Melt My Heart!

Okay, for the record, we are NOT wanting to get pregnant while at the PC. But... this absolutely melted my heart! Matt and Hannah, great new friends of ours here, just had their first baby at the end of September. Isn't that awesome! Coming to the PC nine months pregnant with their first child! We love them! The other night the boys all went to watch a world series game and Hannah and baby Case came over to keep us company. The girls were beside themselves! Katie just said, "Baby, Baby, Baby" and kissed him all night! Hannah let Abby hold him and we got some adorable pictures. She held him so gently and gave him several sweet kisses! When it was time for the girls to go to bed, Abby tried her absolute best to convince Hannah to spend the night! "You can sleep on the couch? You can sleep on a blanket? You can go get his crib?" It was really sweet!

Pumpkin Harvest Days!

Here at the PC, we have worked our schedule to have a family day on Mondays. I love it! There is definitely not a shortage of things to see and places to go. This past Monday we went to Butler's Orchard for their pumpkin harvest day. Butler's Orchard is usually not open on Mondays, so this was Jason's first visit. The weather that day was so cold and so windy! We are still learning to bundle everyone up! The good part about it being cold was that there was hardly anyone there! Admission was only $6 a person, great for families on tight budgets! It included a really good sized pumpkin and two apples from the farm. There were tons of play houses for the kids to play in, a two-story castle, picture spots, three enormous slides, a barn filled with hay to jump in, and tractor hay rides. It was a blast! The best part was the slides at the top of the hill. These slides were definitely nothing to scoff at! You barreled down these steep, slippery slides on potato sacks! At first, we sent Abby down by herself. That wasn't the best of ideas! When we went down with them, they thought it was the best thing ever! I was really proud of the girls, even Katie wasn't afraid! I guess they still have that belief that they are invincible in Daddy and Mommy's arms! We'll tell them later! After the slides we went into the barn and the girls had a great time climbing and jumping off of the hay barrels. We probably spent the most time in there because our bodies needed some serious thawing out! After we had all that we could take, we headed home for lunch. We ate hot grilled cheese sandwiches with hot tomato soup and hot chocolate! He He! Praise the Lord for more great memories!

Happy Birthday Jason!

We celebrated Jason's birthday last Wednesday the 22nd! The girl's and I started the day by baking cinnamon rolls and dropping them off at the school with some Happy Birthday balloons. We wanted to make sure everyone knew it was his birthday! Then I let Abby skip her nap that afternoon to help me bake Jason's birthday cake. She was so excited and so adorable! When Katie woke up we decorated Daddy's birthday cards. Abby and Katie chose a Dora and Diego card and stuck Dora stickers all over it! When Jason got home we had a little family birthday party before the babysitter was to arrive.




Then we kissed the girls good night and headed out for a little birthday surprise! Jason knew that I had gotten a babysitter and had planned an evening, but he didn't know what we were doing. We went to Uncle Julio's for dinner, a mexican food restaurant at the Rio. After some good food and great conversation, it was time for the surprise! Matt and Hannah Wassink, good friends at the PC, showed up at the end of dinner and jumped into the booth with us. After some good laughs, we handed Jason his birthday present, tickets to see Brian Regan! Jason was totally surprised and really excited! We had a fabulous time! Brian Regan had a bunch of new stuff and was hilarious! Of course! How great that Brian Regan was here in town on his birthday and that somehow we were able to totally keep the surprise! Another great memory! Happy Birthday Love!

Long Lost Jacket!

This morning I found Katie's long lost jacket! It is amazing what you find when you fold laundry! ... right guys :)

Pumpkin Carving!

Last Sunday, Jason was studying and I was itching to get out and do something. So I called my friend Shari and basically invited myself over! Don't you love friends like that! She had just gotten back from the pumpkin patch at Butler's Orchard with her kids and they were all excited to get carving! So we went to the store and bought a pumpkin and joined in on the fun! They were doing these really cool cutouts they had printed off of the Internet. We decided to stick with the good old smiley face! A tribute to you Dad! Thanks for having us over Shari! We had a great time!

