The Farrand Family

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Aliya

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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star *

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Aliya getting "SO BIG"

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Proud Parent Moment

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When did Sarah grow up?

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Happy 10th Birthday Baby. May your next year be one of growth and wonder.

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Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?

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"Aliya, stop licking the dog..."

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Aliya has been going through quite a dog licking phase.

GG and Sarah with the new handknitted birthday sweater.

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Uncle Steve posing with his favorite baby girl.

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Joshua turns TWELVE

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Wow. Joshua, you have grown SO much. As your hair has been increasingly lengthening, your childhood is increasingly shortening. You are becoming a responsible, caring, Godly young man. I am proud of you and thankful to have been given the privelege of being your mom for 12 years and counting. I love you and look forward with joy to our next 12 years and counting:)
Love,
Mom

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The Little African Violet

2009-02-18T00:58:00.011-05:00

Anybody who knows me from college days or early married life might also know that my plant skills have been meager at best. I generally did not purchase plants as I knew full well the futility of it all. However, three years ago many plants and flowers filled my home as gifts in memoriam to our precious little Hannah. One plant in particular has come to mean a great deal to me. We received an African violet. In years past, I have managed to snuff out many a violet. This little violet came so near the clutches of death that I was quite surprised to see that the remaining remnant had any life left in it at all. Through three years of vacations, overwaterings, underwaterings and sometimes neglect it has survived. This has to be some kind of record! To my delight, every few months it would even bless me with a few flowers. In October this determined little plant absolutely took off. The number of leaves doubled. The flowers have been BEAUTIFUL with twice the profusion of ever before. There were new flowers forming all the time lying in wait to bloom as soon as another began to wain. It has been incredible. This has been happening to our little African Violet ever since October - with NO let up, no break in the action. There has not been one day that this little flower has not been FILLED with blooms in the past 4 months! What, you might wonder, is the secret to my growing success? Did I find some new food? Did I stumble on the perfect watering schedule? No. The only thing that has been different in our house since October is the new little daughter that has blessed our family. Aliya's referral was in October, right at the same time little African Violet came alive in full force. I just think that is the neatest thing. Thank you God for the blessings in our lives - big and small.

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Happy Birthday Hannah. We miss you.

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Sweet.

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Busted

But she doesn't care.

Like Brother, Like Sister.

I just found out how to get on to my mom's blog to edit it and I (Josh) had a comment for everyone to see! Josh's comment: I can't believe that I could do this with a straight face! I love acting!

HOORAY!

Happy Birthday Baby!

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Sarah is so creative:)

She was quite fond of her party hat!

Getting ready for the big night.

Aunt Cheryl and Aliya

Family

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Bathtime Again!

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Mommmmmyyyyyyy!

Hmm, just what is she saying?

It's Snow Fun

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I think she likes it :)

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The Farrands with the Andersons.

Updating

2008-12-28T22:27:00.003-05:00

Whew, it has been a while since I have taken opportunity to post pictures of my fabulous children:) Here are some of my favorites over the past few weeks.

Aliya is doing fantastically well. She is walking behind a walker, waving hi and bye and absorbing her world in amazing ways. She continues to be THE best baby. I included a crying photo during our Christmas picture attempts, partly due to it's novelty.

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas and has taken time out to enjoy family and praise God for making this trek to earth to give us life everlasting. May we seek to make this new year joyful.

OH... MY... GOODNESS...

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This is Aliya's NEWEST talent. We are calling it - Kissy Face.

Christmas

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Christmas Morning. She is enjoying herself!

Micah REALLY likes it!

What is in HERE?

Uncle Steve is lots of fun.

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Grandpa Farrand is SOOO funny:)

Pretty Sarah all dressed up for the occassion.

My handsome men.

The Bracy grandkids. Satoshi, Mukai, Joshua, Sarah, Micah, Aliya. Oh... and Grandma and Grandpa:)

Joshua's Art Work

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This was at the Christmas Showcase that our Co-Op puts on.

Merry Christmas. Every One.

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This one didn't make our Christmas card.

Other Notable Mentions

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Dinner Conversation

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This is a sampling of our dinner music every dinner, all dinner.

"Hi"

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Yes, she is precious!

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Part of the "Christening" of every Farrand child is THE sink bath up north. She is official.

Oh Yeah.

