First Snow Fun

The first Snow is so fun! Isaac was so excited he wanted to bring a bowl of fresh snow in. We made juice slushies :)
Adrian and Isaac wanted to make a snowman but the snow was to cold to pack. They had fun trying anyway.

Gabrielle and Kaleb having fun on the barn ramp.

Snow was new to Kaleb again this year :) He was excited to be out in it!

They really enjoyed the ramp!

Isaiah 1:18

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

footnote: white as snow. A powerful figurative description of the result of forgiveness.

Birthday

I know that this old news and long overdue, but time has gotten away from us and we have not had time to blog. This was Gabrielle's birthday cake. Can you guess how old she is?
We could not find the candles and the only numbers we had were 6,2,3's, & 0. Now what do we do? Then came a wonderful (homeschool) thought from Jessica, 6+2+3+3=14! What a wonderful idea!

Gabrielle was excited to get her camera for her birthday :0

I think big brother was also excited :)

Mark 10:21

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.

Stickers

Gabrielle was having fun with stickers with her brothers Kaleb & Isaac.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24
footnote:One must choose friends carefully.

Big Toys & The Great Outdoors

Jordan really enjoys when we have to rent large toys to do some things on the farm! They were using this one to move our gas tank and some cement.

Jordan can't play on these big toys without giving little brother Kaleb a ride also :)

It is nice when work is also fun :) It was an all day job.

Adrian enjoys raking up the leaves for all of them to play in.

Isaac and Summit enjoying their work.

God is so Good!

We finally finalized Kaleb's adoption after two and a half years! Yeah!
We are so grateful to all of the friends who came to share in the special day with us. It meant more to us than words can express! We have never had so many people share and show us what a special day it was. We had some fun fellowship time after the court hearing. Jamie and Jessica gave Kaleb these dozen of smile balloons. Kaleb loves balloons and also received a bouquet of them from the Kalebaugh family. Kaleb has had allot of fun putting together a fish treasure box from Wolfgang and Lauren. He is also keeping his feet warm with some cute monkey slippers from Mark and Sue.
Pastor John gave us this basket of shells and it reminded me of a letter someone gave me long ago.
A young man was walking along an endless beach by a tropical sea. The beach stretched for miles and miles, and every day there were literally millions of starfish dying on the beach-creatures that had been washed up onto the beach by the waves, but who had no way of returning back into the water. The young man was picking up these small urchins, one by one, and returning them to the safety of the sea- thus assuring that they would live. An elderly man watched this performance one day, and as the young man continued down the beach, the elderly man went up and spoke to the young man, saying: "Young man, why are you doing this: Can't you see that there are literally millions and millions of these little starfish dying here in the sun on the beach? What you are doing can't possibly make a difference." The young man looked at the man for a moment, reached down and picked up one of the starfish, and gently returned it to the waves. "It made a difference to this one." he said.
I have been told that I can not save them all (children). But I can make a difference in each one that God blesses us with!
The same with our daily Christian walk. We can make a difference even when we don't know it. Let the love of God shine through you, even if you make the difference in just one, God rejoices!

Each of these shells are all so different and unique. Just as each one of us are different, special, and unique. Which was fun to watch each one of my children pick out which one they liked the best. It showed the uniqueness and specialness in each one of them.

Putting on your armor of God

Christian is very creative and he loves to make things out of stock board. He created some awesome helmets for all of the boys to wear. My boys love this kind of stuff :)
Ephesians 6:10-11 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

The battle has begun.

In J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional, The Lord of the Rings, a simple, good-hearted hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins is entrusted with a dangerous mission. Together with a group called the Fellowship of the Ring, he must defeat the forces of evil by returning a gold ring to the fires of Mount Doom from which it was forged. Along the way, evil stalks Frodo. Battles are lost. Friends die. Reflecting on such tragedies, Frodo confides in his wise friend Gandalf, "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish that this had never happened." Gandalf replies, "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All you must decide is how to use the time that is given to you."

