Here is the thank you note I'm sending out to all who helped support us on this trip.  Thank you to all who were praying!! 

 Thank you so much for your support for our trip to Mexico.  We had an amazing time, and we learned so much.

Our team was comprised of 43 people, with less than 15 of them being adults.  The majority of the team was made up of college students or younger.  Our son, Grant, was the youngest, at 7 years old.  The youth were wonderful! In fact, the whole team was wonderful.  It really felt like we were being Christ’s hands and feet. 

 In Muzquiz, we teamed up with a pastor who lives there named Pastor Juan Antonio.  He is an accountant, but him and his wife and children have taken their free time and extra income to start a church for the children in this very destitute area filled with government housing.  Many of the children come from broken homes, with non Christian parents.  He has started a church, and also provides the children with things they need physically.  Our church has donated a little red bus for him to pick up the children and bring them to church as it isn’t safe for them to walk there.  We were able to come alongside Pastor Juan and the church “La Gran Comision” and be involved in these children’s lives.  We did this by bringing them some new swings for their playground (a cement slab and a dirt, rock filled field that was filled with broken glass and big rocks along with thorny brush)  In the past our church has built a small playset, but the swings had gotten stolen.  The children loved the new swings, and played on them all week when we were there.  We also did crafts with the children, put on skits, music, and just put an arm around them and showed them Christ’s love. We provided gift bags with small toys, toiletries, etc for them and the parents that came with them.  We also visited with children from an orphanage, and took them to a McDonald’s style “playland” which was a big treat for them.  They don’t get to leave the orphanage often, and they had never been to this place, so they really loved it.  We also brought gift bags of toys and food to the orphanage and made picture frames with them containing their picture and a Bible verse telling them at Jesus loves them. 

 We also teamed up with another church and put on a parade in that neighborhood, handing out candy, small gifts and an invitation to church that evening for a special outreach event.  It was amazing to see so many people from this rough neighborhood come outside to see what was going on.  They were greeted with the smiles of children on our team, handed candy, a small gift and an invitation to church.  Even gang members were approached and prayed with and shown Christ’s love.  Because of this event, at least 12 new people came to church for an outreach event with music, dramas, and a showing of the movie The Nativity Story. 

 One of the drama’s that was done on the trip, by the youth, including our 13 year old daughter, Morgan, was the drama to the song Everything by Lifehouse.  If you’ve never seen it before, you can see it done on Youtube.com if you search for Everything by Lifehouse.  Morgan played the main girl in the skit, and it was a VERY powerful drama.  The people applauded when she (Morgan), had fallen away from God by being enticed by the things of the world, fought to get back to Him.  They applauded when God stepped in and protected her.  Even though there was the language barrier (although this skit has no words) you knew the people there got it, and it gave us goosebumps and brought many tears to our eyes.  They were touched and hopefully given some hope in a world that is filled with such harsh realities. 

 Lastly, a small team of people visited a nursing home that Pastor Juan helps support.  This was one of the saddest places.  It was a beautiful building that must have been built on donations, but it was very cold and dark. The home is run by donations and volunteers, so it felt very understaffed with only one person working there.  All of the residents were too cold to get out of bed to come and visit, so we went to their beds.  We sang songs, and visited with them as much as we could, although none of them spoke much English.  There were no shades open, so there wasn’t much light, and it was very chilly in there.  There wasn’t a lot of food there, either, so we brought gifts of food to them.  Heidi and Hannah had the unique privilege of praying with one lady (although all of the residents were prayed over by the team) and although this special lady didn’t understand our words, it brought tears to her eyes and it felt like God had spoken to her thru our prayers.  He certainly spoke to us thru her tears.  

 Throughout the week, many games of soccer were played with the boys in Mexico, songs sang, crafts done, and lives and hearts touched.  Another team from our church will go there in the summer and again next Christmas.  It’s our family’s desire and hope to go again next Christmas.  It truly felt like a gift to spend Christmas this way.  And it wouldn’t have been possible without your prayers and support.  We thank you from the bottom of our heart, and hope we can convey that it wasn’t just hearts and lives in Mexico touched.  It was also our own. 

 In Christ’s service,

Roger, Heidi, Morgan, Hannah, Ethan and Grant Prahl

WOW! What a great trip it was! I've put off posting so long since we've been back because I haven't really known how to put my feelings and thought into words.  From even before we left, I could see God' hand in everything.  My husband's work has been VERY slow right now, and for the month of December, he had been only working 2-3 days per week.  That made paying for the trip a little frightening to me, as our finances got tighter and tighter.  In fact, a few days before we left I began thinking we weren't going to have any cash in our pockets on the trip to purchase a soda for the kids or anything.  However, the last couple of days before we left, God provided some financial support from some unexpected places, and really made everything OK! What a blessing!!

