Morel Mushrooms!!

Greg loves to go mushroom hunting! This is a sample of what he & Hope found on an outing!

Fair Oaks Dairy Farm

Our homeschooling group took a field trip down to Fair Oaks Dairy Farm. It was a two hour drive to get to this LARGE (30,000 cows) farm. We were able to see them milk, feed, and give birth. We were fortunate to see 3 calves being born while we were there. It was amazing to see how much goes into the running of this big business. They have a 3-D theater that goes thru the milking process and the making of the products that they produce. Very informative and fun! We hope to return again some time soon.

Tree sling

Our front tree is the forever haven of my very industrious kids. They decided it would be fun to put a sling for them to lay in, right there, on the branch. Who could say no!

Easter 2010~March 4, 2010

I love when my family gets all dressed up! This one is Easter morning, kids with their new Bibles, ready to hear our dear friend, Pastor Yoder, give a great message at his church. A family picture taken with the handy-dandy timer. The next few are of the kids Easter Egg hunting at Grandma's house. The kids received these great punching balloons that could be worn as hats as one of their treats from Grandma.

Yikes! Blogging has taken a backseat!

I am sitting in very sunny southwest Florida, enjoying the peace and quiet of a moment. (a rarity) I have not blogged since Hope's birthday! I have a lot of pictures to share of all the happenings of February and March but they are in Indiana so I am out of luck today.

Like I said, we are in Florida enjoying the sunshine and the warmth. Since we have been here we have had a car accident (PTL~Greg & Jonny were fine but our car was not!), seen lots of alligators, walked the beach, swam in the pool, visited with old friends, hunted for jobs, and have had our fair share of shrimp. We needed some time to take a deep breath and get a new, fresh outlook on life. We are opening the next chapter of our lives in hopes that it will bring another opportunity for us to better serve our Lord and Savior. Could it be in southwest Florida? Could it be in Northern Indiana? Could it be in a foreign country? Your guess is just as good as ours. We are praying. We are seeking. We are knocking. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness and love. Both of which, are ever visible.

"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12

1/14/2010~~Happy 10th Birthday Hope!!

I can hardly believe it! Hope Elizabeth turned 10 years old! She is such a blessing to our family. She celebrated her special day with a day off of school, lunch out, and a "Walton's" marathon of season 2, at home with her family. We had a special candlelight dinner and a white cake with chocolate frosting!! There are so many things that I treasure about Hope. Every year I am reminded of how God gave us "Hope" after we lost "Faith". She is truly a reflection of His love and mercy to us. I treasure the way she can make a room light up with her beautiful smile, her gentle honesty, her thoughtfulness of others' feelings, her tender heart~ especially towards animals and the way she encourages me in my walk with the Lord. For being only 10 years old, she has a profound way of being very insightful. In my book, she is way beyond her years with her passion for the lost, the poor, and the orphaned. I am so proud of her. She is my little ray of sunshine on a gloomy day, my little, big bucket of water in a desert, my sweet little peach.

Hope~we love you so much! You are truly a gift from God! We are so blessed to call you "Hopie". You enrich our lives, touch our hearts, and keep us smiling! I pray that you will continue to walk with the Lord Jesus all the days of your life. Your "hope" is found only in Him. We treasure you and count it a pure privilege to be your family! Happy Birthday Peach!! We love you!

Buddies~even under the weather! 1/10/10

Hope was battling a fever and some general aching when her faithful companion decided to keep her close company. A faithful dog makes everything feel better!

Sledding Fun!!

This is a real hum-dinger of a picture of Greg & Joe being pushed down the sledding hill by Jenny. What a fun time it was though!

Here is a little video clip of us sledding down a hill at Bittersweet Elementary School. Come along for the ride with us!

New Year's Eve~~

On New Year's Eve. we went to our dear friends house for a night of food, games and fun. Dressed in our party hats and noise makers, we rang in 2010 watching Dick Clark and the ball in NY drop. The adults played a game of charades and we are all pretty competitive. Each team tried to doop the other with strange and outrageous words or phrases. It was a wonderful way to spend ringing in 2010 with our friends! May 2010 bring you into a deeper relationship with Jesus and may you be blessed!

Snowman with Dad

December 31st meant snowfall and winter weather which lead to building a snowman. As I looked out the window, I discovered Greg & the kids making dear old "Frosty". They were finishing up the head when I grabbed a carrot out of the frig. and an old scarf and hat from the tote of winter clothes. They found rocks for the eyes, mouth and buttons. He is quite handsome for a snowman. His little arms are made from cut off branches from the front tree. As I write this, he is one week old already. He has lost his hat & scarf but still stands guard in the front yard.

No teeth!!

