Christmas Card 2013!

Our family wants to wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas! May God be the center of all your celebrations and may He be the LORD of your New Year!

With love,
Bryan, Cantina, Isaac, Sarah, Elijah, Timothy, and Joanna

Isaac's First Deer!!

Isaac has been very interested in hunting and fishing for a couple of years, but he has not had very many opportunities to do both. Then when we moved to Lawrence County in July that is what his new friends do all the time. :) Isaac's interest has been heightened from being around these new friends.

God has blessed us with 10 acres at our new home and a great place for Isaac to hunt and fish. He was on our land and was by himself when he killed this deer. I would have never thought he would kill a deer. Ha! He did a GREAT job, so proud of him! He came running up to the house to get Bryan, Isaac was so excited!!

You can read Isaac's story on the kids' blog, click here.

Thankful Thursday!

O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. 

Psalm 139:1-4

I am thankful for:
197) overnight guest. 
198) the windows being open and feeling the cool breeze.
199) baking for my family.
200) individual time with each child of ours.
201) an all knowing God. He knows EVERYTHING!
202) a note from a child.
203) the laughter of my hubby. I love to laugh with him!

Fried Okra

We LOVE fried okra! I will not eat okra any other way. :) Normally when we get okra I wash it, cut it up, and freeze it. This summer when we got a ton of okra I wondered if there was another way to put it in the freezer. A lady at church suggested that I wash it, cut it up, bread it, and freeze it that way. I thought I would give this a try...I am so glad I did!

I washed the okra, Isaac cut it up, the little boys and I put it in buttermilk and then in a bowl of flour, then Sarah laid it out on a parchment lined cookie sheet, we placed it in the freezer and when it had froze we removed it and put it in zip lock bags to go back in the freezer until ready to eat.

This has been great! I love already having the okra ready. The sad thing is since I didn't know how this would turn out I didn't freeze all of my okra this way. I will next year!! :)

A Visit from Pop and Gigi!!

Last weekend Bryan's parents came up for a visit and to see the kids play basketball. We were very excited when Bryan's mom emailed and said that they wanted to make a trip up to see us. :) Bryan and I didn't tell the kids and Bryan's parents met us at the gym for the first basketball game. The kids were very surprised and were tickled that they could spend some time with Pop and Gigi.

After the first ball game we came back to our house. I had made soup that morning before we left, so when we arrived lunch was ready. Then after a yummy lunch Bryan and his dad cut down a tree that was too close to the house and needed to go. We have plenty of trees here!

Of coarse it was something we all watched as the big tall tree tumbled to the ground. The kids thought it was "cool". :) Bryan's dad is great at helping with things like this.

Here is Gigi with her girls.

Gigi and Timothy

Mother and Son

Here is Pop with Joanna

We had a great visit with them and look forward to seeing them at Thanksgiving!

Thankful Thursday!

I am thankful for:
190) making cookies with the kids.
191) parchment paper.
192) wheat berries. I thought I was running low and I found a whole bucket...yay!
193) Wednesday night supper at church. (What a blessing, means I don’t have to cook!!)
194) shelves in the basement for storing things.
195) pumpkins to make pumpkin puree. (See picture above)
196) freedom in Christ from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

Thankful!

I am thankful for:
183) doing art with the kids.
184) warm potato soup with a hot grilled cheese sandwich.
185) the boys John Deere gator.
186) a home with two and a half bathrooms. :)
187) Jesus the Messiah.
188) a cool fall day outside.
189) the colors of fall.

5 Years Ago

Here is the picture that I said I would share. (click the words "I would share" to see Timothy and Joanna in these cowboy outfits) :) This is 5 years ago, Isaac and Sarah dressed up for Trick or Treat. WOW...time does fly!! Bryan's mother (Gigi) made these outfits for Isaac and Sarah and now the younger ones are able to enjoy them as well. We love these outfits and especially since they are handmade with love from Gigi!! She has made us other things and we will always treasure those items and the time she put into making them. Thanks Gigi!!!

Dressing Up Is Such A Treat!!

If you have visited our blog very much you probably know that this blog is a way to keep family and friends up to date on what is going on here. Because both sets of grandparents live 4 hours away and are not able to visit often I like to post pictures so that they can see what the kids are doing and what is happening in our lives.

Here is a picture of our children dressed up and enjoying our church's Trunk or Treat. We are not fans of Halloween but the kids have lots of fun dressing up! :) The cowboy outfits that Timothy and Joanna have on are the costumes that Bryan's mom (Gigi) made for Isaac and Sarah when they were little. I will have to see if I can find that picture and share it. :)

I can not believe it is November 3rd already!! It will be Thanksgiving soon! Lots to be thankful for! (check out the "Thankful" post on this blog). :)

Elijah's To Do List

For some time now Elijah has been asking to go and stay with Paw and Maw (my parents) by himself. We have arranged that while my dad has some time off at Thanksgiving that Elijah will go and stay a couple of days. He has already started planning out his stay and Bryan and I overheard him on the phone with my mom asking her "When am I coming to stay with you and doing what I want to do?" Have to love the honesty of children. :)

Here is his plans for his stay with Paw and Maw as he has wrote them out. I will try and translate.

Stay up at nap and watch TV. Eat peanut butter. Eat chocolate bars. Buy something. Play outside. Play inside. Eat something sweet.

The last one is the only one I am having trouble translating. He even has forgotten what he wrote. Elijah writes his words just like they sound to him. We are working on phonics. :)

These are the little notes and memories that I want to remember forever and share with him in the years to come. He is our thinker and he has thought out this trip. I just love this little guy!!

Thankful!

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, 

because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. Ephesians 5:15-21

I am thankful for:

176) the kids playing soccer.
177) homemade apple butter.
178) making aprons with the girls.
179) a handmade quilt.
180) a new season (fall).
181) my crockpot.
182) God’s still small voice.