The trip started with a 30+ hour busride to Eagle Pass, TX.  The bus ride was definately not the most comfortable thing in the world, and trying to sleep in the tiny bus seat was definately a chore.  However, we had great conversation and fellowship, shared a devotion before each stop (approx every four hours) and had a nice time getting to know some of the people on the way down. 

When we arrived in Mexico, it all felt a little surreal.  We got to our hotel rooms, which were much nicer than I expected, and I quickly showered, but we were all piled on to this small red bus that our church had donated in the past, to go to a pastor's house for dinner.  It's a small bus that reads "La Gran Comision" and has a sign that says "seats 12" but the 12 is x-d out and it says "36"  So, you can imagine how many people were packed into each seat, standing, etc.  In fact at one point during the week, we had 38+ the driver on there (it was all the kids mission to see if we could 'break the record of 36'  LOL, and we DID!)   

Once we arrived at the pastor's house, we were fed something that looked like swiss steak, some pinkish colored rice and some beans with hot dogs.  The rule is that you have to eat what you are given, and that it would be insulting to throw anything away.  The food wasn't bad, just not quite what we are used to, and the meat was served with bones in the sauce, and grizzle. However, some of the men on our team really helped out by finishing everyone's plates for them.  Roger and I traded and I ate his rice and beans and he ate my meat.  I asked a fellow teammate (who happens to be a fairly famous youth speaker, who travels the world speaking to youth and women, and goes on this trip every year) what we were eating.  She said "we never ask.  It gives the prayer "bless this food to our bodies" a whole new meaning.  She said it may be beef, goat, or something like that.  At this point, some of the kids were playing around kicking this empty Gatorade bottle.  Well, the bottle came over and hit me in the neck.  It hurt, but not that much.  However I started crying and didn't feel like I could stop.  I was still talking to this woman ( Tiffany Thompson ) She really comforted me and said she cried her whole first mission trip.  She said she was so worried the first year they came to Mexico, and she was so careful not to eat anything, not to drink the water, etc.  She said her kids ate whatever, drank the water, etc and SHE is the one who got sick.  She said she really felt like God was saying "Don't you trust me with your children?  I love them more than you do" And she went on to say that I may be having so many feelings, worries, emotions, etc and even though I may not know what to pray to God for specifically, the Holy Spirit would intercede on my behalf, and that even my tears would be counted as prayer.  So, that really set the tone for the week, and brought me great comfort. 

During the week, we started each day with devotion time consisting of worship, and people from our team sharing what God was doing in their hearts.  It was so inspiring to see God reaching each person at their level.  One of the things I shared toward the end of the week was what I had learned so far.  Last summer, one of the ladies at our church shared with me that she tries to hold everything with an open hand, because it's all God's anyways.  Well, in our safety driven culture I don't feel like I do that very well at home.  I try to hold on to everything so tightly and am wrapped up in my security.  However, due to the nature of the trip, the travel conditions (38 people on a bus that seats12), the people we were witnessing to, etc, it didn't feel like you COULD hold everything with a closed hand.  Another friend of mine, who is a missionary in the Sahara Desert once made the analogy that if you pick up a palmful of sand, and examine it in your hand with your palm open you can see it so clearly and hang on to it.  However, once you close your hand to try to hold on to it, it all starts to slip thru your fingers.  That's me, at home...trying to hold on to everything so tight, while it really is slipping away.  I learned that I let fear dominate so much of my life, and that I don't trust God as much as I should.  However, in Mexico, it felt different.  We HAD to trust God, we HAD to hold everything loosely! I got a glimpse of how that tastes, and it was so sweet.  It's something I want to hold on to, and not forget now that we're home. 

The team also did the Everything, by Lifehouse drama.  Our daughter Morgan played the main girl.  We did the skit several times at different churches, in the "park", etc.  The skit had soooo much impact.  It really brought tears to so many eyes! You can see the original skit here,

however, the people who did it in Mexico did it for the Sr. High youth group on Wed. night, and will do it again at a weekend service.  They also may do it at one of Tiffany Thompson's speaking events, and even at Lifest this year!

I didn't want to come home.  I honestly could have stayed so much longer.  Each day was a reminder that this is what life is about.  It felt so right to just have each day be focused on sharing God's love with people, being His hands and feet.  It wasn't until about the third of fourth day that I was brought back to reality that this wasn't my home, my every day life, and that this wouldn't last forever.  It was the best way our family could have celebrated Christmas. 

I want to write more on what we did over the week, but wanted to share my feelings about it first, while that was still fresh in my mind.  I also have a bunch of pictures that I want to upload.  It was so beautiful there, at the base of the mountains, with the beautiful sunsets, palm trees, etc. 

Thanks to all who were praying! Your prayers were felt and MUCH appreciated!

