Big Changes!

Our faithful, loving Father is currently working out some big changes in our lives!

 

The first happened a few weeks ago, when He led Victoria to give up her beloved Boer goats,

and the Crossroads Boer Goat business she has enjoyed for so many years.  This was not an overnight decision, as it had been in the works for awhile for several reasons.  We are so proud of all she has accomplished, and all the good things the Lord has worked in her life during this season.

And now, we're so happy about her being sensitive to the Lord's leading her in a new direction. 

It is a very exciting, yet emotional time for her. 

She expressed her thoughts to a good friend recently in an email . . .  

"Oh man it is hard to win a debate with the Lord. I've been wrestling with this decision for years really.  There are several chapters in a book I’m reading about giving the Lord every area of your life and every room of your heart.... and this is one area that I have been so stubborn to let go of.  My goat herd has been bolted behind a door that I've been afraid to let God into because I didn’t want it to be taken away.  It has hurt to let this go, but this morning during my private time with the Lord, I just felt this overwhelming peace about it. For the first time ever I feel like I can finally let my goats and this part of my life go.  I figured I better write you before I changed my mind. So thanks for listening and being there for me. I'm just looking forward to moving on and allowing the Lord to guide me through this and show me what's next. I do hope that the Lord has used me to bless others and hopefully point to Christ through these goats. I have no regrets.  I loved it and these years will always be remembered.  I'm very encouraged to hear that you see Christ in me. That is my prayer!!"

She has her last show this weekend. : -( 

She has been quite busy with selling all of her goats,

and helping the buyers with all the transportation logistics.

So far, she has some going to New Hampshire, Idaho, California, Utah, and Oregon.

She would be so grateful for your prayers for her as she makes this big transition to life without goats, and as she seeks out and follows what the Lord has for her next!

"I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:3-6

 

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
Philippians 4:13

 

The second big change involves our family potentially welcoming two more orphans into our home.

We were recently contacted by our Antioch Adoptions social worker asking us if we would consider a 3 year-old boy and a 5 year-old girl sibling group.

We have had our first meeting with the state social worker that is looking for an adoptive home for these two precious souls.  The Lord blessed the visit very much, and now we are just waiting to hear what the next steps will be!   We are excited and nervous all at the same time!

We'd be so grateful for your prayers for us in this too,

that the Lord will continue to bless the process if it be His will for us!  

Easter Feast!

 "We love because he first loved us."
1 John 4:19

"This is love for God:
to obey his commands. 
And his commands are not burdensome . . ."
1 John 5:3
 



Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

We are bursting with excitement to celebrate our Savior's resurrection day with our church family,

and worship Him with our thankful hearts and instruments and voices tomorrow!

We'll be praising Him with these awesome songs! (Some of our favorites!)
Enjoy!
Hope you have a very blessed Resurrection Day tomorrow!
 



We especially love hearing our church family sing this one with all their hearts! It is soooo powerful!

Professional Photos from the Formal Dance!

We are soooooo blessed by our friend, John Hainline, who is a very talented photographer!

(If any of you need a professional photographer we would highly recommend him,

and we would love to pass on his contact information to you!)  

The kids planned on having him take a few pictures before the dance with their friends,

and then John offered to take these of our family for us!

We are so thankful to have them!

Thank you, thank you, John!!!!   

A Few Pictures from the Formal English Country Dance!

Thank you, Lydia, for coming over early Saturday morning to help with the hairdo's!

You did an amazing job, and having you here with us was super special and fun!!!

We were teasing Victoria at this stage in the hairdo about it being "part Jedi, part princess!" 

 Figured we better get a picture of this . . .

as you may never see it again! ;-)

This is the "before" picture . . .

 A kind photographer/friend took some awesome pictures in their formal clothes just before the dance started.  Hopefully, we'll be able to post those soon!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I took mostly video, so I ended up with just a few pictures from the dance. : -(

 

English Country Dance Bloopers!

Thanks, Victoria, for putting this together!

We're still laughing!

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(No worries, the suggested youtube videos at the end have been removed.)

Formal Dress English Country Dance March 12th, 2016

To our dear friends who were at the dance that may view this video . . .

  this very amateur videographer (and Mom) would like to beg your forgiveness!

When I was taping these quick little segments, in between watching my littlest dancers,

I was thinking mostly of capturing moments for our family's viewing and memory making.

So, I sincerely apologize that I wasn't originally thinking in a broader sense of capturing ALL the dancers! With limited time to take video, and not knowing how much SD card and camera battery life I would have, I also had to be quick with my taping.

Also, I think I saw a video tripod set up that might have been capturing the whole floor and all the dancers?

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A very special thanks to the callers of the dances! They did a great job!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks SOOOOO much to Valerie, who put all these segments together, and organized them with titles of the dances into one video for easy viewing!

(No worries, the suggested youtube videos at the end have been removed. :-)

A Special Tea Party!

Yesterday, we had the honor and privilege of being guests

at our lovely friends' home for a very special tea party!

We had such a wonderful time!

 Thank you Johnson ladies, so very much, for this delightful afternoon with you!

The table was decorated so beautifully and they made special name cards for each of us!

 

They treated us to so many delicious foods, teas and treats!

I was so sad that my camera battery didn't have much charge remaining,

so I was only able to snap these few pictures.

But after all the wonderful food and tea they served us and a very pleasant time visiting at the table,

we played four very fun games!

We all enjoyed everything so much!
Thank you, Lord, for such special, sweet friends!

Our 27th Wedding Anniversary!

We've had such a wonderful anniversary celebration!  This year, we did something a little different, and instead of going away for the weekend, we decided to celebrate in various ways here at home.  For starters, Valerie wanted to treat us to our favorite breakfast!  She rose extra early Friday morning, and can you believe it . . . .she made egg mc muffins; from scratch waffles, with fresh blueberry topping; and homemade biscuits and gravy!  She also made me a vanilla latte! : -)

We exchanged cards and little gifts . . . Ted gave me the beautiful bouquet of flowers pictured above and some chocolate kisses, and I gave him his beloved Tim's Jalepeno chips!  We also considered our recent sofa purchase as part of our anniversary gift to each other! (We decided that the 33 year-old sectional sofa that had been kindly handed down to us (in great shape at the time) by my parents about 18 years ago was finally due for a replacement! ;-)

Then, for dinner, Caroline wanted to make one of our favorite dinners . . . a yummy vegetable stir fry with rice (with two different sauces to choose from!), along with some of Costco’s “Japanese Style Crispy Chicken.”  And to top it all off, Caroline made a most decadent double layer chocolate cake for dessert!  Oh my!  And a very special thanks to Victoria for her labor of love . . . cheerfully washing all the pots, pans and dishes for all of this cooking and eating, keeping the kitchen tidy all day!  : -)  Thank you sooooooo much sweet daughters! 

Then, today, we went out for breakfast and spent a couple hours just being together and doing a little shopping.  Ted wanted to get a couple pretty red climbing rose bushes for the front yard and even planted them when we returned home!    

It's been an awesome couple of days celebrating the blessed 27 years that the Lord has given us together, and we're looking forward to what the Lord has for us in the next 27 years!  : -)