36 weeks

I'm finally getting around to posting a pregnancy picture. I'm now a little over 36 weeks, but this picture was taken at 36 weeks. I really only have a 3-4 weeks to go. It is amazing! I'm looking forward to finally getting to hold this little one in my arms and meet it face to face. I'm really dreading the labor of course. Just pray that I will get through it the right way. I always worry that I will not deal with labor well. And of course there is always the worry that something will go wrong. With all my others things were very normal; so I really don't have any reason to worry.

I still have quite a bit to do to get ready. Since Matt has been home I have organized the things that I have. There are a couple of things I still need to do, like burn the flour; but mostly I have a list of things I need to buy, but we have been stranded at home, so I have not been able to buy them. Hopefully this baby is not born 3 weeks early!

We went through all our little baby clothes and Matt & I picked out the first outfit for if it's a boy, and if it's a girl. The bassinet is set up by me bed now, and I have stuff set out for the birthing. Doing all this has made it all seem more realistic somehow. The baby moves constantly it seems, and I, of course am getting more an more uncomfortable, but nothing to really complain about. I'm so thankful for how well this pregnancy has gone. God is really good to me, I don't want to fail to thank him.

Just keep me in your prayers, and of course I will try to find a way to inform the blogging world of our new addition when it arrives!

Potty Training

Garrison really started kind of potty training himself a few months ago. I think it was because he lives in a houseful of older people that use the pot; so he wanted to be like us. He's to the point where he only messes himself when he's having problems and can't make it in time. He's still very inconsistent with the wetting, but we are happy for the progress he has made.

This past week we tried underwear (before we were just doing Pull-Ups) He had a lot of wet underwear, but I think it was helpful for him to have that immediate knowledge that his underwear were wet. For now we've went back to the Pull-Ups because he has been having problems getting to the pot on time for his messes. We're cutting back on juice and such to get him back on track.

Anyway, I really doubt he'll be completely potty trained when this baby comes, but I think things will be a little easier and he'll be well on his way. All my other kids weren't done potty training until they were 2 1/2 or older; so he still has a few months.

I took some really cute pictures of him on the pot! (good blackmail material when he's older!) Notice the cute afro ( I guess afro is not a word, oh well)? Daddy actually cut it off recently, but I just love his hair!

Snow Days & Family Time

Well, I finally decided to acknowledge the existence of my blog! I have a lot to catch up on, I'm sure. I just put new pictures on my computer and have plans to turn some of them into blogs.

The most immediate news is that we have had snow ALL WEEK. Now for some of you that is the norm, but for here it is very irregular. The amazing thing is there's no end in sight it seems. We really don't know when it will let up. I will post pictures of my family playing in the snow. For the most part I've enjoyed this weather. My biggest concern really has been what our energy bills are going to look like after this. Which leads to some other news...

I was going to save this for it's very own blog entry, but it really is a part of this blog, sooo.. Matt got laid off last Friday. The construction business is really slow right now, and they just didn't need him on the job anymore. We are trying to be as up beat about it as possible, and trust in the Lord. It seems like that we are doing ok so far. Matt especially seems to be taking it really well. His last layoff he didn't deal with it so well. God has always taken care of us, and we are really trying to trust that he will continue to do so.

One thing that we have thought of is with the weather this week, and then Christmas and New Years the next couple of weeks he really might not have made that much more money working than getting unemployment (he doesn't get paid Holidays). He's been looking for odd jobs or something, but so far hasn't found anything, but this week people have pretty much been hibernating at home as much as possible; which takes me back to my original subject...

Christmas break was not supposed to start until next week, but because of the road conditions Christian has been out of school all week, and Matt has been home all week too. It has actually been really nice to have the family time that we've had this past week. It seems like it's been a long time since our lives had slowed down enough for us all to just enjoy each other. We've spent more time doing fun things with the kids. Matt has got an amazing amount of things done around here too. It has been really nice to have him here each day to help me.

I think it helps him to see what my day to day life is like too. There's always so much to do. Today he was really getting restless and tired of being at home, but for the most part it's been really nice. Matt has actually been the one to run the few errands that have needed done in the last few days. I have actually never drove in these kind of conditions; so he's been doing the running around. So he hasn't been holed up at home as much as me, but then I'm used to it.

Today it snowed quite a bit. We haven't been letting the kids play out in it too much because they've had colds. Plus at the beginning of this weather it was in the 20's or below, which was way too cold! If the snow is still there tomorrow we might let them play in it some. I've also been considering making snow ice-cream. Yum! My aunt told me how to do it today, and it sounds simple enough, and I'm sure the kids will like it.

Anyway, there's a little update on our life. I better get to bed so I can enjoy more snow and family time tomorrow! There isn't going to be church in the morning because of the weather, but I might see what Matt thinks about us at least having a little family Bible reading or something.

I will try to blog again soon, and take the time to visit everyone else's blogs. Enjoy these pictures:

Good Ministry

Now before I get started I would like to state that we've had a lot of good ministry here, and I've really been enjoying it; but every so often I hear a sermon where something is presented in a little bit different way and it helps me to look at things differently. Tonight was one of those times.

Bro. Dennis started his talk about how when he was 14 or 15 he liked a girl and really thought he loved her. He thought he knew what love was. Looking back now he can see how it was more of an obsession than anything. He said when he married his wife he thought he loved her too; and I'm sure he did, but he explained how after 20 years of marriage he knows her so much better that the love he felt back when they were first married seems insignificant compared to what he feels for her now. He explained how the reason he loves her so much deeply is because he's gotten to know her. He knows how and why she feels and thinks the way she does. He knows her well enough that he can know how she feels or thinks about something without her even telling him. He understands her so much better and it has caused him to love her so much more.