Our family is preparing for our first Mission Trip. Our church doesn't call them Mission trips, rather they refer to our trips as Bridge Building. We visit the same place many times, building relationships, offering help in any way we can. Our family's first trip will be to Mexico over Christmas. From Wisconsin, it's a 32 hour bus ride, and that is one of the things the kids are really excited about Our church has been going to this city in Mexico several times a year for the past few years, and so relationships are established, and our love and Christ's love for His people is felt. We will be visiting a state hospital, where the conditions aren't that great, an orphanage with 9 children, and a nursing home. We will be doing crafts with kids in the neighborhood. The kids don't have many possessions, and often only have the one outfit they are wearing. In the past our church has built a playground in the area, soccer nets, and basketball hoops. This year our group will be tiling the church sanctuary there. We will be bringing warm coffee and blankets, grapes and cookies, along with small gifts to the nursing home residents; gifts, games, and a trip to a "Playland" type of restaurant for the kids in the orphanage; and linens, blankets and small gifts to the hospital residents. The children from our group (It's a family trip and MANY kids are going!!) will be doing dramas, children's songs with motions, crafts, etc with the kids in the area, along with playing soccer, jumping rope and just generally befriending the children there. At night there will be movies, worship concerts and outreach events for the neighborhood. We will also be putting on a parade to invite people to a "carnival" where there will be lots of fun games, treats, etc. One of the dramas the adult acting team will be doing is the skit to the song Everything by Lifehouse. While some may think it's very dramatic, the things in the skit really represent a lot of their everyday life in this area. What an awesome way to infuse the Hope of Christ into their lives. Here's the video, although we'll have a group of actors acting this out rather than showing the video. 

Everything Skit 

Please, if you feel led to, please pray for us during this time of preparation. There's a lot to prepare before we go, and it's a busy time of year for people. We've sent out support letters to help raise money for the trip, and people have been very supportive in helping! What a blessing. Also, please pray for peace of mind, as anxieties start to build and spirtitual battles begin (or continue) And lastly, please pray for safety for the team, and that many lives will be touched by the love of God in Mexico.

It's been a summer of feeling like we have been in the Refiner's fire.  We've decided to start off the Fall taking a class our church offers on Character Development.  The class is pretty intesnse, running for nine months, meeting every other week for three hour sessions.  The description of the class is:

This in-depth course will challenge you to examine your life and develop a deeper, more mature relationship with Christ and others. It will help you understand God’s design for people, how The Fall affected that design, and how Jesus came to restore us back to wholeness.

The class combines teaching, writing and reading assignments, as well as small group discussions that will give you the opportunity to apply the principles and learn what impacts your motivation and how you relate to people.

Last night was our second class.  We had to prepare an assignment on naming our strengths and weaknesses in some key areas.  I wrote that my strengths and weaknesses were both in the areas of Honesty and Christian Community.  I'm a person who places a high value on the truth, and have made a commitment not to lie...even about little things.  However, I tend to NOT want to be open and share my shortcomings, failings and sin.  It's not that I lie about them...I just don't talk about them.  I even try to avoid thinking about them, and like to pretend they don't exist.  Our church talks about being in Christian community and being fully known and fully loved.  That feels like an oxymoron to me.  If I was fully known, I certainly wouldn't be fully loved.  I try to hide me even from me sometimes. 

Last night after class I had a breakthrough, though.  I realized that the feelings that I have and so many Christians tend to have on this subject are a big lie! I know that when my husband or a close friend shares something with me that he/they are struggling with, it makes me feel closer to that person, and love them more!  One of the reasons we LOVE our church so much is that so many of the people in leadership there aren't afraid to admit their shortcomings, and admit that they still sin, and aren't where they want to be on their faith walk.  But Satan has us believing that if we share our hearts, people will judge us and think poorly of us.  However, in my experience, the OPPOSITE has been true!  When we share our hearts is when relationships GROW and flourish! We have this desire to want people to think certain things about us, and we have this idea that the way to accomplish it is the OPPOSITE of what is actually true!!

I'm not saying it's going to be easy.  But I am committing to sharing more of my heart, being less guarded and caught up in 'appearances'.  I want my relationships with the people in my life to GROW and flourish.  I want to stop believing the BIG LIE!!

Our pastor paints a beautiful picture of the marriage relationship.  He talks about the woman's role to submit to and respect her husband, but he also tells of the role of the husband in a way I hadn't quite understood it before.  Ephesians 5:28-30 says:

"In this same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife, loves himself.  After all no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it , just as Christ does the church-...." (emphasis mine)

Our pastor pointed out that a person is very in touch with their own body.  When they are thirsty, they get a drink.  If they are too hot, they shed a sweater or sweatshirt for something cooler;when they are tired they sleep, etc.  A person takes care of themselves, making sure their needs are met.  He pointed out that that is how a man is to love his wife.  To be so in touch with her and her feelings and to feed and care for her.  While I'm doing a bad paraphrasing of what he said, I just had never seen that verse in that light before.  A man doesn't hate his own body....he does what he can to care for his needs.  He doesn't have to think "I'm thirsty...what can I do about that?"  He knows his needs/desires, and he acts upon them to fulfill them. He doesn't say "I'm thirsty, I think I'll take a nap to make it better."   

