Howdy!

We're still here! Just a bit busy, as I am sure most of you are. I hope you had a nice Easter. We did. Mom and Dad came for dinner and we had a wonderful meal and a relaxing afternoon. Church was rather full, that was nice too.
I thought I would share some of the pictures we took while we were at my brothers. It was Ethan's 3rd birthday. We drove down on Friday and spent the night. My mom has found someone to help her get onto the internet occasionally so these are really for her! Everyone wave "hi" to my mom in Germany!
Ethan gets so charged up when he knows we are coming. Well, truthfully, it is all about Josh and Kaleb, I think we are mostly just transportation! He does enjoy his Aunt Tracy and Uncle Greg, but the cousins....well, they rate HUGE. I am so glad they have opportunities to spend time together.
His party was Toy Story themed. Melissa made this awesome space ship cake and Ethan LOVED it! It had to be kept on top of the refrigerator so the dog wouldn't get any funny ideas but Ethan took every opportunity to pull up the chair and get close to it. He would explain every last important detail of the cake, eh, I mean space ship.

Kaleb and I had some huggy time.

And we can't forget to show off the little guy! Logan is growing so fast. He was about 3 1/2 months old when we were there. He was starting to laugh that sweet new baby laugh. I love how easily they can be entertained at that age. He was very alert for good chunks of time.
Greg decided it was time to paint our bedroom. We are still on hold with the kitchen and I think he was feeling antsy. It looks like the most of the house got a quick, aka lousy, whitewashing before we bought it. White walls can get boring fast, even more so when they are poorly done. Boy, what a difference a coat of paint can make! Greg was up until about 10 last night putting the first coat of paint on so we ended up sleeping in the living room. Kinda like a sleep over but now that we are older the body doesn't handle the floor as well, lol!
The boys are doing well. Kaleb is really looking forward to his trip with Mom in couple of weeks. They are headed to Louisville to see Katy and Uncle Ed. Josh, Greg and I will be headed to PA for 3 days for a ministry conference.
Hope you are all well, {{{hugs}}}

Man Down and Lots of Snow

Well, last week I said we were all healthy. That was short lived. We have a man down...poor Josh has the stomach flu. He came home early from school on Friday with a fever and by the end of the night had gotten sick. He broke blood vessels around his eyes from all the vomiting. It looks like he was in a fight and got the bad end of it to boot! He is slowly on the mend and the rest of us are praying he doesn't share it with us.

The big news here is the snow. It snowed here from Friday mid day until sometime during the wee hours of Sunday morning. Niagara County averaged about 15"-20"of snow. It is a sight that is for sure! We have had someone come plow us out twice and in between Greg tried to keep up with the snowblower. On his last effort, flames began to shoot out of the snowblower. I am guessing that is bad. He thought so too so he shut it down.

Most churches around were closed today but we still had a fair number of folks show for service. We actually had several new people today! You never know.

Not much else to share this week. We are hanging in there. We hope you are well in your corner of the world. (Leanne---I am ready to fly your way any day now, I could go for some gool 'ol Florida sunshine right about now=))

{{{{Hugs}}}}

March?!

We are in March already?! Wow, where does time go? I hope life in your corner of the world is going well. We are doing really well. Busy, but well. Sickness has been all around and many people are have having a tough time. We are thankful to be healthy.

There is much to share so I will break it down into bits...

Joshua is loving Boy Scouts! Here he is in his uniform. Greg is loving it just as much.

Church is going really well. The little girl from a previous post is now home and doing amazingly well. Even the doctors said her case had divine intervention! We are half way through our 6 weeks of small groups and God is moving in so many ways. We have really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with new people. We have made new friends, that is really cool and an answer to prayer. Have you ever been part of a church or mission experience where you just knew God had something big in store but you just didn't know what or how it would be? I liken it to being on the top of a roller coaster, you know you will be okay but in the mean time you may lose your guts, lol! It is a good kind of anxiety. Yet there is a small amount of worry in wanting to know what God will require of you in the process. Again, you know in the end you will be okay but... It's a good place to be, I think ;).

God has blessed the socks off my business this past month! I have met lots of new people and have a new person on my team. I finished teaching a round of classes at a local recreation center and it went really well. They have invited me to do more. I actually made money this month! I am thrilled to be able to set aside some money to go towards our new kitchen.

Yes, the kitchen remodel is still on the list. We have been slowly getting our ducks in a row. Greg and I met with a different kitchen place on Friday. We were able to make a few changes to the design and bring down the cost of the cabinets. Our new friends built their own home 3 years ago and have offered to help with the project. He knows how to install cabinets, saving us money on installation. Mom and Dad are helping and folks from church are ready to wield a hammer. God is making an ant hill out of a mountain! I don't think I shared this before, but at Christmas the pastor's wife gave me a gift. The gift was wrapped in a dish towel that had a verse printed on it. It was Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see." Inside was a bottle of Electrosol dishwasher detergent. Remember now, we do not have a dishwasher, that is part of the future kitchen. She attached a note which said that God had told her to give me this gift, that it didn't make sense to her but she was being obedient. This kitchen has become a matter of faith. Everytime my faith gets cloudy, I look at that bottle of Electrosol. Now I see that the construction of the kitchen is going to be a community building endeavor. All part of God's master plan, I am sure!