Two Weeks

2008-12-01T22:48:00.005-05:00

What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Two weeks ago we picked up a little girl from an orphanage. In that time we have been to Rwanda, Ethiopia, our home, and then on vacation in northern Michigan and then Lapeer, and now back home again. Where we have been is less important than what Aliya has already become. Two weeks ago Aliya was quite expressionless. When I received her referral pictures I began to fret over the somber face staring back at me. In all four photos, Aliya was serious somber. Not all the babies in her room were so serious. My friend is adopting a little girl that I had the privilege of meeting and cuddling for a few minutes two weeks ago this morning. She needed little encouragement to spread out a wide gummy smile. But Aliya was stone faced. We remarked at what a good baby she was, never crying, never fussing. I remember her first half hearted cry. I was pleased she began to understand that she could communicate and express needs to me. Today, she fusses and cries to show her displeasure. Her first smiles were tentative and quick. Now, her smile lights up her face. She needs precious little encouragement to flash her adorable dimples your way. She didn't ever squirm, not in diaper changes, not in face washings, not in nose wipings. Now I practically need a harness to hold her still long enough to change her diaper. I remember her first sounds. She hasn't made them quite the same way as she did the first couple of days she learned she had a voice. I don't know if she couldn't quite hear her own voice before, or if she didn't bother much with it before we met her. But there was a definite voice learning time. She would open her mouth to its widest "o" position (and that was considerable might I add:)) and make the smallest little "aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh" babble. Last night at dinner we all laughed at her and told her she was making far too much noise as she was chattering away. She says "dadadada" with great skill. We are working on "mamama". I think the first few days were overwhelming to her. That is understandable. She was minding her own business when all of a sudden two strange faces came and swooped her away. She entered a world of new sights and sounds and feels. She was captured by the enormity of it all. She is doing phenomenally well. Aliya Grace seems to have been a Farrand for quite some time, but when I look at the calendar it tries to convince me that it has only been two weeks.

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Extra Precious.

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Dimples.

Check out her expression!

Check out this great website...

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http://www.awaablog.org/blog/rwanda_update/

Cute photos of a beautiful baby.

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Proud Grandpa.

Micah and his cute turkey.

In Ethiopia at the Ethiopian Guest House.

After our first plane trip. She is such a happy camper!

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Sarah trying out the Rwandan way of life.

On the 17 hour leg of the plane trip home. What was I worried about???

Sister love.

Ethiopia - We are not in Kansas anymore!

2008-11-25T09:40:00.002-05:00

This will be my new edition - coming soon:)

"Rwanda - Africa for Beginners"

2008-11-25T07:12:00.004-05:00

I love Nyanja's quote about Rwanda. She is totally right as far as the amount of Africa I saw (which of course was very limited). Rwanda is a beautiful place to begin a trip to Africa and ease in to the African culture. Kigali is a beautiful city kept clean religiously with beautiful people that are as a group, the friendliest I have encountered in my life. Prepare yourselves for stares. Not rude stares. Interested, questioning stares. Accompanying the stare will be a smile and a wave. Life goes by at a different pace in Rwanda. I quickly learned not to look at my watch. Things would happen eventually. And happen they did. It was truly amazing how God worked out the details while we were there. Countless times over the week my doubtful mind would taunt me with “knowledge” that this cannot happen in one weeks time. There are not enough hours in the day for every piece to be completed, especially when one of the offices had called an emergency meeting and they were not able to do what we thought could be done early in the morning (9am) until late in the afternoon (about 5pm). Even with a WHOLE day “glitch” I could hear God soothing my fears, seemingly asking if I trusted Him and His timing. One thing that really struck me while in Rwanda and Ethiopia both were the things often not seen here. People I did not know, people who would not receive anything from me, bending over backwards trying to be helpful and going that extra mile to help us. I don’t want to be misunderstood. There are many kind people in America. So often I have been touched by the kindness of strangers here. So often in my life have people come alongside me and lifted me up. Maybe the difference is that in Rwanda, government officials and business workers were willing to do things outside of status quo. I must say this is not typical here, though even this happens in America. One of the dear people I have been privileged to meet was an AT&T phone operator who went that extra mile to help a stranger on her way to Rwanda. She will probably never know that I think of her kind words and helpful spirit often. I guess the world is full of beautiful people. Rwanda has more than their share of them though!

Welcome Home Aliya Grace

2008-11-22T19:34:00.002-05:00

I so want to update my blog for the days that we missed while in Ethiopia, but it will not be tonight:) Tonight we are cuddling and reuniting and turning in early. I do want to share a couple of irristable photos and thank everyone for the prayers for our family. God has worked in marvelous ways and I want to share in detail soon. In the meantime, here are some winning pictures:)

The kids all together at long last.

I think he likes her:)

It has been a LOOONG day. It tuckers a girl right out to travel from Ethiopia and meet her new siblings!