Now let me explain that I'm NOT saying that a man NEEDS to or even OUGHT to have to fulfill all of his wife's desires.  A woman needs to find that kind of fulfillment in Christ and Christ alone.  However, looking at that from a wife's perspective makes me feel very comforted and protected and loved that Christ wants to provide that kind of protection for a wife.  And while no man (or woman for that matter) is perfect, it's just awesome to know that God has that kind of vision for marriage.  People are often uncomfortable with the women's submitting part of the verses, but what an amazing plan God has here.  And one person's role doesn't depend on the other person fulfilling theirs.  (I'll submit to him, IF he loves me like that.) But the point is that our husband's love and the way Christ has designed marriage ahd the role of the husband is also a picture of how God loves US.  That's just AWESOME to me!!

All this to say, I awoke to such a beautiful thing the other morning.  And it may not even sound like much, but it still gives me goose bumps.  Now that Fall is here in Wisconsin, the nights have been getting pretty chilly.  But when we go to bed, it's still pretty warm, so we often sleep with our windows open. . This night, we had thrown our heavy top quilt over the end of the  bed.  I awoke in the early morning to see my husband standing over me, pulling the top quilt back on the bed and covering me up with it and fixing my blankets around me.  I HAD been freezing, but didn't wake up to do anything about it.  It felt so warm and snuggly to wrap up in the quilt and drift back to sleep.  However, it occured to me what a beautiful thing that was.  It reminded me of what our pastor had taught about these verses on marriage and I just felt SOOO loved.  So loved not only by my husband but by God!  It's just such a beautiful thing.  With the summer we've had, it just felt like a confirmation that I AM loved.  I have the AWESOME amazing love of my husband, but also that God has NOT forgotten about me, and He DOES love me!!

I've been tagged!! I've never known what to do when tagged, but I found out how to do this, this time, I think!

Here are the rules I'm supposed to post first

These are the rules I have to post before I get started:

1) The player starts with 8 random facts about herself.

2)The person who is tagged must post on her own blog her answers and she must post the rules first.

3) Then the player must pick 8 people and tag them. Then leave them a note so that they will know that they have been tagged.

Eight Random Facts about me! (wow, this is tougher than I thought!)

1. I LOVE Rum Raisin Haagen Daazs
2. I read email in my jammies, while drinking coffee each morning.
3. I don't balance my checkbook
4. I don't have any pets. (although I wish we could....allergies!)
5. I LOVE to cook!
6. I am probably the world's worst gardener. (but I try to do better each year)
7. I am a want to be decorator
8. I love to make things with my hands. (crafts, scrapbook, cards, etc)

Now I'm off to tag a few people!! :-)  That was FUN!!

Last night we started on a new adventure.  We have the privilege and honor of having a young boy from a Saharawi Refugee Camp in Africa spend the summer with us.  We had known he was coming for some time, and were anxious anticipating the day that felt like it would never arrive.  Well, last night at 10pm, we got to meet our special little boy.  He is nine years old, and has such a big heart.  He doesn't speak any English, and speaks Spanish and Hassanaya (an Arab dialect)  You can read about their situation and why they are refugees at www.betheirvoice.org

I was so amazed last night when the wonderful woman who went to pick up the kids (and is also our mentor family this year since this is our first Saharawi to join our family) said to me, with tears in her eyes, "The minute I met him, I knew God had specially chosen him for your family."  I was so touched by that.  I had also been feeling the same thing as we awaited his arrival.  It was hard to explain, but I felt like he already had a piece of my heart when all we knew was his name and that he is nine.  To hear someone else confirm what I had silently been feeling just gives me chills. 

Here is a pic of all the kids together today.

Our first day has gone well.  My neighbor speaks some Spanish, and I had her tell him I was going to take him to the store to buy some clothes and shoes for him.  He liked that idea.  I didn't just want to spring Wal Mart on him without any warning LOL.  We picked up some shorts, tees, jammies, and swim trunks along with some undergarments.  He got a couple new pair of sandals, too.  I asked if he wanted to try his clothes on when we got home, but he said no, and put them all right in his duffel bag, tags and all.   

I'm anticipating a long night.  He laid down for a nap (as is their custom...it often gets to 135 degrees in the desert where they live and there's not a lot of refuge from the heat)  a few hours ago.  I've tried to wake him several times, but he is just zonked!  He's been sleeping almost four hours! 

I'll be updating as often as we can.  Thanks for joining in on our new adventure.

