As for me, I know of nothing else but miracles. - Walt Whitman

Friday, October 23, 2015

Recent Events...

1. We have witnessed lots of beautiful fall sunsets:


2. I had to laugh when Jalen brought home this comb that they gave him on picture day at school. LIKE he could ever get that thing through his hair! Did the photographer even look at him?! Ha Ha!!

3. We've enjoyed several bonfires...

4. ...and good times with cousins.








5. Poor Jordan had an abcessed tooth and his face swelled up tremendously! He had to have his tooth pulled, and is doing so much better.

 6. I am 8 months pregnant...we will meet our little guy next month! In other news, we now sleep with 10 full-size pillows in our bed every night just so I can get comfortable...

7. Malia had bronchitis, and had to miss some school so I could take her to the doctor. She fell asleep on the way home, and she looked so sweet that I just had to snap her picture. Thankfully, she is feeling better!

8. We lit a fire in the fireplace for the first time this fall. (As you can see, Malia is doing one of her bronchitis breathing treatments in the background.)

9. Jalen informed me that he will snuggle the baby by the fire every night this winter. He also stated that after the baby comes, he's going to have to stay home from school so he can help me take care of his little brother. Nice try, buddy, but I think I'll be able to manage on my own. :)

10. The middle school recently had a community service day, where the students did outside work for various churches and businesses around town. Adrian's picture was taken for the newspaper:

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

The benefit dinners and silent auctions that we held in September and October for our Metekle school project in Ethiopia brought in almost $27,000!!! We cannot thank our supporters enough...many Ethiopian children, both now and in the future, will be blessed with an education because of your generosity. We are grateful! We now have $104,162.87 of the $120,000 needed for our goal, and are 86.80% of the way there. If anyone out there would like to help us get to the finish line, please visit our website at http://allgodschildren.org/get-involved/projects-that-need-you/metekle-primary-school/. Thanks for your support!

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Sunday, October 11, 2015

Happy Birthday, Jalen and Jordan!!!

Yesterday was the twins' 7th birthday! Happy birthday, boys! We are so thankful for you.


We started the day by having them open their presents.



Grandpa Don called from Texas to sing Happy Birthday to them.

They were thrilled with their new bikes.


We then visited Sauder's Village for the day.


The kids loved watching the glass blower.





They had fun making apple cider.




Learning how to play a pioneer ring toss game...





Malia in an Indian wigwam. We learned that 2 families of 8 people each would share one of these structures. There was just a thin piece of material to divide the two rooms.

Ashton on the other side of the divider:


Roasting a pheasant:





Playing with handmade wooden toys:




Helping to dry apple slices:


When we got home, Fred and Kayla and their kiddos joined us for a bonfire.

A little later, Karl, Angie, and Darci joined us and we all had cake and ice cream.

It was a perfect fall day for a birthday!