Update/Praise Report!

Kyle is back home already and doing well!  Surgery went great, and he is feeling good!  We can keep praying now for a smooth and speedy recovery!   Thanks so much!

Surgery

As I type this, Kyle should be going into surgery, any time now, for a repeat of the surgery he had in September.  We would be so grateful for your prayers for skilled hands for the surgeon, a very successful procedure and outcome, that Kyle would come through it all very well (and this time hopefully without passing out on the way out of the building!), and that he would have a smooth and rapid recovery!   Thank you sooo much! 

A Few Random Thoughts . . .

1.  Thoroughly enjoying all the various ages and stages of life around us!  So thankful for our super sweet, soon-to-be one year-old baby girl that is doing all sorts of cute "tricks" now; our adorable little still-working-on-potty-training, three year-old cowboy; our two full-of-life primary-age boys, busily learning their 3 R's at home; our four wonderfully-created and unique 17 year-olds that are desiring to follow God's narrow path and plan for their lives; and our lovely, loving married daughter and most awesome son-in-love that bring soooooo much fun and joy to us.  Thank you, Lord, for all these awesome blessings!

(No worries loved ones . . .  he would normally be wearing a helmet!

But for the purpose of making this film, he HAD to wear his cowboy hat!)

 



2.  Thanking God that He is El Roi - The God who sees.  This is one of those lessons that He has lovingly been showing me in various ways and means recently.   Starting from our family Bible reading in Genesis 16, as we read and discussed the story of Hagar; and then bringing it to my mind in other ways, this has been of great encouragement to me, and surely will be to others that are going through trying times.  God "sees" all that we are going through, and cares so much about us, that He intentionally reveals Himself in special ways to bring supernatural comfort, strength, and reassurance of His presence.  Even when we want to "run away" from a particular situation, it is often not within God's good and perfect plans to remove us from whatever difficulties we are experiencing. As He has us "go back" into difficult situations, relationships, etc. for our good and His sovereign purposes, He always wants to reassure us that He sees, He will never forsake us, He will always be there to quiet us with His love, and that He will deal justly with us. This has also encouraged me to study once again all of God's names.  Lovin' it!

3.  Feeling a little sad for Kyle, as we just found out today that he will need to have the procedure he had done in September re-done.  We so appreciate, and are very grateful for your prayers for Kyle! 

A Lovely Weekend!

The weather here has been absolutely beautiful the past few days!

It's been dry, sunny and even warm!

Very unusual for January!

So we've been trying to be outside as much as possible.

And going for a walk or horse/bike ride to the nearby pond is a fun family outing for us!

 

 

 

Beautiful scenery on the other side of the pond.

(Mt. Rainier)

The boys even had a hankering to try some fishing! 

(But the fishies weren't so sure it was time to come out of hibernation!)

 This fella decided to join our parade! 

 Well, that is until his owner saw him and decided that wasn't such a good idea.

So Ted helped corral him back to where he belonged. 

 We also had a lovely visit with some new friends we first met back at the homeschool picnic in September.  It was fun to have these two families out to our house!

Thanks so much L. and B. families for making the drive out here,

and spending the evening with us! 

We had a great time!

 

 

 

A Month in Review!

When we last left off here on the family blog, just before Christmas,

we were anxiously anticipating the arrival of many of our loved ones;

and looking very forward to

all the fun we would have together!

And here we all are . . . 

(everyone but the photographer. : -)

 

 

Below are just a few of the photos taken during the month! 

 

On Sunday, the 22nd,

Timmy won this Bible at church for a

Scripture memorization challenge from our pastor!
Way to go, Timmy!

 

Lovin' lots of homemade goodies!

 

 Cinnamon rolls in the making . . .

Lots of Kodak moments!

 Enjoying time with Aunt Kelley!

 Having lots of fun playing in the packages!

 Pretty sisters on Christmas morning!

 

 Soooooo enjoyed having Richie and Lydia with us for many of the days!

 

Christmas feast! 

Lovin' the excitement of opening one present on Christmas Eve!

Enjoying our warm and cozy hats lovingly made for us by Lydia! 

 

What a blast we had playing "Reverse Charades"!

It is one of the best gifts we've received!

Thanks, Aunt Kelley!

 

 Practicing our "Virginia Reel" dance with McKenna! : -)

 There were many scrabble games and tournaments!

 And I think we tackled and finished FIVE 750 - 1000 piece puzzles!!! 

More gaming . . .

 

We enjoyed lots of yummy popcorn thanks to Richie's new popcorn maker!

 

Lydia has a wonderful way of making delicious homemade kettle corn!

Yum!

 

 Getting ready for a trip to the snow!!!

 

 Celebrating Daddy's birthday!

The boys enjoyed throwing confetti on him!

(They also made and dropped confetti at midnight on New Year's Eve!)

 

Daddy enjoyed receiving pictures from Joe on his birthday!

 We had fun going to the Tevis farm to see their new cows and rabbits . . .

 while Victoria and Caroline did some hoof trimming. 

And then we enjoyed watching the Seahawks playoff game with the all of the Tevises,

and Aunt Kelley over at Meemom and PapaBob's house!

 

 Well, there ya have it!

A little summary of our month!

There's lots more memories made and photos taken,

but that's probably enough for now!