God is so good! I know it's been a long time since I last updated, but so much has been going on, and a lot of it has been going on internally, in my heart and has been hard to put into words.  I've been amazed at God's grace and how He truly WILL take care of me.  Even now, after weeks/months of reflection, I find it hard to put into words what is in my heart, but I'll do my best and hope it comes out in a readable way.  :-)

I've always felt like I had to take care of my needs/wants myself.  NOT that my dh doesn't take care of me...he is WONDERFUL.  I mean, when I want something I just go and get it.  I never wait and see or just hold out.  I'm a "I want it, I'll get it" kind of person, I guess.  Well, slowly God has been showing me how wrong this is.  He's been gracious and subtle, but I can feel it in my heart. Confession time -  I am a materialistic person, and although I know it's not right, it's also very hard to change. 

My pastor's wife has been a great inspiration to me.  She is a very quiet woman who doesn't speak in church very often, but when she does it always has such an effect on me! As our church recently celebrated their 25th anniversary, we saw a video clip each week leading up to the big celebration day talking about what it was like to start the way they did and how difficult the road has been.  Well, our pastor's wife talked about how once they got married, her husband started this ministry that basically didn't pay anything.  (their first ministry was to just witness to people in the downtown area, go into bars and form relationships with people that led to spiritual discussions, etc, and also have a helpline for people to call)  Well, the pastor's wife (Janet) was talking about how hard it was at times living on not much of an income and how they lived on groceries of what her husband hunted and fished for.  She talked about a time they hosted/worked at a Thanksgiving dinner as an outreach for homeless people and she was so excited to take home some of the leftovers so they could have something different to eat.  Well, soon came an announcement over the loudspeaker after the meal that everyone should grab some leftovers to take home...so by time it was over there was none left for Janet.  The next day she was feeling down.  The wood they used to heat their house with was gone as of that morning, and she was really craving some cranberries and hot chocolate, and all they had was the wild game and fish in the freezer.  A bit chilly from the fire going down and a bit depressed, she called her husband to get some sympathy.  He felt bad for her, but what could he do?  Anyway, about an hour later, out of the blue, a former student of hers pulled into their driveway and got out.  She hadn't seen him in probably years so was very surprised to see him there.  He didn't know of their situation as far as she knew and still knows to this day, as she has never spoken with him since.  He showed up with several bags of groceries, and asked where to put the firewood.  She showed him where in the basement (albeit a bit stunned!) and he unloaded a bunch of wood and several bags of food.  He didn't say much...no explanation, not many words at all.  He just came...left the food and wood and left.  Well, shocked, Janet began to unpack the groceries.  In the bags, along with many things, were cranberries in cans and Swiss Miss hot chocolate (with marshmallows!).  So, she got the fire going and made some hot chocolate. She was so thankful that not only would God choose to meet/fill their needs....He would do so SO specifically.  Of course I can't retell the story the way she does...but I am often thinking back to this story and it just touched me in such a way that I wanted to share it to the best of my ability.

This story just TOUCHES my heart and reminds me that I* don't have to always have to try to make sure I* have all the things I want or think I want.  God DOES care about our hearts desires and can meet needs in ways we never would think of or even expect.  To my knowledge, Janet has never seen that young man again, and no one had been in contact with him before he arrived with no explanation. 

(Thinking out loud here, but I think we grew up in a home where you did kind of have to fend for yourselves, and perhaps that in ingrained in me...to an extreme degree.) 

Janet has shared MANY experiences like that one.  It makes me sad to think of the times I could have waited to see what God would do, times when I don't trust God because that's what this is.  It's a belief that I won't get what I think I want/deserve if I don't take care of ME.  I remember hearing Beth Moore talk about how the one area we struggle with/won't let go of control in is the area we don't trust GOD in.  What a wake up call. 

So, it's not an overnight change.  And things that are deep ingrained in you are slow to change sometimes.  However, I've been trying to let go in this area and release some of my fears, desires, etc to God and just WAIT on Him.  NOT that I expect Him to meet all my wants!!  That's not my point at all.  I just want to release control to the Lord and TRUST.  And since I've been feeling God tugging at my heartstrings, I have seen Him meet needs/wants in very specific ways.  It just astonishes me and breaks my heart at the same time.  I think of the times I've been selfish, greedy and untrusting.  And even fearful. 

God is so good.  God is so gracious.  God can be trusted.  God SHOULD be trusted!!

I'm writing this entry tonight after having a wonderfully relaxing evening with my sister last night and a wonderfully relaxing day with my family today.  I have been so terribly stressed trying to make everything perfect for Christmas, that I had totally lost joy in the season.  SO, after the Lord so gently pointed out in so many ways that I was so terribly off track....I have turned it all over to Him, and feel a wonderful sense of peace.  This blog entry is going to be just sharing some of the things we've been doing around here for Christmas!  Enjoy! And MERRY CHRISTmas!!!