He then compared this to how we should search out to know and understand the Lord; so that we can love him and be so much closer to him. He explained how instead of just following the commandments of God, we should try to understand why he wants us to follow those commandments. In finding the reason behind the commandments we can get to know God better and understand him better. If we understand him better and grow to love him more we will then have a better relationship with him. We will have more of a desire to serve him rather than just going through the motions because that's what we're supposed to do.

Now there were a couple of reasons this talk had such an effect on me. First of all I had never quite thought of things that way; about how we should try to understand God and then learn to love him more, and then have more of a desire to please him. I, of course, knew that we should understand the will of God, that we should love him and desire to please him, but I had never had it all connected like that for me before.

The other reason this talk really got me to thinking is because it allowed me to see how to work on my relationship with my husband. Now this is a little hard for me to admit, but I've realized for awhile that our relationship just isn't quite what it ought to be. It's not real bad, but I know that we aren't as close as we should be. The one problem I've had is respecting him sometimes. To be perfectly honest there are times that the way he feels, thinks or does things I just think is really stupid! I've had a hard time respecting him with these things. Bro. Dennis' talk helped me realize that if I strove to understand why he feels, thinks and does the things he does my relationship with him will be better. When I look back on some of the things he's done, or said, or whatever, that I just really didn't agree with, I can see where his reason behind it was good; but because he's imperfect he sometimes comes up with imperfect feelings, thoughts or actions. I really, really want to strive to get to know my husband and my God both better; so that I can have a stronger relationship with both.

I would also like to explain that I really do love Matt, and he is a good husband and father. He cares about his family, and he takes good care of us. He loves the brethren and has always been steadfast in the faith. There is so much good in him that I know it out-weighs the bad. Those of you who are married I'm sure can relate to how we can love our husbands so much, but still get so irritated at them sometimes! I really want to try to be more understanding of why he's does what he does during those times that he irritates me.

As some of you know, I have my cousin, Kara, staying with us. She's been helping me quite a bit around the house and with the kids. This pregnancy it seems like I've had a harder time being able to do everything and she's been a good help to me. She just turned 2o and she's not in the faith. Every once in awhile we'll get into some pretty in depth conversations about problems or concerns that she may have, or about the faith. Just the other day we had a really long conversation and I was able to talk to her pretty frankly about some things. What was really neat is that Bro. Dennis brought up a lot of the things we had talked about in his ministry tonight. I noticed some of the things he said, and how it was so close to the conversation I had had with her. After church Kara mentioned the same thing. It was so great that God was able to confirm our conversation in that way. I think it really helped her to hear someone else say the same things I had said and not even know about her life like I do.

Bro. Lee also got up and talked about how if he saw a rich man with a lot of land and he had servants to work that land he would think a lot of that man. But he also said that if he saw the workers just sitting around doing nothing he would wonder how in the world that man got rich. He said his advice to that man would be to get different workers that wouldn't waste his time and money. I know that I have been to idle in the faith, and I sure don't want God to give up on me and grant someone else my place in his kingdom.

He also explained about striving for perfection. He compared it to when he has workers working for him in his tile business. When he tells them to do a job that he knows they are capable of doing, he expects them to do it. If he comes back and it's not done, or done right, and he explains to them their mistakes; he expects them to correct their mistakes. He said it doesn't really matter to him the process they use to get the job done as long as the finished product is done according to his specifications. To him that his perfection. I know we always think of perfection as everything done exactly right, but God knows and understands us. If we make mistakes he just expects us to correct them. Basically as long as we are truly striving to please him and doing all we know to do, and doing what we can to fix or learn from our mistakes, that is perfection.

There really wasn't a whole lot done in meeting, but I really got a lot out of it and came home with a lot to chew on. Hopefully I swallow it and digest it and allow it to really improve my life.

I wasa going to wait until tomorrow to post this, but I couldn't go to sleep anyway because it was all going over and over in my mind; so I thought I would relate it all to my blogging buddies while it was still fresh in my mind. Just pray that I will follow the exortation I recieved tonight.

A Theological Question

It is almost midnight and I can't seem to keep my mind quiet. There are a lot of things my mind wants to think about, with the Holidays coming up and everything. Also I have a baby that always decides to move when I'm trying to sleep. Most of the time I don't get exasperated though, it gives me a wonderful opportunity to thank God for how healthy my baby seems to be and think about wonderful baby things.

Anyway, as I lay there with my mind going this way and that, and my belly going this way and that I got to thinking about an article I read recently. I get emails about my pregnancy; telling me about the growth of the baby and various topics that might be relevant. The topic I am referring to is about drinking alcohol while being pregnant. They, of course, recommend that you steer clear of it entirely; farther down in the article it says that even a woman who only has one drink a week is more likely to have a child that shows aggressive and delinquent behavior later in life. It said that drinking alcohol can cause low birth weight and/or learning disabilities.

Now as I hope most of you know, I am not an alcohol drinker; however since I've been pregnant I've had an ongoing internal problem that I have drank wine for. As I'm sure all who will read this know, but for any who may not, the Bible says to "Drink a little wine for your stomach's sake, and your oft infirmities." I think I quoted that correctly. (I'm too lazy to go look it up right now though, sorry) Anyway, from time to time since I've been pregnant Matt and/or I have blessed a drink of wine that I have consumed in hopes that God would have mercy and relieve my problem.