Day three in pictures.

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Yes, we DID see an elephant in Rwanda!

One of the poorer areas.

Our guest house - The Banana House

She smiles!

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This last photo was taken near where Aliya was found abandoned in February.

Monday

2008-11-17T12:52:00.003-05:00

Today was a day of much paperwork. We started our day at Immigration, then on to the Ministry of Family and Gender, then to the Embassy, then back to Ministry. We began at 8am and finished at about 6:30pm. Great news! We were able to get our paperwork signed from them Ministry. This was HUGE, because there was a time period in which we were quite unsure of the completion. There was a misspelled word that almost delayed our trip, but our guide is super fantastic on the job and was able to give assitance as needed. Even better news, we are going to pick Aliya up in the morning at 7am (that is Midnight your time) and never take her back to the orphanage. Final piece of wonderful news, we are REALLY really trying to get everything done tomorrow and be on a plane to Ethiopia TOMORROW at 4:15! This is so unbelievable. When we signed up we thought we would be in Rwanda for two weeks. If we leave tomorrow we will have been here for all of 3 days! Thank you to all who have prayed us through this! Ahh, since you are praying, obviously, could you add my headaches to the list? Everyday at about 3 or so in the afternoon one hits and by about 6 a migraine hits. I am sure it is jetlag/stress. All in all this has been a wonderful, eye-opening adventure. Signing out for today...

Aliya Grace Farrand - Our meeting Day

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This is the referral picture

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Good Times

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HOOORAY!!! We are RIGHT now sitting at the cafe sipping mango smoothies and playing with the most beautiful baby in the world. She is wonderful.

Thoughts over the Atlantic

2008-11-16T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings from somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I can scarecly take it all in. This is the beginning of a new chapter. This is what the wait has been all about. In near about 12 hours the wait will begin fading from our memories and in its place, joy. So far the journey has been good. Can you believe that Ryan and I were an answer to someone else's prayer? We arrived at the airport at the zippy hour of 4am, feeling slightly loopy from the 2 1/2 hours sleep that we managed the previous night. When we arrived at the ticket counter we found that we had beat the agents to their posts by 30 minutes. Within the first minute of arriving we had already met someone that sounds a little bit like me. Try this out. She is on her way to Ethiopia (remember, we are at Metro, just trying to make it to Washington DC where we will get our ticktes for Ethiopian Air), she is on the same flight as we are, she has one of her bags packed with items she will be taking to the orphanage she plans on visiting. She homeschools her three children, (2 boys, 1 girl) and she used to be a teacher. She is a Christian. Oh, and her name is Juile. Yeah. Julie is traveling alone to Ethiopia and ultimately Kenya and was a little nervous over the entire ordeal. She prayed that she would meet someone so she would not be alone. We were able to arrange seats together and it has been nice getting to know her. She is a gifted singer and she allowed us to download her song called "The Promise" that speaks of the faithfulness of God and being steadfast during the wait. I know God intended for me to hear that song today!

When we arrive in Kigali it will be about noon their time. I hope to drop off our bags and jet over to the orphanage. Sunday we are going to have a chance to visit a local church, go sightseeing, and of course visit with our daughter. Please pray for our time in Rwanda especially. There is the chance that we could leave Rwanda a day or two early which would actually make Ethiopia a much easier visit as well. Please also pray that we will not get sick! This is a concern of mine in our third world country! Pray that our hearts will be touched forever from Aliya's orphanage and birthplace, and that we will take proper steps to honor that touch. This is a big deal! And please pray for family at home.

Flight Information

2008-11-08T09:05:00.004-05:00

We have our flights! We leave Metro Airport at 6 am this Friday the 14th and will travel 23 hours to Kigali arriving at 5 am our time, noon local time. I just checked the weather and it is predicting rain all week until Saturday where they are certainly rolling out the welcome banner with 77 degrees and sunny from there on out! How kind for them to arrange this for us. Our return flight leaves on Thanksgiving Day. This Thanksgiving will be a memorable one! We leave Addis Ababa at 3pm our time and arrive home 7pm the next day. Twenty-eight hours of travel with a little girl that does not even know us yet seems a bit daunting at the moment. But, we have made it through other "daunting" moments, and this one will be with a very joyful reunion/meeting at the end of it on which to keep our eyes focused.

Look What Joshua Taught Me How To Do!

