Cute pics from the old year...

The favorite snack.

Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls(so they're not cute, but they sure were good!)

Her favorite cubby.

Elyssia took this pic of Garrison running around like crazy.

The kids helping to decorate the pizzas.

Just posting the pic of my new Christmas apron:)

I would have posted these before Christmas, but we misplaced the camera and just found it yesterday!  So thankful we won't have to think of replacing yet another electronic item.

Getting ahead...

While I might be getting ahead as far as blogging is concerned, I keep falling farther behind on the house.  I have to admit that although I'm trying to stay energetic and positive while going through this flu, tonight has started to take me down a bit.  There hadn't been any throwing up since last night, then Kiersten did it this afternoon.  Elyssia did it during devotions and Caleb did it shortly after Scott put him to bed.  I'm soooo thankful that Scott got us caught up laundry-wise when we got home, because he wasn't feeling well today and we've probably got another 2 loads besides the one I just put in that are a result of the flu.  I've been having the kids sleep on the wood floor, but the towels and sheets they sleep in, plus one cover blanket, added to clothes, etc... It adds up really fast!  I was about ready to head to bed, but needed to finish the prep for Scott's food tomorrow.  I'm not sure what's going to happen though.  A man in the church called tonight to let us know that he stopped by the church to turn the furnace up and it wasn't working!  He put in some space heaters and it's supposed to be up to plus 5 tomorrow, but I think it will still be COLD!  I also think that the devil knows his time is short and that God is working here.  If he's trying to discourage us, I sure don't want to give him the victory.  God has been soooo good to us this past year and if HE doesn't return this year then we'll have another full year of family, ministry and life to enjoy.
  A friend's post reminded me of somethings I forgot to post about Caleb. I like to focus on the positive, so we'll move on to the comedians in our family now. He's been saying the funniest things lately. He talks about Kiersten like she's his baby.  The other day he said, "I love our baby, she's so "sfeet".  Then at the in-laws he says that she's precious!  Where does he come up with this?  I was putting Kiersten's shirt on and he said, "Oh Mama, she looks so toot(cute)!"  That one cracked me up, so he had to repeat it a couple times.  Then he called me in the other day. He was saying, "Ow ow!"  I asked him what was wrong. He said, "my foot hurts, ha ha!"  He actually tricked me!  When I told Elyssia who was sick, she laughed and laughed.  He came out and in a highly offended voice, "Don't say that ever adain!"  I told him I was going to tell everyone I knew:))).  His latest was at lunch today.  He was looking at my ring and rubbing it.  He said, "that's nice, that's pretty, You're married and Daddy gave that to you, that's good:)"  His observations are amazing and his vocabulary has grown a lot in the past year.  Last year most people couldn't understand much of what he said and he didn't try to talk much.  This year he's quite clear, with a couple letter substitutions and funny way of saying things.  Only 3 more months til he's 3!  I'm excited for him:).  He declares that he's the biggest boy and fights with Garrison over it.  I wonder who will end up the tallest.
  We had an interesting time with Garrison tonight.  Scott was telling them the story about Moses and how Elyssia was the big sister like Miriam, Garrison was like Aaron and Caleb was like Moses in birth order. Garrison decided that he wanted to change his name to Aaron.  When we told him no he was VERY upset with us!  We finally convinced him that there were several very good reasons that we named him Garrison and he calmed down.  Then he decided he wanted to be a doctor.  We told him that we were okay with that, but that he would have to go through a lot of school before they'd let him be one.  He started crying.  He said I don't want to leave my parents and go to school!  I'm glad that he loves us so much:)  It took awhile for him to see that he doesn't go when he's a child, but that it's happens when he's bigger like Daddy.  Their futures are full of endless possibilities. 
  Elyssia has been knocked down by the flu and slept so much that she really hasn't had time to do too much.  She did get to do a couple crafts today and a bit of history with Scott, but I have a feeling tomorrow is going to include either more rest of some kids with energy to burn.  Scott measured them today and if I remember correctly, they've grown almost a whole inch since we measured them sometime last month!  I'm thankful that I found the camera today.  I couldn't find it during the holidays and I'm thankful that Kirk was here to take the pictures for us:).  Her two bottom teeth are coming in quickly.  It's kinda strange to look at because they're quite a bit bigger than the baby ones were.  It looks like her once straight teeth will be a bit crooked now because of the limited space for them to come in.  We'll see though.  I refuse to think about a stage with braces until many years from now:).  Looking forward to seeing what she looks like when the top two teeth fall out though.  They're not loose yet, so I think we have a little waiting ahead of us.
  Kiersten looks like she's gotten taller too, but that could just be cause she looks so thin. She didn't have much extra to begin with, so now she really looks petite. Will have to figure out some things to feed her to get her back up on the scale.  She's a good eater, but as with the other children, she just doesn't gain weight quickly.  Praying this flu ends soon. The kids have an appt for a shot this week and the health nurse will probably be concerned when she weighs her.  She was doing pretty good, but this will set her back a bit.  Her teeth are slow to come in, like Caleb's.  She said, "I love you" and "thank you" today. If she keeps this up she will pass Caleb's vocabulary at this age. 
  Yikes! It's 10pm here now.  Time for me to go to bed.  No telling how many times I may have to get up between now and morning light around here... 

Are You Ready For Adventure?

Yes, we are!  Thought I was going to bore you with a long 100th post didn't you?:)?  Well, due to lack of creative time and energy, I'll refrain.  Big thankful sigh from my readers, right?  I'll put just a couple of our adventures that we're looking forward to, but not specific dates, as I've heard that people who do that sometimes have their places broken into while they're away.  We do have people housesitting for the longest trip and others checking in for shorter ones, The biggest one, as many of you know, is our trip to Georgia.  We're stocking up on car game ideas, planning stops, motels and starting to look for extra activities to do in the places we stop at each evening. With 8 hours of driving each day, we shouldn't lose our sanity.  The first couple hours should be with the kids sleeping, followed by breakfast, reading, schoolwork, at least one story on cd and 1 movie(if necessary), lunch and stopping for the day shortly thereafter.  If anyone else has ideas for us, we'd love to hear them.
  Excitement #2-Evangelist Glen Weeks is coming at the end of March/beginning of April for special meetings.  He was our first special speaker when we started and has been a huge blessing to us!
  Next trip will potentially be to Calgary to get the younger 3 their U.S. Birth of an american abroad certificates.  After they have this they can also receive a Social Security card, which makes it easy for them to make the move, should it be necessary or desired by them when they're older.
  Then in July we're having a Tent Meeting.  We'll have Bro. Dave Webster as our speaker and Daybreak Quartet as the special music:).
  September is a Preacher's Conference in Edmonton, so we'll probably get to stay with Preston and see all his renovations.
  October is the Yakima Preacher's Conference, where we can potentially see friends from O.H. if we have enough time:).  Sooooo looking forward to the preaching here!
  Add in church, outreach, ladies meetings, horse back riding, homeschooling, playgroups, gardening, home improvement projects, building the green house and kids play structure, family coming to visit us, a trip or two to Alberta, housecleaning, cooking,blogging, potty- training Caleb, reading, laundry and a whole whack of birthdays, plus having people over for meals and tea.  I think I see next December approaching quickly!  Will keep busy until the Lord COMES!  

                                               HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!