As I was laying there in bed feeling my baby move inside me I was thinking about how I wouldn't want to hurt my baby in any way. I was thinking about that article and hoping that the drinks of wine I have taken haven't affected my baby in a bad way.

Here was my question for myself. Is it a lack of faith to worry about the wine I have taken for a spiritual reason? Wouldn't God allow that it wouldn't have an ill affect on my baby since I wasn't taking it to enjoy the alcohol, but because I was trying to do all I could do to have faith in God to take care of my problem? On the other hand, is it selfish of me to take wine for my problem if there's a possibility that it could harm my baby? Now when I was taking the wine it didn't even dawn on me that it was alcohol and I was pregnant. I don't even think of it hardly as an alcoholic beverage, but something we only use when we are sick. Now that the topic has been brought to my attention I'm really questioning what to do. Would it be lack of faith to not take the wine when I feel the need, or would it be selfish to continue to take it?

I have anointed myself, and of course prayed a lot about this problem; so there are other ways to seek God's mercy. I took the wine because I was doing everything I could think of to seek deliverance from this problem. Would it be bad to stop doing this one thing for the sake of my baby, would it reflect a lack of faith on my part that God wouldn't take care of my baby when I take the wine? Or would it be better to just hold off on the wine for now because of the possibility that it might have a bad effect on my baby?

I know this is kind of a deep subject; maybe even a little controversial (I hope not too much though), but I really would like some opinions on the matter; because I really want to do the right thing.

Thanks

Sigh*** I decided I better look that verse up; so here it is:

"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."

I Timothy 5:23

A Little Fender Bender

A couple of weeks ago Matt got into a little fender bender on his way to work. It was rainy and wet. Traffic stopped all of a sudden and he didn't stop in enough time and hit the guy in front of him. Luckily neither one of them were hurt. There cars were smashed up, but they were able to get out of the way of traffic and settle the matter peacefully. Matt said the guy he hit was very nice about it.

Matt called me about 6 o'clock in the morning to let me know what happened. He had planned to just continue onto work, but when he tried to drive away he found out that the steering wouldn't work. He called the insurance people and they called a tow truck. I had to take my Aunt Nadine to the airport that morning, so I just told Matt I would leave home a little earlier than I had planned and pick him up and take him to work. The airport is not that far from where he works; so it wouldn't be that far out of the way for me.

I figured the tow truck would beat me to him, but when I got there it still hadn't arrived. Matt had to be there when the car got picked up; so I waited with him for a little while. After awhile when the tow truck still hadn't arrived I had to leave for the airport anyway so my Aunt wouldn't miss her flight. By this time Matt's accident had happened over 2 hours ago.

I had planned to wait until her flight left to leave the airport, but I just ended up getting all her business taken care of and leaving her there so I could go pick up Matt.

I guess not long after I left the tow truck came, but the guy really took his time loading the car up. They had a hard time figuring out where to take the car. The towing guy wanted to park it at his lot; the insurance people wouldn't give him a suggestion as to where to take it. Finally Matt decided to take it to a dealership he knew about. When they got there they found out that the dealership didn't have a body shop. They were told about a different place they could take it to. I guess after driving back and forth for awhile they never could find the place they were told about, but eventually in all there turning around they ended up in the parking lot of a different body shop. At this point Matt was getting pretty frustrated. I guess the tow truck drivers' driving skills were pretty scary. The insurance people said Matt could take the car anywhere he wanted so he decided to just stay where they were instead of trying to find the other place.

Anyway, by the time I got to where he was it was almost lunch time and he had given up on the idea of going to work that day. When we got home he made calls and took care of all the kinks with the insurance company. They weren't going to get him a rental car that same day, but he talked them into arranging one for him that evening so he would have a vehicle to drive to work the next day. He has been really enjoying driving the Pontiac G6 that he get to drive around until his car is fixed!

That first morning was pretty chaotic and frustrating, but things haven't been too bad since then. It was so nice that Kara has been staying with us; so I didn't have to drag all the kids around with me that morning. It seems like the repairs are coming along on the car. I'm not sure when it will be ready. We're not worried about the time limit of it all as long as it gets done. Like I said Matt is really enjoying his brand new car for awhile! We do have to come up with the deductible, but we are very thankful that Matt wasn't hurt and that he didn't hurt anybody else.

I took a few pictures of the car. As you can see the damage was pretty minimal. We are very thankful that God was watching out for him, and that there weren't more people involved.

As I look at these pictures again I'm amazed that he couldn't drive the car to work that morning. Its kind of weird that the steering wouldn't work. He said the air bags didn't even deploy; so the impact couldn't have been too hard. If the air bags would've deployed it may have totalled the car and we don't have gap insurance; so I'm thankful for that too.

The "Twin Cousins'" 2nd Birthday

As some of you know, my sister-in-law Kim and I had our last babies only 17 hours apart. Her's was born on the 28th of October and Garrison was born on the 29th. We had their first Birthday party together and I thought it would be neat to have their Birthday's together again. When they get older they might not like doing this, but I think it's kind of neat to celebrate together when their this young. Anyway, since their Birthday's were in the middle of the week, Matt and I went down the following weekend and we had a little party for them after church on Sunday.

