Welcome to the Outside!!!

Welcome Jennings Andy
Born - October 28, 2006
Time - 1:02 p.m.
Weight - 7lbs. 10 oz.
Height - 20 inches

We want to praise the Lord for the healthy baby boy He has entrusted
to us. Andy was born with a cleft lip. We rejoice that he was not born
with a cleft palate.

A Hairy Mistake

Kara has beautiful thick curly hair. However, because my hair has always been so straight I have a difficult time properly taking care of her hair. Since I have been brushing her hair to get the tangles out I turned the back of her hair into a giant mass of frizz. Last night I was so sick of the frizz that I sat her down and chopped her hair -- BIG Mistake. In order to get rid of the frizzy sections of her hair I had to layer her hair (the first time I've ever layered someone's hair). Unfortunately in a couple spots I cut her hair a lot shorter than I had intended. Now -- no more braids, pigtails, ponytails. In fact all I can do is throw in a couple of barretts on the sides of her hair.Do any of you have kids with thick curly hair? How do you take care of her hair and keep it from getting frizzy?

Thank you for your Prayers

Thank you for your prayers this past week. Yesterday I went in for my sonogram. The doctor confirmed that Andy does have a cleft lip. Unfortunately he was not in a very cooperative mood, so they were unable to determine whether or not he has a cleft palate. However, the doctor was very positive and it appears that Andy does not have any other physical problems (ie. syndrome).

Please continue to pray for us as we begin looking for a good plastic surgeon who will be able to repair Andy's cleft. From what I've been able to read, he will most likely have his first surgery when he is about 10 weeks old.

Only 1-2 more weeks till I am able to hold my little boy!!!

Thanks again for all of your prayers. You are such dear friends. We love you, and we miss you.

JA has a Job!!!!

JA started his orientation and training at Sears on Tuesday. The Lord has been so good to us. JA was only looking for a job for 2 1/2 weeks before Sears hired him. He is excited about working in the electronics department. Currently this is only a temporary job through the holidays, but if he is one of their top salesmen, they will keep him on.

I had my third doctor's appointment today. We got off to a rough start at our first appointment, but now I am really liking my new doctor. Please be in prayer though. Next Tuesday I need to go to Witchita for a very detailed sonogram because the doctor thinks Andy might have a cleft palate, so they want to know before he's born in case it's severe enough to inhibit breathing. We know the Lord's will is perfect, but we are praying that the sonogram will reveal a healthy baby boy without any problems (other than his sin nature of course -- what would I do with a perfect baby -- hmmmm).

Please continue to pray that the Lord will lead us to the ministry He wants us to serve. As thankful as we are for the job provided at Sears, JA is eager to be working in a church. We are also thankful for the opportunities that JA has to teach the adult Sunday School class at my dad's church, and in November he will have the opportunity to preach six times while dad is in Belise.

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

Attacked by a Virus

This week our home was attacked by a nasty stomache virus. It began with Lydia on Sunday afternoon (after we already took her to church and she transferred it to all of the kids in the nursury). Monday night, Kara and Timmy got sick, and it continued to work it's way through Elizabeth, Me and Opa. The only one's who escaped this nasty illness was JA and Oma.

Today we are finally all healthy. This has been a crazy week between taking care of sick kids, going to Elizabeth's tennis match, and attending a football game.


Some praises from the week -- JA had an interview on Monday morning at Sears. They say he
has the job although they have not yet called to tell him when he begins orientation.
Unfortunately this is only a temporary job for the holidays (but not so unfortunate if
we soon have a church to work at).

My doctor's appointment went well this week. I am measuring at 37 weeks, and the
doctor ordered another sonogram which verified that the baby is about 36 1/2
weeks. So hopefully I'll be holding a little boy in two weeks!!!

Here are some fun pictures of the girls.

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Mom and I have been reading about all of these Corn Mazes and Pumpkin Patches in the newspaper lately, so we decided it would be a great idea to take the kids to one of the pumpkin patches. We decided to go to Walter's Pumpkin Patch which was not only the closest of the patches listed in the paper, but the one with the most activities for the best price.

Here you can see Timmy and Kara trying to see how big a pumpkin they can be.

Here, we have Lydia, Timmy, and Kara taking a break on a hay bale. We were having a hard time getting both girls to look at the camara simultaneously.



One of the highlights of the day for Timmy, Opa, and JA was Boo Mountain. Boo Mountain was a hill with two black tubes running down it. It appears that they dumped a bunch of hay over the tubes to keep them in place. They went down the slides on trash can lids and circle sleds. While Kara was fascinated by the slides, she didn't want anything to do with them. Lydia seemed to enjoy her trip down on Daddy's lap.











After Boo Mountain we walked over by the Corn Maze. Next to the corn maze were some peddle cars. Timmy took off in one followed by Opa, with Kara and JA trailing behind. However, At the end of their race, Timmy came in first followed by JA and Kara, and Opa who accidently pulled his steering wheel off was in last place.

