tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170165032024-03-12T22:08:58.395-04:00Joy in the JourneyChronicles the adventures of our family, including the details of our homeschooling journey, as we seek to honor Christ in all we do.Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.comBlogger1134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-61018889235033370372017-12-29T12:52:00.000-05:002017-12-29T12:52:01.402-05:00Catching Up...Part 2After a hiatus from the family blog, I wrote <a href="http://proverbs4.blogspot.com/2017/07/catching-up.html">an overview post</a> in July. Seems I need to do that again to finish out the year!<br />
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September started with a 2-night stay in the hospital when Verity's reflux led to significant vomiting and some tests showed she had a UTI. At least she got to meet her Great-Uncle Rande and Great-Aunt Jo who visited with Grandma J!<br />
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The end of September we got to host my parents for their first Colorado visit since we moved here! It was a quiet few days, all foggy until the morning they drove away!<br />
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September 28: Verity's 7-month birthday!<br />
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In early October we hosted dear friends Herb and Joyce Zick, who were traveling and sharing with folks about their mission and calling to Italy. We are grateful for their friendship and prayers for our family.<br />
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Somehow, despite multiple appointments each week, whether taking Verity to various specialty clinics or having in-home therapy sessions, we did actually manage to do SOME school work...by the grace of God! A lot of our education, both last year and this year, seems to revolve around Verity--learning about her condition, learning how to help her grow and develop, learning how to unconditionally love and care for someone who is "different."<br />
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We also learned about the hazards of living in a dry climate, lol.<br />
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October 18 Charis turned 17 and Arden turned 14! We had different parties, but Charis made both of the cakes!<br />
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Moving on to November...look how big Rhema has gotten! She loves our "Baby Doll," though now her verbal skills have taken off, she can mostly pronounce "Verity" (sounds more like "Berity") but now and then still calls her Baby Doll.<br />
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November 2-3 Verity had a 24-hour pH probe done, which showed us that despite being on a medication, she was still having a lot of acidity in her reflux. We changed meds, but this was an ongoing problem for the next 7 weeks as we dealt with a LOT of vomiting and learned that not only was Verity NOT gaining weight, but she actually was starting to lose weight when we were monitoring her in December. (More details about all of this are on <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/">her blog</a>.)<br />
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Dressed up for church! We continue to be thankful for the connections we have with our new church family.<br />
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The Monday before Thanksgiving, we took our kids to the North Pole outside the city for a day with their cousins Anders and Cade, plus Uncle Joel, Aunt Sarah, and Grandma J. The weather cooperated, and our nurse was home with Verity, who would not have done well in the cool, windy conditions, not to mention we were always paranoid about her vomiting. :-( But it was a fantastic day, full of memories that included lots of rides and a powdered sugar dust storm from funnel cakes, lol.<br />
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WOW--we caught Arden with a normal smile, lol! This is at church, and his and Tobin's friend Noah is standing between them. We are grateful for our friendship with Noah and his family.<br />
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I didn't take a lot of photos on Thanksgiving Day (which was the day after my 43rd birthday), but I love this one of some of my favorite people in our kitchen finishing last-minute preparations...and drinking buttered rum, lol.<br />
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We often post photos of our little ones, but here is a shot of my men!!!! Tobin and Arden are growing up so fast, and they are a joy and delight (most of the time, ha) with their quick wits that keep us laughing. When I look at this picture, as well as the one above with Charis in it, I am in awe at how quickly time has passed--how can we have THREE teenagers?! I absolutely love being their mom!!<br />
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November ended with a sleep study for Verity, which revealed severe obstructive apnea, for which we were given oxygen supplies so she can have 1/32 lpm of oxygen at night. We are still working on doing this consistently, as she hates the nasal cannula, sigh.<br />
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We've had the pleasure of getting together with our dear friends Bill and Mellisa and their crew--Ted and Bill (or Bill and Ted, lol) were best friends throughout high school, and we've been able to maintain our ties throughout the years. They are moving to Indiana soon, so we are cramming in some visits before they leave CO!<br />
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The second weekend of December, Charis and I took a road trip! We went to Utah for the Young Living Beauty School, at which we received lots of goodies and learned some wonderful tips for using the new Savvy Minerals make-up line (non-toxic skin care and make-up?! Yes, please!) plus heard good sessions on taking care of ourselves from the inside out. It was so fun to get that one-on-one time together, from the 560-mile drive each way to sharing time in the hotel and during the event itself. I love being Charis's mom and seeing the beautiful young lady she has already become!!<br />
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Verity's first Christmas!!! Followed by her 10-month birthday on December 28! Who would have thought a year ago that we would get to celebrate with this sweet little bundle?! And we got the best gift for her--learning that a slow, continuous, 24-hour feed allows her to keep nutrients INSIDE her body. The last week or so has shown us such a huge difference...Verity is clearly happier, resting better (although still up multiple times at night), and interacting more. We are so grateful that at least for now, we do not have to consider surgery to help prevent the vomiting. We will enjoy this solution as long as we can!<br />
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We had a wonderful and fairly quiet (considering, lol) Christmas at home, with Grandma J spending several days with us. What a joy and a blessing to be together to remember the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and KING!<br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-37414442483420506092017-12-26T19:01:00.000-05:002017-12-26T19:01:20.792-05:00Summer BirthdaysRhema turned 2 on July 15! This was the day we woke up in Colorado for the first time calling it HOME! We stayed with Grandma J the first few nights, then drove to the Springs to prepare to move into our new house. Grandma got an ice cream cake, which Rhema heartily enjoyed.<br />
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We have two birthday boys in August: Seanin turned 4 on August 14, and Zaden turned 6 on August 24. We had a joint birthday party at the Focus on the Family birthday party room with some new friends we met through mutual friends who live in Texas. Wendi is a kindred spirit, and I know she and I will get together often! With 7 kids of their own, the B family also homeschools and has much in common with us. We are grateful to have been connected so soon after both of our families moved to the Springs. Charis made the minion cake, which the boys requested!<br />
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On August 28, Verity turned 6 months old! We celebrated her 1/2 birthday with a half cake, also made with love by Charis. Verity is writing her own special story, as her cake reflects.<br />
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And since she wasn't thrilled in the above photo, here is a happier shot!<br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-81003264988049889072017-10-15T17:58:00.001-04:002017-10-15T17:59:36.093-04:00August 2017This month was a blur of unpacking, organizing, chiropractor appointments (my back slowly getting better), and settling into our new house, new church, new job, new routine. We were blessed with visitors, getting to host our Iowa pastor and his wife, Jon and Jackie, for dinner one evening and Rijente and Shauna and their family, friends from Italy, for several days as they road-tripped back to Washington state. What a joy to fellowship with these dear friends!<br />
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We started homeschooling VERY lightly...mostly we got Charis and Tobin set up in a homeschool co-op, allowing them to have Chemistry (Charis) and Biology (Tobin) with labs in a classroom setting. Tobin is also taking German 1. I am grateful that Charis can drive the two of them each Wednesday morning and that they are getting good instruction that I simply can't provide in these subjects!<br />
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We ended the month <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/2017/09/hello-from-picu.html">in the hospital</a>, unfortunately...but thankfully it was only a two-night stay and Verity returned home and recovered well from a UTI we didn't even know she had. Our battles with reflux continued into September, but the hospital visit was the first in a series of much-needed steps to help us find some new solutions to that issue.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zaden and Lucan made themselves at home on the back deck<br />
with some favorite books after they were unpacked!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting with Jon & Jackie...<br />
Seanin clearly missed his pals from Common Ground Ministries!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bible Bee "Proclaim Day" was a beautiful celebration at the end of a summer<br />
studying about God our Creator (Genesis 1-3).</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shauna's visit was such a boost to my spirits!<br />
I am grateful for her and her friendship and influence in my life.</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-1244872134838497782017-10-15T17:44:00.001-04:002017-10-15T17:44:41.614-04:00Moving & MountainsA fairly brief rundown of July 2017...<br />
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On July 14, it was time to say goodbye to Iowa/Nebraska, our home of two years, and head west to Colorado Springs for Ted's 10th assignment with the Air Force! We were overjoyed to move "home," since Ted grew up in Denver, and living near mountains has always been a dream of ours. We don't know what God has in our future, but at this point we are hoping we have made our last major move--the house we are in now is nice but definitely a rental as opposed to a "forever home," but hopefully we can stay in this area. This move definitely was the hardest yet: emotionally, physically, mentally...moving with <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-long-overdue-update.html">our special needs girl</a> made things more difficult than usual, and even now in October, I am still doing paperwork and getting Verity to appointments that we had hoped to have completed long ago.<br />
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But...mountains. :-) We are blessed with an incredible view of the Rockies and the Air Force Academy. It's hard to believe we attended Ted's graduation ceremony there over 20 years ago! Who would have thought we'd be back here two decades later with 9 children in tow?!<br />
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Soon after we arrived, my back went out again--the worst episode I've ever had, and I've had some doozies. God tenderly provided through a friend of mine (Glory) from Iowa who had some connections in the Springs: families brought us meals for 2 weeks straight after we moved into our new house and had boxes everywhere! We are now (nearly) members of the church which most of those families attend, and we count many of them as dear friends whom we are getting to know as we fellowship and worship together.<br />
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I began a close relationship with a new chiropractor system, lol, and now our whole family goes regularly for adjustments. My treatment plan is intense, but I am making quick progress and am hopeful that not only might I avoid these episodes in the future, but perhaps I may even be able to try running again, a therapy I truly miss.<br />
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Charis remained in Iowa a couple of weeks after we drove away so that she could attend camp. It was bittersweet for her, I'm sure...so wonderful to spend extra quality time with dear friends, and so hard to say final goodbyes. Thanks to the wonders of social media and her new phone, she stays in touch much more easily than I did as a teenager plucked from Dallas, Texas, and replanted in rural Wisconsin! She flew to Denver at the end of July. We certainly missed her and were happy to have our family back together again.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seanin enjoys the view from our back deck</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first meal in the new dining room</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We love our sun room!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitchen...functional and CLEAN! (Rare, lol)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Verity on her 5-month birthday (July 28)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First family movie night in the new house (my office is through the door to the right; the fireplace is on both sides!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Verity on Daddy's shoulder at our new church</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-63949756316661420652017-07-11T18:34:00.000-04:002017-07-11T18:46:05.849-04:00Catching Up...?!Goodness. I last posted in this family blog around Christmastime! So much has happened since then, I am tempted to throw up my hands and continue to ignore this blog! But my Facebook "See Your Memories" often provides me with links to the past, and I love reading over blog posts about our family from years back. So...I press on...in hopes that someday I can get to the point where I can post quick little nuggets here and there instead of feeling MONTHS behind.<br />
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Most of my updating energy is spent on <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/">Verity's blog</a>. It is so crazy to me to think that a year ago, Ted and I were sitting on a secret: we were expecting Baby Number Nine. As you can imagine, we weren't terribly eager to start shouting the news. We get enough comments about our family size as it is, thankyouverymuch. Receiving Verity's Trisomy 18 diagnosis in late September was followed by a fall and winter of wrestling, reading, and researching this condition we had never heard of prior to September 22, 2016.<br />
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Somehow we muddled through school days and a myriad of appointments. Now that we are into July, we can safely say we are "done" with our homeschool year, but the truth is...it's all a blur. I have no idea what we studied or learned. I do know that Zaden learned to read! I've now taught 6 kids how to read! So that's definitely a plus. I always love it when the kids start reading books on their own, and I have found Zaden many times with his own book, curled on a chair or hanging upside down off a couch reading to himself. Aaaahhh. We must be doing SOMETHING right.<br />
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Verity arrived at the end of February, and the last 4 months have been a total whirlwind. So. Many. Appointments. Most of the happenings with her are chronicled on her blog, so I won't go over them here. I'm racking my brain for other family happenings...I think I will reach into my phone camera files and see what we can come up with!<br />