Last night the kids had their Wed. night classes at church.  The kids and I prepared some Baby Jesus cupcakes for their classes and leaders.  I got the idea from a fellow homeschool mom and want to thank her for sharing it! I think they turned out really cute, and the kids loved making them! (we made a lot of mini cupcakes since we had quite a few we wanted to make)

I also decided to share some pics of my favorite Christmas decorations.  Some are traditional ones we've had for years, some are new this year.  I love to see people's homes at Christmas time, so I thought I'd share my own and maybe inspire others to share too!

This year is the first year we decided to go with a color scheme for the tree.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  We decided to go with blues, greens, silver and white with a few other accents of color here and there.  Ethan even made a blue and green cross in Sunday School and I thought that was so sweet that he thought to make it the colors I love!!
 You can see Ethan's cross ornament here.

This is my wooden Santa that I love! I've had him for a few years.

These next two pics are new displays this year...the DR light that I adorned and the sofa table display (the ornaments/snowflakes hanging from the light move ever so slightly even when there's no 'breeze' by them and they're kind of fun to watch)

 and last but not least, the fireplace that I painted this summer.  I wasn't sure about the lights across it, but the kids love them. 

 You can also see the Graham Cracker Gingerbread houses we built this year! It was LOTS of fun! We got Gingerbread flavored graham crackers, and made lots of frosting and made an afternoon of it!

Here's Grant at Heather's (my sister's) last night, where she treated me to a wonderfully relaxing evening of Christmas music, hot cocoa, Christmas goodies and warm conversation! Grant had a BLAST playing with the dogs too!!  The other kids were at church so Grant, who isn't allergic to dogs, got to play with them to his heart's content!! 

And last, but not least, a dear sweet friend of mine has kind of 'adopted' my children as her grandchildren! She has been so sweet and loving to them, always remembering them and taking an interest in them.  She started a tradition a few years ago to send them money at Christmas so they could buy gifts for each other, then have a pizza party and hot cocoa, as she always enjoyed doing it with her brother and she does it in memory of him.  Well, the kids have taken their time shopping for hours, carefully choosing their gifts, wrapping them so carefully, placing them under the tree and anticipating what the recipient will say when they open their gifts.  We usually let them exchange a few days before Christmas so that they have a few things to play with while the anticipation of Christmas really swells.  (we also have to do it around Daddy's work schedule so he can see them exchange)  Today we EXCHANGE day!!  Here's a few photos of the exchange.  We're having pizza and hot cocoa tomorrow night when Daddy's weekend starts. 

Wishing you ALL the most BLESSED Christmas ever, and the HAPPIEST of New Year!!!!

I'm soooo excited about the new look to my blog! A DEAR sweet Sister in Christ completely SUPRISED me with this beautiful MAKEOVER!! I absolutely ADORE snowmen!! Looking at them always makes me smile and warms my heart! My dear friend did such a beautiful job on my blog! THANK YOU!!!

SOOO much has happened these past few months and I meant to keep up sooo much better with my posting.  BUT life has been unusually busy.  We are just in a very very busy season in our lives right now.  However, I think my NEW blog will really inspire me to do a MUCH better job at keeping up, now that I feel like my blog really represents ME!  

Christmas! I can't believe in one week my house will have been filled with guests for the evening, and all the presents will have been opened and the food eaten! I started really getting into the Christmas spirit at the end of October and planned to be done with all my shopping, etc BEFORE Thanksgiving.  WELL, that just hasn't happened.  Morgan and Ethan have started getting allergy shots and that has required us to go for allergy shot appt's a couple times a week.  Once they GET the shot they have to stay there for 30 mins after to make sure they don't have a bad reaction.  LUCKILY I LOVE our allergist! He is an amazing doctor who has really made me feel like we are GETTING somewhere with the kids asthma and allergies.  He UNDERSTANDS that they want to lead normal lives and he wants to do anything possible to have them lead as normal of lives as possible! And his nurse, who has been administering the shots is just WONDERFUL too! She is a Christian woman who is so good at what she does, has such a sweet spirit and the kids adore her! In fact, since we have started going so often, Ethan has really taken an interest in the medical field.  He has been watching tons of medical shows on Discovery Health channel! All on his own, he just started watching them, taping them, etc!  It's been wonderful to watch his interest develop!!

More updates! We are starting a few new Christmas traditions this year.  I got a few of the ideas from my neighbor.  We both moved into this neighborhood at the same time and they have kids the same age as our two oldest children.  The mom usually sews a pair of flannel pajama pants each year for each member of their family.  Then they all get them on Christmas Eve.  WELL, since I don't sew, I did buy a pair of special super soft pajama pants for each person in the family.  I wrapped them all in individual boxes, took ribbon and tied the boxes in a stack and put a tag on top that says "Do not open until Christmas Eve"  WELL, all the kids are looking at the stack of boxes and wondering and trying to guess what is in them! Now they will all have a cozy pair of PJ pants to go to bed in on Christmas Eve and to be wearing (and getting pics in) on Christmas morning while they open their gifts!  :-) 

We went and cut down Christmas trees with these neighbors this year.  We also took along my daughters best friend and her new step dad.  Here's some pics of the tree farm day.  It was sooooo cold and the wind was just BITING cold that day! 