I really enjoyed the party. I, of course, took pictures. I think it will be neat to look back on them in years to come and see them sharing their special days together. Here are some of the pictures I took:

Here are the Birthday kids with their cakes. I had a REALLY hard time finding a Blues Clues cake, by the way. Garrison really likes Blues Clues, but you can't hardly find it in the stores anymore. So if anyone finds some nice Blues Clues items, let me know and I might see if I can get them for him for Christmas.
Here's Kylee blowing out her candles.

Garrison actually blew his out in one blow! I was surprised, of course Kylee had just shown him how it was done...

Kylee opening her presents with her big sister Shay.

Daddy's helping Garrison open his presents. Whatever this one was, he was excited about it!

He got $2 in one of his cards. We still need to take him to the store and let him spend them...

He really liked his presents, but it was nap time too; so he looks pretty tired, poor little guy!

You can't really see, but Kylee LOVED the hangers that came with these cute clothes. We were all laughing about that!

I did manage to find a few small Blues Clues things, but not much.

Here's the Birthday boy hamming it up while he makes a mess with his Birthday cake.

This is just a really cute picture of the 2 of them at Gramma's house later on. What cuties! Garrison is wearing his new shirt and vest from Uncle Mark and Aunt Kim.

Well, I thought I would post these pictures before Garrison's Birthday was too far gone! I just today put the pictures onto the computer. I have some other pictures I want to put on a post too, but that will have to wait until another day. It also dawned on me that I should take some pictures of my pregnant self so you all can see how fat and sassy I'm getting. Who knows when that will happen though. I have approximately 2 months left. Time is flying by. I really need to get busy making sure I have everything ready for this precious little bundle...

Spending Time With Dad

I'm sorry everyone that it has taken me so long to make a new post. Life has been busy, but I still think I could have taken the time to post. After I get this posted I will try to take time to slowly catch up on everyone else's blog.

In my last post I had mentioned that I was going to go spend a few days in B-ville. He was actually doing a lot better than he had been, but he was still so weak and so much frailer looking than when I had last saw him. I left on a Tuesday and had planned to come back on Saturday morning. Matt had to work; so I left him behind at home by himself. Dad had a lot of visiting family while I was there, so he was in pretty good spirits. I spent a lot of time at Dad and Mom's house through the week, and I was doing pretty good dealing with Dad's illness, I thought. On Friday my pregnancy emotions got the better of me, and I had a pretty weepy day. Early that morning I was laying in bed feeling my baby move all over the place and I got to thinking about how I always like to have Dad there when I have my babies (not in the room, but in the house). It occurred to me that if he didn't get better that he may not be there this time. Anyway, throughout the day thoughts like that would creep up on me and I felt very emotional. I was trying to decide whether to come home Friday or wait until Saturday morning. After the day I had I really felt like I needed my husband; so I went home on Friday evening.

We spent this past weekend in B-ville too. It seems like Dad has stayed pretty much the same, except that maybe he's lost even more weight. It seems like they've been able to keep his bowels moving pretty regular. He's still really weak, but he's able to walk by himself (but not very far at a time) and get up and down by himself for the most part. What we're worried about now is that his stomach is so sensitive and he really can't eat very solid foods or he throws it up, or it really causes him a lot of pain and makes him get worse for awhile. He just hasn't been able to consume all the calories he needs. Matt and I found him a liquid diet that was 350 calories per 8 oz can, but the first time he drank some of it (about half a can) he threw quite a bit of it back up. He thought maybe it was a little too rich for him. Anyway, Mom has been trying to think of things that will be easy on his stomach and have lots of calories. I think they will try mixing the liquid diet with other things, or only give him a couple drinks at a time. Anyway, him and those that help him need prayers that they will know what to do for him. If anyone has any suggestions as to what to feed him I would love to hear it and will pass it on to my Mom.

I actually stayed up with Dad Saturday night. Matt slept in the spare room so I could get him if I needed his muscles. I didn't get much sleep until after 6 when I traded places with Matt so I could get some sleep, but I enjoyed the opportunity to help my Dad somehow. Sometimes when someone is sick like that you really don't know how to help them. Matt actually didn't wake me up until after church was over; so I missed church, but I'm glad I got to stay up with Dad.

You might pray for my Dad's spirit. It's so hard to keep a good attitude when your sick for so long. Just pray that he will have the grace to endure whatever God wants him too.

Thanks again for all your prayers.

Pumpkin Patch

After the days of being apart while I was visiting my Dad, Matt and I decided to do something fun as a family on Saturday. Around here there are quite a few farms that are open to the public this time of year. We went to one last year that we really enjoyed; so we decided to take the kids to a farm again.



At first it seemed like the day might not not turn out that well. The first farm we went to was not as interesting for the kids as we had hoped; so they were kind of grumpy and irritable. We finally left and decided to go to the same farm as we had went to last year since we knew we enjoyed it last year (and it happened to be close to where we were already)



This farm was much more fun. There was a neat gift shop that Matt and I enjoyed browsing through. We bought some fresh apples and squash and a few other little items. There was a huge blown up apple bouncy toy that the kids enjoyed jumping in. They also had face painting and a hayride. We all rode the hayride together and really enjoyed it. They also had a pumpkin patch that the kids enjoyed climbing around in. They had hay bale mazes too, but for some reason our kids didn't go in them. I guess they were too busy with the other things. We took pictures of course! I decided to post last years pictures from the pumpkin patch to compare how the kids have grown in the past year.



All in all we had a pretty good day. It was nice to enjoy a fun day as a family!





Here we are on the hayride (I'm taking the picture) What an adorable family I have!

