Lake Sallateeska

Travis spoke at a youth retreat at Lake Sallateeska.

We all joined him and had lots of fun despite the cold weather.

October Photos

I pulled the wagon with everyone in it.

It was pretty heavy but they had a good time. Happy birthday to me!

This is Abigail and Emma. They are the best of friends.

We watch Emma three days a week so they can go to preschool together.

Look how strong these girls are!

This is a tree on the side of our house that has started leaning over the summer.

Josiah loves his sesame street friends.

He wakes up every morning with a handful of them.

A wonderful quote

I went to a true woman's conference this past month and it was wonderful. I was reading over my notes from the conference and this was a quote from a breakout session with Holly Elliff on "Intentional Mothering."

"Treat your child as if you won't have them next year. Train your child as if they won't have you next year."

Abigail is 5 years old

My little Abigail has turned 5.

We had a Princess party. We had lots of fun with 8 little girls who attended. Abigail invited her classmates from preschool.

We played "Kiss the Frog" and made castles from sugar wafers and Travis performed an animated version of Cinderella with finger puppets.

One of Abigail's favorite gifts was a new comforter that she received from Aunt Brenda. She also got a scooter from her Ma Ma that she is learning to use.

For the party we had the girls go into a homemade castle. It was fun to make.

We shouldn't forget about the prince of the castle. He had a royal nap all through the party. He didn't wake up the whole time. He went to sleep right before the first guest and woke up after the last guest left. I couldn't believe it.

Old Hymn by Helen Maria Williams

While thee I seek, protecting Power,
My earthly cares be stilled;
And may this consecrated hour
With better hopes be filled.
Thy love the power of thought bestowed;
To thee my thoughts would soar:
Thy mercy o’er my life has flowed;
That mercy I adore.
In each event of life,
how clearThy guiding hand I see!
Each blessing to my soul more dear,
Because conferred by thee.
In every joy that crowns my days,
In every pain I bear,
My heart shall find delight in praise,
Or seek relief in prayer.My lifted eye, without a tear,
The gathering storm shall see:
My steadfast heart shall know no fear;
That heart will rest on thee.

Questions and answers

I have to brag about our 18 month old. We started asking Abigail a series of questions that we feel are important to be able to answer when she was 2. Josiah has started earlier. We ask Josiah "Who loves you most?" He replies, "JESUS" with enthusiasm. We ask "Who made everything?" He replies, "God" like you should know. And of course Travis likes to ask "Who's daddy's boy?" And he replies lovingly, "ME." I will see if I can get all this on video. It's very cute. The newest question we ask is "What is God's Book?" It doesn't take long before he gets what to answer. We know he doesn't understand yet but it's still a good start. We are beginning to ask Abigail more difficult questions and she is doing well. She is thinking more about things and it is really interesting to watch. She did ask one day, "Is God really real?" And I of course said yes and she said "I was just checking." So we began talking about how all things in the Bible are real. It was a great conversation. I look forward to days ahead that we get to talk. I pray God gives me wisdom to answer her questions.

Hours of Family Fun!

We were at the store over the weekend and guess what my husband stumbled upon? He found a whoopie cushion. So Saturday night was filled with whoopie cushion family fun. It is a self-inflating kind so it's never ending. Whoever invented the self-inflating part really must have enjoyed having a whoopie cushion as child! My children and husband can't seem to get enough.