Another Update!

Well, not much new to report, just more pictures!! This is last night, when David was burning the wood lot. We had a gorgeous sunset, so it made great pictures.

Today's sky - dark and cloudy.

You can't see it in the picture, but at the time we were getting some pretty good snowfall! It was melting as soon as it hit the ground, though.

And here are our two sweet kittys. Helen (the black one) had been missing for a few days and we thought she was gone for good. But she's returned!! Both of them love to snuggle on the porch swing.

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Sunday Update

Everyone was getting incredibly sick of sandwiches - and I do mean sick - so, at 6:45 this morning, out of absolute hunger for a real meal, I made a really yummy egg/potato/bacon casserole, oatmeal pancakes, and then Jonathan whipped up a smoothie! It was great! And we even had leftovers!

It's easy to not feel like cooking when your family is gone....but I am determined to make some really hearty meals in Mom and Courtney's absence.

This little stinker is REALLY keeping me on my toes!! This is his favorite new pose that he likes to strike.

He may be naughty at times, but he sure is a cutie!!! Pretty sweet!!

Every afternoon, regular as rain, Isaac begins to get whiny and clingy. He just needs me!! His new way of telling me this is saying "apart, apart!" (I asked him if he was falling apart the other day and the phrase has stuck.) :-)

Not many pictures today....but more to come soon!

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Update on the Home Front!

Well, welcome to our temporarily 5 member family! It feels strange not having Mom or Courtney around....but we're hangin in there.

Isaac has been so well behaved today - I've given him pieces of licorice for good behavior and to top it all off, he got a Mrs. Potato Head set!!

He was thrilled!

The boys have been busy outside burning tumbleweeds. It was cold and blustery, and they decided they needed a break.....

So out came the marsmallows!

David!! Marshmallows don't taste that bad!

And that's it from here!!

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Flight Troubles - Please Pray!

An Update!!

Well............the first flight to LA was several hours delayed, so they never caught their connecting flight to Hong Kong!!!

They are currently booked for the next flight to HK, which is leaving at 10:20 PM today - not exactly what they had originally planned.

Please pray that they could get an earlier flight somehow!!!

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In the Air!

Mom, Courtney, and Lesley (our great friend who's going along!!) are IN THE AIR!! Right now, as we speak (or as I type) there is a plane flying over clouds and headed for our Joshua!

With three very excited people on it!

Their flight was delayed several hours....so please pray that they can catch all their connecting flights from this point on!!

More updates, as I get them.......

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Tomorrow's the Day!

Tomorrow is the day of departure - it's finally here! We've waited so long and the last week has crawled by (emphasis on crawled).

But now the waiting is over. Tomorrow it all begins! I'm getting flutters in my stomach just thinking about it!

I hope we've not forgotten anything....Mom's been going over with me important things to remember, such as...

Don't forget to brush Isaac's teeth.
Make sure you turn off the stove when you're done with it.
Marinate the steak before cooking it.
Wash Joshua's booster seat.

I think......we have all our bases covered.

• Enough groceries for 2 weeks purchased.

Check.


• Enough dog food for 2 weeks purchased.

Check.


• Emergency contact numbers posted on the wall.

Check.


• Personal stash of m&m's bought.

Check.


• Personal stash of licorice bought because I already ate the m&m's.

Check.


• Get excited.

CHECK!!

Joshua, here we come!

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Isaac the Dishwasher!

Isaac is a very helpful little boy - he loves to jump in and assist you with whatever you're doing. He loves vacuuming. And he recently found his new niche: washing dishes!

I love this little stinker!

If you could see behind Mom's smiling face you'd see a mountain of dishes just waiting to be washed - those few cups you can see is actually quite an illusion.

Scrub scrub scrub!

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Around the Farm

Not much new has been happening here at the farm lately (well, besides the fact that Joshua will soon be a part of our family!!!)....but we are enjoying the deliciously warm weather.

Isaac loves playing on his "horhee" all the time!

Yours truly.

Courtney and Mom have pretty much finished their packing for the trip ~ the date for departure is approaching rapidly!!! I just hope they don't forget anything. But that's not likely with Courtney as the paperwork gal. If it were up to me I'd be clueless.

David pitches more feed for the animals.

Just 3 more days until the trip begins! Tomorrow our good friend Lesley is flying in from Nebraska to stay with us for a day or two before they all head off to China together! It will be so fun to see her again!

My dog Willie has been especially precocious lately. He recently chewed down an entire gopher that the boys caught in one of their traps. So now I'm not so thrilled about him licking my face anymore.....:-)

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High Five - Just A Few More Days!

I know you are all probably getting very tired of hearing me count, but can I say it again?

FIVE DAYS!

Oh.

Wow.

That is so amazingly close. In just five days, the trip will begin.

Am I ready for this?

I have a feeling that a non-stop roller coaster ride is about to begin - but thankfully it's the kind that you never want to end.

Two toddlers. In the same house. With us. Who would have thought?

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Isaac's vocabulary (and other stuff)

Isaac's vocabulary is expanding rapidly these days! He has learned a lot of new words recently and can be quite amusing.