Here are all the kids in the pumpkin patch.

Here are Ruby and Garrison last year. Notice Ruby's faithful elephant? I still feel sad when I see pictures of him. I wish we hadn't lost him...

Here is Christian and Anthony last year.

Here are all the kids together last year.

This is Ruby posing in the pumpkins this year.

Here she is with elephant last year.

Garrison this year.

Garrison last year.

Christian this year.

You can't see him real well, but this is Christian last year.

Anthony this year. The sun is in his eyes, but it's still a cute picture!

Anthony last year.

Dad Update

Life has been busy for me, but I thought I would take the time to post a quick update on how my Dad is doing.

There were a couple of days last week where he seemed to be doing quite a bit better and we thought he was on the mend. My Mom called Friday night and said that he was in severe pain, worse than ever, and had called for the elders. He had a really bad night that night. Matt went down Saturday morning and spent the day, that night and part of Sunday with him. While Matt was there he wasn't in such horrible pain, but he wasn't doing good still. The biggest worry is that his stomach is really swelled up because his bowels are backed up. I guess he was able to go a little bit today, but not much. My sister and her husband will be flying in tomorrow from OK, and some of Dad's family from OK left this morning to come out.

I plan to go back down tomorrow afternoon and stay for a few days. My Mom is really worried that if he doesn't get better soon that he won't get better at all. I appreciate the comments, and I've told my Mom about all the prayers coming from the blogging world. Just keep praying for all of us.

Thank You All!!

A Faithful Prayer

For a few months now I've had a very personal affliction, I guess you'd call it. It's actually the same one I had the elders for at our camp-out. The problem did not go completely away like I had hoped. Last week it got so bad that I was at my wits end and I was really having a hard time dealing with it. It is not a serious thing, just very bothersome and annoying; so I feel bad that I was having such a hard time with it, but I was. It's something that is supposed to be very easy to take care of with medicine, but I really want to trust in the Lord with it. The really hard part was that it seemed like there was nothing I could do, but just endure. Like I said, I was getting very frustrated with it.

On Sunday Sis. Marisela came and prayed for me. I was so thankful for that prayer and I told her so after church! I had been hoping someone would come pray for me, but didn't want to ask even God to send someone, because it really isn't that serious of a problem. Just the fact that she prayed for me made me feel better. Even if God doesn't take it away I know that he sees me and is aware of my small trial. It was a great comfort to me. Well, since Sunday my problem has been better. It would be wonderful if it went away completely, but I am so thankful for the relief that I have. Thank the Lord for his blessings and the faithful prayer of my dear sister!

Meet Toby

We got a dog!! We actually got him a couple of weeks ago, but I just now got some pictures to share with all of you.

We've been wanting a dog for quite awhile, but couldn't find one we liked that we could afford. We've especially wanted a Shih Tzu, but they are really expensive. We aren't allowed to have puppies in our rental (plus I'm not sure I would want to have to train one). We wanted a dog that wasn't too big and intimidating for our kids. The reason we wanted a Shih tzu is because they are usually really mild mannered, we've heard that they train easily and they aren't real nervous like a lot of small dogs.

Anyway, we've been looking for awhile, but not coming up with anything. One day I decided to Google animal shelters in our area and I found Toby! He's a 10 years old Shih tzu, fully trained and good with kids. We did have to pay an adoption fee, but it was way cheaper than Shih tzus usually cost! 10 is kind of old for a dog, but he doesn't act as old as he is. The only thing that might show his age is that he naps a lot. It is nice to have a laid back dog. He's very patient with the kids. When we first got him he had a few potty accidents, but they say that is normal for a dog in a new environment. He did have a problem scratching at doors when he wanted in (or out), but he seems to be doing better at that too. The only thing we haven't been able to break him of yet is he barks when someone walks by, especially other dogs, but we are working on that.

He is a house dog, but I have him go outside fairly often, but he does spend most of his time in the house. We are making sure to bath him regularly because I DO NOT want a house that smells like dog! At first we had him sleeping in our bathroom at night, but now we have him sleeping in the garage and that seems to be working out pretty good. He has his own little bed out there, and the garage is attached to the house; so it's not too cold for him. If we hit really cold weather we might do something different for awhile, but the winters are usually pretty mild here.

Anyway, we are very pleased with the new addition to our family, and he's awfully cute; so here are some pictures of him...

This is his favorite place in the house; probably so he can see whenever someone walks by. I thought about teaching him to stay off the furniture, but he looks so cute and comfortable up there that I haven't been able to make myself do it! like I said, he is very clean though; and supposedly Shih tzus don't shed like other dogs. We'll see...

Here he is chewing on his bone. He loves it! We've also been very careful not to feed him people food, but I think he does eat what the kids drop on the floor. Sometimes he does stand there looking like he wants some, but we don't give in. Sometimes we send him to the garage to eat his meal while we are eating ours.

Isn't he cute!

He wouldn't look at me! He was too busy with that bone, but this is a good shot of his cute little body!

Well, that's all about Toby for now. Oh, one more thing, Toby was already his name so we just kept it. If we had named him we probably would have come up with a little more creative name, but Toby is a good name. At 10 I thought it would just confuse him to change his name. He does respond to it too. Sometimes when I'm calling Ruby he comes because it sounds so similar!

I thought I would post a little update about my Dad while I was here. There are days when he seems to be better; but all in all I don't think he is getting better. His nights are especially bad and restless. He's really weak and I'm sure he's getting tired of it all. I really appreciate everyone's prayers, and I know he does too. Just continue to pray for him because he needs it.

