Happy Birthday, Sarah!

It is unbelievable how quickly time flies. My eldest daughter is now 15. Fifteen. Fifteen years have flown by since I held this first precious daughter in my arms. Little did I know at that time how little time I would have to teach this child everything I needed to teach her. Little did I know how deeply entwined my heart would be in this little life. Little did I know how vastly my thoughts, ideas, and convictions would change.

In these fifteen years, I have grown nearly as much as she has. A girl who gave birth to a baby, I have changed drastically as each year has brought more blessing, maturity, and grace to her young soul. Much of the change in my life has been a direct result of her questioning, proding, and study. Now this young lady that I have spent so much time training and directing has become a dear, treasured friend. I enjoy our time together...listening to her heart...sharing mine. And as I realize that my remaining time with her under our household draws short, I covet the few precious moments remaining.

Having two teen daughters in my home now, and a third fast approaching, it makes me think back to all those times when well-meaning onlookers took one look at me with my 6 very young daughters and said, "Oh, you poor thing! Just wait until they're teen-agers!" Praise the Lord for teen-aged daughters! How thankful I am for these precious years! Happy birthday, my darling Sarah...you are a treasure more precious than silver and gold and your father and I love you with our whole hearts!

posted by the thankful mother

Exciting News

Calvin is walking...right on schedule - 10 months, just like all the other children, save 2. He's been taking 2-3 steps here and there for a couple of weeks, but in the last few days he's doing 10-12 steps at a time! It's so cute!

Today is Bryce's 24th birthday! Mike took Sarah and Abby to pick up Payton. Very exciting! She'll be staying with us until January and Hayden will be coming in December! A full house is always so grand, yet there's always room for more. Maybe one of these days we will have a hundred grandchildren here at once!

- Posted by "Oma" from my iPhone

Baptisms

Elly was baptized a couple of weeks ago! It is always so exciting to watch someone in your family come to know, love, and serve the Lord and then be baptized!

We had several baptisms in our fellowship last week: Seth, Danny, Julia, Elly, Ariel, Christian, Elijah, Taylor.
What a blessing!

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Matt. 28:19

posted by the blessed sister of 10 wonderful siblings and aunt to 2 sweet children – Sarah

Visiting

We recentlyt went to visit Daddy’s family because his aunt and uncle came in from out of state to visit. We had such a great time and it was so nice to see everyone!

Everyone was able to make it except Bryce (who is still overseas) and Lesley (Aunt Kelia’s younger daughter). Unfortunately, we were unable to get the group photo before Lindsey (Aunt Kelia’s older daughter) and her twins had to leave.

It’s been a long time since we had a group picture of Aunt Lisa’s boys, but we were able to get them to pose!

Grammy and Papa with their children: Aunt Kelia, Daddy, and Aunt Lisa

Miss Esther took care of Papa and Auntie Carole when they were little. She is about to turn 96!

Wallace finds fun wherever he goes! He had a grand time playing tug-o’-war with Boston.

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 15:13

posted by the blessed sister of 10 wonderful siblings and aunt to 2 sweet children - Sarah

Happy Birthday, Wallace!

Wallace is 2! We chose “Toy Story” for his theme because, even though he has never seen the movie, he loves Bullseye, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody. It is amazing how reading captures the imagination of even a very young child and becomes a part of who they are. One day while waiting in a doctor’s office, Abby read a Toy Story book to him and he fell in love with those three characters! Abby and Mommy completely out did themselves with the banner, cake, and decorations.

“Look! Booh-yaheye, Rarah!”



Yummy, cake!


Birthday prayer with Daddy


Fun with gifts


Wallace loves his Buzz t-shirt from Grammy and Papa:
Buzz Lightyear – At Your Service!


Here is our currently family funny:
Wallace has been working on potty training and he’s nearly there, so Mommy thought it would be a good idea to give him a family potty seat for his birthday. When Daddy and us girls found out what she was planning, we were incredulous! Even though she asked what we thought at different times, we all said the same thing: “What! You can’t give him a toilet seat for his birthday!” Poor Mommy! We all gave her such a hard time and she was just being a frugal Proverbs 31 woman, fulfilling needs as well as desires. The funny thing is: Wallace absolutely loves it and is very proud of it! Mommy got it out about a week before his birthday, but he still refers to it as “his potty.” Okay, so it probably would have been a great gift!

However, Daddy and Mommy got him a workbench instead! It, too, was a hit!


Here’s the photo shoot I did for Wallace’s birthday:

As a side note, here is a picture of Daddy, Mommy, Calvin, and Papa talking at Wallace’s birthday party. Do you notice anything? I won’t make you wait…Mommy cut a foot and a half off of her hair!


“O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Psa. 90:14

Posted by the blessed sister of 10 wonderful siblings and aunt to 2 sweet children – Sarah

Guess Who? Part 2

In the last post of "Guess Who," we asked you to guess the name of our new Great Dane. We gave you some hints and a couple of people guessed it right away, but most didn’t, so we thought it only fitting to let everybody in on our little joke. Now, sit back in your seat and don’t be very surprised...after all, what could be a sweeter name than MORON? You may wonder why we gave him such a name. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like the nicest of names, but in our defense, it just fit too well to pass up! Here is why we named him Moron: We have a Great Pyrenees named Oxy. An oxymoron is something that contradicts itself such as, “a fine mess.” When we got Moron, it was pretty clear that he and Oxy were complete opposites, thus, his name. However, we call him Ron, so he doesn’t fair too badly. Actually, he really likes it here! He loves us children and he likes to play with Oxy. He is already very protective of us. When Mr. B. came over to give us some extra building blocks, Oxy and Ron were both growling at him! Funny, Oxy used to like him…. I think Ron is rubbing off on her! So, when you come to our house, expect to see two loyal guard dogs growling at the gate!

posted by Abby

Seaweed Gummies

Recently Mommy and I made gummy candy out of seaweed. It was fun and easy to do!
First we soaked dried seaweed in a bowl of water.

Next, we made molds in starch.

Then we put the dried seaweed in water with powdered seaweed and boiled it.

I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but if you see the thick gel around the seaweed, that's carrageenan, which is a natural thickening agent.

Next we added a colored sugar and poured the mixture into the molds.

All that was left to do was to roll the gummies in sour mix and eat!



They tasted good, but we were a little scared to try something made from seaweed. Plus, it didn't smell very hood while it was cooking! Check your labels on things like toothpaste, cottage cheese, pudding, salad dressing, or even lunch meat. If it has carrageenan in it, you're eating seaweed, too!

Posted by Sherrod

- Posted from my iPhone