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Here's a whirlwind view of the past 6 months or so...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">After taking the PSAT last fall, Charis is on the college radar!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Kenna decided to publicly declare her faith in Christ and was baptized by our local pastor.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DJzcAHKfz7k/WWAGutvDX4I/AAAAAAAAHJQ/M0cMxtTuSr4DArYWcdQCz2RBFI7dOVmYACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DJzcAHKfz7k/WWAGutvDX4I/AAAAAAAAHJQ/M0cMxtTuSr4DArYWcdQCz2RBFI7dOVmYACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7489.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Rhema managed to keep us on our toes and did her best to do whatever her big siblings were doing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OqZkQcHWv08/WWAGxAscLbI/AAAAAAAAHJU/J8R58xaDsR8YdyJF5rlWMKy-eveSm0F4gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OqZkQcHWv08/WWAGxAscLbI/AAAAAAAAHJU/J8R58xaDsR8YdyJF5rlWMKy-eveSm0F4gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7496.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">No tooth fairy visits our house. Kids just bring me their teeth and I hand over the dollar bill...<br />
then chuck the tooth when they aren't looking.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y5Tsmq6k2S4/WWAG3CG0xbI/AAAAAAAAHJg/lneLiOXBR4wPUDlc0Dz8YofF22RE6q6mQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y5Tsmq6k2S4/WWAG3CG0xbI/AAAAAAAAHJg/lneLiOXBR4wPUDlc0Dz8YofF22RE6q6mQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7511.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Grandma J moved into our basement at the end of January and stayed with us several months. It was such a blessing to have her with us to just do life together! She took over the math teaching for all levels <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">(Rhema is in pre-calc, lol), </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">which was SUCH a blessing for me AND the kids!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uSaS5n-p3hU/WWAGzQHkegI/AAAAAAAAHJY/378c4CbjpkgMrS1jcZWGB_-rAX_j-BgfgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uSaS5n-p3hU/WWAGzQHkegI/AAAAAAAAHJY/378c4CbjpkgMrS1jcZWGB_-rAX_j-BgfgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7556.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Charis got more and more musical experience, playing violin with the worship team.<br />
Ted played guitar many Sundays as well.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-23YEMIlTFyo/WWAG2nT85UI/AAAAAAAAHJc/GdMkVBQtjgwIaVNF5oTgFQ6ldEdulnAjACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-23YEMIlTFyo/WWAG2nT85UI/AAAAAAAAHJc/GdMkVBQtjgwIaVNF5oTgFQ6ldEdulnAjACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7569.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">During the winter months, Ted and the kids read through the first two books in the Green Ember series. I confess I got lost, since I went into labor toward the end of book 1 (and had fallen asleep during many of the earlier readings anyway, lol).<br />
But I hear the books were very good and they can't wait to read book 3!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-70Pz-TCCDss/WWAG8DlO3jI/AAAAAAAAHJk/lUcluQG8DOkLmHidCs-BF9wdUdnzi6-JgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-70Pz-TCCDss/WWAG8DlO3jI/AAAAAAAAHJk/lUcluQG8DOkLmHidCs-BF9wdUdnzi6-JgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7577.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Arden kept his status as the Sibling Most Fun to Play With on the Couch...there were many games of airplane and all kinds of (ahem) gymnastics...which probably contributed greatly to the current (much-declined) condition of the couch...</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6anlHBaEJhU/WWAHDcHdELI/AAAAAAAAHJs/tC2fkHFAW94HM7dplKq2b9FVQMpvYu3kwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6anlHBaEJhU/WWAHDcHdELI/AAAAAAAAHJs/tC2fkHFAW94HM7dplKq2b9FVQMpvYu3kwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7595.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Kenna turned 10 on February 27 and got her ears pierced the week before!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RXQ7-FVtnGI/WWAG_hkNBbI/AAAAAAAAHJo/U4rz4rRZO_8B8zGvODSVbTvYAxChSTD4ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RXQ7-FVtnGI/WWAG_hkNBbI/AAAAAAAAHJo/U4rz4rRZO_8B8zGvODSVbTvYAxChSTD4ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7600.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Family party for Kenna! We celebrated a bit early...JUST in case...Verity did kindly wait until the day<br />
after Kenna's birthday to make her appearance into the world!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6xudvqQ9wDk/WWAHOlAetII/AAAAAAAAHJ0/RG3Qf6y6jIIaVMliN7V9mG3IdjoSZ7d1wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6xudvqQ9wDk/WWAHOlAetII/AAAAAAAAHJ0/RG3Qf6y6jIIaVMliN7V9mG3IdjoSZ7d1wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7611.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">We took advantage of a good-weather day to get a break from winter!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hk2SdEj9RcU/WWAHJSAr-KI/AAAAAAAAHJw/lv9gE5nyjMQ4NhR2tYlqyaglQq2uoS7qwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hk2SdEj9RcU/WWAHJSAr-KI/AAAAAAAAHJw/lv9gE5nyjMQ4NhR2tYlqyaglQq2uoS7qwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7644.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Seanin's "preschool" year has been a rousing success, as demonstrated here by his amazing artwork! Can you tell we celebrated multiple birthdays in a short time?! Charis was kept busy making a lot of cakes! Photos aren't posted here, but we celebrated LOTS of birthdays: Grandma Rhonda (2/6); Kenna (2/27); Grandma Irene (3/19) Ted (3/22); Lucan (3/27); and Tobin (4/13).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8-BATumn5pM/WWAHPTcErTI/AAAAAAAAHJ4/r5BaVxvM3rI_p37qgiRsoEitUG0rJvo6ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8-BATumn5pM/WWAHPTcErTI/AAAAAAAAHJ4/r5BaVxvM3rI_p37qgiRsoEitUG0rJvo6ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7645.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Hey! Evidence that we DID actually do some structured schooling!!<br />
Two boys work on writing letters while Lucan does a language arts page. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PnYKVjHVCMk/WWAHRZmqX-I/AAAAAAAAHJ8/3w_9kk9dEu4C1l6lD0xjTU_2LQtGR23-gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7646.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PnYKVjHVCMk/WWAHRZmqX-I/AAAAAAAAHJ8/3w_9kk9dEu4C1l6lD0xjTU_2LQtGR23-gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7646.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Kenna did most of her schoolwork independently this year. I cannot tell you how often I THANKED<br />
the Lord for making Kenna so...independent, lol. That was NOT a prayer I prayed when she was<br />
two, three, or four years old, ha!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8eG-D2yFpoE/WWVEEsPC1XI/AAAAAAAAHKQ/0tTb5C0vvi4RiSG-TXq-fbfmzs6-pOwlACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8667%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8eG-D2yFpoE/WWVEEsPC1XI/AAAAAAAAHKQ/0tTb5C0vvi4RiSG-TXq-fbfmzs6-pOwlACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8667%255B1%255D.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">NCFCA Tournament Season! Charis competed in several regional speech competitions (Kansas City, Lincoln, and Omaha), qualifying for the Regional Competition at the end of April. Tobin and his debate partner competed in two competitions (Lincoln and Omaha), and while they did not qualify, it was a HUGE benefit for them both--they improved by leaps and bounds and did amazingly well for novices!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AKNqAlz3WKU/WWVFo5mZ5sI/AAAAAAAAHKY/k4PqP7wGNN04wWcMdBjXfmxKRrgUQDE9wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AKNqAlz3WKU/WWVFo5mZ5sI/AAAAAAAAHKY/k4PqP7wGNN04wWcMdBjXfmxKRrgUQDE9wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8002.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Verity joined our family 2/28/17 and was dedicated to the Lord at our church three weeks later.<br />
(For birth photos and details, please visit <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/">her blog</a>.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tSVdddq4-Z4/WWVF0YqAZLI/AAAAAAAAHKc/UnOGu0heuc0Xfo0JUWF9LHHET50-kNr1ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tSVdddq4-Z4/WWVF0YqAZLI/AAAAAAAAHKc/UnOGu0heuc0Xfo0JUWF9LHHET50-kNr1ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">My mom arrived to help after Verity and I moved home from the NICU. For a short while, we had TWO GRANDMAS in the house! The kids were in heaven! We loved getting to share so much time together, especially since Ted and I were in the no-sleep fog that goes along with a newborn...that hasn't really disappeared, actually...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LJ2H2aKiw-M/WWVF0hsSGHI/AAAAAAAAHKg/uVh_sd0lnzI_aXWkacHrcjj-DmO8h4Q7ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LJ2H2aKiw-M/WWVF0hsSGHI/AAAAAAAAHKg/uVh_sd0lnzI_aXWkacHrcjj-DmO8h4Q7ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8062.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">As our assignment was finalized and we pinpointed a date for our move, the landlords began showing the house. Eeeek! They were so gracious to tell us "Don't worry about cleaning," but...we wanted to do our best for them! I at least made sure the kitchen looked AMAZING whenever we left before a showing! Thankfully another large family (7 kids) signed a rental agreement before too long, so we could stop worrying about cleaning up, lol.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GR6qQGjv01M/WWVF1KeCZhI/AAAAAAAAHKk/Clsu_e-6Qyovy-TK7nINFAu0230Jvos0ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GR6qQGjv01M/WWVF1KeCZhI/AAAAAAAAHKk/Clsu_e-6Qyovy-TK7nINFAu0230Jvos0ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8064.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">I have no idea what was happening around this photo...I think it was a Sunday given the dress Verity is wearing...<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">but clearly she does not lack for admirers!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9FuJ3LeVGBU/WWVF82pl7CI/AAAAAAAAHKw/fzmjyGhBrGwgCsjb7hL8W1UfFo3FkEEKACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9FuJ3LeVGBU/WWVF82pl7CI/AAAAAAAAHKw/fzmjyGhBrGwgCsjb7hL8W1UfFo3FkEEKACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8069.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tobin and Verity forged a sweet bond! I love walking into a room and<br />
finding him tenderly holding his baby sister.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JkNnF5UMNyo/WWVGDbs928I/AAAAAAAAHLA/mfbV7RJUFqEarCI9Yeimd6nbKwg1K0b5wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JkNnF5UMNyo/WWVGDbs928I/AAAAAAAAHLA/mfbV7RJUFqEarCI9Yeimd6nbKwg1K0b5wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8107.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">We got to share Easter Sunday with my mom;<br />
she drove home the day after, and we were sad to see her go.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fpj-zDh55zg/WWVF4CwxOmI/AAAAAAAAHKo/0xbAC8B4WhY356qPE4WXCL7_thhbxiioQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fpj-zDh55zg/WWVF4CwxOmI/AAAAAAAAHKo/0xbAC8B4WhY356qPE4WXCL7_thhbxiioQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8119.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Verity had her first surgery, a tenotomy to lengthen her Achilles tendons,<br />
a procedure that went along with her clubfoot treatment. (You can read more about this <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/2017/04/heart-and-heels.html">here</a>.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9MwFkFTzN34/WWVF68VxIWI/AAAAAAAAHKs/XqU7K6jqRMUrzYL7t9T1zueW1kZ7rHPEgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9MwFkFTzN34/WWVF68VxIWI/AAAAAAAAHKs/XqU7K6jqRMUrzYL7t9T1zueW1kZ7rHPEgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8134.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Reading continued to be a part of our family life, even though we no longer sit down as a WHOLE family to do read-aloud time. (And clearly we lose a parent to sleep deprivation from time to time...Ted is passed out behind Zaden here...)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3PSbWo1eSPk/WWVGDJPzYhI/AAAAAAAAHK8/vldMscD1qhggFPPDPF5nLX_LMwlZttWmwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3PSbWo1eSPk/WWVGDJPzYhI/AAAAAAAAHK8/vldMscD1qhggFPPDPF5nLX_LMwlZttWmwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8173.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">I had the opportunity to accompany Charis to the Regional competition, at which she placed<br />
2nd in Apologetics and qualified to compete in the National Finals! She did decline the invitation to compete, <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">however, choosing instead to go on a mission trip.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2VTgnyO5xA/WWVGALhBD9I/AAAAAAAAHK0/yHBHBqw3RBQBjALd5QWZVeYblH3WnyB6QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2VTgnyO5xA/WWVGALhBD9I/AAAAAAAAHK0/yHBHBqw3RBQBjALd5QWZVeYblH3WnyB6QCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8185.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Verity's 2nd surgery: a g-tube placement, which allowed us to say a hearty GOODBYE and GOOD RIDDANCE to the NG tube she had had since birth. You can read about this <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/2017/04/gi-scope-g-tube-surgery.html">here </a>and <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/2017/05/g-tube-surgery-success.html">here</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3bbjKBlwdE/WWVGCa_NxoI/AAAAAAAAHK4/EQLR6ebsvqcRozn2OPJTWIV0B-sH_N0awCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3bbjKBlwdE/WWVGCa_NxoI/AAAAAAAAHK4/EQLR6ebsvqcRozn2OPJTWIV0B-sH_N0awCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8199.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Shown here is Arden, but BOTH of my teen boys are taller than I!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7FqWU0BEFA/WWVGNPMUv3I/AAAAAAAAHLM/zU6yBqadnD02Wo5PNO6H4yHAwfnCnTooACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7FqWU0BEFA/WWVGNPMUv3I/AAAAAAAAHLM/zU6yBqadnD02Wo5PNO6H4yHAwfnCnTooACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8201.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Spring arrived finally, and I took comfort in the fact that library books keep my kids engaged and learning despite my utter lack of energy or organization during this insane season of appointments for and sleepless nights with Verity.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ij5U7zAbGmY/WWVGLx1eEYI/AAAAAAAAHLI/X-4tBw1rdvIotuJT9jIlbbn_IMYWG3JsACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ij5U7zAbGmY/WWVGLx1eEYI/AAAAAAAAHLI/X-4tBw1rdvIotuJT9jIlbbn_IMYWG3JsACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8235.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">You can see the feeding tube to the left of the photo...dinner is in the crockpot, Verity is getting a tube feeding, Rhema has planted herself firmly on my lap, and we are all listening to Zaden showing off his new reading skills.<br />
Slice of life, spring 2017.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LPosKUoRd4Q/WWVGJpYovbI/AAAAAAAAHLE/ROjQuVFMKWEjuKUz719ypq3l83P0eV6xwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LPosKUoRd4Q/WWVGJpYovbI/AAAAAAAAHLE/ROjQuVFMKWEjuKUz719ypq3l83P0eV6xwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8281.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mother's Day 2017. I am a mother of nine. </td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3icvkFQP04E/WWVGRlyDldI/AAAAAAAAHLQ/hW3JE-IrQiIg87vbVhTpXzDblxfaHfSfwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3icvkFQP04E/WWVGRlyDldI/AAAAAAAAHLQ/hW3JE-IrQiIg87vbVhTpXzDblxfaHfSfwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8286.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Occasionally Rhema lets someone besides Mommy hold her!<br />