While they were racing, Lydia decided she needed to learn how to drive. After the race, JA let Kara sit in the car alone while he pushed her into her parking space. I'm not sure who had the most fun, but Lydia certainly enjoyed herself on the car.




We finally made it to the corn maze and oh was it a maze. We probably spent a good 30 to 45 minutes trying to find our way out of the maze. Lydia had a blast being pushed in her stroller. Oma and Opa took turns pushing her. Kara began with walking and ended up with Daddy carrying her through the maze. JA's favorite saying was "Corn, Corn, Corn." After walking in circles for so long, Oma and I finally just pushed our way between the stalks to get out while everyone else completed the maze. I was just too tired to keep walking for an indefinate amount of time. Less than five minutes after we cheated our way out of the maze, everyone else comes walking out the exit. I guess we should have just kept going -- Oh Well, we still had a great time!

Old Fashioned Sunday

This past Sunday was Old Fashioned Sunday at dad's church. The day began with and outdoor Sunday School class followed by the morning service. The morning service was exciting as we also had a baby dedication and two baptismals.


Here is a picture of one of the baptisms.

Kara did a wonderful job of sitting through the morning service. JA had to take her out right at the very end, but otherwise she did great. Kara was paying attention to the beginning of the sermon. At one point dad was talking about not bursting someone's bubble, and Kara yells out I blow bubbles too! A few minutes later dad said someing about being like someone and Kara yells out I be like that! And then, dad said no regarding something and Kara yells out No No! Normally I would have tried to quite her down from talking during the service; but since she was responding to what she was hearing in the service, I was excited that she was listening.

After the morning service, we had a picnic dinner with hamburger's, hotdogs, beans, and potatoe salad. The best part of the dinner was the great variety of homemade pies that everyone brought. Following the dinner and a short time of fellowship, they began a time of games for the kids.


The games entailed bobbing for apples (above is a picture of my brother Timmy [red shirt] bobbing for apples -- he was excited when he finally got one), a turtle race [Timmy's turtle hid in his shell during the race, so unfortunately he didn't win]. I spent all of last week watching the roads for a turtle, but the only one I can confidently say I saw was probably a big snapper -- something I didn't want to mess with to show Kara. They also had a hobby horse race as seen in the picture below.



Kara was okay with lining up for the race; but once the kids started running, Kara stood stock still and refused to race her horse.

After the kids games, the adults participated in an egg toss. Since I was taking pictures, Timmy was JA's partner in the egg toss. JA and Timmy's last toss was from Timmy. Timmy was too far away to continue tossing underhand so he threw hard overhand. The egg hit JA's watch and splattered all over his pants and shirt. As humerous as it was at the time, the smell was disgusting at the end of the day. Sunday night I think I laid in bed all night smelling rotten egg.



Kara and Elizabeth got a little tired in the afternoon, and mom was able to catch this shot of them trying to take a nap. Kara has become quite attached to her Aunt Beth.



I apologize for the long delay in posting. We spent last week trying to recoop from our drive back from Canada.

Some praises:

1. We now have medical coverage for the baby's birth!
2. I have already met my new doctor.
3. I measured at 36 weeks (hopefully that means my due date is wrong and not that I just
happen to have a big baby
4. The girls absolutely love living with their Oma, Opa, Aunt Beth, and Timmy.
5. Wonderful parents who are willing to let us stay with them while we are in transition.

Some prayer requests:

1. That the Lord will allow us to serve in a church soon (JA will be talking with a pastor next
week).
2. That if it's not the Lord's will for JA to do ministry full time as an occupation, that JA will find
the right job and we can get an apartment/house soon.
3. The Lord will give us grace and wisdom as we will soon have nine people living in a three
bedroom house.

Trusting God

Monday morning we left Moncton, New Brunswick to return to the states. We praise the Lord for his faithfulness and provision toward us. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. We will greatly miss the people of Grace Baptist Church whom we have grown to love. However, we are excited about the next step in our lives.

We continue to praise God for His faithfulness to us even when the uncertainty of life arises. We cannot see what our next step is, but we are so thankful that God does. He knows all of our future steps, and we desire to continue to walk by faith trusting that God will illuminate our steps as we go. Right now we feel as though we are taking a step in darkness (because we don't know what we are to do), but Praise God He will reveal it in his time.

Rom 8:28-32

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Trust His Heart

All things work together for our good,
Though, sometimes, we can’t see how they could.
Struggles that break our hearts in two
sometimes blind us to the truth.
But our Father knows what’s best for us,
His ways are not our own,
So, when the pathway grows dim,
And you just can’t see Him,
Remember, He’s still on the throne.

God is too wise to be mistaken;
God is too good to be unkind.
So, when you don’t understand,
When you don’t see His plan,
When you can’t trace His hand,
Trust His heart.

He sees the master plan,
And He holds our futures in His hand.
So, don’t live as those who have no hope:
All our hope is found in Him.
We walk in present knowledge,
But He sees the first and the last.
And, like a tapestry
He’s weaving you and me
to, one day, but just like Him.