2008-11-06T23:26:00.002-05:00

Praise God

2008-11-06T16:48:00.002-05:00

We received word this afternoon that Lesly is officially a Farrand! This is music to my weary ears. I have been flying. We will soon purchase tickets for next Saturday (I think). There is a sliver of a chance we could be home for Thanksgiving! The time required in Ethiopia has been cut in half, but the Rwanda portion of the trip is very much an unsure thing. Pray for our in-country representative that she is able to make connections and appointments in the most time effective way.

Thank you to all who have been praying for us and encouraging us along our way. I am ever so anxious to post from Rwanda with pictures of our beautiful baby girl. She is adorable!

Update on Court

2008-11-04T22:37:00.002-05:00

Thank you to all who have been praying for our family and our little girl. Word came today that the court date today DID happen, but no decision has been given. Thursday is the day that we are hoping to have a favorable decision. A few more pins and needles. The timing WILL be perfect. As of Thursday, assuming a decision has been reached and communicated (and positive) we will make our flight arrangements. Now we are praying again for timing to be God's perfect timing, not our rush. Interestingly, I heard today that flights may be going down in price by 30% :). Also interestingly enough, Ryan may have to travel to Johannesburg, South Africa in the next few weeks for work! It might really be nice if this could be in conjunction with this trip, rather than have him come all the way home just to board another plane.

Happy Birthday Baby

2008-10-30T22:14:00.001-04:00

It was 8 years ago today that God blessed us with you, our son, Micah Josiah. Micah you have grown into such a caring, thoughtful, loving boy in your 8 years. I love you and I am proud to be your mom.

Court Date #2 Scheduled

2008-10-30T22:01:00.002-04:00

Praise God and thank you to all who have prayed! We have received a second court date on Tuesday of next week. Please continue to pray for the papers to be signed and for the documents to be received and for travel plans to be made. Thank you!

Labor Pains

2008-10-29T16:43:00.003-04:00

What would a delivery of a new baby be without labor pains? Today brought a new one. This was the day of our court date. Unfortunately, though our representative was in court, she did not have a lawyer as she was advised she did not need one. The judge thought differently. The real pain is the interminable indefiniteness of completion. Will our rep be able to secure a lawyer quickly? Will the court date be postponed a matter of days or weeks? It is entirely possible that she could have a lawyer and court date as soon as tomorrow, or as long as weeks from now. Now for sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring, again. Please pray for swiftness!

Thanks for the new sweater GG!

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You should see the other guy...

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It is a fake.

New Developments

2008-10-26T20:47:00.003-04:00

Court date has been set for this coming Wednesday, the 29th. Documents should be ready for pickup Thursday or Friday. As soon as the documents are in hand, travel plans can be made!!! Wednesday will be three weeks from the time we received our referral. God willing, we will be legal guardians of a beautiful little 9 month old girl on WEDNESDAY! Please pray for a smooth court transaction and for speedy plane trips. We all want to be home and on the other end of this process.

2008-10-15T22:06:00.000-04:00

Even Better News!

2008-10-08T21:59:00.002-04:00

We are praising God for the referral of a healthy little girl about 9 1/2 months old! She is gorgeous! You will have to take my word for it for the time being. Because she is not legally ours, we are not allowed to post pictures. The minute the court signs custody of "Lesly" to the Farrands - watch out, this blog is going to be inundated with photos of our much awaited Aliya. We are going to bed with a renewed peace and awe. What a day!

Exciting News!

2008-10-08T09:08:00.004-04:00

We heard from our agency! The process is progressing. Right now, this very morning, in an orphanage in Rwanda, there lies a little girl. In my mind's eye I can't see her face, but I can make out a fuzzy image. On this image in my mind, written in pencil, is the name Aliya Grace Farrand. Once all the governmental red tape has been satisfied with all the i's dotted and t's crossed, the penciling will turn more permanent. I long for her name to be chiseled in stone.

The process as it stands is this. Some amount of medical testing has occurred. The results are in some stage of translations. What do we know? The baby is a little girl under the age of 12 months. This little girl has been hand picked by Almighty God for our family.

As a side note: as I joyfully relay our update with you, my hands and heart tremble at the thought of a name "chiseled in stone". We have not forgotten the last time our baby girl's name was "chiseled in stone". Her name - Hannah Grace Farrand.

A Flippin' Good Time

2008-10-04T22:26:00.000-04:00

Crazy Hair Day meets Micah

2008-10-02T17:11:00.000-04:00

Such a cutie pie:)

Laundry Woes

2008-10-02T16:13:00.001-04:00

If you have ever wondered what about 3 weeks of laundry for 5 folks might look like, well, here it is:) I am so thankful this is part of our history, no longer our present.