She is shown here with her beloved Blankie and "Woof Woof," the purple bear who unfortunately<br />
entered Rhema's life at a time when anything with fur was thought to be of the canine variety.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8yVHHQmO-qw/WWVGZrriFTI/AAAAAAAAHLY/PogU3HWfmN04oXVn3I8XCcYBP4c3Ur9nACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8yVHHQmO-qw/WWVGZrriFTI/AAAAAAAAHLY/PogU3HWfmN04oXVn3I8XCcYBP4c3Ur9nACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8310.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Zaden is reading aloud while Seanin listens in. I LOVE this stage!!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IuBqLikDsM0/WWVGXLnEHvI/AAAAAAAAHLU/1mLuhO2GEhYh92J3toWCJm34GQoTeqc2QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IuBqLikDsM0/WWVGXLnEHvI/AAAAAAAAHLU/1mLuhO2GEhYh92J3toWCJm34GQoTeqc2QCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8312.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Oh, my heart!!!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MCwONieluk4/WWVGauJV4VI/AAAAAAAAHLc/UOpOHcQr2gI1rG9Yp4ViaDb6_O44EeSGQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MCwONieluk4/WWVGauJV4VI/AAAAAAAAHLc/UOpOHcQr2gI1rG9Yp4ViaDb6_O44EeSGQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8338.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Verity graduated to boots and bar from her casts and began taking a TINY bit of milk by bottle. We thank God for the ability to tube feed our girl; she would not be alive otherwise. She likes to suck, she has a decently strong suck, and there is nothing hindering her from swallowing--but somehow she just isn't strong enough to suck the amount she needs. We continue to try oral feedings and pray that someday she will graduate from the tube.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zy7JjZ4DLic/WWVGcl_6GZI/AAAAAAAAHLg/BjVhlXcDxAEffQWQ9hbsPEq63ChrztgJACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zy7JjZ4DLic/WWVGcl_6GZI/AAAAAAAAHLg/BjVhlXcDxAEffQWQ9hbsPEq63ChrztgJACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8374.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Memorial Day weekend: Ted and 4 of our kids went to Colorado for a house-hunting trip,<br />
and my friend Mimi came to hang out with the rest of our family!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jhrJ8haiySg/WWVPJSN5dtI/AAAAAAAAHL8/IYMLuA5Z70g7u8jp6VnW6z9l5sFASP8jQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_8576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jhrJ8haiySg/WWVPJSN5dtI/AAAAAAAAHL8/IYMLuA5Z70g7u8jp6VnW6z9l5sFASP8jQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8576.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">We got to enjoy a week-long visit with some great friends we met in Italy! They now live in WA and drove out to meet little Verity and hang out with us for awhile. Carla also stocked our freezer with meals!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">June 28, 2017: We celebrated 20 years of wedded bliss! Also, this date was the Change of Command ceremony...Ted is no longer a squadron command! After the celebration, Ted and I got away for about 20 hours. ;-)</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G8OuynUFHoQ/WWVLfghFrBI/AAAAAAAAHLw/qQAuc6MIUZMfrHG12GeT-xlo2NivE4VtwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0067%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G8OuynUFHoQ/WWVLfghFrBI/AAAAAAAAHLw/qQAuc6MIUZMfrHG12GeT-xlo2NivE4VtwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0067%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">And...happening today...the final stages of our moving-out process. Somehow June passed in the blink of an eye and here we are, in the thick of the PCS (permanent change of station) mess. But the hard part is behind us...we are living in transition, in a hotel for about a week, and then to Denver to Ted's Mom's for the weekend, before we officially check in and get the keys to our new rental in Colorado Springs. Nebraska/Iowa has been good to us! We will miss the wonderful people we have met here but look forward to what God has for us next.</td></tr>
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Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-38413535538030999062017-02-04T16:16:00.003-05:002017-02-04T16:16:38.963-05:00Christmas 2016Christmas celebrations in our neck of the woods...we had a fairly quiet Christmas Day celebration with just our family. I had spent the majority of Christmas Eve in the ER with leg pain that we learned was caused by superficial blood clots (thankfully not deep-vein thrombosis). I missed hearing Charis play violin at our church's Christmas Eve service but arrived in time for the sermon, and Ted took a video for me! She did a great job. The winter recital had been a couple of weeks earlier, but this was her first time to play in church.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zw8L0X05E8/WJY761NUOOI/AAAAAAAAG5A/UaiNMWWbgmcNOPriVb3j_Ta7yUDGGCGvACLcB/s1600/IMG_7342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zw8L0X05E8/WJY761NUOOI/AAAAAAAAG5A/UaiNMWWbgmcNOPriVb3j_Ta7yUDGGCGvACLcB/s320/IMG_7342.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas music recital; Charis with Michelle, our teacher<br />Taking piano lessons these days: Charis, Kenna, Lucan<br />Violin: Charis</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pBJ03Og5wi4/WJY79K4KFvI/AAAAAAAAG5E/MJplV2AwLwQ3s3_b-ZMErpm3jE1AvU8ggCLcB/s1600/IMG_7354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pBJ03Og5wi4/WJY79K4KFvI/AAAAAAAAG5E/MJplV2AwLwQ3s3_b-ZMErpm3jE1AvU8ggCLcB/s320/IMG_7354.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roll-out cookie dough! I have lots of eager helpers!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E06FDvyRz2g/WJY79CrYljI/AAAAAAAAG5I/88DHvumQ70wYaqxrmOI0d71ZDmagbY37QCLcB/s1600/IMG_7358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E06FDvyRz2g/WJY79CrYljI/AAAAAAAAG5I/88DHvumQ70wYaqxrmOI0d71ZDmagbY37QCLcB/s320/IMG_7358.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decorating frenzy begins...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WazgIL6uOv4/WJY8PBmd-BI/AAAAAAAAG5M/OvbSsUJ7Z78cNeLTaaPYURSahH-Jn39wgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WazgIL6uOv4/WJY8PBmd-BI/AAAAAAAAG5M/OvbSsUJ7Z78cNeLTaaPYURSahH-Jn39wgCLcB/s320/IMG_7359.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...along with a lot of tasting.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-napHPXjtMBY/WJY8TaUfzXI/AAAAAAAAG5U/_mmT2Yq-ACAJcCbye9IgtiNmgq9oATt-gCLcB/s1600/IMG_7361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-napHPXjtMBY/WJY8TaUfzXI/AAAAAAAAG5U/_mmT2Yq-ACAJcCbye9IgtiNmgq9oATt-gCLcB/s320/IMG_7361.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yay! Sugar!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpthBhTxbDM/WJY8Tf0n8JI/AAAAAAAAG5Q/SnKIsuGfWRkD4ypSkxXbn0oziN5MRa2TQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpthBhTxbDM/WJY8Tf0n8JI/AAAAAAAAG5Q/SnKIsuGfWRkD4ypSkxXbn0oziN5MRa2TQCLcB/s320/IMG_7381.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One Sunday morning the girls discovered they were matching by accident!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IoJ_SJ0jtqk/WJY8fJRVcoI/AAAAAAAAG5Y/_O1DrICvfAI5vxjDTaqnCjIRnyxc5vhmQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IoJ_SJ0jtqk/WJY8fJRVcoI/AAAAAAAAG5Y/_O1DrICvfAI5vxjDTaqnCjIRnyxc5vhmQCLcB/s320/IMG_7388.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caroling at the nursing home with our church family</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TSMmoyThjz0/WJY8h3Bc2tI/AAAAAAAAG5c/jh12vdgJKRkXYIL6C4GCCEsIibW56nFVgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TSMmoyThjz0/WJY8h3Bc2tI/AAAAAAAAG5c/jh12vdgJKRkXYIL6C4GCCEsIibW56nFVgCLcB/s320/IMG_7401.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas morning...stockings are hung by the fire with care.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SIDPtq9t2_8/WJY8h14PlvI/AAAAAAAAG5g/ciJ2rrdaR-gd9V6sZLIbzPdZxCy5wvKPgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SIDPtq9t2_8/WJY8h14PlvI/AAAAAAAAG5g/ciJ2rrdaR-gd9V6sZLIbzPdZxCy5wvKPgCLcB/s320/IMG_7404.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast before church...homemade cinnamon rolls with scrambled eggs and sausage. <br />We put candles in the rolls and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0-_9JTa46Wc/WJY8kFcMmRI/AAAAAAAAG5k/25og7G3E794jJdWKs3b0hTI2ZVMQk8ZDACLcB/s1600/IMG_7417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0-_9JTa46Wc/WJY8kFcMmRI/AAAAAAAAG5k/25og7G3E794jJdWKs3b0hTI2ZVMQk8ZDACLcB/s320/IMG_7417.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Verity and I say, "Merry Christmas!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advent Book...we read this after we got Rhema down for her nap. <br />(We only did stockings before church; everything else waited until the afternoon.)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0KpjFqHm0kU/WJY8sElFqOI/AAAAAAAAG5o/p-VXZ4VLyh0DhiRJtoNsrFjqIRjhiG5_QCLcB/s1600/IMG_7427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0KpjFqHm0kU/WJY8sElFqOI/AAAAAAAAG5o/p-VXZ4VLyh0DhiRJtoNsrFjqIRjhiG5_QCLcB/s320/IMG_7427.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Star Wars blankets and buddies!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis did a couple of special handmade gifts this year,<br />including these darling Minion mittens...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gx9saY2_R1E/WJY87lyoXlI/AAAAAAAAG54/W4b-gG6RpVoaJ_Kp7B_Vs2mcE_c6WoBfACLcB/s1600/IMG_7442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gx9saY2_R1E/WJY87lyoXlI/AAAAAAAAG54/W4b-gG6RpVoaJ_Kp7B_Vs2mcE_c6WoBfACLcB/s320/IMG_7442.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...AND this AMAZING blanket for Verity!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas Dinner! Kids helped a lot with the side dishes: Kenna made mac'n'cheese; <br />Tobin put together the cheesy potato casserole. Ham and squash bake completed our meal.</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-1355664516638252342017-01-08T09:17:00.000-05:002017-01-08T09:17:00.438-05:00Thanksgiving 2016A peek at our low-key Thanksgiving at home. We were blessed to have my parents spend the week with us. After traveling to San Antonio and back the week prior, we didn't have much time or energy for fancy stuff, but we enjoyed a wonderful meal and quiet time together as a family. (We will pass over the sad fact that Ted learned the hard way to wash past his wrists after preparing a raw turkey...thank the Lord for our Young Living DiGize oil which helped him recover in time for a birthday date over the weekend!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Following our friend Shauna's instructions, we prepared our first-ever (but definitely not the last) turkey-in-a-paper-bag! Sooooo easy, and sooooooo incredibly yummy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JO76wpUKDrM/WHJFhk4GZHI/AAAAAAAAG24/IjmrTJw1qiYBS6rHOTuX76z7vXG3wCl0ACLcB/s1600/IMG_7252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JO76wpUKDrM/WHJFhk4GZHI/AAAAAAAAG24/IjmrTJw1qiYBS6rHOTuX76z7vXG3wCl0ACLcB/s320/IMG_7252.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oops...accidentally picked one of the blurry shots of us...perhaps someday I'll go back and upload a different one, ha!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZbtKupIA0Q/WHJFYwwEBsI/AAAAAAAAG20/XEQ57o5f63cF7oa-jgBe8v3s4BDbOC7NwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZbtKupIA0Q/WHJFYwwEBsI/AAAAAAAAG20/XEQ57o5f63cF7oa-jgBe8v3s4BDbOC7NwCLcB/s320/IMG_7258.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My little turkey!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pkqzUytwe3U/WHJFlnRmlwI/AAAAAAAAG3A/HM4hdUJvnx4EJ8drQJUGqpbIUlAUvVClACLcB/s1600/IMG_7262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pkqzUytwe3U/WHJFlnRmlwI/AAAAAAAAG3A/HM4hdUJvnx4EJ8drQJUGqpbIUlAUvVClACLcB/s320/IMG_7262.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ted calls drumstick!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKt_mNG2LYQ/WHJFsT5zd3I/AAAAAAAAG3E/BoyfWkX6zcg4laDgchD2IQWm-OfbRRgLACLcB/s1600/IMG_7263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKt_mNG2LYQ/WHJFsT5zd3I/AAAAAAAAG3E/BoyfWkX6zcg4laDgchD2IQWm-OfbRRgLACLcB/s320/IMG_7263.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandma makes her famous turkey gravy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-44sGFomvZOE/WHJFzHyQqWI/AAAAAAAAG3I/3mUXz9Wl4zE738NMSBwhZeECKATGyHRSQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-44sGFomvZOE/WHJFzHyQqWI/AAAAAAAAG3I/3mUXz9Wl4zE738NMSBwhZeECKATGyHRSQCLcB/s320/IMG_7264.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zaden rests while Grandpa naps!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0OQbJLnPRl8/WHJFzqRpzFI/AAAAAAAAG3M/ex-EiXAmzIoHqyfYpTEimH0KguEaHBpAgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0OQbJLnPRl8/WHJFzqRpzFI/AAAAAAAAG3M/ex-EiXAmzIoHqyfYpTEimH0KguEaHBpAgCLcB/s320/IMG_7269.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is us!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2eFichIF4-c/WHJF4E9h03I/AAAAAAAAG3Q/D4Lnqz88TZsB2t7MpXU32p80fKGfCd6MwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2eFichIF4-c/WHJF4E9h03I/AAAAAAAAG3Q/D4Lnqz88TZsB2t7MpXU32p80fKGfCd6MwCLcB/s320/IMG_7271.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ted normally isn't a huge turkey fan, but this...this was incredible!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlQ45Pu8Fo4/WHJF699g8UI/AAAAAAAAG3U/tYqgmDaFkvgx64MGwhEGV4GFleRVKzTiQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlQ45Pu8Fo4/WHJF699g8UI/AAAAAAAAG3U/tYqgmDaFkvgx64MGwhEGV4GFleRVKzTiQCLcB/s320/IMG_7275.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girls are chilling...waiting for food to settle so we can enjoy dessert!<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9iJseGxY7Hs/WHJJQK5PolI/AAAAAAAAG3c/D8P-V4LDWgs3FQ4UC-gOKAg4e8OC2D0zQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9iJseGxY7Hs/WHJJQK5PolI/AAAAAAAAG3c/D8P-V4LDWgs3FQ4UC-gOKAg4e8OC2D0zQCLcB/s320/IMG_7287.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My birthday date--the Omaha symphony playing the soundtrack of Raiders of the Lost Ark live while we watched the movie on the big screen! So incredibly fun!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-km-Kz4AciVI/WHJJUKH3f3I/AAAAAAAAG3g/Poeepx1p1ioIKms2nflYBAA5hTQM9UuWgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-km-Kz4AciVI/WHJJUKH3f3I/AAAAAAAAG3g/Poeepx1p1ioIKms2nflYBAA5hTQM9UuWgCLcB/s320/IMG_7288.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I loved watching the musicians and picking out which instruments were playing during the various parts of the movie. We could see the visual cues for the conductor to keep all of the timing spot on.</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-78312052940112522702017-01-08T08:53:00.001-05:002017-01-08T08:53:32.172-05:00National Bible BeeThis was the 3rd year in a row that Charis qualified to compete in the National Bible Bee Competition, held this year in San Antonio, Texas. There was some angst related to the decision of attending, as she felt rather overwhelmed with her other school activities (which include a competitive speech class with apologetics emphasis). But after much prayer and discussion, she decided it would be worth making the trip.<br />
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So, the week before Thanksgiving, we packed up our family of 10, stuffed the van to the gills, and made the day-and-a-half trip to San Antonio, stopping at my friend Karen's house in the Dallas area for the night. We spent 4 nights in the hotel, where the kids took complete advantage of the warm weather to enjoy the water park during our free time. Between that and the Family Fun Area set up, it truly was a vacation of sorts! Charis was much more relaxed this year, having resigned herself to not being as fully prepared as she would have wished, but we are of course still so proud of her for her time and efforts spent studying God's Word.<br />
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Like last year, we met up with a number of friends in the area throughout the week, including one family whom we had gotten to know as newlyweds during our first duty station in San Angelo, Texas, from 1997-1998! We've had all our kids since moving away from there, obviously, so it was fun to meet each other's kids in person for the first time. One of their sons qualified for Nationals as well, so that's how we all happened to meet up!<br />
