September Graduation.

Another trip to San Antonio to attend the graduation ceremony of two more sons who graduated from the United States Air Force Basic Military Training. The weather was immensely more bearable than last time and we also took Tristans two daughters with us to be there for his graduation. Josiah and Bekah came down and Cody was there as well. We are very proud of all 3 of our boys and look so forward to all that lies ahead for them in the future.

A Graduation and a Wedding.

We recently attended our son Josiah's graduation from Basic Military Training in San Antonio, Texas and were privileged as well to be a witness to his marriage to Rebecca. Josiah is now attending Technical school at Sheppard AFB in Texas where Rebecca is hoping to be able to join him. Two of my other sons, Tristan and Jeremiah are now at Lackland AFB attending BMT as well. I miss them all so much but we shall have a wonderful time at Christmas when we will all be together again. It was so hot in Texas I could barely stand it! Glad to be back home where it is much cooler. Here are some pictures of Josiah and his new bride Rebecca. The young man in the top picture is Josiahs best friend Cody who he grew up with. He is attending Medina AFB for Special Ops training.

Celebrating An Engagement.

My 5th born child and 3rd son Josiah recently left for Texas for Basic Training for the Air Force Reserves. I miss him so much but I do want to share the good news of his engagement to sweet Rebekah. She is a quiet and soft spoken young woman who fits nicely into our family. We will be celebrating their wedding sometime next summer and are so glad to welcome her to our family. She is of Iranian descent and will be a nice addition to the abundance of blonde babies that seem to come our way. Here is a picture of the 2 of them at Christmas.

A Tribute To My Father In Law.

Yesterday I was priviledged to witness the death of someone who has had a great impact on my life. My Father In Law passed away in the comfort of his own bed surrounded by his wife of 54 years, 4 of his 5 children and their spouses and 26 of his grandchildren. I first came into this family as a very needy and hurting 16 year old girl from a hurting and dysfunctional family. I had never met a family like this one. They showed a sincere and deep love and affection for each other. Something I had never seen. They said "I love you," and they hugged each other and they spoke good things about others. I caused their first born son a lot of heart ache over the years that we dated and yet they continued to show love for me despite all the hurt I caused. I have now been married for 31 years to Jim and in all these years they have shown nothing but love towards me and never rebuked me for any of my past mistakes. I have seen unconditional love up close and have been changed by it. Jim's dad had a strong and personal faith in Jesus and despite his flaws he was a great man who made an impact on many people over the years. He shared the love of Christ with so many and he will be greatly missed. I have been blessed to be a part of this big and loving family and I thank God for it. He died peacefully with no struggle after suffering from pancreatic cancer for the past 8 months. He will be sorely missed and yet I know that one day we will be reunited in that great and glorious Heavenly home.

My Not So Secret Passion.

After enjoying the art of knitting over these past few years I must admit that I have discovered a passion for my spinning wheel. Or should I say....the results of my time spent on my wheel. I have a beautiful Schacht Matchless and it gives me many hours of pleasure. I am finding myself able to create something beautiful that actually lasts longer than a day. As a woman who keeps the home and children going, I find that nothing I do lasts very long at all. Dishes are forever being made dirty and the laundry never ends. So in creating this beautiful handspun yarn and then eventually knitting with it I have made something that I can look at and enjoy every single day. Now not only do I have bins of yarn, I am also a collector of beautful fiber. So here are the works of my hands out in the open where I can enjoy them!

We Have A New Calf!

This is our Family milk cow Rose and her new heifer calf who is yet unnamed. This is her second calf and we will be attempting to share milk with her this time around. Her first calf died a few days after birth and I just can't bring myself to take this one from her. Plus, one of the benefits of share milking is that we can eventually go to once a day milking which I know my boys will appreciate. If anyone can help me think of a good name for this little one I would appreciate it!

A Morning's Worth Of Eggs.

Gabriel is the one who takes care of the poultry every morning. He goes out before school and lets the birds out into the pasture, gathers the eggs and feeds the birds. Here are the morning eggs that he brought me to wash up, There are assorted chicken eggs, some turkey eggs, an occasional duck egg, and the first goose egg of the season. It is the big one in the front. I sell some of the chicken eggs and keep the rest of the eggs for the family. Come next month I will start incubating the goose and turkey eggs.

Welcome 2009!

After the wonders of Christmas and the joy of bringing in a New Year I am glad to be back to normal! The kids are finally back in school, the snow is melted and my mailman has started bringing my mail again. It is raining like crazy outside but has warmed up considerably. I am enjoying my few moments of peace and quiet....New Years resolutions? Here goes...
I am always trying to get some weight off,
and commit to regular exercise.
Knit a lot of baby items for the Pregnancy Resource Center.
Read my Bible more consistently.
Be kinder to others, especially my family.
Not complain.....I have everything!
I am so looking ahead to spring. Rose will be having a calf in february which means fresh milk again. The chickens and the turkeys are laying at least a dozen eggs every day. We will be butchering a steer on saturday so the freezer will be full again. Life just keeps on moving along and we just grow older. But I am always mindful that this world is not my home. I am just passing through...

Snow Day!

Here are some pictures of our beautiful snowfall. It is very uncommon for us to get snow like this in the wintertime. It tends to shut everything down but the kids love it!