2008-09-29T21:57:00.001-04:00

Here is our approval letter. Tomorrow makes three weeks since news of our approval. Wednesday makes four weeks since actual approval, though according to the document, four weeks plus 8 years (signed on 2000!).

Homeschool Moments:

2008-09-16T19:15:00.005-04:00

Math class: Today's subject - POSITION
Mom - "Color the third teddy bear red."
Mom - "Color the first teddy bear green."
Mom - "Color the second teddy bear yellow."
Mom - "Color the fifth teddy bear blue."
Mom - "In what position is the teddy bear that is not colored?"
Micah - (after MUCH thought and consideration) dutifully sits down with his hands and arms bent "just so".
Wait for it, wait for it...
I laughed so hard when I finally realized that Micah in all seriousness was sitting in the same "position" as the teddy bear on the page! He is such a cutie :)

Since when did a Washer and Dryer make me jump up and down with glee?

2008-09-16T17:40:00.004-04:00

Since not having one for two weeks. Ahh, what a way to learn to appreciate the little things in life. 2 weeks x 5 people - 1 washer + 1 dryer = 1 scary mountain. So, there it sits in my laundry room, shrink wrapped and in a box. Ryan's trip to the Czech Republic coincided beautifully with delivery. I thought I would make an effort to just hook them up myself. I mean how hard can it really be? They are already in the laundry room, and I have been known to wield a screwdriver mightly in the past, why not add laundry hookup to my resume? And besides, the guys bringing in the supersonic machines could always point me in the right direction, right? Enter two Steve's in a truck. Steve #1 had one of those trendy vanity t-shirts that I always feel compelled to read. It said "If I could control my anger I'd destroy you with it". Nice. Steve #2 was less personable. They did, however, scare the begeebees out of me in the hookup warnings they did impart to me. One of which was the cute little fact that the dryer needs to lay down on its back in order to put on its feet. The bottom of the dryer has sharp metal edges as it is and ("hee hee") there is no longer the room necessary in my tight little laundry room to lay it down to do this. Don't even think about moving the 250 pound washer out of the narrow doorway on your own. That spells hernia for sure. They'd be happy to hook it up for me for $60. Do you remember the t-shirt? They really couldn't leave fast enough for me. I believe there really was truth in his shirt. So, what really does 3 more days mean in the grander scheme of things?

Funny Homeschool Comic

2008-09-09T12:53:00.006-04:00

Click on the comic to read it.

It's official

2008-09-09T10:09:00.004-04:00

This morning it came. The phone call. The phone call that we have been waiting for these past four months. Our dossier has been officially signed! We heard about 11 days ago that we had been approved, but were waiting on the signature. Our in-country representative will be taking our paperwork to orphanges tomorrow to "find" our daughter. We should have a referral in about 2 weeks. Please be praying for a smooth process.

Praise God!

Stolen Devotions

2008-09-04T21:03:00.001-04:00

I just lifted this from my friend Heather's blog. Wow. Very timely.

Numbers 11:4-6Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving and the people of Israel also wept again and said, "Oh, that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."

"Obsessing on an unmet desire takes away our joy and delight in all that God has provided for us TODAY... If we focus our thoughts on looking only at what we hope tomorrow will bring (or what yesterday had), we will miss the pleasure of today. Life is made of todays, not tomorrows. What do we have today? Whatever it may be - a good friend, a hug, a freshly baked bagel, sunshine, a place to call home - can bring us joy because it is God's gift for our enjoyment. Taking joy in the little things is... CONTENTMENT."- Lydia Brownback

Stinker

2008-09-02T23:07:00.005-04:00

Joshua impersonating a goldfish. Such talent.

This is wrong, but it just makes me laugh. We celebrated the collective birthdays of Joshua, Sarah, Micah, Tyler and Jonathan. Tyler and Jonathan are the children of Dan and Beth, our fair-weather friends - literally. Because they are only in Michigan for a short time, we make the most of it and find any and all reasons to celebrate. So, this year represented the 48 collective years of life our children have lived to date and during our birthday party, one might think the candles should be shared amongst the lot of them. Please keep your eyes on my eldest. Proud moment coming...

First Day of Homeschooling '08

2008-09-02T22:34:00.005-04:00

Here is how are day began...

And here is how our day ended...

Wake Boarding Maniac.

Micah FINALLY had the courage to jump off the high jump! Here he is (before my battery died) with a death grip on his very brave friend, Tyler's, hand. My battery died waiting for the courage to be fully mustered.
What a great way to end a momentous day. Good friends, cool summer evening, watching the sunset while boating on the lake! It just doesn't get much better.