Jonny lost both of his front teeth in the same day. The first one was a dangler. He had messed with it off and on for sometime. It finally was just a dreadful mess to look at. So he yanked it out. He then noticed that the other one was pretty loose. What I mean by pretty loose, is that it had quite a ways to go. We are talking weeks to go yet. But knowing teeth equals cash, meant he was determined to get this one out too. He worked on it hard, all day long. By evening, he had tortured it relentlessly and it too gave up it's residency.

More Christmas.....

We have lots of family get togethers over the holidays. We spent a little bit of time with my Mom & Dad before they headed back to Florida for the winter. We celebrated Christmas, after Christmas with some of our other family members. We are so thankful that our times together are filled with joy and laughter. Lots of laughter in some instances. Blessings to you and your family over the holidays!

Christmas 2009

We were truly blessed this year at Christmas! We love watching our kids appreciate the great generousity of others. We celebrate something far greater than the next new thing, but the birth of our very own Savior Jesus Christ!

Christmas Eve 2009

We spent Christmas Eve with our dear friends. We celebrated Dominic's birthday and played cards. We had a ball! We love having, not only dear special friends but special parents of those friends. We went to Jenny's mom & dad's house to celebrate and play cards. They are a precious couple who lovingly embrace all of us.

Birthdays! December 21, 2009

My mom and I have the same birthday. Unfortunately, she had to give birth to me on her special day many years ago! We had a nice quiet dinner at home fixed by my husband! Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

Cleveland Clinic Dec. 15

Greg has been having health problems for a long time now. We headed up to the Cleveland Clinic, in hopes of getting down to the bottom of a very long, lingering health issue. This is a lovely picture of Greg hooked up to a device that recorded all the information from the little tiny (capsule endoscopy) camera that he swallowed. He had to wear this gear for 7 hours. At that point the capsule should exit (what goes in has to come out). The camera showed that everything came back absolutely normal. Which was a good thing, but it didn't give us any answers to what his health problem is. We have ruled out all the major things, which indeed is such a blessing, but still needing to find out what the problem is and how to either correct it or know how to adjust to it. Unfortunately, we had a Dr. at the Cleveland Clinic who was not very thorough and didn't seem to give a rip. So we will take our business elsewhere, in hopes of finding out what the problem is.

Christmas Program Dec. 11-13

The kids sang in our Church's Christmas Program that we do as an outreach to the community. The kids are each in their respective choirs. They sang beautifully! Of course, I am not partial!! It was a wonderful drama presentation with lots of great music. Praise the Lord for His perfect gift of salvation!

Time to Reflect

In my opinion, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year besides Easter. As the Christmas season approaches, I've been thinking. What a profound thing that is, for me to be thinking!! This year has in many senses, been an amazingly difficult for our little family of four. We have wrestled with health issues, lack of work thus lack of money, stress, heartache and the loud silence of God in the direction of our future. I look back and see the absolute faithfulness of the Lord. He has always met all of our needs (needs not wants), binded up our broken spirits, and although He is still quite silent on the direction of our future, He is not silent on the past or the present. He was and is the Savior of our souls from the penalty of sin. He was and is the Rock and Refuge in whom we trust. He was and is our Strength and our Shield. He was and is our Portion. He was and is our Comforter. He was and is our Healer. He was and is our Deliverer. He was and is. So as this Christmas approaches, I am mindful...very mindful that He is all that He says He was and is and is to come.

Jonny's Buddy Owen

Jonathan wanted to have a friend spend the night for his birthday. He chose his buddy, Owen. These two crack me up! They can spend hours playing legos, star wars, or just chatting. I am always amazed at how much they look alike and sound alike. Jonny says Owen is his "brother from another mother". Too cute!

Gingerbread Houses

What do you get when you mix a bunch of homeschool kids, graham crackers, frosting, candy and sprinkles? You get cute little gingerbread houses! They worked so hard on these. They had a wonderful explanation by Mrs. Deardorff on what each thing represented. I can't remember them all, so ask me later. This is something that our homeschool group does every year before Christmas. It is alot of fun. Unfortunately, Jonathan's house only lasted 2 days. Everytime he walked by it, he took something off of it to eat. Needless to say, it was bare in no time.

Happy Birthday Jonny~December 3!

I can hardly believe that my little man is 7 years old!! Where has the time gone! Jon celebrated his birthday by having the day off of school. Yes, that is an advantage of homeschooling. Both of my kids know that when it is their birthday, they get the day off to have a little fun. He was so thrilled with the Colts uniform that he received. You would have thought that we gave him the world. My Mom & Dad bought him the Light saber. He was also tickled pink, with that. He is easy to please, very considerate of others, willing to help. I love the way at seven years old, he loves his Savior! His heart is soft to the things of Christ. It is my prayer, that as he grows and matures, that his heart will stay fixed upon Him and he will be steadfast. Happy Birthday Jonathan! God has great things for you and to do thru you! We are so blessed to have you. I love you so much!