Tony & Hannah and family.

Hannah is our 4th child and second girl. She is married to a very special guy and has been blessed with 3 beautiful kids. Hannah and I spend a lot of time together and share many similarities. Our life stories are the same in many ways and we are much different than we used to be. That is God working in us and blessing us despite who we are. Hannah is a friend and she inspires me to grow in my faith and become better than I am. I am glad that my girls are my friends as well as my daughters.

Tristan and the girls.

Tristan and his 2 daughters just happen to live next door to us so we see a lot of them. Tristan is a very gifted man who we know is destined for greater things! He is an Artist and can take most anything and make something beautiful from it. We pray that someday he will know how much God loves him and maybe love himself a little more. He has a very sensitive heart and feels things deeply. He was the best little boy and we are so thankful for him.

Pat & Brianna and the boys!

This is my daughter Brianna and her little family. She is my firstborn girl and has been a delight to my life from the start. Brianna has always been a high achiever and everything she does seems most excellent. Her life has not been without heartache and yet I know that God has been at work in her.....teaching her life lessons and building character. Like all of us know it is an ongoing process that never stops. One that is necessary if we are to become more like Him.

Joshua and Kathleen and the boys.

This is our oldest son Joshua who turned 30 a few days ago. How strange it is to think of him as a 30 year old. I can still remember so clearly the first time I held him as a tiny baby. He was a most wanted child and I was so happy to be his mom. I was only a girl myself at 19 and yet I had imagined him for so long! So much has happened in the intervening years. So many changes and so much joy and pain. But God has blessed Josh for his faithfulness by sending him a truly excellent wife and a healthy group of boys! And he is a very happy man!

Our Family

We celebrated Havalah's 17th birthday last week and since we were all together I thought we should get our annual Christmas picture. This is much easier said than done. The noise level during this process is quite high and it is no easy task to get 16 kids 10 and under to sit still and all look up at the same time. I know that eventually this will be an impossibility as I still have 8 kids to marry off and the grandchild count will be too high to even fit us all in the same room. Sometimes I wonder what we were thinking when we decided to take God's word literally when he says that children are a gift and the more the better!

Pretty Little Leni!

This is Alaina (Leni) Maria. She is wearing one of my favorite hats to knit. It's a Little Turtle Knits pattern and I make them for new baby gifts. They are so adorable and warm. Is this not the sweetest little baby girl?

A New Grandson.

My oldest son Josh and his wife Kathleen gave birth to their 6th baby boy on tuesday 11-11-2008. He weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz and was born in the privacy of their bedroom. I was the official "baby catcher" and was assisted by Jim's mom and my daughter Hannah. He is beautiful and so far seems to be a pretty easy baby.

Harvest Party Pictures.

We went to our churches annual Harvest Party at Jim's brothers house and the weather was absolutely perfect! I won second place in the Mexican food catagory and Judah brought home a cake from the cake walk. Took lots of pictures of the kids and grandkids. Enjoy!

Celebrating Homecoming!

This is my son Noah and Joy, his date for the annual Homecoming celebration. Noah is my 5th son and he is a pretty awesome kid. These 2 are good friends and they also went to Tolo last year together as well. The night will be spent with a big group of kids and dinner at the Olive Garden. Afterwards they will attend the dance and then part ways and head home to bed! Noah has to milk the cow in the morning:) Oh, do these years fly by, I can remember being 15 and attending dances with my friends. Enjoy your youth Noah, it is certainly fleeting.

A Very Special Father-In-Law.

This is a tribute to my Father-in-law, who was recently diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The prognosis is not good and it makes us all feel very sad. You know, when I first heard the news my first thought was that 33 years knowing him was not enough....I want more time with him. But I will assure you that this man's faith is very strong. He has a very close and personal relationship with Jesus and really lives it. When you call and try to lift him up he is the one who ends up encouraging you! He has spent his whole life as a pastor in the Evangelical Free Church and though retired he still serves as a chaplin in our local hospital. He has been the best of fathers and my husband is lucky to have been raised by him. He is not without his own flaws, but he really loves people and always tries to find the best in everyone. He has been a counselor as well for many years and has probably impacted more people than anyone I know. So if you get a moment during your day, send a little prayer up for him. We would sure like to keep him around for many more years to come!

ps. The beautiful woman with him is my even more special MIL Claudette who has been married to grandpa for 54 years!

My Best Friend Jim.

I have been married for over 30 years to a truly wonderful man. We came from very different backgrounds and yet somehow we found each other. I was 16 and Jim was 20 when we met at his dad's church. I just happened to be visiting that sunday and saw him across the room and was instantly smitten. He came from a strong and loving Christian family, his dad is a pastor in the Evangelical Free Church. I grew up in a home where faith was not present, only an abundance of alcohol and anger. I found a job for the summer with the Youth Conservation Corps and was introduced to Christ in a new and very personal way. So when I went back home I decided to go to the church closest to my rural home and well....the rest is history. I really believe that God directs the steps of His children and have seen it many times over the years. We have had some difficult years and also many good ones. Jim has always been the best one of us and he is a very kind and generous man. As the years pass we become better friends and our commitment to each other and our family is rock solid. I thank God every day for my family and especially for Jim, whose love is steady and sure. And that is a rare thing in the world we live in.