Gosh, I wish I drank coffee and that I could sit in a coffee shop and talk with you all. There is so much to share and as great a tool as this blog is, it can't communicate everything in my heart or on my mind! Hugs to you all!

Me Again!!

Happy Valentine's Day!! I just had to share a photo of the man I love....handsome guy isn't he? I am so lucky!

Still Here!

A big THANKS for all your prayers! I owe you an update on things. We had our van repaired and this time, praise God, it was a minimal one. Our poor van has 136,000 miles on it so it is reaching the point where we will need to be prepared to replace it. The longer we can hold out, the better!

Things at church are interesting. It has been a very difficult week or two for many in our congregation. We have been praying for a family with a baby girl undergoing a very serious operation. She has a genetic defect with her intestines and last week they had to remove all of her large intestines. It has been a minute by minute deal at times but God has done some amazing things! In church on Sunday we were praying she would pee. If she wasn't able to do so they would have to take her back into surgery. No matter is too big or small for God. They set a deadline of 6 pm for her to pee. Have you ever prayed for someone to pee before??!! It is serious yet humorous at the same time. I won't leave you hangin', she peed at 5:55pm! Have you ever rejoiced over someone peeing?? We did! Her parents are not believers and we have had the opportunity to love and support them, pray with them, and more. God has used this situation to impact these people and our church.

As I look around on Sundays we are seeing new people every week. Broken, hurting people. I am overwhelmed at times as to how I can or should meet all these needs. God gently reminds me it is not my job, at least not mine alone. It is no mistake that we are in the middle of the 40 days of community at church. I am so excited to see so many people participate in a small group. We are taking on a posture of surrender, growth, healing and so much more. That is why we also have so many burdens to carry at the moment. Satan seeks to divide and discourage. We are pressing on.

My boys have long asked when they can sign up for Boy Scouts. Greg thought the age to start was 12 so Joshua has been waiting his turn. Greg and I decided to look up information so when the time came, we would know who to call. We discovered it is actually 11 years of age or 6th grade. Last night Greg took Josh to his first troop meeting. He came home with a neckerchief, hat and some patches. He was excited! They are transitioning to new leadership and the 2 people taking over are Eagle scouts and very young (21). Let's hope that just means more enthusiasm and energy for the task! They are doing a Klondike this weekend (don't ask me what that is) and Greg is going to take Josh just for part of the day on Saturday. It works out well that the troop meetings are on Tuesday nights, a good night for Greg to attend with him. I am not sure who is more excite, Josh or Greg.

I took Kaleb with me last night to a stamping class I was teaching. He was my helper and he did a great job! In the past month or two my stamping business has just taken off. That is a good thing and I am grateful for the opportunities that have presented themselves.

We have had bitter cold temperatures here, crazy wind and snow. Several of our trees and a lilac bush have lost branches, big ones. Spring clean up will be fun.

I have housecleaning calling my name today. Maybe I will go turn up the music so I can't hear it, lol!

Attacked

Do you ever just feel like Satan is attacking you? This is one of those weeks in our house so please pray!
Things at church feel that way. We are starting the 40 Days of Community and we know it is the right thing for us. We know it will be good for our community to walk together and grow together. Satan is just hammering us in some areas that are aimed at hurting/dividing our community.
At home it feels that way. We had our van in the shop last week and $400 later it was back on the road. Until Wednesday when I was leaving work and it wouldn't start. We finally got it towed back to the shop last night and I suppose it will be several days before they get to it. You know you are are being attacked when you start to think you can't afford to do ministry. We've never been able to afford to do ministry but God provides a way. In a spiritual way we can't afford NOT to do ministry! My practical mind has difficulty in these areas at times.
We would appreciate your prayers for strength and wisdom!

Happy Monday!

Only a day late this week! How are you?? We are doing well. This post is a story in pictures. We did get a bit of snow here last week, enough to finally do something with and the boys are thrilled. They spent several hours outside with Greg on Saturday building this snow fort. they used buckets and plastic storage totes to create "bricks". Isn't it great?! We are in for one warm day this week, I hope it holds up.

What is this? Do you know?? Have you ever eaten one? We have been trying out different foods lately, making a fun time of it. The boys have been playing along and after trying something we each give it a thumbs up, thumbs down or neutral, in other words edible but not so sure we care to again =). This time it was horn melon. Greg picked this one. The little card at the grocery store said "a jelly like consistency with a taste of banana and cucumber". I kinda knew just by the description I wasn't going to be a fan of it. The "jelly-like" was all I needed to hear. And who ever heard of ANYTHING that combined bananas and cucumbers?? But God did make this too, so we tried it. It surprisingly didn't get any thumbs down, it wasn't gross, but it didn't get any thumbs up either. I can't really describe it any better that the store did, they were right on. I dare you to try it! Here is our score board of foods tries thus far:

pomegranates: thumbs up from everyone
egg nog: Kaleb was the only real fan
brussel sprouts: I roasted them and Josh was the only thumbs down, the rest of us loved them


Last week the ladies from church had a night out at a paint your own pottery place. We had a fun time talking and painting our pieces. I did a mug and just loved how it came out. We plan to go back again and I plan to make more mugs until I have a set. What do you think?

Have a great week!
How 'bout them Giants??