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It was a good time of spiritual refreshment and fellowship, plus time to make family memories and set aside some of the current confusion and stress associated with <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/2016/10/results.html">Verity's diagnosis</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R6CgDna6g34/WHFqfGZ5eRI/AAAAAAAAG2E/JKxYItLvD705BTf_wuMwhEN-LBVSmTdDwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R6CgDna6g34/WHFqfGZ5eRI/AAAAAAAAG2E/JKxYItLvD705BTf_wuMwhEN-LBVSmTdDwCLcB/s320/IMG_7207.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seanin was delighted with the fountains!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hgAPeH86xLI/WHFqx79YBCI/AAAAAAAAG2Q/vMtgdz3a4DkElBs833m4o9Wxt1taV-HKgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hgAPeH86xLI/WHFqx79YBCI/AAAAAAAAG2Q/vMtgdz3a4DkElBs833m4o9Wxt1taV-HKgCLcB/s320/IMG_7209.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhema, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with water!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P7d_CpxpxjY/WHFqhUcswdI/AAAAAAAAG2I/amiUJetY_g4E_jISIAhkMzXunLPKC_9SgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P7d_CpxpxjY/WHFqhUcswdI/AAAAAAAAG2I/amiUJetY_g4E_jISIAhkMzXunLPKC_9SgCLcB/s320/IMG_7213.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis (3rd from right) and the girls in her oral round session.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XYzngHT3tqc/WHFquTkoqJI/AAAAAAAAG2M/94sbuX0M8BYak-gRllkjsfpTDrKcm0xkACLcB/s1600/IMG_7221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XYzngHT3tqc/WHFquTkoqJI/AAAAAAAAG2M/94sbuX0M8BYak-gRllkjsfpTDrKcm0xkACLcB/s320/IMG_7221.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis on stage (not that you can see her, lol, but you can see her<br />photo on the big screen--the middle one!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--rSIIJCoilw/WHFqz31_CgI/AAAAAAAAG2U/pnPy8noXjL8qLRDk1yqj3eEqrGJnbROigCLcB/s1600/IMG_7224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--rSIIJCoilw/WHFqz31_CgI/AAAAAAAAG2U/pnPy8noXjL8qLRDk1yqj3eEqrGJnbROigCLcB/s320/IMG_7224.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole family!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y4uEdWUGaK8/WHFq6AjaSyI/AAAAAAAAG2Y/92_qTZULwLkkKQmWh9zYXWY0qItAPUlJQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y4uEdWUGaK8/WHFq6AjaSyI/AAAAAAAAG2Y/92_qTZULwLkkKQmWh9zYXWY0qItAPUlJQCLcB/s320/IMG_7227.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The little boys learn about ancient writing materials</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4FRL7KPnMG4/WHFq8-rIUoI/AAAAAAAAG2c/sajrVVektnAxNZNvt-hXtOTm-1anShPhQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4FRL7KPnMG4/WHFq8-rIUoI/AAAAAAAAG2c/sajrVVektnAxNZNvt-hXtOTm-1anShPhQCLcB/s320/IMG_7238.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our family plus the T family, whom we have known all our<br />married lives! Total of 12 children between us!</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-54544656125655492012016-12-09T08:07:00.000-05:002016-12-09T08:07:08.719-05:00Lucan's LetterSeven-year-old Lucan has a pen pal in South Dakota. He received his first letter from Ty last month, and finally we sat down to get a response ready. I decided to allow Lucan to dictate the letter to me in the interest of getting something IN the mail rather than waiting for him to write everything out. This is what he dictated...I love the random ramblings!<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">December
2, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dear
Ty,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I hope you and your family have a great time. I am
an artist, and I like playing with Legos. I really want to obey my parents very
well. Zaden, my 5-year-old brother, sometimes wants me to not make my Lego guys
back to normal. Zaden also has less schoolwork than me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tobin and Arden sometimes do Minecraft. Tobin is 14,
Arden is 13. I am 7 years old. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Kenna, my 9-year-old sister, has Legos too. And also
me, Kenna, and Zaden like playing with Legos together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Charis, my 16-year-old sister, is a babysitter. And
also sometimes she is here at home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And Seanin is the chubby one. He is 3 years old. Me,
Zaden, and Seanin share a room. Seanin just won’t let me have some of my Lego
pieces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And baby Rhema, my youngest sibling, she is very
cute even though she cries sometimes. She is one and a half years old. Sometimes
me and her play with each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I have 8 children in my family, soon to be 9. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My dad goes to work almost every day and comes back
for dinner. My mom, with baby Verity in her tummy, it’s getting hard for her to
bend over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ty, there is one thing I would like to tell you
about me. I sometimes have dreams what are like in heaven. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sometimes our movie time is watching “Octonauts.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I hope you like my letter!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-3808772474831456882016-12-04T17:20:00.004-05:002016-12-04T17:20:50.607-05:00Slices of Life<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lTynZq4QVUc/WESUMTwfm8I/AAAAAAAAGy8/nJUjHJ8WCxU5Z-wCC_2WXcJfXrqTZLfHwCLcB/s1600/IMG_6942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lTynZq4QVUc/WESUMTwfm8I/AAAAAAAAGy8/nJUjHJ8WCxU5Z-wCC_2WXcJfXrqTZLfHwCLcB/s320/IMG_6942.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhema finally started walking on her own around 15 months of age. Before she was steady on her feet, we brought this little toy in from the garage so she could push it around and gain confidence. For some unknown reason, she really took to giving potatoes rides on the seat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d7xvDX4r94U/WESUMlQbLEI/AAAAAAAAGzA/Rrx_saQUQboUg67_U1-0TC-6OWIaU0JPQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d7xvDX4r94U/WESUMlQbLEI/AAAAAAAAGzA/Rrx_saQUQboUg67_U1-0TC-6OWIaU0JPQCLcB/s320/IMG_7026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For real...this is what I look like many of our homeschool days...t-shirt, comfy pants (that may or may not match), and glasses instead of contacts. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v6CBWNuulu8/WESULoltZQI/AAAAAAAAGy4/FJl8LVr1nXo9HIfV6au9L0v0MyyhYZKwwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v6CBWNuulu8/WESULoltZQI/AAAAAAAAGy4/FJl8LVr1nXo9HIfV6au9L0v0MyyhYZKwwCLcB/s320/IMG_7081.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't remember why Seanin was having a meltdown moment, but clearly Daddy is not terribly sympathetic!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HLb7EdE2zeY/WESUTFwyHAI/AAAAAAAAGzI/Ao4v8GXpZvYJKF_2x4MgnamlRA-myYdiACLcB/s1600/IMG_7096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HLb7EdE2zeY/WESUTFwyHAI/AAAAAAAAGzI/Ao4v8GXpZvYJKF_2x4MgnamlRA-myYdiACLcB/s320/IMG_7096.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whose brilliant idea was it to give the baby rice?! But I love how these grains give her a fang-like appearance!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ux-LRX7rVzg/WESUYyZ-QUI/AAAAAAAAGzM/os54qFDJgx4kLcHEOFhcw8KuQrI34jx5gCLcB/s1600/IMG_7100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ux-LRX7rVzg/WESUYyZ-QUI/AAAAAAAAGzM/os54qFDJgx4kLcHEOFhcw8KuQrI34jx5gCLcB/s320/IMG_7100.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seanin proudly came downstairs one Sunday morning and said, "Mom, it's a church day! I dressed myself!" And I happily let him wear this fashionable combo to church.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1PG2HfOOxBA/WESUQy5sTEI/AAAAAAAAGzE/kb9XQ5ODkX4fqihhgCQtMj0hNzcFbUM2ACLcB/s1600/IMG_7102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1PG2HfOOxBA/WESUQy5sTEI/AAAAAAAAGzE/kb9XQ5ODkX4fqihhgCQtMj0hNzcFbUM2ACLcB/s320/IMG_7102.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To make myself feel better about the other photo, here's MY church morning selfie taken a few days after a much-needed haircut.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MvGe1Fmeds0/WESUf3N0ATI/AAAAAAAAGzQ/0YyiOrBMhk4uDv8v48okPxGqIPkRuKrKgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MvGe1Fmeds0/WESUf3N0ATI/AAAAAAAAGzQ/0YyiOrBMhk4uDv8v48okPxGqIPkRuKrKgCLcB/s320/IMG_7118.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After reading in history about ancient Egypt, Lucan spent a morning making a pyramid and "an ancient Egyptian house." The coins figured into his historical scenario, too, but I can't remember exactly how...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o1DhrH3WO7g/WESUjz0qHHI/AAAAAAAAGzU/rlfgSQveVv4mIPyCthRY07e9N9iNU9tpACLcB/s1600/IMG_7119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o1DhrH3WO7g/WESUjz0qHHI/AAAAAAAAGzU/rlfgSQveVv4mIPyCthRY07e9N9iNU9tpACLcB/s320/IMG_7119.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After one of our consultations at the university medical center, I stopped by this crisis pregnancy center to deliver some donations and chat with one of the volunteers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CbWPCS66jwA/WESUn9IGsMI/AAAAAAAAGzY/lt6wWujU_S8MidZlYYT39J8lmOh10bb0gCLcB/s1600/IMG_7131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CbWPCS66jwA/WESUn9IGsMI/AAAAAAAAGzY/lt6wWujU_S8MidZlYYT39J8lmOh10bb0gCLcB/s320/IMG_7131.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We took the younger kids to the Halloween party on base, meeting Ted at the club for a free dinner, games, and of course way too much candy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U9oCSes5Hd8/WESUsZMduUI/AAAAAAAAGzc/AE6Z-5eUgN4suipJXx0ChGN3Ybutfz4rQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U9oCSes5Hd8/WESUsZMduUI/AAAAAAAAGzc/AE6Z-5eUgN4suipJXx0ChGN3Ybutfz4rQCLcB/s320/IMG_7176.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This girl loves her mashed potatoes! See them on her nose?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4l9AvUXaZ9E/WESUwhZHz7I/AAAAAAAAGzg/9Em6wL-MLXU_pdyk6VMw7WBnt6btHNWIACLcB/s1600/IMG_7180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4l9AvUXaZ9E/WESUwhZHz7I/AAAAAAAAGzg/9Em6wL-MLXU_pdyk6VMw7WBnt6btHNWIACLcB/s320/IMG_7180.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mom, take a picture of me and my towers!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CuvdymdWlCw/WESU02IMNGI/AAAAAAAAGzk/DBwFBP-6AkIGQtk4PRONsxZHZhNVWfYAwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CuvdymdWlCw/WESU02IMNGI/AAAAAAAAGzk/DBwFBP-6AkIGQtk4PRONsxZHZhNVWfYAwCLcB/s320/IMG_7184.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What?! Arden is taller than I am?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRPJnd-dMWU/WESU7rPjVwI/AAAAAAAAGzo/fckizk3AeF4zo0TaUYZts5w-mFVd8FT5ACLcB/s1600/IMG_7190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRPJnd-dMWU/WESU7rPjVwI/AAAAAAAAGzo/fckizk3AeF4zo0TaUYZts5w-mFVd8FT5ACLcB/s320/IMG_7190.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Tobin is, too! It's a race for the two of them to see who can catch up to Dad now!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JtlcR_HaDDo/WESU7rtuNsI/AAAAAAAAGzs/KQc6IOGcE_4FYI1KvArnANngjlvWGnibQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JtlcR_HaDDo/WESU7rtuNsI/AAAAAAAAGzs/KQc6IOGcE_4FYI1KvArnANngjlvWGnibQCLcB/s320/IMG_7201.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenna is quite the capable big sis these days!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-87908108561357692322016-12-04T16:59:00.004-05:002016-12-04T16:59:57.573-05:00Fall FunThere is a pumpkin patch in our area that has reached great heights of popularity--along with the Omaha Zoo, it is one of the most often-mentioned "must experience" places within driving distance. We had hoped to take the kids on AWANA night, which allows free entrance to kids who wear their vests, in an effort to make this an affordable family outing. (Ticket prices are more in the realm of an amusement park than a hayride.) Unfortunately, we were unable to actually go the night of the event.<br />
<br />
I wasn't sure our family budget could handle it, so we kind of let it slide; however, I saw notice that prices were greatly reduced on Halloween, the last day Valas would be open this season. The kids and I decided that school wasn't really a priority that day, lol, and we took off to enjoy some fall family fun. I'm so glad we did! Even the older kids raved about how glad they were that we went, and of course the littles had a ball. The weather even cooperated for us!<br />
<br />
We watched pig races, did mazes and an obstacle course, scaled massive slides, watched a pumpkin cannon launch a pumpkin 1/4 mile away, played carnival-type games, and ate good food. We stayed much longer than I had thought we would manage and headed home feeling we definitely got our money's worth. Since we will likely not be living here next time autumn rolls around, we are thankful for the day of memories we made.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zl08vT7B_g8/WESOKMoJErI/AAAAAAAAGyM/ZwrT4acgfrkfql-G9QkF5NenDy3nGuFiQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zl08vT7B_g8/WESOKMoJErI/AAAAAAAAGyM/ZwrT4acgfrkfql-G9QkF5NenDy3nGuFiQCLcB/s320/IMG_7147.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenna, Lucan, Zaden, and Arden</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1lM2Gv1pcwc/WESOKIG4jEI/AAAAAAAAGyI/8o7I1zshi808_bqQhl2yK_E5bnwZBQZiQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1lM2Gv1pcwc/WESOKIG4jEI/AAAAAAAAGyI/8o7I1zshi808_bqQhl2yK_E5bnwZBQZiQCLcB/s320/IMG_7148.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seanin and Charis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vmlu62mjZaY/WESOIbKmZtI/AAAAAAAAGyE/XADKE8uFpgcV6kv6AeJ53KdcDLGUVRJKQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vmlu62mjZaY/WESOIbKmZtI/AAAAAAAAGyE/XADKE8uFpgcV6kv6AeJ53KdcDLGUVRJKQCLcB/s320/IMG_7149.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tobin and Zaden</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gPUx1XubpQM/WESOWsJJr0I/AAAAAAAAGyQ/nAyIgIHhwGQrLIIQOHlMT6JCrIqg8sreQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gPUx1XubpQM/WESOWsJJr0I/AAAAAAAAGyQ/nAyIgIHhwGQrLIIQOHlMT6JCrIqg8sreQCLcB/s320/IMG_7153.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucan and Seanin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jGfVwpgZ3Rc/WESOjm92fII/AAAAAAAAGyY/FEBHpVmHrz41-uAZ943p2em-1yn4L15wwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jGfVwpgZ3Rc/WESOjm92fII/AAAAAAAAGyY/FEBHpVmHrz41-uAZ943p2em-1yn4L15wwCLcB/s320/IMG_7155.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenna found a pretty pink tractor!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--6h4z7Rjvyg/WESOlEwaasI/AAAAAAAAGyc/M5_lZQfIAasSvDr6aBfhZm2ab3qtvQ5kgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--6h4z7Rjvyg/WESOlEwaasI/AAAAAAAAGyc/M5_lZQfIAasSvDr6aBfhZm2ab3qtvQ5kgCLcB/s320/IMG_7156.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farm boys!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RLoYtaxlssY/WESOjhBDavI/AAAAAAAAGyU/ExY-tLLcINIjDuG2vm4-ix29KKC95tgDgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RLoYtaxlssY/WESOjhBDavI/AAAAAAAAGyU/ExY-tLLcINIjDuG2vm4-ix29KKC95tgDgCLcB/s320/IMG_7165.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't even know how many times the kids did this slide! They had a ball! We took a break for lunch and came back and rode it some more! Seanin tried it twice but was too scared, so he hung out with Rhema and me watching from the bottom.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ubc40N-GWqA/WESOnUUjptI/AAAAAAAAGyg/xm2-2xlrfAAmw0PPjWtf_kVSCVv50bG9QCLcB/s1600/IMG_7167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ubc40N-GWqA/WESOnUUjptI/AAAAAAAAGyg/xm2-2xlrfAAmw0PPjWtf_kVSCVv50bG9QCLcB/s320/IMG_7167.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhema loved our day out, too!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yIDbfW8hgug/WESO19MGSoI/AAAAAAAAGyk/pcL73zcyknQENYdhAGrwT4jlvmgU4NSMACLcB/s1600/IMG_7169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yIDbfW8hgug/WESO19MGSoI/AAAAAAAAGyk/pcL73zcyknQENYdhAGrwT4jlvmgU4NSMACLcB/s320/IMG_7169.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seanin was terrified of the slide but delighted to meet Jack!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WIaNHjbuBF0/WESPBlwr-PI/AAAAAAAAGys/WXGOGZbCDwQ1gmdGRhjIO9fdAlvoCvs4gCLcB/s1600/IMG_7170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WIaNHjbuBF0/WESPBlwr-PI/AAAAAAAAGys/WXGOGZbCDwQ1gmdGRhjIO9fdAlvoCvs4gCLcB/s320/IMG_7170.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the obstacles in the course</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rbegnt2CP9I/WESPA6kVOMI/AAAAAAAAGyo/97rNi4JlOskOplhM0eWy9dGLqKx50_qaACLcB/s1600/IMG_7173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rbegnt2CP9I/WESPA6kVOMI/AAAAAAAAGyo/97rNi4JlOskOplhM0eWy9dGLqKx50_qaACLcB/s320/IMG_7173.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take these trouble-makers away!!</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-81505736295832202312016-11-26T17:06:00.002-05:002016-11-26T17:06:17.999-05:00October BirthdaysWe had two really big birthdays in October: Charis turned 16, and Arden turned 13! Since Arden got a big party last year (an Amazing Race run by 4 teams of 2 each throughout our small town and ending at the house), it was Charis's turn for a big birthday bash. (Not to worry, though...Arden got a party the following weekend doing what he requested: swimming and football with friends at the Y before chowing down on pizza and chocolate cake!)<br />