Thanks everyone for your prayers an concern.

My Dad Needs Prayers

I have other things to post about, but this seemed more important; so as soon as I get some pictures onto my computer I will post more.

Some of you may know already, but my Dad hasn't been doing well for about a week and a half now. We believe that it might be a strangulated hernia, but it's hard to tell for sure. He has flu symptoms along with a lot of pain. He's really getting weak now since it's been so long. It seems like he goes through periods like this, but this time it seems to be worse and hanging on longer.

Matt and I went down there last weekend to see him. He's just really not doing good and really needs the prayers of his brethren that God will have mercy and let this pass.

I'm also a little worried about my mom because she has health issues of her own and has been having to take care of Dad. She says that he's getting to where he needs care from a man. I guess the last couple of nights someone else has stayed up with him; which is really nice because his nights are especially restless and she hadn't really been getting enough sleep either.

Please just keep them in your prayers. I will try to post again when there is a change to post about.

Thanks so much for your prayers because I know that the brethren are good to pray when they know of the need. I know my Dad will appreciate knowing the prayers of the brethren are with him.

Smells

By the way, we had a really good weekend at the cam pout. I always enjoy seeing all the brethren. There were good meetings and lots of good visiting. It was wonderful to spend a weekend surrounded by so many loved ones. There was a baptism and a beautiful ordinance supper. I looked down the row of all my beautiful sisters and my heart just burst with love and joy to see all of them and feel the wonderful fellowship.

There were 6 bishops from different assemblies there. I had them all pray for me for a private problem I've been having. I didn't feel like it was important enough to call the elders to come to my house; but I decided to take advantage of the opportunity of them all being there. It was a wonderful feeling to have them all gathered round me as they lay their hands on me. I could feel so much love to and from them. I thought about each one and how I've known all of them for quite a few years; some for as long as I can remember. They each hold a special place in my heart and are good examples before me and my children. So far it seems that the problem they prayed for is gone! Yahhh! It was very bothersome.

All in all it was a good weekend.

I believe it was Sunday morning I woke up early to help with breakfast. When I stepped out of my cabin a horrible smell met my nose! It smelt like maybe somebody had some fertilizer or something. I teased one of the teenage boys about using too much cologne; and I told Bro. Jim that it smelt like Tulare! (a major dairy town, for those of you who don't know). Even as I joked about it I got to thinking about a prophesy I may have mentioned before. It told me that my sacrifice was pure and that I was a sweet smell unto the Lord.

I thought about how I know that all too often my sacrifice is not so pure and I wondered if there were times that I smelt like dung unto the Lord, or worse. In one of the meetings a brother got up (I forget which one) and was talking about the scribes and how the Bible says they were like sepulchres. They looked beautiful on the outside, but inside there was corruption and rotting flesh. I thought about how horrible that sacrifice must smell unto the Lord.

Throughout the weekend I kept smelling different smells. While breakfast was being cooked there was the wonderful smell of bacon in the air, that fertilizer smell never did quite go away, though sometimes it wasn't as bad as others. Sometimes I would get a whiff of someone's B.O.; or I would walk by someone who had some good smelling perfume or lotion. Even though I didn't smell it this weekend I thought about how someone could use too much cologne or perfume and it could end up being a bad smell. As I smelled each smell I kept thinking about how each sacrifice has a different smell unto the Lord.

Some people's sacrifice has a wonderful smell; others not so much. There's even those who do too much on their own without God's lead and direction and their smell is too overpowering. It really got me to wondering how my sacrifice smells unto the Lord. It really made me want to give the Lord a better sacrifice. I sure don't want the smell of dung, corruption, B.O. or any other such thing to reach the Lord's nostrils because of me.


Here is a couple of verses that I read yesterday that I thought were uplifting:

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:13-14

Girls Night Out

Getting a pedicure is something I really like to do to indulge myself. Most of the time I feel guilty spending extra money on something frivolous like that; so I don't do it very often. With Matt working all this overtime I felt like it would be ok to go get a pedicure.

I found a Beauty School not far from me that only charged $15! Since I decided to do this I thought I would see if any of my fellow sisters wanted to come too. It ended up that they ALL wanted to go! It worked out that the school was open in the evenings when our husbands could babysit. So we all agreed on Tuesday. There ended up being 7 of us in all. It was fun to get pampered like that and get to visit together.

Before our appointment we all met at a Starbucks that was nearby and got ourselves a drink. Because there were so many of us we ended up having to have 2 appointments times; but that was ok. I was one of the later appointments and I just got to visit with those that were getting theirs done first. The only thing that wasn't good there was they only had folding chairs for you to sit in. I was ok, but poor Sis. Cherrie is 8 months pregnant, so she was pretty uncomfortable; but all in all we had a pretty good time. It was nice to have a girls night out.

Like I said, I don't get a pedicure very often; so when I do I like to make it worth while. I like to pick colors that are different. I especially like to get little decals on my toes. One of the girls had some decals and she let me have some! Here are some pictures of my pretty toes! I chose a pretty blue; with raspberry colored sparkles!

I really surprised some of the other sisters with my choice, but I'm very pleased with my pretty toes!

Sometimes bad news is good news

There was another major catastrophe on the job Matt is on. I do feel really bad for the company Matt works for, but the job was almost over and Matt was beginning to worry they were going to lay him off soon and he wouldn't be able to get on another job very soon. Construction has really gone down around here. Anyway this latest problem is giving Matt more time on the job. He's been busy cleaning up the mess and working overtime. It's been nice having the extra money, but he sure is wore out.

