Happy New Year

I want to wish you all a very happy 2012. I pray this will be a year of untold favor. That we will see our Glorious Lord move in ways we haven't seen. For health, strength. For wisdom in making the right decisions. To live in wild abandon for the glory of our King.

Thank you so much for hanging out with us here on this little blog. We hope you will join us for 2012 as we go through a year of transition. That's what I am calling it anyway! Between remodeling a new home, expecting a baby in May, and the end of a lifelong farming relationship (for my husband), change is abounding and coming our way whether we like it or not! Change is good. It causes us to step out in faith, to truly wait upon the Lord. We are refined, and the dross is stripped away. More of our Jesus shines through. Not that it isn't painful or at times feels like we are all alone out on a limb. But keep pushing through. There is freedom and unspeakable joy waiting on the other side.

Here is a little sneak peek of our little love coming sometime in May.....

This is our little Anne Noelle. We had already decided on a girl and boy name before going for the ultrasound, so either way, I felt good about naming the baby. Anne is my middle name and also happens to be the name of one of my most favorite literary characters, Anne of Green Gables. Anne means "one of grace". Noelle is my youngest sister's middle name. I always loved that name and how feminine the spelling made the name look. This ultrasound was special because my sister was along, so she got to see a first glimpse of her namesake. Our first daughter has a combo of my name and my sister Alyssa's name. And our third daughter has part of Alyssa's middle name in her middle name, Elizabeth. My sister's middle is Beth. I just wanted to explain that in case anyone thought my other sister was getting the shaft. :)

Our girls were not very thrilled at having another girl. They thought for sure we would have another boy. They really wanted a brother for Landon. They were only upset for the first couple hours after telling them. Now they can't wait for Anne to get here to hold her, rock her, and yes, change her diaper!

I will post more about our fantastic time with my sister who spent Christmas with us this year. I just wanted to send you our New Year's greeting and a little sneak peek of baby Anne.

Happy New Year!

Project Restoration

So we have taken on a new challenge. Not that farming in the desert if enough of a challenge! My in-laws have sold their farm. They will farm it for one more year, but by the spring of 2013, they must be out and so must we since our house in on their farm.  In anticipation of this, we have recently begun the purchase of some additional acreage that also includes a house and shop. The house is smaller then what we are currently living in. And will require some restoration......you will see what I mean........

This is my favorite part of the house. It has a fireplace! I can't wait for next winter when we can sit by the fire. I love the smell of a fireplace!

This is the living room. This is the room you enter when you come in the front door. The white on the carpet is the popcorn ceiling my husband is scraping off.

Front window

Looking at the dining room. Patio doors go to the outside where there is a carport.

Looking into the kitchen from the living room. Nate has already started taking out the overhead cabinets.

My kitchen! The door goes into the mudroom/office/schoolroom/family room

This is our multipurpose room!

Laundry area in the multipurpose room

Bedroom #1

Bedroom#2

Master bedroom

Scary master bathroom. It really is as big as it looks. Which is not at all!

Hall closet. Door to the right is kids' bathroom. Which is lots bigger then the master.

So, this is our new project! We don't really have a time frame. Of course, we would love to have the house done before May, which is when our baby is due. We would love to "christen" the new home with a birth. However, we must be realistic!!!
I'll update with photos now and then as we plug away.

I am not even sure how I want to go about writing this post......this is something that has been simmering in the back of my mind for quite a while, and yesterday was the icing on the cake. I had to go to the lab yesterday to get some blood work done. I had all four kids in tow, and as we walked in, I saw an elderly gentleman and a middle aged man sitting next to each other in the waiting room. The kids and I sat down to wait our turn for me to talk to the receptionist. As the girls found their seats, I heard the elderly man say to the younger, in not quite a whisper...you know, just loud enough for you to hear what he has to say, because he really wants you to hear it......"Three girls and one boy.....I feel sorry for her!"
As I sat there, I was thinking, what would he think if I unzipped my jacket and let him see that not only do I have four children, but actually have another one on the way? 
After I talked to the receptionist and then was called back to get stuck, my kids all coming along, the girl who was taking my blood asked me if the kids were all mine. I don't think she was much older then me. I said yes, they were all mine. Then she proceeded to say, "Wow, and you have another one on the way? You must really like children." I said yes, of course we loved children. Then she continued in saying that her husband doesn't want children, and neither does she, that they both really like to to travel.  I left there feeling sad.
I get comments a lot out in public. It's not often I get out by myself. So anytime I am at the grocery store, I get those looks, those remarks about how I have my hands full. But what is really sad is that these comments are not just random comments I get from people out in public. They are alive and well within the church as well.  I can't tell you how many comments I get from people who are God-fearing, God-loving people.
"Haven't you figured out how that happens yet?"
"Don't you know what cable television is for?"
"Aren't you busy enough?"
It feels like people have forgotten that God loves children. It says in Psalms, "Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Now everyone has their own opinion of what makes a full quiver, but please don't project your personal number onto me. Jesus loved children. He reprimanded the disciples for keeping the children away from Him. He also goes on to say that only those who become like children can enter the kingdom of God.
I think it's very sad how slowly the world is becoming anti-children. Fifty, sixty years ago, large families were the norm. Now, they are rare and looked on sometimes as crazy or obscene.
Last Sunday a new older couple sat behind us in church. I had to use the bathroom, so my husband was talking to them and introduced me to them when I got back to my seat. The wife leaned over to me and said, "I just love the size of your family, and the fact that you are having another one." That was balm to my soul. Like an assurance from heaven, that God loves kids. Big families, small families, adopted families. He loves all children. They are eternal souls, and the only thing you can take with you to heaven.