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For Charis's sweet sixteen party, we borrowed an idea from friends who did a murder mystery party for their daughter, Charis's best friend, when we were in Italy together. The party was such a hit that the moms later had a moms' night out to do our own grown-up version! I tucked away the idea for later, thinking it would be fun to do with teenagers at our house sometime. Charis agreed, and together we picked the theme "A Knight of Murder" from <a href="http://nightofmystery.com/">an online mystery party service</a>. Invitations were issued, costumes were found (hooray for a dress-up party close to Halloween, lol), and arrangements were made for our younger 5 children to enjoy an evening with friends so we could focus on serving Charis and her guests, who included Tobin and Arden along with a number of friends from youth group and our homeschool circle.<br />
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It was such a fun evening! I honored Charis's request for a pasta dinner, even though we agreed it wasn't terribly medieval, but the homemade ragu and Bolognese sauces were a hit along with French bread, grapes, and apple cider punch. Only one person guessed the murderer correctly...Arden was our victim, and the murderer was none other than Charis herself! It was so funny...she and I had discussed who should play which character, with neither of us knowing any details until after I began looking through and printing the hostess materials. (I dressed up in my Renaissance festival dress, which has gotten much use since purchasing it in 2008, but I did not play a character so that I could focus on the details of the party.)<br />
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After the characters had cast their votes for who they thought the murderer was as well as best costume and best actor/actress, we awarded prizes and enjoyed ice cream cake, and then Ted went to pick up our littles and hustle them to bed while the teens hung out for awhile. I think it was a very memorable experience for all involved, and Charis seemed to have a wonderful time. Hard to believe our "baby" is Sweet Sixteen now! We are so very proud of her!<br />
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And as an aside...she finished her online driver's ed course and we jumped through all the hoops so that she can finally take her driver's test this coming Tuesday. She is very excited and has been a bit impatient as you can imagine to hurry up and get through all this red tape!<br />
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Here are some party pics...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4nP4jRqlyto/WDoC6tPgIHI/AAAAAAAAGwY/MVnTePX-Im4OfjfyXxswBRmp8BKG6iwMACLcB/s1600/IMG_7040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4nP4jRqlyto/WDoC6tPgIHI/AAAAAAAAGwY/MVnTePX-Im4OfjfyXxswBRmp8BKG6iwMACLcB/s320/IMG_7040.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tobin found this hilarious banana costume at Goodwill...we thought it was perfect for his jester character, "Joking Jerry!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kTJQYW1JNLg/WDoC-F3xHKI/AAAAAAAAGwg/AvciHzD9uNIlIkKi_Lnd1JAh3pZKYTCjwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kTJQYW1JNLg/WDoC-F3xHKI/AAAAAAAAGwg/AvciHzD9uNIlIkKi_Lnd1JAh3pZKYTCjwCLcB/s320/IMG_7042.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wyatt as a baron and Charis as Lady Diana</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NyqAqFT522A/WDoC9zh731I/AAAAAAAAGwc/Gng2XqnPWDQV4Yk69cXlb8EJ_nD7MXJPgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NyqAqFT522A/WDoC9zh731I/AAAAAAAAGwc/Gng2XqnPWDQV4Yk69cXlb8EJ_nD7MXJPgCLcB/s320/IMG_7043.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ted's character was Willie the Watchman, which he played up as a Secret Service kind of a guy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RSU1kZdzRxQ/WDoDtVK7pfI/AAAAAAAAGxM/BrazDetWUn0QLaJAf66e54n2J64NCKP2wCEw/s1600/IMG_7049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RSU1kZdzRxQ/WDoDtVK7pfI/AAAAAAAAGxM/BrazDetWUn0QLaJAf66e54n2J64NCKP2wCEw/s320/IMG_7049.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two characters have a private conversation! (These girls are twins in real life!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S3kkzNdiV00/WDoDvKKM4rI/AAAAAAAAGxM/dDVEhP1iPLcBwCt3NXBP_EaGdKIk4097wCEw/s1600/IMG_7051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S3kkzNdiV00/WDoDvKKM4rI/AAAAAAAAGxM/dDVEhP1iPLcBwCt3NXBP_EaGdKIk4097wCEw/s320/IMG_7051.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis with two of her BFFs</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WXK2Mn2XU5E/WDoDvPWvAhI/AAAAAAAAGxM/LD_OaxuCgsI4uiAKN9d4-L622ltaX9ajQCEw/s1600/IMG_7061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WXK2Mn2XU5E/WDoDvPWvAhI/AAAAAAAAGxM/LD_OaxuCgsI4uiAKN9d4-L622ltaX9ajQCEw/s320/IMG_7061.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poor Sir Rufus! He met an early demise...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sSeordvTCEk/WDoD3s6y-0I/AAAAAAAAGxM/y0KZnfuHBrMUNFUscoX_SsDod1gX0kw1gCEw/s1600/IMG_7062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sSeordvTCEk/WDoD3s6y-0I/AAAAAAAAGxM/y0KZnfuHBrMUNFUscoX_SsDod1gX0kw1gCEw/s320/IMG_7062.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lord Taylor speaks with Queen Genevieve</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3pctC0iV07g/WDoD7_HkrZI/AAAAAAAAGxM/gkRTGkMF6zMoVmrtCTSTlj9XKPTeC9FYQCEw/s1600/IMG_7068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3pctC0iV07g/WDoD7_HkrZI/AAAAAAAAGxM/gkRTGkMF6zMoVmrtCTSTlj9XKPTeC9FYQCEw/s320/IMG_7068.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Examining the evidence and casting votes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D4qFCfYAoDI/WDoD727-b8I/AAAAAAAAGxM/u0lCTG_wJ_c3rRXHPhdfGxrtZJIfziMJQCEw/s1600/IMG_7070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D4qFCfYAoDI/WDoD727-b8I/AAAAAAAAGxM/u0lCTG_wJ_c3rRXHPhdfGxrtZJIfziMJQCEw/s320/IMG_7070.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely ladies!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--vwak-sIaNo/WDoEBOuQPtI/AAAAAAAAGxM/s9_tCQzxagEQ8qpX7UZN7LJUBjB9J3SDgCEw/s1600/IMG_7074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--vwak-sIaNo/WDoEBOuQPtI/AAAAAAAAGxM/s9_tCQzxagEQ8qpX7UZN7LJUBjB9J3SDgCEw/s320/IMG_7074.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole "cast" of the evening!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We printed a number of signs like this for decorations...that's about as decorative as we got, but it worked!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hee!</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-23197744558223829042016-10-15T08:00:00.002-04:002016-10-15T08:00:39.126-04:00AnnouncementThis is what I posted on my Facebook page recently...<br />
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How exactly does one share news like this? A good news/bad news, bittersweet announcement...<br />
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We are past the halfway point in a pregnancy unlike any of my others. We have said a very early goodbye to two little ones before, but by the time I've felt kicks and jabs in the past, we were well on our way to welcoming another baby into our family.<br />
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Now, we are expecting a little girl with a genetic condition called Trisomy 18, an extra chromosome that causes a wide range of developmental difficulties. Mortality rates for these babies are high. We do not know if our baby will survive birth and if so, how long she might be on earth with us.<br />
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We know God has a plan and a purpose for our little girl, whom we have named Verity Irene. (Verity = truth; Irene = peace.) We pray He will be glorified in our lives no matter what. We would be grateful for your prayers during this season of uncertainty.<br />
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For more details or to follow our journey, please visit <a href="http://verityirene.blogspot.com/">Verity's blog</a>.Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-31499953439501511282016-10-15T07:52:00.000-04:002016-10-15T07:52:48.256-04:00Built-in Catch-up WeeksBefore our school year even started, I was reminded of a homeschooling approach a friend of mine used years and years ago when our children were small. She scheduled "catch-up weeks" throughout her school year; if I remember correctly, 3 weeks of curriculum followed by one week to tie up any loose ends. When our children were small, it was much easier to stay "on schedule," and while I thought her idea sounded nice, I wasn't as concerned about all those little things we just didn't get around to doing. For her, though, it was a great way to stay relaxed during the school year and add even more special things--extra field trips or activities that may have gotten ignored or missed in a slavish drive to "keep up with school."<br />
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Now, years later, I am schooling 3 times as many kids as when I first heard this idea! And the range is incredible: from kindergarten up through 11th grade. In addition to the 6 who are officially on the Jakin Academy roster, we have 2 littles who need training in various areas as well.<br />
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In other words, the idea of a catch-up week has become a dire necessity, not simply a luxury!<br />
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My working school notebook has 6 weeks of scheduled curriculum. We more or less successfully worked our way through the first 6 weeks of school, studying all kinds of things from China to weather to early American history. We learned how to navigate our way through incredibly busy co-op days (twice a month) plus weekly speech and debate classes. We had dental exams and eye appointments. Mom took naps and managed to feed 10 people more or less 3 times a day, every day.<br />
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And so, not surprisingly, we "got behind" in checking off those boxes. The kids cheered when I told them last weekend that the coming week would be our opportunity to finish up those things we hadn't been able to do yet, which included a number of science experiments and module quiz and test for Tobin; lots of speech homework for Charis; some science reading for Lucan and Zaden, and spelling lists for Kenna. Oh, it was NICE to have some unhurried days! Especially since Ted had Columbus Day off work and yesterday (Friday) was a busy co-op/class day.<br />
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From a mental and emotional perspective, I as the mom NEEDED to NOT press on--I needed some time to gain a bigger perspective, some clarity, take deep breaths and remember that this is our calling for such a time as this. It's too easy to feel like a failure when I'm not <i>accomplishing</i> things, and by that I mean <i>finishing.</i> God hasn't called me to check boxes...He has called me to raise children. That's a lesson that I as the teacher have to learn over and over.Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-80041617945313941012016-09-29T09:29:00.001-04:002016-09-29T09:29:20.864-04:00Back to SchoolIt's hard to believe we are nearing the end of our 5th week of school! My weekdays are so incredibly full, and yet somehow it seems we are always neglecting or forgetting something, lol. One of my prayers is from Isaiah 54:13: "All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children's peace." Oh, Lord, teach my children what YOU want them to know! Because their human teacher is so very, very inadequate!!<br />
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It blows my mind that we are in our 12th year of homeschooling. When our oldest children were wee babes, Ted and I knew that we wanted to homeschool, but in my mind, it would only be through the elementary years, because...why would I want to do more than that?! How in the world could I possibly teach my children ALL those subjects?!<br />
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Clearly God has shown that the path He desires for our family is to continue homeschooling. There are days--trust me--when I wish His plan included something different! But His grace is sufficient and His mercies are new every morning. We love learning and growing together. I wouldn't trade this life for anything else, even though it is one of the hardest things we've ever done.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At almost 16 years old, Charis is a busy 11th grader. She is counting down the days until she gets her driver's license (so am I, ha) and working on Sonlight's 20th Century World History core along with chemistry. She is taking a speech class once a week, and though it keeps her busy with a lot of extra work for the apologetics portion that she chose to pursue, she is looking forward to learning and preparing for some competitions! Charis is also keeping busy preparing for the National Bible Bee competition in November and continues with piano and violin lessons.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eeeek! We have two kids in high school now! Tobin is so excited about his 9th grade year! He is loving American History and excited about participating in a debate class for the first time ever. (Look out, world, lol.) Both he and Arden love their computer programming activities on Khan Academy as well. Tobin's spare time sees him fiddling with a variety of Rubick's cubes--he blows my mind with how he can solve them so quickly!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oHsHBxOjNXM/V-0Q3X_LMLI/AAAAAAAAGss/d_1u7NfFetwMDxYTOe82REL97YRbX9HwACEw/s1600/homeschool2016123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oHsHBxOjNXM/V-0Q3X_LMLI/AAAAAAAAGss/d_1u7NfFetwMDxYTOe82REL97YRbX9HwACEw/s320/homeschool2016123.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arden is in 8th grade! We've chosen to split him and Tobin for the first time ever--Arden is doing the Eastern Hemisphere core with the new history book that Sonlight is using in place of the World Book Encyclopedia CD that we used the first time around. Since he was only in 5th grade at the time, he is really enjoying the chance to delve deeper and work independently. He says his favorite subject is "reading;" I'm not sure if that's reading history, science, or his literature, but I'm just happy he loves to read, lol. He is also enjoying a Lego robotics class at our homeschool co-op.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ezUe-Fhu9HU/V-0PiaB9oAI/AAAAAAAAGsk/_X5VkWenLbI4P9YltBLNFjwdfnV6eplxgCEw/s1600/homeschool2016111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ezUe-Fhu9HU/V-0PiaB9oAI/AAAAAAAAGsk/_X5VkWenLbI4P9YltBLNFjwdfnV6eplxgCEw/s320/homeschool2016111.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenna is in 4th grade! History is her favorite subject--she is doing the first year of Sonlight's 2-year American History tour and reads most of the books on her own. (I have to hide them so she doesn't go too far ahead!) She is also taking a writing and beginning sign language class through a homeschool co-op twice a month.