Anyway, here is the story...

They are guessing that Monday about the time when everybody left the building for the day, or shortly after, a water main broke in one of the units. (This is a 16 or so story condo building). Matt says there are security guards at the building around the clock, but the one there that night for some reason didn't call in the fact that he heard rushing water all night long! It wasn't until 5 the next morning that somebody came and the problem was stopped. They estimated that 72,000 gallons of water spewed out during the night! Needless to say that security guard company is getting fired, and I'm sure the security guard was fired too.

I guess the break was on the 9th floor; and so a good majority of that floor and the one beneath it has to be ripped apart and redone. Every floor beneath that has water damage too. The building was almost done; so these floors especially were pretty much ready. Matt has been busy hauling out all the ruined flooring etc.

Like I said Matt has been working a lot of overtime. Even before this accident he had been working Saturdays; because they were wanting to get the building done. It has been really nice to have the fat paychecks, but Matt really is getting wore out; so you might pray for him if you think about it. Also, I hope we use this time of plenty to set aside some money for when he does eventually get laid off.

Anyway, just wanted to update you all on the latest drama...

Oregon Airshow

I'm kind of late with this post. My excuse is that I'm having a yard sale this weekend and I've been busy going through stuff.

A few weekends ago, Matt and I took the kids on Friday night to the airshow here. We had a really good time! Sometimes when we take our kids out it's not so fun because they get cranky or bored, but they actually did really good. All of the kids enjoyed watching the airplanes doing tricks; even Garrison. They had a lot of different planes doing different tricks. I had never been to an airshow and I really enjoyed it.

You can't see this plane real well, but they were bigger than the other planes doing tricks and there were 4 of them at once; and they had red, white and blue tail smoke. They were pretty impressive to watch.

Here was a duo doing some tricks. It definitely takes talent and lots of practice to get all the moves synchronized like they did.

This is a pretty good picture of one of the planes. I actually took a lot of pictures, but it was hard to get good ones.

When it started getting dark they had some planes go up that had some sort of sparkling tail smoke so you could see them in the dark; and they had some parachuters (my spell check just told me that parachuters isn't a word, but I don't believe it) with sparklers attached. It was pretty cool to see. I tried to take pictures, but it was useless. My camera is just not made to take good night pictures like that. They had a really good fireworks show at the end. We actually left during it because it was pretty late by then and Matt was tired and had to work the next day. We saw the fireworks as we were walking to our van though. It was very impressive. It was nice to get ahead of the traffic and get to go home without fighting the traffic rush after the fireworks were over.

It was a really enjoyable evening. It's so nice when we get to have some nice family time like that.

A Good Day

Yesterday was a very good day for me.



We had a pretty good meeting. There was some of the ministry that seemed like they were holding up a mirror to me and saying "you need to work on this." It was very good for me.



After church we went to Bro. Dennis and Sis. Trina's for a potluck dinner. There was A LOT of good food. I've been scared to get on the scales today! I feel like we had some pretty good conversations and fellowship too. There was one conversation that was especially good for me that I needed to hear:



I had been having some child rearing issues, I knew that what I was doing wasn't really working, but I didn't really know a better way to deal with it. My dear sisters talked with me about it and gave me some really good advice. I want them all to know that I greatly appreciate there input and the loving and caring way they did it. I now have some different options to try and hopefully things will go better.



The big reason yesterday was such a good day for me is because it was a learning day for me. God has a wonderful way of showing me where I need to improve. Usually I listen and decide that I'm going to do better; and most of the time I do better, but then it seems like I get back into my usual groove and the Lord has to show me all over again that I need to improve.

I really prayed yesterday, last night and this morning that I could follow through with my intentions and actually form so lasting good habits. So far today I feel like I've done pretty good; but I really need prayers that I wouldn't slack off, that I would continue to do things how I should. My family and others would be so much better off if I would.

One of the first things I did this morning is took some time to read again. Today I read the 4th chapter of Ephesians. This is how the chapter starts out: It was exactly what I needed to read...

"I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in Love,
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

I so much want to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith I was called. I also feel like that how my sisters strived to help me yesterday was the fulfilling of the next 2 verses. Sometimes I wonder why God has so much patience with me, when I mess up and fail so many times, but I sure am glad he does!

Well, here I go to continue to try and walk worthy...

Paul's Blessing

Today I took the time to read a chapter in the Bible. Paul was talking to the Ephesians, but I felt like he was talking to me too. It seems like it was a blessing that he was requesting from God for all of God's children. I thought I would pass this blessing on to all my blogging buddies. Paul wrote from his heart to the Ephesians, and I share it with you from the heart. It's from the 3rd chapter of Ephesians; from the 16th verse to the 21st...

"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man,
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in Love,
May be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height;
And to know the Love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

Reading this just gave me a wonderful loved and cared for feeling. God really is wonderful! I especially liked the part where it says he'll do even more than we ask or think. I'm so glad I'm a part of this and that I have a taste of the wonderfulness of God!

Last night I was reading Matt the weekly report I get emailed to me about our baby's growth. After reading it he said he really doesn't understand how people can see all the miracles (such as babies forming) that there are in nature and still not believe there's a God. They'd rather believe that things just happened all of a sudden on their own, or somehow evolved. When I feel the Love of God, the comfort of the Spirit, and feel the fullness of God, I'm so thankful that I'm not one of those who only believe in what they can see. I'm thankful that I can feel the Love of Christ that passeth knowledge. I'm glad I took the time to read this morning.