In the "fellowship of the cross," a servant of Christ is also tested. Like Paul, we may feel crushed under the weight of circumstances (2 Cor. 1:3-11). The path seems too steep to climb. We wonder if there is victory at the end of the battle. Though we may not choose our circumstances, we do choose whether to trust God (2 Cor. 1:9). Through the fellowship of the Son and enablement of the Spirit, we can carry out our mission for God. Trust Him to guide you along the way. He offers wise counsel and victory.

Even Kaleb was a part of the battle.

Master of our Lives

This path reminded me of the path we must choose in our Christian walk. We can't see the end, but do we have faith strong enough to trust the one who knows the way? We come across paths in our lives that we have to choose the right one.
"The other two men also came to the foot of the Hill, However when they saw that the Hill was steep and high and that there were two other paths to go, they supposed that the three ways might once again converge on the other side of the Hill; therefore, they resolved to go the two other ways. The name of one way was Danger, and the name of the other was Destruction. So one man took danger and was led into a giant forest; the other went straight up the way to Destruction, and was led into a vast field full of dark mountains where he stumbled and fell to rise no more." This is a section from the Pilgrim's Progress by Paul Bunyan that we are reading for school. Formality and Hypocrisy professed to be pilgrims, but they persisted in fashioning their pilgrimage to suit themselves. Having no regard for the authority of the Scriptures, they changed at will whatever they didn't like. They went as far as the foot of Hill Difficulty, as close to suffering as their religion would ever take them. They did not, however, intend to quit the straight path altogether but to return to it after avoiding Difficulty. Sad to say, their foolish assumption that the paths would again converge around the hill has robbed them of ever seeing the Celestial City. It is frightening to think that many who claim to be Christians end up completely off the straight and narrow path, because they want to reach heaven without cost. They lack a reverent fear of God and fail to take seriously the authority of God's Word. "God," they reason, "we know you want us to be satisfied and fulfilled and certainly wouldn't want to interfere with our peace and happiness. So we are going this way, and we are sure you understand and will be with us and bless us."
In essence, they are saying to almighty God, "Lord, we want you in our lives, but you come follow us." But God is not a mere helper or servant who aids us as we fashion our own feel-good religion. He is our Master and His Word has authority in and over our lives. The consequences are severe for those who disregard His will. Proverbs 14:12 2 Timothy 4:4-5

I love how Kaleb's look is in this picture. He looks in awe of our great creator.

This is our sweet Isaac climbing in a tree.

Kaleb was hiding from us. He thinks if he closes his eyes and can't see you, that you can't see him.

Our pretty Gabrielle on our walk in the woods in her mustang sweatshirt (her future car).

New Addition

Jordan rescued an injured little coon and walker hound.
She had an injury on her head and they were going to rid of her.
Jordan the proud new pa and Summit.

Isaac is very fond of the addition.

She is so cute when she is sleeping :)

We had to make her a head collar to stop her from itching her sore on her head. Gabrielle thought that coloring it camo would look nicer. It was funny watching her do things with it on,

she didn't seem to let it bother her naps :) We had to keep cleaning the infection out with warm water.

Last of the harvest

It was a fun day out gathering the last of
God's provisions.
Jessica was picking some fall arrangements for us.

There is beauty in every season!

They were so cute!

I enjoy taking pictures outside.

family provisions

pasta!
Gabrielle has become our professional
pie crust (and pie) maker.

Isaac loves helping with the bread!

Pasta gets made twice a week.

Christian is enjoying the rewards of their work!

We have been blessed to have Jessica come

and be with us on Tuesdays and Fridays!

We use one of the days as a baking day. We love

the opportunity to be able to work on our home maker

skills. Titus 2:4-5 Thank you for blessing us Jessica!

fall fun

It is fun to hide in the leaves!
Christian buried Kaleb in the wheelbarrow.

Look what I caught on my eye!

Leaves are great fun!

blessing of grapes

The neighbors behind us were so kind and offered
to share their harvest of grapes with us,
Jamie also joined us.

Isaac & Kaleb really enjoyed picking.

Wow! Look at all my grapes!

We washed and sorted them and made

some yummy grape jelly!