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WSCM8OOm8q4/V-0PWkhyyCI/AAAAAAAAGsk/aykqyjjq3m4tzopN-VirnrHiyOkmI88EACEw/s1600/homeschool2016115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WSCM8OOm8q4/V-0PWkhyyCI/AAAAAAAAGsk/aykqyjjq3m4tzopN-VirnrHiyOkmI88EACEw/s320/homeschool2016115.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucan is in 2nd grade! He started piano lessons over the summer and continues to enjoy music. He says math is his favorite subject. He and Zaden are doing the Sonlight Year 1 of World History core. He is in Kenna's co-op classes with his best friend Zach, </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bo2dy1Xfz-8/V-0QQklUIuI/AAAAAAAAGsw/ML9XvHYgYiIrEQa75tdQy4u3Tt5M9O19wCEw/s1600/homeschool2016117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bo2dy1Xfz-8/V-0QQklUIuI/AAAAAAAAGsw/ML9XvHYgYiIrEQa75tdQy4u3Tt5M9O19wCEw/s320/homeschool2016117.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zaden is in KINDERGARTEN! He is eagerly breezing through the 100EZ Lessons (reading) book and plowing through the Math-U-See Primer. He and Lucan are doing the Sonlight Year 1 of World History core. His co-op classes include making musical instruments and a young scientist's hands-on class.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NyKtkD8humI/V-0PUga-H3I/AAAAAAAAGsk/FIE7v0mwIdgL3vLmwaSz3K6LdUwJFgbKQCEw/s1600/homeschool2016112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NyKtkD8humI/V-0PUga-H3I/AAAAAAAAGsk/FIE7v0mwIdgL3vLmwaSz3K6LdUwJFgbKQCEw/s320/homeschool2016112.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seanin is 3 years old and recently passed his Potty Training Class so that he could attend Cubbies at AWANA this year! That was a huge motivator for him, lol. Whatever works!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25wvMRd1oGg/V-0Voo7l99I/AAAAAAAAGtA/BtCw4FqNjhQRXgzhhbCOtNQIQY4UgqaBgCLcB/s1600/IMG_6635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25wvMRd1oGg/V-0Voo7l99I/AAAAAAAAGtA/BtCw4FqNjhQRXgzhhbCOtNQIQY4UgqaBgCLcB/s320/IMG_6635.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhema-Roo is over 14 months old now and not yet walking...seems we breed slow walkers, lol. She is fully capable but not convinced in her own mind yet! Rhema is thoroughly doted on and an awfully adorable interruption in our daily routine. She truly is a little ray of sunshine in our lives.</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-22033041503610718342016-09-04T16:24:00.001-04:002016-09-04T16:24:43.783-04:00Summer SummaryOh, Summer, where art thou??<br />
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I remember...back in the day...when we first began homeschooling, we lived in Las Vegas. It was stinkin' HOT in the summer, and so we happily took our "summer" break in March or April, when it was pleasant outside and we had easily breezed through our school materials. We'd order the next core early and begin another round of school when it was hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. With a couple of babies born during our 4 years in Nevada, plus quite a bit of traveling to Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, we enjoyed our free and easy and flexible schedule, pretty much doing school "year-round" but taking breaks whenever we wanted.<br />
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But our next few moves happened during summer months (2009, 2012, 2015), with babies also arriving in summer months (2011, 2013, 2015). So it just made sense to keep a more "regular" school-year calendar.<br />
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With last summer bringing us back overseas PLUS a new baby, this summer was bound to be less...stressful, I suppose. But it was busy nevertheless! Here's a rundown of some of our summer highlights:<br />
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* Charis, Tobin, and Arden attended the Christian Youth in Action training camp the first week in June. Run by Child Evangelism Fellowship, this training prepares teens to share the gospel with children during 5-day clubs held throughout the summer. The kids learned how to completely run a club by themselves, from leading games and songs to teaching Bible and missionary stories, Bible verses, and review and application activities. It was a lot of work, but they all agree they are glad they did it!<br />
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* Immediately after this intensive training week, Charis left for a week-long missions trip to a reservation in South Dakota along with a team she has accompanied 4 different times now. She loves those kids and got to specifically use the skills she had just cultivated the week before as she interacted with kids and shared the gospel.<br />
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* Kenna, Lucan, and Zaden had swimming lessons the first two weeks in June. Seanin and Rhema and I enjoyed some quality hang-out time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zaden loved getting rides in the boat!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seanin braved the big slide by himself at the park!</td></tr>
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* Tobin enjoyed another great week at Camp Cedars with the Boy Scouts! This year was even more fun for him since he actually knew boys in the troop! Unfortunately, he missed out on a family visit...<br />
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* We got to spend some time with our CO family when Joel and Sarah and their boys came through for a few days' visit on their way to a family reunion in Kansas (or maybe Missouri, I can't remember). We especially enjoyed an outing together to see the train park and then get some ice cream in the Old Market.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis, Anders, Zaden, Arden (before his summer haircut!!), Cade, Lucan, Kenna</td></tr>
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* I flew to Salt Lake City (alone! Without children!) to attend the Young Living Convention. I met up with some friends and had a fabulous time learning more about essential oils and the incredible opportunities available to us. I pumped while I was gone, and while Rhema wasn't thrilled about the goat milk she got in a bottle, she did fine and resumed nursing without missing a beat when I returned.<br />
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* On June 28, Ted and I celebrated our 19th anniversary! Actually, I think our date night was the next weekend, but we DID get out for a date. And now I can't remember what we did...pretty sure we went to eat at Sinful Burger...oh! I think we saw Finding Dory! And then Ted took the kids to see it during the discounted matinee show the following week.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis made this darling baby Dory for me after seeing the movie!</td></tr>
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* We had friends come through and stay with us the night of July 4 on their way back home from a trip. We had a relaxed visit over some yummy grilled food and somehow failed to see any fireworks.<br />
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* On July 15 our baby Rhema turned one! Charis made a fabulous birthday cake for her and we had a simple family celebration.<br />
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* The last week in July Charis attended a Bible camp with some of the kids in the local youth group. Aside from sleeping in a bunk the first night that had bed bugs in it (!!!!!!!)...she says it was a great week. (Mom is trying to refrain from further commentary here...)<br />
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* The first week in August our backyard hosted up to 16 kids during the last 5-day Club of the summer. Charis, Tobin, and Arden all taught 4 clubs, which kept us busy several weeks in a row as we drove to Omaha and Bellevue to other host homes. So it was nice that the last one was right in our yard with kids we knew, mostly from church but also a few from the neighborhood.<br />
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* On August 8 the kids took the online Bible Bee test, the culmination of 8 weeks of study over the summer, working through their Discovery Journal to dig into John 13 - 15 and also 14 different memory passages.<br />
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* August 10 - 14 I took another trip, this time to San Diego for a "Naples Reunion" with a number of ladies who were stationed there at the same time. It was SUCH a blessing to go! I stayed with my dear friend Joyce, co-founder of Missione di Luce with which I was involved during my time in Italy. She, like many of the ladies I met up with, now lives in San Diego. It was a joyous, refreshing few days as we caught up on each others' lives, prayed together, laughed together, and definitely ate good food together. I'm thankful for the opportunity to go.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We spent all day at the beach, people coming and going as their schedules allowed. Sooooo nice to relax and talk!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheri opened her home for sushi-making at lunchtime and lots of hang-out time through the afternoon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think this is almost everyone who was able to make it!</td></tr>
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* August 14 was Seanin's 3rd birthday! Charis made another amazing cake, and we had a family celebration at home.<br />
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* We had a local Bible Bee celebration in our backyard August 20. Nine families had registered for the summer study, and while not everyone was able to complete everything, the feedback seemed overwhelmingly positive. We rejoice that kids spent time in God's Word, learning how to study the Bible and memorizing verses that will renew their hearts and minds! Also, we praise the Lord that Charis was able to qualify for the National Bible Bee Competition again this year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenna receives her certificate and chooses a verse to recite (John 13:34-35).</td></tr>
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* On August 24 Zaden turned 5! We had a family party for him since his birthday was on a Wednesday. We had to work around a friend's schedule, but we did finally have a friend party on September 2. Hooray! Two cakes, lol!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took Zaden to get a haircut a couple of days before his birthday. Everyone was very sad at how short his hair is now, but I still think he's a cutie-patootie!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We have generous friends who let us borrow this inflatable water slide for the friend party! It was a hit!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brothers and friends!</td></tr>
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Aaaaaaand that's the story of our summer! All good things must come to an end, I suppose. We actually kicked off our school year on August 29, so I will try to be better about keeping more remembrances on our blog as the school year gets underway!Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-32705318417244786752016-06-09T20:26:00.001-04:002016-06-09T21:16:40.552-04:00Bible Bee Time!It's that time again, time for the summer <a href="http://www.biblebee.org/">Bible Bee study</a>! If you haven't signed up, it's not too late to register, although I advise doing so quickly, as we are approaching the end of week 1! This year we are diving into John 13-15.<br />
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Last year the closest local host to our home was actually 3 hours' drive away from us! Needless to say, we didn't attend any local meetings, lol. However, we did make the trip in August for the end of the summer gathering and celebration (it worked out to visit friends in the area and also pick up our Suburban which had arrived from overseas).<br />
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This year we agreed that if there were no closer hosts, then WE would host a local group. So we are listed as hosts! It's our first time hosting, and we're pretty excited about it. There are 9 families participating--not bad for a community where this is brand new!<br />
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These photos are from our trip to Nationals last November. Charis qualified again to attend Nationals, her second time, and it was a blessing for our whole family to get to travel to San Antonio and cheer her on. We have many, many friends in Texas (I grew up there, ya know!), and it was a blast reconnecting with people not only from my old church youth group, but also from EVERY single assignment we've had in the Air Force except one! The fellowship plus the opportunity to see kids from all over the country who have hidden God's Word in their hearts all made for such an unforgettable experience. We have more kiddos this year who are determined to study hard because they want to make that trip again!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis is ready for the written exam!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenna enjoys some time in the amazing Family Fun arena! No surprise she scaled this "rock climbing" wall by herself!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ken and Sarah, dear friends we met in Las Vegas...sooooo fun to catch up with their family and meet each others' newest additions!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katie, one of Charis's friends from Naples!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tobin, Arden, and Lucan at the celebration banquet</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ted, Rhema (hidden in the baby carrier!), Charis, and I</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis, Rhema, and I stayed in the hotel; the rest of our crew stayed with Ted's cousin Missy and her family. COUSINS!!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We met more friends at the Alamo! Good thing I've been there a few times, because I was way too busy visiting to even tour the place!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan and Ted holding our latest babies...the P family has 7 kiddos that match up closely with ours!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JJ and Jamie are friends from the first time we were assigned to Wright-Patt!</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-77558818562148882622016-04-28T06:26:00.000-04:002016-04-28T06:26:17.442-04:00Update: Seanin and RhemaOur babies are changing so fast these days! I'm overwhelmed by a flood of adorability...<br />
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SEANIN:<br />
This is one cute, chunky li'l dude. We aren't sure where the bulk comes from, since it seems he barely eats enough molecules to fuel his happy self, but the boy is a tank, especially compared to Rhema the Lightweight. He really wants to wear underpants and is agreeable about going potty, even telling me he needs to go #1, but so far we have had only a couple of random poo successes. He will wear any underwear he can find, so I had to hide Lucan and Zaden's briefs to emphasize to Seanin that until he poos in the potty, undies are off limits! (I cleaned up quite enough poo messes in his bedroom already, thankyouverymuch, so while in theory it might work to put him in big-boy underwear, I refuse until he produces consistently IN the potty.) He is independent enough that I hope this training phase will be over sooner rather than later! He prefers to dress himself, providing us with endless amusement at his fashion choices, and since he changes clothes multiple times a day, we are often treated to a variety of looks.<br />
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Seanin loves coloring at the table while I do schoolwork with Lucan (and sometimes Zaden), although he often patters away to find his big brothers Tobin and Arden, distracting the big boys by wanting them to play with him (they usually oblige willingly). He thrives on attention (no surprise there) and is well on his way to earning his Spoiled Youngest Brother stripes. He feels things deeply--crocodile-tears deeply--and he isn't terribly discriminatory about who holds and comforts/cuddles him. As his mama, it's both gratifying and a bit smothering that one of his phrases when he is feeling distressed is, "Mommy, I need you! Sob, sob!" His verbal skills have exploded recently. I wish I could capture all of the fun little phrases and pronunciations of this phase. One that is unique to him is running words together when he is asking for something. I believe he tries to say, "Oh, could I please ____," but it comes out, "Oh-ki-pease ____."<br />