It's Alive!

A couple of nights ago I was laying in bed reading a book; when I felt something! I thought could this be my baby moving already? It seemed a little early to start feeling the movements, but I lay there and sure enough! What was very surprising was how strong the movements felt. Let me tell you, when I'm reading a book, I'm usually very engrossed; so for me to notice the movements meant that they were fairly strong for so young a baby. I put my hand on it and just enjoyed the moment! Of course I told my husband who was at the computer in our room. He even came over to see if he could feel it since the movements were so strong. He wasn't real sure, but he thought he could feel slight movements! Every since then I've noticed my baby letting itself be known to me! I love this point in the pregnancy! I'm not so uncomfortable with pregnancy, but I still get to enjoy feeling this small being moving inside of me! Now I have a little over 5 months until I get to see it eye to eye!

Mourning the Curls

Garrison's hair was getting pretty wild with all of his little curls; so I finally broke down and cut his hair. I wanted to cut it a little shorter than I did last time, but I was hoping some of his cute curls would stay behind. Here is a picture of him before his haircut. He's awfully cute with those curls, but they were getting a little out of hand; so one day when daddy was gone (Matt kept saying he didn't need a haircut) I did the deed...

What happened to my baby???? Where did he go. I cut off all his curls, and now a toddler has switched places with him! I miss the curls! He's still really cute, but not quite the same. I'm hoping they will grow back, but I'm beginning to wonder...

I couldn't resist posting this picture too. Here he is with his wild hair. Daddy brought some groceries home and he wanted to help; so Daddy gave him the bag of potatoes. He dragged them as far as the front steps, but couldn't figure out how to get the bag up the steps! Mommy came to the rescue and helped him. (After having a good laugh at his expense, and taking this picture, of course!)

Just Getting By

Yesterday we had a pretty good meeting (and had a nice time afterwards at Bro. Sean & Sis. Marisela's). Bro. Lee preached about not holding back and giving your all to living the Faith. Bro. Bill got up and talked about partaking of the Lord's supper and how we should be partaking of the Lord's body and blood everyday. Bro. Sean got up got real blunt with all of us. I'm glad he did too. I know that at least for me it was something that I needed to hear put that bluntly.

He said he remembered when he lived here before and the young kids spent a lot of time together. They were always looking for reasons to spend time together. He said they didn't get to spend everyday together, but they always wanted to. He said how the brethren here really don't spend a lot of time together. We all go about our own lives. It's really easy to just stay home and relax. He was basically saying that we needed to have such a desire to be together that we would find ways to make it happen.

I know that Matt and I fail in this also. We do have people over for dinner fairly often (though we've only just recently picked back up on that). And most Sunday's we spend with the brethren, but it's been a looooong time since we've just decided to go visit somebody some evening.

Another thing that was mentioned a couple times was fasting. It's been quite awhile since I've fasted. Sometimes I see how I struggle in certain areas and think about how I ought to fast about it, but I don't do it. I really want to try to fast more often.

I've also been examining myself and today I've really looked in the mirror and seen one especially glaring fault. I do what I have to do to get by. I don't put all my effort into living the faith or even taking care of my family. I was visiting with the brethren yesterday and told them how my sister Wenona is a really especially good mother, and Alicia is a really hard worker and I'm just mediocre at both things. I know I could do better at living the faith, keeping my house clean, taking care of my children, being a wife; really at everything, but mostly I just do what I feel like I need to do so that I can just squeak by with the minimal amount of effort, so that people will still think well of me. I know some of you may be thinking that this can't possible be that bad, but it really is and I need prayers that I can put my best effort forth. I can remember in school I wasn't very popular with the kids; so I liked to be on the good side of the teachers. I did well enough at school so that my teachers would think well of me, but I didn't work my hardest. I really think I could have gotten straight A's if I'd tried my best, but I didn't. Today I have really seen how this is how I live my whole life. It's just horrible! I really need prayers that I can overcome my slothful nature and do my best at all I do. I know that my life and that of my family and those around me would be better if I put forth more of an effort.

Before Bro. Lee and Sis. Cherrie moved here he received a prophesy. Even though it was for him I believe it was something the whole assembly here needed to hear. I don't remember all of it, but I do remember that it said that the truth would be preached in this part and we would be a haven for the brethren. I think this is a wonderful promise, but I can see where if we don't all put forth our best efforts God's plan for this assembly could fail. I really, really, really want to do my part, and not Just Get By; because really just getting by is really not getting by at all.

Real or not?

A few weeks ago we took the kids to the Saturday Market in downtown Portland. We road the Max, which the kids think is really cool! Even though we didn't have much money to spend it was nice to browse around at all the different booths, and also see all the interesting people. There was a point when it was getting to be nap time and Garrison started throwing a screaming fit, but other than that it was an enjoyable outing.

At one point we were taking a bathroom break, and way up on the edge of building Christian saw an owl. I zoomed the camera as far as I could and took a picture, and then when I got the picture on our computer I cropped it even more. While we were watching it we did see it move. I guess it never occurred to me to wonder why an owl was out and moving in broad daylight. After I cropped it on my computer I thought it looked like it was fake. Maybe it's some kind of surveillance camera or something.

What do you guys think? Is it fake, or not? The more I look at it, the more I think it's probably fake.