God is too wise to be mistaken;
God is too good to be unkind.
So, when you don’t understand,
When you don’t see His plan,
When you can’t trace His hand,
Trust His heart.

Church Cornboil

Saturday was the annual church cornboil. We had a wonderful time of fellowship at the church picnic. The picnic was also our last church function before leaving. While JA played softball, I helped some of the women husk the corn.

Laurie, Melissa, Kiersten, and Shelby husking corn

Lydia and Judah playing together after dinner

JA delivered the devotional after dinner before the soccer game. He spoke on the unity of the believer -- How we were united with them even after we leave, and how we should encourage each other in the Lord.

JA was able to hit this ball and make it onto base -- He even made it all the way home!

Prince Edward Island

These two pictures are of the coast line of PEI. It was beautiful. The soil is so red it makes a wonderful contrast with the blue ocean and green grass. I was a little nervous walking out by the cliffs because there was no fence, and Kara kept trying to pull away from me.At another point along the coast we were able to stop at this beach and see the huge sand dunes that have formed on the island. Here at the beach I was also educated on what sand dunes were and how they formed and moved -- Quite interesting! This was the first time I had ever seen sand dunes (Bouctouche supposedly had sand dunes but all I saw there was beach with grass growing on it).

Friday we had the opportunity to go with the Cochran family to Prince Edward Island. I've never been a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables (although I enjoy watching it every few years), but all summer I have been excitedly waiting for our chance to go to PEI. The day turned out to be a wonderful day for going, and the children were relatively cooperative.

We arrived at the island at about 11:00 so we began with a picnic at Avenlea Village. After lunch we spent a few hours walking around the village. The village is a recreation/memorial to Anne, and Lucy Maud Montgomery. I enjoyed learning that Montgomery was also a photographer. They had a photo museum where we were able to see her photography. We also went to the Anne Shirley Photo Studio, where we were able to dress up in old fashion clothes and take pictures (with our own camaras). It was great to be able to take these pictures without having to pay an exorberant price for them.

With school starting here in Moncton tomorrow, I thought this picture was appropriate. You can see both Lydia and Kara are eager to learn.

A Day at the Beach - Bouctouche

Saturday morning we followed Jason and Amy Cochran, and Bob Roberts, to the sand dunes at Bouctouche. Before going and walking the dunes, we stopped at an Acadian street market. The market was great. People were selling all different types of crafts and baked goods from jewelry, paintings, to soap, meat, and the biggest cinnamon rolls I've ever seen. JA bought me a new anklet, and we got Kara an Acadian flag necklace. We also got a few other things, but since we are giving those out as Christmas presents, I'm not going to expound.

After spending awhile at the market we continued the drive to the sand dunes. The dunes have a boardwalk that extends about 5 km (~2 miles). We didn't walk the entire thing (of which I am glad because I was tired after the little bit we did walk). We stopped midway and got down on the beach to allow the kids to collect shells.

Here Lydia is roaming the beach while Katie and Josiah let the waves lap up on their feet.

Kara and mommy stand in the Atlantic Ocean.

Kara and Lydia sit on a peace of driftwood and watch the waves lap up on the beach.

Is there Love in the air?
I actually think Judah is pulling Lydia's hair in this picture (he loves to play with her hair),
but it made a cute picture of the two of them.

Here is my favorite picture of the day!

Below are a few more pictures from our day at Bouctouche, including pictures of Kara collecting shells and the Cochran family playing in the ocean.

The Dark Knight Unveiled

This past week we had Vacation Bible School -- Journey to Knighthood. Bob Roberts from Kids4Truth came and did all of the preaching for the week. The week was a blessing in many ways, and we had the opportunity to see one girl make a profession of faith. The teens were a great help both in the decorations for the week, and in assisting the various teachers with their classes.

Throughout the week, the kids had to determine who the Dark Knight was that hated candy, ice cream, kids, King Arthur, and most of all the Bible. This Dark Knight appeared every day threatening to ruin the King's impending wedding. Each day the kids would chase the Dark Knight away with their Bibles.Here is the Dark Knight -- Can you tell who he is?

The kids really enjoyed their game time. Here you can see the knights waiting for the next group of kids, and Princess Guineviere taking her students back to class.

Kara, who spent most of the week in the nursury, enjoyed getting out this day and having a sword fight with Mommy.

Here we have the closing program where they were about to announce the winning team.

At the end of the closing program, King Arthur and the Dark Knight had a sword fight. Unfortunately for the Dark Knight, his sword broke about thirty seconds into the fight, so he never had a chance. Sir Big Bob quickly unmasked this heinious villian -- only to discover the Dark Knight was none other than Sir Sagramore (aka my husband Pastor JA). This picture is of the Dark Knight being banished and fleeing from the kingdom.

We had a wonderful week, and the kids thouroughly enjoyed the week. In fact, one of the families from another church had such a wonderful time that their teenagers came to the teen rally and then the entire family showed up in church on Sunday. What a blessing and an opportunity to maybe see another family come to love the Lord.