Preachin', Walkin' and Livin'

Joel had the opportunity to preach a sermon at church. The sermon is titled "An Undivided Heart" and is from the book of Haggai.

Madelynn has been starting to stand up on her own and has taken a few steps already. Of course it's impossible to get it on camera. But here is an attempt for the "standing on her own" bit:

Joshua is at Papa and Nina's this week. He'll be returning Saturday. We all miss him but we know he is having a great time.

Rachel is in love with raspberry picking. We are trying to get enough to make some jam. Quite difficult, but we are halfway there!

Lots of stuff has happened here in our town/community. It is quite heavy on our hearts as we grieve with the people who have suffered loss but we are still focusing on Jesus and the cross, knowing that He alone has hope through suffering.

As of the typing of this post, we are still living in the same house. Nothing new has come up. But nobody seems to be buying this house either, so we take a day at a time, trusting God to show us where to live next in His time.

We are eagerly awaiting a visit from Nana and Grandpa (Joel's parents) in a few weeks. They are pulling their camper all the way here! (It's a 24 hour drive) We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving last year! (That's Canadian Thanksgiving, which would be the beginning of October)

Vacation Time!

All last week we were visiting Papa and Nina (my folks). We stayed over a week and had a blast. It was hot (average temp that week was mid 90's F and high humidity), but we tried to make the most of it. I sat in front of a fan most of the time (my folks don't have AC), but Papa and Joel built a tree house (way cool pictures to come! stay tuned!). Nina and the kids had a blast with the sprinklers, the garden hose, playing with the kitties, munching on veggies from the garden, going to the grocery store to cool off (I'm serious), and oh so many other fun things.

Joshua and Papa grinding coffee (yes, that's a hand grinder, it's over 20 years old and works great!)

It seemed like Papa and Nina really bonded with the older kids this time around. I hardly saw Josh all week! He was usually out watching Papa or playing with Nina. And Rachel warmed up immediately, giving Papa a big hug the moment she stepped out of the van upon arrival. The only good pictures I have of Rachel involve the tree house, and I have promised Joel I would not post any tree house pictures yet. You'll see why later. So here's some great ones of Madelynn in the baby swing.

Madelynn became more clingy once we arrived. Whenever Mommy was in the room or in sight she demanded to be held. If I wasn't around, she was fine and she let Papa or Nina play and hold her. Well, it turns out she was teething. She received two more teeth towards the end of our visit, to make a grand total of eight teeth! Madelynn is actually still there, at Nina and Papa's house. The four of us (five with Bean Sprout) are home now. Nina will be bringing M back here to our house early next week. Don't tell Joshua this yet, but he's next in line! Nina will drop Madelynn off and return home with Joshua for a week or so! (Isn't summer vacation fun?) (Nana and Grampa: don't worry, he'll be back in time to see you!)

We all miss Madelynn but we know that she is in good hands and I'm so glad my parents can enjoy this special time with her.

I must also mention another part of our vacation. Joel and I (w/o the kids) were able to travel a few more hours to visit our friends Joshua and Stephanie! Hurrah! We had a great time with them and it was so great to see Claire and Sophia and how they have grown so much. Joel had the opportunity to sit in on a few morning classes with Joshua and we both saw where Josh is learning to roast coffee. It was refreshing to catch up with them and see where they live and work and play.

So that's all for now!

Summer Strawberries

A few weeks ago we five (six with Bean Sprout) packed up and headed out to a Strawberry Farm. It was beautiful weather, 80 F and sunny. The heat wasn't too bad, it was 4:00 in the afternoon. We began our picking with gusto but with several breaks throughout the adventure.

Joshua picked nearly a whole ice cream pail himself! Rachel had about 5 strawberries in her bucket, and Madelynn was stuffed full!

We came home, and after the kids went to bed, Joel and I stayed up late freezing some berries and mashing others to make jam out of later.

A few days later I made several pints of rhubarb strawberry jam and regular strawberry jam. So yummy!

This next photo I'm just adding on for fun. Rachel is a great big sister and helps feed Madelynn:

Sometimes Rachel begs me to let her feed Madelynn!

Madelynn's First Birthday

Here she is, the Birthday Girl! She turned ONE:

Eating pizza for supper.

Oh Madelynn! Over here, yoo-hoo!

Happy Birthday Madelynn!!

Yummy apple pie! (Gluten Free of course!)

One of her birthday cards, this one from Great Grampa and Gramma E.

The pictures below are just for fun:

She's just sitting there looking cute. No actual riding yet. :)

Peek a boo!

Sprouts and Sprout

The First thing is I've been growing alfalfa sprouts in the kitchen. I was a little hesitant it would work at first but it's quite easy to do. Now we have fresh sprouts in the fridge for the family! So tasty!

The Second thing is that we are expecting Baby #5 at the end of January. That makes me about 7 weeks along. So come along Bean Sprout, go easy on your momma, and we look forward to meeting you around January 22!