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He sucks his thumb when he's tired and asks to be put down for his nap every day after lunch. (We seriously hit the Nap Jackpot with this child.) Once laid in his crib, he pops his thumb in his mouth and strokes the silky tag on the snap-on crib sheet. Then he has to have about 19 blankets piled on him, tells the person putting him down (usually me but sometimes Charis) "I love you," and all is quiet for 3 hours. (Thank you, God!! You knew I'd need that bit of a sanity saver!)<br />
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RHEMA:<br />
Having hit 9 months now, our petitey-sweetie is a bit over 16 pounds, 27 inches. She started crawling almost a month ago, so we are having to be extra cautious now. I've slowly worked her into playpen time; she was a screaming mess the first few times I left her in her room in the playpen with toys, but now she fusses a minute or so after I close the door, then settles in and plays happily usually at least half an hour, which is enough time to get some table work done with Lucan and maybe Kenna. Then we (the youngest 5 plus myself) go up to the attic play room, move the trunk so that it blocks the stairs, verify there are no little anythings she could choke on, and do our core reading while Rhema and Seanin play. It's a routine that has worked fairly well, allowing me to keep an eye on her in a safe place. The only problem is when Zaden and Seanin fight over toys. Sigh.<br />
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We are finally in a more or less predictable routine with Rhema. Her sleeping-through-the-night skills have been hit and miss. It seemed she was finally getting to a consistent pattern when she learned to sit herself up...ever after that, she would wake, sit up, and cry, cry, cry until I nursed her and put her back to sleep. She simply WOULD NOT lie back down on her own. I don't even want to say it out loud, but the last 5 nights she has slept until the 4-5am time frame, and after nursing she sleeps another 3-4 hours. Since Ted's alarm goes off at 5, this has actually felt like sleeping through the night for us!! I can only hope and pray that this will be consistent! During the day she is awake about 2.5-3 hours, then naps maybe 1.5-2 hours. So I can count on a good morning nap and a good afternoon nap...unfortunately, at this time, that afternoon nap doesn't really overlap Seanin's nap much if any. Similar to Seanin's sucking his thumb when he's tired, Rhema has started sucking the first two fingers on her right hand when she's ready to sleep!<br />
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Rhema is eating well and seems to be enjoying new finger food opportunities (latest favorite: Daddy's pancakes). She moves her hands constantly, and it cracks us up how she uses her first two fingers to rake her food toward her. (Ted calls it "Grabby Sloth" fingers!) Her whole little self bursts with joy when a family member gives her attention; her legs kick, kick, kick, and her whole face lights up. Kenna especially loves to carry her around and hold her and also enjoys spoon-feeding her, which is a huge help. (It so reminds me of Charis with baby Lucan!) But there is no lack of willing volunteers when she wakes from her nap and I ask someone to go get her for me!<br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-15534479222905967582016-04-26T06:17:00.001-04:002016-04-26T06:17:21.210-04:00Update: Kenna, Lucan, ZadenKENNA:<br />
We had an ice-skating birthday party for Kenna at the end of February when she turned 9, a fun celebration with friends and cousins. While many remark about how much Kenna looks like Charis did at this age, their personalities are very different. Kenna is definitely a girly tomboy: you are likely to find her outside digging up and collecting worms for her dirt-filled birdhouse container, with toenail polish on the nails of her muddy feet. She loves to dress up but hates to shower (although a good long soak in the tub is always a treat). She plays hard and works capably, although her bedroom is more likely to be a disaster zone than to reflect the organizational skills of her big sister. She loves, loves, LOVES to read, and it doesn't bother her in the least to do schoolwork "later" when she'd rather finish the current book in her hands. Her math skills are coming along nicely after some struggles, and while she knows/feels she is "behind" (finishing up the Beta book instead of Gamma this year), she works steadily and is understanding the concepts well. Her sloppy handwriting is something she has a desire to change, so she is working more in earnest on learning cursive and practicing on various pieces of scrap paper. While the language arts writing assignments have never been her favorite, she has discovered that typing out a creative story can actually be fun...so last week's assignment is still a work in progress as she adds a little each day to her Story Starter. Kenna is a social being, thriving when she gets to play with friends or attend anything remotely social. She loves her siblings fiercely and carries Rhema around like a pro. Her current career choice is to be a missionary in Fiji...and I wouldn't put it past her to make that happen!<br />
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LUCAN:<br />
Having received a number of art supplies for his recent 7th birthday (celebrated fireman style!), Lucan describes himself very seriously as an ARTIST. Some days it is an effort to pry him from the table and convince him that he really would enjoy going outside to run around! He has always loved working on his own little projects at the table by himself (yet with a constant stream of chatter about what he is creating to anyone who will even pretend to listen), and since he is not a typical rough-and-tumble boy, he usually responds to my requests for outside play time with reluctance...until he comes up with a creative play scenario that has him narrating his actions and traversing the yard in his own neverland. He and Zaden are--usually--best buddies in these scenarios. Lucan is very passionate about Jesus and wants to tell others about God's love for us. Almost every day he says something that reflects his tender heart, whether talking about being a missionary or praying for our sponsored kids in Africa. His prayers are wide-sweeping as he asks the Lord for there to be no more fighting or wars (before playing good-guys-fighting-bad-guys, lol). This post I left on Facebook awhile ago still makes me laugh:<br />
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Lucan has been showing such a tender heart to share the good news of salvation through Jesus with others. This sweetness does, however, end in a good giggle at times, as this conversation shows...you'll have to imagine my responses for brevity's sake.</div>
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"Mommy, when I grow up, I want to tell people in South America about Jesus. When I am 19, I will tell people in Peru. After I walk to all the cities, then I will go to Brazil. I will be 20 then. And then I will go to Argentina.<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> I think I will be 24 then. And then I will tell people in Chile about Jesus when I am 25."</span></div>
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After listening to Lucan tell about his planned route, I ask him if he will learn Spanish.</div>
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"Spanish?!"</div>
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"Yes. Most people in South America speak Spanish. And most people in Brazil speak Portuguese."</div>
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Pause. "Um, never mind."</div>
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Quiet...</div>
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"Mommy, do people in Canada speak English?"</div>
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ZADEN:<br />
While he loves to run around with his siblings and friends, Zaden is still a cuddler and usually prefers to sit on Ted's or my lap in church instead of joining the kids when they leave for their class. Though we are trying to remind him that sucking his thumb means it's (nap) bedtime, he still pops his thumb in his mouth when he's tired or feeling shy. I'm trying not to make a huge deal out of it; simply making him aware that big boys don't suck their thumbs (and if he's sucking his thumb, then it clearly means he needs a nap!) seems at least a step in the right direction. I'm enjoying this last year of not having to do much of anything "school-ish" with Zaden, although he sometimes REALLY wants to work on some kind of workbook, anything to make him feel like he's doing school also. We are lazily learning to write letters and finishing up random workbooks when we feel like it, and he sometimes listens in on Kenna's reading and almost always listens in on Lucan's reading. He is an AWANA Cubbies graduate now--hard to believe he will be a Sparkie next year! He is a passionate little boy, and by "passionate" I mean "still prone to insanely ridiculous temper tantrums." (He had a meltdown Sunday morning because Ted gave him the plate he asked for. Sigh.) He is also an excellent tattle-tale, which may or may not be helpful, depending on which sibling he feels the need to report about. I am trying to capitalize on his desire to help in the kitchen, even though having one little helper usually means I end up with 4 or 6 extra hands to keep gainfully occupied. As cute as he is, Zaden probably often feels overlooked, with two cute baby sibs that need a lot of supervision and all his older sibs engaged in schoolwork that Mom needs to oversee. There are times when lesson plans need to rest awhile so I can snuggle and read with my thumb-sucking boy!<br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-22551239345124984942016-04-14T06:11:00.000-04:002016-04-14T06:11:10.980-04:00Update: Charis, Tobin, and ArdenI might as well face the fact that I will never be "caught up" or "on top of" ANYthing. Sigh. So, before things change yet again, here is a screen shot of life around here these days with our older set...<div>
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CHARIS</div>
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As we head into the final stretch of her sophomore year, Charis is taking on more and more responsibility both inside and outside the home. Beginning today she will babysit a little boy (one month younger than Rhema) one day a week for additional income. I'm sure she will actually find it easier to get her schoolwork done in a house with only one child, ha! Her biology co-op class has a few more sessions, and while it's not her favorite subject, she is totally rocking it. She's determined to "catch up" to where she thinks she needs to be with math, so she just started her Math-U-See Geometry book and hopes to do both that and Algebra II before 2016 finishes. She is about 3/4 of the way through Sonlight's American History core and is also doing an elective, "Understanding the Times." Her piano and violin skills are growing by leaps and bounds--what a difference a wonderful teacher can make! Charis is already gearing up for a busy summer with various camps, a missions trip, and teaching 5-day clubs. While she is already a huge help to our big family, caring for littles when needed (I try not to overload her!) and helping with meal prep, she looks forward to the day when she can help out by driving herself various places! I'm sure October will be here before we know it and I'll be watching her drive away...</div>
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TOBIN</div>
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Yesterday was Tobin's 14th birthday! It was a bacon-y sort of day...a middle-of-the-week birthday can be difficult to make special, especially when one's baby brother is sick with a raging fever, but we did our best to accommodate his food requests! Bacon and eggs for breakfast, BLTs on homemade bread for lunch, lasagna for dinner (store bought! I have a limit!!), and bacon-grease-drizzled popcorn for after-youth-group snack. The boy loves bacon! He also loves to stand as close as he can, grinning at how close he is getting to me in height. Since schoolwork doesn't seem to take him nearly as long as I might hope, he is on a quest to finish <a href="http://deeprootsathome.com/100-whole-hearted-books-to-fight-back-the-culture-a-giveaway/">this book list </a>on his own...yes, even the preschool selections (which I sometimes hear him reading to his little sibs). He continues to enjoy time on the online Khan Academy modules--I ask him (and Arden) to spend any morning Khan time on math, science, history, and/or art, while the afternoon is reserved for computer programming/tweaking. He continues to be involved in Boy Scouts and hopes to earn enough money to return to Camp Cedars. Along with Arden and Charis, he has applied to attend the Christian Youth in Action training camp in June with a commitment to teach four five-day clubs throughout the summer. While moving has never been easy on our boy, he has found his stride and enjoys our church and youth group activities with new friends.</div>
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ARDEN</div>
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Arden graciously allowed Tobin to move into his bedroom during a room overhaul, and though there was some good-natured groaning about giving up their private bedrooms, I honestly think the two are delighted to be back together. (Mom and Dad aren't too sure about that, since their room is across the hall from ours and we hear them much later at night than we want!) While the two brothers are often inseparable, they are each unique in personality even if they share a boatload of common interests, including Legos, library books, and lounging. Arden often wanders into the kitchen to ask what he can do to help, and one of the best ways he helps without even asking is simply playing with or reading to the younger boys, who adore playing with him. He loves eating and is so enthusiastic about my efforts! It's a delight to see him grin when he sees what's headed to the table for dinner, gasping, "Oh, thanks, Mom! This looks delicious!" As the weather turns nicer, he and Tobin have the opportunity to earn some money from our across-the-street neighbor who has asked them to mow her lawn. Arden took the first turn last week, braving the wind and taking Lucan and Zaden along to help pick up sticks. (The little boys are trying to earn money for more Legos! Lucan got the bug after getting some "real" Lego sets for his recent birthday!)</div>
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I'm so grateful to have these three amazing kids! As I still deal with potty training and nursing a baby at night, it's a blessing to be able to have mature conversations with Charis, Tobin, and Arden. And their sense of humor is also a blessing! I love how they can make me laugh! They all have tender hearts for the Lord and a love for the people He places in their lives. What a privilege and delight to watch them blossoming.</div>
Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-2499304600327181382016-01-10T18:20:00.001-05:002016-01-10T18:20:49.448-05:00August Birthday BoysWhew...still catching up on 2015...I hope in heaven we get to review all our precious memories from life here on earth, because time is speeding by WAY too fast down here!<br />
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We have two birthdays in August. Seanin turned 2 (on the 14th) and Zaden turned 4 (on the 24th). We had a simple family party for Seanin. Our cousins from Omaha had homemade pizza and cake with us. (Charis made the cake!)<br />