Here are some of his recent additions:

"Hip-moes" - (Hippos)

"Be-Be I-E" - (Baby Isaac)

"Nina" - (China) not new but I had to share it!

"Yeh Maa" (Yes ma'am)

"I - E - eeee" (Isaac is three)

"Ah-ah-ah ooo" (Joshua is two)

I know from the list of words you just read it probably sounds like he has a doomed future of being totally mis-understood...but if you lived with him every day you'd realize what milestones these words are. For him to say "h" and "b" with no problem is great, considering he had a cleft palate. He is really making strides these days!

And yes, we're working on those consanants he loves to leave out. :-)

As for me, I'm continuing to work on school, my home business, and of course preparing for the big trip in just a few days! Yesterday and today David and I have been hard at work burning tumbleweeds. There are literally thousands of them on our property and they get stuck everywhere - in fences, especially. So that has been a major job!

Also, we have all the goats lined up for kidding the spring - Pearl is due April 7th and Daisy is due May 6th. Looking forward to all those babies!

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10 Days Left

We are getting so close!

Just 10 days left until China! Packing is well under way and we are getting extremely excited.

(Could that be the understatement of the YEAR maybe??!!)

TEN DAYS, FOLKS!

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Dad's Birthday Celebration

My dad's birthday falls on Valentine's Day....awwww! He says he used to get teased about it when he was little but now he likes it. :-) However, since Dad has to work today, we celebrated yesterday, Sunday evening.

One of David's award winning smiles - I don't remember his card being that funny!

My gift to Dad was a bag of red licorice! He is notoriously allergic to chocolate so I got him his second favorite treat.

Since Isaac was already put to bed when we opened presents last night, he got to present his special card to Dad this morning before devotions.

Cutie pie - camoflauge PJ's and all!

Yes, you're seeing correctly: Isaac is playing with a doll. It's rather...um...un-boyish that he likes playing with it, but he found it in Courtney's closet and, after being scared to death of it, has latched on to it and does everything with it. This morning he decided it was named "Baby Isaac". He's very distraught over the fact that baby has a hole in her outfit - and today he was trying to feed it licorice .

Oh well. At least you can see the semi-manly krinkle car in the backround. He does play with boy toys 99% of the time...but this one we just can't shake!

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I love Winnie the Pooh - by Isaac

Hey fellers! Welcome to another edition of Isaac's Adventures.

This, as you can see, is my Winnie the Pooh backpack. I got it for Christmas. Cool, huh?

I really like Pooh. I have a counting with Pooh book that Mama reads to me. But the main reason I like Pooh is because he's on my backpack. I love backpacks. And I love Pooh.

Don't you?

C'mon....you know you do. Everyone likes Pooh. He's like the neatest bear I've ever heard of. I really like the fact that he's hugging a pig. Rachel says pigs are stinky, but I don't believe her. Piglet is not stinky.

Hang on, let me just zip it up here....

There, got it!

Oh, speaking of stinky, did you know Rachel told me I was stinky the other day? And guess what I told her back? "P-U!"

Yup! I think she was pretty surprised. She actually started laughing at me. Kind of embarrassing...but it proves that I'm a pretty funny guy.

Okay, Rachel says she ran out of pictures so I have to stop now. See ya later!

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Giving HIM glory

It's easy to look around and nod our heads and absent mindedly acknowledge God's creation. But have you ever really noticed it? The complexity of a rose, for example. Our rose bushes out back consitently produce gorgeous blooms. It starts out as a tiny bud, and day by day it gently opens up, eventually revealing the incredible beauty inside. What always gets me is the deep, vibrant colors, and the amazing fragrance. How incredible that God made that!

And I think God has a sense of humor too. He cares about how things smell. What a scrumptious fragrance he designed a rose to have! Have you ever truly smelled a rose...up close? It is so delicious. It gives off such a pleasant fragrance ~ and it reminds me of just how beautiful Jesus is. He IS everything beautiful and incredible!

Which begs the question.....are we reflecting that beauty?

Am I, on a daily basis, a reflection of Christ's amazing love? Am I spending enough time with God that His grace and mercy is literally rubbing off on me? I have great reason to be a joyful person.......Christ's blood. Because of His death, I have life. And I want that joy to be seen through me, as a testimony to HIS incredible love!

But that takes work ~ at the foot of the cross. It takes time in His presence, meditating on His Word and listening to Him speak to my heart. A five minute Bible reading session just isn't going to do the job. The kind of work that needs to be done in my soul requires intensive and consistent time spent with Jesus.

Every day.

The entire goal of my life.....every minute of every day that I will ever live, I want to be giving glory to God. That is all that matters. I put that as the #1 priority above anything and everything else....literally. Above marriage, above health, above comfort, above self, above anything that is important to me. HE must come first. I believe that the One Who did so much for me should be the priority of every day...of my entire life.

Remember that it's only because of Jesus that your heart is even beating right now. It's only because of His incredible love that you are who you are!

Anyway, I know I don't have the best writing capabilities, but I wanted to at least share these thoughts with you and post the follwing song I recently discovered. It's a very worshipful piece and is a great reminder!

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