a party and then trick or treat. For trick or treating, I suggested the girls come to our house first, in case I ran out of candy, they'd be sure to get their choice. About 45 minutes later they came back for SECONDS - along with at least one neighborhood friend a piece. I must say this group of girls was the largest and MOST EXCITED of the evening!! All very cute.

Then just as I was writing this blog, a cute little ladybug flew in from California!!!

Renee and Maddie

Jeremy and Maddie