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Then on Zaden's actual birthday, which coincided with the first day of public schools in our area, we decided to go to the Omaha Zoo! We got a military membership, and it is a fantastic deal! We had his birthday party the next day, since on Tuesdays there was a discount at a local bounce house play place. We spent about an hour and a half letting the kids bounce off the walls there (ha!) and then came to our house for lunch and cake. Charis made this cake as well--from scratch, and it was amazing!<br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-26052639846708132712016-01-10T17:35:00.004-05:002016-01-10T17:35:56.481-05:00Simple & Sweet Summer Memories<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VJJGfi9Su0k/VpLYjmb7SqI/AAAAAAAAGjc/QHs87-W8JjI/s1600/IMG_4605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VJJGfi9Su0k/VpLYjmb7SqI/AAAAAAAAGjc/QHs87-W8JjI/s320/IMG_4605.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charis learned to drive! So strange to see our (then) 14yo daughter in the driver's seat! She started in her Grandma J's Subaru and graduated to our big beast of a van. We figure if she can drive that, she can probably drive anything! We live in a state that allows 14-year-olds to drive, but she can't get her license until she turns 16. Lots more opportunities to practice!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adding to her skills, Charis received instruction from the Pie Crust Master (aka my mom!) and made us a number of delicious pies. Every now and then she comes to the kitchen and says, "I think I'll make a pie." I LOVE this girl!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My friend Erin and her three daughters came to visit us! We met this family while we were in Ohio. As Erin is originally from Iowa, she asked if she could pop over for a visit when she was out this way visiting family. We were thrilled to get to share lots of time and conversation with her and her girls, who were great friends of Charis. They have all grown up so much!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OFdZcFdoC-E/VpLYnHTKQjI/AAAAAAAAGjo/cRK6HNeJTAQ/s1600/IMG_4666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OFdZcFdoC-E/VpLYnHTKQjI/AAAAAAAAGjo/cRK6HNeJTAQ/s320/IMG_4666.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom's cousin Pat had some health issues and ended up spending some time in a nursing home very close to us even though she lives in a different city. It was fun to walk over and surprise her with flowers and a card for her birthday!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a joy to live closer to family! All my first cousins on my mom's side live in Omaha, and we've been able to get together a number of times. Ben and Reema's girls, Maelin and Joyella, have come to spend the night with Kenna several times. On one such occasion we taught the girls to make our homemade pizza recipe. They were quick learners and have apparently made it a number of times for their family!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OK, I confess I still have not learned to tell the girls apart...and now that it's been some months since this picture was taken, I can't remember which of the girls told me she just LOVED to chop vegetables, but I do remember telling her that I would hire her!! That would make my job in the kitchen so much easier, lol.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our church hosted an Amazing Family Race at the local park in August, and event our kids had looked forward to all summer!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There were a variety of stations with different tasks for the teams to perform.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lo and behold...our clan came in first! Our prize was a Ladder Ball game for the backyard!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soon after winning the Amazing Family Race, we had a backyard picnic and put our new game to use!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zaden decided he didn't need naps...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And then there was the time Seanin found baby Rhema's little pink pants and put them on, apparently thinking they'd be perfect shorts for a chunky toddler...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and then lay down on the floor to cry when I insisted he must take them off!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We received a precious care package...this beautiful bowl from dear friends of ours we met during our time in Napoli. It has a prominent place on our counter and reminds us of the sweet fellowship we experienced during our overseas tour.</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-4799870689310864502016-01-10T17:12:00.000-05:002016-01-10T17:12:21.257-05:00Family Photo ShootOn a lovely August evening we had another photography session with the talented Melissa Pennington, who captured our sweet baby girl before she left that precious newborn phase!<br />
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Isn't she sweet, our little Rhema Riyel? :-)<br />
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I was thrilled that we got some nice shots of the whole family, too! Considering how many of us there are, I am especially impressed with our new photographer friend! She is a mama to 7 kids herself, so I suppose she has had a lot of practice getting multiple people to look toward the camera, lol.<br />
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And these precious, intimate photos...I love the delight reflected in the faces of the older kids! I framed these shots to give to Tobin, Charis, and Arden for Christmas. And I know I'm biased, but there's pretty much nothing else that can warm my heart like seeing my handsome man love on his children.<br />
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My heart is full. I never thought I'd be a mama of many, but I'm so thankful that I am.<br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-12853195181637524922016-01-02T09:34:00.001-05:002016-01-02T09:34:53.161-05:00Bible Bee 2015For the fourth year (not consecutive) our family participated in the Bible Bee program over the summer. The studies have varied from year to year, from 10 weeks to 12 weeks to, this most recent year, 6 weeks from start to finish (which happened to work beautifully with our overseas-move-and-new-baby kind of a summer!). The older 4 kids did independent work on their Bible studies, working their way through the first 6 chapters of the gospel of John and memorizing 12 passages of Scripture (roughly 50 verses total). I would have liked for our family to have done more study time together, but I was just not able to manage it with the tail end of an exhausting pregnancy, trying to finish unpacking and settling in, and then of course having a newborn to care for.<br />
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Still...it was a wonderful opportunity to dig into God's Word more, and though 8-year-old Kenna especially could have benefited greatly from some more specific guidance, it was still a growing experience even for her. This year all the contestants tested online--NO local testing centers or oral recitations to be judged. So we were able to set up our laptops in different parts of the kitchen and test our four kids here at home.<br />
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We did invite some folks from church and the neighborhood to come over the evening before so that the kids could recite 6 of the 12 passages before an audience, an on-your-honor requirement in order to qualify for Nationals. It was fun to share with others some of the hard work the kids had invested throughout the summer.<br />
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A week after the testing date, folks met at their "local host" location for some Bible Bee activities and to learn who had qualified to compete in the National competition, which was to be held in San Antonio in November. When we registered to participate in the Bible Bee, the "local" host we were assigned was from Kansas City!! It was hard to believe that no one closer to us had volunteered to host! (We plan to be hosts ourselves next year!)<br />
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But joining with the group in Kansas City for their local celebration event actually worked out really well for us:<br />
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1. Our Suburban, which we had shipped in APRIL, finally arrived in the States (delay due to the ship catching fire and having to return to the original port for inspections, etc.--thankfully our vehicle was not affected by the catastrophe). The pick-up location happened to be in St. Louis.<br />
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2. We have very dear friends, Craig & Mimi H, who live in the Kansas City area!<br />
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So, due to the timing of retrieving the Suburban, plus the fact that we could stay with the H family, we planned a little road trip and enjoyed visiting with our friends plus being part of the local Bible Bee celebration, where we learned that Charis had qualified for Nationals for the second year in a row!<br />
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It was a fun trip, despite Rhema being pretty high maintenance at that time...due to her stalled out weight at the two-week check-up, I had had to focus almost exclusively on feeding the baby and helping her learn to nurse efficiently, a process that took several weeks and had me on an emotional roller coaster as my milk supply went up and down. But we were still able to travel, and it was neat to see the kids get to participate and meet some other Bible Bee folks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenna recites a passage during the primary optional oral round.</td></tr>
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The event in Kansas City was August 8. Nationals were the week before Thanksgiving. Qualifiers had additional memory passages plus the next 6 chapters in the book of John to study on their own. Since Charis had also qualified last year--when we were still living in Italy--this was her second year to be able to attend. (She and I flew together and met Ted's mom Rhonda in Orlando, where the event was held last year, and it was an amazing experience! Not only did we three "girls" have a blast spending time together, but we also got to meet up with two different sets of missionary friends!) We really wanted our whole family to be able to attend and worked hard on our budgeting and planning to make it happen. I'll write about that in a separate post...<br />
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17016503.post-31671835795042652732015-12-28T14:59:00.001-05:002015-12-28T15:01:55.846-05:00The Story of Rhema, Part 3: The Arrival!As with our 3 previous babies, we had at least a couple of occurrences during which we thought we might be heading to the hospital only to have the contractions wane. But July 15 we suspected we were finally getting close! I had awakened several times during the night with painful contractions but was able to fall asleep and get a fair amount of rest, considering. Ted chose to stay home from work just in case, and it's a good thing he did! While the morning was quite slow, starting around 11:30am I had a few breathtakingly painful contractions that had us scurrying to grab our bags and head to the hospital.<br />
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Rhonda was already with us, having arrived the evening of the 4th of July to be available in case of an early delivery. My mom was planning to drive out closer to the due date but had agreed to come before that weekend of the 18th, as Rhonda had planned to go to Montana for a family wedding. The timing was such that we were able to take Charis to the hospital with us, leaving Grandma in charge of the other kids. It was a blessing that she had been with us long enough to know the kids' routine, so they spent a pretty normal day at home!<br />
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Meanwhile, Ted was speeding down the highway to get us to the hospital, as my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and pretty intense. I think it was somewhere around 12:30 or 12:45pm when we arrived and took this picture:<br />
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Shortly after this we were ushered into the first L&D room (my status as being-pregnant-with-number-eight undoubtedly had something to do with this, lol), where I was somewhat dismayed to hear that I was only 5 cm dilated. Ah, well. Enough time to visit the restroom another time, anyway. The nurse who did my IV line set-up was close at hand when I tried to settle back onto the bed only to be overcome with a huge contraction. I tried to stand up to deal with the pain, and as I leaned on her arm, I gasped, "Is it possible that it's time to push already?!" Because that's what my body wanted to do!<br />
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Things happened in a flurry after that. Rhema was about ready to make her entrance, and the only thing that slowed her down was the fact that she was face up like her big brother Lucan had been! However, unlike during my labor with Lucan, I was not numb from the waist down, so I was actually able to more effectively push our little girl right out into the delivery room. It did take a fair amount of pushing, probably about 50 minutes or so. Definitely longer than I would have hoped, but when all was said and done, the natural delivery was a success, having hurt less than I remember it hurting with Kenna or Zaden. Whereas the doctor had had to use a vacuum with Lucan, we needed no other intervention with Rhema's delivery. But like her big brother, she arrived with some distinguished markings on her forehead indicating her sunny-side up arrival! (Even now at 5.5 months she has a pronounced red mark on her forehead, although we assume it will eventually fade.)<br />
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I had a minimal number of stitches, and the recovery from her face-up delivery was so much better than it had been with Lucan. I can't help but wonder if perhaps that labor and delivery would not have been so difficult and traumatic (25+ hours total with 4.5 hours of pushing) if I had not gotten the epidural with him? Ah, well, it's in the past...<br />
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Rhema and I got to enjoy some beautiful bonding time immediately after she came out. I was so thankful the staff weren't in a hurry to whisk her away and clean her up. In fact, they didn't even weigh or measure her until after she had nursed for awhile.<br />
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Welcome, Rhema Riyel!<br />
Born July 15, 2015, 1:55pm<br />
7 pounds, 9 ounces, 21 inches<br />
Rhema (Greek, pronounced RAY-ma): the specific word of the Lord<br />
Riyel (from the Hebrew Ariel, pronounced Rye-YELL): lioness of God<br />
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Because of having tested positive for Group B strep, I had to stay in the hospital 48 hours, which was honestly fine with me! It allowed us to get Rhema's lip tie taken care of, and while I didn't rest terribly well, it was at least nice to have that extra time to recover enough so that I would have the stamina to face the welcome-home herd, lol! Rhema has lots of adoring fans, that's for sure!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big sister Charis was so thrilled to be able to witness Rhema's birth!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proud big brothers Tobin and Arden</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandma J...this is the first time Rhonda has been able to hold one of our babies in the hospital! The soonest she has seen any of our babies was after Lucan was born and she drove from CO to Las Vegas and saw him at about 2-3 days old.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucan and Zaden are pretty smitten!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ted attended an ALS graduation dinner the night after Rhema was born. He stopped in at the hospital on his way home so he could see his girls!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom drove from Wisconsin right after she got the news and was able to spend a morning with us at the hospital right before we were discharged to go home.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At home there was a warm welcome for our new wee one! Kenna's words right before I took this photo, when I asked the kids to look at the camera and smile: "I'm looking adoringly down at her." Indeed, lol!</td></tr>
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<br />Beverlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268005144107516108noreply@blogger.com0