PC in DC

This was a day on our calendar that we have very much been looking forward to! There is a very generous gentleman that goes to Covenant Life and they have started a tradition where he takes the PC class and their families on a walking tour around the memorials in DC. I don't know why, but he has an exceptional amount of knowledge on American History and was a fantastic tour guide. He ended the tour with treating us all to lunch at Uno's pizzeria at Union Station! He is so kind and generous to serve this way every year! Jason and I really wanted to be able to pay attention and enjoy this day to the fullest, so... we left the girl's at home with a babysitter! It actually served them best because it was cold and there was a lot of walking and listening. It definitely served us also and we had a great day! There are just simply too many photos to post and comment on individually, so I am posting a slideshow.

I had three personal highlights from the day. The first was the World War II memorial. I thought that this one in particular was so powerful! I realized as I was walking around the memorial how many of the visitors were from the WWII generation. I was so affected by this! I wish I could have stopped some of them and asked them their stories! It was certainly a fresh reminder how close this history really is. There was one section of the memorial that had some of the major battles engraved in the stone. One of the battles was the Ramagen Bridge. This too was a moving moment as I remembered the stories of my Great Grandfather who was a medic in World War II and received a bronze star at the Battle of the Ramagen Bridge. I wanted to blog about this story so I called my Aunt Kathy the next day to get all of the facts. She emailed me a copy of the ABC press release:

Capt. Stanley T. Lowe, Battle Creek physician and father of Marjorie Lowe, of American Broadcasting Company's Hollywood press department, has been awarded the Bronze Star for heroic action in Germany. Lowe is credited with saving five injured men while under heavy bombardment and ammunition truck explosions during the battle for the Remagen bridge. In addition to the latest citation, Lowe has five battle stars and the D-Day invasion arrow on his ETO ribbon.

This led to an amazing discussion of my Grandad and more of his war stories. She even said that she has letters that he sent home after D-day! When I got off of the phone, I told Jason that I really wanted to go to Chicago to hear all of the stories and see all of the stuff that she has. Isn't the history that we have in our families so unique and so special? I am so thankful for the history that has been preserved!


The second highlight of the day was walking around the Korean War Memorial with our Korean family that is at the PC this year. We were able to ask them questions about the war and about current Korean politics and conditions. To hear them talk about North Korea and the effect of communism on the people there was heartbreaking! Looking at the faces on the wall and talking with the Kangs, reminded me of how great and heroic was the service and the sacrifice of those who served in the war.


The third highlight was sitting with the Lockharts at lunch! We were able to hear more of their stories of how God saved them, how they got to Sovereign grace, and how they got to the PC. We had spent the morning looking at symbols of the freedom we cherish in this nation, but we spent our lunch hour discussing the freedom we have for all eternity in Christ! What an absolute joy to hear great stories of God's great mercy and love!

All in all, a fantastic day!

True Beauty

This past Friday night there was a women's event at Covenant Life Church where Carolyn Mahaney spoke on True Beauty as biblically defined. Once again I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit as I saw my sin and my fleshly desires to pursue and exalt myself. Do I allow the culture to define beauty in my heart? Why do we as women desire beauty? Do I desire beauty for my glory or for God's glory? Lately, I have felt a consistent pulling at my heart that God desires for me to grow in humility. This night just fit right in with this theme. Is my life about me? Or is it about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Although I feel the war waging within me, I so desire to grow in humility and to humbly serve my God the rest of my days and all of eternity! You can listen to Carolyn's message here.
I was also affected that night by all of the young adolescent daughters of the PC ladies. I was sitting in one row with all of the moms and all of the daughters, 12 and older, were sitting in the row in front of us. During our worship time, I was looking at these girls and felt the Holy Spirit prick my heart with the thought of Abby and Katie one day sitting in that row. Most days that day seems so far away, but at that moment, that day felt very near! There was a unique grace in that moment to be motivated and encouraged to enjoy this season, to hold it dear, and with eyes fixed on Jesus, faithfully train these precious gifts!

A Cast and A Nebulizer

Just for the sake of memories I had to post these pictures:
We have to have some pictures of the bright yellow cast!