The girls best friend

Somre pics of our family

I'll be posting pics of the finished tree and our other decorations in another post.  :-)

I plan on making at least one more post before Christmas, but hopefully more! I have a LOT that I want to share!!

God Bless and Merry Christmas!!

It's been a few weeks since I've updated so I wanted to take some time today to fill in all that has happened. We are still busy, enjoying Winterpromise and just our whole school year in general.  I have to say that I'm really enjoying the crafts, book selections, etc.  We just finished reading The Birchbark House   We all LOVED this book! We are SAD to be done reading it!We also have done some more map work. Here they are with their Columbus maps. 

Grant

Ethan

Hannah

Morgan

Also, one big thing that happened is the girls both got their hair cut, and Hannah donated hers to Locks of Love.  Both girls would have LOVED to, but only Hannah had long enough hair.  She had 13 inches cut off.  Morgan had hers shaped and styled.  They both look so grown up!!

BEFORE

Hannah went first....

(that's Sarah, my stylist.  Isn't she darling!)

Hannah holding her ponytail of hair she USED to have!!

Morgan is next!

The AFTER! 

I'm reading a WONDERFUL book by Beth Moore right now called Believing God.   She talks about how it's one thing to believe IN God, but another to BELIEVE HIM! This has been a wonderful book that I'm really feeling the GROWTH effects from, and it's just what I needed to read right now.  Although I have a million other books to read right now, this one kind of 'jumped out' at me in the church library, and I'm so glad I checked it out!  She lists FIVE Statements of belief that will transform our faith.  She says to say them many times each day.  Well, we are in the process of painting our kitchen, and I had JUST added this chalkboard I painted onto the wall, so I figured that was a PERFECT spot to post those five statements (Excuse the look of the chalkboard...since this was taken, wood trim has gone up around it and it's much more 'finished' looking

The top (ABBA) is our acronym for church this year, so I put it up there as are reminder, too! 

And lastly, we did one really FUN and MESSY project just last week.  We made Pueblos out of boxes, paint and CORNMEAL (which I may still be stepping on for a LONG time!

The boys made one together and the girls made one. 

The boys finished Pueblo

The girls and their pueblo

AND all together!! (our own small village LOL)

If you can't tell, we're REALLY enjoying LIFE! ;-)

Acts Chapter 8

36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”^[c]
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

What an amazing weekend we had! This past Sunday, Aug 13, our entire family was baptized in water, as Believers! This was TRULY an amazing experience that I can't even really put into words!  I'm so thankful to God for moving in the ways that He has within our family to bring this event to fruition. 

After church on Sunday our church had a nice picnic where people could bring picnic baskets and blankets and just have a picnic around the pond on the Church grounds.  After the picnic there was to be a baptism in the pond.  I was so excited when my dh had asked "So, who is going to be baptized with me at the picnic?"  I had wanting to get baptized as a believer for some time now, but wanted to wait for my husband to be ready so we could do it together.  The kids also said they were ready and wanted to be baptized as well.  YAY!! What a wonderful blessing! 

Not knowing fully WHAT to expect (as I had only seen little video clips of baptisms at our church) I was getting anxious and excited during the picnic.  Before the baptisms began, we had some prayer, worship songs and then one of our pastors explained the Biblical basis for baptism. He explained that when you are standing in the water, you are representing your old self (sinful)  When you go under the water, you are identifying with Christ's death and burial and when you come out, you are identifying with Christ's Resurrection.  You are dying to self and making a public statement that you are a follower of Christ. 

It turned out that my husband and I were the first two to be baptized.  They had an open mic beforehand so anyone who wanted to share a testimony could.  It was incredible to see and hear people of so many different background and walks of life share their stories of what Christ has done and is doing in their lives!

My son, Ethan, chose his Sunday School small group leader to participate in his baptism.  Here we all are getting ready to be baptized.  (my son's teacher is in the green) It was so neat to have someone who has impacted my son's faith be able to participate in his baptism!  Something we'll never forget! 

Here our pastor (in the gray) is announcing that we are going to baptized as a couple and then we are going to help in baptizing our kids (the boys would go together and then the girls)

Before being submersed, we are asked questions about if we believed Jesus was the Son of God, did we believe that He died for our sins, and so forth.  Then he said "Based on your profession of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" and we went under. 

Next, the boys were up!

Next, I went in with the girls to participate in their baptism!

And finally a group huddle! CELEBRATION!!!!

