my loves.

thank you ang. i love them.

these pictures remind me of what is right in my world.

matt and i are coming off a rough month.

it was hard. he was sick and i was frustrated.

we love Jesus. we love each other.

i am reminded in James the Lord does not promise life to be easy.

it says in the beginning chapters that trials will come...

and to consider it pure joy when they do...

i am not there yet, but know the Lord will continue to bless us

greatly as we seek his face.

farm stuff.

Last week we were combining corn...matt was driving this 18 wheeler.

For the non-farmers in the audience...corn gets combined, then unloads into this big trailer, then matt drives it here, and unloads it into this long yellow auger, which takes it up and "dumps" it into the grain bin. It is stored here for the winter to be ground up into feed for the cows, by another machine, or mixer truck, that "visits" every few months throughout the winter.

Today, the corn was unloaded by that same yellow auger back into the truck, and shipped to another facility...matt sold it because we had to much to fit into the grain bin...kaden was riding in the tractor trailer with dad, "you know mom, we are having a special dad and son day." he was very pleased with that. :)

a beautiful day for a ride.

the wedding.

what a fun, fun day. to jordan (my cousin) and claudia...thanks for chosing

"us" to be a part of your wedding. Campbell is still talking about it. we

talked about how special it was that "she" was picked, and she is tickled

about that!

loved, loved, loved the wedding parties dresses! they

were fabulous, some of my absolute favorites. what a great color,

and everyone looked so exquisite...and you, claudia, stunning!

campbell was loving being in her own element. matt's parents

watched the rest of our kids...it was fun to love on her for the day. most

of these pictures are of cousins, and family...my grandma...and

well, mostly campbell. :)

we are so proud of her. She cruised

down the aisle, and even forgot to "sprinkle" her rose petals,

but i didn't even care, i was just glad she made it.

at 2 1/2 i just wasn't sure what to expect...but made

sure i was prepared with lots of "prizes"... :)

enjoy the pics.

last soccer game.

so divine. we are so hard core. :)

actually, i was going to take the easy road and put calli to bed

and take the other 2 girls to the game...

which is beside my meadow...i should remind you...(and matt was here outside working-which should make a difference, right?)

but my sweet sister made me feel like the most

idiotic, incompetent and careless mother around, so...i took her too. :)

up for a real good laugh?

at small group this week, i "happened" to be venting about having a sick husband

in my house for 2 weeks (after having 3 wks of sick kids, and myself), and

one of the men said, "you and matt really must butt heads a lot since

you are both so strong willed." he was completely serious!

ha.ha.ha. i was actually completely offended, but

decided it just wasn't worth getting upset about. :) i did ponder

for a minute to think about if this is truth...but just for a minute. :)

have a fabulous weekend.

campbell.

got to spend some "quality" time alone with campbell tonight, and this is what i got.

it's always fun to see what "comes out" during these times of interaction...

campbell is 2 1/2 and might crave attention? obviously she is a bit camera shy. :) she is my third child. she is full of spunk, independence, and creativity. she loves to color on herself, (like i said, creative) although we are breaking her of that habit. she talks all the time, and one of her most favorite things to do right now is "call mam-maw"- my mom. it doesn't matter if she's at work or not, we will call. she really is a crack up, but i will say is a challenge for me a lot of the time...

p.s. just want to CLARIFY that this picture is by NO means announcing that we are expecting another child. i know a lot of you "read" into things, but really we are just playing "mommies" and that is all. I am NOT PREGNANT! :)

you can start praying for us now, because she is in my cousin's wedding next weekend. i am just not sure what to expect from her. she can be a bit sassy and moody, so we'll see. no worries claudia. we will do our best to get the job done. :)

again...i am so blessed to get the pleasure of being a mommy. went to park city today to get calli's one year pictures done, and not one, but two persons asked me, "do all these children belong to you? how do you stay sane?" i chuckle because a dad of "one" asked me that second part...

was very proud of my children today. bribing came in handy this day...first a treat of a. anne's soft pretzels and secondly a trip to the toy store to "look" at toys for christmas was the reward. i am sure we did look funny. 2 children in my triple stroller, and 2 sitting on the floor, (of picture people) napkin in lap, quietly eating yummy pretzels. fabulous. and i even liked the pictures. ;)

a farmer and a princess?

a glimpse of life here. we have princess' and cowboys. can you figure out who is who? :)

kaden went out today, and said, " i'm going to ride." i was doing laundry, and feeding calli, and about 20 minutes later, was taking down laundry, and heard millie barking like crazy...all the sudden it occurred to me that he was not riding bike, but that kaden was trying to ride a goat. so, down i went in a flurry, giving him the lecture of all lectures, that he cannot try to ride goats without adult supervision. he told me his teacher told him today in school that if he is by himself he can be responsible...i don't know what that was all about, but we had to have another lesson in responsibility. :)

he finished up, and said, "man...now everyone is going to think i'm a cowboy"...with a big grin on his face...i said, "why?" he said, "mooommm, because i can ride a goat. " what was i thinking? all we would be missing if we still lived in town. :)

a friend.

so...i am going out on a limb here, and asking you to pray for my friend. these songs are for her, and she knows who she is. she is young. she is not making good choices, and she knows it. please pray that she would have a GOD revelation...and that he would help her to see that these choices will impact her the rest of her life. i am disappointed that my life story is no wisdom to her...and have realized it's not about my timing, or my "want" to save her, it's resting in God's hands...and you can pray for me too...i am frustrated. this prayer for a friend song is just perfect. :) mis.

millie. part II.

For those of you who cared about our small trials, although to a six year old, they seemed quite insurmountable...

i was getting ready to take kaden to school this morning, and was headed out afterwards to post flyers...you got it...actual florescent LOST DOG flyers, and matt called. he found millie in the manure spreader. now i hate to be pessimistic, but i can't imagine she was there the whole time? we scoured our farm several times yesterday, and even scoured the neighborhood several times...and she never barked or anything? hmmm. i would think she needs to be tied all day today...just because. :) needless to say, our prayers had been that Jesus would keep millie safe wherever she was, and that she would return home...the kids are overjoyed, and just another small token of thanks to Jesus! now...i need to get my oil changed and call all the spca's to let them know she's found...i needed another task for the day. ha. mis.

millie.

So...we haven't had the best luck with animals lately...

so, first it was Blackey disappearing. Then a week and a half ago millie cut her hip on a chicken house litter machine (of some sort), and she had to go into surgery to repair it. yikes. she came home the same day, and was running around like normal. no ill effects at all. today she is gone. matt unties her in the morning when he is outside, and he realized she wasn't around about 9 am. schools were called. spca was called. police were called. i think we shouldn't have a dog...i guess? what would you take from our dog experiences? :) so, once again kaden is getting teary eyed at the thought of millie not returning. his heart is so tender, it's precious. we need to give him a break to, eigh? :) so...we look at this video remembering millie when she was just weeks old. she is 8 months old already... we hope we get to see her again. love, kaden, kaycee, campbell, and calli...

arise.

Arise,
cry out in the night,
as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water
in the presence
of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger at the head of every street.

Lamentations 2:19.

please join me at keystone evangelical free church on saturday, november 14th, from 9:00 am until 1 pm. we... ladies...will be praying for our children growing up in the schools of today. this event is a worldwide event, sponsored by moms in touch international. mek.