Abby had another little asthma attack this week. It was her first cold since the hospital and in less than 48 hours it resulted in coughing and an asthma attack. Thankfully this time we had more of an idea of what to look for and we made an appointment that morning for the Pediatrician. Dr. Niu is fantastic and started Abby on some inhaled medicines through a breathing machine. She responded beautifully to the medicine and is doing much better. Now we have the machine and will be using it regularly through the winter. Abby didn't like the machine at first but quickly changed her mind when she realized that using the machine meant movie time for her! Praise God for modern medicine! It is so kind of God to remind us that it is Him who gives us even our very breaths!

There and Back Again!

Well, the past month has been fairly busy!  Lots and lots of homework (for Jason that is), my parents came to visit, Jason's mom came to visit, we went home for a quick weekend, and we had 1 urgent care visit, 2 ER visits, one surgery, and 3 nights in the hospital.  That's right folks!  The hospital visits increased this week!  Poor little Katie!  A week ago, Katie fractured her elbow!  We rushed to the nearest urgent care and they sent us to the ER.  The ER that night was packed and we waited for several hours.  The night ended with a super condylar fracture (fractured humerus), a sling that she downright hated, a prescription, and a referral to an orthopedic surgeon.  We called the next day to make an appointment but we had to see another doctor in the office because the referred physician was in surgery all day.  When we went to our appointment that afternoon, the doctor was very kind and referred us back to the original doctor because he did not feel comfortable making the call to go in for surgery with Katie being so young.  So we came back the next day, the doctor looked at her x-rays, said that she definitely needed surgery, scheduled it at 7pm that night at the hospital, and said that we needed to stay the night.  So we rushed to the cafe next door and ate lunch before Katie's "no food, no liquid rule" went into effect.  Then we rushed home to pack our bags, pick-up Abby from the Schiel's house (Thank You!) and drop her off at the Slack's house (Thank You!).  Then it was off to the hospital.  We had to be there at 5:30 and the surgery didn't end up happening until 8:30, so we had a little time to think, pray, play with and hug our little girl!  The surgery didn't take to long, about an hour, and we were back in the recovery room with her.  We were there for a couple of hours and I got to hold her as she went in and out of sleep.  About midnight they wheeled us up to the pediatric floor and got Katie and I all settled in.  When we were completely taken care of, Jason headed home and we all tried to get some sleep.  The Lord blessed Katie with good sleep that night.  After breakfast, Katie was doing just fine and they sent us home.  She was a little grumpy the first day, but she bounced back fast!  I spent the next few days trying to convince her not to climb on the furniture, run around, jump on the bed, chase her sister and all the other crazy little things toddlers do!  
This morning was our appointment to get her cast on.  I was a little nervous.  I know Katie and so I knew there was no way she was going to cooperate or be still at all for this little procedure.  I had been praying for more divine intervention!  Boy, did the divine intervention come!  Katie sat completely still for the whole thing!  She didn't move, cry, or complain at all!  She just stared at the doctor while he took the original splint off and wrapped the new cast on.  Even the doctor was impressed with her compliance.  I assured him it was an answer to prayer!  They were out of pink and asked if we wanted yellow.  Sure, I thought, yellow is nice.  Well, it is hi-lighter yellow!  It is so funny! Her cast is huge and super-super bright!  I am so glad she has the cast.  Now she can run around and be crazy and we know that at least her elbow is safe!  

I don't know exactly what the Lord has to teach us, but it is obvious He is certainly after our hearts!  This experience was a little emotional for me.  Abby's experience was more of a "go-go-go."  Katie's experience involved a lot more waiting.  I felt the struggle to fight anxiety and to trust the Lord.  The morning of her surgery, before we knew she needed surgery, the Lord had brought me this verse.

Isaiah 41:10- Do not fear, for I am with you.  Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  

This verse brought me much comfort throughout the day.  I love the words, "surely."  What an emphasis on God's nearness, love, and favor on the lives of His people.  Oh Lord, surely I can trust in You!

Thank you to everyone who was praying for Katie!  We very much appreciate your love for us!

Free!

Okay I'm in!  After Chanelle, Carrie, and Heather all joined in, well so will I!  There is a online contest to win a free handbag.  You just go to this site and enter your first name and email and pick which bag you would like to win.  They are giving away one bag every hour.  And, the best part is that they are promising not to save or sell your information.  Wouldn't that be awesome if one of us won!