It was TRULY an incredible experience, and I'm so happy to have been baptized as a family!  We were all baptized as babies, but not as Believers.  I'm praising the Lord for this special opportunity and BLESSING!!!

This second week of school has been a bit different than our first week.  It's been a really good, but BUSY week!! So much has gone on since my last update. 

We completed last week playing a fun game called Count and Toss (an Indian game idea)  You would toss several beans on a plate and each bean had a pen mark on one side.  Then however many beans that landed ink side up, the kids got a pebble for.  Once all the pebbles were taken, they'd count who had the most and that person was the winner.  Here's some pics of the kids playing.  (It was a more childish game, but even I played and had fun!)

Hannah playing...

Grant playing

Ethan playing

Morgan playing (not sure why her pic keeps coming up sideways!)

We also completed some map work

Working hard!

And the boys wanted to show off their work!

One thing we learned this week is that Grant listens VERY well to our read alouds if he is allowed to play Lego's while we're doing our reading.  He still volunteers to answer questions while we're reading so I know he's listening.  But, here's what he's built while we read.

Sunday was Roger's 37th birthday! He can't believe he's 37 already, but I told him he didn't LOOK like he was 37 and he certainly didn't ACT like he's 37

 He's glad about that I guess!

This week started off busy! Monday morning Morgan had an appt with a pediatric allergist.  Her allergies to all furry creatures has kept her home from our extended families, her friends, etc and as she gets older she's starting to think that she is going to be limited to what kind of babysitting jobs she can go on, etc etc due to her allergies.  This new allergist was WONDERFUL! He suggested that she would be a good candidate for allergy shots. We had talked about them in the past, but I wanted Morgan to be able to decide for herself if she wanted to go thru them. She decided that she DOES!  She was wishing she could start right away, but she has to go back in two weeks.  She is EXTREMELY excited to get this process rolling! I'm happy for her, because she finally sees some hope in being able to be a little more free!!

Tuesday I had a hair appt.  I got my hair cut and highlighted.  Morgan snapped a few pics of me when I got home.  So far I like how my hair has turned out.  It's very fine, so I don't have a lot of options

and the back

The rest of the week we just completed week 2 of Winterpromise.  We are having a hard time (OK, I* am having a hard time) deciding what activities to pick to do!  There's sooo many good ones listed, but we just CAN'T do them all! I have been feeling overwhelmed since I think we're TRYING to do too many!  That's something I'll have to work on this coming week!

Here's a few pics of the girls' projects. 

Hannah's MYO History Page

And Morgan's page.  She is at that age where she told me not to get her hair in the pic because it didn't look good. 

I also got a really neat surprise this week! I have been working on redecorating our home in a more serene atmosphere, and had wanted to bring some elements of living by the beach into our house (it's always been a dream of mine to live on the water, just not a reality!)  SO, a dear sweet friend of mine not only sent me some gorgeous shells and beach things, she also sent some t shirts, caps and other goodies for the kids from the beach!! THANKS CATHE! :-) It was like Christmas opening up such a fun package!

Thanks for reading this far! Next week promises to be another fun and exciting week here ;-)

• FIRST of all, we are starting a NEW curriculum! (new to us!)
• This is the FIRST year of starting in the summer!
• This is our first year where all four children have to be registered as homeschoolers because Grant is now SIX and in 1st grade!

After our first day I am soooo glad to say that I think this is going to be an EXCELLENT year!!  Today we completed our SECOND day and we are enjoying it soooo much! The curriculum we have chosen this year is Winterpromise (www.winterpromise.com) It's a literature based approach along with hands on activities and games.  They also recommend websites, and Videos to go along with what you are studying.  It's a really nice balace for us, because I love reading and great books.  The girls love reading as well, but the boys love more hands on things. 

Here are some photos from our first day!

Grant and Ethan working on their Indian Dioramas!

Morgan and Hannah coloring their dioramas!

Grant working VERY hard on his Indian Tribes Map!

Morgan, Hannah and Ethan working on their maps and checking their schedules!

And here's the completed maps!

I think we are off to a GREAT year! We prayed before we started any schooling at all, and each child got to add something to the prayer.  We are also using a daily devotional called Sticky Situations where each day we read of a child being faced with different situations where they have to decide how they would handle it.  You are given choices on how you think the child should handle it, and then you have to look up a verse or two in the Bible to find the answer.  I really like the book and I love the fact that it teaches children to look to the Bible for answers for all of life's problems/situations. After each devotional there are discussion questions and reaffirmation about what the Bible says.  It's really a nice addition to our day!

A few more photos

Getting ready to start our reading time!

Ethan finishing his written work

It's such a blessing to see the children doing their work without complaint and ENJOYING themselves! I didn't think I was a hands on person (who enjoys doing hands on projects) but we are really ENJOYING ourselves AND our time together!!